March 25th

Arab League mulls withdrawing peace initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Terminating the Arab Peace Initiative will be on the Arab League summit's agenda in Libya this weekend, its secretary-general, Amr Moussa, said Wednesday. In a statement released before traveling to Sirte, Libya ahead of the summit, Moussa said it was futile to continue dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following recent developments in Jerusalem, and that Israel's "hardline stance" would not push Arab League conveners into "giving up on Jerusalem."

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Obama, Netanyahu meet for hours as U.S. pushes for outreach to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. and Israeli officials struggled Wednesday to resolve a sharp dispute over U.S. demands that Israel make goodwill gestures to lure Palestinian officials back to the negotiating table.

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Israel Confirms New Building in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

With strains still high between Israel and the United States over the issue of Jewish settlements, construction of a contentious Jewish housing project in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem could start at any time, Israeli officials and experts said Wednesday Jerusalem city hall gave the project the final go-ahead on March 18, days after city officials said the landowners had paid the required fees. Once the fees were paid, City Hall said in a statement on Wednesday, “approval was granted automatically.”

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Netanyahu departs Washington amid chill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - (Blog) March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Netanyahu departed Washington for Israel late Wednesday night, after what some sources described as a sometimes frantic last 24 hours of decision-making after a late night meeting with Obama at the White House Tuesday night.

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Deep chill in U.S.-Israeli relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Bad personal chemistry, public confrontation and mutual silence a full day after a two-hour meeting Tuesday night between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have deepened the impression of a worsening fracture in the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

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March 24th

Netanyahu's reluctant gift to Palestine
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Guardian - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not being honest with his fellow Israelis by insisting that settlement building is compatible with a peaceful future between Israelis and Palestinians, or that the colonisation of occupied East Jerusalem "in no way harms" Palestinians and is not in any sense different from building in Tel Aviv.

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Netanyahu meets Obama as new housing controversy emerges
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is supposed to meet with President Obama at the White House at 5:30pm. The meeting comes shortly after Israeli media reported that late last week, the Jerusalem municipality gave final approval to a group of settlers to construct 20 apartments at the Shepherd Hotel site in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

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Netanyahu meets Obama as new housing controversy emerges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - (Blog) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is supposed to meet with President Obama at the White House at 5:30pm. The meeting comes shortly after Israeli media reported that late last week, the Jerusalem municipality gave final approval to a group of settlers to construct 20 apartments at the Shepherd Hotel site in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

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PM Netanyahu concludes a tense visit to Washington with two lengthy and highly confidential meetings with Pres. Obama, but insists settlement building will go forward. The Washington Post says the confrontation has demonstrated the limits of American power. Britain expels an Israeli diplomat over the misuse of UK passports in the Dubai assassination. Robert Wright says the term "anti-Israel" is being abused. Gen. Petraeus has reportedly asked for the West Bank and Gaza to be included in CENTCOM's remit. The PA says there will be no negotiations if Israel is building settlements, and Israel threatens to delay talks for up to a year. Israel is investigating the killing of two Palestinian youths. An Israeli court rules that settlers may fire into the air to disperse unarmed Palestinians. All discussions in Israel's Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee on settlement activity have been frozen. Hussein Ibish says Palestinians benefited from the US-Israel confrontation. Rami Khouri says more than rhetoric is needed from Washington. Mel Frykberg questions the morality of the Israeli military.

J'lem building c'tee meetings frozen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
March 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Since the furor when plans to build 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo were announced during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, all discussions by the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee over new construction in the capital have been frozen, it was announced Wednesday. Jerusalem Municipality official Yair Gabai made the statement in an interview with Army Radio, and it was later confirmed by the Interior Ministry. "Unfortunately, since Biden's visit, all committee meetings have been frozen until further notice," said Gabai.

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