Washington Watch: Israel needs a real foreign minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by D. Bloomfield - (Opinion) October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

It appears that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will once more be dragged kicking and screaming to the peace table. In exchange for briefly extending the settlement moratorium, he is expected to get a generous package of American military aid, weapons systems, security guarantees, and political backing for years.

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How Did Netanyahu Turn the Tables on Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The story revealed by our newspaper yesterday on the new conditions proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister to the US administration for a freeze on settlement construction for a specific period of time – thus leading to a resumption of the peace talks – demonstrates why we had been calling on the Palestinian President to continue negotiations and not fall into Netanyahu's trap.

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Risks and Advantages in U.S. Effort in Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

When President Obama reopened face-to-face talks between the Israelis and Palestinians last month, he pledged that his administration would hold their hands but warned, “The United States cannot impose an agreement, and we cannot want it more than the parties themselves.” With the negotiations deadlocked over the issue of Jewish settlements, several veterans of Middle East peacemaking said Mr. Obama’s warning had come true — only weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, agreed to sit down.

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For Netanyahu to accept new freeze, U.S. might have to sweeten the deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

Following reports of an unprecedented U.S. offer of a host of assurances in return for a 60-day extension of the freeze on building in West Bank settlements, some political analysts are wondering why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not grabbed the deal with both hands. According to the reports, President Obama is offering Netanyahu pledges that the United States will: * Not ask for additional extensions on the partial ban on settlement building, which expired Sept. 26;

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Deadline extended in bid to keep Israel-Palestinian talks alive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv, Israel — Sputtering Israeli-Palestinian peace talks received another reprieve over the weekend when a key Arab League meeting was postponed until Friday. It was the second delay for the meeting, which Palestinians said could mark their withdrawal from negotiations if Israeli settlement expansion continued.

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Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Simon Tisdall - (Opinion) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Barack Obama has barely a week to save the Middle East peace process from collapse, only months after he relaunched it amid optimistic predictions that a solution would be reached within a year. The consequences of failure will be serious for the US president; for the region and the wider world, they are potentially disastrous.

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Play the wild card
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ami Kaufman - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Pessimism,” “doomed to fail” and “waste of time” – these words and phrases litter the reporting and blogging on the current talks between Israel and the Palestinians. One can only hope to be pleasantly surprised and hear that by the end of next summer they will be deemed a success. But seeing as how the pessimists seem to be a majority, now may just be the time to think of creative ways to end the stalemate. One possibility would be for a third party to change the rules of the game. This would fundamentally change the status quo and force the two sides to act accordingly.

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Korans burnt in West Bank mosque attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

BEIT FAJJAR, West Bank, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Jewish settlers opposed to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians were accused of setting fire to a mosque in the West Bank on Monday, burning the Koran and scrawling threats in Hebrew on its walls. "Mosques, we burn," said a warning scribbled at the door of the smoke-smudged mosque of Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed for cool heads to avert the collapse of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

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Pressure mounts on PM to reject US ‘benefits package’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has begun efforts to persuade Likud cabinet members to support a deal with the US in which Israel would limit construction in Judea and Samaria for 60 days in return for American promises, Likud officials confirmed on Sunday. While the proposal has not been finalized, Netanyahu’s associates have started making inquiries with the ministers, asking them to be flexible.

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Israel, Palestinians start to blame each other as talks look shaky
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

The latest round of the U.S.- sponsored direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were stumbling as the two sides differed on the issue of whether or not Israel should extend its 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank after it ended last week. Analysts said that both Israel and the Palestinians are now trying to escape being blamed for delaying the peace talks, while reaffirming close relations with the Washington. BLAME GAME STARTS

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