Tel Aviv Rising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) April 30, 2012 - 12:00am ''I don't believe in a leadership that makes decisions based on messianic feelings,'' Yuval Diskin, the former head of the Israeli Secret Service said this past week. The gathering was to celebrate Israeli’s Independence Day in the Tel Aviv suburb of Kfar Saba. He was speaking in code. » Read more

Obama doesn't need Israeli ex-officials to know Netanyahu doesn't want peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am True, it would very much benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold the election as early as possible, before Kadima chairman MK Shaul Mofaz gains altitude and former media personality Yair Lapid manages to convince people that his nascent party really does have a future. Indeed, Netanyahu would benefit from summoning voters to the ballot boxes before the 2013 budget compels the next government to plunge its hands deep into their pockets. » Read more

It's wrong to push out Israeli settlers, even if its legal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am The State of Israel rightfully prides itself on being the only democracy in the Middle East. It also takes pride in being a country in which the rule of law prevails. That is no small matter in a country that has had to contend with wars and acts of terrorism throughout the 64 years of its existence and presently faces what might be an existential threat. It is probably without parallel in other democracies throughout history that have had to deal with the kinds of emergencies with which Israel must contend. » Read more

Muslim Students: Radicals or Partners? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Analysis) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am Washington — In their cautious dialogue with American Muslims, national Jewish groups have long steered clear of the Muslim Students Association, one of the biggest Muslim groups in the country and one that many Jewish communal officials see as extremist. But that red line is increasingly being ignored by Jewish students at colleges across the country, where campus Hillel foundations are finding their local MSA counterparts to be congenial partners for interfaith activities. » Read more

Co-op boycotts exports from Israel's West Bank settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - May 28, 2012 - 12:00am The Co-operative Group has become the first major European supermarket group to end trade with companies that export produce from illegal Israeli settlements. » Read more

US Jews vastly prefer Obama to Romney ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 1, 2012 - 12:00am BOSTON – US Jewish voters prefer US President Barack Obama to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by 61 percent to 28%, according to a new American Jewish Committee survey released Monday. Those surveyed also approved more than disapproved of the way Obama has handled what they saw as the major issues in deciding how they would vote, when asked to list their top three: the economy (80%), health care (57%), national security (26%), taxes (26%), the US-Israel relationship (22%) and social security (22%). » Read more

Israel Does Have a Partner At the Negotiating Table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Nati Sharoni - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am This is the first time that former chiefs of Israeli security Meir Dagan of the Mossad and Yuval Diskin of the General Security Services (GSS or Shin Bet) have issued such a scathing warning about flawed analyses of major security risks. This is also the first time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been accused of "messianic impulses" and of portraying a false picture of the situation. » Read more

Plan B needed to halt Palestinian suffering ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalef Al Habtoor - (Opinion) May 8, 2012 - 12:00am There is no cause dearer to my heart than that of the Palestinians and it saddens me that international efforts towards a Palestinian state are on the backburner. Since the 1980s when I got together with Emirati friends to form associations committed to supporting the Palestinians, their right of return is less viable now than it was then. Unfortunately, the idea of a Palestinian state is at the point of being shelved as a mythical Shangri-La unless we take advantage of space in a closing window. » Read more

Moderate middle must be heard on Israel debate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Peter Joseph - (Opinion) May 7, 2012 - 12:00am NEW YORK (JTA) -- The intellectual food fight over Israel that has played out over the Op-Ed pages of virtually all Jewish and many mainstream newspapers in recent weeks may have settled down, but the passion of the discussion has made one thing very clear: The boundaries dividing American Jewish opinion on Israel, and its policies regarding Palestinians, have become as contentious as the borders between Israel and the West Bank. » Read more

Netanyahu's power play pays off ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jonathan Marcus - (Opinion) May 8, 2012 - 12:00am Having created one surprise in pushing for an early general election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now delivered an even greater bomb-shell. The plan for early elections has been abandoned. Instead a new broadly-based governing coalition has been called into existence with the opposition centre-right Kadima party of Shaul Mofaz joining the government. Many of Kadima's members of parliament were facing defeat in any early general election: they will breathe a great sigh of relief. » Read more