July 21st

Amar: US settlement policy contravenes Torah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Matthew Wagner - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am In his first public declaration on Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar called this week on American Jews to explain to the Obama administration the religious obligation of every Jew to live in every part of the Land of Israel. » Read more

U.S. eyes Syrian, Palestinian tracks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am Despite the latest clash between Israel and the Obama administration over building -- this time in eastern Jerusalem -- the United States is pressing ahead with plans to reopen negotiations on both the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian tracks. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Oh no, Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Israel Radio reported that the Obama administration has demanded an immediate halt to the construction of a Jewish housing project in an east Jerusalem neighborhood. The report said that Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was summoned to the State Department and told that the project, which is being developed by an American citizen, must stop. » Read more

Palestinian killed on Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 20, 2009 - 12:00am One Palestinian was killed and two were injured in incidents on the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, Israeli officials and Palestinian medics have said. The man died in hospital in Israel after he was shot while approaching the border fence. The Israeli military said he did not heed warning shots. Separately, two Palestinians were hurt by Israeli tank fire, Gaza medics said. Israel's military said troops returned fire after a border patrol was targeted with a rocket-propelled grenade. But a pro-Hamas website said militants had been retaliating against Israeli fire. » Read more

Outgoing envoy: Conflict with US could hurt peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yael Levy - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Outgoing Israeli ambassador to the US, Sallai Meridor warned this week that direct confrontation with the United States over Israeli construction in the West Bank could prove detrimental to Israel's interests. In a conversation with Ynet, the man, who until Monday was in charge of Israel's ties with its closest ally, also criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy on the matter. » Read more

Netanyahu draws red line on settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am Tensions between the United States and Israel over settlement expansion in the West Bank escalated this weekend over a tinderbox issue: Israeli building in East Jerusalem, a predominantly Arab area that Israel claims as part of its "undivided and eternal capital." » Read more

Most Arabs can't buy most homes in West Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed this week that Jerusalem is an "open city" that permits all its inhabitants, Jewish and Palestinian, to purchase homes in both its eastern and western parts. "Our policy is that Jerusalem residents can purchase apartments anywhere in the city. There is no ban on Arabs buying apartments in the west of the city, and there is no ban on Jews building or buying in the city's east," Netanyahu said in response to the U.S. request to halt a Jewish construction project in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Israel's war with itself ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am Afew years ago, while walking through Mea Shearim, the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem, I came across a strange poster. It pictured the Second Temple, the center of the world before the world was smashed in AD 70 by Rome, over a Hebrew phrase that means something like, "Jews! Watch what you say! For The Holy of Holies was destroyed not by Roman soldiers, nor by the Divine will, but by the gossip of the people." » Read more

Israel weighs confiscation of more Palestinian land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am The government is considering confiscating privately-owned Palestinian land near the West Bank settlement of Ofra, contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge during his Bar-Ilan speech not to take such actions. This announcement was made by the state prosecutor, in response to a High Court petition filed by a resident of the West Bank town Ein Yabrud and the human rights association Yesh Din. The parties were seeking the demolition of a sewage treatment plant built illegally on the town's land by the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. » Read more

IDF: No plans for lightning evacuation of outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Hilla Medalia - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that it had received no orders from the political echelons for a lightning evacuation of West Bank outposts, and denied having begun preparatory operations for such a move. Amid the increased tension between the United States and Israel surrounding construction in the settlements, Haaretz learned that the Israel Defense Forces was drafting a plan to evacuate 23 illegal outposts in one day. » Read more