Top Abbas aide: We're trying to reach deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Nasser Laham - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

If there is one man on the Palestinian side capable of assessing the prospects of these new direct talks between Israel and the PLO, it is President Mahmoud Abbas' top aide and spokesman. Known as "the black box" due to his vantage point as presidential spokesman for the administrations of both Abbas and former president Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudaineh has shadowed the Ramallah leadership for more than a decade.

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'Neither Israel nor the Palestinians can afford to walk out on the U.S.'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Interview) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

As peace talks cranked into a higher gear, with Palestinian and Israeli leaders finally meeting face-to-face in Washington and limbering up for the next round in Cairo, Haaretz caught up with David Makovsky, one of America's leading Mideast analysts, to ask if there is really enough meat to the new negotiations to appease the cynics. Amr Moussa, the Secretay General, of the Arab League, predicted on Friday that the new round of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will be the last. Do you agree?

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A condition for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

In light of the Palestinians' acceptance of a land swap, the battle over the construction freeze in the settlements is not a struggle for their very existence, since most of them and their residents will be annexed to Israel in any agreement. The battle over the construction freeze is a battle for perception in Israel and abroad - between Greater Israel on the one hand and two states for two peoples on the other. So this battle is important for the existence of the diplomatic process.

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This time in Washington, honest brokerage is not going to be enough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The pope, according to a no doubt apocryphal story, maintains that there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict – the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic solution involves divine intervention; the miraculous solution involves a voluntary agreement between the parties themselves. The American-sponsored peace talks that got under way in Washington last week may be viewed in this light. It will take nothing less than a miracle to produce a peaceful settlement of the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land.

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Legitimize Hamas and kiss the PLO goodbye
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am

With the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, numerous voices in the United States have been urging the inclusion of Hamas in international diplomacy, a focus on Palestinian unity, or some formal American outreach to the Palestinian Islamist group.

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Legitimize Hamas and kiss the PLO goodbye
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am

With the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, numerous voices in the United States have been urging the inclusion of Hamas in international diplomacy, a focus on Palestinian unity, or some formal American outreach to the Palestinian Islamist group.

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Israel PM sees deal possible in year, spokesman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told visiting U.S. congressmen he thinks it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year despite huge differences, his spokesman said. Netanyahu told the visiting delegation that he "believes it possible, through such direct and contiguous negotiations, held without breaks or delays, to achieve a peace agreement within a year", spokesman Nir Hefez said on Monday.

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Israeli FM pushes for new settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Matti Friedman - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Monday that his party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations. Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli government must keep its promise to voters that the 10-month slowdown, declared last November under U.S. pressure in order to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table, will end as scheduled at the end of the month.

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Mideast Leaders Hopeful After Opening of Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Palestinian  and Israeli leaders expressed satisfaction and hope on Sunday in their first public utterances after the opening round of Middle East peace talks in Washington last week.

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Palestinian Authority upset over Ahmadinejad's criticism of Mideast peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am

WEST BANK For a long time, statements by Iranian leaders about the Palestinian conflict have upset the Palestinian Authority and drew harsh criticism. This was evident again on Saturday, as the Palestinian Authority reacted to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's criticism of its participation in last week's Washington meeting with Israel to reopen peace talks. Ahmadinejad lambasted Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said Abbas was a hostage of Israel and that the talks were doomed.

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