Netanyahu downplays Egyptian natural gas cutoff ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - April 23, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in his first comments about the cutoff of Egyptian gas to Israel, played it down Monday, saying it was the result of a commercial dispute. "We don't see this gas cutoff as something that is born out of political developments," he told a group of Israel Bonds leaders on Monday. "This is actually a business dispute between the Israeli company and the Egyptian company." » Read more

Christians of the Holy Land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBS News by Bob Simon - (Interview) April 22, 2012 - 12:00am Christianity may have been born in the Middle East, but Arab Christians have never had it easy there, especially not today. In Iraq and Egypt, scores of churches have been attacked, hundreds murdered. In Syria, revolution seriously threatens Christian communities. The one place where Christians are not suffering from violence is the Holy Land: but Palestinian Christians have been leaving in large numbers for years. » Read more

Egypt Cancels the Delivery of Gas to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - April 22, 2012 - 12:00am CAIRO — Egypt’s state-owned natural gas company said Sunday that it was ending a deal to ship gas to Israel because of a payment dispute. Israeli officials responded by warning that the termination cast a new shadow over the bilateral peace treaty. The gas deal, signed in 2005, has become a target here in Cairo for broader resentment of the supportive relationship with Israel that was forged by Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president. » Read more