Peace Negotiations | The American Task Force on Palestine

Mideast peace talks would face huge obstacles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Dan Perry - May 22, 2011 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama wants Israelis and Palestinians to return to the bargaining table, and he repeated the call Sunday in a speech to Israel supporters. But it seems unlikely this will happen anytime soon — and even if it did, the sides would find a formidable array of obstacles to agreement. Obama is clearly aware of this, telling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that "no matter how hard it may be to start meaningful negotiations under the current circumstances, we must acknowledge that a failure to try is not an option."

Obama Sees ’67 Borders as Starting Point for Peace Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Stefanie Marsh, Steven Lee Myers - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

President Obama, seeking to capture a moment of epochal change in the Arab world, began a new effort on Thursday to break the stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, setting out a new starting point for negotiations on the region’s most intractable problem.

Israel's Netanyahu: 1967 borders can't be defended
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's prime minister on Thursday gave a cool reception to President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech, warning a withdrawal from the West Bank wold leave Israel vulnerable to attack and setting up what could be a tense meeting at the White House. In his speech, Obama endorsed the Palestinian position on the borders of their future state, saying it should be based on Israel's lines before the 1967 Mideast war. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the fighting, and the Palestinians claim those areas for their state.

Why Israel should welcome Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by David Avital - (Opinion) May 18, 2011 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama’s speech Thursday about the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s impending visit and Special Envoy George Mitchell’s recent resignation, makes this a unique moment for Washington to set a new Mideast policy direction focused on one goal: a borders agreement. Rather than view the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September as a threat to derail Middle East peace, Obama could use the opportunity to move both sides forward and promote a return to negotiations on the border before the U.N. vote.

Making the Land of Israel Whole
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Danny Danon - (Opinion) May 18, 2011 - 12:00am

OVER the past few months, analysts in Israel and abroad have warned that Israel will face what Defense Minister Ehud Barak has termed a “diplomatic tsunami.” In September, the Palestinian Authority plans to bring the recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 boundary to the United Nations General Assembly for a vote. The Palestinians’ request will almost certainly be approved.

Not all Palestinian demands are a threat to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) May 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The defense minister was right to say he refuses to get excited over the fact that "a few dozen" Palestinians succeeded in entering Israel from Syria and thereby "violated Israel's sovereignty." Ehud Barak was also right to say that the Israel Defense Forces cannot station thousands of soldiers along the border to prevent such a "violation of sovereignty."

Netanyahu's Hollywood show is over
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - (Opinion) May 17, 2011 - 12:00am

"The problem is this," said Yitzhak Rabin. "The starting point is that we cannot be Nazi-like in terms of the drastic measures we take as an occupying power."

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