NEWS: Palestinian citizens of Israel face new quandaries over the prospect of mandatory national service. Israel's richest rabbis are demonstrating business acumen. New medical reports about the health of the late Pres. Arafat portray him as having been relatively healthy until a sudden decline immediately before his death. Arafat's sister calls on the PA not to perform any tests on his body. A Palestinian medical committee claims Arafat was poisoned, but says it can't confirm the use of polonium. Israel condemns UNESCO's decision to establish a chair at the Islamic University of Gaza. Israeli forces kill a man trying to illegally enter the country through the Egyptian border. 30 Palestinians are injured in a fireworks explosion near Ramallah. The head of British intelligence claims Iran is two years away from developing a nuclear weapon. Israeli immigration police are granted the power to deport foreign activists in the occupied Palestinian territories. A German neo-Nazi claims he was involved in the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. A Jerusalem city counselor says Israeli authorities are disguising the true scope of Palestinian home demolitions. A young Palestinian singer is becoming an unlikely star in Israel. COMMENTARY: Nir Eisikovits says former PM Olmert is well-positioned for a return to public life and to lead a push for peace with the Palestinians. Sima Kadmon says PM Netanyahu would be the big loser if Olmert were to return to Israeli politics. Amira Hass says that while right-wing attacks on Palestinians continue, Israeli authorities are only arresting left-wing activists. Hirsh Goodman asks what the settler movement will do if the rest of Israeli society agrees that there is no occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Giles Fraser critiques a Church of England volunteer program in the occupied Palestinian territories. J.J. Goldberg points out the dangers to Israel of the Levy Committee's recommendations. Matt Duss looks at rhetoric about Israel and the Palestinians among American evangelical Christian groups. Aaron David Miller asks if the US really matters anymore in Egypt and Israel.

Does the U.S. matter any more in Egypt and Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Poor Hillary Clinton. Later this week and next, she'll have the unenviable task of visiting Egypt and Israel at a time when America's capacity to influence the policies of both countries has fallen to new lows. And not even the secretary of state -- a veritable superstar of persuasion -- can charm America back into a position of influence.

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Arab singer in Israeli spotlight after talent show win
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Farhana Dawood - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

A young Israeli Arab woman who won a popular Israeli TV music talent show has become an unlikely star in a country where suspicion and hostility often mark relations between Israel's minority Arab population and the Jewish majority. Nissren Kader won first place on a programme that seeks to find the best singer of Mizrahi songs - the musical tradition of Middle Eastern Jews. The past few months have been an incredible journey for Ms Kader, who used to work as a wedding singer in the coastal city of Haifa.

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Christian Zionism's Own Reality Check
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Matthew Duss - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Growing up in the evangelical church, support for Israel was simply part of the culture. It was just accepted that the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, heralding the Last Days and the return of Jesus to the earth. In Sunday school we performed plays from the Old Testament. This history was part of our own history, and the miracle of the modern State of Israel was seen as proof that God continued to work in the world.

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Municipality ‘hiding’ house demolitions in e. J'lem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Melanie Lidman - July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The Jerusalem Municipality has manipulated the statistics of housing demolitions in east Jerusalem to make it look like fewer are taking place, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The policy of not including “self-demolitions” – where Arab families are threatened with staggering fines if they do not demolish their own houses – in the official count, has allowed Jerusalem to present a picture of a dramatic decrease in demolitions during Mayor Nir Barkat’s term.

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Report Seeks To Erase Occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu has a bad habit of pretending he’s Houdini — sticking his head in a noose, scaring everyone half to death, then wiggling free at the last minute. The difference is that Houdini’s viewers got to watch from their seats, while Netanyahu’s audience is stuck inside the noose with him. And the noose gets a little tighter every time.

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In exclusive interview, neo-Nazi recounts aiding Palestinians in Munich massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ofer Aderet - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

A popular German detective novelist accused of being directly involved in the 1972 Munich massacre apologized for his involvement in the attack and denied being a neo-Nazi in an interview with Haaretz earlier this week. Willi Voss, who was revealed to be an accomplice to the massacre by a report compiled by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, and was made public at the request of Der Spiegel, told Haaretz that he “is not a neo-Nazi and has never been.”

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Should the Church of England remain silent on Israel-Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Giles Fraser - (Opinion) July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

The General Synod of the Church of England has used the time freed up by the postponement of the debate on female bishops this week to enter into the politics of Israel-Palestine. I want to joke that it's only the C of E that, unable to sort out the simple question of whether women should be bishops, decides to tackle the problems of the Middle East.

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Israel's immigration police granted power to deport foreign activists from West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israel Defense Forces issued a new order last week allowing inspectors from the Interior Ministry's enforcement unit to remove any foreigners who are found to be in the West Bank without a permit. The step, which represents a further step in the military's actions against foreign activists, was struck down in the past by the High Court of Justice, on the grounds that the Interior Ministry inspectors do not have authority in the West Bank.

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Postscript: OK, you’ve won; now what?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Now that we have the findings of the government-appointed advisory committee on the legality of Israeli “outposts” in the West Bank, a three-person handpicked by the prime minister which, not unsurprisingly, found that all settlement in the West Bank is legal.

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