Israel plans to legalize 13 contentious West Bank outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

The government has announced that it plans to legalize 13 of the 18 settlement outposts against which petitions to the High Court of Justice have been filed. Because the 13 outposts are not built on privately-owned Palestinian land, the legalization process could presumably make the petitions against them moot. The remaining five outposts cannot be legalized, because they are located on privately-owned Palestinian land, and so are slated for evacuation.

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US denounces Israeli PM plans for new settler homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

The United States Wednesday denounced Israeli plans to expand a West Bank settlement by 300 homes, saying it posed a hurdle toward kickstarting moribund peace talks with the Palestinians. "We're very clear that continued Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank undermines peace efforts and contradicts Israeli commitments and obligations," said a State Department spokesperson, Mark Toner. "You know, our position on settlements remains unchanged. We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity."

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Israeli PM stronger after parliament rejects settlement legalization bill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Dave Bender, Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new unity government on Wednesday successfully navigated the first major test of its stability, since its inauguration last month. The country's Knesset members killed a bill that would have legalized disputed Jewish construction in a West Bank settlement that the Supreme Court recently ruled as illegal. The court said five three-story apartment buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood of Bet El near Ramallah were build on private Palestinian land, and ordered the government to remove them by July 1.

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Ulpana, shmulpana – get real!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

This week, 45 years ago, Israel won the Six Day War and with it the territories.

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Israeli parliament rejects attempt to save outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament has rejected an attempt by hardline lawmakers to prevent the demolition of an illegal West Bank outpost. The vote could set the stage for a showdown between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hardline Jewish settlers and their supporters in his government.

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Knesset votes down bill to sanction illegal West Bank outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis, Oz Rosenberg - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's Knesset on Wednesday voted down a bill that aimed at legalizing homes on the Ulpana Hill neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, which were built on privately owned Palestinian land. In a preliminary reading, 69 Knesset members voted against the bill, while 22 voted for it.

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PM to head ministerial committee on settlement affairs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

In a move meant to placate right-wing ministers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he will head a new ministerial committee that would deal with settlement affairs. The announcement was made hours before the Knesset convened to vote on a bill aiming to legalize homes built on contested land in the West Bank.

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After striking down bill to legalize neighborhood, Netanyahu vows to expand West Bank settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis, Barak Ravid, Oz Rosenberg - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Wednesday to the Knesset meeting in which a bill aimed at legalizing homes on the Ulpana Hill neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Beit El - which were built on privately owned Palestinian land – was voted down. Speaking at a press conference, Netanyahu criticized organizations that had petitioned Israel’s High Court over the matter, stating that “those who think they use the legal system to harm the settlements are mistaken, since the opposite is actually taking place.”

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A Saturday of terror for Palestinians in the shadow of the settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

It's a strange state of affairs when the Israeli army is the lesser evil.


A Glimmer?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

There is a plenty of blame to be shared for why peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians are going nowhere. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem are a big part of the problem. There may be some glimmer of hope in Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to support an Israeli Supreme Court order to close an illegal neighborhood, known as Ulpana, in the West Bank settlement of Beit El.

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