Gates: No blank check from US to Israel on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post October 5, 2012 - 12:00am Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated on Thursday that Washington must make it clear to Israeli leaders that the US must not permit Israel to harm American interests. Speaking at an event in Norfolk, Virginia, Gates commented that the Israeli leaders must be aware they "do not have a blank check to take action that could do grave harm to American vital interests." » Read more

Prominent Ramla figure found murdered in mosque ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eli Senyor - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am The body of a prominent member of Ramla's Muslim community was found Friday inside the city's Great Mosque. The victim was identified as Muhammad Taji Abu Jamil, an official who oversaw the affairs of the Waqf in the city. Magen David Adom emergency services were called to the scene but had no choice but to pronounce him dead. The Ramla Police have launched an investigation. » Read more

Thousands of Christians march in Jerusalem in support of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 5, 2012 - 12:00am Waving blue and white Israeli flags, thousands of evangelical Christians from around the world filled streets of downtown Jerusalem on Thursday in a show of support for the Jewish state. The annual march during the week-long Jewish Sukkot holiday brings together Christians from dozens of countries. » Read more

PA distributes August salaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority finance ministry said Wednesday that it was distributing late salaries to employees who have been waiting since early September to be paid. Ministry spokesman Rami Mahdawi said the salaries would be paid out on Thursday to employees making over 4,500 shekels per month. Their full salaries had been put on hold to pay lower wage earners. » Read more

Gaza man self-immolates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 5, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A 20-year-old man is in intensive care after setting himself on fire on Friday in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the health ministry said. Witnesses told Ma'an that Muhammad al-Khudri doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said al-Khudri was admitted to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis with severe burns.

Cyprus attack plan suspect pleads not guilty ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Menelaos Hadjicostis - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am LIMASSOL, Cyprus —A Swedish-Lebanese man on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges he was planning an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus, in a case that Israel has said bears similarities to a suicide bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a bus driver in Bulgaria last summer. » Read more

New York Man Kills Cook at Israeli Hotel, Then Is Shot by Police ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 5, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A New York man opened fire in the dining room of a hotel in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat on Friday and killed a kitchen worker before being shot dead by police officers, the authorities said. The gunman, William Hershkovitz, was born in 1989, and had just been fired after working at the hotel for a couple of weeks through Oranim, a company that provides tourists with internships in the industry, a company official told The Associated Press. » Read more

Political and Market Forces Hobble Israel’s Pack of Ink-Stained Watchdogs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The mainstream newspaper Maariv is on the verge of closing, apparently having lost a fierce 64-year contest against the populist Hebrew tabloid Yediot Aharonot. On Thursday, Haaretz, the flagship broadsheet of Israel’s left-wing intelligentsia, was not published for the first time in three decades; the newsroom held a one-day strike to protest the planned layoff of scores of employees. » Read more

Temple Mount Faithful: From the fringes to the mainstream ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am Eight Jewish Israelis have been arrested on Temple Mount in Jerusalem over the past two days after police feared their attempts to pray there would incite violence. Among those arrested were right-wing Likud party member Moshe Feiglin and Yehuda Liebman, a prime figure at the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the hard-line West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. Among the suspects is the more moderate Elyashiv Cherlow, son of Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petah Tikva yeshiva, who is considered a relatively liberal religious Zionist leader. » Read more

Following the dream of a Third Temple in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shanty Littman - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am "Thanks to you I had a tremendous insight,” Yehuda Glick roared at me as I entered the room where a meeting of the joint directorate of the Temple movements was taking place. “I went up to the Mount of Olives today,” he continued, “and I looked toward the Temple Mount. And what do I see? Two round domes, next to each other! And then it came to me: Those who want to build the Temple want to suckle from the source! » Read more