Obama and Netanyahu: The scorecard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu have now spent six days lecturing each other about the “realities” of the Middle East, either face-to-face or with Congress, the State Department or the AIPAC lobbying group as an audience. They have managed to focus the attention of Washington and much of the world on their differences over Palestinian statehood, and their evident animosity toward each other. So it’s worth asking: Did either of them accomplish anything positive?

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Palestinians say Netanyahu speech obstacle to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision for ending conflict with Palestinians put "more obstacles" in front of the Middle East peace process, the spokesman for the Palestinian president said. "There was nothing new in Netanyahu's speech other than more obstacles in front of the peace process," Nabil Abu Rdainah, the spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters following Israeli leader's address to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

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For Obama, Bibi tensions subside, political problems begin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

That Israel problem President Obama had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Old news. That Israel problem Obama has with Congress? And with his party? That's just beginning. In two successive speeches -- one to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday and another to a joint meeting of Congress the following day, Netanyahu had nothing but praise for the U.S. president.

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Netanyahu's end game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

There are now two divergent views/policies on the issue — a settlement based on Israeli withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 armistice borders, with mutually accepted land swaps, allowing for an independent Palestinian state to be created in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and a unilateral arrangement that does not recognize these borders or any of the fundamentals needed to achieve a just and sustainable deal.

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Netanyahu is not ready for any deal with the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Opinion) May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

There's nothing funnier than reading political pundits trying to get to the bottom of the fine points of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speeches. When he said "settlement blocs," did he mean the evacuation of all the rest? When he spoke of a "military presence" in the Jordan Valley, did he mean the Israel Defense Forces, or an international force?

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Moussa: Israel 'not serious' about peace negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Egyptian presidential likely Amr Moussa said that the Israeli refusal to negotiate a peaceful settlement with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas is illegitimate. He said that the current Israeli leadership "is not serious" about negotiating with any Palestinian faction. Speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Moussa said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has to "take into consideration that the Arab world is changing," and that the new Arab leadership will not represent the old status quo. He said now is the time for the Israeli government to "seize this opportunity."

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Losing sight of the 1967 borders means losing sight of two states
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama's long-awaited speech on the "Arab spring" and the Arab-Israel conflict has created controversy and spurred contradicting reactions in Israel, Palestine and the Arab world. The immediate and most prominent reaction was that of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who objected publicly to Obama's reference to the borders of 1967 as the basis for negotiations. This automatically made this part of the speech the most dramatic.

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Obama's speeches lay basis for peace process: PLO official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama's recent speeches have laid the basis for starting a serious peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, an official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said Monday. Yasser Abed Rabbo of the PLO added that it is possible for the Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel in line with Obama 's vision that the borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state should be the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. However, Abed Rabbo stressed that Israel must accept Obama's calls first.

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Netanyahu repeats Israel cannot return to '67 borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday again rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's vision of a Middle East peace deal based on the country's "indefensible" 1967 borders. Netanyahu, speaking to Washington's most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, said he planned to outline in a speech to Congress on Tuesday his own vision for an eventual peace between Israel and the Palestinians. "It must leave Israel with security, and therefore Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines," Netanyahu said.


Livni: 2-state solution good for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Give peace a chance: The two-state solution is good for Israel and is the only way to maintain a state that is both Jewish and democratic, Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni told the AIPAC conference in Washington Monday. The notion of two states, Israel and Palestine, is not just a slogan or a move that would be beneficial for other parties, such as the US president, Livni said. "It is not an anti-Israeli policy – it is vital for Israel’s interests," she said.

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