What Palestinians Will Do With $7.4 Billion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - January 4, 2008 - 2:27pm

When donors met in Paris last month and awarded $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians, a larger-than-expected package to be distributed over the next three years, many in the international community showed a new readiness to support the new Israeli-Palestinian peace push and provide a safety net for it in the form of economic stability.

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White House Downplays Bush Mideast Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Jennifer Loven - January 4, 2008 - 2:26pm

President Bush's aides all but ruled out a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his upcoming Mideast visit and dampened hopes that the president's high-profile travels would make tangible progress toward peace. "Just his going there is going to advance the prospects," Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, said Thursday. "We're not looking for headline announcements."

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Israel Settlement Growth An "impediment": Bush
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Matt Spetalnick - January 4, 2008 - 2:25pm

U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday called Israeli settlement expansion an "impediment" to revived peace efforts in rare criticism of the Jewish state less than a week before his first presidential visit there. In an interview with Reuters, Bush voiced optimism for securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of 2008, a goal set at November's Annapolis conference that has been viewed with widespread skepticism. He also acknowledged that obstacles remained after decades of Middle East conflict.

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Palestinian Pm Assails Israel Over West Bank Raids
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - January 4, 2008 - 2:22pm

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad criticized Israel on Friday for mounting a major military sweep in the West Bank, saying such intervention was ruining a Western-backed internal Palestinian security plan. Hundreds of Israeli troops flooded Nablus on Wednesday, conducting house-to-house searches, detaining at least 6 Palestinians. The move triggered a confrontation with stone-throwing youths in which, hospital officials said, at least 29 people were injured.

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Israeli Operations Kill 9 In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jonathan Finer - January 4, 2008 - 2:21pm

Israeli forces launched military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank early Thursday, hours before a Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza crashed down harmlessly near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. At least nine Palestinians were killed during Israeli tank and helicopter attacks in Gaza, including five members of a family killed near the central city of Khan Younis, Palestinian officials said.

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Reuters reports on criticism by Palestinian PM Fayyad of continuing raids by the Israeli military into the West Bank city of Nablus that are ruining his security plan for the city (2.) Also in Reuters, in an interview President Bush calls ISraeli settlement expansion as an 'impediment' to current peace efforts (3.) The Christian Science Monitor examines the different challenges and responsibilities facing the Palestinians in disbursing the funds pledged recently by the international community (5.) In the National Interest, USIP fellow Barbara Slavin suggests a new course for U.S. Mideast foreign policy (6.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency examines comment by President Bush and his national security advisor Hadley on the issue of settlements and other obstacles to Mideast peacemaking (8.) In Israel Policy Forum, MJ Rosenberg analyzes how the one uniting issue for Arab and Muslim anger worldwide is the issue of Palestine, and how the exercise of U.S. presidential will can address that issue (9.) The Economist (UK) assesses the prospects for President Bush of nudging along Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts during his trip to the region next week (11.) An Arab News opinion by Fred Schlomka, board member of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, reports on Israeli policies detrimental to its Bedouin citizens (13.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Century and New America Foundation senior fellow Daniel Levy suggests a list of talking points for Israeli PM Olmert's upcoming meeting with President Bush (14.) A Yedioth/Ynet News (Israel) opinion by Sever Plocker cautions that the time for implementing a two-state solution is running out as the bi-national state concept is gaining ground (15.)

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