My Story As a Pacifist in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Jonathan Ben-Artzi - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Exactly ten years ago I was imprisoned for my refusal to enlist in the Israeli military. This marked the end of a three-year losing legal battle in Israeli court to have conscientious objection recognized as an option for military service.  It was the beginning of an ongoing struggle to save my country from its inevitable demise. Like a drug-addict, Israel needs an intervention.  It is addicted to the military; blind support does it no good.

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Stopping Extremist Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Daniel Byman, Natan Sachs - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Late this past June, a group of Israeli settlers in the West Bank defaced and burned a mosque in the small West Bank village of Jabaa. Graffiti sprayed by the vandals warned of a “war” over the planned evacuation, ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court, of a handful of houses illegally built on private Palestinian land near the settlement of Beit El.

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The price of settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to hold a cabinet meeting on the political stalemate with the Palestinians, to discuss ways of advancing peace negotiations for a final agreement. On Monday Haaretz reported Barak as saying in private talks that a thaw in relations is in Israel's strategic interest and that the country is "living on borrowed time." On Tuesday the European Union demonstrated the price of neglecting this political channel, combined with the race to expand settlements.

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Gentlemen, America is telling you 'no'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Many years ago, the US ambassador to Israel requested an urgent meeting with the defense minister. The ambassador (I'm fairly certain it was Thomas Pickering) sat opposite Yitzhak Rabin, took out a piece of paper from his pocket and read from it.

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Existential priorities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Israelis have had a number of pressing issues on their minds lately, all of which have been placed in the forefront by the media and the political leadership in the past number of weeks. First and foremost perhaps is the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, followed closely by the danger of armed jihadists in Sinai, the rise of Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the impending fall of the Syrian regime and the fate of its enormous arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.

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Israeli rights groups ask court to stop razing of Bedouin villages
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Several Israeli human rights organizations petitioned the High Court on Tuesday to prevent the demolition of five Bedouin villages. The petition is spearheaded by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and is aimed at averting the construction of agricultural settlements in the area of Mevo'ot Arad, in the Negev. These Jewish settlements, seven of them, will be built after the existing Bedouin villages, which are home to hundreds of families, are razed.

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Israel's Foreign Ministry gives envoys a lesson on twitter diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s Foreign Ministry updated online social media guidelines for representatives of the State of Israel worldwide, following a few recent unusual tweets and Facebook posts made by Israeli diplomats. The Foreign Ministry’s message to Israeli diplomats: Surfers on the web take everything you post as Israel’s official position.

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Netanyahu set to bury Levy report on legalizing illegal West Bank outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to bury the Levy Report, which recommends legalizing most unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank and making it easier for existing settlements to expand, a senior politician who spoke with the premier about the issue told Haaretz yesterday.

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Panetta: No Israeli decision yet on attacking Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that he did not believe that Israel had made a decision on whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program, and added that he thought there was still time for a stronger sanctions push. Panetta’s comments came at a Pentagon briefing against the background of the very loud and public debate in Israel about whether to attack Iran. Panetta held a round of talks in Israel two weeks ago, and met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

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Dennis Ross: Israel's Iran Threats Aimed at Spurring Global Action
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Laura Rozen - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s intentions on Iran are ambiguous, veteran United States-Middle East trouble shooter Dennis Ross says. “Part of the motivation for being as public as they have been is to motivate the rest of world," Ross, who served as the top Obama White House Iran strategist from 2009 to the end of 2011, told Al-Monitor in an interview Tuesday. “The second reason is to condition the rest of the world not to be surprised if or when they are going to act militarily,” Ross said. “And to get the Israeli public ready as well.”

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