June 9th, 2011

Dagan was right about the Palestinians but wrong about Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) June 9, 2011 - 12:00am My gut feeling is that Meir Dagan is mistaken about Iran. The former Mossad chief recently said it would be stupid for Israel to attack Iran. For three years there was great tension in the international community over the possibility that Israel would launch a surprise attack. But then just last year, the tension subsided. The success of the clandestine struggle against Iran and of economic sanctions against the regime have put off the moment of truth. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are not as crazy as some tend to present them. » Read more

Between warm and fuzzy, and dangerous in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Olivia Snaije - (Analysis) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am We left Jenin early on our first day of cycling through Palestine. After an inaugural hill, we crossed a main thoroughfare where the terrain flattened, and whizzed along under a brilliant sun, the road lined with olive trees as well as multicolored fields of thistles, poppies, marigolds and daisies. Our guide, Nidal, drove ahead slowly, as if he were a Tour de France team car. At one point he stopped as a tortoise ambled across the road. Several other times during the week he would stop to pick some of us up when the rolling hills started to seem like mountains. » Read more

Syrian slaughter and Israeli restraint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime is slaughtering dozens of unarmed Syrian demonstrators every day. In Israel we cluck our tongues in shock and say he is "slaughtering his own people," but when the Israel Defense Forces killed 23 unarmed Syrian demonstrators in one day, we boasted that the IDF "acted with restraint." » Read more

Hamas: Netanyahu responsible for swap deal delay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, for what he said was a delay in the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners in a swap deal. Citing Netanyahu's "intransigence," the official said the leader bore "full responsibility" for the continued confinement of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well as thousands of Palestinians considered prisoners of war. » Read more

June 8th

UN says West Bank economy not flourishing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Claims that the economy in the West Bank is flourishing overlook rising unemployment and a jump in inflation that has decreased purchasing power, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. In recent months, observers and officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have described the West Bank's economy as booming, calling it a sign of positive momentum under Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. » Read more

Ahead of Palestinian U.N. gambit, Europe is in play ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - June 7, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (JTA) – It was a sign that ties between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations remain strong despite the apparent tensions two weeks ago when the two leaders met at the White House. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shot down a French proposal for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that had put the Israeli leader in a quandary. » Read more

Forty-Four Years Later, Liberty Attack Provokes Passions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - June 6, 2011 - 12:00am Some alleged Israeli attack on U.S. Navy vessel was no accident The Six Day War in 1967 saw Israel vanquish its Arab enemies in a stunning defeat on land, sea and in the air. There is one event, however, that remains a blemish in Israel’s victory – the attack on the U.S. Navy ship Liberty on June 8. » Read more

Netanyahu’s conundrum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Arnaud De Borchgrave - (Opinion) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am When a joint session of the U.S. Congress gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 29 standing ovations - four more than President Obama received for his last State of the Union message - there was little doubt that Israel is an integral part of the American body politic. It was a hard-line speech by an Israeli on the right of the Israeli spectrum that firmly rejected Mr. Obama's proposal for Mideast peace: The pre-1967 war frontier with minor land swaps for both sides. » Read more

New French initiative for Israeli-Palestinian peace faces difficulties ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - June 8, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- France has presented a new plan to break the deadlock in direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but faces opposition from both the United States and Israel. The plan envisions the 1967 lines, which existed before the Six Day War, as the borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state. The French initiative agrees mostly with a recent speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, but goes further to emphasize security for the two states, not only for Israel. » Read more

Time to try a new option ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Editorial) June 6, 2011 - 12:00am The partial opening of the Rafah crossing by Egypt's military rulers, coupled with the anticipation of another Turkish-led naval flotilla seeking to breach the Gaza blockade, provide a timely opportunity to review the logic of Israel's restrictions on movement into and out of the Strip. The Egyptian move also raises the issue of Gaza's future relationship with Egypt, Israel and the West Bank. » Read more