Palestinians say Netanyahu speech obstacle to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision for ending conflict with Palestinians put "more obstacles" in front of the Middle East peace process, the spokesman for the Palestinian president said. "There was nothing new in Netanyahu's speech other than more obstacles in front of the peace process," Nabil Abu Rdainah, the spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters following Israeli leader's address to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

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FACT CHECK: Netanyahu speech ignores rival claims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an impassioned defense of his approach to peace during a speech to Congress on Tuesday. But the address reflected the world view of Israel's nationalistic right wing, one of several conflicting narratives that divide Israelis and Palestinians. Here is a sampling of Netanyahu's claims along with what he did not mention. ___ NETANYAHU: "You don't need to send American troops to Israel. We defend ourselves." THE FACTS: Israel is a leading recipient of American foreign aid, including more than $1 billion in military assistance each year.

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Obama Walking a Fine Line on Borders Issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
by Robert Satloff - May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

One week ago, on May 19, President Barack Obama delivered powerful remarks on democracy and reform in the Middle East. He not only raised these normally hortatory ideals to top-tier U.S. interests, but he put the dictator of America's most dangerous Arab antagonist -- Syria's Bashar Assad -- on personal notice that he may soon find himself joining the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia in forced retirement. All this was welcome news.

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Israeli lawmakers react differently to Netanyahu's Congress speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Some members of Israeli Knesset parliament on Tuesday evening praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, while others condemned it as "nothing new." Gidon Sa'ar, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud faction, hailed the address. "There's no statesmen in Israel or the world who could present the case for Israel as strongly as Netanyahu could," he was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.

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U.S. Jews must support Obama's Mideast vision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

American Jews have been dragged over the past few days into the controversy between their government and Israel's government, and that is neither to their benefit nor to the benefit of the State of Israel. On Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention and candidly laid out his ideas for a permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Netanyahu's Congress speech: Will it change his relationship with Obama or ruin it forever?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Tuesday before the U.S. Congress will be the formative event of his term, if not his entire political career. A statement released by his bureau promises that the speech will "garner major international attention," alluding to a surprise. The speech, whose purpose is to curb international pressure on Israel, gives Netanyahu a rare opportunity to reboot his leadership. Just a few months ago, he appeared to be directionless. Now, people are hanging on his every word.

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AIPAC Hits Capitol Hill With Hard Line Message on Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

In a break from its stance in recent years, the pro-Israel lobby is pursuing a hard-line agenda toward the Palestinian Authority at its annual conference, as 10,000 activists prepare to carry its message to Capitol Hill. The lobbying agenda of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee traditionally includes two elements over the past several years — ensuring foreign aid to Israel and tightening sanctions against Iran in order to block its nuclear ambitions — that are once again being stressed this year.

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Barack blinks again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Barely 48 hours after he called for a “viable Palestine” on the basis of the 1967 borders and exchanged cold vibes and hot words with Benjamin Netanyahu, poor Barack Obama found himself doing what successive US presidents and leading politicians have always done: Offer obeisance at the altar of almighty AIPAC and sing endless hosannas to the “Great State of Israel.” The so-called historic speech of the US president on Thursday was seen as “too little, too late” by the Arabs. However, even that timid “audacity of hope” was apparently too much for Israel’s friends in the US establishment.

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Obama's Speech Was Misunderstood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Zvika Krieger, Robert Wexler - (Opinion) May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The reaction to President Barack Obama's speech on Thursday has largely focused on one line: "The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states." News outlets from across the political spectrum ran headlines highlighting Mr. Obama's demand that Israel return to the "1967 borders," referring to Israel's boundaries before it took control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the 1967 Six Day War.

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The Israeli reality that Obama doesn't understand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Merav Michaeli - (Opinion) May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

"President Obama doesn't understand the reality," according to "associates" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke after the meeting between the two leaders. And when that is the headline of the daily Yisrael Hayom, it is clearly Netanyahu's headline: "President Obama doesn't understand the reality."

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