The Levy Committee: Who Are the Real Winners? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Hannah Weisfeld - (Blog) July 17, 2012 - 12:00am Last week the Levy Committee, set up by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to examine the legal status of outposts in the West Bank, announced its findings. According to the committee the IV Geneva Convention does not apply to the West Bank and, therefore, Israel cannot be deemed to be occupying this piece of land. On that basis the 'illegal outposts' in the West Bank, built on what Israel recognizes as state land, should be made legal, and zoning policies should be amended to make it easier for Jews to build in this area. » Read more

The Israeli left's zombie argument ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Baram - (Opinion) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am One of the primary concerns arguments of the Zionist left, from the time of Yitzhak Rabin's second government and until very recently, was, "What the world will think of us?" The argument went like this: In the absence of peace with the Palestinians, or at the very least of negotiations pretending to be serious, Israel will become a pariah state. Its economy will take a serious beating, and the aspiration of most Israelis to deny that they are part of the geographic region in which they live, and to see their country as part of the Western world, will turn out to be illusory. » Read more

Is Mideast terrorism drifting to Africa? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Rina Bassist - (Analysis) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am Two weeks ago, Kenyan police arrested two people suspected of planning a terror attack against Israeli and American targets. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet declared immediately that the arrest proved Iran’s involvement once again in international terrorism. At the same time, Kenyan media reported that Israeli detectives had arrived in Nairobi to conduct meetings with different security bodies. Israeli officials have refused to comment so far. » Read more

Zionism 2012: A Guide for the Perplexed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) July 18, 2012 - 12:00am Last week I opened the papers and finally had reason to sigh in relief. A panel headed by retired Supreme Court justice Edmond Levy has determined that Israel is not an occupying power. The bothersome international law that insists that Israel’s colonization of the West Bank is illegal simply doesn’t apply: All settlements are legal! » Read more

Palestinians deny U.S. aid threat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Allison Good - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestine Liberation Organization has denied recent reports that the White House issued a notice threatening to cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority if it launches a renewed drive for recognition at the United Nations. "This is absolutely not true," PLO representative to Washington Maen Rashid Areikat told The Cable this week. "We do not know what they are saying. It's unfounded." » Read more

Israel has no doubt about who is behind the deadly attack in Bulgaria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Opinion) July 19, 2012 - 12:00am The government didn't hesitate to point a finger on Wednesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, apparently supported by detailed intelligence, immediately blamed Iran for the terror attack on Israelis in Bulgaria that killed seven people. If this is so, the man behind the attack in Burgas would be Gen. Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, who operates the Guards' overseas operations. Hezbollah assists Quds, but the Lebanese group has been less effective since Imad Mughniyeh's assassination in 2008. » Read more

Palestinian Olympic participation brings conflict to the fore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ben Sales - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am A portrait of the two most prominent Palestinian leaders -- current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and former President Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004 -- hangs in the conference room of the Palestinian Olympic Committee headquarters. » Read more

Israeli PM unfazed by Kadima walkout of government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am It was labeled the "super coalition" which would give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a solid majority in the Knesset (parliament) to deal with challenges facing the nation. However, on Tuesday, Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz decided to leave the government he had joined only 72 days earlier, after negotiations over a new draft law fell apart. The day after Kadima joined the government in May, the Knesset was scheduled to vote on a law calling for elections in September, but after Kadima joined the law was scrapped. » Read more

Summer Camp at Israeli Outpost Trains Girls to Become Settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Amichai Atali - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am You won’t find a shower here, and don’t even think about a mobile phone. Nor are any of these girls dreaming of amusement parks. Welcome to a summer camp for the daughters of the outposts: three days of Krav Maga (a martial art and eclectic self-defense system developed in Israel), whitewashing of unauthorized buildings and tree-planting. » Read more

Levy Report Tests American Consensus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Paul Berger - July 20, 2012 - 12:00am The American Jewish Committee, a centrist pillar of America’s organized Jewish community, is breaking with the long-standing establishment consensus that settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank pose no impediment to peace. The committee, in a press release issued on July 12, affirmed the legality of settlements throughout the West Bank and rejected the notion that the territory was under legal occupation. » Read more