Israeli envoys leave Cairo after intensive Shalit talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 16, 2009 - 12:00am


Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's special envoy, Ofer Dekel, left Cairo on Monday evening following days of intensive negotiations over a deal for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Upon their return to Israel, Diskin and Dekel were to head to the government compound in Tel Aviv to update Olmert of progress made during the talks.


Where is the Palestinian Dialogue Headed?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) March 15, 2009 - 12:00am


Save for an unexpected surprise, the Palestinian dialogue in Cairo, under Egyptian sponsorship, is still marking its time. Such a dialogue would not have been possible had it not been for a series of Arab pressures on its parties, as well as for the Hamas movement's need to maintain bridges of communication with Egypt, especially after the broad and decisive international and Arab support of Egypt's efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue, both in terms of politics and of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.


2 Israeli Police Officers Killed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 15, 2009 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Two Israeli police officers were shot dead in their patrol car in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank on Sunday night, police officials said. Although the identities of the gunmen were not immediately clear, Israeli security officials said they were treating the killings as a probable nationalist attack by Palestinians. The attack, along the Jordanian border near the Jewish farming settlement of Massua, came as Israel began easing travel restrictions for Palestinians around Nablus, a Palestinian city northwest of the settlement.


Palestinians won't deal with 'anti-peace' Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
March 15, 2009 - 12:00am


BRUSSELS (AFP) — Palestinian leaders will not negotiate with the kind of "anti-peace" Israeli government which prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu seems determined to form, an official said Sunday. "It is very clear that these days he is talking to far right political parties" which are "totally against the establishment of a Palestinian state", Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters in Brussels.


EU warns Netanyahu on hawkish government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
March 15, 2009 - 12:00am


BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union urged incoming Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to craft a government that embraces the long-standing goal of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. The prospect of a new hawkish Israeli government, with far-right hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman as a possible foreign minister, will be seen in Europe as a setback to the Middle East peace process.


Netanyahu in deal with right-wing Israeli party
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - March 16, 2009 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has initialed a coalition agreement with an ultranationalist faction that brings its leader significantly closer to becoming foreign minister, a Likud party spokeswoman said Monday. Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, has drawn accusations of racism for proposing that Israel's Arab citizens sign loyalty oaths or lose their citizenship. Although that plan is not likely to be implemented, his designation as foreign minister could harm Israel's international ties.



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