NEWS: New divorce laws are allowing Palestinian women to more easily initiate divorces on their own. A rocket fired from Gaza hits a house in southern Israel, with no injuries reported. PM Netanyahu announces he will address the UN in September and focus mainly on Iran. DM Barak says Egypt is determined to control Sinai. Palestinians denounce new Israeli plans to control more land in the occupied West Bank. Iranian leaders say they support Palestinian reconciliation. Settlers stone a Palestinian bus near Ramallah injuring five. Hamas says it plans to censor the Internet in Gaza, ostensibly to fight pornography. Many Western countries have travel warnings for Israel. FM Lieberman compares FM Al-Maliki to Joseph Goebbels. Deputy PM Ya'alon complains that the US is undermining Israeli military threats against Iran. A UN rapporteur for human rights condemns the Rachel Corrie verdict. Normal life continues in Tel Aviv in spite of rumors of war with Iran. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dempsey says the US should not be complicit in an Israeli attack against Iran. Gaza is enduring a severe and protracted crisis over water. The rabbi of a major Israeli settlement says attacking innocent Palestinians is “a sacrilege.” Swiss experts reiterate their willingness to analyze the remains of the late Pres. Arafat but they warn time is running out.
COMMENTARY:
Chaim Levinson provides a primer on the ongoing dispute over a tiny settlement outpost. Ben Shalev looks at a new sound being explored by violinist-composer Nassim Dakwar. Yehuda Lukacs says Israel should join NATO. Hassan Barari thinks Israel might attack Iran even without prior warning to the United States. Rachel Dolev says women are shut out of the national security conversation in Israel. Emily Hauser looks at the history of extremist comments by Rabbi Yosef of the Shas party.
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