August 9th

Swiss experts invited to conduct Arafat autopsy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Swiss experts have been invited to the West Bank to test Yasser Arafat's remains for possible poisoning, the chief investigator looking into the 2004 death of the Palestinian leader said Wednesday. The announcement followed weeks of zigzagging on the autopsy issue by officials in the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that Arafat established. Their conflicting positions and hesitation triggered speculation they were trying to quietly kill the investigation. » Read more

Israel says Egypt shifting policy towards terror groups in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad on Wednesday said that Egypt's policy toward the threat of flourishing terror organizations in the Sinai Peninsula is turning after Sunday's attack. Gilad told Israel Radio that he believes that Egypt is now trying to restore control in the area after 16 Egyptian guards were killed by militants on Sunday. » Read more

Israel-Egypt security cooperation at one of highest levels since peace deal, say officials on both sides ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - August 9, 2012 - 12:00am It might sound strange, but the current security coordination between Israel and Egypt is perhaps at the highest level it has been since the peace agreement was forged by the two nations. During an age in which the Muslim Brotherhood controls both houses of Egyptian Parliament, and Mohammed Morsi, one of the moment’s leading figures in Egypt serves as president, the level of security cooperation between the two nations has undergone a significant upgrade, right under the nose of the Israeli and Egyptian publics. » Read more

Egypt demands extradition of 3 Hamas militants over support for Sinai terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - August 9, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptian intelligence made a request to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, using senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar as an intermediary, to extradite members of  the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ paramilitary wing, according to an al-Quds newspaper report on Thursday. A senior official informed the newspaper that the three militants provided indirect support to radical groups in Sinai, and are connected to weapons smuggling as well. » Read more

Egypt targets Islamist extremists in Sinai with helicopter gunships ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptian troops and helicopter gunships killed about 20 suspected Islamic extremists Wednesday after militants ambushed a string of army checkpoints overnight in the northern Sinai peninsula near the Israeli border, according to the government. » Read more

In Egypt's chaotic Sinai, militants grow stronger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Aya Batrawy - August 9, 2012 - 12:00am After decades of neglect and with the collapse of government authority the past 18 months, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has become fertile ground for Islamic extremists. Militant groups have taken root, carrying out attacks against neighboring Israel and now turning their guns against Egypt's military as they vow to set up a puritanical Islamic state. » Read more

Near Miss for Kibbutz in Path of Sinai Incursion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Egypt and the Gaza Strip were just finishing a light supper in their dining hall on Sunday evening when text messages warned them to take cover. » Read more

Plots Are Tied to Shadow War of Israel and Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Nicholas Kulish, Jodi Rudoren - August 9, 2012 - 12:00am These were just a few of what some Israeli and American intelligence officials say were nearly a dozen plots that form the backbone of a continuing offensive by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel and its allies abroad. But the links seem tenuous at times, the tactics variable, the targets scattered across the globe, from the Caucasus to Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. » Read more

'Palestinian homes in IDF fire zones face demolition' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - August 8, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinians living in IDF firing zones, particularly in the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills, are especially vulnerable to home demolitions by Israeli security forces, according to a UN report issued this week by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Some 45 percent of demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures in Area C since 2010 have occurred in firing zones, displacing over 820 Palestinian civilians,” the OCHA report said. » Read more

For Sheldon Adelson, political and Jewish giving are all of a piece ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) August 7, 2012 - 12:00am Call it the Adelson conundrum: What happens when the guy who acts as if he owns the room really does? In March at TribeFest, the annual gathering of young adults organized by the Jewish Federations of North America at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson walked in on a surrogate debate between Matt Brooks, who directs the Republican Jewish Coalition, and his counterpart at the National Jewish Democratic Council, David A. Harris. » Read more