Mitchell extends Middle East trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - September 18, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell has extended his trip to the region to Friday. Negotiations continue between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see if they can reach an agreement on some sort of settlement freeze. Such an agreement is one key element needed to make way for the announcement of a relaunch of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Time ripe to take on the lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s halcyon days of impunity are coming to a close. At long last the world’s movers and shakers have come to realise that Israel is an instigator of violence and an obstacle to peace in this region.

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US to extend settlement talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

He has held an extra unscheduled meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, with another due on Friday. The US is seeking a moratorium on settlement building that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side. It hopes to re-launch peace talks with a Israeli-Palestinian-US summit at the UN General Assembly later this month. Bilateral talks have been suspended since December and Mr Mitchell has spoken of his "sense of urgency" to get them resume them. 'Positive conclusion'

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Mitchell, Netanyahu fail to agree on settlement halt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis, Barak Ravid - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and the United States failed Tuesday to reach a compromise on the contentious issue of West Bank settlement construction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for two hours in Jerusalem with U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. The meeting ended with no results. The prime minister's bureau released a statement to the press describing the sit-down as "good." The two men will resume their discussions in Netanyahu's office Thursday morning.

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Assimilation threatens Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Linda S. Heard - (Opinion) September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Let's face it, without the financing and the protection of Washington, Israel would be forced to abide by international laws and treaties like every other country on earth, else risk being labelled 'a rogue state'. If the United States pulled the rug from under its favoured ally, Israel would no longer be able to continue its policy of nuclear ambiguity, would be called upon to abide by UN Security Council sanctions, and would face serious censure for launching aggressive strikes and wars.

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Israeli Cities Differences With U.S. on Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Mark Lavie - September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking ahead of a key meeting with the White House's Middle East envoy, said Sunday that differences remain with the United States over resuming peacemaking with the Palestinians. Netanyahu delivered the assessment before flying to Cairo for talks with Egypt's president, a main mediator in efforts to restart peace talks, and ahead of a meeting with George J. Mitchell, the U.S. envoy, later in the week.

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Passions High Ahead of Talks On Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

The scene from the Dr. Billye Brim Community Pool, named after the American pastor from Branson, Mo., who helped underwrite it, is decidedly suburban and removed from the international fray over Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The modern design lets in ample sunlight and fresh air for swimmers doing laconic laps in the midafternoon, while sunbathers lounge on a courtyard of clipped grass spotted with white umbrellas. The more energetic pound away on treadmills in a swanky fitness center.

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Many American Jews support President Obama's proposed settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Seattle Times
by Richard Silverstein - (Editorial) September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Over the past few months, the Obama administration has urged Israel to accept a settlement freeze as a means of showing good faith toward its Palestinian neighbors in negotiating peace. The freeze is important because 300,000 Israeli settlers live beyond the Green Line and they have poisoned the political atmosphere and prevented the parties from negotiating in earnest.

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U.S. Mideast efforts impaired amid Palestinian, Israeli infighting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Power struggles and partisan frictions within Israel and among the Palestinians have become a hindrance to the peace efforts in the region, including an on-going Mideast tour by U.S. envoy George Mitchell. Mitchell, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, expected to strike a deal during his visit on an Israeli settlement freeze and revival of the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis.

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U.S. is blind to limits of Palestinian politics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

After a drawn-out and frustrated negotiation over several hundred housing units in the settlements, the Obama administration realized that instead of tasting the grapes, it is wasting its time fighting with the vineyard's gatekeeper. They also revealed that the greatest superpower came to the fight unarmed. They discovered that to threaten Benjamin Netanyahu and Moshe Ya'alon with ceasing construction in the West Bank by pain of not resuming the Oslo process, was akin to threatening them that if Israel does not remove the outposts, the United States would bomb Iran.

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