February 18th

Use of citizens' identities in assassination roils Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am Israel has seldom shied from attacking its enemies -- even if it takes years, even on foreign soil, even if it sours relations with allies. Israeli citizens for the most part have supported such policies and cheered their internationally respected spy agency, the Mossad, which obtained legendary status after hunting down and killing the terrorists responsible for the slaying of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. » Read more

Fake passports fuel questions about Israeli role in Hamas official's slaying ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am Pressure mounted Wednesday for Israel to respond to speculation that its Mossad spy agency killed a Hamas operative in a Dubai hotel last month, with Britain's prime minister promising to investigate the use of forged British passports by the alleged assassins and analysts in Israel taking unusual aim at the country's vaunted undercover organization. » Read more

Positive Views of Israel, Brought to You by Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am The Israeli government, deeply worried about the country’s declining international image, began a campaign on Wednesday to turn every Israeli — and ultimately every Jew — into a traveling public relations agent. With a Web site backed by an advertising blitz, the Information and Diaspora Affairs Ministry began issuing Hebrew-language pamphlets to passengers on Israeli airlines and offering coaching courses to groups heading abroad. The message: “Are you fed up with the way we are portrayed around the world? You can change the picture.” » Read more

Israelis Share Suspicions in Hamas Leader’s Killing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am The initial nods, winks and pats on the back here over the assassination last month of a senior Hamas official in Dubai are turning to puzzlement and concern as mounting evidence, including extensive surveillance videos, points to a remarkably clumsy operation many Israelis deem unworthy of their intelligence service, Mossad. » Read more

February 17th

Failed negotiations could fatally undermine the Palestinian Authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by George Giacaman - (Analysis) February 15, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian leadership continues to resist ever-growing pressure to return to negotiations with Israel. And unless the international community, and especially the US, is ready to underwrite serious and substantial negotiations, embarking on a negotiations process that will likely fail could have dramatic consequences. » Read more

Is Barack Obama More AIPAC Than J Street? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Steven J. Rosen - (Analysis) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am Anxiety about Barack Obama has afflicted Israelis since his meteoric rise to the White House. Here was an untested president, one whose agenda in the Middle East could only be imagined. Would Obama's America be Israel's lifeline in a dangerous and often hostile world? Or would this American president experiment with mistaken or even unfriendly ideas that could wreak havoc for Israeli security? » Read more

Jaffa struggles to be left in peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am Over the past few days graffiti scrawled on walls around the mixed Jewish and Arab town of Jaffa in central Israel exclaims: “Settlers, keep out” and “Jaffa is not Hebron”. Although Jaffa is only a stone’s throw away from the bustling coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, Arab residents say their neighbourhood has become the unlikely battleground for an attempted takeover by extremist Jews more familiar from West Bank settlements. » Read more

Democracy in the Balance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Naomi Chazan - (Opinion) February 10, 2010 - 1:00am The New Israel Fund is only the latest target in a series of outrageous assaults on Israel’s democratic foundations. The apparently coordinated attempt this past year to intimidate, de-fund and possibly shut down Israel’s human rights community, culminating in this latest direct attack on NIF — and on me personally, as its president — is an alarming symptom of a deeply troubled society that is lurching toward authoritarianism and the undermining of basic civil freedoms. » Read more

'White House has learned lessons' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Haviv Rettig - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am The US administration is quietly pressuring the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table, according to an influential American Jewish leader and longtime supporter of US President Barack Obama. » Read more

Dahlan: Israel waging war on Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am Senior Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan on Tuesday accused Israel of waging a war on the Palestinian Authority and its leader. According to Dahlan, "We are convinced that Israel is engaging in a secret and public war, simultaneously, against the Palestinian Authority and against President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) and against the sane voice among the Palestinian people." » Read more