NEWS:
Sec. Kerry phones Israeli Amb. Oren to
object to Israeli plans to "legalize" four "unauthorized" West Bank settlement outposts. (Ha'aretz)
Palestinian officials say they have done everything they can to cooperate with US peace efforts, including delaying possible moves in multilateral organizations, and say there is
"a good opportunity" at hand. (AP)
The Emir of Qatar says
the "Arab Spring" has made Israeli-Palestinian peace were urgently needed than ever. (YNet)
The Yesh Atid leader, Finance Minister Lapid, says he favors an
immediate return to negotiations with Palestinians despite recent comments to the New York Times that provoked a backlash within his own party. (Jerusalem Post)
Egypt launches a
rescue effort for officers kidnapped by extremists in the Sinai Peninsula. (New York Times)
Israelis and Palestinians continue to quarrel over
what exactly happened to 12-year-old Mohammed al-Dura at the start of the second intifada. (AP)
An Israeli court postpones a decision on the
eviction of 10 Palestinians from a hotly contested neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. (Ma'an)
Israeli forces say they
fired back across the frontier separating Syria and the occupied Golan Heights when they were attacked across cease-fire lines. (Reuters)
Two are killed in a suspected clash between feuding clans in Gaza. (Ma'an)
The EU denies it is delaying proposed
plans to label all Israeli settlement products. (Ma'an)
The Gaza hip-hop group
Palestinian Unit persists in spite of a ban against it by Hamas on the grounds they "too Western." (Al Monitor)
COMMENTARY:
Tal Harris asks which, if any, Israeli decision-makers are capable of responding seriously to the Arab Peace Initiative. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)
Ha'aretz calls the new Israeli government report on Mohammed al-Dura "harmful propaganda." (Ha'aretz)
Herb Keinon says it's not clear whose interests are being served by resurrecting the controversy. (Jerusalem Post)
Shlomi Eldar also wonders what, 13 years after the fact, the report's authors could hope to be achieving. (Al Monitor)
Michael Wilner says Israel is concerned about a new State Department report finding discrimination against non-Jews and non-Orthodox Jews in Israel. (Jerusalem Post)
Amos Harel says Israel should save its resources for dealing with Iran, not Syria. (Ha'aretz)
Adel Safty says Israelis must begin to understand the injustice faced by Palestinian refugees. (Gulf News)
Samar El Yassir says Palestinian refugees in Syria are particularly vulnerable. (Al Monitor)
A.B. Yehoshua says it's time to redefine Zionism realistically for the contemporary era. (Ha'aretz)
AFP and
Variety look at the new Palestinian film "Omar." (AFP/Variety)