DM Barak shakes up Israeli politics by leaving the Labor Party but stays in the government, and visit soldiers in Nablus. Upheavals in Tunisia spur Palestinian officials to issue reassurances about the Palestinian economy. Russia confirms its commitment to an independent Palestinian state. Israeli authorities approve 122 new settler housing units in occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinians are expected to submit a Security Council resolution condemning settlements this week. A Hamas operative dies in a tunnel collapse. Uriel Reichman says if Israel does not come up with a peace strategy of it own, the US or UN will act alone. Carlo Strenger says the Israeli right has caused the country’s international isolation. PM Netanyahu says he is determined to go forward with peace talks. Israeli women are harassed by the Israeli authorities for consistent outreach to the Palestinians. John Ging leaves his position as head of UNRWA. Tony Karon says Russian immigrants have pushed Israeli politics to the aggressive nationalist right.

Hamas tries to stop other militant groups from attacking Israel from Gaza. Jackson Diehl says the Middle East is poised on the brink of war. Guyana becomes the seventh South American state to recognize Palestine in recent weeks, and speculation grows about other regions following suit. Special Envoy Mitchell meets with Israeli and Palestinian officials. Hamas leaders deny that their policies are misogynistic. The Karni Crossing to Gaza is again closed. PM Erdogan says Israel must replace FM Lieberman. Fatah warns Hamas against increasing tensions in the West Bank. PM Netanyahu promises unauthorized settlement outpost homes of slain Israeli soldiers will not be demolished. The Israeli military is confiscating settlers' weapons. Pres. Obama is reportedly forming a Middle East task force. Conspiracy theories about Mossad proliferate in the Arab world. Israel demolishes homes and classrooms in the West Bank. Israeli firms involved in the first planned Palestinian city in the West Bank pledge not to use settlement products. Elliot Jager says Hamas-Fatah reconciliation is unlikely. Ziad Asali and Hussein Ibish say Arabs need to end hypocrisy in confronting terrorism. Michael Felsen says time is running out for a two-state solution.

Palestinians are prevented from investing in Jerusalem real estate. John Whitbeck says the US should join the rest of the world in recognizing Palestine. Jeffrey Goldberg says Israel must recognize that Jerusalem must be the Palestinian capital. Settlers are evacuated from an unauthorized outpost, with several are hurt in scuffles, along with an elderly Palestinian man. The PA accuses Hamas of hypocrisy by calling for calm in Gaza and for violence in the West Bank, and Abdullah Iskandar agrees. Fatah's investigation into Mohammed Dahlan is expanded. Sec. Clinton reiterates that Israel makes its own decisions. A paralyzed Palestinian girl is given Israeli residency. Hamas leaders say they want to replace the PLO because of its secularism. Pres. Abbas says the US is not working hard enough to create a Palestinian state. Israel's Social Affairs Minister says the country feels like Alabama in the 1940s. The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem is trying to help Palestinians stay. An Al Jazeera TV reporter says Israeli security demanded she remove her bra at a press conference. Tensions reportedly grow between George Mitchell and Dennis Ross. Abbas is demonstrating increased authority. Daoud Kuttab says the PA is in a difficult position. FM Maliki explains the Palestinian strategy for international recognition and Yossi Alpher says this can be an opportunity for Israel as well.

An “Islamic Jihad”operative is killed in new Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Jackson Diehl looks at why more Palestinian Jerusalemites are opting for Israeli citizenship. Alastair Crooke says the “demise” of the peace process may be a good thing. Israel demolishes an unauthorized settlement. A senior Israeli rabbi says Jewish women should never become pregnant by non-Jewish men. Sec. Clinton says women can be a force for Middle East peace. Occupation forces destroy a Palestinian school in Hebron. The Jordanian PM warns of the dangers of no peace agreement. The Israeli military warns that Tel Aviv will be a target in another war. Israel blacklists 163 charities. Arab villagers struggle to be accepted as Israelis. Eitan Haber says Israel has gone mad. Chilean Jewish leaders are not opposed to recognition of Palestine. A leader of nonviolent Palestinian protests has his jail term extended. British authorities are investigating a Palestinian ad that does not seem to recognize Israel. Palestinian and Jewish business interests vie for control of a real estate company. Pro-Palestinian activists in the US are being subpoenaed. Mainstream Jewish American groups are defending Israel by also critiquing it. The National says Israel never apologizes and tries to confuse issues. Joschka Fischer says the two-state solution must be salvaged. George Hishmeh says a settlement freeze is essential for negotiations.

Palestinians say Israeli forces shoot a 65-year-old Gaza farmer. PM Netanyahu rebuffs Sec. Clinton's criticism of Israel's destruction of the Shepherd Hotel, while UNSG Ban deplores the move. Clinton asks Arab states to support the PA. Poor Israeli diplomacy is harming its image. The CSM looks at five crucial Jerusalem settlements. Rob Danin criticizes the demolition. Palestinians are working to persuade the US and others to support a UN resolution on settlements. More strains emerge between Netanyahu and FM Lieberman. Palestinian officials arrived in Washington. The One Voice campaign launches a “wake-up call” project on peace. Yossi Sarid says Lieberman is the new Kahane. Yagil Levy says Israeli NGOs are inadvertently entrenching the occupation. Gershon Baskin says Israel's dilemma is clearer from the diaspora. Hamas urges other extremist groups to stop attacking Israel from Gaza. The PA is encouraging Fatah officials to return to Gaza. Aryeh Cohen says Israel is responding violently to nonviolent Palestinian protests. The National says Jerusalem must be shared between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Essa Bin Mohammed al-Zedjali says international recognition of Palestine is a good thing. White House Middle East peace advisor Dennis Ross will visit Israel this week.

Israel begins to demolish the famous Shepherd Hotel in occupied East Jerusalem to make room for a new settlement. Sec. Clinton, the EU and other international leaders condemn the action, and the PA says it is destroying chances for peace. Palestinian-American business interests are trying to take over an Israeli real estate company. Israel bombs Gaza, with no injuries. Hamas urges militants in Gaza to stop attacking Israel. Israeli officials will travel to Washington for talks. Palestinians may ask for UN recognition. Israeli academics call for boycotting settlement universities. Hamas denies its leaders meet with Israeli officials. Akiva Eldar says PM Netanyahu's policies are creating a Palestinian state. The EU says East Jerusalem should be regarded as the Palestinian capital. A Knesset committee approves a draft bill to revoke citizenship from those accused of terror or espionage. Occupation forces kill a Palestinian man at a checkpoint. The BBC looks at the plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Tony Karon says the death of Palestinian protesters has reawakened the Israeli left. Ian Buruma says Israel is acquiring inappropriate friends on the European extreme right.

Pres. Mubarak urges Israel to make overtures on peace. Elliott Abrams says Mohammed Dahlan was probably not planning a coup. Occupation forces kill an innocent Palestinian man in his bed during a raid in Hebron. Palestinians say settlers uproot more olive trees. Eyad El-Sarraj wins the 2010 Palme Prize. New Israeli technology is speeding up warfare. The Greek Orthodox patriarch in Jerusalem remains behind locked doors. A flurry of international diplomacy attempts to restart peace talks. Palestinians hope to bring a resolution before the Security Council against settlements next week. Ron Gerlitz says Palestinian citizens of Israel can do much to improve their conditions. Uri Avnery says freedom of speech in Israel is under grave threat. Palestinian business interests plan to takeover a struggling Israeli real estate firm. A Hamas leader makes provocative comments on the Holocaust. The death of an unarmed Palestinian protester draws new scrutiny on Israeli military tactics. Israeli diplomacy is stalled by a bureaucratic strike. Palestinians try to cope with the costs of not working in Israeli settlements.

Competing claims continue over the death of a Palestinian protester at the hands of Israeli forces. The CSM asks if Israel is still a democracy. Aaron David Miller urges a stronger role for Sec. Clinton. Rob Danin analyzes Palestinian state building. Violence continues on the Israel-Gaza border. PM Netanyahu will meet Pres. Mubarak. Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics meet in Ramallah. Palestinians seek quick action at the UN on settlements, as a draft resolution is finalized. Israel may have charged bribes for access to Gaza. Disputes continue about a new Palestinian planned city in the West Bank. Reports say Palestinians have presented proposals on borders and security but Israel has ignored them. Palestinians urge the US to pressure Israel to accept a Palestinian state. Netanyahu may be investigating his senior aides. Jordan's king says swift action is needed on peace. The Knesset decides to investigate Israeli human rights groups. JJ Goldberg says Netanyahu is losing support of the Israeli senior military. Michael Young says the US needs to proceed very carefully on peace. Chile warms to a Palestinian state.

Palestinians and Israelis dispute the circumstances of the death of a woman protester. PM Netanyahu formally asks for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Israelis and Palestinians come together over boxing. Israeli police raid the home of leftist activists who join Palestinian protests. FM Lieberman says there will be no peace for "at least a decade." The fall of Mohammed Dahlan,accused of a coup plot, demonstrates the power of Pres. Abbas. The US Homeland Security chief is visiting Israel. Israel bombs Gaza. Ben Caspit says Palestinians are being forthcoming in negotiations but Israel isn't. The PA says Palestinian settlement laborers will be punished. Noam Ben Zeev says the creation of a National Orchestra is another step towards Palestinian statehood. Leaked cables show Israel decided to attack the Gaza economy. Quartet Envoy Tony Blair warns of dangers without progress on peace. Pres. Medvedev will visit the PA but not Israel. Israel's latest anti-missile system is running into several problems. Leonard Fein says Israel's dismal treatment of its Palestinian minority is yet another argument against a single state. The National says the US needs more cooperation from Israel for all its aid. The Jordan Times says Palestinians are right to take the settlement issue to the UN Security Council.

PM Netanyahu finds himself on the defensive, and is facing challenges from FM Lieberman. FM Al-Maliki says Lieberman is playing catch-up with Palestinian diplomacy. Israel arrests staff from the British consulate. Pres. Abbas says he is 'always ready' for talks after a settlement freeze resumes. US peace efforts revive after the holiday break. Labor MKs says they may leave the cabinet if there is no progress on peace. Israel arrests three Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza. Abbas' brother passes away in Syria. Ha'aretz says Israel must let Palestinians peacefully protest. Mohammed Dahlan denies a plot to overthrow Abbas. DM Barak says Israel should focus on the Palestinian track. An Asian aid convoy reaches Gaza. Palestinians are pursuing their own Plan B for peace. Hassan Barari says the US must change its approach. Joschka Fischer says its time for final status talks. Ziad Asali and Hussein Ibish say Arabs and Arab Americans must take responsibility for combating extremism.