June 8th

Camp David Pact May Be Revised No Matter Who Wins Egypt Vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Ashraf Khalil - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am Egyptians are a domestically-obsessed population right now. It’s understandable given the state of the country 15 months after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power. » Read more

Time for American Jews to shun racist Israeli legislators ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ben Rothschild - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am NEW YORK (JTA) -- Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister, is no one’s idea of a soft touch. Hawkish on Israel’s settlement policy and a practitioner of a muscular, even bullying brand of diplomacy, Lieberman has a well-earned reputation as a hard-liner, no mean feat in Israel’s current rightist government. So when Lieberman becomes the voice of moderation on an issue, it’s worth a closer look. » Read more

Segregating Gazans has made them easier to demonise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Amira Hass - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am A stout sense of humour and self-irony is the least most Israelis expect of Gazans. It is certainly true today, when they are spoken of almost solely through the hyperbole of military commentators who jump frantically from discussing the Iranian threat to the danger that the tiny, overcrowded, impoverished and besieged enclave poses to the state of Israel, a global military power. » Read more

Ulpana, shmulpana – get real! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am This week, 45 years ago, Israel won the Six Day War and with it the territories. » Read more

Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jay Bushinsky - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am Invariably, it seems that Defense Minister Ehud Barak says one thing and the US State Department immediately contradicts him. At the end of his latest visit to Washington, where he conferred with his American counterpart, Leon Panetta, and other senior US officials, the former IDF chief of staff and prime minister raised the possibility of a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. » Read more

Netanyahu 1, settlers 0 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Sima Kadmon - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the vote on the settlement regularization bill is not just a numerical win. It was also a moral win, because he taught the settlers an important lesson on the limits of power. » Read more

'Celebrations' that miss the point ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am The idea of demolishing the houses in Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood reminds me of a Jewish joke about the "wisdom" of the people of Chelm. Early in the morning the sexton used to walk through the streets of Chelm to remind people that it was time for the Shaharit morning prayer. One day the weatherman announced that snow was expected the following day. The locals didn't want the sexton's footprints to spoil the beauty of the blanket of snow, so the city's wise men convened for an urgent meeting to find a solution. » Read more

An ongoing addiction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am At the beginning of every June, Israelis mark the anniversaries of the outbreaks of two major wars: the Six-Day War and the first Lebanon war. The 30th anniversary of the latter was marked this week. The three-decade mark shunts aside somewhat the memory of the earlier war, but the two - like the Yom Kippur War that fell between them - are intertwined. » Read more

Will the coming weeks spell the end of Lieberman's career? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gidi Weitz - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am In the weeks ahead, barring unforeseen developments, the attorney general will file an indictment against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. This will launch a new chapter in one of the most talked-about white-collar-crime investigations in recent years, about which Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein delayed making a decision for two and a half years. » Read more

West must recognize peaceful Palestinian resistance movement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Sarah Marusek - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am Some ask why the Palestinians seem to have been left behind in the so-called Arab Spring. In fact, they have not. » Read more