March 25th

Obama, Netanyahu meet for hours as U.S. pushes for outreach to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am U.S. and Israeli officials struggled Wednesday to resolve a sharp dispute over U.S. demands that Israel make goodwill gestures to lure Palestinian officials back to the negotiating table. » Read more

Israel Confirms New Building in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am With strains still high between Israel and the United States over the issue of Jewish settlements, construction of a contentious Jewish housing project in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem could start at any time, Israeli officials and experts said Wednesday Jerusalem city hall gave the project the final go-ahead on March 18, days after city officials said the landowners had paid the required fees. Once the fees were paid, City Hall said in a statement on Wednesday, “approval was granted automatically.” » Read more

Netanyahu departs Washington amid chill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - (Blog) March 25, 2010 - 12:00am Netanyahu departed Washington for Israel late Wednesday night, after what some sources described as a sometimes frantic last 24 hours of decision-making after a late night meeting with Obama at the White House Tuesday night. » Read more

Deep chill in U.S.-Israeli relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - March 25, 2010 - 12:00am Bad personal chemistry, public confrontation and mutual silence a full day after a two-hour meeting Tuesday night between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have deepened the impression of a worsening fracture in the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel. » Read more

March 24th

Netanyahu meets Obama as new housing controversy emerges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - (Blog) March 24, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is supposed to meet with President Obama at the White House at 5:30pm. The meeting comes shortly after Israeli media reported that late last week, the Jerusalem municipality gave final approval to a group of settlers to construct 20 apartments at the Shepherd Hotel site in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. » Read more

J'lem building c'tee meetings frozen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 24, 2010 - 12:00am Since the furor when plans to build 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo were announced during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, all discussions by the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee over new construction in the capital have been frozen, it was announced Wednesday. Jerusalem Municipality official Yair Gabai made the statement in an interview with Army Radio, and it was later confirmed by the Interior Ministry. "Unfortunately, since Biden's visit, all committee meetings have been frozen until further notice," said Gabai. » Read more

Court ruling lets settlers shoot in air to repel Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - March 23, 2010 - 12:00am A recent Jerusalem Magistrate's Court verdict indicates that settlers may fire in the air to repel unarmed Palestinians, a ruling that a Palestinian rights advocate called a dangerous precedent. Magistrate's Court Judge Hagit Kalmanovitch ruled last month that Abraham Hofi, of the settlement of Halamish, was not guilty of issuing threats or mishandling a weapon when he fired in the air from his father's balcony on May 6, 2005, after observing three Palestinians shepherding a herd some 100 meters from the settlement fence. » Read more

No sign of breakthrough in Netanyahu-Obama meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews March 24, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met twice during a dramatic evening in the White House, but no signs emerged of a breakthrough in a row over Jewish settlements. Obama hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office late Tuesday for 90 minutes, but with the two sides embroiled in their most testy disagreement in years, unusually did not appear before the cameras with his visitor. As an evening of intense diplomacy developed, Netanyahu then asked to consult privately with his staff, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity. » Read more

Israel, undeterred, to build in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - March 24, 2010 - 12:00am Undeterred by turbulence in its ties with the United States and Britain, Israel on Wednesday confirmed further plans to expand the Jewish presence in occupied East Jerusalem, with more building freshly approved. In a move sure to anger Palestinians and frustrate Western proponents of a freeze on settlement construction, a city official said approval was given to develop a flashpoint neighbourhood from which Palestinians were evicted last year. » Read more

Britain expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai passport row ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News March 23, 2010 - 12:00am The UK is to expel an Israeli diplomat over 12 forged British passports used in the killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January. David Miliband said there were "compelling reasons" to believe Israel was responsible for the forgeries. The foreign secretary said the misuse of British passports was "intolerable". Israel's ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, said he was "disappointed", but Israel confirmed there would be no tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsion. » Read more