Middle East News: World Press Roundup

President Obama fields questions about Israel and Palestine during a press conference yesterday (1). Israel's Labor party votes to join the governing Likud party in a coalition government (2). Likud leader and Prime Minister-designate Netanyahu vows to continue diplomatic talks with Palestine (4) (10), despite reports that the party plans to build 3,000 new housing units in the controversial E-1 settlement area that could close off Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank (11) (12). As more IDF soldiers go public with information about misconduct in Gaza, Israeli army rabbis are criticized for portraying the offensive as an opportunity to 'fight to expel non-Jews' (3). Israeli police block Palestinian cultural celebrations in occupied East Jerusalem (5).

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Transcript of presidential news conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from MSNBC March 24, 2009 - 12:00am Text of President Barack Obama's news conference Tuesday at the White House, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions: Obama: Good evening. Now, before I take questions from the correspondents, I want to give everyone who's watching tonight an update on the steps we're taking to move this economy from recession to recovery, and ultimately to prosperity. » Read more

Israel’s Labor Party Votes to Join Netanyahu Coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2009 - 12:00am A deeply divided Labor Party voted Tuesday to join the governing coalition being formed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister-designate and the leader of the conservative Likud Party. The decision paves the way for a broader government than the narrow and hawkish one that Mr. Netanyahu would otherwise have had to settle for, increasing his chances of gaining international acceptance and possibly avoiding friction with the Obama administration. » Read more

Israeli army rabbis criticized for stance on Gaza assault ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - March 25, 2009 - 12:00am The winter assault on the Gaza Strip was officially portrayed in Israel as an attempt to quell rocket fire by militants of Hamas. But some soldiers say they also were lectured about a more ambitious aim: to banish non-Jews from the biblical land of Israel. » Read more

Netanyahu says will be 'a partner for peace' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 25, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday promised to resume peace talks with the Palestinians after he takes office, saying his government will be a "partner for peace." » Read more

MIDEAST: Israel Under Pressure Over Divided Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mel Frykberg - March 24, 2009 - 12:00am Police in riot gear on horseback charged at groups of Palestinian youths in Salahadin Street, the major thoroughfare of Palestinian East Jerusalem, forcibly dispersing them. Several Palestinian women handing out celebratory T-shirts at Damascus Gate at the entrance to Jerusalem's Old City were arrested and taken in for questioning. A football game affiliated with the culture festival was broken up as students attempting to release balloons were arrested. A group of young girls gathered at a local youth club were forcibly dispersed. » Read more

Obama still backs two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National March 25, 2009 - 12:00am The emergence of an Israeli government led by a strong sceptic of peace negotiations with the Palestinians makes it no less necessary for the US to push for a resolution of the generations-old conflict, President Barack Obama said yesterday. In his most direct public comments on the evolving make-up of the Israeli government, following inconclusive national elections in February, Mr Obama told a White House news conference that he remains committed to pushing for a two-state solution: separate Israeli and Palestinian states existing side-by-side in peace. » Read more

Medhat's killing deals blow to efforts to repair Palestinian rifts - analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Andrew Wander - March 25, 2009 - 12:00am The fragile peace between rival Palestinian factions in Lebanon has been jeopardized by Monday's assasination of senior Fatah official Kamal Medhat, experts warned on Tuesday. Medhat was killed, alongside three others, in a massive explosion that tore through his convoy, hurling his car from the road into a field near the Mieh Mieh camp outside Sidon. He had been visiting the camp to solve a dispute between rival families that had escalated into armed clashes, killing two people over the weekend. » Read more

Rabbi rejects assassination call at N.Y. shul ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) March 22, 2009 - 12:00am A New York City rabbi condemned the call to assassinate Palestinian leaders issued at his synagogue. Elie Abadie of Congregation Edmond J. Safra in Manhattan said the call last week by the leader of an Israeli pro-settler organization to kill Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other "terrorist leaders" is "odious and repugnant." He added the sponsoring organization, Americans for a Safe Israel, is no longer welcome to host events at his synagogue. » Read more

Palestinians benefit as Israel-Turkey ties sour ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - March 25, 2009 - 12:00am A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighbourhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey. After the Israeli army’s assault on the Gaza Strip in January, lawyers for the families were given access to Ottoman land registry archives in Ankara for the first time, providing what they say is proof that title deeds produced by the settlers are forged. » Read more

PM-designate: I'll continue peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 25, 2009 - 12:00am A day after securing Labor as a coalition partner, Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday promised to resume peace talks with the Palestinians after he takes office, saying his government will be a "partner for peace." The Palestinians welcomed Netanyahu's words, but said his words must be matched by actions. Speaking at an economic conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said his economic development plan for the Palestinians was not a substitute for political negotiations. "It's a complement to them," he said, calling a strong economy a "strong foundation for peace." » Read more

'Likud agreed gov't will build in E-1' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 25, 2009 - 12:00am During coalition talks between Israel Beiteinu and Likud, the two sides agreed that the new government would build in the controversial E-1 area, between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim, Army Radio reported Wednesday. A source close to the negotiations said that the construction was agreed upon despite the fact that it doesn't appear in the official coalition deal between the two parties. According to the Ma'aleh Adumim Municipality plan, some 3,000 housing units will be built in the area. Building in E-1 has been blocked by the government due to US pressure not to build in the area. » Read more

Netanyahu, Lieberman 'struck secret deal for West Bank construction' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz March 25, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a secret deal with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman for highly contentious construction on West Bank land known as E1, Army Radio reported Wednesday. A source close to the negotiations between the pair told Army Radio that the plan had been agreed upon even though it did not appear in the official document detailing the coalition deal between Yisrael Beiteinu and Netanyahu's Likud. » Read more

Jerusalem freezes plan for Jewish homes in Arab area ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - March 25, 2009 - 12:00am The Jerusalem municipality has frozen a plan for a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem that was initiated by the right-wing group Ateret Cohanim. The city's legal adviser, Yosef Havilio, informed Meretz city councilman Pepe Alalo that he has frozen plans for the construction of 230 housing units in the area of Abu Dis, east of the Old City. Havilio made the decision in response to a request by Alalo and attorney Danny Zeidman, who represents the nonprofit organization Ir Amim. » Read more

Two states, despite everything ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Alexander Yakobson - March 25, 2009 - 12:00am A claim is making the rounds these days that since the two-state solution is unrealistic because of each side's positions and actions, Israel has no reason to declare its official support for the plan. » Read more

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