Israel | The American Task Force on Palestine

With subtle shift in nuance, Hillary Clinton reiterates U.S. stance on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

In the face of bipartisan concern over U.S. criticism of Israeli policies, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday reiterated the administration's demand for a "full commitment" to peace talks from Israel but also ever so slightly bolstered her rhetorical support for the Jewish state.

Why Iran smiles on Jerusalem clashes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Scott Peterson - (Analysis) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East.

Israel lifts closure of West Bank as tensions calm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel on Wednesday lifted its tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem's holiest shrine and called off an extended West Bank closure after days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Despite moving to end the lockdown, Israel still kept thousands of police officers on alert as an uneasy calm settled over the holy city. The recent violence has taken place against a backdrop of deep Palestinian frustration over a yearlong standstill in peace talks and dovetailed with the worst U.S.-Israeli diplomatic feud in decades.

'Report demonizing Israel risks Presbyterian-Jewish ties'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by E.B. Solomont - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

American Jewish leaders are slamming a report by the Presbyterian Church USA that blames Israel for the “Palestinian resistance” and denounces companies doing business with Israel. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which circulated a memo to its member agencies and board of directors Monday, said the biased report reduced the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a caricature, demonizing Israel and delegitimizing its right to exist as a Jewish state.

US-Israel crisis — this time it's serious
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Arab News - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Tension between the United States and Israel went up a notch on Monday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said construction in occupied East Jerusalem would continue as usual. "Construction will continue in Jerusalem as has been the case over the past 42 years," Netanyahu told members of his Likud party.

Let’s Fight Over a Big Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Underlying the latest U.S.-Israel spat over settlements is the deeper — real — problem: There are five key actors in the Israeli-Palestinian equation today. Two of them — the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the alliance of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — have clear strategies. These two are actually opposed, but one of them will shape Israeli-Palestinian relations in the coming years; indeed, their showdown is nearing. I hope Fayyad wins. It would be good for Israel, America and the moderate Arabs. But those three need their own strategy to make it happen.

Bibi’s Tense Time-Out
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Maureen Dowd - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

So, Barack Obama can lose his temper without a teleprompter. And we have the supremely aggravating Bibi Netanyahu to thank for that. On St. Patrick’s Day, of all days, we wouldn’t want to think that our president did not know how to pick his donnybrooks. The American government did unfortunately apologize to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who got mad when a State Department spokesman correctly observed that the Libyan leader doesn’t always make sense. But in the case of a defiant Israel, the White House has not yet retreated into its usual compromising crouch.

Israel's Titanic moment: Does Obama want Bibi's head?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas has designated this day, in this place, its Day of Rage. Why, then, the smiles on the faces of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Perhaps it's because after more than 22 years of costly trial and error, Hamas has finally come upon the secret of how to bring down the Jewish state: Let the ship sink itself. This month, down here in the engine room of the Titanic, a single coherent order continues to sound from the officers shrouded in fog on the bridge: "More power!"

The U.S. quarrel with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S Middle East diplomacy failed in his first year in part because he chose to engage in an unnecessary and unwinnable public confrontation with Israel over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Over the past six months Mr. Obama's envoys gingerly retreated from that fight and worked to build better relations with the government of Binyamin Netanyahu. Last week the administration finally managed to strike a deal for the launching of indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks. So it has been startling -- and a little puzzling -- to see Mr.

Israel rejects U.S. calls to halt East Jerusalem plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations.