NEWS:
PM Netanyahu vows to take a hard line against African migrants. FM Lieberman condemns attacks on migrants. Refugee advocates say draconian Israeli measures won't stop African migrants coming to the country. Israel is searching the email accounts of vistors, mainly of Arab or Muslim heritage. Palestinians say a new US bill on Palestinian refugees could harm peace efforts. The PA is conducting a law-and-order crackdown in the Jenin area. No men are allowed at a women-only coffee shop in Ramallah. The owner of a destroyed dairy factory in Gaza says he will sue Israel. A Palestinian man is shot after stabbing an Israeli soldier. Fatah and Hamas say they will hold talks soon on who should serve as PM in a possible new government. Pres. Obama once again invokes the waiver against moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Palestinians mark Naksa Day, mourning the defeat in the 1967 war. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians don't want a state without its capital in Jerusalem.
COMMENTARY:
Moshe Arens says Israeli military figures turned politicians are too quick to resort to unilateralism. Amira Hass says Palestinian villagers live in fear of armed settlers. Daniel Levy says European diplomacy on Israel and Palestine has been intensified in three crucial ways. David Newman looks at property rights and land ownership for Bedouins in the Negev. Gershon Baskin says a Palestinian state must be prepared to treat Jewish citizens equally. Ben Sales asks if DM Barak's talk of Israeli "unilateral actions" in the occupied Palestinian territories was a trial balloon. The National says Khaled Meshaal seems to have consolidated power within Hamas. Elisheva Goldberg says the ideology of Kahanism dominated a recent pro-Israel rally New York. Jeffrey Goldberg says Israel can defeat itself by pursuing aggressive settlement policies or secure the gains of the 1967 war by beginning to remove outlying settlements unilaterally. Crispian Balmer says both Netanyahu and Abbas would like to see Ahmed Shafiq win the Egyptian presidential election.
NEWS:
PM Netanyahu reportedly vows that if the settlement housing units at the “Ulpana" outpost are dismantled, they will "be rebuilt tenfold elsewhere,” and says “our policy is to bolster the settlements.” The US says Israel is supportive of its policy of pursuing more sanctions against Iran. Israel enacts a new law allowing for the detention of migrants for up to 3 years, with Int. Min. Yishai saying many migrants “think the country doesn't belong to us, the white man." Two more Palestinians are injured in another Israeli airstrike on Gaza, as another dies of wounds sustained in a previous attack on Friday. PM Fayyad meets with the South African envoy and encourages a global boycott of settlement products. Arab states reportedly pledge $100 million per month in aid to the PA if Israel withholds Palestinian tax revenues. Israel's Navy continues to harass Gaza fishermen, even within the 3-mile limit in which they are supposedly allowed to operate. Der Spiegel reports that Dolphin submarines being purchased by Israel from Germany will be equipped with Popeye missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. An Israeli military investigation finds that settlers tied up and beat a captured Palestinian. Khaled Mishaal reportedly withdraws his pledge not to run and will stand for another term as head of Hamas' politburo. Palestinians in the notorious Lebanese Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp are optimistic for a better future.
COMMENTARY:
Ha'aretz says Netanyahu's approach to the Ulpana outpost is "adding insult to injury." Yossi Verter says Netanyahu seems to be on a collision course with extremists in his coalition over some settlements. Nirit Anderman contrasts films made about water by Israelis and Palestinians. Nahum Barnea says with Netanyahu's newfound power, Israel is becoming a monarchy in the Middle Eastern tradition, not a democracy. Barry Rubin asks why it seems that large amounts of international aid to the Palestinians is missing. Susan Hattis Rolef says Israelis only seem interested in those aspects of history that affected the Jewish people. Jonathan Owen says Israel is becoming the new South Africa as calls for cultural boycotts increase. Leonard Fein says, since Israel is already a Jewish state it doesn't matter if Palestinians formally acknowledge that. Adel Safty says the biggest problem facing the peace process is that there is no Palestinian leverage or international enforcement mechanism over Israel. Alan Dershowitz says Israel should offer Palestinians a settlement freeze conditional on the resumption of negotiations focusing on borders.
NEWS:
Two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula are released. A Palestinian militant and an Israeli soldier are killed in a clash near the Gaza border. International consumers and states have difficulty distinguishing products made in Israel from those made in Israeli settlements. 3 Palestinians are wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Israel is reportedly considering moving settlers from an “unauthorized” outpost to land in the occupied West Bank confiscated for a military base. The PA education Ministry approves a new high school qualification exam. Sec. Clinton tells Israel that there is no substitute for negotiations. Pres. Peres calls for an end to incitement and racism in Israeli society. Australia pledges $90 million for Palestinian refugees. Palestinians condemn proposed Israeli unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank, suggested by DM Barak.
COMMENTARY:
Hussein Ibish and Emily Hauser separately explain why Israeli unilateralism won't work. Adam Gonn says many Israeli officials are unimpressed with Barak's idea about Israeli unilateral measures in the occupied West Bank. Yossi Verter says Israeli unilateralism is a real possibility given the new coalition. Ha'aretz interviews Shlomo Sand.
Danny Rubinstein says Israel's blockade in Gaza is actually strengthening Hamas politically and economically. Stephen Robert says PM Netanyahu needs to explain his vision of the future. Lara Friedman says it's laughable and disturbing that a Senate Committee would try to legislate the Palestinian refugee issue. Saleh Al-Naami says Palestinian reconciliation is being stymied by mutual mistrust and international pressures.
NEWS:
A new poll suggests that if Palestinian elections were held today, 42% would vote for Fatah while slightly under 20% would vote for Hamas. Palestinian citizens of Israel still face increasing levels of violence and poverty. A recent Senate Appropriations Committee vote on Palestinian refugees could complicate US policy and funding towards UNRWA. J Street appears to be growing as an alternative to traditional pro-Israel organizations. Israeli officials say they fear Syria Is headed towards becoming a failed state. Israel's internal security force says there was a spike in anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish terrorist attacks or plots last year. Israeli leaders express skepticism about Western diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program. Two Americans are kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. A PA committee determines that the largest Palestinian public sector employee union "has no legal standing." Israeli Interior Minister Yishai says Israeli women are afraid to report rape by African migrants due to a stigma regarding AIDS. A majority of Israeli defense officials are reportedly against any attack against Iran under present circumstances.
COMMENTARY:
Salman Masalha says the Nakba is very much alive for both Arabs and Jews in Israel. Aaron David Miller says PM Netanyahu is well-positioned to be a great leader of Israel, but he is skeptical.
The National says Israel's relationship with Turkey has never recovered from the deadly flotilla incident. Raphael Magarik looks at deep-seated Israeli fears about “infiltrators,” whoever they may be.
Moriel Rothman tracks the harsh treatment by Israeli authorities of a Palestinian child in occupied East Jerusalem. Nida Tuma worries that Palestinian moderates are being undermined by the diplomatic impasse and untenable realities on the ground. Elliott Abrams dismisses the idea of a new UN Special Committee on Palestine proposed by Shlomo Ben-Ami, Thomas Schelling, Jerome Segal, and Javier Solana. Victor Kattan says UNRWA “reform efforts” will harm the peace process.
NEWS:
DM Barak says if negotiations with Palestinians fail, Israel will have to consider unilateral acts in the occupied West Bank and calls for more international action against Pres. Assad. An elaborate tunnel system and economy is the heart of life in Gaza. Israeli offshore natural gas discoveries offer potential windfalls but pose a challenge to its small navy. PM Netanyahu urges Palestinians to return to negotiations. Gaza journalist Asma al-Ghoul wins an international award for courage. Israel will return the bodies of 91 Palestinians buried in an Israeli cemetery. The PA is seeking UN recognition of a threatened West Bank village as a world heritage site. An Israeli MK says human rights activists should be put in prison camps. Israeli judges approve an extremely unusual plea bargain in the case of a Jewish terrorist found responsible for murdering Palestinians. Israeli prosecutors decide not to indict two rabbis who authored a book that provides religious justification for the killing of non-Jews.
Palestinians say there has been a sharp increase in home demolitions by Israeli occupation authorities.
COMMENTARY:
Shlomo Ben-Ami, Thomas Schelling, Jerome Segal and Javier Solana call for the creation of a new UN Special Committee on Palestine. Zvi Bar'el says Iran is signaling a new willingness to engage in the West on its nuclear program. Aeyal Gross says security protection must apply to the Palestinians as well as Israelis. Controversy surrounds an Israeli production of the Merchant of Venice being staged at an international Shakespeare Festival in London. Nathan Guttman says Israeli politicians are increasingly looking for support from American donors. Ilan Baruch says nonviolent protests make sense for Palestinians, but they have to be careful about the counterproductive impact of sweeping boycotts. Rubik Rosenthal says Israel is still fundamentally a European country. Zvika Krieger says some right-wing Israelis think the “Arab Spring” is good for Israel.