Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by S. Daniel Abraham - (Editorial) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

As President Obama prepares to visit Israel later this month, reports from administration officials indicate that he does not intend to focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather to discuss regional threats such as Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the continuing violence in Syria. But Obama should realize that Israel's continued presence in the West Bank is an existential threat to its continuity as a democratic, Jewish state -- and time is not on Israel's side.

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Hundreds of arrest warrants issued in Israel against ultra-Orthodox dodging army service
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Hundreds of arrest warrants had been issued in Israel in the past few days against ultra-Orthodox youths dodging military service, the Ma'ariv daily reported Thursday. As hundreds of ultra-Orthodox youths failed to report to the induction centers as required, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) turned to the police to issue arrest warrants.

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Netanyahu’s violent fingerprint
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu’s children attacked an Arab cleaning man on the seaside promenade in Tel Aviv and caused him serious injuries. They attacked an Arab waiter in a Tel Aviv restaurant with chairs and their fists. They attacked an Arab from Upper Nazareth at the shore of Lake Kinneret because they heard him speaking Arabic. Netanyahu’s children waved hate-filled signs against Muslim players of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team and set fire to its clubhouse.

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Police chief: Wave of attacks on Arabs 'despicable'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Omri Efraim - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino called the wave of nationalistically-motivated assaults across Israel a "despicable and criminal" phenomenon.

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Israel denies entry to pro-Palestinian American Jew
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

A Jewish-American pro-Palestinian activist who is married to an Israeli woman was not allowed to enter the country with his pregnant wife. An Israeli court rejected his petition to cancel the order against his entry Tuesday, and he is expected to be put on a plane back to the United States Wednesday night. Adam Shapiro, 41, and his wife Huwaida Arraf, 37, are among the founders of the International Solidarity Movement and have worked on behalf of the Palestinian cause for over a decade. Arraf has both American and Israeli citizenship.

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Israel agrees to demolish four West Bank outpost structures immediately
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

The state is planning to demolish four structures erected at the Sde Boaz outpost "as soon as possible," including a paved access road, built on Palestinian-owned land.

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US, Israeli threats of force against Iran are illegal and harm chances for a deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Reza Nasri - (Opinion) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

These threats were issued at a time when the latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 in

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The empty debate on Zionism in Britain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Who is a Zionist? Once upon a time the answer to this question was simple. A Zionist was someone who believed there were moral justifications and a need for a Jewish sovereign state in the historical Land of Israel. If you recognized this, you were Zionist and all the rest was just nuance. But the definition of a Zionist has become hopelessly murky in the more than six decades since Israel's establishment amid the never-ending debate over Israel's definition, borders and values.

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Jerusalem's Begin Expressway plan angers Arab neighborhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Construction of a freeway extension through one of Jerusalem's most-prosperous Arab neighborhoods is igniting tension in the once-quiet community and reviving complaints about how the city treats Palestinian residents. If completed as planned in 2015, the nearly 1-mile extension of Jerusalem's Begin Expressway will slice through the neighborhood of Beit Safafa, home to about 12,000 Arabs.

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President Obama’s Visit to Israel: Too Little Too Late?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Young Israelis Want the President to See their Side A group of students sit around a conference table at the Hadassah Academic College in downtown Jerusalem. They are all majoring in politics and government, and started college only after finishing their mandatory army service. Overall, they are pleased that President Obama is coming to visit Israel, but say he should have come during his first term.

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