August 16th, 2012

Tension rises on Israeli-Lebanese border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Tension has clearly risen on the Lebanese-Israeli border, security sources told Xinhua Wednesday. The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, said the Israeli army had intensified its patrols and observation mission all along the border, while Hezbollah is on high alert and has also raised its readiness. The rise of tension came amid a war of words between the Israeli army commanders and the militant party officials. » Read more

BDS campaign remains dangerous, despite failures ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Kenneth Stern - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am For more than a decade, anti-Israel activists have sought to shoehorn Israel into the nomenclature of apartheid-era South Africa through the use of a tactic named BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions). Apartheid was a universally decried racist system. BDS activists argue that Israel is the second coming of apartheid South Africa and must be treated the same. » Read more

Israeli gov't to raise quota of Palestinian workers to 30,000 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 16, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli government will increase the quota of Palestinian construction workers allowed to enter Israel within a few weeks, local news outlets reported Wednesday. The reports said the Israeli government agreed to allow up to 30,000 workers to enter its country as a move of assistance to the financially-crippled Palestinian National Authority (PNA). In July, the Israeli government aided the PNA with 180 million shekels (45 million U.S. dollars) in light of its severe financial situation. » Read more

Families of slain Iranian scientists sue Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ali Akbar Dareini - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Families of Iran's slain nuclear scientists have filed a lawsuit against Israel, the U.S. and Britain accusing them of involvement in the assassination of their loved ones. Rahim Ahmadi Roshan, father of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the slain chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, told a press conference in Tehran Wednesday that the families have demanded Iran's judiciary to pursue their complaint through international bodies and bring those behind the killings to justice. » Read more

Israel sees monthlong war after Iran strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program could trigger a bloody monthlong war on multiple fronts, killing hundreds of Israelis or more, the Israeli Cabinet's civil defense chief warned in an interview published Wednesday. It was the most explicit assessment yet of how the government sees events unfolding in the aftermath of an Israeli attack. » Read more

Existential priorities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Israelis have had a number of pressing issues on their minds lately, all of which have been placed in the forefront by the media and the political leadership in the past number of weeks. First and foremost perhaps is the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, followed closely by the danger of armed jihadists in Sinai, the rise of Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the impending fall of the Syrian regime and the fate of its enormous arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. » Read more

Israeli military: Blasts heard in southern city ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 16, 2012 - 12:00am Explosions rocked the southern Israeli city of Eilat late Wednesday, and the military said it suspected that rockets were fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. No casualties or damage were reported. Eilat is a Red Sea resort next to Sinai, scene of many militant attacks in recent months. On Aug. 5, Sinai militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers where the borders of Egypt, Israel and Gaza converge. Then they stole Egyptian army vehicles and crashed into Israel, where Israeli forces stopped them with gunfire. » Read more

Romney must stop playing politics with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Frank R. Lautenberg - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am The rhetoric coming from Republicans and their presidential candidate, Governor Mitt Romney, concerning the US relationship with Israel is downright dangerous. Republicans want to use our relationship with Israel as part of a political game – which is terrible for US national security and bad for Israel’s safety. » Read more

2 Palestinians killed in Yarmouk shelling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 16, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian refugee and his child were killed Thursday after the Syrian regime bombed residential areas in Yarmouk camp in Damascus, local activists said. Palestinian activists in Yarmouk camp told Ma’an that the refugee, Jamal Abu al-Haija, and his daughter Hanin, 10, were killed by a mortar shell fired near their house in the sport city area. Activists said dozens of shells were fired at Yarmouk camp at dawn because Syrian and Palestinian houses are next to each other in the camp. He pointed out that the sounds of shells had frightened children. » Read more

US punched Bibi, Barak in the face ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am Once every few years Israel needs a slap in the face to remember where it stands in the world. On Tuesday it was US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey who assumed the role of the responsible adult and slapped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the duo orchestrating the national hysteria surrounding the possibility of an attack in Iran. » Read more