NEWS:
UNSG Ban has shoes and rocks thrown at him in Gaza, as he says time is running out for negotiations. A viral photo of an Israeli soldier abusing a Palestinian is allegedly debunked. Two Palestinians are injured in an Israeli attack on Gaza. Israel clarifies its new subsidies won't apply to settlements after all. Pres. Abbas says Israel's "goodwill" gestures are not enough to resume talks. Israel's Shin Bet chief says Iran is targeting Israeli sites in retaliation for the assassination of its nuclear scientists. Palestinians return a lost Israeli soldier to Israel's custody. The Quartet is to working on a package of incentives for Palestinians to continue with negotiations. Gaza renews furniture exports. A new study suggests Jewish American support is tilting towards the Republican Party, but Democrats dismiss these claims.
COMMENTARY:
Yoel Marcus says PM Netanyahu is here to stay. Yossi Sarid decries indoctrination of Israelis about Hebron. Anshel Pfeffer says Jewish Americans should put their own interests, and that of their country, ahead of that of Israel. Uri Savir says Israel should regard Tunisia as a model for post-dictatorship Arab democracies. US Congressman Allen West says the US-Israel relationship is unique and precious. J.J. Goldberg looks at the backers of an Islamlophobic film used by the NYPD. Bilal Hassen says Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are impossible. George Hishmeh says Israel is deliberately trying to sabotage the two-state solution. Sarah Wildman says time is quickly running out for the two-state solution.
NEWS:
A new poll finds a majority of Palestinian youth in favor of a two-state solution. UNSG Ban says that a Palestinian state is long overdue. Israelis and Palestinians bitterly dispute the propriety of a TV show that included interviews with family members of convicted murderers. Israel's Supreme Court again orders the evacuation of the largest “unauthorized” settlement outpost. Analysts speculate that Hamas' policy shifts are designed to gain ascendancy. Palestinian security services detain two journalists on suspicion of mocking the leadership. Germany upgrades Palestine's diplomatic status. Israel may renege on designating 70 settlements as “national priority” areas. Israel asks the US to prompt the Palestinians into continuing low-level negotiations. Israeli military leaders warn against attacking Iran. Changes in Hamas' policies may be connected to a financial crisis.
COMMENTARY:
Chuck Freilich says Israel faces a momentous choice on Iran. Israeli Maj.-Gen. Kochavi says the Arab world is rediscovering its power through the uprisings. Ray Hanania says it's easier to be caught up in emotions than to make the hard choices for peace. George Hishmeh says Israel appears to be systematically undermining all hopes for peace. Leila Hilal looks at potential options dealing with the Palestinian refugee question. Steven White and P.J. Dermer ask if “hypocrisy is becoming the norm at the Jerusalem Post?” The Forward looks at the depiction of the Israeli occupation at the Sundance Film Festival. Victor Kotsev blames Israel largely for the failure of recent negotiations. Amira Hass asks if helping Palestinians serves as cover for the occupation.
NEWS: The PA and PM Fayyad face a backlash over tax hikes. Fatah officials say Palestinian leaders may agree on a new government by Thursday. UNSG Ban is on a peace mission to the Middle East. PM Netanyahu is reelected Likud chief. Religious extremists deploying harsh rhetoric are coming to the forefront of both Israeli and Palestinian discourse. Palestinians clash with Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem.
Hackers target Palestinian news websites. Released Palestinian prisoners are adapting to life in Qatar. Growing lawlessness in Sinai may threaten the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
COMMENTARY:Ha'aretz says Netanyahu's new committee on settlements would not be necessary if the government followed the law. Douglas Bloomfield says Hamas is running away from Syria like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Josh Nathan-Kazis says concerns about Israel have replaced racial anxieties as the main obstacles Pres. Obama must overcome with Jewish voters. Rami Khouri says he's not impressed with the apparent rapprochement between Hamas and Jordan and thinks it should be put to a referendum. Osama Al Sharif says it's not clear how much Hamas really being brought out of the cold, but distancing it from Tehran has to be a good thing. Efraim Inbar says the Amman talks are another exercise in total futility. Elliott Abrams says designating 70 settlements as “national priority”
areas is a foolish move by Israel but is actually Washington's fault. John Whitbeck says Israel is using carefully crafted language to assert ownership of East Jerusalem and other occupied areas. APN interviews Yossi Alpher on the Amman negotiations. Robert Staloff urges American politicians to stop speaking in terms of “ironclad commitments” to Israel.
NEWS:
Israel arrests three suspects in the murder of a Palestinian Christian leader in what appears to have been an intra-communal real estate dispute. Hamas leader Haniyyeh is visiting Iran. PM Netanyahu offers a wide range of concessions to the settler movement. Netanyahu answers questions online from Arab netizens. Netanyahu's office denies reports it might be willing to forgo sovereignty in the Jordan Valley in the event of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Jordan and Qatar emerge as the leading candidates to be Hamas' new headquarters.
Palestinian actor Mohammed Bakri faces a campaign of harassment from Jewish extremists. A new study suggests the violence of the second intifada did not damage Israel's national morale. The JTA looks at a controversy involving the Center for American Progress. MK Tibi says criticisms of him in the Knesset are totally unfair.
COMMENTARY:
Uri Misgav says Israel needs to separate religion and state. Avirama Golan says Israeli school students are being indoctrinated in nationalism more extreme than ever. Akiva Eldar says Newt Gingrich's flip-flop on Palestine won't help him win Florida. Gershon Baskin says both sides are to blame for the failure of peace talks in Jordan.
David Newman criticizes Israel's growing policy of walling its borders. The Forward says there's something fundamentally undemocratic about billionaire Sheldon Adelson funneling $10 million to Newt Gingrich's campaign. The Jordan Times says the King was correct in opening a new chapter with Hamas. Yossi Alpher says the Amman talks bordered on counterproductive. Ghassan Khatib says Jordan and other sponsors should explain to the world Israel's responsibility for the talks' failure. Maher Abukhater says no matter how frustrated parties are, talks will continue.
NEWS:
Hamas leader MIshaal makes his 1st official visit to Jordan since 1999. A hard-line settler is challenging PM Netanyahu for the leadership of the Likud party. Netanyahu may be moving towards early national elections in Israel. After an outcry of opposition, the PA is suspending tax hikes. The PLO executive committee is meeting today to discuss the impasse in negotiations with Israel, for which both sides are blaming each other. Turkey denies reports it has provided funding to Hamas. A new report says Palestinian citizens of Israel are increasingly attending higher education institutions in PA-controlled areas. 70 West Bank settlements are on the new Israeli “national priorities” list for special benefits. The New York Times profiles Gingrich benefactor Sheldon Adelson.
COMMENTARY:
Ha'aretz says Israel's curriculum is hiding the occupation from students. Barry Rubin dismisses the idea that Israel might attack Iran. Mohammed Najib says Mishaal maybe trying to carve out a new role for himself. Paul Harris says Adelson isn't running for office but his money could have a big impact on the Florida primary. Robert Fisk says when it comes to Middle East peace, the past trumps the present. Salman Masalha says Israeli society is permeated with discrimination.
Khaled Elgindy says the Middle East Quartet has outlived its usefulness. Jackie Spinner says the dramatic reduction in US aid to the PA is a significant threat to Palestinian economic recovery in cities like Hebron.
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