January 29th

Trudy Rubin: Little settled by Israeli vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Philadelphia Inquirer by Trudy Rubin - (Opinion) January 29, 2013 - 1:00am Here's a pop quiz for those who have been too busy to notice the surprising results of Tuesday's Israeli election: Was the key issue (1) Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's testy relationship with President Barack Obama; (2) whether Israel should bomb Iran's nuclear sites; or (3) whether to revive the mummified peace process? » Read more

Time has come for 2 states ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Gilead Sher - (Opinion) January 29, 2013 - 1:00am In about a month and a half Israel's 33rd government will be sworn in, and, regardless of the make-up of the next coalition, it must succeed in determining the country's borders. » Read more

New Class of Palestinians Get Rich On Gaza Tunnel Trade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Omar Shaban - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am One of the challenges for reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is to reaccommodate 55,000 PA employees — who had been asked to refuse to work with the Hamas government — in the Gaza Strip.  Another important challenge is how to assimilate hundreds of newly rich Palestinians who have amassed vast fortunes from illegal trade as well as legal economic activities, and re-incorporate hundreds who had halted economic activity because of the blockade. The tunnels are not new » Read more

The role of Israel in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) January 29, 2013 - 1:00am THE war in Syria is also an Israeli concern and its results may be as dangerous as the October 1973 war. The fall of Bashar Assad’s regime can change the map and may perhaps threaten the existing balance of power formulated after the disengagement agreement signed by President Hafez Assad and Israel under Henry Kissinger’s auspices during the October war. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Good governments make peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am The most important thing any government can provide for its people is peace. Peace is the precondition for everything else. Economic growth, welfare for those in need, good education for all, culture, infrastructure, opportunity and hope are all attainable, if there is peace. Israel is the land of promise, the land of great potential. Amazing things have been achieved here over the past 65 years under very difficult circumstances. The major promise that has not been fulfilled is peace. » Read more

Yair Lapid Should Call Abu Mazen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Shlomi Eldar - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am Below is the transcript of a phone call that has not yet taken place: “Hello?” “Hello Mr. Lapid, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas speaking.” “Who?” “Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen.” “Ah-ha, shalom.” “Apropos of peace, do you feel like dropping by me for coffee? I am here in Ramallah, a 50-minute ride from Tel Aviv.” “Give me a minute to check …” » Read more

Will Yair Lapid divide Jerusalem? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am Throughout his election campaign Yair Lapid insisted on his adamant opposition to the partition of Jerusalem under any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. Back in February 2012, when he first began communicating with potential voters, he declared that Jerusalem "belongs to the people of Israel and no one else." Months later, giving a campaign speech in the West Bank city of Ariel in October 2012, he underlined the message: » Read more

In the end we're left with Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am The elections are over, the votes have been counted, the banners folded away. Benjamin Netanyahu will continue as prime minister. His messages have changed slightly. During the campaign, Netanyahu wanted "a strong prime minister and a big party." Now he talks about "a broad and stable government." All the rest is as it was. It's the same Bibi, with the same worldview, the same experience and the same objectives. » Read more

Four reasons why U.K. cartoon of Netanyahu isn't anti-Semitic in any way ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am A cartoon that appeared in this London's Sunday Times this week depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall with blood-red colored cement, trapping in between the bricks Palestinian-looking figures, is causing the latest is-it-or-is-it-not-anti-Semitism furor. » Read more

Sitting Down With Amos Oz ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Interview) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am AMOS Oz, the novelist whose stories and tales have probed the soul of Israel with an intimate insistence, greeted me to his book-lined apartment with a quick Hebrew lesson. I must understand that the key word, Yiddish really, is “fraiers” — or suckers. » Read more