NEWS: Pres. Abbas and Hamas leader Mishaal meet in Cairo. A car has exploded in Tel Aviv but no clear explanation is yet determined. Abbas rejects a conditional Israeli offer on Palestinian refugees from Syria. A Palestinian man in Gaza, and four in the West Bank, die due to extreme weather. Hamas' University in Gaza is training Hebrew teachers. At least two Palestinians are shot in confrontations with settlers near Nablus. Peace Now says the Israeli government has secretly approved yet another "unauthorized" settlement outpost. Israeli occupation forces demolish a Palestinian home in occupied East Jerusalem. Human rights groups express concern about the death of a Palestinian man in Hamas custody. Israel is persisting in new settlement expansion plans in occupied East Jerusalem in spite of unanimous international opposition. Rap music faces increasing censorship by Hamas in Gaza. COMMENTARY: Reuters interviews extremist Israeli politician Naftali Bennett. Zvi Bar'el says it's absurd that Israel's Arab citizens are so irrelevant to its elections and in the Knesset. Dov Weisglass says the only way forward now is the creation of a temporary Palestinian state with provisional borders, along the lines of Phase II of the Roadmap. Eitan Haber says Pres. Obama's appointment of Chuck Hagel signals Israel cannot move independently against Iran. Mendy Finkel says Israel's critics are too quick to dismiss prospects for a two-state solution. Chris McGreal says Hagel is a true friend of Israel. Laura Rozen says the campaign against Hagel has backfired against right-wing Jewish groups. Osman Mirghani says Hamas' acknowledgement that there is a big difference between opposition and governance, or fantasy and reality, should be a lesson to Islamists everywhere. Abeer Ayyoub says Iran has become the principal backer of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Shlomi Eldar interviews MK Tibi. Aaron David Miller says the short-term future may be a three, not a two, state reality.

The Three-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) January 10, 2013 - 1:00am

 

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Ahmad Tibi: No Apologies For Being a 'Palestinian Patriot'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Shlomi Eldar - (Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

"I’m a Palestinian patriot whether you like it or not. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be Ahmad Tibi.” That’s how the Arab Knesset member who has spent fourteen years on the opposition benches of Israel’s parliament, describes himself in a special interview with Al-Monitor.

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Iran Top Backer of Palestinian Islamic Jihad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Abeer Ayyoub - (Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

  As far as the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are concerned, 2012 was their golden year. For the first time, it managed to use qualitative weapons that seemingly altered the pace of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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The confessions of Hamas are a message to the Islamists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

  Speaking before the Islamists and Democratic Governance Conference a few months ago, Khaled Mishal, head of the Hamas political bureau, acknowledged there was a difference between opposition and governance, between imagination and reality, and between being a critic and a practitioner. He concluded that the Islamists in general had to admit that governance was harder than they had first imagined, and this applies to Hamas as well.

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Chuck Hagel Failure May Haunt Hawks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward
(Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

  Hawkish groups that sought to pre-emptively sink Chuck Hagel’s candidacy for secretary of defense may have been trying to teach President Obama and his supporters a lesson — but it seems they’re the ones who may look back at this episode as a cautionary tale.

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What makes Chuck Hagel a true friend of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - (Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

 

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Why are Israel’s critics trying to kill two-state solution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Opinion) January 9, 2013 - 1:00am

The two-state solution apparently has seen better days. Indeed, according to The Atlantic’s Robert Wright the two-state solution is on its “deathbed,” while the Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan has already lost all hope in the prospects of an independent Palestinian state.

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White House changed the rules
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) January 10, 2013 - 1:00am

You would have to be deaf, a fool and a minor – as it says in the Talmud – not to understand the message relayed this week from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington to the residents of Kaplan 3 Street in Jerusalem: The people in the White House changed the rules of the game and have informed Benjamin Netanyahu of the change.

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Back to the Road Map?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Dov Weissglas - (Opinion) January 10, 2013 - 1:00am

The Israeli-Palestinian horizon is getting so dark there is almost no hope left. The complete diplomatic stalemate, the deteriorating economic situation, the weakening of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas' growing power (to some extent as a result of intentional Israeli activity) – all of these have brought the Palestinians back to the streets and intensified the rioting and acts of violence.

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