Haaretz probe: 'New' settlement permits aren't really new
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am


At the West Bank city of Ariel's adventure park, whose construction Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved, nothing special was going on yesterday. Children were trying out the climbing wall and the mayor was walking around, proud as a groom on his wedding day. The facility was actually only approved yesterday, but has been in existence for a year and a half before receiving construction permits. In fact, a demolition order was issued against it.


Israeli settlements: Where, when, and why they're built
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 6, 2009 - 12:00am


Amid rising anticipation of a US-Israeli agreement on a settlement freeze, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy George Mitchell said they would meet again Wednesday after an inconclusive visit Tuesday in Jerusalem.


Hamas said ready to sign Shalit deal this weekend
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshal is planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit during a rare visit to Cairo this weekend, senior Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Friday. Hamas spokesman Taher A-Nunu confirmed that Meshal was traveling to Cairo on Saturday for a round of talks with Egyptian officials, attended by the organization's top-brass from Gaza and Damascus.


Bibi should not be overconfident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


On two key issues of Barack Obama's foreign policy - Palestinian statehood and reconciliation with Iran - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has chosen to fight the American President. He has refused to bend to Obama's will, and is instead seeking to outwit and defeat him.


Obama can still do more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


As the stage is being reportedly set for President Barack Obama to spell out his much-awaited ideas for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement at the opening of the UN General Assembly later this month, two issues remain regrettably overlooked or shortsightedly sidetracked. If this neglect persists, they have the potential of derailing a peaceful settlement.


Editorial: Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am


It was not just among Americans that Barack Obama raised great expectations when he won last year’s US presidential elections. In this part of the world, people believed that he would solve the Palestinian issue. Repeated signs from him that restarting and solving the Middle East peace process was a foreign policy priority reinforced that view. As a result, Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the US softened.


U.S., Israel Grow More Confident of Talks with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Charles Levinson, Jay Solomon - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am


Optimism is growing within the U.S. and Israeli governments that direct peace talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the Palestinian Authority could begin as early as this fall, said diplomats involved in the process. Negotiations between the U.S. and Israel over freezing Israel's settlements in Palestinian territories remain contentious, and it isn't certain a compromise will emerge that will allow the three parties and Israel's Arab neighbors to move forward on other issues.


Israelis and Palestinians talking again after months-long freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am


Reporting from Jerusalem - In a limited thaw of a frosty relationship, Israeli and Palestinian officials held their first high-level meeting in months Wednesday and discussed ways to bolster a promising economic recovery in the West Bank. The encounter was part of a shift by the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership, which previously shunned contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. That position was out of step with the Obama administration, which is seeking to bring the sides together.


Mitchell, Israelis to meet on settlement deal: diplomat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am


Israeli officials were to meet Wednesday with US envoy George Mitchell as an Israeli diplomat said both sides moved toward an understanding on the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Tuesday that Mitchell would meet in New York on Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff Michael Herzog. He expected a statement to be issued afterward.


PA, Israeli ministers hold economic talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am


Palestinian Minister of National Economy Bassem Khoury met with Israel’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom in Jerusalem on Wednesday in what is believed to be the first minister-level meeting since the current Israeli government came to power. The meeting was said to address bureaucratic ties between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, including entry permits for businesspeople, the export of milk products from the West Bank to Israel, and medical treatment for Palestinians in Israel.



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