October 5th

Cyprus attack plan suspect pleads not guilty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Menelaos Hadjicostis - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am

LIMASSOL, Cyprus —A Swedish-Lebanese man on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges he was planning an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus, in a case that Israel has said bears similarities to a suicide bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a bus driver in Bulgaria last summer.

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New York Man Kills Cook at Israeli Hotel, Then Is Shot by Police
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A New York man opened fire in the dining room of a hotel in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat on Friday and killed a kitchen worker before being shot dead by police officers, the authorities said. The gunman, William Hershkovitz, was born in 1989, and had just been fired after working at the hotel for a couple of weeks through Oranim, a company that provides tourists with internships in the industry, a company official told The Associated Press.

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Political and Market Forces Hobble Israel’s Pack of Ink-Stained Watchdogs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The mainstream newspaper Maariv is on the verge of closing, apparently having lost a fierce 64-year contest against the populist Hebrew tabloid Yediot Aharonot. On Thursday, Haaretz, the flagship broadsheet of Israel’s left-wing intelligentsia, was not published for the first time in three decades; the newsroom held a one-day strike to protest the planned layoff of scores of employees.

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Temple Mount Faithful: From the fringes to the mainstream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Eight Jewish Israelis have been arrested on Temple Mount in Jerusalem over the past two days after police feared their attempts to pray there would incite violence. Among those arrested were right-wing Likud party member Moshe Feiglin and Yehuda Liebman, a prime figure at the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the hard-line West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. Among the suspects is the more moderate Elyashiv Cherlow, son of Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petah Tikva yeshiva, who is considered a relatively liberal religious Zionist leader.

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Following the dream of a Third Temple in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shanty Littman - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

"Thanks to you I had a tremendous insight,” Yehuda Glick roared at me as I entered the room where a meeting of the joint directorate of the Temple movements was taking place. “I went up to the Mount of Olives today,” he continued, “and I looked toward the Temple Mount. And what do I see? Two round domes, next to each other! And then it came to me: Those who want to build the Temple want to suckle from the source!

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Hundreds of Arabs assault guards at Temple Mount
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Gabe Fisher, Yoel Goldman - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Following the conclusion of Friday prayers at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, hundreds of Arabs threw stones at security guards in the area. Police charged through the Mughrabi Gate in the Old City and fired stun grenades to disperse the angry mob. Unconfirmed Palestinian reports suggested that several people were lightly injured. Police officials, having restored calm, said that they would arrest some of the stone throwers in the coming days.

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October 4th

NEWS: A rift seems to be growing between PM Netanyahu and DM Barak over relations with the US, fueling speculation about an early election. FM Lieberman calls the bickering "unnecessary.” Nationalistic Jewish activists in Israel are increasingly moving into Arab neighborhoods in mixed cities. Journalists at Ha'aretz go on strike. The UN is likely to hold a debate on nonmember observer state status for Palestine in mid-November, after the US election. Hamas denies accusations by Human Rights Watch that it engages in torture and other systematic abuses.The PA says it doesn't expect much help from the donor community and that its budget crisis will worsen. Jewish South Africans are trying to block measures to label Israeli settlement products. A Palestinian citizen of Israel is indicted on espionage charges. Settlers are trying to get Israeli occupation authorities to grant them control of a house in occupied Hebron. Paris signs a cooperation agreement with Palestinian East Jerusalem. Palestinian officials meet with Egypt's intelligence chief. COMMENTARY: Haaretz interviews Dalia Gavriely-Nur on Israelis and peace. The Jerusalem Post complains about what it calls “the radicalization of the Israeli Arab sector.” Joseph Kechichian asks if Israel is a threat to US national interests. George Hishmeh says time is running out for peace. Nassif Hitti asks if a “Palestinian Spring” or a third intifada is in the offing. Noam Sheizaf looks at changes in the Israeli media. Peter Beinart says it's not possible to blame the Palestinians alone, or even mainly, for the present diplomatic impasse.

Abbas aide meets Egypt intelligence chief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas' senior aide Tayyeb Abdul-Rahim on Wednesday met Egypt's intelligence chief Raafat Shehata to discuss relations. Abdul-Rahim, Abbas' secretary-general, thanked the newly-appointed Shehata for Egypt's official and popular support for Palestinians and their struggle for statehood, and the Egyptian government's efforts to release Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, a statement from his office said.


Bypassing Israel, French capital endorses unprecedented agreement with ‘East Jerusalem’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Elhanan Miller - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

France’s most populous administrative zone, encompassing the capital Paris, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Palestinian district of Jerusalem, a move organizers say is designed to send a “political message” of solidarity with the Palestinians and their aspirations for a future capital in the city. The French region described the agreement as the “first of its kind.”

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Settlers to appeal decision on Hebron building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Settlers plan to file a legal appeal to of the Civil Administration’s refusal to certify their purchase of a three family building, known as Beit Hamachpela, located in the West Bank city of Hebron. The refusal was based on technical reasons. Settlers moved into the building at the end of March after buying it from its Palestinian owners. In early April, security forces forcibly evicted them within a week pending investigation of the purchase claim and because they had failed to obtain the necessary permits to enter the building.

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