December 4th

The Case Against Benjamin Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Blake Hounshell - (Opinion) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am Ehud Olmert is running. Or maybe he's not. He insists he'll only make an announcement about his political future on Israeli soil, though he seems to take great pleasure in dropping hints. Either way, the former Israeli prime minister had a two-pronged message on this weekend's trip to America: Benjamin Netanyahu can be beaten in the upcoming elections in January. And peace with the Palestinians is still possible. » Read more

Settling reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) December 2, 2012 - 1:00am The West condemned Israel’s settlement plan Monday in no uncertain terms, but the 3,000 planned new homes are just the latest in a well-established policy by the Jewish state. The takeover of Palestinian land seized in 1967 via settlements has been a creeping plan by Israel to change the reality of the situation over the past 45 years. » Read more

Where Gaza Has Left Us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am Now that the fog of war over Gaza has lifted and the ceasefire appears to be settling in, a number of strategic questions and lessons emerge. Many are relevant not just to the Israel-Hamas confrontation. » Read more

This is Europe's big chance to help the two-state solution become reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Martti Ahtisaari, Mary Robinson - (Opinion) December 3, 2012 - 1:00am The vote to grant Palestine observer state status at the UN last month brought a rare promise of hope to a land where it has been in short supply. It is disappointing, however, that European countries failed to endorse the bid unanimously. As former European heads of state, we find such a lack of coherence difficult to reconcile with the European Union's support for a two-state solution. » Read more

Middle East conflict: it's time for Europe to suggest its own path to peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ian Black - (Opinion) December 3, 2012 - 1:00am Israel's ambassadors to Britain and France must have spent an uncomfortable few minutes on Monday as they were called in to hear of official displeasure in London and Paris at their government's decision to expand settlements in a key area of the occupied West Bank. Sweden, Denmark and Spain also summoned Israeli envoys for a slap on the wrist. Even Germany, often cautious about criticism of Israel, issued a public protest. » Read more

Encountering Peace: The stage is set for the final act ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) December 3, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN was a bad one. I could explain that he was speaking to his own public after a war in which Palestinians were killed, and his people were angry. I could point out that throughout the world experts noted that the one real loser of the Gaza war was Abbas and his Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Both sides at fault ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Emanuel Rosen - (Opinion) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am Remember November 2012. Remember the month in which Bibi and Lieberman gave Hamas the seal of approval and essentially affixed the state of Hamastan in Gaza. » Read more

Netanyahu's missed opportunity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am Following is the speech that the prime minister of Israel should have delivered at the UN General Assembly after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' address: "I would like to congratulate the president of the Palestinian Authority on the courageous step you took. In coming to the UN General Assembly seeking recognition of Palestine as a nonmember state, you have embarked on the path toward a historic compromise between the Jewish national movement - Zionism - and the Palestinian national movement. » Read more

Reckless behavior ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority and build 3,000 housing units in the West Bank is nothing less than reckless behavior. The decision to punish the PA has provoked a confrontation with the international community, which voted overwhelmingly to accept the Palestinians as a nonmember observer state at the United Nations. » Read more

Why did Israel kill Jabari? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Reuven Pedatzur - (Opinion) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am The real story behind Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza has not yet been investigated, but now that the explosions have stopped, we are obligated to delve into the truth. The decision to kill Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari, which was the opening shot of the operation, was made even though he was involved in negotiations on signing a long-term cease-fire agreement. » Read more