Quartet in Final Push Before Bush Term Ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm

Representatives of the Quartet, the four international players trying to outline a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are meeting in Sharm A-Sheikh on Sunday in a bid to push forward the peace process before U.S. President George W. Bush’s term ends in January. Officials from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will meet in the Egyptian resort to assess their progress up until now. They also want to ensure that talks will continue after general elections take place in Israel in February.

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Mideast peace: one more push
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Howard Lafranchi - November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm

Less than a year after President Bush launched an effort to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the end of his term, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sets out Wednesday on what could be a final push to put Mr. Bush's stamp on the sputtering peace process.

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White House says Israeli-Palestinian deal unlikely
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Arshad Mohammed - November 5, 2008 - 8:00pm

The White House acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, beginning a four-day visit to the Middle East, said Israel's decision to call a parliamentary election, scheduled for February 10, had created a "different situation" that made it "very difficult" to come to an agreement.

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Rice off to Mideast as peace deadline looms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - November 4, 2008 - 8:00pm

Fighting irrelevance and a ticking clock, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarks Wednesday on yet another Middle East peacemaking trip, hoping to secure fragile Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and leave a viable process for the incoming Obama administration. With just 77 days left in office, Rice will be making her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set a year-end goal of reaching a peace deal at last November's Annapolis peace conference. She will also visit Egypt and Jordan to shore up Arab support for the talks.

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Abbas sees no peace deal with Israel this year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 2, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel and the Palestinians will not be able to reach a peace agreement before Washington's target date of the end of this year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday. "I don't think it's possible to clear an accord by the end of this year as both the U.S. and the Israeli administrations are now busy with other matters and the very short time does not allow for striking such a deal," Abbas said at the start of a two-day visit to Romania.

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Rice set for Middle East visit, regional peace to top agenda
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the Middle East next week to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace despite the recognition that there is little chance of a deal this year, diplomats said. The State Department said Rice would leave on Wednesday, the day after the US presidential election, and travel to Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, whose parliamentary election has effectively put the peace process on hold.

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Egypt would hand over prisoner swap talks - Mubarak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

EGYPT WOULD WILLINGLY stand aside and let some other government mediate a prisoner release between Israelis and Palestinians, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published on Thursday. Egypt has been trying for months, so far without success, to arrange the exchange of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Palestinians in Gaza have been holding Shalit for more than two years.

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Quartet to meet in Egypt on Nov. 6
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - October 29, 2008 - 8:00pm

A senior Palestinian official said Wednesday the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers will meet Nov. 6 at Sharm el-Sheik to assess progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting's date has not been announced, said the gathering in Egypt would include U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The aim is to hear the progress Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have made in their talks. The so-called Quartet is made up of the U.N., the U.S., the European Union and Russia.

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Israel schedules early elections for February 10
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 28, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel's political parties decided Tuesday to hold early elections on February 10, a decision that will leave US-backed Mideast peace talks on hold for months. "Following a meeting of the Knesset factions it was decided that the elections will be held on February 10," said Knesset spokesman Giora Pordes, adding that Parliament would adjourn on November 11. Both Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party and the right-wing Likud party of hard-line hawk former Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, the two frontrunners for prime minister, had pressed for elections as soon as possible.

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Israel's Current Strategic Environment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
by Amos Gilad - October 27, 2008 - 8:00pm

- Hamas could have pretended it wanted a political solution and the whole world would have recognized this. The Quartet posed to Hamas only three conditions: recognize your neighbor, recognize the peace agreements, and avoid terror. But Hamas said, no, Israel has no right to exist. They have a dream - to join the other Islamic forces, to revolutionize the whole Middle East. - The Palestinian Authority is doing better at maintaining law and order in its territory in the West Bank. However, it has far from demonstrated any level of performance in dealing with terror.

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