Saudi Arabia and Israel Once Again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am Last Saturday, I wrote that two parties have been provoked by the intense Saudi Arabian political presence and activity at the international level, especially after the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz participated in the G20 summit in Canada, and following this visited Washington where he received a warm welcome from US President Barack Obama. These parties are of course Iran and Israel. » Read more

PA minister banned from entering Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 7, 2010 - 12:00am PA Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe was denied entry into Israel on Tuesday and stripped of his VIP card permitting him to cross Israeli military checkpoints without harassment. The minister told Ma'an that he was en route to a meeting in Nazareth with a follow-up committee on the cases of Palestinian prisoners in Israel who hold Israeli ID cards when he was detained. » Read more

Obama Says Direct Israeli-Palestinian Talks May Be Imminent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Jonathan Ferziger, Roger Runningen - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am President Barack Obama said direct Israel-Palestinian talks may get started within less than three months, praising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a leader prepared to take “risks for peace.” Obama and Netanyahu, speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday after an 80-minute meeting, both said they wanted to dispel concerns that the U.S. commitment to Israel has been weakened by disputes over construction in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem. The two leaders ate lunch together with advisers. » Read more

Palestine stands up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am Although the crisis over Israel’s naval interventions to defend its blockade of Gaza is gaining all the headlines around the world, something of far more historic importance is taking place in the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority is preparing to issue a unilateral declaration of independence, and it is taking concrete steps on the ground to make any such declaration viable. » Read more

Lessons for an Israeli-Palestinian summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am We were lost. The road to the presidential retreat at Camp David was winding and narrow; it was dark, the way it doesn't get in the city. We had clearly missed a turn somewhere. I kidded Dennis Ross, the lead U.S. negotiator for the imminent Israeli-Palestinian Camp David summit, that if we couldn't even find the president's compound, how were we going to help Bill Clinton negotiate an agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat once we got there? My gallows humor turned out to be all too prescient. » Read more

Mr. Netanyahu at the White House ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) July 7, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel satisfied their short-term political goals with an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday. It is less clear that they achieved much of substance. » Read more

Indictments in Gaza War Are Announced ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli military said Tuesday that it had indicted “a number of” officers and soldiers for their actions during Israel’s three-week offensive in Gaza in the winter of 2008-9, including a staff sergeant accused of deliberately shooting at least one Palestinian civilian who was walking with a group of people waving a white flag. » Read more

U.S. and Israel Shift Attention to Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler, Sheryl Gay Stolberg - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama said Tuesday that he expected direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to begin “well before” a moratorium on settlement construction expired at the end of September, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged to take “concrete steps” in the coming weeks to get the talks moving. » Read more

President Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu try to mend fences ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Carol E. Lee, Laura Rozen - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to exude a new sense of warmth in their rocky relationship Tuesday as both expressed confidence that the Israeli leader will soon hold direct peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable,” said Obama, seated in the Oval Office alongside Netanyahu following their meeting that lasted more than 90 minutes. “We’ve seen over the last year how our relationship has broadened,” Obama added. “In fact, our relationship is continuing to improve.” » Read more

Israeli Right-Wing MKs: US president is still evil ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama’s attempts to portray himself as pro-Israel in his press conference with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday failed to persuade right-wing MKs, who warned that Obama is “still evil.” The MKs questioned the president’s motives and suggested that he was putting on a show for American Jews ahead of the crucial November mid-term elections, in which the Democrats may lose control of Congress. “He doesn’t sound evil now because he needs Jewish votes and money,” said Deputy Negev and Galilee Development Minister Ayoub Kara. » Read more