October 26,2012

The timing of Moshe Yaalon's comments also appeared unusual, given that Egypt spent the previous day brokering an end to the latest round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip after several days of rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes.

UN expert calls for boycott of companies in settlements

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- A frustrated UN investigator on Palestinian human rights urged a boycott of companies tied to Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land on Thursday, while the United States criticized the call as "irresponsible and unacceptable."

Richard Falk, the independent special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, said the companies - which include Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Volvo and Caterpillar - should be boycotted until they adhered to international rights standards and practices.

In Israel, Arab MKs seek the impossible - voters

Today, the Arab and Muslim world will observe Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice. The holiday atmosphere has been felt since the start of the week. In recent days, stores and shopping malls in Arab towns and villages in the Galilee and the Little Triangle area of Baka al-Garbiyeh, Taibeh and Tira have been packed. Concurrently, however, support committees operating within mosques report that they are fielding numerous calls for assistance from those lacking the resources to prepare holiday meals.

Ahead of Israel election, PA bid in UN may push Netanyahu to harsh unilateral reaction, diplomats say

The Palestinian Authority's bid for UN recognition as a non-member observer state could lead to a new intifada or the PA's collapse, Israeli diplomats are warning countries worldwide as part of an intensive diplomatic campaign against the move.

'Israeli attack' on Sudanese arms factory offers glimpse of secret war

No one in Israel is admitting that its pilots carried out a long-range raid against a munitions factory in Sudan, said to be supplying weapons to the Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But no one is denying it either. Amos Gilad, a senior defence ministry official, ducked a direct question, praising the capabilities of Israel's air force and calling Sudan "a dangerous terrorist state".

Europe set for closer trade ties with Israel

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS // The European Union took a step towards closer trade ties with Israel despite tensions over the construction of settlements in the Palestinian territories.

European opponents of Israel's settler policy, including NGOs, several political blocs and activists, now pin their hopes on a growing movement towards a consumer boycott of goods from Israeli settlements.

The European parliament voted by a large margin on Tuesday to open up Europe to Israeli pharmaceutical products after years of delays caused by opposition to the settlement policy.

Hamas brinkmanship masks quiet confidence

GAZA STRIP, Oct 26 (Reuters) - One of 70-odd rockets fired from Gaza into Israel this week hit a chicken coop, critically wounding two Thai migrant workers, innocent bystanders in a deadly game of brinkmanship.

If it had killed children on the Israeli farm they work for, Israel and Gaza would probably be at war right now.

World Bank policies persistently fail Palestinians

The Middle East featured prominently on the agenda of the recent annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Tokyo. But how relevant are these agencies’ policy prescriptions in the context of conflict? In the case of the occupied Palestinian territories they are not only inappropriate but also harmful.

It was fear that drove Netanyahu, Lieberman into each other's arms

The Israeli political world was shocked Thursday. While everyone was carefully watching the center-left bloc waiting to see what steps Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni would take, suddenly they were overtaken from the right side of the political map by the October surprise of the 2013 election.

The option of a merger between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu was in the air for the past few months, but it was considered somewhere between unfounded speculation and an unlikely possibility. But Thursday it turned into a shocking electoral reality.

Netanyahu's ‘big bang’ gambit with Lieberman might blow up in his face

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to reunite with his former protege Avigdor Lieberman is a gamble of epic proportions, a “big bang” of Israeli right wing politics that Netanyahu hopes will ensure his reelection - but which could very well blow up in his face and achieve the opposite outcome.

With Lieberman at his side, Netanyahu's war cabinet is on a one-way track to Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a war cabinet last night that will lead Israel into a confrontation with Iran.

The calm before the storm in the West Bank

It's kind of boring in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been closed to Israeli journalists for about six years now, and very little is actually happening in the West Bank. There is no way to reflect routine, week after week, no matter how discouraging it is. And the routine of life in the West Bank, we must admit, has been a bit more humane in recent years. The Israeli occupation has become more comfortable, a little.

The Goldstone Report’s positive effects

The UN’s 2009 Goldstone Report’s scrutiny of Israel for its use of force in Gaza may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

For obvious reasons, most commentators would say that the immediate impact of the document’s harsh criticism of Israel was decisively negative.

It exposed the Jewish state not only to bad headlines, which it is used to, but also to the unprecedented possibility of mass international criminal proceedings against everyone, from political leaders, to top commanders, to foot soldiers.

Interfaith Dialogue Troubled Even Before Israel Dispute

Frustrated by what he saw as hostility toward Israel, Rabbi Eric Greenberg recalled how a few years ago he presented Christian leaders in an interfaith dialogue with a study highlighting historic Jewish ties to the Holy Land.

Sitting across the table, one of the church leaders replied that, according to the prophets, the Jewish people sinned and lost their right to the land.

With Gaza Palestinian students in mind, a call for ‘daylight’

TEL AVIV (JTA) -- Like most viewers, I was surprised neither by the prominence of Israel in Monday's foreign policy presidential debate, nor by the jockeying of candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to reassure voters of the absence of "daylight" between the positions of the American and Israeli governments. But a bit of daylight may be just what Israelis, Americans and Palestinians need most right now.

Can the US change course in the Middle East?

Who will emerge victorious on November 6? Will it be the sitting President Barack Obama or his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney? In no part of the world will the outcome of the US presidential election be awaited with greater anxiety than in the Middle East. Monday’s foreign policy debate between the two contestants was not reassuring. It did not give Arabs and Muslims any reason to believe that their fundamental problems would be addressed by whoever occupies the White House for the next four years.

Israel a political slogan in American elections

For decades, Israel has occupied a central place in American elections. It is hard to believe, but neither candidate for American presidential elections can afford to ignore assuring Israel of unqualified American support. Even when Israel’s policies in the region embarrass Washington, Israel gets away in time of elections.

Qatari emir’s Gaza visit seen as move to wean Hamas away from Syria, Iran

The Qatari emir’s visit to Gaza may have been a political coup for the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers, but it was not aimed at supporting a separate entity there, analysts say.
And many commentators believe that in receiving Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the first head of state to visit since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, Hamas is seeking closer ties with the Gulf states while pulling away from Syria and Iran.

Why Is Qatar Mucking Around in Gaza?

A deeply contrarian streak has taken hold in Qatar these days. Insulated by U.S. security guarantees, eager to use its burgeoning fiscal reserves, and propelled by its elites' reformist zeal, Doha continues to exert a disproportionate influence on regional politics. Emir Hamad bin Khalifah Al Thani's latest move was a dramatic visit to the Gaza Strip, becoming the first head of state to visit the Palestinian territory since Hamas wrested control of it in 2007.

Why The Palestinian Authority Is Broke

File under: Reading the writing on the wall. As the United States withholds vital aid for the Palestinians, Israel handed over $78 million last week. The early transfer of tax revenues reflects Israeli fears of wider unrest as the crisis strains the Palestinian Authority's budget to the point of government shutdowns over unpaid wages. 

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