PA studying plans to join international agencies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 31, 2013 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority foreign minister said Thursday that the government was studying the steps toward joining more international organizations and agreements.  Riyad al-Malki said officials were hopeful to initiate applications "as soon as possible" now that Palestine is recognized as a state and can theoretically join dozens of UN and international agencies.  » Read more

Palestinian ghettos ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am After Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was dealt a political lynching in this month’s national election that overthrew many of his supporters, he is walking on a tightrope in search of new partners. But some of his likely new colleagues, who have just surfaced, some gloriously, do not seem very keen on sticking their necks out for the mercurial Israeli prime minister whose days in the premiership are believed to be numbered. » Read more

Israel busts Hamas cell in West Bank plotting abduction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Analysis) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more

The Israel We Do Not Know ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Amal Al-Hazzami - (Opinion) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am Being something of an exception in the Middle East, the Israeli elections are often great fun and full of surprises. This time we saw the emergence of politician Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party that has won the admiration even of its political rivals after gaining 19 seats in the Israeli Knesset. » Read more

Israel's Shooting Star Yair Lapid May Quickly Crash Back to Earth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) January 29, 2013 - 1:00am Is there a future for Yesh Atid (There Is A Future), the party that was the surprise star of the recent Israeli elections? » Read more

Gazans decry chronic blackouts at fire victims' funeral ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 1, 2013 - 1:00am Outrage and grief prevailed at the funeral of six family members killed at home by fire predawn Thursday in eastern Gaza City in a fatal accident that occurred due to chronic blackouts. » Read more

A bounty of empty threats ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am Israel has no shame when it comes to attacking whatever it claims is a threat to its security, whether these targets are civilians or military in nature, wherever it wants around the Middle East. Syria, meanwhile, has no shame in claiming in the wake of every such attack that it will choose the “time and place” of its response to violations of its national sovereignty. » Read more

Neither Syria nor Israel benefits in broader conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am The exact details are still sketchy, but the series of deliberate leaks are enough to confirm the Israeli air strike inside Syrian borders on Wednesday. Syrian regime officials insist that it was only a weapons-research facility that was hit, while US officials are saying that an arms convoy headed for Lebanon (and perhaps for Hizbollah) was also targeted. » Read more

Kerry likely to move cautiously on Middle East peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Arshad Mohammed - (Analysis) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am The United States has hinted it might try Middle East peace-making once again, but Secretary of State-designate John Kerry is likely to move cautiously, in contrast to U.S. » Read more

Why the attack on Syria suits Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am On the calendar, a little more than five years separate the attack on the Syrian nuclear reactor in July 2007 and the strike on Syria this week (according to foreign reporters, of course). In reality, the two episodes are light years away. At the time of that first attack, there was complete quiet here. Syria was calm, too, Israel was licking its wounds from the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah was in his bunker, the borders were quiet. You could hear a pin drop, if it dropped. » Read more