Palestinians urge Romney to take balanced approach to Middle East conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Sesame Street's Big Bird may have been surprised this week to get a front seat in the U.S. presidential campaigns - but the Palestinians were no less surprised by the Republican candidate's promise on Monday "to recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel." » Read more

Netanyahu tries to capitalise on Romney revival ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV // The resurgence of Mitt Romney in key US polls in the past few days ahead of next month's US presidential election may also be a boost to the campaign of the Republican candidate's key ally overseas. Benjamin Netanyahu, the conservative Israeli prime minister, said that general elections will take place early next year, about eight months ahead of schedule. The decision comes a year after peace talks stalled with the Palestinians and amid tensions with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme. » Read more

Arab World Greets Israel’s Elections with a Yawn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Linda Gradstein - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Arab newspapers barely mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to go to early elections, some nine months ahead of schedule.   » Read more

Arab parties may unite under one ticket for election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilene Prusher - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s declaration of early elections, Arab political parties spent time regrouping Wednesday, trying to figure out how they would shape their message and increase voter participation. MK Taleb a-Sanaa, from the UAL-Ta’al party, is proposing that all the Arab parties unite under one ticket, in part as a buffer to the “extreme right-wing control” that now has a hold on the Knesset, he said. » Read more

Palestinians foresee no change after Israeli elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The decision to move up the Knesset elections will affect not only Israel's citizens but the Palestinian Authority as well.  Since Benjamin Netanyahu's early elections announcement Tuesday, Palestinian analysts have been trying to explain the move and its consequences. All reached the same conclusion – nothing will change. » Read more

Haaretz poll: Netanyahu beats election rivals, right-wing bloc grows stronger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no serious challenger in the next election, political experts said after he launched the campaign for the 19th Knesset on Tuesday. A poll carried out for Haaretz on Wednesday appears to confirm this. The poll, conducted by Dialog under the supervision of Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, shows that Netanyahu easily defeats all his possible rivals from the center-left bloc. As far as the public is concerned, Netanyahu is deemed much more suitable for post of prime minister than any of his potential rivals. » Read more

Palestinian 'stabs settler' in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 11, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- An Israeli man suffered moderate injuries Wednesday after a Palestinian stabbed him near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, officials said. Israeli and Palestinian officials identified the attacker as a young Palestinian man, but they gave conflicting accounts of the events surrounding the incident. An Israeli police official said authorities were treating the stabbing as "a terrorist incident," while a Palestinian medic said the suspect himself had been attacked. » Read more

Anti-corruption commission pursues PLO land theft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 11, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority's anti-corruption commission is working to retrieve PLO-owned land registered to individual PLO leaders, commission chief Rafiq Natsha said Wednesday. So far in 2012, the commission has recovered around 400 dunums of PLO -owned land, Natsha told Ma'an. In the past, the PLO's land was registered as the private property of PLO leaders, some of whom have voluntarily approached the commission to return it, Natsha told Ma'an. » Read more

Israel targets militant site in north Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 11, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israel launched an airstrike on Thursday morning at a site belonging to resistance factions in the northern Gaza Strip, a Ma'an correspondent said. An Israeli aircraft launched one missile toward the site in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of the Gaza strip, with no injuries reported. The airstrikes caused material damages. The Israeli army said the attack came as a response for a rocket that was fired overnight toward Netivot in the western Negev that caused material damage. » Read more

Palestinian voters skeptical about value of elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am HEBRON, West Bank — Stumping for votes in the first Palestinian election since 2006, Hebron City Council aspirant Maysoun Qawasmi strides into a plastics factory to promote the West Bank's first all-female political party. The 43-year-old candidate begins wooing executives, listening to workers' concerns and promising reform. She predicts that her list of candidates will shake up the conservative Islamist-leaning city, where women rarely take center stage. » Read more