NEWS:
Israel is seeking massive low-interest US bridge loans [1] of billions of dollars for a Pentagon-proposed package of V-22 Ospreys, F-15 radars and precision-strike weaponry. (Defense News)
American lawmakers are proposing to triple US aid [2] for Israeli missile defense programs. (Jerusalem Post)
The State Department calls Israel's new settlement projects "unhelpful," [3] but says it remains hopeful [4] about the prospects for new negotiations. (Times of Israel/KUNA)
Israel's right-wing housing minister claims there has been a de facto "settlement freeze" [5] in occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year, and says settler complaints [6] should be targeted at the PM's office. (Xinhua/Jerusalem Post)
FM Al-Malki denounces comments from Deputy DM Danon that "there will never be a Palestinian state." [7] (Ma'an)
A senior Palestinian official says PM Netanyahu "is not an extremist," [8] but that he must freeze settlement activity before negotiations resume. (Times of Israel)
UK Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, says "a Palestinian state without Gaza is inconceivable." [9] (PNN)
Report suggests Sweden may cut aid to Palestinians [10], given the lack of progress on negotiations with Israel. (PNN)
Israeli police say Jewish extremists have torched two Palestinian cars [11] in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem, and vandalized a Christian cemetery [12] in Jaffa. (AP/Xinhua)
Thousands of Bedouins protest Israeli plans for their eviction [13] from the southern Negev desert. (Xinhua)
The Israeli military denies allegations [14] soldiers forced a Muslim Palestinian to drink wine at gunpoint. (Ma'an)
The Israeli military says it has discovered two tunnels [15] under its West Bank separation barrier (Ma'an)
Palestinian lawyers say they will stage a one-day strike [16] to protest an alleged assault on one of their members by anti-drug police in Bethlehem. (Ma'an)
Former Palestinian women prisoners [17] in Israeli jails recount their experiences. (Al Monitor)
Some Israeli parents object to their children visiting [18] an amusement park accused of "apartheid" policies against Palestinians. (Ha'aretz)
The West Bank’s only ballet school [19] offers a refuge for Palestinian kids. (PRI)
Palestinian refugee elders in Lebanon [20] keep traditions alive by various means including hosting traditional weddings. (VOA)
COMMENTARY:
Abdulmajeed Swelem [21] says former PM Fayyad was, and will continue to be, a "warrior" for Palestine. (Al Ayam, translated by ATFP)
David Makovsky [22] says Europe should get tough with the Palestinians, and the US get tough with Israel, for the sake of peace. (New York Times)
The Jerusalem Post [23] says there is a troubling incoherence in the Israeli governments conflicting comments about policy towards a two-state solution. (Jerusalem Post)
Akiva Eldar [24] also says the Israeli government needs to decide once and for all if it's for a two-state solution or not. (Al Monitor)
Uri Dromi [25] also says Israel needs clarity regarding its position on Palestinian statehood. (Miami Herald)
Lorenzo Kamel [26] points out that the alternative to a two-state solution is more conflict, not a one-state solution of any kind. (Al Monitor)
Matthew Kalman [27] lists seven ways he thinks Netanyahu is destroying Israeli diplomacy. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)
Daniel Levy [28] says it's ridiculous to call European labeling of Israeli settlement products "anti-Semitic." (Ha'aretz)
Mira Sucharov [29] says Jewish youths need to learn that ending the reoccupation and allowing a Palestinian state is a win-win scenario. (Ha'aretz)
Ha'aretz [30] says Israel must close the huge gaps in standard of living between Jewish and Arab citizens. (Ha'aretz)
Salman Masalha [31] says Islamic movements are dangerous for Palestinian citizens of Israel, just like Jewish extremism is for Jewish Israelis, and Israel should simply ban all religious parties. (Ha'aretz)
Oded Even-Or [32] says both Israeli and Palestinian groups train youngsters for violence. (YNet)
David Weinberg [33] says Jewish refugees from Arab states need justice too. (Jerusalem Post)
Jeanette Horowitz [34] says even though Boulder decided not to become a sister city with Nablus, real progress was made in the process. (JTA)
Mohammed Suliman [35] describes the difficulties of crossing from Gaza to Egypt. (Al Monitor)
Ha'aretz interviews Mohammed Dajani [36], who is convinced his moderate movement will ultimately become a dominant Palestinian political force, but not in his lifetime. (Ha'aretz)
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