United States | The American Task Force on Palestine

Why Iran smiles on Jerusalem clashes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Scott Peterson - (Analysis) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Iran is closely watching the unfolding crisis between Israel and the United States over Israeli settlements – and Jerusalem clashes with Palestinians that injured more than 100 today – for ways to rejuvenate its diminished influence in the Middle East.

PREVIEW-Israeli settlement dispute clouds quartet meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Conor Sweeney - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

A bitter dispute over Israeli settlements is clouding the chances for progress on Friday at a high-level Moscow meeting aimed at advancing Middle East peace. Russia, eager to raise its profile as a Middle East peacemaker, has long hoped to push the process forward by hosting a follow-up to the 2007 Annapolis peace conference in the United States, with all the major players on hand.

It's time for Netanyahu to say yes to Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

The cancellation of the visit by American envoy George Mitchell, who has been delegated to renew the diplomatic negotiations, embodies the slippery slope facing Israel during the past week. Even before completing the first year of his second term in office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to foment crises in two key strategic areas: the peace process with the Palestinians and relations with the United States.

Netanyahu's brother-in-law: Obama is an anti-Semite
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi on Wednesday called U.S. President Barack Obama an anti-Semite in an interview with Army Radio. "It's not that Obama doesn't like Bibi," he referring to Netanyahu using his nickname. "He doesn't like the nation of Israel." Netanyahu was quick to distance himself from Ben-Artzi's remarks, saying he completely disagrees with his brother-in-law.

Row with U.S. questions Netanyahu's fitness to lead
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares at a cabinet meeting that the media exaggerated in describing the grave crisis with the United States and throws in a few more phrases from the "it'll all be fine" department, it is clear that he has neither learned nor forgotten anything. You didn't have to read Thomas Friedman's devastating column in The New York Times to know that there is a limit to the Americans' patience and their willingness to let us pour mud on their heads and call it rain.

U.S. confident Mideast peace talks to continue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The U.S. is confident proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians will continue, despite recent tension over Israel's plan to construct 1,600 new housing units in an East Jerusalem neighborhood, State Department official Philip J. Crowley said on Monday. "They have begun," Crowley said referring to indirect peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. "I'm confident that there will be another round of proximity talks." He added, however, that the administration wants to make sure that both sides are committed to making progress.

Opportunity in a Fight With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - (Analysis) March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

For President Obama, getting into a serious fight with Israel carries obvious domestic and foreign political risks. But it may offer the administration a payoff it sees as worthwhile: shoring up Mr. Obama’s credibility as a Middle East peacemaker by showing doubtful Israelis and Palestinians that he has the fortitude to push the two sides toward an agreement.

Israel Objects to U.S. Construction Demands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The discord between the United States and Israel over Jewish building in East Jerusalem deepened Tuesday with Israeli officials saying they would reject demands by Washington and expressing anger over the public upbraiding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Obama administration.

U.S. pushing Netanyahu to accept demands for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reverse last week's approval of 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians, and publicly declare that all of the "core issues" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, U.S. officials said.

Israel rejects U.S. calls to halt East Jerusalem plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - March 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud. The United States wants Netanyahu to order a halt to the construction and make a gesture to Palestinians that could help lead to peace negotiations.