Political Pivot in Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations by Bernard Gwertzman - (Interview) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am In the wake of the January 22 Israeli parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking the largest coalition government he can secure, says expert David Makovsky, because "the biggest government means no one faction can hold him by the throat." He says that U.S. officials were pleased by the surge of votes toward the center and the likelihood that newspaper columnist and radio host Yair Lapid is destined to play a major role in the new government. » Read more

Khaled Abu Toameh, Journalist Forges On As Lonely Dissenting Arab Voice On PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Baltimore Jewish Times by Alex Trainman - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am In an environment where criticism of Israel is not only common, but also encouraged, Arab-Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh is a lonely voice of dissent on issues relating to the Palestinian Authority (PA).  “I believe that a journalist should be loyal to the truth, as opposed to a president or a prime minister,” Abu Toameh said. “I do not wish to be a mouthpiece for any leader, an organ of any structure or a coverup agent for anybody. A journalist should be free to criticize anyone as long as he is telling the truth.” » Read more

Yair Lapid: An Interview with Israel’s New Power Broker ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Karl Vick - (Interview) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am Yair Lapid is the Israeli anchorman and columnist who stunned Israel’s political world by finishing second in Jan. » Read more

Why Arab Parties Are Excluded From Israeli Coalitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am The media reports out of Israel these days are all about coalition-wrangling. Will Benjamin Netanyahu reach the magical 61 Knesset seats necessary to form a government by combining his 31 Likud-Beiteinu seats and the 19 from Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid with those of ultra-Orthodox parties like Shas (11 seats) and United Torah Judaism (7), which might create new opportunities to advance the peace process but could stymie efforts to force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the military? » Read more

Iran, Israel and Their Red Lines Over Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Meir Javendanfar - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am On Saturday [Jan. 26] the government of Iran drew a red line around Syria. » Read more

Israel Must Invest to Deter Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Alon Ben David - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am It’s a safe bet that investing in building military capabilities vis-à-vis Iran will continue in the next government, regardless of its composition. » Read more

Israel’s election in a bubble ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Shlomo Ben-Ami - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am Forty-five years into Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and four years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government became the undertaker of the two-state solution, an electoral campaign run in utter denial of Israel’s Palestinian conundrum has just ended with yet another Netanyahu government in office. » Read more

Calculated risk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am Israel, according to the foreign press, attacked at dawn Wednesday a Hezbollah weapons convoy along the Lebanon-Syria border. If an attack did in fact take place, was it a prelude to a broad military conflict on the northern front? We should look for the answer to this question, first of all, in the IDF's General Staff. » Read more

Criticize Israel – but without the vile and offensive cartoons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Rachel Shabi - (Opinion) January 30, 2013 - 1:00am It’s a rare event for me to be in agreement with the U.K. Jewish Chronicle's editor, Stephen Pollard, but that is what happened after the publication of a cartoon by Gerald Scarfe in last weekend's London Sunday Times, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. » Read more

Despite results of Israeli elections, Palestinians still don’t see a partner for peace in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) January 25, 2013 - 1:00am Hamas knows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost big in the recent elections, but it also knows that whatever government emerges from coalition-building talks in Jerusalem is not going to be any more open to negotiating with the Palestinians.