US seeks to head off Palestinian UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 12, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is trying to dissuade Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas from seeking non-member status at the United Nations at top UN meetings later this month, an official said.“We continue to make clear that we believe that the only realistic path for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.Abbas said on Saturday he will make a bid on September 27 to upgrade the Palestinians to non-member status before the annual UN General Assembly.

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Misunderstanding America
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The self-appointed experts on American-Israeli relations are wrong again. According to them these relations have sunk to a new low, and the Netanyahu government is doing inestimable damage to a relationship which, as all recognize, is an integral part of Israel's security.

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Obama on the fence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yoaz Hendal - (Opinion) September 6, 2012 - 12:00am

In Hebrew there is a slight difference between in the pronunciation and spelling of "obligation" and "commitment." There is a big difference when it comes to the nuclear threat. The Obama administration has said everything it had to say in order to convince us that it is committed to Israel's security. But what it isn’t saying is that it is obligated – because it isn't.

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The Obama gut test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Lester Crown - (Opinion) September 6, 2012 - 12:00am

For the majority of my adult life, I have been privileged to call Chicago my home. It is a beautiful city with a large and active Jewish community. It is also where, several decades ago, many of my friends and I had the good fortune to know a lawyer who became a local community organizer and would, in fairly short time, become the most powerful man in the world.

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The Democrats' misstep on Jerusalem and Israel's place in the US election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - (Opinion) September 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Just off the main road through West Jerusalem toward Bethlehem sits a prime but barren piece of real estate surrounded by luxury flats. It's the site of a future American embassy to Israel that, for nearly two decades, the US Congress has demanded be built immediately. But once American presidents begin navigating the minefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they quickly realise they don't need to add to their problems by shifting the US embassy from Tel Aviv - a unilateral statement on the status of Jerusalem.

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Rivlin says Obama doesn't understand Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Lahav Harkov - September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama's administration does not understand the realities of the Middle East, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Wednesday, amid ongoing speculation of a rift in US-Israel relations. "The fact that the Democrats removed a united Jerusalem as Israel's capital from their platform is more worrying than the argument over Iran," Rivlin told The Jerusalem Post. "The change may have far-reaching consequences."

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Platform Change on Status of Jerusalem Sparks Debate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Naftali Bendavid, Jared Favole - September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The Democratic Party released a 2012 platform Tuesday that omits previous language describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, sparking an unexpected dust-up just as President Barack Obama is preparing to accept his party's nomination for a second term.

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DNC adds Jerusalem to platform
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Laura Rozen - (Blog) September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Update: The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday added an amendment to its 2012 platform saying Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The language, almost identical to that in the DNC 2008 platform, was added after its omission came under criticism from some Republican groups. “President Obama personally intervened to strengthen the language,” a Democratic aide involved in the process told Al-Monitor Wednesday.

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Hurricane "Jerusalem" Hits the DNC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Daniel Seidemann - (Opinion) September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Jerusalem always comes up during U.S. political campaign season, and this year is no different. In July, GOP candidate Mitt Romney came to Jerusalem, where he skillfully bobbed and wove his way around the issue, expressing fidelity to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but stopping short of promising to move the U.S. embassy there the moment he becomes President. Now, apparently, it’s the Democrats' turn.

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Democratic platform drafters defend Israel section
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Josh Rogin - (Blog) September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

CHARLOTTE - Changes between the 2008 Democratic Party platform's language on Israel and the 2012 version were due to a deliberate effort to refocus the platform toward President Barack Obama's policies, two officials directly involved in its drafting process told The Cable. Leading pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC were heavily involved in the platform-drafting process, saw final language of the draft platform, and told platform drafters they were satisfied with it, both officials said.

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