March 26th

Palestinian security forces walk a careful line ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 26, 2010 - 12:00am As the highest-ranking commander of nearly 8,000 Palestinian security troops, Maj. Gen. Diab Ali is accustomed to being top gun. But the salutes often stop when he leaves the military base and travels through the West Bank. Experience has taught the general to leave his gun behind and trade the uniform for civilian clothes, lest some young Israeli checkpoint guard decide to hold him for questioning or block his way. "It avoids problems," said Ali, commander of the National Security Forces of the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

As U.S.-Israel rift continues, Netanyahu finds himself in a bind ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - March 26, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was welcomed home Thursday night with signs reading "Obama, No You Can't" and "Netanyahu Stand Strong" after a trip to Washington that appeared only to widen a two-week-old rift between the close allies over Israeli housing construction. » Read more

U.S. Fails to Persuade Israel on Housing Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper, Isabel Kershner - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am With Israeli officials saying that construction on a contentious Jewish housing project in East Jerusalem could begin at any time, President Obama seemed to have failed on Wednesday to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give a written commitment to rein in any further building and to move ahead on peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

Conflicting Demands Test Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am After contentious meetings in the White House, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, returned home on Thursday with the politically explosive task of responding to an unyielding American demand that he limit Israeli building in East Jerusalem. » Read more

March 25th

Amid Public Clash, U.S. Moves Israel Closer to Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am Under the klieg lights, American officials calmly repeated their opposition to key policies of Israel’s current government. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu snorted defiance in the face of the American warnings. And nothing appeared to change. But as high-profile leadership meetings and major policy speeches fixated the public during the annual conference of American Jewry’s primary pro-Israel lobby, U.S. officials moved the ball steadily, if incrementally, forward toward substantive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

The real price of Israel's settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 25, 2010 - 12:00am The cost of building Israeli settlements in the occupied territories stands at more than $17bn, according to a report released this week. The painstaking study into the economics of construction in the West Bank encompasses every building and road in the settlements, which cover a combined space of 12m square metres, and in doing so quantifies the enormity of the 43-year-old project of colonisation. » Read more

Israel’s new Center ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am A Yedioth Ahronoth poll published this past weekend revealed that Kadima had not only maintained its status as Israel's largest party, but even boosted its advantage over Likud, climbing up to 32 Knesset seats. Yet if Kadima officials are overjoyed because of this poll, they are wrong to do it – the same poll shows that the rightist bloc remains the only one capable of forming a government; Kadima only takes votes from the Left. » Read more

Obama may have edge over Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 25, 2010 - 12:00am Barack Obama must be feeling ecstatic and very confident that he is going down in history as the first American president able to guarantee health care coverage for all Americans, regardless of their background or social status. The landmark health care bill which the American president signed into law on Tuesday at a White House ceremony will eventually extend health insurance to about 32 million Americans who could not afford health insurance. » Read more

Netanyahu to US: I need cabinet's approval on understandings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am Aides to Benjamin Netanyahu met with American officials at the Mayflower Hotel for several hours overnight Thursday (Israeli time) in an effort to resolve the disagreements that had resurfaced during the Israeli prime minister's meeting with President Barack Obama and agree on trust-building Israeli measures that would advance the so-called "proximity talks" with the Palestinians. » Read more

Pride comes before the fall for Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am When Israel ignores its strongest allies when they call its behaviour insulting, one wonders if the word hubris has a translation in Hebrew. Judging by his comments to the pro-Israeli lobby group Aipac, a shameless Benjamin Netanyahu went further earlier this week, taking the fight straight to Washington. Despite the US administration’s vocal denunciation of his decision to continue building settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and its warning that this would endanger much-needed peace talks, the Israeli prime minister did not budge. » Read more