Netanyahu's choice of coalition partners key to Israel's future foreign policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 16, 2013 - 1:00am   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, which has decided to present a joint-list of candidates with the Yisrael Beiteinu party for the Jan. 22 elections, is expected to become the largest party in the next Knesset (parliament). However, opinion polls show that the two right-wing parties will not get enough mandates to form a majority government by themselves, and will hence have to convince other parties to join them in a coalition government. » Read more

Israeli left seeks to regain appeal with focus on economy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ori Lewis - January 16, 2013 - 1:00am   In decline since the peace it sought with the Palestinians unravelled into violence, Israel's Labour Party looks set to regain some lost ground in next week's election after waging an economy-focused campaign. » Read more

Jerusalem barrier spurs illicit building boom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - January 16, 2013 - 1:00am   Dozens of apartment towers sprouting up illicitly in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem are creating a fraught new dynamic in the struggle for control of the sacred city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

Approval for settlement plans jumped 300% in 2012, says Peace Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - January 16, 2013 - 1:00am   The number of approvals for home construction plans in the settlements leaped in 2012 compared with the two previous years, says the Israeli non-governmental organization Peace Now. » Read more

Israeli watchdog rips Netanyahu over settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - January 16, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more