March 8th

As Gas Supplies Are Cut, Israel Sees First Worrying Sign of New Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - March 7, 2011 - 1:00am A month after militants attacked a Sinai pipeline, supply has yet to resume Israel’s energy industry looks like it’s on its way to becoming the country’s first casualty of the emerging new Middle East, where governments are responding to public pressure for an end to secret deals and taking a harder line on the Jewish state. » Read more

Rabbi Wolpo: Fire rubber bullets back at soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Kobi Nahshoni - March 8, 2011 - 1:00am SOS Israel Chairman Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo called on West Bank settlers living in outposts and their supporters to use violence against soldiers and officers who use crowd dispersal means during evacuations. In a radio interview Saturday night, Rabbi Wolpo estimated that Israel was heading toward a civil war. "The army decided to fight against settlers and against the people and State of Israel. » Read more

Israel can't use force against the next Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Menachem Klein - (Editorial) March 8, 2011 - 1:00am If the South Sudanese and East Timorese gained independence before the Palestinians, something went seriously wrong. How can one compare these places to the religious and international standing of Palestine? This must be the thinking of any Palestinians who have calculated their private profit and loss columns since the Oslo Accords. » Read more

Former Dutch PM tells Haaretz: European leaders can't trust Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - March 8, 2011 - 1:00am The red carpet was not rolled out to greet 80-year-old Dries van Agt upon his arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport. The man who was prime minister of Holland from 1977 to 1982 is known here as one of the leading delegitimizers of Israel. » Read more

Israel may ask U.S. for $20 billion more in security aid, Barak says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz March 8, 2011 - 1:00am Israel may request an addition $20 billion in military aid from the United States in light of the unrest sweeping the Arab world, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday. Barak deemed the changes in the region a "movement in the right direction", and said that in the long run, Israel should not fear the "movement of Arab societies toward modernity." But in the more immediate future, he told the WSJ, Israel would have to contend with the fact that Iran and Syria "might be the last to feel the heat" and join the trend of unrest. » Read more

Israeli gov't orders demolition of illegal West Bank outposts by year end ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli government is committed to removing illegal outposts on private Palestinian land in the West Bank by the end of 2011, a government official told Xinhua on Monday. The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet followed a petition filed by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now to the High Court, demanding the razing of six controversial outposts, including locales known as Givat Asaf, Mitzpe Yitzhar and Mitzpeh Lachish. » Read more

Hamas leader says to reshuffle government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister of the deposed Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya said on Monday that he will reshuffle his deposed government soon. He told a gathering of his government's representatives in Gaza that the move aims at pumping new blood to the government. "The activities of the government are not linked with this minister or that one, the ministers come and go, and we are going to reshuffle the government soon," said Haneya. He noted that his government had held consultations "with everyone without exception, adding that there are some people who refused to join the government. » Read more

Palestinian official says Israeli government responsible for settlers assaults ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2011 - 1:00am A senior Palestinian official on Monday held the Israeli government fully responsible for the ongoing attacks of the Jewish settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank. Tayseer Khaled, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua that the PLO condemns the recent settlers' attacks on Monday during which eight Palestinians were wounded. "What happened on Monday in the village of Qasrra near Nablus is not far away from the atmosphere that the Israeli government is encouraging and its silence towards the acts of the settlers," said Khaled. » Read more

Israeli PM: Military must remain in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Daniel Estrin - March 7, 2011 - 1:00am Israel's prime minister declared Tuesday that his country must retain a strategic section of the West Bank under any future peace deal — a position unlikely to win Palestinians over to his reported plan to offer them a temporary state. In a rare visit to the occupied territory, Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Israel's security depends on maintaining a military presence in the Jordan Valley — a strip of West Bank land along the border with Jordan. Without troops there, Israel fears militants could smuggle weapons into the West Bank. » Read more

For Better or for Worse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Editorial) March 7, 2011 - 1:00am Israelis, like most Jews, worry for a living. The dark side of Jewish history and the security challenges of their national life compel them to. And these days there's plenty to worry about. Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and turbulent changes in the Arab world unleashed by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia are shifting the power balance against Israel. Indeed, its position in the neighborhood -- in part as a consequence of its own policies -- is growing increasingly precarious. » Read more