South Africa: SA Not Boycotting Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from South African Government News Agency August 14, 2012 - 12:00am South Africa has no policy aimed at boycotting Israel, International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said on Tuesday. But Pretoria did discourage people from visiting Israel because of the latter's continued occupation of Palestinian land, Ebrahim told reporters in Pretoria. "We have no policy that says boycott Israel but we believe that Israel is an occupying power and that we should discourage people from visiting that country," he said. » Read more

Morsy to resume Hamas-Fatah unity efforts in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 14, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy has decided to resume efforts to end the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian sources said Tuesday. The sources said that Morsy has invited representatives of the two rival parties to meetings in Cairo after the holiday of Id al-Fitr, which begins next week. Morsy’s decision to resume efforts to end the Fatah-Hamas dispute comes amid growing tensions between the two sides, especially in the wake of last week’s terror attack in Sinai, in which 16 Egyptian border guards were killed by unidentified terrorists. » Read more

Despite ban, PLO leaders host Ramadan event in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 15, 2012 - 12:00am PLO leaders hosted a Ramadan event in east Jerusalem late Monday, in the first official Palestinian gathering in the 18 years since Israel imposed a ban on such activities in the holy city. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior PLO leader, and Adnan Husseini, the Palestinian Authority governor of Jerusalem, hosted the Iftar meal and briefed diplomats on a bid to join the United Nations in the coming months. » Read more

PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib leaves post ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib has decided to leave his position and return to teaching, the PA's official news agency Wafa reported Wednesday. Khatib had taken a three-year leave of absence from Birzeit University to work as a spokesman and head of the PA government media center at the request of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad. Three years is the maximum amount of leave a university employee can take, which is why Khatib is returning to his former position, a statement from the center said. » Read more

Ex-Obama Official Warns: Take Israel Iran Threat 'Very Seriously' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Laura Rozen - August 14, 2012 - 12:00am Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl traveled to Israel 13 times during his tenure as the Obama administration’s top Pentagon Middle East civilian policy advisor from 2009 to the end of 2011. Kahl, now a Georgetown University professor, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and foreign policy advisor to the Obama campaign, told Al-Monitor in an interview Tuesday that he takes the signs that Israeli leaders are contemplating a fall strike on Iran “very seriously.” » Read more

Panetta: No Israeli decision yet on attacking Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that he did not believe that Israel had made a decision on whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program, and added that he thought there was still time for a stronger sanctions push. Panetta’s comments came at a Pentagon briefing against the background of the very loud and public debate in Israel about whether to attack Iran. Panetta held a round of talks in Israel two weeks ago, and met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. » Read more

Ambassador Oren: Israel's clock on Iran 'ticking faster' than Obama's ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 14, 2012 - 12:00am While White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday that the Obama Administration still believes that there is "time and space" for a diplomatic track, coupled with sanctions, to succeed in convincing Iranian leadership to stop the nuclear program, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren stressed in an interview to MSNBC that the Israeli clock "is ticking faster." » Read more

Netanyahu set to bury Levy report on legalizing illegal West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to bury the Levy Report, which recommends legalizing most unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank and making it easier for existing settlements to expand, a senior politician who spoke with the premier about the issue told Haaretz yesterday. » Read more

Israel's Foreign Ministry gives envoys a lesson on twitter diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s Foreign Ministry updated online social media guidelines for representatives of the State of Israel worldwide, following a few recent unusual tweets and Facebook posts made by Israeli diplomats. The Foreign Ministry’s message to Israeli diplomats: Surfers on the web take everything you post as Israel’s official position. » Read more

Israeli rights groups ask court to stop razing of Bedouin villages ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Several Israeli human rights organizations petitioned the High Court on Tuesday to prevent the demolition of five Bedouin villages. The petition is spearheaded by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and is aimed at averting the construction of agricultural settlements in the area of Mevo'ot Arad, in the Negev. These Jewish settlements, seven of them, will be built after the existing Bedouin villages, which are home to hundreds of families, are razed. » Read more