Israeli election committee bans far-right campaign due to racism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the Israeli Central Elections Committee Judge Elyakim Rubinstein has banned an ad campaign run by a far-right wing party over charges of racist and discriminatory against Arabs. "The campaign was meant to degrade a single group in the State of Israel, the Arab population," Rubinstein explained Wednesday night.

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How Khaled Meshal's call for Israel's destruction played into Netanyahu's hands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Blog) December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu’s most reliable ally is Hamas. That may sound like a strange proposition, but let me explain.     In the last weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu has pulled two of his more expectable stunts.

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Netanyahu between Abbas and Meshaal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

With the historical visit conducted by Hamas’s politburo chief to the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian file is entering a new stage which the Israeli right wing and its leader Benjamin Netanyahu are trying to exploit, in order to undermine Palestinian credibility towards the peace process, end the negotiations with the Palestinians, and eliminate the idea of the two states.

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Israel to withhold Palestinian funds until March, at least
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel will withhold tax revenues from President Mahmoud Abbas's administration until March at least in response to his statehood campaign at the United Nations, Israel's foreign minister said. Under interim peace deals, Israel collects some $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank -- money that is badly needed to pay public sector salaries.

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Distortion of 'defensive democracy'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

It's a recurring pre-election ritual: The Central Elections Committee invalidates the candidacies of Arab parties and candidates, and the Supreme Court voids the disqualifications. Since 1965, not a single Arab party has been disqualified from running for the Knesset.

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Feiglin and his donkeys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Where were you on January 22? That question will be asked long after this election, which may be the last one in Israel. As we sit at the edge of the volcano, small personal details are being covered as if they were the main issues. Perhaps repression is natural in the face of such a dramatic revolution.

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Israeli Minister Vents Anger at Europe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel’s blunt-talking foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, gave vent on Wednesday to the government’s anger over recent diplomatic gains by the Palestinians paired with international rebukes for Israel, comparing Israel’s situation to that of Czechoslovakia in 1938 before the Nazi invasion.

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Israel's anti-Abbas campaign
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Itamar Eichner - December 11, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel is launching an international diplomatic campaign meant to portray Hamas' Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as cohorts and peace refuseniks, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.

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'PA police who attack IDF 'shouldn't remain alive''
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
December 11, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian policeman who strike IDF soldiers "should not remain alive," Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told Israel Radio on Tuesday. "I will not accept a situation in which an IDF soldier in Hebron gets punched by a Palestinian policeman and that policeman remains alive," Liberman said. "I don't accept that."

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Israel's leaders need to make smarter decisions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald
by Frida Ghitis - (Opinion) December 11, 2012 - 1:00am

You have seen the headlines from the Middle East. Now imagine listening to the same stories as you stand in Israel, just a few miles from Syria, Egypt, Gaza, the West Bank. Considering the range of unhappy outcomes the Israeli people may have to face, it is stunning to see their political leaders create unnecessary problems for their country.

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