Hezbollah's leader again accuses Israel of responsibility for the assassination of former Lebanese PM Hariri. Micah Zenko says Israel should be open about its nuclear arsenal. A PA official denies claims by Fatah officials that a cabinet reshuffle is imminent. Israel will increase water supplies to Bethlehem. Israeli officials testify at the flotilla attack inquiry, and DM Barak takes full responsibility but contradicts PM Netanyahu. Pres. Abbas will again ask the US for clear terms of reference for direct talks and Akiva Eldar says he faces a difficult choice. Barak says that a robust peace process will end international pressure on Israel. Ami Ayalon says Israel should begin the process of voluntary resettlement of settlers back into Israel. Settler rabbis refuse to be interrogated over a book authorizing the killing of non-Jews. Asharq Al-Awsat interviews PLO official Ahmed Qurei. Shlomo Ben-Ami warns that if mishandled, the peace process could lead to war. The Arab News says Hamas is wrong to condemn the Arab League's approval of direct negotiations. Hussein Ibish looks at political and regional influences on Hamas' policies.

Hamas on killing spree in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Alex Fishman - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

News stories about bodies found at sea are occasionally published by Gaza newspapers. The number of such bodies isn't huge, yet not all those drowning victims chose to go swimming voluntarily. The Gazans who found their death at sea include mid-level officials at sensitive government ministries, the Interior Ministry for example, alongside police and security officers. Some of them were shot in the head before being sent on their swim.

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'Voluntary Settler Return Law’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ami Ayalon - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is impossible to defer any longer. Most importantly, we will soon be facing the end of the construction freeze imposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last year, the convening of the Knesset’s winter session, the recent Arab League resolutions and the elections for the two houses of Congress in the United States. This quadrangle of political influence is a signal that we must act now.

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Rabbis refuse questioning over war book
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Two prominent rabbis from the national-religious camp refused police requests on Monday that they undergo questioning for their endorsements of a controversial book authored by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. The book, Torat Hamalech (The King’s Torah), discusses the rules of war and states that in certain situations, non-Jews can be killed. The book has attracted a firestorm of controversy since being published in 2009, and police questioned Shapira over the text last month while raiding his yeshiva, Od Yosef Chai, in Yitzhar in order to confiscate copies.

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Barak contradicts Netanyahu's testimony on flotilla
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Atilla Somfalvi - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Speaking before the Turkel Commission probing the raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in May, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday contradicted statement's made by the prime minister on Monday, who told the committee the seven-minister forum only discussed the media aspects of stopping the flotilla and did not address the operational aspects.

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A Talk with Palestinian Negotiator Ahmed Qurei
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Ahmed Qurei, who is also known by his Arabic Kunya Abu Alaa, is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, and a veteran negotiator. In 1968 he joined the Fatah political party, and lived in exile with its founder, Yasser Arafat. After improving the economic fortunes of the party, he became a member of the Fatah central committee in 1989, and subsequently went on to play a prominent role in peace negotiations. He is highly regarded for the instrumental role he played in negotiating the Oslo accords of 1993.

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Barak: Peace process will get world off our back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Atilla Somfalvi - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak took advantage of his testimony to the Turkel Committee, probing the deadly Navy raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, to voice political messages as well. "The key for changing Israel's legitimacy, and the ability to get the world off our back, is to restart a comprehensive peace process, to utilize the chance to reach agreements to the fullest, particularly with the Palestinians, despite the difficult price," he said.

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The Mideast ‘peace process’ could end in permanent war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Shlomo Ben-Ami - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Twenty years after the Madrid Peace conference, and 10 years after President Bill Clinton’s heroic efforts at Camp David failed to yield a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, one cannot escape the conclusion that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has become one of the most spectacular deceptions in modern diplomatic history.

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'I take full responsibility,' Barak tells Gaza flotilla probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday took "full responsibility" for Israel's deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May, saying the government had foreseen the potential for violence when it decided to launch the operation. Testifying before an Israeli investigative committee - which foreshadows an impending United Nations probe - Barak said he accepted full responsibility for the instructions given to the military over its interception of six Gaza-bound ships.

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Editorial: Crux of the problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) August 10, 2010 - 12:00am

When last week the Arab League backed restarting direct peace talks between the Palestinians Authority and Israel, but only when the Palestinians believe the circumstances are right, the response of Hamas was of angry rejection. The movement’s Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal not only said that such negotiations were illegitimate, he denied the Arab League’s right to make such a pronouncement.

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