Israel, U.S. planning largest-ever military drill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel and the United States are set to hold their largest-ever missile defense drill in October, local media said on Monday. About 3,000 soldiers are expected to take part in the drill and they will practice responses to a simulated mass barrage of hundreds of missiles fired at Israel simultaneously from Iran and Syria, the Ma'ariv daily reported. Israel will deploy its upgraded Arrow 2 missile defense system, while the U.S. do its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense and PAC-3 Patriot air defense systems during the drill, according to the report.

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The police turned Israel's nonviolent protest into terror
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Merav Michaeli - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

"Our policy is to use force to restore quiet," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday, at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. And the translation: "Force," i.e., disproportionate violence; "quiet," i.e., suppression of the opposition that interferes with our ability to rule and do whatever we feel like doing; "to restore," i.e., it had previously been quiet, everything was in order and we just want to return things to that previous state.

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A hybrid of peace and terror
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am

There is something ironic about the situation in Sinai, a senior defense official said on Monday. Israel is officially in a perpetual state of war with Lebanon and Syria, but those are two of Israel’s quietest borders today. “Egypt, which we have peace with, is turning into our biggest problem,” the official said.

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The good fence?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Nachman Shai - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Afew days ago, Israel marked the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the war initially “Operation Peace for the Galilee,” now known as the “First Lebanon War,” since it was recently followed by another one. With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, the concept of the “Good Fence,” through which Israel had tried to good relations with Lebanon, collapsed.

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Israel may fit drones with sensor that pinpoints terror sites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 17, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israel Air Force is testing a new sensor designed to enable its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to spot underground tunnels and other well-concealed assets used by militant groups, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. UAVs, better known as drones, routinely fly reconnaissance and surveillance missions over Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where camouflaged tunnels are used for smuggling weapons and shielding militants from airstrikes.

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'US-Israeli military cooperation stronger than ever'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
June 12, 2012 - 12:00am

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta hosted President Shimon Peres at the Pentagon on Monday, saying that military cooperation between the US and Israel was "stronger than ever, stable and ongoing." Peres visited the Pentagon as part of a multi-day visit to the US in which he is scheduled to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barak Obama. In addition to meeting Panetta, Peres took part in a roundtable discussion with other senior US officials, including US military chief Gen. Martin Dempsey.

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Israel's 'Real' Challenges Much Closer Than Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Hanan Greenberg - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am

While all eyes seem to be fixed on Iran, the IDF’s main focus is on threats emerging a car-drive away from Tel Aviv. In a special conversation, the operations officers of the IDF’s four commands tell Maariv about their military activities that involve daily attempts to kidnap soldiers, the escalation of “price-tag” activities (a violent retribution campaign by fundamentalist Israeli youths against Palestinians), the heating up of the Egyptian border and the fragile peace in the north.

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Israeli guards attack Palestinian prisoners: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli prison guards attacked Palestinians held at Ramon prison in southern Israel Wednesday, leaving several detainees with bruises and difficulties in breathing, a Palestinian official said. Eissa Qaraqe', the Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs, said the Israeli forces broke into the fourth section of the prison, where 120 prisoners are held.

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Israeli leadership suffers from unilateral withdrawal syndrome
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

It seems that some of our military-men-turned-politicians are suffering from the unilateral withdrawal syndrome. It may be typical of the military mindset: Get it over with! Finish the job! Do something! Do anything! Actually, on some occasions that may be the correct strategy. It usually comes under the heading of "Cutting your losses." But often it may be the wrong way to go.


The Lebanon Wars Backfired on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Rubik Rosenthal - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the start of the Lebanon War. For more than half of Israel’s citizens, that war is a part of history, mixed in with the wars that preceded it. The Second Lebanon War brought the first one back into relevance, but we’d rather repress that war, too. It is this distance that allows us to look back at the first Lebanon War to see what can be learned from it for the sake of future generations.

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