White House | The American Task Force on Palestine

Estimate: De-facto freeze in J'lem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel faces no choice but to enforce a de-facto construction freeze in greater Jerusalem. Netanyahu won't officially announce it, but will quietly execute it, says a senior cabinet source Amidst crisis with the White House, how will Israel respond to the American demands? According to a senior source in the government, "The price for the American insult will be a de-facto construction freeze across greater Jerusalem. There will be no other choice, due to the government's stupidity," the source told Ynet.

Akiva Eldar / Whose failure is the Mideast peace process?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Analysis) January 22, 2010 - 1:00am

Exactly a year after trumpeting the appointment of former senator George Mitchell as his special envoy to the Middle East, U.S. President Barack Obama is holding Israel and the Palestinians equally responsible for the stalemate in the peace process. In an interview with Time magazine marking his first year in the White House, Obama said neither side has been willing to make the bold gestures necessary to move the process forward.

U.S.: Emanuel 'didn't threaten to walk away' from Mideast peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Analysis) January 7, 2010 - 1:00am

The White House had rejected claims that Barack Obama's most senior aide blasted Israel and the Palestinians for foot-dragging and warned that the U.S. could walk away from the Middle East peace process. The comments come after reports that Rahm Emanuel recently told an Israeli diplomat that the U.S. is fed up with both sides, and said that Washington would reduce its involvement in peace efforts if no significant progress was made.

Obama Under Siege
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Mostafa Zein - (Opinion) November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

The neoconservatives in the United States were defeated, but they were victorious in Israel and for Israel. They achieved a single victory during the administration of President George Bush, who spread chaos in the manner of the nihilists, believing, stupidly, that it was the way to spread American values.

Washington Committed to Middle East Peace Process- US Officials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Mina Al-Oraibi - (Opinion) November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Many questions are being asked whether it is possible to resume peace negotiations in the Middle East that can achieve real and concrete results after the peace process has been faltering over the past few months. A total of 10 months have passed since US President Barack Obama announced his determination to bring peace to the Middle East on his first day in the White House. However, there have been no indications that such a peace would be reached.

US relations with Israel unchanged
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Marwan Al Kabalan - (Opinion) November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

The fact that US President Barack Obama sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to meet with the leaders of the pro-Israel lobbies in the US this week did nothing but feed speculation about how much power and influence these groups wield on US Middle East policy. The purpose of the meeting was to ask these groups to help convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze colony expansion in the Occupied Territories and facilitate the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

Amid Growing Crisis, U.S. Asks Israel for Action To Boost Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - November 12, 2009 - 1:00am

Facing a political crisis in the Palestinian Authority, the Obama administration has privately presented Israel with a list of measures it should take to bolster embattled leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas’s recent decision not to run again for the P.A. presidency was one of the main topics discussed in a November 9 meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Washington disappointed: Netanyahu didn't present concrete steps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The White House expressed disappointment in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent visit to Washington, with officials saying that they had hoped that the prime minister would present a concrete plan to scale back Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

'Israel is an ally, not problem of US'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Senior Israel officials on Wednesday adamantly rejected the latest media speculation over bad blood between Jerusalem and Washington, backed by one US official expressing anger at the Israeli leader's conduct in the past week, which might have brought on the possibly punitive blackout imposed on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's 100-minute talk with US President Barack Obama.

Top Obama aide upbeat on Middle East peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Steven Stanek - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Even as US-backed peace efforts in the Middle East appear to be losing momentum, the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, told American Jewish community leaders yesterday that the peace process has reached a critical juncture and that both sides should move forward immediately with negotiations. “This moment is fragile. History tells us that nothing stands still in the Middle East,” Mr Emanuel, the son of an Israeli Jew, told the annual gathering of the Jewish Federations of North America, an umbrella group of more than 500 Jewish federations and communities.