December 16th

Obama to meet with Ehud Barak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) December 16, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will meet with President Obama on Friday morning, acording to sources. The meeting will come shortly before President Obama's address Friday afternoon to the biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism, which is being held in nearby National Harbor, Md. In an address Thursday night to the organization, Barak said it’s important not to remove any option from the table when it comes to Iran. Barak also praised Obama for opposing Iran’s quest for nuclear capability and said U.S.-Israel defense cooperation is stronger than ever. » Read more

W. Bank: 3rd of IDF used against 'price-tag' attacks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - December 16, 2011 - 1:00am The IDF Central Command has allocated 30 percent of its forces deployed in the West Bank for “price-tag” attack-related missions, the largest proportion in years, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The missions vary for the forces: Some are stationed along roads in the West Bank to prevent the stoning of Palestinian vehicles, and others are stationed on the outskirts of Palestinian villages, such as near the Yitzhar settlement, to prevent settler infiltrations. » Read more

U.S. Jewish lawmaker: Palestinians have to prove they deserve a state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - December 16, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinians need to prove they deserve an independent state before on is recognized, a leading U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday, criticizing what he said was a Palestinian culture of "resentment." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made the comments during the Reform movement's biennial conference at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland south of Washington DC, which was participated by 6,000 U.S. Jews, including rabbis, Reform movement officials, lay leaders, and students. » Read more

Shoot the Jewish terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Uri Saguy - (Opinion) December 16, 2011 - 1:00am The rioters who attacked IDF soldiers resorted to terror, and terror should be addressed firmly. However, the prime minister declared that these people are not a terrorist organization, thereby showing a leadership failure, to my regret. In the absence of leadership, we may have to facilitate a confrontation and win it. As the people who ruin us hail from our midst, we must take action. I fear these domestic threats more than I fear the Iranian threat. At this time, we are in the midst of a messianic, delusional process that is violent, belligerent, intolerant, and also un-Jewish. » Read more

Hamas rule to use plastic coin to resolve liquidity crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Hamada Hattab - December 16, 2011 - 1:00am Gaza university student Mohamed Abu Suleiman had this week a tough argument over the change with a taxicab who took him from Tufah neighborhood in eastern Gaza city up to al-Azhar university in the west. The driver insisted on giving Abu Suleiman a piece of biscuit instead of half an Israeli Shekel (about 0.13 U.S. dollars) because he did not have enough change, after the student paid him two Shekels (0.52 dollars). » Read more

Jewish radicals get off hook in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - December 16, 2011 - 1:00am A rash of audacious attacks on mosques, Muslim cemeteries and Israeli military bases have trained a light on the rising threat of Jewish extremists — and the country's long history of failing to rein them in. Over the past two years, few extremists have been arrested and fewer still prosecuted in dozens of assaults. This week alone, extremists were blamed for a pair of mosque burnings as well as an attack on a West Bank military base that injured a top Israeli commander. » Read more

Israel forms special ops command; experts eye Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters December 16, 2011 - 1:00am Israel said on Thursday it was unifying its special forces under one command, a move experts say could help Israel strike countries like Iran, whose nuclear programme the Jewish state deems a threat to its existence. "The primary task of the Corps will be to extend joint IDF (Israel Defence Force) operations into the strategic depth," said a statement from the military, announcing the formation of the "Depth Corps". » Read more

Israel's far right-wing is real threat to Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) December 16, 2011 - 1:00am The undersigned was educated in a religious boarding school near Kfar Hasidim in the north. Boys and girls studied together. The girls would crochet skullcaps for the boys, and the institution was under the sponsorship of Hapoel Hamizrahi, a moderate Zionist party, from which the first advocates of Greater Israel eventually emerged. » Read more

Iceland recognizes state of Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters December 15, 2011 - 1:00am Iceland on Thursday became the first west European country to formally recognize a Palestinian state, three months after the Palestinians began to seek full membership of the United Nations with peace talks with Israel frozen indefinitely. "(This) will surely have positive influence on other states to follow the same steps," Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told a news conference in Reykjavik. » Read more

Factions warn of 'last chance' ahead of unity talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 16, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian political groups have called their upcoming meeting in Cairo the last chance for implementation of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas. Seven months after the agreement was signed in the Egyptian capital, the factions say nothing has moved on the ground to implement the terms of the deal that would end four years of divided government in Gaza and the West Bank. » Read more