Hillary Clinton headed to Mideast for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launches an intense week of Middle East diplomacy in Egypt Tuesday, joining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for their next round of face-to-face peace talks. She begins in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, then plans to move on to Jerusalem on Wednesday and the West Bank and Jordan on Thursday.

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Peace Talks? What’s on TV?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen<br /> - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

I recently went to a dinner here hosted by a charming Israeli couple, just back from Umbria with assorted Italian delicacies, and found the guests riveted not by the ritual of a new round of U.S.-mediated peace talks but by the climax of “A Star is Born.” We all rushed from the table to see 18-year-old Diana Golbi — a Russian immigrant born Diana Golbanova in Moscow — belt out her winning song on the Israeli version of “American Idol.” The runner-up, a Sephardic commander in the Israel Defense Forces named Idan Amedi, looked to the heavens and thanked God for second place.

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Clinton stresses urgency of Mideast talks despite focus on settlement moratorium
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her first plunge into Middle East peacemaking, said she will prod Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week to press forward with talks, even with the Israeli moratorium on settlements expiring this month.

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Netanyahu's embrace of peace talks keeps Israelis guessing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders <br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Israelis have seen it before. A hawkish leader expected to be tough on the Palestinian issue instead embarks on a game-changing path to end the conflict. Menachem Begin did it. So did Yitzhak Rabin. Ariel Sharon split apart his right-wing Likud Party by withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.

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Why the Israeli 'consensus' on settlements is not so simple
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Responding to calls from President Barack Obama to extend an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted this weekend for the first time that he's open to new limits on building after the Sept. 26 expiration.

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Who's bluffing: Abbas or Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The conventional wisdom about Mahmoud Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu as they head into the second round of Mideast peace talks this week goes something like this: Abbas is a moderate who genuinely wants a two-state settlement but may be too weak politically to deliver. Netanyahu is a hawk who holds a commanding political position in Israel but doesn't really accept Palestinian statehood.

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What's so wrong with giving peace a chance?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Ron Grossman - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Perhaps never before has a bit of diplomatic theater received such ho-hum reviews as when Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu had dinner at the White House earlier this month, unless the record belongs to a previous sit-down between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. And yet . . . The Middle East is the land of "and yet." It's been the sign-off phrase for myriad attempts to end decades of stalemate and violence.

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Erekat: No infighting on negotiations team
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The PLO's chief negotiator denied on Sunday, reports in the Arab media that he and another Palestinian officials were sparring over who would represent President Mahmoud Abbas at an upcoming peace summit. Saeb Erekat told Ma'an that President Abbas appointed him as head of the Palestinian negotiations delegation, which meant he - and not Nabil Shaath - would attend the Sharm Ash-Sheikh summit on Tuesday, where peace talks that began on 2 September in Washington are set to continue.

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Netanyahu and the freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea<br /> - (Opinion) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

You screwed up, Netanyahu can say to Barack Obama following the president’s call over the weekend to extend the settlement construction freeze. The construction was frozen for a limited period of time – 10 months. The American Administration chose to accept this timeframe. It cannot show regret as this period draws to an end and ask for more. It’s not serious or credible.

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Netanyahu urges recognition of Israel as "Jewish people's state"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
(Analysis) September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the Palestinians to recognize Israel as "Jewish people's state" and called for "two states for two peoples " as part of a solution to the Israeli -- Palestinian conflict. "We say that the solution is two states for two peoples, meaning two national states, a Jewish national state and a Palestinian national state," Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet session.

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