News:
In a speech at AIPAC [1], PM Netanyahu [2] demands Pres. Abbas [3] recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” [4](Reuters/New York Times/Ma’an/Ha’aretz)
Pres. Obama will ask Abbas to accept a framework agreement [5] and extend peace talks. [6](Ha’aretz/Ynet)
The PA accuses Netanyahu [7] of wasting time and “thwarting US peace efforts.” [8] (Times of Israel/JTA)
A UN report says 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C [9] of the occupied West Bank. (Ha’aretz)
Israel tightens control [10] over key areas in the occupied West Bank. (AP)
Former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators plea for a two-state solution [11] at Tel Aviv University. (Ynet)
Israeli naval forces [12] raid a ship and seize rockets [13] from Iran allegedly destined for Gaza. [14](AP/Reuters/Ha’aretz)
FM Lieberman accuses Arab MKs [15] of representing the positions of Hamas. [16] (Ha’aretz/JTA)
Hamas says Egypt is no longer impartial [17] in resolving its political split with Fatah. (Ma’an)
Gaza public employees demand Hamas to pay them full salaries [18]. (AP)
Israeli occupation forces impose a curfew [19] on two villages in the West Bank. (Ma’an)
Palestinian farmers detain an Israeli settler [20] after they caught him uprooting olive trees [21] in the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an/PNN)
11 Arab Israeli MKs threaten to resign from the Knesset if a electoral “reform” bill [22] is passed. (Jerusalem Post)
The Israeli army fires at militants [23] along the Syrian border [24]. (AP/New York Times)
Syria accuses Israel of targeting its forces. [25] (AP)
The UN says all world powers [26] are responsible for failing to stop the war crimes in Syria. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain [27] recall their ambassadors [28] from Qatar [29]. (AP/Reuters/The National)
Lebanon’s political crisis sinks the nation into more debt. [30] (AP)
Western powers pressure Iran to reveal all its nuclear research. [31] (Reuters)
Commentary:
Barak Ravid [32] says settlers should be concerned by Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech. (Ha’aretz)
Ron Ben-Yishai [33] says Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech was weak, predictable and conventional. (Ynet)
Aaron Miller [34] says Obama will not and cannot pressure Netanyahu on peace. (Foreign Policy)
Ha’aretz [35] says the current Israeli government has no intention of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians. (Ha’aretz)
The Daily Star [36] says Hamas has failed the Palestinian people. (Daily Star)
Yossi Mekelberg [37] says the Knesset debate about imposing Israeli sovereignty on Muslim holy places should be a “wakeup call” for all moderates to unite. (Al Arabiya)
Zvi Bar’el [38] says Israel has “no city square” in which to protest. (Ha’aretz)
Jay Michaelson [39] outline five reasons why their critics should talk to BDS supporters. (Jewish Daily Forward)
Tal Harris [40] says unlike in Ukraine, Gaza’s people can only do so much to overturn the status quo. (Jerusalem Post)
Theodore Karasik [41] says GCC countries see Qatar as returning to its “old tricks” and pursuing policies outside of the GCC framework. (Al Arabiya)
Gulf News [42] says the death of an Emirati police officer and his Bahraini colleagues underlines the GCC’s commitment to defeat terrorism. (Gulf News)
Rami Khouri [43] says art and culture should define the Middle East not killings and violence. (Daily Star)
The Jordan Times [44] says Jordan and Morocco can teach each other about the path to democracy. (Jordan Times)
Ali Ibrahim [45]says the crisis in Ukraine has become the global priority while the Middle East “retreats to the periphery.” (Asharq al Awsat)
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