September 24th, 2012

NEWS: PA Finance Minister Kassis tells a donor meeting that the Palestinian economic crisis is a threat to a two-state solution. The PA says it will sue the transport workers union if it goes on strike. Israel has reportedly taken urgent economic steps to ease the financial pressure on the PA, but Deputy FM Ayalon urges donor states to cut all funding to the PA. DM Barak says Israel should withdraw unilaterally from large parts of the occupied West Bank if peace talks with the Palestinians remain stalled. An obscure militia in the Sinai Peninsula claims a role in recent attacks. The violence in Sinai may force changes to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. PM Netanyahu apologizes to UNSG Ban for leaking parts of a recent conversation. Israel says it has arrested an extortion ring linked to Hamas. PA security forces uncover a secret Hamas detention center in the West Bank. A Hamas official says Khaled Misha'al will step down as head of its Politburo. A press organization condemns the PA arrest of a journalist. A senior PA minister is reportedly being investigated for sexual harassment. COMMENTARY: David Ignatius interviews Pres. Ahmadinejad about Israeli threats and Iran's nuclear program. Ma'an interviews Vera Baboun, a leading candidate for mayor of Bethlehem. Chaim Levinson says the Israeli military is helping settlers develop armed militias. Ha'aretz says Israelis should listen carefully to what Pres. Morsy has to say about the Sinai Peninsula and the peace treaty. Asharq Al-Awsat interviews Hamas Deputy Leader Abu-Marzuq. Lena Odgaard says economic protests in the West Bank are also a political crisis for the Palestinians. The Times of Israel interviews Strategic Affairs Ministry head Kuperwasser. Amira Hass looks at the politics of water in the occupied West Bank.

Senior PA minister suspected of sexually harassing employee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered an investigation into a senior minister suspected of sexually harassing an employee in his office, Haaretz has learned. The minister is considered an Abbas appointee.

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Press group condemns PA arrest of journalist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 24, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian press freedom group on Sunday condemned the arrest of a journalist last week by Palestinian Authority security forces.Walid Khalid, office director of the "Felesteen" newspaper, was arrested by PA security forces on Sept.

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Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshal says intends to step down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Hamas' leader in exile, Khaled Meshal, is tired of policy challenges from the Islamist group's Gaza-based leadership and is not seeking re-election in a vote now underway, political and diplomatic sources said on Sunday.

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PNA forces discover secretive West Bank detention facility for Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian security forces discovered Sunday a detention facility in the West Bank and said it was prepared by elements affiliated with Islamic Hamas movement. The "prison" was found under a restaurant in Nablus, said the governor of the city, Gabreen Al-Bakri.

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Hamas extortion ring uncovered in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 24, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli police arrested Sunday four Jewish men accused of cooperating in the kidnapping of an Eritrean migrant in an extortion ring which leads to Hamas and Sinai-based militants.

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Sinai raids may force Israel-Egypt accord changes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials said Sunday they would resist any Egyptian attempts to reopen the military arrangements under the countries' historic peace deal, despite the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

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Sinai Group Claims Role in Attack on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

CAIRO — An obscure militant group based in Egypt’s North Sinai region claimed responsibility over the weekend for a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli soldier last week. The claim called fresh attention to the uphill struggle the newly formed Egyptian government is facing to control the restive Sinai region

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Israeli defense chief proposes West Bank pullout
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - September 24, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's defense minister called for a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank in published comments Monday, saying Israel must take "practical steps" if peace efforts with the Palestinians remain stalled.

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Ayalon calls on donor states to cut off Palestinian Authority funding
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Gabe Fisher - September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called for international donors to halt funding to the Palestinian Authority, alleging that much of the money is ultimately used to support terrorism.

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