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

White House says status of Jerusalem to be decided by Israeli-Palestinian negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 31, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Monday that the status of Jerusalem should be settled through negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Commenting on the recent assertion by Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated: "It's the view of this administration that the capital is something that should be determined in final status negotiations between the parties." » Read more

Who’s a better friend to Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Like a kid at the circus, Israel just can’t get enough of the different acts. First it was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who came to Israel earlier this month and in some of the harshest rhetoric yet by a senior member of the Obama administration, declared that the US would use “all elements of American power” to stop Iran. » Read more

With Romney visit, Israelis worry about becoming a partisan issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - July 29, 2012 - 12:00am Mitt Romney’s visit to Jerusalem on Sunday prompted an escalation in the competition among candidates to demonstrate who’s a stronger supporter of the Jewish state.   » Read more