Internal Israeli Politics | The American Task Force on Palestine

Danny Ayalon Pivots On a Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Shlomi Eldar - (Opinion) February 10, 2013 - 1:00am

Here’s an earth-shattering news flash: As his term in office was about to end, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was attending this weekend a Shabbatarbut cultural event in a theater in Holon, when he declared: “Israel must recognize the Palestinian state as a member state of the United Nations. It must grant it sovereignty and independence. This must be the starting point for a permanent settlement''.

A textbook debate riddled with tired cliches
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Daniella Peled - (Opinion) February 10, 2013 - 1:00am

That Palestinian school books teach their children to hate Israeli Jews is a cliché as legendarily interminable as the conflict itself. It’s part of a canon that includes the smug regurgitation of the paucity of Arab Nobel prize-winners and the bemoaning of the lack of a Palestinian Peace Now. But the charge that Palestinian textbooks are riddled with incitement has long become an integral part of Israel’s diplomatic strategy, echoed by Western leaders in front of Israel-supporting and Jewish audiences.

The Shin Bet's dream investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) February 10, 2013 - 1:00am

Do military judges rely on decisions by their colleagues that conflict with the positions of the military prosecutor? More specifically, will one judge, Maj. Meir Vigisser use as precedent the decision of another judge, Col. Ronen Atzmon, who on Dec. 27, 2012 found a man innocent of assisting homicide because the incriminating witness fell asleep during a Shin Bet interrogation? In other words, the judge understood that the Shin Bet investigators engaged in the very common torture method of sleep deprivation, disrupting rather than furthering the pursuit of truth.

Israeli Says Syrian Media Misreported Exile’s Views
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Anne Barnard, Isabel Kershner - February 9, 2013 - 1:00am

A public relations controversy erupted Saturday after a leading Israeli newspaper published comments from a brief interview with the leader of Syria’s main exile opposition group.

Lapid and Bennett – a love story
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

The only thing that I can do better than being foreign minister, says Yair Lapid, is to be chairman of the opposition. Lapid does not fear the opposition. In fact, the opposite might be true. If he were to join the government, it would be hard to meet expectations. He has made promises, and now he would need to follow through with them. In Binyamin Netanyahu’s government, so far not one person has actually kept his or her promise (including Netanyahu himself).

By ignoring international law, Israel is only hurting itself
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ruth Gavison - (Opinion) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli government officials are absolutely correct to point out that the UN Human Rights Council is a biased, anti-Israeli body. Nevertheless, one shouldn’t ignore the recent report on West Bank settlements which was written on its behalf, since it reflects the maturation of a prolonged process, typical of international law.

Former Shin Bet head: All interrogations should be videotaped
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Netanyahu's top security adviser: Settlements impede Western support of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson, Barak Ravid - February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

The construction in West Bank settlements is causing Israel to lose the support even of its best friends in the West, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror was quoted as warning in recent weeks.

Obama Complicates Netanyahu’s Coalition Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) February 7, 2013 - 1:00am

For all the speculation over what President Obama plans to say to Prime Minister Netanyahu when the two meet in Jerusalem in March or April, the important message has already been delivered. By making Israel his first overseas destination, the president has made it the top item on his second-term foreign-policy agenda. And with all due respect to the prime minister’s domestic political constraints, that means the president intends to create some movement toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Israel boosts defences along Syria, Lebanon borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ari Rabinovitch - February 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel has deployed a third Iron Dome missile defence system near its northern borders with Syria and Lebanon, security sources said on Tuesday. The Iron Dome systems have been deployed alongside a U.S.-supplied Patriot battery, which has been stationed in the north for years, as Israel is on the alert for weapons leaking out of the Syrian civil war that could be turned on the Jewish state. Two Iron Dome batteries, which use radar-guided interceptor missiles to shoot down short-ranged rockets, had already been deployed there.

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