Israeli President to Protect Christian Sites ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 1, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's President Shimon Peres has promised the Roman Catholic Church that the country will step up efforts to combat the vandalism of Christian holy sites by suspected Jewish extremists. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is the Vatican's custodian of religious sites in the Holy Land, asked the president earlier this week to intervene following the spraying of graffiti on two Christian churches in Jerusalem in February. » Read more

Move over, Egypt, Iraq and Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) March 1, 2012 - 1:00am For the better part of the last century, three Arab states — Egypt, Iraq and Syria — dominated Middle East politics in matters of war and peacemaking and shaped the region's relations with the great powers. The kings of Jordan and Morocco — and, of course, Saudi Arabia (and the Persian Gulf states) when it came to oil — had their say too. But it was the three pseudo-republics, authoritarian military regimes really, that threw their collective weight around. » Read more

Peres Says U.S. Must Put All Iran Options on Table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - March 1, 2012 - 1:00am Days before Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, was to meet with President Obama, Mr. Peres said on Thursday that the United States must make clear to Iran that “all options are on the table,” but he acknowledged that there was disagreement over where to draw the “red line” that would set off military intervention. President Shimon Peres says the White House must be resolute or Israel may have to go it alone. » Read more

Holding a mirror to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am The treatment of Israeli prisoners by Palestinians and Hizballah, and correspondingly the treatment of Palestinian prisoners by Israelis, in many ways hold a kind of mirror to the conflict as a whole. » Read more

For Obama and Netanyahu, Wariness on Iran Will Dominate Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 1, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Nearly four years ago, when Senator Barack Obama was running for president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was head of the opposition, they met here in what aides described as a warm atmosphere. President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Oval Office last July, will meet again on Monday. “Senator,” Mr. Netanyahu said to Mr. Obama, “as president, many things will cross your desk, but the most important, by far, will be stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.” » Read more