Israeli Leader Pledges Hard Line on Migrants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to step up efforts to deter, detain and deport illegal migrants to Israel, as tensions mount over an influx of asylum seekers from Africa. His pledge came a day before an early morning fire, apparently set by arsonists, ravaged an apartment occupied by about 10 Eritrean migrants on Monday. Four people were injured. Though there have been a number of firebomb attacks against migrants in south Tel Aviv in recent weeks, the fire was the first attack on migrants in Jerusalem, the police said.

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In unprecedented move, Israel's Foreign Ministry condemns violence against African migrants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

The Foreign Ministry issued an unprecedented statement on Monday in which it harshly condemned the recent violence against African migrants living in Israel. Referring to an arson attack on Sunday against an apartment rented by Eritrean migrants, the statement said, "There is no justification [for] such a heinous crime that puts people's lives in harm's way... No person has the right to violate the law and resort to violence against others, certainly not to endanger lives, for any reason whatsoever."

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Israel to jail illegal migrants for up to 3 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel may jail illegal immigrants for up to three years under a law put into effect on Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said, a measure aimed at stemming the flow of Africans entering Israel across the porous desert border with Egypt. "The law takes effect from today," said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad. The controversial law was passed by parliament in January and denounced at the time by liberal politicians and human rights activists.

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Fayyad meets South Africa envoy, applauds settler goods labeling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday applauded South Africa's move to label settlement goods, in a meeting with the country's representative in Ramallah, official media said. Fayyad told the head of the South African representative office to the Palestinian Authority, N W Makalima, that he hoped other countries would follow South Africa's example, PA news agency Wafa reported. "We hope this step will become international consensus both at popular and official levels," he said.

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Arab states pledge $100 million per month to PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Arab states on Saturday pledged to provide the Palestinian Authority with $100 million each month as a back-up if Israel withholds tax revenues, official PA media said. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Follow-up Committee for the Arab Peace Initiative in the Qatari capital on Saturday, PLO official Saeb Erekat told PA news agency Wafa.

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Dolphin subs equipped with nuclear weapons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Bergman - June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

An in-depth report in German magazine Der Spiegel suggests that Israel's newly acquired Dolphin-class submarines will have extensive nuclear capabilities. According to a Sunday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the German-made U-boats – six of which have been purchased by the Israel Navy – will be equipped with Popeye missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads.

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EU diplomacy on Israel/Palestine shifts up a gear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from EU Observer
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Few issues of diplomatic conversation today have quite the same ability to generate a rolling of the eyes and turning of the page as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Stuck is an understatement. Israel’s government argues with its Supreme Court over re-locating a few dozen families from an illegal outpost to an illegal settlement, ignoring the bigger picture, whereby one in ten Jewish Israelis now reside in the Occupied Palestinian territories.

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Syria set to become failed state-Israeli commander
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV, May 31 (Reuters) - Syria is heading for collapse and will become a "warehouse of weapons" for Islamist militants as it descends into chaos, a senior Israeli army commander said. "Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state, and terrorism will blossom in it," said Major-General Yair Golan, making a rare public appearance at a conference at Bar Ilan University on Wednesday. "Syria has a big arsenal."

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Israeli leaders skeptical of new diplomatic efforts on Iran nuclear program
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — After an inconclusive round of talks this month between world powers and Iran about its nuclear program, Israeli leaders are expressing deep skepticism about the chances for a diplomatic breakthrough and urging tougher international demands. Following months of advocating stricter sanctions against Iran, Israeli officials are now pushing for a halt to all its uranium enrichment activity, warning that further delays could put the Iranian nuclear program beyond the reach of an effective military strike.

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2 American tourists kidnapped in Egyptian Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

El-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Two American tourists were kidnapped by armed men in the Sinai peninsula early Thursday, Egyptian security sources said. Jonathan Shizarlasky and Carter Brabon were kidnapped in the Red Sea city of Nuweiba. The two US citizens were seized at gunpoint from a car near the Hilton hotel and taken to a mountainous area, security sources said.

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