FM: WMD transfer to Hezbollah is 'justification for war'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

The transfer of chemical weapons from Syria to Hezbollah is a clear casus belli, and Israel will act "decisively and without hesitation or restraint,"  Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels, Liberman said this would be "a completely different ballgame, and we hope for the understanding and cooperation of the international community."

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Thousands head to Aqsa mosque
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Thousands of Palestinians traveled from inside Israel and the occupied West Bank to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. Crossings experienced a large volume of traffic, particularly at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Israeli forces deployed at crossings and checkpoints throughout Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage and other groups are implementing a campaign under the Ministry of Religious Affairs to protect the mosque during the Ramadan period.

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Israel Is Forced to Rethink Its Regional Strategies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, observed on Thursday that President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power was slipping away. “The disintegration is not abstract; it is real,” Mr. Barak said after a tour and debriefing with the local commander. “It is getting closer.”

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Death of Palestinian woman at Bil'in protest goes to High Court
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gili Cohen - July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

The High Court of Justice on Wednesday will hear a petition demanding an IDF criminal investigation into the January 1, 2011 death of a Palestinian woman while a demonstration was taking place in the West Bank village of Bil'in. Jawaher Abu Rahmah died after having inhaled tear gas fired the previous day to disperse a demonstration staged in Bil'in to protest the separation fence in the village area.

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Gazans visit relatives jailed in Israel after 5 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel allowed 40 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to visit relatives held in Israeli jails on Monday, the first such visits in five years, implementing a deal reached in May that ended a prisoners' hunger strike, families and officials said. "Forty people - families of 24 prisoners - arrived a short while ago at the Ramon prison," a Prisons Service spokeswoman said, adding that visits from prisoners' relatives in Gaza would now be held on a weekly basis.

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Attacks on Palestinians continue, but police only arrest leftist activists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Graffiti in Hebrew reading "death to Arabs" and "revenge" were found Wednesday night painted on a water tank in the eastern part of the Palestinian village of Susya in the southern Hebron Hills, not far from the settlement of Susya. Similar slogans had been painted 10 days earlier on crumbling limestone along the road.

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Growing Israeli Naval Presence Likely to Upset Turkey Even More
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Milliyet
July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel is preparing to increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean to protect its natural gas exploration activities, which have been a source of tension between Israel and Turkey. According to a plan approved by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the chief of staff, Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel will buy four new combat vessels for its navy, assign more troops [to the area] and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for patrols in the region.

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U.K. slams Israel with stiff upper lip: Not all Palestinian kids are potential terrorists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

"A Palestinian child is a potential terrorist," an IDF prosecutor candidly told a delegation of nine visiting British lawyers. The attorneys, who visited Israel for a week in September 2011, reviewed and analyzed Israeli law and practice regarding the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children. Britain's foreign ministry financed the delegation's visit, which appeared to raise the bar a notch; after both British houses of parliament debated the issue last year, after several British MPs paid visits to the military court next to Ofer prison.

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Israeli officials deny Arafat poisoning rumors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli officials on Thursday quashed recent rumors that late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died due to radiation poisoning, denying any connection to his death. Arafat passed away in a French military hospital outside Paris on Nov. 11, 2004. Hospital doctors said the specific cause of death was a massive brain hemorrhage, and Arafat has a blood disease called "disseminated intravascular coagulation," according to the Haaretz daily. The report said the ailment has a number of causes, including infections, colitis and liver disease.

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Israel to Upgrade Air Force With F-35 Advanced Aircrafts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Hanan Greenberg - July 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Not long ago, a thick cloud of rumors settled on the new, much-talked-about IDF [Israel Defense Forces] acquisition of 20 F-35's, a fighter plane known as the Stealth produced by the American Lockheed Martin Company. There were rumors regarding production slowdowns and delays of the F-35, known as the “fifth generation fighter plane” (in contrast to the Israeli fourth-generation F-16's). The fear is that they will reach Israel very late — too late to serve the IDF in coping with future challenges.

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