EFTA02364623.pdf

From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen < Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 10:43 PM Subject: February 6 update 6 February, 2012 > Article 1.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank=quirks.html#a> Washington Post Obama to make first trip to Israel Scott Wilson<http://www.washingtonpost.corniscott-wilson/2011/03/02/ABtSvmP_=age.html> Article 2.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank=quirks.htmlftb> Foreign Policy Saeb Erekat - The Peace Processor<http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/201=/02/05/The_Peace_Processor_Palestine_Saeb_Erekat> An interview by Aaron David Miller Article 3.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_filesiblank=quirks.htmlfic> The Daily Beast The Mixed Legacy Of Shimon Peres Daniel Gavron <http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/daniel•gavron.html= Article 4.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank=quirks.html#d> NYT India vs. China vs. Egypt Thomas L. Friedman<http://topics.nytimes.comitop/opinionieditorialsandoped/=ped/columnists/thomaslfriedman/index.html> Article 5.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/staticlilesiblank=quirks.htmItte> Foreign Policy Another U.S. war in the Middle East? Richard L. Russell Article 6.<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_filesiblank=quirks.htmIttf> EFTA_R1_01358751 EFTA02364623 The Diplomat Getting to the Endgame With Iranchttp://thediplomat.com/2013/02/06/getting-=o-the-endgame-with-irank Robert Dreyfuss Article 7. The Wall Street Journal A New U.S. International Economic Strategy Robert B. Zoellick<http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=ROBERT=B.+ZOELLICK&bylinesearch=true> Article 1. Washington Post Obama to make first trip to Israel, part of a potential 'new beginning'=with region Scott Wilson<http://www.washingtonpost.com/scott-wilson/2011/03/02/ABtSvmP_=age.html> President Obama will travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territor=es next month to make an early second-term push for peace negotiations bet=een two divided governments and to assess the broader political developmen=s remaking the Middle East. It will be Obama's first trip as president to Israel, where suspicions ru= high in the aftermath of his unsuccessful early efforts<http://www.washin=tonpost.com/politics/obama-searches-for-middle-east- peace/2012/07/14/g1O.AQ=iKIW_story.html> at Middle East peacemaking. The choice of destination — one that Obama avoided in his first term — =uggests a revival of his ambitions abroad after a year of virtual dormancy=on foreign affairs. The timing also points to a willingness on his part to=quickly reengage a politically volatile foreign-policy issue just months a=ter winning his second term. But the visit will highlight how much the region has changed<http://www.was=ingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/us-tries-to-define-relations-with-evo=ving-arab- world/2012/09/14/c3bff286-fe80-11el-b153-218509a954el_story.html= since he last visited the Middle East in his first year in office, with t=e rise of Islamist governments and the widening repercussions of civil rev=lt. After Obama helped topple Moammar Gaddafichttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- =yn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030905672.html> in Libya in 2011, many=in the region wondered when he would emerge again to help shape the courserof the tumultuous Arab Spring, which has replaced a pair of U.S.-allied di=tatorships with elected Islamist governments. Within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much has changed since the direct =eace talks Obama inaugurated in September 2010<http://www.washingtonpost.c=m/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090106666.html> collapsed within=weeks. Israel's recent battle with the armed Hamas movement in the Gaza =trip left many predicting a wider fight in the future<http://www.washingto=post.com/world/middle_east/some-in-israel-see-acquiescence-in-iron-dome- mi=sile-defense-system/2012/12/08/5dc857f4-3d67-11e2-bca3-aadc967e29c5_story.=tml>, as divisions deepened within the Palestinian and Israeli electorates=over whether talks or war would resolve the conflict. "To make it a substantive trip that is more than a positive photo-op woul= require setting up a specific framework for an agreement and setting a ti=ht deadline to achieve it," said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the executive director =fJ Street<http:Mstreet.org/>, a nonprofit group that advocates the crea=ion of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. White House officials would not provide a date for Obama's trip, which he=will squeeze into the tight schedule he is building around a busy domestic=agenda that includes immigration, guns and the economy. But Israeli media reported that Obama is scheduled to arrive March 20 as pa=t of a trip that will include a stop in Jordan, where the civil war in nex=-door Syria and its growing refugee crisis is presenting a major challenge=to King Abdullah II, a U.S. ally . 2 EFTA_R1_01358752 EFTA02364624 Obama began his first term by making a strong push for peace talks between =srael and the Palestinians, believing the conflict fueled radicalism in th= region in general and toward the United States in particular, given its h=storical support for the Jewish state. In contrast to predecessor George W. Bush, Obama wanted to demonstrate to A=ab governments that the United States would make demands of Israel in purs=it of a regional peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made little secret of his prefere=ce for Republican Mitt Romney<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politicsidecis=on2012/mitt-romney-palestinians-have-no-interest- whatsoever-in-establishin=-peace/2012/09/18/5e185a12-0183-11e2-b260-3214a8db967e_story.html> in last=year's U.S. presidential campaign. Netanyahu and Obama have at times dis=greed bitterly over issues relating to the Palestinians, including Israel=92s continued settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel's military occupied those territories, along with Gaza, in the 196= Arab-Israeli war. Palestinians view them as the key territorial elements =f their future state. In a June 2009 address in Cairo<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/=emarks-president•cairo-university-6.04- 09>, a speech that asked for a "n=w beginning" with the Islamic world, Obama said: 'The United 3 EFTA_R1_01358753 EFTA02364625