What's in a name?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Maybe it was an inside joke. Or perhaps the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was simply short on sleep when he mangled the name of his Egyptian counterpart - President Mohammed Morsi - and combined it with that of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. Either way, the near-blunder was a surreal moment in a country that is just barely dealing with reality.

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Mohammad Hosni!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

If any observer had wanted to sum up the situation of the current Egyptian regime, and compare it to the pre-25 January 2011 situation, it would be difficult to find anything better than the “mistake” committed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, when he called the current Egyptian president “Mohammed Hosni.”

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Palestinian Officials Urge Obama to Push for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Daniel Estrin - February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinian officials said Thursday they hope President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the region signals readiness to re-engage in Mideast peace efforts, but that negotiations can only resume if Washington is ready to get tough with Israel.

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Chill Out, John Kerry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Here we go again.  A recently minted American secretary of state eager to burnish his foreign policy credentials barely a day after his confirmation has already called both the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president to discuss the importance of trying to resume the peace process and to express America’s commitment to Arab-Israeli peace. 

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Obama Complicates Netanyahu’s Coalition Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

For all the speculation over what President Obama plans to say to Prime Minister Netanyahu when the two meet in Jerusalem in March or April, the important message has already been delivered. By making Israel his first overseas destination, the president has made it the top item on his second-term foreign-policy agenda. And with all due respect to the prime minister’s domestic political constraints, that means the president intends to create some movement toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Know Your Enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Amal Al-Hazzami - (Opinion) February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

I would like to thank those who showered me with a torrent of angry correspondence about my previous article on Israel, who accused me of calling for a normalization of relations, promoting the Hebrew language, and glorifying Israeli liberalism. This response was to be expected because I breached a taboo. However, I am sorry to say to those people, despite my appreciation of their opinions, that their outrage will not change the reality. Israel will remain as it is; a small state but stronger than the rest of the Arab world.

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Argentine foreign minister accuses Israel of giving 'ammunition to anti-Semites,' sources say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman accused Israel of giving "ammunition to anti-Semites who accuse Jews of dual loyalty" as part of an exceptionally harsh dressing down of Israel's ambassador Dorit Shavit, sources say. The incident was sparked by Israel's efforts to obtain explanations about an agreement Argentina and Iran signed around two weeks ago.

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Secretary of State Kerry to visit Israel, PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - February 6, 2013 - 1:00am

US Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to visit the Palestinian Authority in mid February, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported Wednesday, citing "sources in the know." This will be Kerry's first visit to the region since taking office.

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Obama ‘wants to host Netanyahu-Abbas meeting during visit’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Adiv Sterman - February 6, 2013 - 1:00am

US President Barack Obama wants to host a summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit here this spring, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Wednesday. Ayalon said he was “certain” that efforts to arrange such a meeting were already under way.

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Obama Plans Visit to Israel This Spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Peter Baker - February 6, 2013 - 1:00am

President Obama plans to travel to Israel this spring for the first time since taking office, as he and Prime Minister

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