The Israel We Do Not Know
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Amal Al-Hazzami - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am

Being something of an exception in the Middle East, the Israeli elections are often great fun and full of surprises. This time we saw the emergence of politician Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party that has won the admiration even of its political rivals after gaining 19 seats in the Israeli Knesset.

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Palestinian ghettos
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am

After Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was dealt a political lynching in this month’s national election that overthrew many of his supporters, he is walking on a tightrope in search of new partners. But some of his likely new colleagues, who have just surfaced, some gloriously, do not seem very keen on sticking their necks out for the mercurial Israeli prime minister whose days in the premiership are believed to be numbered.

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Consolidating Israeli centre or its criminality?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am

All that can be said with certainty now about the Israeli election results is that the deck of political cards in parliament has been dramatically reshuffled: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with Avigdor Lieberman won 31 seats (much fewer than expected, and down from the 41 seats it held before) and remains the single biggest group, the extreme right Bayit Yehudi party of Naftali Bennett took 11 seats, and Yair Lapid’s new Yesh Atid party made

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2 Israeli parties endorse Netanyahu for new term
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - January 31, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel's two largest political parties endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister Wednesday, all but guaranteeing him a third term at the beginning of the post-election process of forming a new government.

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Obama is waiting for Israel's new star
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Leon Hader - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

Not that long ago, when someone would sharply criticize the performance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the response would go something like this:

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Meet the new MK: Esawi Freige
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ariel Ben Solomon - (Interview) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

Incoming Meretz MK Esawi Freige is the first Arab legislator for the party since the 15th Knesset and comes from the town of Kafr Kasim.

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Time for the U.S. to disturb Israel's comfort zone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

One way of interpreting last week’s election is that Israel just put up a big “Do Not Disturb” sign: We are rejigging domestic burden sharing until further notice. That, though, is of little interest to the outside world as long as Israel remains in the business of illegal occupation and pursues regional ambitions that impact developments in Iran and also Syria, Egypt and beyond.

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Israel’s election in a bubble
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Shlomo Ben-Ami - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

Forty-five years into Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and four years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government became the undertaker of the two-state solution, an electoral campaign run in utter denial of Israel’s Palestinian conundrum has just ended with yet another Netanyahu government in office.

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Political Pivot in Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations
by Bernard Gwertzman - (Interview) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

In the wake of the January 22 Israeli parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking the largest coalition government he can secure, says expert David Makovsky, because "the biggest government means no one faction can hold him by the throat." He says that U.S. officials were pleased by the surge of votes toward the center and the likelihood that newspaper columnist and radio host Yair Lapid is destined to play a major role in the new government.

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Israel's Shooting Star Yair Lapid May Quickly Crash Back to Earth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) January 29, 2013 - 1:00am

Is there a future for Yesh Atid (There Is A Future), the party that was the surprise star of the recent Israeli elections?

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