ATFP Welcomes White House Statement on Israeli Settlement Activity
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, Sept. 4 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) welcomed today's statement issued by the office of the White House Press Secretary stating the United States government's position that Israeli settlement activity should stop. The White House states that, "We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction," which importantly allows for the possibility that news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to approve several hundred new settler homes in the occupied West Bank may be inaccurate.


In an op-ed for The Guardian, ATFP President Ziad Asali analyzes Salam Fayyad’s blueprint for a de-facto Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu will reportedly approve the construction of hundreds of new housing units in existing West Bank settlements as a prelude to a building freeze, drawing sharp criticism from many Quarters. President Abbas says that a possible summit meeting with Netanyahu and President Obama depends on "steps that are taken beforehand regarding a settlement construction freeze." Israeli warplanes bomb a tunnel linking the southern Gaza Strip with Israel. Israeli police are deployed in Jerusalem as thousands of Palestinians head to the city for prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is reportedly planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal involving the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Editorial: Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


It was not just among Americans that Barack Obama raised great expectations when he won last year’s US presidential elections. In this part of the world, people believed that he would solve the Palestinian issue. Repeated signs from him that restarting and solving the Middle East peace process was a foreign policy priority reinforced that view. As a result, Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the US softened.


Obama can still do more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


As the stage is being reportedly set for President Barack Obama to spell out his much-awaited ideas for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement at the opening of the UN General Assembly later this month, two issues remain regrettably overlooked or shortsightedly sidetracked. If this neglect persists, they have the potential of derailing a peaceful settlement.


Bibi should not be overconfident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


On two key issues of Barack Obama's foreign policy - Palestinian statehood and reconciliation with Iran - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has chosen to fight the American President. He has refused to bend to Obama's will, and is instead seeking to outwit and defeat him.


Are inaccurate media reports hurting U.S.-Israel relationship?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am


President Obama told Jewish leaders in a July meeting that Israel needs to “engage in serious self-reflection.” Israel’s new U.S. ambassador was “summoned” to the State Department to be lectured about Israel's building settlements in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called two top aides to Obama “self-hating Jews.” All of these reports appeared in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. And they've all been disputed or denied by the principals involved.


'Gov't doesn't know where it's going'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


Following reports of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's plan to approve hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before considering a brief settlement freeze, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said on Friday that the government did not know where is was headed and was playing a dangerous game of trying to please everyone. "Israel's leaders, the elected government, in my opinion, still hasn't made a choice between two different outlooks. One, Jewish existence in every part of Israel, and two, the existence of a Jewish democratic state," she said in a speech at an IDF pensioners' event.


Erekat: Approval of construction unacceptable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


Reports that Israel plans to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units in the West Bank before implementing the settlement freeze that was agreed upon with the United States has angered the Palestinian leadership. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday the planned Israeli move is "unacceptable". Earlier Friday an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "The prime minister plans to approve the construction of hundreds of news housing units in Judea and Samaria, before the freeze."


Embassy source: Doubtful US signed off on Israeli decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


Hours after the angered Palestinian response to Israel's plans to authorize the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before implementing a settlement freeze it became apparent that the plans were not necessarily approved by the United States. Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv, said Friday Washington would be unlikely to accept anything "contrary to the spirit of negotiations they've been undertaking" and added it was "doubtful" the US had signed off on the Israeli decision.


Hamas said ready to sign Shalit deal this weekend
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshal is planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit during a rare visit to Cairo this weekend, senior Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Friday. Hamas spokesman Taher A-Nunu confirmed that Meshal was traveling to Cairo on Saturday for a round of talks with Egyptian officials, attended by the organization's top-brass from Gaza and Damascus.



American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017