Israeli spending on West Bank settlements up 38% ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli government spending on West Bank settlements has increased by 38% under prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, according to official figures disclosed as the cabinet voted to implement an austerity package of tax increases and budget cuts. According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, obtained by the business newspaper Calcalist, spending on Jewish settlements in the West Bank was 1.1bn shekels (£160m) in 2011, up from 0.8bn the previous two years. The overall state budget increased by 2.7% in 2011, Calcalist reported. » Read more

MK: Netanyahu must 'unmask' US spying on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am If US President Barack Obama does not commute the life sentence of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard by the November 6 US election, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should expose American efforts to spy on Israel, National Union MK Arieh Eldad said Tuesday at a Knesset State Control Committee meeting monitoring progress in efforts to bring about Pollard's release. » Read more

Rivlin comes out against Arab draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Hassan Shaalan - July 30, 2012 - 12:00am Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Monday came out against the call to enlist Arabs to the IDF during a Ramadan feast in Kafr Qara. "Any sensible person understands that one cannot draft the Arab sector," he said. "Any such call is tinted with hypocrisy and even malevolence." » Read more

Fayyad: Israel to blame for checkpoint killing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday blamed the Israeli government for the shooting of a 46-year-old Palestinian at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. Israeli border police opened fire at a Palestinian vehicle at a checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem shortly after midnight on Monday, killing Hasan Omar and wounding two other passengers, Palestinian officials and an Israeli police spokesman said. » Read more

Hamas to keep Mashaal as head of politburo: sources ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas is going to assign a new office term for its political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal after the Palestinian Islamic movement completed its internal elections, sources said Tuesday. The movement finished the polls in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Israeli prisons, the sources said, adding that elections in Diaspora should end within days and then the name of the politburo chief would be announced. » Read more

Barak endorses Barack, touts US security support ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - July 31, 2012 - 12:00am In what appears like a clear endorsement of a presidential candidate, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday night that Barack Obama has been the most supportive president on matters of Israeli security throughout the two countries' diplomatic relations. In an interview aired late Monday night on CNN, Barak told Wolf Blitzer that the Obama administration’s support of Israeli defense and intelligence establishments was far greater than under any other administration he remembered working with since and including President Jimmy Carter. » Read more

The PA's West Bank abuses weaken resistance to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Shawan Jabarin - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, there is little faith in the principles of human rights. Notions of justice, accountability and international law mean too little to too many. » Read more

Israel's Barak plays down Syrian chemical arms risk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Dan Williams - July 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israel played down on Monday the risk from Syria's chemical weapons, in what appeared to be a new tack after threats to take military action to prevent the arsenal falling into Islamist hands. Israel has been particularly worried that Hezbollah, the Iranian-inspired Shiite militia in neighbouring Lebanon, may gain access to the weapons should Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's grip slip amid a 16-month-old insurgency. Israel's warnings on this spread war fears and bumped up demand for government-issued gas masks. » Read more

Denial is no solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 30, 2012 - 12:00am I met an American-Jewish lawyer this morning who visits Israel frequently; she is a strong supporter of our country, and a proud Zionist. She has been on the liberal side of American politics her whole life, like most American Jews. She fought for civil rights in the 1960s. She was against the war in Vietnam. She was proud of Israel in 1967, worried in 1973, confused by the first Lebanon war, dismayed by Israel’s continued presence in Lebanon for 18 years. » Read more

China joins criticism of Romney, saying comments on Jerusalem could enflame tensions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 31, 2012 - 12:00am China criticized Mitt Romney on Tuesday, saying the U.S. presidential candidate’s statement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel could worsen an already tense Mideast situation, or even re-ignite a war between Palestinians and Israelis. A commentary Tuesday by the official Xinhua News Agency said Romney’s “hawkish remarks” ignored the sensitive nature of Jerusalem. It said the comments disregarded the Palestinians’ claim to the war-won eastern sector of the city, which was annexed by Israel in 1967 in a move that is not internationally recognized. » Read more