May 20th

Clinton: Palestinians deserve 'viable state' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's administration expects not only Israel and the Palestinians to uphold their commitments, but also Arab nations and other countries. In her meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton stressed Washington's backing of the two-state solution. She also emphasized the White House's demand that Israel halt all construction in West Bank settlements, viewed by the US as impeding peace efforts. » Read more

Palestinians say were promised Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama's new peace plan for the Middle East continues to unravel, ahead of it official presentation in Cairo, on June 4. Official Palestinian Authority sources told Ynet Wednesday that following Jordan's King Abdullah's visit to Washington, as well as other visits to the US capital, they were given the impression that any new American peace plan would call for establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. » Read more

Yesha heads, Barak meet on settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am Heads of the Yesha Council met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday to discuss mitigations for the Palestinians and the freezing of construction in settlements. During the meeting Barak said that illegal outposts must be evacuated. "If this is not done trough negotiations, it will be done with swift and firm enforcement," he stated. The defense minister stressed that "law enforcement cannot be compromised. A sovereign, viable state must enforce the law and exercise its authority over its citizens." » Read more

The newlywed game ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am WASHINGTON - Those who attended Monday's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States President Barack Obama at the White House formed the impression that while there was no lovefest: The conference was a businesslike encounter between two people whose lives have compelled them to work together. » Read more

The distance between Gaza and the West Bank is growing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am RAMALLAH - It's hard not to be impressed by the optimism about the Middle East that the White House is radiating. A brief visit to Ramallah, however, makes one wonder about the basis for it. » Read more

Saudis pushing Obama for new Mideast plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn, Barak Ravid - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am The United States expects Israel to make concrete concessions to the Palestinians before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo on June 4, an American official said during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week. The cabinet is due to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip this Sunday, and one concession the U.S. would like to see is for Israel to decide at this meeting to ease its restrictions on imports and exports of goods to Gaza. It also wants Israel to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank. » Read more

Obama should force Israel to act ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am For decades, the chasm between words and deeds has been the root cause of the continued nonexistence of a Palestinian state and the Israelis’ ability to treat international views on the matter with contempt. There have been floods of fine words about Palestinian rights and Israeli abuses but nothing has ever been done and the words have remained only that — words without action. » Read more

Washington makes a sensible turnaround ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am The meeting in the White House Monday between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted significant differences as well as deep convergences in the two countries' approaches to two major sources of tension and conflict in the Middle East - the Iranian nuclear program and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The convergences are well known, but the new gaps are an important element to watch in the coming months. » Read more

Not budging ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am Obdurate and unconcerned about the opinion expressed by the president of his country’s staunchest ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood his ground in Washington, insisting that he supports self government for the Palestinians, but not mentioning one word about a state for these people under decades of Israeli occupation. » Read more

The slapdown that was heard round the world ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 19, 2009 - 12:00am In the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu’s first meeting with Barack Obama, his allies were quick to declare victory. When the US president announced something resembling a finite timetable for diplomatic efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear programme, their reading goes, Israel recorded a triumph. Those observers must have been watching a different press conference from the rest of us. What was strikingly apparent is how far apart the two men are in their plans to achieve both Middle East peace and a conclusion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more