Israeli threats about Iran -- crying wolf or laying groundwork?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Carol J. Williams - (Opinion) August 17, 2012 - 12:00am

They're passing out gas masks in Jerusalem and testing a new text-messaging system for alerting Israelis to incoming rockets. The civil defense preparations follow a week of renewed warnings by Israeli officials that airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities may be imminent, despite U.S. misgivings, to thwart Tehran's alleged pursuit of nuclear bomb-making capability.

»

Zone of Insanity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by James Traub - (Opinion) August 17, 2012 - 12:00am

It must drive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crazy that scarcely anybody outside his immediate circle of advisors -- oh, and Mitt Romney -- understands the imperative for war against Iran. Israel's retired security chiefs uniformly consider a war unnecessary right now. Israel's president, Shimon Peres, agrees. A poll released this week found the Israeli public opposed to war by a solid 46 percent to 32 percent. As for the United States, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta insists that "the window is still open to try to work toward a diplomatic solution."

»

Peace Now complains over commander’s Hebron comments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - August 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Peace Now on Thursday complained to the Defense Ministry about public comments an IDF commander made in support of Israeli sovereignty over the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. It also took issue with the IDF’s decision to hold a ceremony Wednesday at the Cave of the Patriarchs for the incoming commander of the IDF Judea Brigade, Avi Balut, and the outgoing commander, Shai Hazut. It noted that in the past the ceremony had been held in the nearby brigade base.

»

Israel's hawks push a war for personal gain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Bluster on Iran is not just dangerous, it is also deceptive. There is growing evidence that a military strike would fail to achieve its strategic goals. That, however, has done little to deter Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak from their campaign of threats. For these two men, it seems, a regional war is an acceptable risk to promote their own political careers.

»

Hundreds of Israelis petition IDF pilots: Refuse orders to bomb Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Dan Evens, Tomer Zarchin - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

More than 400 Israelis, including Tel Aviv University law professors Menachem Mautner and Chaim Gans, have recently signed an online petition calling on Israel Defense Forces pilots to refuse to obey if ordered to bomb Iran. The petition calls a decision to launch a strike against Iran a "highly mistaken gamble" that would only delay Iran's nuclear program, without stopping it, and would come "at an exorbitant price."

»

Israel's Iran Itch
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Hmm, it’s August, things are quiet, time for another wave of hysteria over an imminent Israeli attack on Iran. We’ve seen this movie for a decade — Israel’s “red line” on the Iranian nuclear program has proved of spandex-like elasticity. (I sometimes imagine the size of the explosion if all the words devoted to the Iranian nuclear program since 2000 were placed in a large container and detonated.)

»

Self-inflicted information war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

These days, with the country’s leaders straining our nerves, it’s hard not to recall the immortal words of Eli Wallach in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”: “If you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”

»

Israel’s President Criticizes Talk of Unilateral Strike on Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Shimon Peres, Israel’s president and elder statesman, spoke out Thursday against the prospect of a lone Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a message that contradicts the hawkish, go-it-alone line emanating from the offices of Israel’s prime minister and defense minister.

»

Israeli defense minister: Only government to decide Iranian issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak lashed out at his critics on Thursday, saying that the decision on how to counter the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran lies within the exclusive domain of the government. "The prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister hold responsibility. A decision (to attack Iran), once one is needed, will be made by the government of Israel, not by groups of citizens or editorials," Barak said at a Knesset (parliament) session to swear-in a new home front defense minister.

»

In Israel, debate rages over Netanyahu's threats to attack Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Whether serious or a bluff, Israel'spublic threats to attackIran'snuclear development program are widely credited for bringing U.S. pressure and international sanctions against Tehran this year.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017