Hamas West Bank Terror Plot Exposed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority said it has exposed a plot by Hamas to carry out a string of terror attacks against the Authority's officials and institutions in the West Bank city of Nablus and the surrounding area. PA officials said Monday evening that a Hamas member who was recently detained admitted to receiving 1.5 million euros from the Islamist group's leadership in Gaza in order to establish infrastructure aimed of undermining President Mahmoud Abbas' regime. He said that among the targets were headquarters of the Palestinian security services in Nablus. » Read more

Israeli indictments spark outrage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - June 8, 2009 - 12:00am The decision to prosecute 12 Israeli Arabs over what the local media have described as the “lynching” of an Israeli soldier on a bus shortly after he shot dead four passengers has been greeted with outrage from the country’s Arab minority. The inhabitants of Shefa’amr, one of the largest Arab towns in the Galilee region and the location of the attack, are expected to stage a one-day strike today in protest against the indictments. Seven of the 12 face charges of attempted murder. » Read more

Netanyahu convinced Obama seeks clash with Israel to appease Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that U.S. President Barack Obama wants a confrontation with Israel, based on Obama's speech in Cairo last week, Netanyahu's confidants say. In Netanyahu's opinion, the Americans believe an open controversy with Israel would serve the Obama administration's main objective of improving U.S. relations with the Arab world, the aides say. In his speech, Obama called for a "new beginning" in relations between America and Islam, and spoke at length about the Israeli-Arab conflict. » Read more

Ignore the Theatrics, Bibi Just Wants To Build ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am The show goes on. As I write, a radio newscaster is repeating an item about the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank: At Nahalat Yosef, near Nablus, the army demolished two makeshift mobile homes and removed a third, thereby erasing the outpost. Settler leaders promised to rebuild it. Judging from past experience, the promise will be kept. » Read more

Obama and the Two State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Gwynne Dyer - (Analysis) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am It was a good speech by any measure, and it will go some way towards lessening the mistrust of the world’s Muslims towards the United States. But when it comes to the core issue that has put Americans and Arabs on different sides of the fence over the past decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will take more than words. » Read more

'Obama proposed plan for peace deal within two years' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz June 9, 2009 - 12:00am United States President Barack Obama has presented to Egypt and Israel a plan for a two-state solution to be finalized within two years, the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday. A source in Cairo told the newspaper that Obama raised the plan with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter's visit to Washington last month. According to the report, the plan envisions a Middle East peace deal by 2011 and would encompass an agreement for a Palestinian state. » Read more

Obama and Eisenhower: Some Parallels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yoav J. Tenembaum - (Editorial) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am Historical comparisons have to be drawn with caution. No two events are identical. The pitfalls of historical analogy are as numerous as its benefits. However, comparing events in history can clarify and sharpen our understanding of the phenomenon under discussion. In this spirit, it's possible to draw a comparison between President Barack Obama's new policy toward Israel and that pursued by president Dwight Eisenhower and his administration from 1953 until 1957, when it also changed the direction of US policy toward Israel. The similarities are quite striking. » Read more

US urges quick return to Mid-East talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News June 9, 2009 - 12:00am US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has urged a swift return to peace talks on his first day of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "We all share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations," he said in Jerusalem. US relations with Israel are said to be tense since President Barack Obama's speech to Muslims in Cairo last week. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure to back a two-state solution. » Read more

On Settlements and Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) June 8, 2009 - 12:00am Most observers welcomed President Obama’s speech in Cairo last week, but some pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian commentators have taken issue with the President’s emphasis on ending Israeli settlement activity and Palestinian violence, respectively, as crucial measures in laying the groundwork for a successful peace agreement. These choices were not arbitrary. They reflect the principal commitments and obligations of both parties under Phase One of the Roadmap. » Read more

UN: Prosecutions Unlikely in Gaza Investigation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press June 9, 2009 - 12:00am A veteran UN war crimes investigator acknowledged his probe of possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas - which included interviewing dozens of victims and poring through the files of human rights groups - is unlikely to lead to prosecutions. Israel has refused to cooperate, depriving his team access to military sources and victims of Hamas rockets. And Hamas security often accompanied his team during their five-day trip to Gaza last week, raising questions about the ability of witnesses to freely describe the group's actions. » Read more