Netanyahu's Move to Right Leaves Opening for Olmert at Center
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Alon Pinkas - (Opinion) October 31, 2012 - 12:00am

This was supposed to be a Seinfeld election in Israel: no real agenda, no real visions, no big narratives except for "Iran" and all those urgent issues that the political system conveniently defers to the next generation. But these elections are in fact historic for one reason: the first time ever not dealing with Israel's relations with the Arab world, or with the future of our cohabitation with the Palestinians. "Peace" is a T-shirt, and Palestinians exist is a parallel universe.

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Israeli rightists unite while center-left remains in disarray as elections near
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 31, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel's governing Likud party approved teaming up with Yisrael Beiteinu in a move that united the country's right-of-center forces and left contenders on the left treading water ahead of the elections slated for early next year.

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Bibi's Mistake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Michael Koplow - (Opinion) October 30, 2012 - 12:00am

In an announcement last Thursday that shocked the Israeli political establishment, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated their intention to merge Netanyahu's Likud Party with Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu. Despite the contention made by some -- notably Haaretz editor Aluf Benn -- that this move creates a war cabinet that will make it easier for Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, it's more likely the two men had domestic politics at the forefront of their minds.

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Settler leaders lobby PM to pass Levy report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - (Analysis) October 30, 2012 - 12:00am

As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu weighs bringing the Levy Report on legalizing West Bank outposts to the cabinet, settler leaders on Monday held a small protest outside the Knesset. The leaders plan to sit there throughout the week, as part of their lobby to get Netanyahu to approve the report, which states that West Bank settlements are legal under international law.

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Israel's Barak hopes to extend political career
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Aron Heller - (Analysis) October 29, 2012 - 12:00am

 

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Israel is at War, Whether Netanyahu Admits it or Not
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Yaron London - (Opinion) October 29, 2012 - 12:00am

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toots his own horn that during his term as prime minister, we have not gone to war. He explains his success by stating that war became superfluous once the Israel he headed demonstrated a resolve and determination that deterred its enemies.

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In Israel, Arab MKs seek the impossible - voters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - October 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Today, the Arab and Muslim world will observe Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice. The holiday atmosphere has been felt since the start of the week. In recent days, stores and shopping malls in Arab towns and villages in the Galilee and the Little Triangle area of Baka al-Garbiyeh, Taibeh and Tira have been packed. Concurrently, however, support committees operating within mosques report that they are fielding numerous calls for assistance from those lacking the resources to prepare holiday meals.

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Ahead of Israel election, PA bid in UN may push Netanyahu to harsh unilateral reaction, diplomats say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority's bid for UN recognition as a non-member observer state could lead to a new intifada or the PA's collapse, Israeli diplomats are warning countries worldwide as part of an intensive diplomatic campaign against the move.

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It was fear that drove Netanyahu, Lieberman into each other's arms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) October 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli political world was shocked Thursday. While everyone was carefully watching the center-left bloc waiting to see what steps Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni would take, suddenly they were overtaken from the right side of the political map by the October surprise of the 2013 election. The option of a merger between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu was in the air for the past few months, but it was considered somewhere between unfounded speculation and an unlikely possibility. But Thursday it turned into a shocking electoral reality.

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With Lieberman at his side, Netanyahu's war cabinet is on a one-way track to Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) October 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a war cabinet last night that will lead Israel into a confrontation with Iran.

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