October 11th

Low key escalation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Shaked - (Opinion) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Hamas rulers of Gaza do not shed a tear when Israel takes out global jihad terrorists. This was the case Sunday night when the Air Force targeted two terrorists in Rafah, only this time 11 passersby, including women and children, were also injured – two of them critically. » Read more

A call to Israelis from U.S. Jews: Make peace an election issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eric H. Yoffie - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am It is time for us, as American Jews, to offer advice to Israelis on their election. This seems only right.  For the last year, my Israeli friends have inundated me and others with comments about the American election.  » Read more

Run, Olmert, run ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by David Landau - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The worst thing that could happen to Ehud Olmert – if he chooses to run against Netanyahu in the Israeli general elections that have just been announced – the most demeaning, the cruelest, is that the High Court disqualifies him, before or after the election, amid outpourings of joy from the righteous hypocrisy crowd. » Read more

Mashaal admits Hamas made mistakes in gov't ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was quoted Wednesday as admitting that it was difficult to combine governance with “resistance.” Speaking at a symposium in Qatar on Islamists and democratic regimes, Mashaal said that Hamas tried to “combine resistance with government, but this is difficult. Hamas has been and remains a resistance movement and is with the resistance.” Mashaal said that there should be no comparison between Hamas’s experience in power and the rise of Islamists to power in the Arab world. » Read more

'EU warned PA of negative costs of UN bid' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The European Union is advising the Palestinian Authority to “be careful” regarding its stated plan to ask the UN for non-member state observer status at its General Assembly, Deputy Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas said Wednesday. Kourkoulas, on a one day trip to Israel where he met his counterpart Danny Ayalon and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, told The Jerusalem Post that while there has not been any formal EU discussion on the matter, informal deliberations are ongoing. » Read more

Palestinian Authority: Israel violating Oslo deal on water prices ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am This past summer, Palestinian water authority officials were hoping that the water crisis would ease up in the Hebron area and the Gaza Strip, after an agreement was reached over the purchase of additional water from Israel. » Read more

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