How a new Israeli attache renounced his U.S. citizenship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eli Groner - (Opinion) October 23, 2011 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV (JTA) -- After being named Israel's minister for economic affairs to the United States, Eli Groner was required by U.S. law to revoke his U.S. citizenship. The following is the statement he submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv upon his renunciation. Because I love America, it is with hesitant hands and a heavy heart that I am writing this note. I never expected to request revocation of my citizenship, and while I certainly understand the circumstances requiring me to do so, it is important for me to share with you why I have decided to take this step.

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United States needs to reevaluate its assistance to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Walter Pincus - (Opinion) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

As the country reviews its spending on defense and foreign assistance, it is time to examine the funding the United States provides to Israel. Let me put it another way: Nine days ago, the Israeli cabinet reacted to months of demonstrations against the high cost of living there and agreed to raise taxes on corporations and people with high incomes ($130,000 a year). It also approved cutting more than $850 million, or about 5 percent, from its roughly $16 billion defense budget in each of the next two years.

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What's Wrong With American Jews Taking Partisan Sides in Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Jay Michaelson - October 11, 2011 - 12:00am

That there has been a realignment of American Jewish attitudes toward Israel is by now apparent and heavily commented on. In some quarters, this has been seen as an earth-shattering, Judaism-betraying paroxysm of collective self-hatred. Yet in fact it is entirely logical.

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Obama’s Israel problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ian Buruma - October 10, 2011 - 12:00am

On a rare foray outside his native Texas, Governor Rick Perry accused US President Barack Obama of “appeasement” towards the Palestinians. Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch supported a Catholic Republican congressional candidate against a Jewish Democrat in New York, because the Republican supports Israel through thick and thin - and because Obama had voiced reservations about Israel’s expansion of settlements on the West Bank. In Koch’s words, Obama “threw Israel under the bus”. The Republican won.

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Does Israel Actually Want the U.S. to Defund the UN?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) October 6, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the many effects of the Palestinians' bid for statehood at the United Nations is a renewed campaign for the U.S. to withdraw its financial support of the institution and downgrade its engagement. "I would tell the other 190-plus members of the United Nations: If you vote for a declaration of Palestinian statehood, the United States will defund the United Nations, period, close quote," Bush-era UN ambassador John Bolton recently said on Fox News.

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Washington's stance on Israel and Mideast peace is murky
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Blog) October 4, 2011 - 12:00am

This week in Washington started with three foggy questions: Was it really Vice President Joseph Biden who blocked clemency for Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard? What actually happened to U.S. aid to the Palestinians? And what will the U.S. do with the Middle East peace process after commending Israel on accepting the Quartet call for the renewal of talks and noting that the Palestinians also expressed their support.

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GOP candidates show more loyalty to a foreign country (Israel) than their own
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Walter Rodgers - October 4, 2011 - 12:00am

It is disconcerting to see the foreign-policy traps that Republican presidential candidates set for themselves, especially when it comes to Israel and the Middle East. They do a disservice to the United States by trying to bind a sitting American president to the policies of a foreign government, specifically to the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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‘Post’ poll finds surge in Obama popularity in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama succeeded in reaching out to Israelis with his speech last Friday to the General Assembly and his efforts to block the UN from unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state, according to a Keevoon Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post this week. When asked about the Obama administration’s policies, 54 percent said they were more favorable toward Israel, 19% said they were more pro- Palestinian, and 27% called them neutral.

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U.S. hopes to not use veto to aid Israel
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Washington Times - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinians have yet to lock down a nine-vote majority in the U.N. Security Council for their statehood bid, raising U.S. hopes that it could be spared the embarrassment of using its veto power in defense of an increasingly isolated Israel. Amid indications that Colombia and the Security Council’s four EU member states will abstain from any vote, attention has focused on Nigeria, Gabon and Bosnia, which have offered few signals about how they will vote.

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How the GOP has learned to love Israel unconditionally
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Republican presidents have been guiding Israel toward the peace table -- sometimes not so gently -- almost since the Jewish state was born more than six decades ago. But in the recent round of debates, the crop of candidates vying for the GOP nomination have been chiding President Obama for forcing Israel’s hand -- usually to great cheers from the audience. "You don’t allow an inch of space to exist between you and your friends and allies," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said at the most recent debate, Sept. 22 in Orlando, Fla., earning thunderous applause.

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