Jews Cast Wary Eye on Evangelicals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Washington — Advocates for improved relations between Jews and Christian evangelicals had hoped that years of working together to support Israel would build bridges between the two otherwise distant communities. But a new poll indicates that mistrust and suspicion still run deep, at least on the Jewish side. Only one in five Jewish Americans holds favorable views of those aligned with the Christian right, a category that includes most of Israel’s evangelical supporters. » Read more

Palestinians Ban Sale of Israeli Produce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - April 15, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority (PA) started to block the sale of Israeli potatoes as part of a new policy to support local farmers and remove foreign produce in the marketplace, agriculture officials told The Media Line. “We are doing this to protect the farmers because they can’t sell their potatoes due to the cheaper ones the Israelis are unloading on us,” said Zakaria Salawdeh, a deputy director of the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry, saying that the ban wasn’t directed against Israel for political reasons. » Read more

'US will veto any Palestinian statehood bid at UN' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 16, 2012 - 12:00am The United States will continue to act against Palestinian attempts to gain recognition through the United Nations, and if necessary will use its veto to that end, US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said Monday. Speaking at the Netanya Academic College, Shapiro said that there are no shortcuts to peace in the Middle East, and the Palestinians must return to direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions, on the basis of what was outlined by US President Barack Obama. » Read more

Gantz: Israel can handle all enemies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - April 16, 2012 - 12:00am "The Shoah was the darkest period in the history of mankind and Judaism," IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Monday, "But we mustn't forget that even before (the Holocaust) and after it there were those who sought to erase Jacob's descendents from the face of the planet." Speaking at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Gantz stressed that "today the situation is completely different. We are facing these threats with an army that can handle everything." » Read more

Abbas dismisses idea of dismantling PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 16, 2012 - 12:00am TOKYO (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday dismissed the idea of dismantling the Palestinian Authority, during an interview with Japanese media. "Where do the writers of such reports get their ideas and information from," Abbas replied when asked by Japanese media about the proposal raised in a US magazine. Yossi Beilin, one of the authors of the Oslo Accords, made the appeal in Foreign Policy magazine. Regarding a letter being sent to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, next week, Abbas said it would highlight the negative effects of settlement activity. » Read more

Abbas defends security cooperation with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 16, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will not stop security liaison with Israel despite the breakdown of peace negotiations. Abbas, in an interview with a Palestinian newspaper, also said he will not dissolve the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in response to the lack of chances to build an independent state. » Read more

Interview: Abbas says Israel aims to keep status quo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Interview) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am ON BOARD PRESIDENTIAL JET (Ma'an) -- Israel seeks to maintain the status quo by talking about peace without making any efforts to achieve it, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday. Abbas, on a regional tour in Asia, told Ma'an that the Israeli government's stated support of a two-state solution was a "slogan for public opinion." "Israel talks about the two-state solution without taking a single step towards that solution ... (they are) comfortable with the status quo and don't seek to reach a solution," he said. » Read more

Israeli officer suspended for striking foreign national ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 16, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel's military suspended a senior officer who struck an activist in the face with a gun, an army spokesman said on Monday, after a video of the incident was put on the Internet. The video showed Lieutenant-Colonel Shalom Eisner holding his M-16 rifle in both hands and shouting at a group of demonstrators taking part in a bicycle rally in the occupied West Bank, before suddenly striking a man in the face. » Read more

Israel dismisses 'flytilla' protest, pointing to human rights abuses in Syria, Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - April 15, 2012 - 12:00am Tel Aviv Israel denied entry and deported several dozen pro-Palestinian activists who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, as fears of a mass confrontation at the country’s main international gateway prompted a deployment of hundreds of police and security personnel. » Read more

In Israel, pro-Palestinian activists get attention, if not entry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - April 15, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Israel blocked or detained all but a handful of hundreds of pro-Palestinian foreign activists who planned to gather here Sunday, and the event appeared to be something of a bust. Or maybe not. A media scrum stood alongside a phalanx of hundreds of police officers deployed at the airport in Tel Aviv, where travelers participating in the fly-in were scheduled to arrive. Present at an evening news conference in this biblical city were one French woman who had made it past immigration authorities and about a dozen cameras. » Read more