MI chief: Over 10 recent Sinai attacks thwarted
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Lahav Harkov - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

IDF Military Intelligence head Aviv Kochavi said that more than 10 recent planned terror attacks emanating from the Egyptian side of the Sinai border have been thwarted during remarks before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Kochavi said that upheaval in Egypt is expected to continue for a long time, and that the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi in the presidential election has ushered in an age of political Islam.

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The Palestinian Authority under pressure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Lucky Gold - (Opinion) July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

We have been facing serious financial difficulties for more than two years CNN – Can the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority be revived by the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the region? On Monday, Christiane Amanpour sat down with Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, in his Ramallah office on the West Bank, where he expressed serious doubts – not only about the peace talks but about the very existence of the Palestinian Authority he represents:

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Palestinian PM to meet Clinton in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday during her visit to Israel, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan al-Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government, said that Fayyad will head to Jerusalem to meet with Clinton, who arrived in Israel Sunday. Clinton will not visit the Palestinian territories as she did in her last tour in the Middle East two years ago. Al-Khatib said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is visiting Italy and that he coordinates with Fayyad over the meeting with Clinton.

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Official: Palestinian figures responsible for Arafat's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

A Palestinian intelligence officer and member of an official investigation committee on Sunday accused Palestinian figures of killing late president Yasser Arafat. Fahmi Shabana made the comments during an interview with Israeli journalist Yoni Bin Manahim, which was published Sunday on Israel's Reshet Bet new-site. Shabana said that two Palestinian figures were involved in Arafat's death, a security figure from the Gaza Strip and a political figure who helped cover up the crime.

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Peace Talks Must Resume, Clinton Says in Israel Visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Visiting Israel for the first time in nearly two years, with the Palestinian peace process seemingly on perpetual hold, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that “the status quo is unsustainable” and urged leaders from both sides back to negotiations.

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Israel to Clinton: Tell us what Egypt is thinking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

US secretaries of state usually devote their visits to the region shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians, but as Hillary Clinton began her one-day stopover today, the focus is on two countries needing US mediation: Israel and Egypt.

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Abbas to ask Arabs to set date for new UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will announce to the Arab League (AL) his decision to seek Palestinian membership in the United Nations, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Abbas will ask the AL's Arab-Israeli relations committee to set a date for submitting the Palestinian request to the UN General Assembly, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. The committee will meet next week in Doha, Qatar. The decision comes as Israeli officials failed to meet their Palestinian counterparts to revive the peace talks that have been stalled for two years.

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Think Before Joining Anti-Israel Boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

True or false: Boycotts are bad. True. And false.

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Britain's MI6 chief: Iran two years away from becoming nuclear power
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

In an unusually frank briefing to senior British civil servants, Sir John Sawers, the chief of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service said that British agents have been active against Iran's nuclear program since 2008. Despite their efforts though, Sawers said that Iran would likely achieve nuclear capability by 2014.

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Israel's immigration police granted power to deport foreign activists from West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israel Defense Forces issued a new order last week allowing inspectors from the Interior Ministry's enforcement unit to remove any foreigners who are found to be in the West Bank without a permit. The step, which represents a further step in the military's actions against foreign activists, was struck down in the past by the High Court of Justice, on the grounds that the Interior Ministry inspectors do not have authority in the West Bank.

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