May 10th

Refugees join Palestinians as the reviled 'other' in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Mya Guarnieri - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am On Tuesday, Israelis woke up to the surprising news that the early elections announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday had been cancelled. In a deal made while the country was asleep, Mr Netanyahu forged a new coalition with the centre-right party Kadima. Now the Knesset will march in lockstep behind the prime minister, meaning little will change. Not that elections would have made much of a difference, anyway - the popular Mr Netanyahu had been expected to win by a landslide. » Read more

Likud's ideology will now move toward the center ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Israel Harel - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am To attack Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t need Shaul Mofaz. Such a strike, if it is ever carried out ‏(and it seems it won’t be necessary‏), will enjoy consensus support even without the Kadima chairman. » Read more

Divided Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu’s abandonment of his early election and the revelation of a new coalition government have once again highlighted the need for the various Palestinian factions to form a cohesive front, and soon. » Read more

Real Winner in Israel Deal? Not Bibi. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am There are two ways to read the grand coalition deal that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cooked up with Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz on May 8. One is that the wily Netanyahu has once again outwitted his rivals, bought another year as grandmaster of Israeli politics, neutralized the plodding Mofaz and gained almost wall-to-wall backing if he attacks Iran. Mofaz, in this reading, appended his 28-member Knesset caucus to the ruling Likud’s 27 in order to save his neck from a September 4 snap election, which would have cut Kadima’s strength by nearly two-thirds. » Read more

How a rattled Netanyahu outflanked Likud's militant settler faction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - (Analysis) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am Binyamin Netanyahu's stunning political coup this week, calling off elections and forming a unity government, was partly a response to increasingly strident demands of rightwing settlers in the West Bank coming from within his own party. » Read more

Surprise coalition in Israel raises hopes for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe (Editorial) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am The surprise agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shaul Mofaz, leader of the Kadima party, offers some glimmer of hope for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, because a government that includes Mofaz’s centrist party is more likely to seek a peace deal than a government involving only the Israeli right. But the greater consequence may unfold over time, as Netanyahu and Mofaz begin to address a little-discussed problem — the unstable nature of Israeli politics. » Read more

Netanyahu, Barak, and Mofaz are delegitimizing Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am The delegitimization of Israel has been accelerating at a dizzying pace these past couple of weeks − only this campaign is being waged here, in Israel, not by critics abroad. This latest attack of delegitimization is much more serious than what goes on in the rest of the world. This time the country is being delegitimized in the eyes of its own people. In the end, not only will the world stop believing Israel, Israelis themselves will stop believing in it or its institutions. » Read more

Under Netanyahu, Israel is stronger than ever ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) May 9, 2012 - 12:00am While incumbents around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving. By bringing the rival Kadima party into his ruling coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu has become “king of Israel,” in Aaron David Miller’s phrase. » Read more

Palestinian Airline resumes flights, with Amman route ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian national carrier, grounded since 2005, has resumed operations with flights between Egypt’s El-Arish and Amman, its director general told AFP on Thursday. “We started yesterday from Amman to El-Arish and from El-Arish to Amman,” Palestinian Airlines director general Zeyad Albad said. “We are going to have flights from El-Arish to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) soon too, and we are trying to set up some new routes to Turkey and the (United Arab) Emirates,” he said. » Read more

West Bank barrier threatens villagers' way of life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 9, 2012 - 12:00am In this part of the world, the supply and control of water is a major logistical and political issue. Yet the quaint village of Battir must be one of the luckiest and most blessed communities around - because Battir has water in abundance. For more than 2,000 years, seven natural springs have given life to the village and its fields. Children still play, almost incongruously, in an old Roman bath built centuries ago at the spot, in the middle of the village, where one of the springs emerges. » Read more