Ahmadinejad’s Iran is the New Best Friend of Israeli Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

The red-bordered headline on Israel's weekend newsstands was as jarring for its calm, consumer-guide choice of wording as for the subject matter, which was, in essence, a countdown to Armageddon. WHERE IT'S BEST TO LIVE IN A TIME OF EMERGENCY, read the Yedioth Ahronoth banner. Lest the meaning be lost, the full-out article – framed by stories hinting at IDF preparations for a possible attack on Iran - ranked a long list of Israeli cities, towns, and Arab villages for their survivability and "preparedness for wartime."

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Panetta: Israel Has Not Decided to Attack Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a Senate committee that he does not believe Israel has decided definitely to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Panetta also told the Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the United States and Israel have "common cause" on Iran to prevent the Islamic Republic from producing a nuclear weapon, and that the Obama administration does not think Israel has made a decision to strike at Iran's nuclear installations in order to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

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Iran, Israel trade blame over embassy attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Mark Magnier, Edmund Sanders - February 13, 2012 - 1:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem and New Delhi—The technique had a familiar ring. A motorcyclist speeds toward a government vehicle, attaches a magnetic bomb and buzzes away moments before a fiery explosion. Last month, that's how an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Tehran. And on Monday, Indian officials said such an attack injured an Israeli diplomat's wife and three others in a well-guarded neighborhood of New Delhi near the Israeli Embassy.

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IDF brigade leaves an impression in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - February 13, 2012 - 1:00am

Rumor has it that Golani infantry soldiers will remain in the area until May, and in Hebron residents are worried. Very worried. Since the Golani soldiers replaced the Kfir Brigade's Shimshon battalion in December 2011 (which, in turn, had replaced the Givati infantry ), city residents have sensed a manifest worsening of soldiers' behavior.

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PA Security Detains 56 in Israeli-held Hebron Zone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 10, 2012 - 1:00am

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Palestinian security forces detained 56 Palestinians sheltering in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron early Friday, after coordination with Israeli authorities. The dawn raid was the second Palestinian incursion into Hebron's H2 area in recent weeks, under full Israeli control since a 1997 deal split the city. A Palestinian security official told Ma'an the sweep of arrests was permitted by Israeli authorities after pressure from Europe and the US.

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Palestinian prisoner on 55th day of hunger strike to protest detention without trial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Daniel Estrin - February 9, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — In a high-stakes gamble, an imprisoned member of a Palestinian militant group has waged a hunger strike for almost two months, trying to draw attention to Israel’s military justice system and its treatment of detainees who can be held without charge for lengthy periods.

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Israel’s Silent March to War With Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) February 7, 2012 - 1:00am

The atmosphere in Israel is pretty surreal these days. The whole world seems to be asking whether we’re going to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities this year — the whole world except this Israeli part of it.

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Israel can clear Mideast of nukes, it just won't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinians are being regularly and illegally barred from reaching Dead Sea beaches in the occupied West Bank, according to a Supreme Court petition filed by Israel's leading civil rights organisation. The Association of Civil Rights (Acri) in Israel is challenging what it says is the frequently imposed ban by the military on Palestinians seeking to swim or relax at beaches in the northern Dead Sea. The salt-saturated sea is the only open water accessible to Palestinians from the otherwise landlocked West Bank.

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Is Israel preparing to attack Iran?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by David Ignatius - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran militarily over the next few months.

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When Talk of War Transcends Idle Chatter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - February 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israelis like to say that when it comes to military and security operations, those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know. But the intense and increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities is challenging that piece of conventional wisdom. The standard view has been that successful attacks rely on secrecy and surprise, so the more talk there is about an operation, the less likely it will occur.

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