Abbas wants a trilateral meeting between aides before direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is attempting to win Israel's agreement to a Palestinian effort to hold a trilateral meeting next week to set the terms of reference, agenda and timetable for direct negotiations with the Palestinians. The Palestinians also want to discuss the future of Israel's freeze on settlement construction, which is scheduled to expire on September 26. If Israel agrees to the meeting, it will be the first significant direct talks with the Palestinian Authority since Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister last year.

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The Palestinians, Alone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Efraim Karsh - (Opinion) August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

It has long been conventional wisdom that the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a prerequisite to peace and stability in the Middle East. Since Arabs and Muslims are so passionate about the Palestine problem, this argument runs, the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate feeds regional anger and despair, gives a larger rationale to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and to the insurgency in Iraq and obstructs the formation of a regional coalition that will help block Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.

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Abbas, Mitchell's deputy discuss peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday with David Hale, deputy of U.S. special Middle East envoy George Mitchell, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, state-run Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. During the meeting, Abbas updated the U.S. official with the latest political developments in the region and efforts aiming to push the peace process forward, the report said.

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Breakthrough? Abbas gets Arab backing to enter Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Setting the stage for the Palestinians to negotiate directly with Israel, the Arab League agreed in principle today to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas holding face-to-face peace talks with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision of the Arab League's forum on Israeli-Palestinian talks is significant because it provides political cover for Mr. Abbas, who has been locked in a battle for legitimacy with Islamists from Hamas who oppose negotiations with Israel.

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Gaza rocket ends quiet year for Ashkelon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a rocket into Ashkelon on Israel's Mediterranean coast on Friday, blowing out the windows of an apartment block and damaging parked cars in a residential area of the city. No one was injured in the blast. But the attack ended over a year of calm for the city closest to the enclave ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement and it was likely to trigger a military response by Israel.

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Israel believes Abbas will bide time on direct talks until settlement freeze nears end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Officials in Jerusalem believe that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attempt to delay at all cost the beginning of direct peace negotiations with Israel, even after the Arab League gave the green light for the process at a special session on Thursday. A senior source in Jerusalem said that Abbas will likely wait until September, when Israel's temporary settlement freeze expires, before declaring his own decision on the matter.

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We shall be as dreamers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

This column joins in the call: Let's have proximity talks. For the talks are close, but the proximity is far off. It is not by chance that Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refrained from responding to the questions of the mediator who, had he not identified himself as the representative of a great power, would be suspected of loitering. Why reply, as long as it is possible to put him off with empty verbiage, and every delay is for the best?

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Is there really a difference?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by George Giacaman - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Syria and Israel negotiated directly in the US in 2000 and indirectly in 2008. The PLO and Israel negotiated indirectly first in the late 1980s and directly since the start of the Oslo process. Negotiations so far have not led to a comprehensive peace on either track. What moral can be drawn about the modus operandi, direct or indirect? None. The problem lies elsewhere.

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Sincerity a must for Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Recent high-level meetings in Washington and the region, and talk about the need for direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis on final status issues, indicate that something is in the offing. Peace advocates in the region and abroad always find it positive when the parties to the conflict are moving in the direction of peace, or, at least, exchanging views on how to jump-start the process. Apathy and stalemate are extremely harmful to both peace and the parties involved. As long as the momentum of peace efforts is kept, there is always hope. And hope is essential.

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'Abbas to give negotiations green light by September'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Even though the Arab League agreed in principle to direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to insist on conditions and guarantees before concluding the phase of indirect proximity talks. However, Western diplomats estimate that he will change his stance by the beginning of September. Western diplomatic sources quoted by British Telegraph newspaper on Thursday said Abbas would not withstand the pressure for a very long time, and "is preparing the ground for what could be the gamble of his political career."

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