Netanyahu Planted Seeds for Early Vote at U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Tel Aviv — Nobody outside his inner circle knew it yet, but when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations late last month, it was the start of his election campaign. He talked tough on Iran in the September 27 speech, presenting himself to Israelis as a leader who has the confidence to make demands for their security, and the guts to take out a red pen and draw the “red line” he is setting for the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program on a cartoon-style picture of a bomb. » Read more

Why has Israel's PM called an early election? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Yolande Knell - (Analysis) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am The announcement of an early Israeli general election by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came just in time for the main evening news bulletin on Tuesday but the public was already prepared. Last week, as Mr Netanyahu met the leaders of his coalition partners, it became clear that he did not have their support for the 2013 budget, which must be passed by the end of this year. » Read more

Excuse for no peace process? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Whatever you may think of Binyamin Netanyahu, and very few people are neutral on the subject, there is no denying that though often abrasive and irritating, he has put the Iranian nuclear program high on the international agenda. Without his stubborn nudging it is fair to assume the intensity of international pressure on the Islamic Republic would be far weaker than it is today. » Read more

Low key escalation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Shaked - (Opinion) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Hamas rulers of Gaza do not shed a tear when Israel takes out global jihad terrorists. This was the case Sunday night when the Air Force targeted two terrorists in Rafah, only this time 11 passersby, including women and children, were also injured – two of them critically. » Read more

A call to Israelis from U.S. Jews: Make peace an election issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eric H. Yoffie - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am It is time for us, as American Jews, to offer advice to Israelis on their election. This seems only right.  For the last year, my Israeli friends have inundated me and others with comments about the American election.  » Read more

Run, Olmert, run ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by David Landau - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The worst thing that could happen to Ehud Olmert – if he chooses to run against Netanyahu in the Israeli general elections that have just been announced – the most demeaning, the cruelest, is that the High Court disqualifies him, before or after the election, amid outpourings of joy from the righteous hypocrisy crowd. » Read more

Mashaal admits Hamas made mistakes in gov't ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was quoted Wednesday as admitting that it was difficult to combine governance with “resistance.” Speaking at a symposium in Qatar on Islamists and democratic regimes, Mashaal said that Hamas tried to “combine resistance with government, but this is difficult. Hamas has been and remains a resistance movement and is with the resistance.” Mashaal said that there should be no comparison between Hamas’s experience in power and the rise of Islamists to power in the Arab world. » Read more

'EU warned PA of negative costs of UN bid' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The European Union is advising the Palestinian Authority to “be careful” regarding its stated plan to ask the UN for non-member state observer status at its General Assembly, Deputy Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas said Wednesday. Kourkoulas, on a one day trip to Israel where he met his counterpart Danny Ayalon and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, told The Jerusalem Post that while there has not been any formal EU discussion on the matter, informal deliberations are ongoing. » Read more

Palestinian Authority: Israel violating Oslo deal on water prices ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am This past summer, Palestinian water authority officials were hoping that the water crisis would ease up in the Hebron area and the Gaza Strip, after an agreement was reached over the purchase of additional water from Israel. » Read more

Palestinians urge Romney to take balanced approach to Middle East conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am Sesame Street's Big Bird may have been surprised this week to get a front seat in the U.S. presidential campaigns - but the Palestinians were no less surprised by the Republican candidate's promise on Monday "to recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel." » Read more