March 11th

UNICEF isn’t anti-Semitic ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Editorial) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am It has already been met here with a typical shrug of the shoulders, the report by the United Nations Children Fund declaring that Palestinian children detained by the Israel Defense Forces are subject to widespread, systematic ill-treatment that violates international law. Now it’s no longer “the automatic majority” at the UN’s General Assembly, nor is it “Israel-haters” on the UN Human Rights Council. Now it’s UNICEF − and UNICEF is really another story entirely. » Read more

Parallel lives in a tragicomic mirror: Novelist Sayed Kashua is trampling every barrier ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Boyd Tonkin - March 8, 2013 - 1:00am In January, one TV show swept the boards at the awards ceremony of the Israeli Film and Television Academy. It won five gongs. Small-screen buffs might assume that the recipient of all these accolades was Hatufim, the Israeli drama which – in its American remake – became Homeland. Not at all. Instead, honours rained on the bitingly funny and fearless sitcom Arab Labour (avoda aravit, a Hebrew idiom for a botched job). » Read more

Is Sara Netanyahu the Erratic Power Behind Bibi's Throne? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am Of the many explanations for the long, drawn-out and chaotic coalition negotiations that have followed Israel’s recent election, the most intriguing is that they have more to do with Benjamin Netanyahu’s home life than with his political aspirations. According to one of Israel’s top journalists, it is his wife’s publicly known antipathy toward one of his main potential coalition partners that pitched Netanyahu into the mire of complications in which his negotiations remained stuck as of the Forward’s print deadline. » Read more

AIPAC Tries to Brand Israel as Liberal Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am After many years of outreach to conservative evangelicals, the pro-Israel lobby in Washington, facing a liberal ascendance, is now striving to make the case for Israel as a cause for progressives. At the recent annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, advocates of the organization explored strategies for capturing this constituency, largely by looking for ways, as Israeli diplomats put it, of presenting “Israel beyond the conflict” with the Palestinians. » Read more

Foul sewage flooding raises Palestinian ire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English by Mohammed Omer - March 9, 2013 - 1:00am Gazans are crying foul after Egypt stepped up its campaign to wipe out an underground network of transportation tunnels by blasting raw sewage down them, sometimes with deadly results for Palestinian workers. » Read more

Challenges lie ahead for Netanyahu govt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am Barring a last minute surprise, Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to form a working governmental coalition this week. His ability to form his third government is a slam-dunk after Yair Lapid, the head of Yesh Atid Party, relinquished his demand to assume the portfolio of foreign affairs. Lapid’s desire to be a foreign minister was the stumbling block in the path of forming a government with Bennett. » Read more

Israeli Arabs more afraid than Jews of enemy attack, poll finds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from March 11, 2013 - 12:00am Israeli Arabs are more afraid than the Jewish public of being attacked by an enemy state, according to the annual "National Resilience" survey. Israel's Jewish population, meanwhile, is more calm than ever about the possibility of an attack by an enemy country, the survey revealed, reporting an all-time low on its so-called "fear index." This is a continuation of a previous trend that began in 2006. The Jewish population's fear of terror is also reportedly at an all-time low. » Read more

The Region: Obama: Bad president, good for Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Barry Rubin - (Opinion) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am I have just returned from briefing a high-ranking official of country X on the Middle East. We kept coming back to a vital theme: the incredibly shrinking power of the United States. Try to explain American behavior to neutral, open-minded third parties for whom US policy activities have become just plain bizarre! I have just published an article about how terrorists, including the murderers of four American officials in Benghazi, are literally laughing at the United States and its inability (or unwillingness) to do anything effective to defend its interests. » Read more

Senate bill would exempt Israel from visa waiver requirements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am  The Senate version of a bill that would enhance the U.S.-Israel relationship exempts Israel from some requirements in order to allow it to join a visa waiver program.   The bill, introduced in time for last week's American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual policy conference, mandates the inclusion of Israel in a program that allows citizens of designated countries to enter the United States without a prearranged visa. » Read more

Israeli-Palestinian peace - the hidden agenda item ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Alan Elsner - (Opinion) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am This week, some 13,000 pro-Israel advocates in town to attend the annual AIPAC policy conference fanned out across Capitol Hill to lobby their congressional representatives to tighten sanctions against Iran and designate Israel as a “major strategic partner” of the United States. Curiously missing from the list was any mention of Israeli-Palestinian peace, which is a vital interest for the United States, but more importantly the single most important guarantor of Israel’s future as a democratic Jewish state. » Read more