May 4th

Israel must choose between peace and a racist state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) May 4, 2011 - 12:00am The slogan that brought Benjamin Netanyahu to power was "making a secure peace." That is no accident. "Peace" has maintained the right-wing government to a much greater extent than the right-wing government has maintained peace. » Read more

Zahar: Hamas will never recognize Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said on Wednesday that Palestine is "hallowed ground" and that his organization will never recognize Israel. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Zahar said that Palestinians will not give up on their right to Palestine, while recognizing the rule of Poles and Ethiopians in their land. Zahar added that this should not prevent Israel from negotiating with Hamas, pointing out that Israel negotiated for captive soldier Gilad Schalit's release despite the fact that Hamas never recognized "the Israeli enemy." » Read more

PM lands in London to lobby against Fatah-Hamas deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu landed in London early Wednesday in a trip where he is expected to lobby European leaders against a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement. Before departing Israel on Tuesday night, the prime minister called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to drop the unity agreement with Hamas that he is expected to sign in Cairo on Wednesday. » Read more

Gaps between Hamas, Fatah loom large despite unity deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am The reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is to be signed Wednesday morning in Cairo, creating an interim unity government and paving the way to elections in a year. The accord restores relations between the two, which were severed when Hamas forcibly took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007. » Read more

Netanyahu must present new peace initiative in Washington ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) May 4, 2011 - 12:00am During his visit to Washington in less than three weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet an American administration which is credited by the free world with the killing of the arch terrorist Osama bin Laden. On Barack Obama's watch, the U.S. armed forces managed to kill the murderer of thousands of American citizens who had managed to evade punishment for more than nine years. The successful operation made the president popular among Americans and dampened his image as a soft leader, an image of him encouraged by his rivals on the right. » Read more

State to approve outposts on land not privately owned ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ron Friedman - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am The state will take steps to retroactively approve construction of those houses in the West Bank outposts of Givat HaYovel and Horsha built on state land, but will demolish, within a year, those houses that were built on privately owned Palestinian land. The state announced the plans in its response to a petition submitted to the High Court of Justice by Peace Now over the construction of settler houses. » Read more

Op-Ed: Reform’s nomination of Jacobs means a victory for J Street ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Carol Greenwald - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am The nomination of Rabbi Richard Jacobs to head the Union for Reform Judaism is the latest coup for J Street. Less than three years after its founding, a member of J Street's rabbinic cabinet is being appointed to head the largest branch of American Judaism. With the nominee to head the Reform movement supporting the goals and visions of J Street, it will be impossible for mainstream American Jewry to continue to marginalize J Street and its profoundly anti-Israel positions. » Read more

Jordan says U.S. role fundamental to revive peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Jordanian foreign minister said Tuesday the United States plays a major role in pushing the peacemaking efforts forward and pressuring Israel to stop unilateral measures to resume the peace talks with the Palestinians, the state-run Petra news agency reported. At a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh said the regional developments should not divert the attention away from the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which is the core issue in the region. » Read more

Palestinian official: U.S. not oppose reconciliation deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 4, 2011 - 12:00am The United States has not notified the Palestinian leadership of any objection to a national agreement that rival Palestinian groups will sign Wednesday in Cairo, a Palestinian official said. On Tuesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked over the phone and there were no U.S. signs that the agreement between Hamas and Fatah is rejected, said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee. » Read more

Blair: Palestinians must recognize Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak, Amy Teibel - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Mideast envoy Tony Blair says the international community supports Palestinian reconciliation but will demand that the new unity government recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence. Wednesday's announcement could signal trouble for the new alliance between the Islamic militant group Hamas and the Western-backed Fatah movement. Hamas says it will never recognize Israel. » Read more