Minister Livnat: My nephew was killed by a terrorist disguised as a Palestinian policeman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Hundreds attended the funeral of Ben-Joseph Livnat Sunday, who was killed and three others were wounded earlier in the day when a Palestinian security officer opened fire on their car as they were leaving the holy site of Joseph's Tomb near the West Bank city of Nablus. The funeral procession left Alon More near Nablus, heading toward the Mount of Olives Graveyard. Livnat, 25, is the nephew of Science and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, and is survived by his wife and four children. » Read more

Report: Hamas seeks to kidnap more IDF soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas is planning to take advantage of the relative calm in Gaza to arrange additional kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, according to a report by Israel Radio quoting an article published Sunday in Hamas' Al-Resalah newspaper. The report said that Hamas would potentially perpetrate the abductions to attain additional bargaining chips in the event that Gilad Shalit is killed during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. The Hamas newspaper report added that the past five years in which they have held Shalit hostage will prove helpful in the organization fulfilling its goal. » Read more

Tensions mount in West Bank after Nablus shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Tensions in the West Bank mounted Sunday after a shooting incident in the city of Nablus killed one Israeli and wounded four others. A Palestinian policeman opened fire when a group of Israelis entered Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus, early Sunday without "proper permits," according to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) statement. » Read more

Arab changes to hopefully push forward stalled Mideast peace before September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Talks on new American and Israeli plans and initiatives to push forward the peace process have increased in the past few weeks, while the Palestinians are working in full swing for the establishment of an independent state in September. The Middle East peace process has been stalled, since the Palestinians had suspended the direct peace talks with Israel in October, one month after it was launched in Washington. The talks with Israel were suspended after Israel refused to freeze settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. » Read more

How the Likud Came to Be ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Elliot Jager - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am The party faithful who gathered in Tel Aviv on April 14 for a pre-Passover toast heard Benjamin Netanyahu announce that he would amplify Israel's security-and-peace principles at a joint session of the U.S. Congress next month. Surveying the crowd from the podium, the prime minister no doubt took comfort from a recent survey showing that 76 percent of Likud members opposed annexing all of Judea and Samaria. Yet he would also have known that 10,000 party recruits had been newly signed up by uncompromising settler leaders. » Read more

Bibi and Obama: hand over peace process to the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - April 25, 2011 - 12:00am President Barack Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we are told, are in a "bizarre diplomatic race" to be the first to outline a new initiative for Middle East peace. That's according to the New York Times, which last week reported that Mr Netanyahu is planning to preempt Mr Obama when he addresses US Congress next month, at the invitation of the president's Republican adversaries. » Read more

President Obama and the Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Editorial) April 24, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama began his presidency vowing to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He backed off in the face of both sides’ obstinacy and after a series of diplomatic missteps. Since then, the stalemate, and the mistrust, have only deepened, and it is clear that nothing good will happen until the United States fully engages. » Read more

Intolerant streak continues to afflict Palestinian society ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Fawaz Turki - (Opinion) April 23, 2011 - 12:00am Let's not allow the brazen murder of Juliano Mer Khamis, 52, and Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, two engaged idealists who were gunned down respectively in the West Bank and Gaza within two weeks of each other earlier this month, to pass largely unnoticed, relegated to a mere footnote in the narrative of the Palestinian struggle. » Read more

Fayyad: We’ll soon celebrate Easter in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2011 - 12:00am The prime minister in Ramallah gave holiday greetings at an event with Christian clergymen and other officials Saturday, the day before Easter. "This holiday brings with it joy and the promise of a better future," Salam Fayyad said. "It is a religious and national holiday for Muslim and Christian Palestinians," he said. "We will celebrate this holiday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Palestinian state, at a time when our aspirations for freedom and independence are realized." » Read more

Fayyad: National unity urgent for statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that a national unity government must be formed urgently as the last stages of the national project are completed. Fayyad's comments were made during a tour of villages near Ramallah, where the premier helped farmers to plant tree saplings. The prime minister's two-year state-building initiative is scheduled to be completed in September, when the PA is expected to seek international recognition of its statehood at the UN. » Read more