December 8th

Panetta and Clinton Take Aim at Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Just as the troubled relationship between the Obama administration and the government of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be getting on track, remarks by top American officials have made it clear that frustration still runs deep in Washington over Israel’s policies. » Read more

Revisionism, rejectionism and Arab-Israeli peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Irwin Cotler - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am While serving as a Canadian delegate to the annual inter-parliamentary hearing at the United Nations, I came across an exhibit marking the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The central theme of the exhibit is the Nakba – catastrophe – suffered by the Palestinian people, due to the establishment of the State of Israel. » Read more

Israeli court releases 'tortured' Palestinain ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM // In a rare ruling, an Israeli military court has acquitted a Palestinian man because interrogators were found to have brutally forced his guilty confession. All but one of the 17 charges brought against Ayman Hamida, 37, from east Jerusalem's Azariya neighbourhood, were dropped by the military judges, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday. He was convicted of firing a weapon at Israeli police officers in 2009. The judges concluded that Mr Hamida was subjected to choking, beating and food deprivation during 40 days of interrogation, the newspaper reported. » Read more

A match made in heaven? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilan Manor - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in love. Not with a person or an idea, but with a party. The Republican Party. Ever since he took office, Netanyahu has found himself attracted to the GOP. Now, the attraction has blossomed into love. The prime minister has been swept off his feet by the parade of dashing Republican candidates courting him and offering to take care of Iran, an issue he has struggled with for more than two years.It’s like the old song lyrics, “Heaven/ I’m in heaven/ and my heart beats/ so that I can hardly speak...” » Read more

Gingrich and Adelson Forge Firm Alliance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman, Josh Nathan-Kazis - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am In the battle for the Republican pro-Israel vote, Newt Gingrich lacks Mitt Romney’s broad base of prominent Jewish donors. But he has something potentially more powerful: the support of one of Benjamin Netanyahu’s most significant American backers, and a relationship with the Israeli prime minister himself that stretches back decades. » Read more

The Arab Spring and Israel’s winter hibernation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Last weekend, a group of Europeans, Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Jordanians convened in Europe for discussions regarding the “Arab Spring." The Israelis who participated returned to Israel in a worried state. “Our situation isn't good”, one of them said. The Arabs who participated in the talks told their Israeli counterparts that hostility toward Israel in the Arab world is reaching new heights. According to them, Israel is seen as part of the “old order” in the Middle East, as well as an ally of deposed Arab dictators, such as former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. » Read more

Israel is losing its 'base' in the democratic West ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am The key term in the prime minister's close circles is "base." This American political term refers to the part of the right-wing population that both set up the Netanyahu government and ensures its survival. The strategy that has guided Benjamin Netanyahu over the past three years is a fundamental strategy of don't lose the base - not to commit any act that will cause the Likud leader to lose the support of the nationalists, the national-religious or the Haredim who got him into the Prime Minister's Office. » Read more

How peace vanished from Israeli discourse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am It happens a lot. A figure once significant in our lives fades away gradually. Not with a slam of the door or a tough fight, but almost imperceptibly, a kind of slow evaporation, until one day we suddenly notice he has completely disappeared. » Read more

In Race to Moon, Israel Thinks Small ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am They aren’t planning to put the first Israeli on the Moon. But they do want to plant the country’s flag there, send a robot on a 500-meter or so stroll past some craters and send pictures back home. Along the way, they want to inspire the next generation of Israelis to pursue science and technology and show the world Israel’s tech abilities. And they want to do this employing innovative and often untried technology all in the space of two years and on a budget that NASA would regard as petty cash. » Read more

Hamas demands Palestinian elections be held in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Hamas will only agree to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next May if voting takes place in East Jerusalem and Hamas is allowed to participate, Haaretz has learned - a condition to which Israel will almost certainly object. » Read more