Israel's Likud demanding West Bank settlement annexation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's Likud party on Monday asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex areas of the West Bank containing Israeli settlements, ahead of a possible United Nations General Assembly resolution in September recognizing a Palestinian state. The call comes after Likud Knesset member Danny Danon announced findings of a party-sponsored poll that showed more than half of the respondents supporting annexation of West Bank settlement areas, the Ynet news site reported on Monday.

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Israel's Netanyahu takes aim at Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday took a tough line toward an emerging Palestinian government ahead of a high-profile trip to Washington, saying "those that want to destroy us are not partners in peace." Netanyahu reiterated a willingness to agree to a Palestinian state under certain conditions but made clear he did not believe it was possible if the Islamic militant group Hamas, which is set to join a Palestinian unity government with the Western-leaning Fatah movement, does not recognize Israel.

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Israel Leader Outlines Points Before U.S. Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with President Obama, he laid out his principles Monday for accepting a Palestinian state, showing greater flexibility on territory but still pursuing a far more hawkish approach than any Palestinian leader is likely to accept. He also made clear that if the recent reconciliation accord between Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian parties, led to Hamas becoming part of a Palestinian government, no peace would be negotiated.

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Israel Leader Outlines Points Before U.S. Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with President Obama, he laid out his principles Monday for accepting a Palestinian state, showing greater flexibility on territory but still pursuing a far more hawkish approach than any Palestinian leader is likely to accept. He also made clear that if the recent reconciliation accord between Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian parties, led to Hamas becoming part of a Palestinian government, no peace would be negotiated.

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What would Netanyahu do for peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Makovsky - (Opinion) May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Just a few weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to Washington had the makings of a confrontation amid U.S. dissatisfaction over peace policy. Then Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a power-sharing arrangement with Hamas. Although Washington cannot easily demand that Netanyahu make major concessions on peace as Abbas joins forces with a group sworn to Israel’s destruction, the Israeli prime minister should still arrive this week with a plan for renewed peace talks.

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IDF on Lebanon alert for Nakba Day demonstrations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am

IDF troops will be deployed in large numbers throughout the West Bank and along the border with Lebanon on Friday, amid expectations that massive demonstrations will break out on both fronts ahead of Nakba Day (“the day of the catastrophe”). The IDF began reinforcing troops in the West Bank earlier this week, and sources in the Northern Command said on Thursday that there were expectations that Palestinians in Lebanon will also travel to the border to participate in the protests.

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For Jerusalem’s Armenians, 1,600 years of history and an uncertain future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the four quarters of old Jerusalem belongs to the Armenians, keepers of an ancient monastery and library, heirs to a tragic history and to a stubborn 1,600-year presence that some fear is now in doubt.

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All Netanyahu needs is to say one magic number: 1967
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

The international community is tensely waiting to hear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's words to the U.S. Congress in 12 days' time. Yet it will not be words that determine how the speech is received, but rather a number. If Netanyahu does not specifically mention the number 1967, the world will reject his speech from the outset. Israel's future hangs today on the prime minister's ability to utter the four digits he has not yet uttered - one, nine, six, seven: 1967.

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Israeli PM's speech in U.S. will not offer concessions: Likud sources
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of the United States Congress later this month will not include Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, local news website Ynet reported Thursday. The report quoted anonymous Likud Party sources "close to Netanyahu" as saying that the premier, who is scheduled to give the speech on May 24, will announce that Israel is not willing to withdraw from the West Bank territory, nor offer any other concessions.

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When Will the Israelis Protest?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

More than at any time before, the State of Israel on the anniversary of its founding seems similar to all other countries in the region, as its “regime” resorts to the same fear-mongering methods that were adopted by Arab regimes that have gone, as well as by others that still make use of them with their citizens to convince them of the absurdity of change and the danger of the alternatives.

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