March 17th

Negotiations to Free Israeli Soldier Reach Standstill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am Negotiations to free an Israeli soldier captured near the Gaza Strip nearly three years ago deadlocked in Cairo overnight, and the Israeli cabinet was scheduled to meet today to pass the issue off to the new government of incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has been negotiating through an Egyptian intermediary with the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, to exchange Gilad Shalit for hundreds of prisoners in Israeli jails. But Israel's negotiators returned home Tuesday without a deal. » Read more

Israeli coalition government takes shape ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Boudreaux - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem -- Avigdor Lieberman, whose ultranationalist rhetoric has raised alarm among Arabs and international concern, took a major step Monday toward becoming foreign minister in Israel's next government. His appointment, part of a pact between his right-wing party and that of Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, is not final. The deal leaves an opening for the current foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, to stay in that post if her centrist Kadima party agrees to join the coalition. But that possibility appeared remote. » Read more

The writing on the wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am We came to annihilate you; Death to the Arabs; Kahane was right; No tolerance, we came to liquidate. This is a selection of graffiti Israeli soldiers left on the walls of Palestinians' homes in Gaza, which they turned into bivouacs and firing positions during Operation Cast Lead. Here and there, a soldier scribbled a line of mock poetry or biblical quote in the same sentiment. There were also curses on the Prophet Mohammed and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, along with shift schedules and favorite soccer teams. » Read more

Police believe West Bank killings were terror-driven ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am The search for the killers of two police officers on the Jordan Valley's Route 90 Sunday night is continuing, but it has mostly focused on intelligence gathering. Security forces are convinced that the incident was a terrorist attack, but there is still no clear view as to which group the culprit, or culprits, belonged to. Monday, Israel Defense Forces sources rejected claims of responsibility by a group called Imad Mughniyeh Battalions, named after the assassinated Hezbollah terrorist mastermind. » Read more

On Shalit deal, Hamas-Israel gaps are greater than common ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) March 17, 2009 - 12:00am Ofer Dekel and Yuval Diskin brought back a mixed message from Cairo Monday night: Progress had been made on the names of prisoners to be released in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit (in other words, Israel is prepared to free more prisoners than before), but significant disagreement remains over what to do with the released prisoners. The gaps are greater than the common ground. » Read more

Freeman and the Defamation of the Zionist Lobby ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - March 17, 2009 - 12:00am Former diplomat Charles Freeman was not shy with regards to openly pointing the finger at the Zionist lobby for being behind the organized smear Campaign against him in order to prevent his appointment as Chairman of the US National Intelligence Council. Now the sniping has continued between the former ambassador and the pro-Israeli groups in newspapers, on websites, and on news channels. » Read more

Where is the Palestinian Dialogue Headed? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) March 15, 2009 - 12:00am Save for an unexpected surprise, the Palestinian dialogue in Cairo, under Egyptian sponsorship, is still marking its time. Such a dialogue would not have been possible had it not been for a series of Arab pressures on its parties, as well as for the Hamas movement's need to maintain bridges of communication with Egypt, especially after the broad and decisive international and Arab support of Egypt's efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue, both in terms of politics and of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

March 16th

How Israel Helped Create Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times by Phillip Knightley - (Opinion) March 16, 2009 - 12:00am An advance copy of an important new book on the Middle East has kept me awake at night reading it. Called “Kill Khalid: Mossad’s Failed Hit. . .and the Rise of Hamas”, it is by an Australian journalist, Paul McGeough, and was written before the recent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. McGeough is scrupulously objective but paints a telling picture of the skill with which Hamas and its leader Khalid Meshaal have succeeded in turning most of the Israeli’s strategy around so that it rebounded upon them. » Read more

Police: West Bank shooting not caused by checkpoint removal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - March 16, 2009 - 12:00am Senior police officials say that the removal of checkpoints and the low intensity of Israel Defense Forces operations in the West Bank did not contribute to Sunday's shooting death of two traffic cops in the Jordan Valley. "The IDF's activity is very extensive," said Shlomi Katbi, the commander of the West Bank police. "I don't see where one can tie the ongoing security activity and its quality with what happened Sunday evening." Danny Dayan, the head of the Yesha council of West Bank settlements, said Israel's policies in the territories were to blame for the continued bloodletting. » Read more

Worldview: Decision time on Mideast for Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Philadelphia Inquirer by Trudy Rubin - (Opinion) March 15, 2009 - 12:00am Hillary Rodham Clinton tiptoed oh-so-carefully around the Israel-Palestine issue on her recent trip to the Middle East. But she and President Obama will have to make some tough decisions soon, as Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to form a right-wing government. Otherwise, any prospects for a two-state solution, even in the long run, will be dead before the end of Obama's first term. » Read more