January 6th

Israel’s Top Military Brass Is Marching Away From the Prime Minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

A year after Israel’s military brass was briefly jolted by scenes of banner-waving recruits protesting against settlement evacuation, there’s another round of political murmuring emerging from the ranks. This rebellion couldn’t be more different from the last one, though. These soldiers aren’t speaking out against compromise with Israel’s Arab neighbors — they’re endorsing it. And they aren’t new recruits, but some of Israel’s most renowned military leaders.

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Only a canny America can force a Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

The Obama administration's inability to bring about a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians has prompted a search for new ideas. The latest was voiced most confidently this week by The Economist, the British news magazine.

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Is Israel a democracy? Five actions in 2010 that fueled the debate.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ariel Zirulnick - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Rabbis' wives: Don't date Arab men A group of rabbis' wives penned a letter Dec. 29 urging Jewish women "not to date Arab men, not to work in places where Arabs are employed and not to volunteer for national service with them," the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

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Chile warms to a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Matthew Chung - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

When the latest round of direct negotiations with Israel stalled, the Palestinian Authority turned its attention to securing help some 10,000km away from the Middle East. In the past month a wave of support has emerged across Latin America as its heavyweight Brazil, along with Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay, have proclaimed they formally recognise an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. They join about 100 countries that already recognise a Palestinian state.

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Israeli army investigating Jawaher Abu Rahma tear-gas incident in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli army, which had questioned reports by Palestinian witnesses and doctors that tear gas led to the death of a woman after a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank on Friday, said Wednesday that it is still conducting its own inquiry into the death and will make an announcement after its completion.

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January 5th

Palestinians and Israelis dispute the circumstances of the death of a woman protester. PM Netanyahu formally asks for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Israelis and Palestinians come together over boxing. Israeli police raid the home of leftist activists who join Palestinian protests. FM Lieberman says there will be no peace for "at least a decade." The fall of Mohammed Dahlan,accused of a coup plot, demonstrates the power of Pres. Abbas. The US Homeland Security chief is visiting Israel. Israel bombs Gaza. Ben Caspit says Palestinians are being forthcoming in negotiations but Israel isn't. The PA says Palestinian settlement laborers will be punished. Noam Ben Zeev says the creation of a National Orchestra is another step towards Palestinian statehood. Leaked cables show Israel decided to attack the Gaza economy. Quartet Envoy Tony Blair warns of dangers without progress on peace. Pres. Medvedev will visit the PA but not Israel. Israel's latest anti-missile system is running into several problems. Leonard Fein says Israel's dismal treatment of its Palestinian minority is yet another argument against a single state. The National says the US needs more cooperation from Israel for all its aid. The Jordan Times says Palestinians are right to take the settlement issue to the UN Security Council.

Another right step
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinians decided to go to the UN Security Council and seek censorship of Israel’s continued settlement activities on territories seized from them. It would not be the first time the Security Council condemns such act; it has repeatedly done so, calling on Israel to cease and desist from this illegal action.

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Money can't buy love from Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

An "unbreakable" bond doesn't have to be inflexible. This holds in any marriage, and it's especially true for the United States and Israel, a relationship that is quickly becoming abusive. The prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement to the Knesset on Monday that he was ready to extend a settlement freeze in the West Bank late last year, and that it was Washington who got cold feet, was the political equivalent of tossing an old friend under the proverbial bus.

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Mirror Image
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

The argument has long-since been familiar: If a two-state solution fails, dies from sheer exhaustion, then we’re looking either at a continuation of the status quo or at some form of one-state solution. The status quo is inherently noxious; it is also inherently unstable. It is folly to suppose that it can endure indefinitely, that it will not periodically be interrupted by ever more lethal confrontations.

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Israel’s Iron Dome Anti-Missile Project Facing Fire at Home and Delayed Funding From U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Matthew Gutman, Nathan Jeffay - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

It has been promoted as a cutting-edge technological marvel and marketed as the ultimate solution to the misery Israeli civilians experienced facing rocket attacks from Gaza militants. But as the Iron Dome rocket defense system moves into its final stages of development, Israelis are questioning its effectiveness, and American lawmakers are seeking assurances that the system they are poised to fund will indeed be used to protect citizens in the battered Negev city of Sderot, close by Gaza, and not just used to defend military bases.

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