NEWS: Palestinian factions are due to meet again in Cairo in April for more unity negotiations. (Ma'an) The Palestinian election commission says it will publish the final voter registry on April 10. (Ma'an) Israeli occupation forces seriously injure two Palestinians in Gaza and Hebron. (Xinhua) The PA estimates there are 50,000 drug addicts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Ma'an) Israel finances its military justice system in the occupied territories in large part through fines against Palestinians. (Ha'aretz) Palestinians protest Israel's blocking of Palestinian family reunification. (Xinhua) PM Netanyahu holds the last meeting of his current cabinet, but without ultra-Orthodox parties present, as a new government begins to take shape. (Bloomberg/Xinhua) Egypt arrests an Israeli citizen in Sinai. (Xinhua) The PA is preparing more applications for UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the occupied territories. (Ma'an) The International Federation of Journalists accuses Hamas of preventing it from providing safety training to women journalists. (PNN) A new poll shows Israel's Palestinian citizens are more afraid of attacks by Jewish Israelis than outside forces. (Ha'aretz) A new Senate bill would allow Israel to join the US Visa Waiver Program. (JTA) Palestinians are increasingly upset with Egypt's pumping of raw sewage into smuggling tunnels in order to close them. (Al Jazeera)

COMMENTARY: Joseph Levine points out it's not anti-Semitic to examine the tension between Israel aspiring to be both a "Jewish" and a "democratic" state simultaneously. (New York Times) Peter Beinart says the pro-Palestinian left has a terrible blind spot regarding Hamas' oppression and misogyny. (Daily Beast/Open Zion) Aluf Benn says Israel is hoping to establish at least 1 million Jewish settlers in the occupied territories in the foreseeable future. (Ha'aretz) Gideon Levy says no one can respond to UNICEF's report on Israel's abuse of Palestinian children detainees by calling the organization "anti-Semitic." (Ha'aretz) Yonah Jeremy Bob says the UNICEF report ignores Israel's efforts to reform its treatment of Palestinian children detainees. (Jerusalem Post) Smadar Shir says anti-Arab racism is becoming widespread in Israel. (YNet) Bambi Sheleg says the wave of attacks against Arabs in Israel shows the basic values of the society are collapsing. (YNet) AP says Pres. Obama has three main goals for his trip to Israel and Palestine: Iran, relations with Israel and reviving negotiations. (AP) Barak Ravid says the United States now expects the parties themselves to take the lead on peace. (Ha'aretz) Adel Safty says Obama and Sec. Kerry must remember the international legal foundations for ending the conflict. (Gulf News) Chemi Shalev says it's crazy for many Israelis to be relieved that Obama doesn't appear to have a peace plan. (Ha'aretz) Emanuel Rosen says if Obama really doesn't have a peace plan, he might as well postpone his visit to the region. (YNet) Omar Baddar says Obama's visit has to be a "game changer" or the region faces decades of unending conflict. (Daily Beast/Open Zion) Alan Elsner says Obama's trip should be seen as a step in the right direction, not an end in itself. (The Hill) Barry Rubin says it doesn't matter what Israelis really think of Obama, they need to applaud him because they require American support. (Jerusalem Post) Hassan Barari says Netanyahu's new coalition won't last long. (Arab News) Nathan Guttman says AIPAC is trying to tack to the left and make the pro-Israel cause more liberal in line with Obama's America. (The Forward) Nathan Jeffay looks at the role of Sara Netanyahu. (The Forward) The Independent profiles the novelist and hit TV scriptwriter Sayed Kashua, a Palestinian citizen of Israel. (The Independent)<


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