Israel's Netanyahu sues media for libel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli prime minister has filed $300,000 libel suits against an Israeli TV station and a newspaper over reports he allegedly took expensive flights, hotels and restaurant meals from wealthy associates. The suits were filed on Tuesday.

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Netanyahu has time for excuses, but not for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Some people collect stamps or butterflies, some people grow orchids, others go skydiving or surfing. What Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu like to do is stay at luxury hotels at the expense of others. It's their hobby. Less dangerous than bungee jumping, less cruel than partridge hunting, less kinky than trading partners with other couples. At worst, they harm the environment by getting too much dry cleaning done.

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In the Israeli Knesset, some undemocratic activities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Harold Meyerson - (Opinion) March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Democracy is on the march in the Middle East — forward in Egypt and Tunisia; backward, alas, in Israel. The Israeli parliament’s Immigration, Absorption and Public Diplomacy Committee held a hearing last week to determine whether an American Jewish organization that favors a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conundrum could call itself “pro-Israel.”

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Netanyahu's YouTube gig showcases new media policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Aron Heller - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's prime minister, who has long had rocky relations with the news media, took his message straight to the public Wednesday on YouTube, fielding questions in a live interview from users in 90 countries, including Arab nations that have no relations with the Jewish state. Benjamin Netanyahu's appearance on YouTube's World View Project highlighted the Israeli leader's recent embrace of new media, but also illustrated his tricky relations with the traditional outlets he often considers hostile.

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Defense Ministry ordered to release internal documents on Gaza policies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

The Tel Aviv District Court last week ordered the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to release internal documents that detail the minimum nutritional requirements and calorie calculations needed to sustain the residents of the Gaza Strip. In addition, the court ordered the agency, also called COGAT and which operates under the auspices of the Defense Ministry, to reveal the names of the officials who helped implement the policy of limiting the entry of goods and foodstuffs into the Gaza Strip.

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Do Israel's recent efforts to bolster security undermine its democracy?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

A flurry of votes in Israel’s parliament on controversial legislation affecting the country’s Arab minority is reigniting a debate about whether the right-leaning majority is trampling democratic norms in an effort to bolster the security of the Jewish state. The parliament, known as the Knesset, on Monday night passed into law an amendment to the country’s citizenship law to allow the state to strip the citizenship of anyone convicted of espionage, terrorism, or "disloyalty" to the state.

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Israel threatens unilateral steps if UN recognizes Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel informed the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council last week, as well as several other prominent European Union countries, that if the Palestinian Authority persists in its efforts to gain recognition in September as a state within the 1967 borders, Israel would respond with a series of unilateral steps of its own.

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Israel lawmaker wonders if his Labor Party may deserve its fate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

He says the Israeli left is in disarray and its standard-bearer Labor Party has betrayed its values so much, it might be renamed the "Prostitution Party." It's a harsh analysis, and somewhat surprising given that it comes from lawmaker Daniel Ben-Simon, one of the party's leaders. In January, Ben-Simon was so frustrated that he announced plans to leave Labor. But he changed his mind after former Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak quit instead to form his own party, just as other party leaders were threatening to oust Barak.

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New bill takes aim at leftist groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Right-wing MKs launched a new attack against leftist organizations Monday with a bill limiting their right to petition the High Court of Justice. MKs Danny Danon and Yariv Levin from the Likud Party explain that the bill, which is aimed at preventing court rulings from exacting influence in the name of organizations that have no direct connection to the matters at hand, government policy, or the Knesset.

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Israel eases steps to revoke citizenship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel passed a law on Monday that eases the process of revoking citizenship in a step denounced as a move to threaten primarily its Arab minority. The amendment to a so-called "Citizenship Law" was the latest in a list of parliamentary measures taken this past month that civil rights activists denounce as undemocratic but Israeli rightists see as essential to the Jewish state's defence.

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