Peace process between Israel, Palestinians ambiguous ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am In recent days, the political threats between Israel and the Palestinians have mounted as the two sides are far away from the negotiation table due to complicated differences that made the future between them ambiguous. Although the United States had repeatedly attempted to bring the two sides together, the disputes over Jewish settlement still an obstacle before resuming the talks, which the Palestinians applied to the UN Security Council to condemn and finally vetoed by the U.S.. » Read more

Netanyahu has time for excuses, but not for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) March 30, 2011 - 12:00am Some people collect stamps or butterflies, some people grow orchids, others go skydiving or surfing. What Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu like to do is stay at luxury hotels at the expense of others. It's their hobby. Less dangerous than bungee jumping, less cruel than partridge hunting, less kinky than trading partners with other couples. At worst, they harm the environment by getting too much dry cleaning done. » Read more

Israel police, settlers clash at West Bank outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 30, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli police arrested nine Jewish settlers in a violent scuffle at a West Bank outpost late Tuesday night, local media reported on Wednesday. Israeli police officers claimed to have been attacked at Givat Ronen, south of Nablus, when they attempted to carry out an arrest warrant issued against a resident. Some people hurled stones at the squad cars, breaking their windows and slashing tires, police said. In response, police fired tear gas to disperse the civilians. » Read more

UN chief: Israel's occupation is 'morally, politically unsustainable' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz March 30, 2011 - 12:00am United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Wednesday to halt settlement building in the West Bank and put a stop to all forms of violence and incitement, the UN News Center reported. Speaking in Uruguay at the UN Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in support of Middle East peace Ban said it was a "crucial time" for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. » Read more

Palestinians to ask UN recognition in September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 30, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership will ask the United Nations to recognize the Palestinian state in September despite Israeli objection, Foreign Affairs Minister Riad al-Maliki said Wednesday. The Palestinians will ask the U.N. Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state on the lands that Israel occupied in the 1967 war, al-Maliki was quoted by local Al- Ayyam newspaper as saying. » Read more

Boy found to have lied about rape ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am Police released four Palestinians residing illegally in Israel, who were arrested Tuesday on suspicion that they had raped an 11-year old Israeli boy, when it turned out the latter had been lying. The four men denied the allegations from the first, prompting police investigators to question the boy again before a scheduled lineup. During the second round of questioning, the boy admitted that some of the claims he had made were false, and also supplied a different description of the men. » Read more

Israel not eager to see Syria's Assad go ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - March 29, 2011 - 12:00am Syria has fought three wars with Israel and maintains close ties to its fiercest enemies in the region, including Iran and the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. So it may come as a surprise that many in Israel view the current unrest convulsing Syria with a wary eye, fearful that a collapse of Bashar Assad's regime might imperil decades of quiet along the shared border. Israeli leaders, who voiced fears — unfounded so far — that the earlier uprising in Egypt might spell the end of the two countries' peace agreement, are keeping quiet about the tumult that has spread to Syria. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu sues media for libel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 30, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli prime minister has filed $300,000 libel suits against an Israeli TV station and a newspaper over reports he allegedly took expensive flights, hotels and restaurant meals from wealthy associates. The suits were filed on Tuesday. » Read more

'Burning Lieberman photos on Land Day is legitimate' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Lappin - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am Ahead of Land Day, in which Israeli Arabs carry out marches and rallies, police began to make security arrangements on Wednesday, described by a police spokesman as being standard deployments that are made every year. The majority of the arrangements were made in the northern district and the Jerusalem district, the spokesman added. MK Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) said on Wednesday that burning pictures of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, as Arab protesters did at a Land Day protest in Lod, is legitimate. » Read more

Seized Gazan's lawyer says Israeli charges "farce" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am The lawyer for a Gazan engineer held under secrecy in Israel accused authorities on Wednesday of concocting charges against him after seizing the Palestinian overseas. Relatives of Dirar Abu Sisi, a manager of the Gaza Strip's main power plant, say he was abducted from a train in Ukraine last month. Israeli officials have confirmed he is in custody but declined further comment, citing court-issued gag orders. » Read more