March 2nd

Calm Israel, Contain Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Barbara Slavin - (Analysis) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am Foreign policy experts and politicians will be scrutinizing US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week for signs of disagreement as they sequentially address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington. Will Obama sound sufficiently hawkish to placate the audience at the annual conclave of the Israel lobby, or will he leave a gap that will frustrate some Israeli supporters and be exploited by US Republican presidential candidates? » Read more

Tough Sell For U.N. Palestinian Agency ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - March 2, 2012 - 1:00am Washington — Twice a year Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, comes to Washington to make the case for continuing funding for his organization, and the job only gets tougher. The U.N. agency, which is the primary provider of education, healthcare and housing for Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, was never an easy sell on Capitol Hill and UNRWA has been working hard to convince lawmakers and administration officials that the cause is worthy. » Read more

The campaign against JNF is misplaced ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Russell Robinson - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am The Jewish National Fund plants trees, builds a nation and unifies a people. As a child growing up in a small town in Texas, I dropped my coins in the Blue Box in Hebrew school. My parents and grandparents raised me on the importance and the power of the Blue Box. My grandfather would say to me, “If only we had been stronger and more unified, we could have bought more land and had a place for 6 million Jews to go home to.” » Read more

Israel on a dangerous course ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am President Barack Obama appears likely to win a second term since his Republican competitors seem, if nothing else, hopelessly disjointed. Regrettably, however, he remains treading softly on the Middle East, obviously fearing that any pronouncement on any of the key issues in this region — Iran, Syria, Israel and the Palestinians — might tip the balance against him in the nine months before the presidential election, in November. » Read more

Beware Palestinian despair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am “The last chance” – this is how we can characterize the letter sent in recent days by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to the International Quartet members. In his letter, Abbas complained that the PA is expected to conduct itself like a government without being allowed to govern. He further detailed what he views as Israeli failures during the negotiations and finished with a warning: Should Israel fail to commit to genuine actions in March, “all options are open.” » Read more

Polls: Most in U.S. See Iran as Threat; Majority of Israelis Against Iran Strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) March 1, 2012 - 1:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A poll showed 87 percent of registered American voters believe that Iran’s suspected illegal nuclear weapons program is a threat to the United States. The poll commissioned by The Israel Project also found that 88 percent of respondents believed that Iran is a threat to Israel. » Read more

What About Palestine? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent by Ahmad Nagi - (Opinion) March 3, 2012 - 1:00am A couple of weeks ago, amid the boring and ridiculous drama of the NGO crisis and the possible end of US aid to Egypt, MP Essam al-Erian of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and head of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee made a bold statemement on the question of aid and peace with Israel. “US economic aid is part of the [Camp David] Accords and if America decided to cut off [aid to Egypt], we will change or cancel the agreement,” said Erian. “Egypt is the first and final decision-maker and no one can pressure it.” » Read more

Israel is becoming a footnote in the eyes of the U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am 1. President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will both be visiting Washington at the same time. Each of them will speak separately with U.S. President Barack Obama, each of them will march proudly on red carpets, and journalists will swoop down on them separately or together. They will be interviewed on television, and Sara Netanyahu will be a star with her finery and her smiles. Although we didn't win the Oscar, there's no question that we are gradually managing to become a footnote in the eyes of the U.S. administration. » Read more

Israeli FM Says Military, Civilians Must Stay in Jordan Valley ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 1, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that upheavals in the Arab world prove the need for Israel to retain a military and civilian presence in the Jordan Valley, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. "I am looking at what is happening in Syria and the whole region," Lieberman said, adding that "We can not secure the state of Israel without maintaining control of the Jordan Valley." The Jordan Valley has been under Israeli military and civilian control according to the 1993 Oslo Accords. » Read more

Israel to Soon Test Next-Generation Missile Defense System ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 2, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is ready to conduct the first test of the Arrow 3 missile defense system, the state-owned defense contractor announced in a statement released Thursday evening. "The initial trial of the advanced Arrow 3 will be performed in the near future to confirm the interceptor's effectiveness," Itzhak Kaya, head of the Arrow Missile Program at IAI, said in a military and aviation exhibition earlier Thursday near Tel Aviv, according to the statement. » Read more