Under Netanyahu, Israel is stronger than ever ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) May 9, 2012 - 12:00am While incumbents around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving. By bringing the rival Kadima party into his ruling coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu has become “king of Israel,” in Aaron David Miller’s phrase. » Read more

Palestinian Airline resumes flights, with Amman route ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian national carrier, grounded since 2005, has resumed operations with flights between Egypt’s El-Arish and Amman, its director general told AFP on Thursday. “We started yesterday from Amman to El-Arish and from El-Arish to Amman,” Palestinian Airlines director general Zeyad Albad said. “We are going to have flights from El-Arish to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) soon too, and we are trying to set up some new routes to Turkey and the (United Arab) Emirates,” he said. » Read more

West Bank barrier threatens villagers' way of life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 9, 2012 - 12:00am In this part of the world, the supply and control of water is a major logistical and political issue. Yet the quaint village of Battir must be one of the luckiest and most blessed communities around - because Battir has water in abundance. For more than 2,000 years, seven natural springs have given life to the village and its fields. Children still play, almost incongruously, in an old Roman bath built centuries ago at the spot, in the middle of the village, where one of the springs emerges. » Read more

US c'tee moves to control Egypt, PA money ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON – A congressional subcommittee approved a foreign aid budget tightening control over money to Egypt and the Palestinians Wednesday following some members’ concern over developments in the region. The House foreign operations appropriations subcommittee passed by voice vote the $40.1 billion foreign operations budget for 2013, which includes fully funding the $3.1b. US commitment to Israeli military assistance as part of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. » Read more

PA seeks to take part in UN earth summit as state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 10, 2012 - 12:00am As part of its continuing efforts to gain international recognition as a state, the Palestinian Authority is requesting to take part in the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20) scheduled to take place in Brazil in June, Army Radio reported on Thursday. The PA vowed to seek membership in various UN agencies after its bid for recognition as a state, presented to the Security Council in September, stalled. » Read more

New Hamas force in Gaza is foiling rocket attacks against Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Hamas government in Gaza has been operating a force over the past few months whose sole task is to prevent the firing of rockets into Israel. Hamas, which has always championed jihad against Israel, is now using its authority to foil the firing efforts of cells from other organizations such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees. » Read more

Settler leaders knew homes were built on private Palestinian land, says Ulpana developer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am Settler leaders knew from the start that Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood was built partly on privately owned Palestinian land, police documents reveal, even though residents claim they bought the houses in good faith. Yoel Tsur, CEO of the company that built the neighborhood and owns 24 of the 30 houses that the High Court of Justice has ordered razed, admitted in a police interrogation three years ago that it was built on land whose purchase was never finalized. » Read more

UN's oldest refugee camps look at sensitive upgrades ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Noah Browning - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Reuters) -- Three generations of Palestinians displaced by the founding of Israel in 1948 know only life in UN refugee camps, going to schools beneath the blue-and-white UN flag and drawing their food stocks from UN warehouses. For these Palestinians whose long-cherished goal is the right of return to the lands they lost 64 years ago, the camps must be seen as temporary no matter how permanent they might seem to others. » Read more

Settler group patrols West Bank for demolition targets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Charlotte Alfred - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A tiny village of Palestinian families in the southern West Bank has had an unwelcome visitor in recent months. “He comes with small weapons and his camera, sometimes with armed forces, sometimes with settlers,” Susiya resident Nasser Nawaja says. The armed visitor is Ovad Arad, the Judea and Samaria Director of Regavim, an Israeli non-governmental organization. » Read more

UN's Ban urges Israel to charge prisoners or free them ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 10, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Israel to either charge or release Palestinian detainees "without delay." Ban expressed concern for Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest over their detention without charge and stressed "the importance of averting any further deterioration in their condition," in a statement issued through his spokesman Martin Nesirky. » Read more