NEWS: Former PM Olmert is acquitted of major corruption charges, but convicted on “breach of trust.” The population of Israeli settlers in the occupied territories is booming under PM Netanyahu. Netanyahu refers a report asserting broad Israeli authority over the occupied territories, and which denies there is any occupation, to his ministerial committee on settlement affairs. The US criticizes the report. Israel's Air Force bombs southern Gaza with no injuries reported. Hamas demolishes more homes in Gaza it says are built on government land. Palestinian businesses are reaching out to new markets in Jordan. An Israeli oil well project straddles the border between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. A new poll suggests young Jewish Americans may be growing more, rather than less, attached to Israel. The UN says Israel has dramatically increased the demolition of Palestinian homes. The PA says it plans to hold local elections on October 20. COMMENTARY: Adam Gonn says Pres. Abbas' participation in a conference in Tehran is not intended to appease Ahmadinejad. Alex Fishman says Abbas is only undermining his own credibility by going to Tehran. Aeyal Gross critiques claims by the Levy Committee Report that there is no occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Jerusalem Post says it also thinks there is no occupation in the occupied territories. Gershon Baskin says peace cannot be achieved at the expense of either Israelis or Palestinians. Kenneth Bandler says Israeli government efforts to promote employment among Palestinian citizens of Israel should be supported by everybody. Robert O. Freedman says there are solid grounds for stronger ties between Israel and Russia. Dimi Reider says closer Israeli-Russian ties are based on growing shared, and disturbing, values. Osama Al Sharif says the late Pres. Arafat's death continues to haunt friend and foe alike.

Arafat’s death haunts foes, followers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Ask any Palestinian about the death of former leader and symbol of national resistance, Yasser Arafat, and he or she will immediately say that he was killed by Israel for refusing to give in to pressure to accept an unjust final peace settlement. Arafat’s death, in mysterious circumstances at a French military hospital, in November 2004, remains one of the most contentious issues for millions of Palestinians.

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What Putin's Trip To Jerusalem Really Means
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Dimi Reider - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Much of the coverage of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories focused on two questions: Putin's perceived foot-dragging over Iran, and the visit's significance for the Russian-speaking Israelis who make up about one-fifth of the population, as large as Israel's Palestinian population.

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Israel and Russia Make Odd Couple
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Robert O. Freedman - (Opinion) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Israel in late June with the ostensible purpose of helping to unveil a monument to the Soviet soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany. But Putin’s motivations for this trip to the Middle East were not so innocuous. In fact, they underlined the degree to which his ambitions for the region have not changed at all since his last reign as Russia’s president, from 2000 to 2008.

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Palestinians call local elections for October 20
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian government in the West Bank on Tuesday said it would hold local elections in October across the Palestinian territories, sparking anger from Gaza's Hamas rulers. "The Palestinian cabinet approved during its meeting today, chaired by prime minister Salam Fayyad, conducting local elections on October 20, 2012 in all local councils in the homeland," a statement said after the meeting.

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Boosting Arab employment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Kenneth Bandler - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

How to improve the economic conditions of minority populations is a challenge for any democracy, all the more so for one as young as Israel. The country’s non-governmental organizations devoted to advancing Jewish-Arab relations have long advocated concrete steps to integrate citizens into the nation’s workforce. In recent years some government officials have for measures to increase the numbers of qualified Arab workers.

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Walls Of Palestinian Homes Come Tumbling Down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel has dramatically increased its demolitions of unauthorized Palestinian homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a recent United Nations report. Last year, 1,100 Palestinians — more than half of them children — were displaced, an 80 percent increase from the previous year. And demolitions this year continue at a high rate. For Sami Idriss, the Israeli bulldozers came while the 26-year-old Palestinian was at work.

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Thank you, Mr. Sherman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

I would like to thank Martin Sherman for his scathing attack against me in his article "The honorable thing to do" (Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2012). Although I agree with Sherman’s criticism of President Shimon Peres’s last speech, that it is wrong not to learn from the failures of the Oslo process, it is a great honor to be attacked together with our president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

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Young Jews More Interested in Israel: Poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Simi Lampert - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Young Jews are now more attached to Israel than the previous generation, almost reaching the level of interest of their elders, a new poll reveals. While Jews 45 and older were rated as having a 40-44 level of attachment to Israel, those between 35 and 45 only scored a 24. Those under 35 got a 39 out of 100, according to the poll carried out by the Workmen’s Circle.

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Settling truths
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

After nearly six months of investigations, three legal experts known colloquially as “the outpost committee” – a government-appointed advisory body – submitted some clear-cut conclusions.

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