NEWS: The ATFP/APN joint Israeli-Palestinian internship program is profiled by the Times of Israel. The debate on national service highlights questions about Israeli identity. By a close vote, the Presbyterian Church decides not to divest in firms involved in Israel's occupation. Palestinian officials say they want more information before commencing an autopsy of the body of the late Pres. Arafat, as his relatives urge exhumation. An Israeli counterterrorism analyst claims polonium was planted on Arafat's effects some time following his death. Another Palestinian hunger striking prisoner is reportedly in critical condition. Young Israeli Jews and Arabs are connected by boxing. The World Bank pledges $22.3 million to help alleviate the PA financial crisis. Israel is going to produce another communications satellite. Palestinians in the occupied territories are increasingly turning to solar power for energy independence from Israel. Israel is set to acquire 20 advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says a recent Al Jazeera report suggesting Arafat was murdered by polonium poisoning is groundless. Hirsh Goodman says Israel should drop its hostile attitude towards international and multilateral agencies. Yaakov Katz says Israel is much more prepared now for another war with Hezbollah. Jennifer Lipman says the IOC should agree to a minutes silence to honor the Israeli athletes slain during the 1972 Olympics. Michael Young says Israel's policies are still defined by extremist attitudes of the late PM Shamir. The Arab News says Palestine is still being held hostage by the occupation. Gershom Gorenberg says it's a myth that Israel offered to exchange the occupied territories for peace in 1967. Shayna Zamkanei says Mosab Hassan Yousef's zealous evangelical Christian attitudes are not helpful to Israel.

Israel to Upgrade Air Force With F-35 Advanced Aircrafts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Hanan Greenberg - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Not long ago, a thick cloud of rumors settled on the new, much-talked-about IDF [Israel Defense Forces] acquisition of 20 F-35's, a fighter plane known as the Stealth produced by the American Lockheed Martin Company. There were rumors regarding production slowdowns and delays of the F-35, known as the “fifth generation fighter plane” (in contrast to the Israeli fourth-generation F-16's). The fear is that they will reach Israel very late — too late to serve the IDF in coping with future challenges.

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Palestinians Turn to Solar Power To Reduce Reliance on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Amnon Rubinstein - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians are almost entirely dependent on electricity provided by Israel. In Gaza, a local power station provides some 40% percent of the Strip’s electricity. The Palestinians buy electricity in small levels from Egypt and Jordan, but this doesn’t change their dependence on Israel. As a result, the Palestine Electric Company, in cooperation with the Palestinian investment firm Padico, began roughly two years ago to make preparations to build a power station near Jenin.

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Israel’s Domestic Communication Satellite Industry Saved
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The decision to award the construction of Israel’s newest communications satellite to a state-owned company has probably saved the life of the production line and was likely done to preserve independence for defense communications.

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World Bank pays $22.3 million to PA budget
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

The World Bank on Tuesday said it paid $22.3 million to the Palestinian Authority to help with a budget crisis. The funds are from a trust paid into by the governments of Australia, France, Kuwait, Norway, and the UK, the World Bank said in a statement. It noted that the aid was slated to support education, health care and other social services and for the economic reforms undertaken by the West Bank government.

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Boxing connects young Israeli Arabs and Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Blake Sobczak - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The bell clangs, the fight starts and the boxers come at each other. On one side is a 13-year-old Arab boy from northern Israel. His opponent comes from a Jewish town. The Jewish fighter from the blue corner pushes his Arab adversary against the ropes before pummeling him with a barrage of punches. Jews and Arabs have been fighting each other for decades, so boxing may seem like a strange way to build peace between the two — but that's what the Israel Boxing Association aims for.

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Arafatuous
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Foreign Policy (Editorial) - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

In November 2004, a sad but very familiar scene played itself out: A sick, 75-year-old man who had been living in squalor for several years after an extremely difficult life -- including a near-death experience in the Libyan desert -- finally passed away. Doctors at the Percy hospital in France determined he died of natural causes: a stroke caused by an unidentified infection. As is so often the case, human life ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.

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The prodigal son too good to be true
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shayna Zamkanei - (Opinion) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

In mid-June, Israel's most trusted former collaborator, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef, arrived at Ben-Gurion airport. Invited by Druze lawmaker Ayoob Kara (Likud ), Yousef, who now lives in the United States, has been speaking to various groups and committees.

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Palestinian hunger striker in critical condition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Blake Sobczak - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

A Palestinian prisoner convicted of transporting suicide bombers is in critical condition after a nearly three-month hunger strike, a rights group said Thursday. Akram Rikhawi started fasting on April 12, just before 1,200 other prisoners began refusing food to demand better conditions. Israeli authorities reached a deal with participants in the wider strike by mid-May, easing some restrictions. Rikhawi has continued to protest his detention by refusing to eat.

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No, Israel Didn't Offer to Trade the West Bank for Peace in 1967
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

It's a reassuring story, regularly repeated by defenders of Israeli policy: After the Six-Day War, Israel offered to give up the land it had just occupied in return for peace. But the Arabs said no, first quietly, then publicly at the Khartoum Summit. Alas, Israel was stuck with the occupied territories. In some versions of the story, Israel had virtually no choice but to start building settlements once the Arabs rejected diplomacy.

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