Israel's Most Unlikely Dove
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Aviad Kleinberg - (Opinion) March 20, 2012 - 12:00am

"If, God forbid, a war with Iran breaks out, it will be a nightmare. And we will all be in it, including the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. No one will remain unscathed. We have to do everything we can to urge the international community to assume responsibility and take action to stop the Iranians … The State of Israel keeps all options open.

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Iran strike a death wish
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yakir Elkariv - (Opinion) March 20, 2012 - 12:00am

The sanctions against Iran may accelerate the Ayatollah regime’s end. Once the economic pressure grows heavier, social unrest would grow and may develop into a popular uprising. However, such processes take time, and it’s uncertain whether officials around here would have the patience to wait. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – with the encouragement of loyal journalists – is determined to enter the annals of history as the leader who saw farther than anyone else and saved Israel from the Iranian nuclear threat. However, his eagerness may turn out to be fateful.

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Israeli official: Iranian military experts operating in Gaza, Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Iranian military experts are active in the Gaza Strip and in Sinai, according to a high-ranking official in Jerusalem. The official said the Iranians entered the areas via Sudan and Egypt, and added that some of the rocket-launching systems in Gaza were manufactured under Iranian supervision. The senior source also claimed that Islamic Jihad continued to fire rockets at Israel even after the recent cease-fire was announced because the Iranians pressured that organization, and the popular resistance groups, to continue acting against Israel.

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U.S. War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Mazzetti, Tom Shanker - March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials. The officials said the so-called war game was not designed as a rehearsal for American military action — and they emphasized that the exercise’s results were not the only possible outcome of a real-world conflict.

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Not only violence has failed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

In reviewing more than six decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a cost/benefit analysis of the two sides' reliance on violence produces a very mixed record. Whereas Israel has generally triumphed in its conventional wars against neighboring Arab states, success in fighting non-state actors--primarily the Palestinians but also Hizballah--has been much more difficult to achieve. The Palestinian record against Israel is no better.

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Playing for time through a strike on Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Nations have doctrines. The Soviet Union had the Brezh­nev Doctrine and the United States had the Monroe Doctrine, among others. Even little Israel has one. I call it the Maybe the Dog Will Talk Doctrine, and it is based on a folk tale of the rabbi who makes a preposterous deal with a tyrant: If the tyrant spares the lives of local Jews, the rabbi will teach the tyrant’s dog to talk. When the rabbi tells his wife what he has done, she calls him a fool. But, he says, “A year is a long time.

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Iran, Israel and the nuclear diversion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Sarah Chayes, Amir Soltani - (Opinion) March 18, 2012 - 12:00am

The Middle East showdown over Iran's apparent effort to obtain nuclear weapons capability is not entirely about nuclear arms, nor even about regional security. The dispute is, at heart, about power, and preserving it. It's about the governments of two religiously defined nations using nuclear brinkmanship to distract from the legitimate grievances and explosive restiveness of their own populations.

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In Israel, prospect of war with Iran raises questions about home-front defense
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karin Brulliard - March 17, 2012 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV — Two young government workers had set up shop in the patio section of an Ace hardware store the other day, and many Israelis were waiting. The product: free gas masks, from a dwindling national supply that is set to dry up by month’s end.

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Israeli army to acquire long-range rockets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 15, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, March 14 (Xinhua) -- In the face of growing threats posed by rockets at the disposal of Israel's foes, the Israeli military will acquire rockets of its own, the Yediot Aharonot daily reported Wednesday. Brig.-Gen. David Suissa, the commander of the army's Artillery Corps, is promoting the procurement of precision-strike rockets with ranges of 40 and 150 km, according to the paper's business section.

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Israel Stops Infiltration From Egypt, 1 Killed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 15, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says soldiers have stopped an infiltration attempt along the Israel-Egypt border. One infiltrator was killed and three wounded. A military statement said the incident occurred late Thursday. It said soldiers saw the infiltrators and ordered them to stop. When they ignored the order, the soldiers opened fire. The statement said there was also gunfire from the Egyptian side of the border. The statement did not say if the infiltrators were armed. Often, migrants from Africa try to sneak into Israel, seeking refuge or work.

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