Tzipi Livni Praises Obama for Pressuring Netanyahu, Suggests U.S. Should Keep Up the Heat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Interview) August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's Kadima Party, the largest opposition party in the Knesset -- and the largest party in the entire Knesset, in fact -- sat down last month with James Bennet, the editor of The Atlantic (and a former Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times) and with Goldblog for an extended conversation about the tense relations between the Obama Administration and the Netanyahu government, and about Israel's sinking image. » Read more

Jeremy Ben-Ami’s “A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Sari Nusseibeh - (Opinion) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am J Street is the organization that Jeremy Ben-Ami and other American Jewish activists set up several years ago to counteract the influence of the lobbying group AIPACon American foreign policy. In his book “A New Voice For Israel,” Ben-Ami tells the story of J Street’s uphill battle to win the support of America’s Jewish community, and he explains the need for Israel to have a new Jewish voice in Washington that can free American policy sufficiently to bring about a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine stalemate. » Read more

PA leaders invited to Washington in bid to avoid UN plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 4, 2011 - 12:00am In the context of its efforts to persuade the Palestinian Authority to drop its plan to ask the UN in September to recognize a Palestinian state, the US Administration has invited PA officials to Washington for talks on ways of avoiding the statehood bid. PA sources said that Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, will travel to Washington shortly for talks with US government officials on the statehood plan. » Read more

Security forces allege Palestinian Army of Islam involvement in Arish attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Osama Khaled - August 4, 2011 - 12:00am Egyptian security services in North Sinai say they have identified those responsible for attacking a police station in Arish last Friday, and allege the involvement of the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group, in instigating the attack. The information was leaked to the press by an unidentified Egyptian security source. » Read more

Hamas-Fatah talks: Is Palestinian unity an illusion? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian political leaders seemed to be listening. Within weeks, somewhat out of the blue, a reconciliation deal was announced. Orchestrated by the new leadership in Egypt, it was meant to end four years of bitter and sometimes violent division between the two main Palestinian factions. Three months on, Abu Yassin is angry: "Nothing has changed. "We're really disappointed. This deal was just signatures on paper. We wanted real change on the ground." » Read more

'IDF troops shot at journalists covering W. Bank protest' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ben Hartman - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am An American-Israeli photojournalist on Thursday lodged a complaint with the IDF Spokesman’s Office, the Government Press Office and the Foreign Press Association, alleging that IDF soldiers intentionally fired anti-riot projectiles at him and a fellow journalist while they were covering a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih last Friday. » Read more

Palestinian Authority orders forces to prevent violence after September UN vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority has ordered its security forces to prevent demonstrations planned for September from escalating into violent confrontations with Israel, especially in potential friction points like the roadblocks and settlements. Senior Palestinian Authority figures issued the orders to the Palestinian security forces in recent weeks out of concern that there may be violent clashes between thousands of Palestinian demonstrators and Israel Defense Forces at the end of September, following a vote at the United Nations General Assembly for recognition of a Palestinian state. » Read more

News Analysis: Palestinians insist on approaching UN for establishing state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - August 5, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Over the past few months, the Palestinian leadership has been insisting that its only choice is to approach the United Nations in September to demand a full membership. Fifty days ahead of the annual UN General Assembly meetings in New York, observers said Palestinians will not retreat from applying to the UN. The Palestinians announced on Thursday that they had finalized the preparations for approaching the UN through out coordination with Arab countries. ARAB COUNTRIES' SUPPORT » Read more

Israel chides Honduran envoy over support for Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 4, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Foreign Ministry earlier this week summoned Honduran ambassador Jose Isaias Barahona, in order to clarify his country's declared intention to support recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September. The ministry's Deputy Director for Central and South American and the Caribbean, Dorit Shavit, met with Barahona on Sunday, according to a statement sent to Xinhua on Thursday. » Read more

Israeli air strikes injure 5 in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 5, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military air strikes injured five people across the Gaza Strip overnight on Thursday. Medics told Ma'an that three people were seriously injured in an air strike on the northern city of Beit Lahiya. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military targeted the launch site of a rocket in northern Gaza around 10.00 p.m. Thursday. Shortly after, air strikes hit central and southern Gaza, and witnesses told Ma'an that two Palestinians from the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City had been injured. » Read more