July 12th

Palestinian president to meet Morsi next week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will hold their first meeting next week, a Palestinian official said on Thursday. Senior PLO member Saeb Erekat said that Abbas will visit Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the Palestinian issues, among them the reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party. In his inauguration speech following the Egyptian election in June 2012, Morsi reaffirmed his commitment to end the Palestinian political divide and to support the Palestinian people. » Read more

U.S. lawmakers slam Mahmoud Abbas for alleged corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Ehud Olmert to congratulate him on the Jerusalem District Court decision that acquitted him of two major corruption charges that led to his resignation as Prime Minister. In an apparent coincidence, the same day in Washington, the House Subcommittee on the Middle East dedicated a large part of its hearing to a discussion on Abbas' alleged corruption in a hearing titled “Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment.” » Read more

Inside Out: Why Netanyahu won’t endorse the Levy Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am The settlers and their supporters erupted in jubilation Monday after a committee headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy presented its report on the issue of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Likud MK Danny Danon was quoted on Tuesday by Ma’ariv as describing the publication of the report a “day of celebration for settlement.” » Read more

Israel deploys rocket interceptor near Eilat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli military has deployed the Iron Dome rocket-defense system to the Red Sea port city of Eilat. A military spokeswoman told Xinhua on Thursday that a single battery was stationed near the city as part of a "routine operational deployment program," in which the batteries are periodically relocated to different sites throughout the country. Palestinian militants intermittently fire rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, but strikes against Eilat, a desert resort that attracts hoards of Israeli and European tourists during the summer, are rare. » Read more

Israel poisoned Arafat with polonium: nephew ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israel poisoned the late Yasser Arafat with the lethal radioactive substance polonium, a nephew of the veteran Palestinian leader alleged on Thursday. But Israel denied the accusation, saying it was "not involved" in Arafat's death at a French hospital in November 2004. "We accuse Israel of killing Yasser Arafat by poisoning him with that lethal substance," Nasser al-Qidwa told AFP, referring to polonium, traces of which were recently found on clothing worn by the ailing leader. » Read more

Will Romney outsource foreign policy? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am Earlier in this space I noted how Mitt Romney seems to emulate Groucho Marx’s famous line, “I have my principles, and if you don’t like them, I have others.” That was on display again last week when he was tied in knots contradicting himself and his top advisers on both immigration and Romneycare following two key Supreme Court decisions. Romney may also have a Nixonian trait. No, I’m not saying he’s a crook or paranoid, but he does appear obsessed with secretiveness. » Read more

Palestinian officials hesitant on Arafat autopsy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am In an apparent flip-flop, Palestinian investigators looking into Yasser Arafat's death said Thursday they want to review reports from a Swiss lab before deciding whether to exhume the leader's remains. » Read more

Israel's Olmert says he won't re-enter politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday that he would not return to politics, two days after he was acquitted of the central charges in a corruption trial. Speculation over whether he may return to political life has been rife since a Jerusalem court dismissed most of the counts against him on Tuesday. The charges cut short Olmert's premiership three years ago, ending all serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Many observers today ask themselves how the Middle East may have looked had he stayed in office. » Read more

Israeli military strikes Gaza, kills 1 militant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 12, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian militant was killed and four people were wounded in Israeli air and artillery attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a Gaza health official said. The Israeli military confirmed a combined air and artillery attack, which Gaza health official Dr. Ashraf al-Kidra said wounded three Palestinians, including one critically. Al-Kidra said a second airstrike later Thursday morning killed the militant and wounded another. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that report. » Read more

Was Arafat poisoned with polonium? If so, by whom? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ely Karmon - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am In an interview with Yaakov Lappin published in The Jerusalem Post on July 5, 2012, I asserted that considering polonium 210’s 138-day halflife, the abnormally high levels of polonium discovered by specialists at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Yasser Arafat’s belongings eight years after his death could mean the polonium was planted much later. » Read more