July 6th

Obama-Netanyahu talks need concessions for an Israeli-Palestinian deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor (Editorial) July 2, 2010 - 12:00am A year has passed since President Obama vowed the US would not to turn its back on the Palestinians and their “aspiration for ... a state of their own.” On Tuesday he meets with the one man most able to create that new state: Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel. Their talks at the White House will have many purposes, such as lessening the estrangement between the two leaders and bolstering US support of Israel at a time when it is very isolated. But Mr. Obama should not forget his promise to the Palestinians and must extract concessions from Mr. Netanyahu. » Read more

Settlements are a blockade to peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am There are plenty of thorns in the side of the peace process, but none as sharp and intractable as Israel's settlement programme. For decades, successive Israeli governments have persisted in their obstinate policies in the West Bank to the detriment of civilians on both sides, despite knowing full well that no lasting peace deal can ever be reached without an end to the settlement enterprise. » Read more

Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Mike McIntire, Jim Rutenberg - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Twice a year, American evangelicals show up at a winery in this Jewish settlement in the hills of ancient Samaria to play a direct role in biblical prophecy, picking grapes and pruning vines. Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ’s second coming, they are recruited by a Tennessee-based charity called HaYovel that invites volunteers “to labor side by side with the people of Israel” and “to share with them a passion for the soon coming jubilee in Yeshua, messiah.” » Read more

The Palestinians have set the stage for Netanyahu's Washington trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage will be visiting Washington and meeting with Pres. Obama tomorrow, but it all comes very much in the context of last month's highly successful trip by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and an entourage of PLO leaders, the centerpiece of which was a meeting on June 9 with Obama in the White House. The logic of the Abbas visit, which had originally been scheduled to follow one week after a similar meeting between Obama and Netanyahu, originally seemed lost due to Netanyahu's cancelation of his meeting. » Read more

Beyond the Occuption: Palestine and the Two-State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from In These Times by Ralph Seliger - (Interview) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am In the wake of the Israel Defense Force’s violent interdiction of the Free Gaza movement’s “peace flotilla” on May 30, and Israel’s decision to ease the blockade of Gaza as a result, we present a pro-Palestinian viewpoint that favors peaceful co-existence with the Jewish State. » Read more

July 2nd

Palestinian President Reaches Out to Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dina Kraft - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am TEL AVIV — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, made a rare effort to reach out directly to the Israeli public, calling on Israel’s leadership to step up peace efforts while suggesting that his people were growing weary waiting for a state. “We want to live in peace. Don’t kill the hope,” Mr. Abbas said in comments published Thursday after a group interview with six correspondents from Israel’s leading newspapers. » Read more

Palestinian PM: Direct Mideast peace talks are a long way off ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by RIZEK ABDEL JAWAD - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have not yet made enough progress to justify the start of face-to-face negotiations, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Thursday during a visit to France. The U.S.-mediated discussions kicked off in May and are due to last four months, with American diplomats seeking to find common ground to bring the two sides to the same table. "We have yet to see the kind of progress that would be able to justify the consideration of ... direct talks," Fayyad said following a meeting with senior European officials over aid. » Read more

Official: PM-Obama talks to determine region's future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior advisor's, Yitzhak Molcho and Uzi Arad, are expected to leave for Cairo on Sunday for meetings with senior Egyptian officials ahead of Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington next week. "This time, the talks with President Obama on the Palestinian issue are more important than ever," a senior state official in Jerusalem said Friday morning. "They will determine the future of the process in the region." » Read more

IDF probe into Gaza flotilla likely to be more critical than expected ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The internal military probe into the Israel Defense Forces raid on the Turkish aid flotilla to Gaza headed by Gen. (res. ) Giora Eiland is expected to request more time than it was originally allotted to reach its conclusions. It appears that members of Eiland's staff are of the belief that the scope of the army's mishaps is more extensive than originally thought. The committee's findings are certainly expected to be more critical than the statements made by senior IDF officers immediately after the May 31 incident on the Mavi Marmara. » Read more

PM prepares for US visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 2, 2010 - 12:00am National Security Advisers Uzi Arad and Yitzhak Molko, will leave for Egypt on Sunday to meet with head of Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman, Israel Radio reported on Friday. The meeting is meant to help Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prepare for his trip to Washington on Monday. Netanyahu plans to meet US President Barack Obama next week to discuss the peace process. » Read more