News:

Israel will stop transferring Palestinian tax revenues to the PA. (AP/Reuters/New York Times/AFP)

An Israeli peace activist Ron Pundak dies. (AP/Ha’aretz/Times of Israel)

Economy Minister Bennett threatens to quit over peace talks. (Reuters/Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post)

Israeli officials say there is progress in talks on resuming peace negotiations. (Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post)

Chief Palestinian negotiator Erekat says reports on progress in talks “are false.” (Times of Israel)

Switzerland says Palestine can join the Geneva Conventions. (AP/AFP)

Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby backs the peace talks. (AP/Ha’aretz)

The wife of ex-Fatah official Dahlan says her husband intends to run for president in any future election. (Al-Monitor)

Hamas is using laser e-bullets for training, due to its economic crisis. (AP/Times of Israel)

Islamic Jihad ia gaining support in Gaza at the expense of Hamas. (Al Monitor)

Bethlehem hosts its second annual marathon. (Ma’an)

Jewish religious extremists prepare priests for what they hope will be Jerusalem’s “third temple.” (Al Monitor)

Jordan continues to assist rebels in the Syrian war. (New York Times)

Iranian leaders see their positions on Syria gaining traction. (Al Monitor)

Jordan and the World Bank sign a $250 million loan agreement. (Jordan Times)

Egyptian workers defy the government with strikes. (Washington Post)

Iraq’s deputy PM al-Mutlaq escapes an assassination attempt. (AP)

Iraqi insurgents use water as a weapon after seizing control of a dam. (Reuters)

Commentary:

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Lee Hamilton, Carla Hills, Thomas Pickering and Henry Siegman insist on a more dynamic, proactive US role on Middle East peace. (Politico)

Jeffrey Goldberg says Kerry is not wrong for pushing the peace talks. (Bloomberg)

Alan Philps says Kerry risks “threefold failure” in the Middle East. (The National)

George Hishmeh says Kerry took an unprecedented step by blaming Israel for the failure of the peace talks. (Jordan Times)

The Jerusalem Post says both Israelis and Palestinians should not engage in the “blame game.” (Jerusalem Post)

Yossi Sarid says Israel is the only country that is treated with “kid gloves.” (Ha’aretz)

Chaims Gans says the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as a “Jewish state” adds yet another humiliation. (Ha’aretz)

Bakir Oweida says Palestinian women face the oppression of Israeli occupation as well as injustice within Palestinian society. (Asharq al Awsat)

H.A. Hellyer says the Europeans keep missing opportunities in the Arab world. (The National)

The Daily Star says the Syrian opposition needs to listen to the many Syrians who are demanding a “change of course.”(Daily Star)

David Kenner asks if the world is still paying attention to Pres. Assad’s conduct. (Foreign Policy)

Aaron Magid says Egypt’s relationship with Israel is complex and paradoxical. (Daily Star)

Abdel Monem Said says Egypt needs electricity to move forward. (Al Arabiya)

Diana Moukalled says coexistence between different parts of Iraqi society has been weakened. (Al Arabiya)

David Petraeus and Vance Serchuk say if the US strikes a nuclear deal with Iran it needs to prepare for all the consequences. (Washington Post)

News:

A three-hour meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators ends without clear sign ofprogress. (Ma’an/Jerusalem Post/JTA/Times of Israel)

FM Lieberman says the package deal being discussed is not the same as it was two weeks ago.  (Jerusalem Post/Ynet)

Israel appropriates Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank by recognizing another settlement outpost. (Reuters/PNN/Ha’aretz/The National)

A Fatah official says the Israeli government is committed to colonization. (PNN)

Israeli chief negotiator Livni says Economy Minister Bennett is stoking settler violence.(Ha’aretz/Ynet/Times of Israel)

Senior Israeli officials say they have transferred all the PA revenues they collected in March.  (Ha’aretz)

British Party Labor leader Miliband criticizes expansion of Israeli settlements. (BBC)

A PLO committee will travel to Gaza for reconciliation talks. (Ma’an/Xinhua)

Israelis accuse Pres. Abbas of “terrorism.” (Ma’an)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest in Nazareth against national service. (Ha’aretz)

Israel’s drive to export its new-found natural gas could help rebuild some strained relations.(Reuters)

Hamas will launch a satellite channel in Gaza. (Ma’an)

A trip to Auschwitz by Palestinian university students causes an uproar. (Washington Post)

Israel says Sec. Kerry’s remarks on Iran’s nuclear threshold is “not acceptable.” (Reuters/Jerusalem Post)

Syrian government forces seize two villages near the Lebanese border. (AP/Reuters)

Hezbollah is developing new tactics in the Syrian civil war. (AP)

American officials say they are looking into reports of another Syrian government chemical weapons attack. (AP/Washington Post)

Libya’s Interim PM al-Thani will step down after he was attacked by militias. (AP)

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will retire in October. (AP)

A series of bombings kills more than 20 across Iraq. (New York Times)

Iraqi secularists are reportedly under attack ahead of the elections. (Al Monitor)

Iran lodges a complaint against the US over the denial of visa for its UN Ambassador.(Reuters/Xinhua/The National)

Iranians see “little relief” as sanctions are eased. (New York Times)

Dubai seeks to become an “Islamic” economic hub. (New York Times)

Commentary:

Hussein Ibish says Professor Mohammed Dajani should be praised, not blamed, for teaching Palestinian students about the Holocaust.  (The National)

The Jordan Times says the PA was right to join international treaties. (Jordan Times)

Jackson Diehl says over the past 25 years Israelis and Palestinians have made slow but enormous progress toward coexistence. (Washington Post)

Khaled Elgindy says the latest round of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians never had a chance to succeed. (Foreign Policy)

Nathan Jeffay asks why the recent Israeli land grab in the occupied West Bank is different than any other. (Jewish Daily Forward)

Ben Caspit says PM Netanyahu needs Pres. Obama more than ever if peace talks fail. (Al Monitor)

Ha’aretz says Israel should stop “shutting its eyes’ to what is going in the occupied West Bank. (Ha’aretz)

Moshe Arens says extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank are a fringe group that hates Arabs and has no respect for the State of Israel. (Ha’aretz)

Gideon Levy says Ron Pundak wanted peace for peace’s sake, without pathos or guilt. (Ha’aretz)

Oudeh Basharat says the struggle by Palestinian citizens of Israel against religious extremism is part of a wider Arab struggle. (Ha’aretz)

Amer Al Sabaileh says recent developments in Syria shows only a political solution is possible. (Jordan Times)

Yezid Sayigh says the Syrian conflict is drifting in favor of the government. (Carnegie)

Afraa Al-Hariri and Om El-Ezz El-Farissi debate whether women were at the forefront of the Arab Spring.(Asharq al-Awsat)

Rami Khouri says Lebanon finds itself a mirror of the Middle East. (Daily Star)

Hamza Mustafa says Iraqi militia are playing a key role in Syria. (Asharq al-Awsat)

Abdul Rahman Al Rashed says Arabs must unite before seeking a permanent seat at the UN. (Al Arabiya)

H.A. Hellyer says Egypt’s “war on terror” is doing more harm than good. (Al Arabiya)