News:
Sec. Kerry says Israel risks becoming an “apartheid” state. (AFP/Ha’aretz/Times of Israel/JTA/The Daily Beast)
Pres. Abbas calls the Holocaust the “most heinous crime” of modern history. (AP/Reuters/New York Times/Washington Post/Ha’aretz/The National)
PM Netanyahu dismisses Abbas’ Holocaust condemnation. (Ha’aretz)
Israel pauses in silence for Holocaust Day. (AP/AFP/Xinhua/Ha’aretz/
Netanyahu compares the Iranian nuclear threat to Nazi menace.(Times of Israel/Ynet) The PLO plans to join 60 UN bodies and international agreements. (Ma’an/Ha’aretz) The agreement between Fatah and Hamas might threaten US aid to the PA. (AP) The US is not out of Middle East peace options. (Reuters) Special Envoy Indyk leaves Israel as peace talks falter. (Ha’aretz/Times of Israel) Israeli Finance Minister Lapid says if Hamas meets the Quartet’s conditions, his party is ready to talk to them. (Ha’aretz) Economy Minister Bennett calls on Israel to annex 60 percent of the occupied West Bank. (Times of Israel) Abbas says Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” (JTA) Israel is still pushing to join the US visa-waiver program. (AP) Palestinians say Israel will transfer Palestinian tax revenues to the PA, but Israel denies this. (Xinhua) Extremist settlers uproot more than 150 olive trees in the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an) Pres. Assad says he will seek re-election in June. (Reuters) Syria misses its self-imposed deadline for destroying chemical arms. (Reuters/New York Times/The National) An Egyptian court sentences 683 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death, and commutes 100 of previous death sentences. (AP/Reuters/New York Times/Washington Post/The National) An Egyptian court bans a left wing group that helped topple former Pres. Mubarak. (Reuters) Iraqis vote for a new parliament. (AP/Reuters/Xinhua) Commentary: Amer Al Sabaileh says Jordan has to be prepared for growing chaos on its Palestinian and Syrian borders. (Jordan Times) Orlando Crowcroft says the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal raises multiple questions. (The National) The Daily Star says after the unity deal Fatah and Hamas need to follow up with “serious actions” that will not disappoint their people. (Daily Star) Ha’aretz says Israel’s “discriminatory” planning policy in the occupied West Bank violates its most basic obligations. (Ha’aretz) Gideon Levy says there is no comparison between the Holocaust and the occupation, but the act of resistance is “legitimate” in both cases. (Ha’aretz) Oudeh Basharat says the world has learned the lessons of the Holocaust better than Israel. (Ha’aretz) Benedetta Berti says the Syrian civil war is altering the dynamic relationship between Hezbollah and Israel. (Daily Star) Khairallah Khairallah says the presidential election is Assad’s new front in the Syrian conflict. (Al Arabiya) Amal Mousa says Arab political elites need to carry out an “intellectual revolution.” (Asharq al-Awsat) David Ignatius says “brutal” sectarian war has come again to Iraq. (Washington Post) Diana Moukalled says Iraq’s female parliamentary candidates are still held back by “old paradigms.” (Al Arabiya)