Dept. of Justice response on prosecuting Palestinian killers unsatisfying for lawmakers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Zach Silberman - April 18, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- U.S. House lawmakers want more answers after the Department of Justice reiterated the obstacles it says stand in the way of prosecuting alleged Palestinian terrorists who killed Americans. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch in his April 5 letter was responding to a March 1 letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder from Congress members that called on Holder to pursue prosecutions against Palestinian terrorists who were responsible for killing Americans and were recently released by Israel as part of the deal to free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

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Militants attack Egypt’s gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 9, 2012 - 12:00am

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Militants on Monday blew up a gas pipeline in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that transports fuel to neighboring Israel and Jordan, a senior Egyptian security official said. The attack was the 14th on the pipeline since last year’s popular uprising that ousted Egypt’s longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Previous bombings of the pipeline have been blamed on Islamist militants who have stepped up their activity in Sinai, taking advantage of a security vacuum caused by a thin police presence in the post-Mubarak era.

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Israel's new friends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nimrod Asulin - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Following the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords, Israel managed to deescalate its decades-long conflict with the Arab world with an earnest effort to forge a peace process with the Palestinians. Over the last decade, however, the peace talks witnessed setbacks, which subsequently led to an escalation in violence. This escalation hampered the Jewish state's diplomatic ties, especially with its one time regional ally, Turkey. Due to the changing realities, Israel has responded by returning to and employing an “old” foreign relation policy in a new way.

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The State of Israel's worst missed opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) March 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Tuesday, according to the civil calendar, is the 10th anniversary of the terror attack on Netanya's Park Hotel, which killed 30 people as they were sitting down to their Passover seder. Wednesday will mark 10 years since the Arab Peace Initiative, which began as a joint Saudi-Jordanian effort. Thursday will be the 10th anniversary of Operation Defensive Shield, which was launched in retaliation for the Park Hotel bombing.

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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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To the leftist who has no problem with rocket fire on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 13, 2012 - 12:00am

War again. Rockets again. Israel assassinates the commander of a radical Palestinian militia coalition in Gaza. In retaliation, gunners in the Strip fire rockets at cities across southern Israel. Israel launches a series of air strikes targeting the launch crews. More than 20 Palestinians are killed and scores injured. In Israel, questions are raised about the wisdom and the necessity of the assassination. Sounds all too familiar. Not much new here, from the looks of it. Back pages, even in the Arab world.

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Top U.S. army official: Mideast peace stalemate endangers American interests in region
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am

During an annual briefing Tuesday in the U.S. Congress, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, head of the Central Command, issued a warning about a continued impasse in the Israel-Palestine conflict. He said that the political awakening in the Arab world has caused regimes in the region to be more attentive than ever to the emotions of their populations. The current stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians, he declared, cannot continue; what is needed is the renewal of an Israeli-Arab drive for peace based on a two-state solution.

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Thailand: Iranians planned to attack Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Thanrayat Doksone - February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

BANGKOK — Three Iranians detained after accidentally setting off explosives in Bangkok were planning to attack Israeli diplomats, Thailand's top policeman said Thursday in the first confirmation by local officials that the group was plotting attacks in Thailand. The allegation came after days of strong accusations by Israel that Iran was behind the botched plot as well as two others in India and the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week. Iran has denied the charges.

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Iran uses terror to target civilians, and so does Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

A great miracle happened in Tbilisi, New Delhi and Bangkok, and alongside that miracle there was ineptitude that flies in the face of Iranian pretentions and ambitions. But the intentions were clear and grave: to take Israeli lives, especially diplomats and other official representatives of the state. That is terror.

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Do not jump to conclusions in Iran-Israel row
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

Israeli diplomats and Iranian nuclear scientists now have something in common: the danger of being killed by a magnetic car bomb. The technique has now been used against members of both groups. Israel denies involvement in such murders, the most recent one last month, of Iranian scientists. Iran denies responsibility for car-bombings this week against Israeli envoys in Tbilisi and Delhi. Men reportedly carrying Iranian identity papers were arrested after a botched magnet-bomb attack in Bangkok on Tuesday; Thai officials say Israeli diplomats were the intended targets.

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