Palestinians say Netanyahu 'ambiguous' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that the position on the peace process outlined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to an influential US lobby group is "ambiguous." "The statements by the Israeli prime minister to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are ambiguous and insufficient," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said. Netanyahu called Monday for a "fresh" triple-track approach to peace with the Palestinians that includes an immediate resumption of talks without conditions. » Read more

UN meeting to give impetus to Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Edith M. Lederer - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Russia has invited Security Council ministers to a meeting next week to give "new impetus" to the Middle East peace process. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the council presidency this month, said Monday that "the meeting will reaffirm the council's involvement in the search for a Middle East settlement." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will preside at the May 11 meeting, and Churkin said some ministers already have accepted. The only speakers will be representatives of the 15 council nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he said. » Read more

Israel's Peres omits mention of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 4, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday Israel's new government wants peace with all Arabs but made no explicit mention of establishing a Palestinian state, a top U.S. and Arab priority. "Israel stands, with her arms outstretched, her hands held open to peace with all nations, with all Arab states, with all Arab people," Peres said in a speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby. Peres holds a largely ceremonial post but has great personal prestige as an elder statesman. » Read more

Jerusalem Diary: 4 May ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Tim Franks - May 4, 2009 - 12:00am It is evening prayers. In a small hall in Jerusalem, the service is being conducted in Hebrew. Some of the words - indeed some of the prayers - chime exactly with those of a synagogue prayer-book. But this is a Catholic Mass. There are, it is estimated, more than one billion Catholics around the world. Within the Middle East, the great majority celebrate Mass in Arabic. A tiny sliver - about 400 - celebrate Mass in Hebrew. » Read more

U.S., Israel Diverge on Palestinian Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Jay Solomon - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday to pursue "without any delay" a peace process with Palestinians based on a new strategy of addressing political, economic and security issues concurrently. But Mr. Netanyahu's overture came as members of his government voiced skepticism toward President Barack Obama's call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, particularly when the Palestinian Authority's security forces remain weak and its political leadership divided. » Read more

Addressing U.S., Hamas Says It Grounded Rockets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Taghreed El-Khodary - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967. “I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period,” the leader, Khaled Meshal, said during a five-hour interview with The New York Times spread over two days in his home office here in the Syrian capital. » Read more

AIPAC delegates lobby for two-state solution Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Arab News - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am WASHINGTON: To thunderous applause, former Republican House leader Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama’s policies in the Middle East, promoted military action against Iran, and assailed diplomatic engagement as weakness at the American Israel Political Action Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference in Washington. Just before he went on stage late yesterday, Gingrich told The Jerusalem Post that the president’s policy with Israel and Iran was a “fantasy” and that Obama was “endangering Israel” by trying to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more