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NEWS: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's trip to Israel raises funds and many questions given his controversial remarks. Romney's trip provokes controversy in Washington and Ramallah. Israelis express concern that their country is becoming a partisan issue in US politics. The White House reiterates that the status of Jerusalem will be determined through negotiations. China also criticizes remarks by Romney. DM Barak downplays the risk of Syrian chemical weapons and praises Pres. Obama's support for Israel's security. Sources say Hamas leader Misha'al is likely to remain head of the Politburo. PM Fayyad holds Israel responsible for the shooting of a Palestinian man at an Israeli checkpoint. Knesset Speaker Rivlin says he doesn't want to draft Palestinian citizens of Israel into the military. An MK says PM Netanyahu must “unmask” Israeli espionage in the United States. Israeli government spending on settlements has increased 38% under Netanyahu. COMMENTARY: The New York Times is critical of Romney's performance in Israel, while the Jerusalem Post praises it. Hussein Ibish says Romney's talk of "culture" and “providence” as Palestinian economic determinants are at odds with last week's World Bank report which primarily blames the occupation. Bernard Avishai gives Romney some basic facts on the Palestinian economy. Ben Sales says Romney's Israel remarks illustrate the fading of the Palestinian issue and David Hazony says it shows Israel's rising power. The Daily Star says Romney is "selling his soul" for campaign funds. Akiva Eldar says the Israeli state's reluctance to enforce a court-ordered eviction of settlers is part of a long pattern. Yaakov Katz says Israel is hoping to achieve something tangible from Sec. Panetta's visit this week. Gershon Baskin says Israelis are living in denial about the conflict and the occupation. Shawan Jabarin says increasing authoritarianism from the PA weakens resistance to Israel.
NEWS: The emergent Palestinian IT sector in the occupied West Bank evades Israeli restrictions on physical movement. Sec. Panetta says he does not believe Israel has made a decision regarding what to do about Iran. Mitt Romney courts donors and raises cash in Israel, declares Jerusalem to be Israel's capital, and says differences with the United States embolden the enemies of both countries. PM Fayyad meets with Romney. A Palestinian man is killed at an Israeli checkpoint. Pres. Abbas says he's confident Palestinians can gain further recognition at the UN. Israel plans to deploy new rocket interceptors in 2013. A member of the committee looking into the question says trying to determine the cause of death of the late Pres. Arafat is “like looking for a needle in the ocean.” Palestinians say Israeli settlers are draining West Bank water supplies. The EU is pressuring Israel to change its policies towards “Area C,” and complains about wide-ranging human rights violations. The US has reportedly presented Israel with a contingency plan for a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Another mysterious incident raises the question of Israeli espionage in the United States. Former Obama aide Dennis Ross reportedly will not be campaigning for the president's reelection. COMMENTARY: Israel Hayom interviews Romney. Barak Ravid says PM Netanyahu has embraced Romney as no Israeli prime minister has ever embraced the US candidate before. Gershom Gorenberg says Romney didn't really have much to gain by visiting Israel. Herb Keinon says Israel has become a backdrop set for US presidential politics. Jan Schakowski asks what exactly Romney is proposing that would be so different from what Pres. Obama has done with regard to Israel, and Abraham Katzman suggests some examples. Uri Avnery says Israelis are avoiding looking at the contradictions of their own ideology and politics. The Independent publishes extracts from Raja Shehadeh's new book “Occupation Diaries.”
NEWS: Israel's Supreme Court delays by three weeks the court-ordered evacuation of an “unauthorized” settlement outpost. Palestinian refugees in Syria are being sucked into the conflict there, as most factions retain a presence in that country. The PA Finance Minister says its fiscal crisis is growing more acute. Pres. Morsy meets Hamas leader Hanniyeh in Cairo. US counterterrorism chief Brennan is visiting Israel. Hamas claims that the Arab uprisings have not spread to the West Bank because of Israel. A PA investigation into violence against protesters in Ramallah says police chiefs should be questioned about the incident. Pres. Obama authorizes expanded military cooperation with Israel. Israel bans 5 Palestinian woman from Gaza from studying in the West Bank. An advisor to Pres. Abbas visits Auschwitz. Gaza Christians and Hamas are at odds over purported forced conversions to Islam. Some Palestinian protests are focusing on Abbas, not Israel. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says both Israelis and Palestinians are avoiding their urgent national debates. Ha'aretz interviews Mitt Romney. Hirsh Goodman says Israeli society is now divided between unilateralists and annexationists, neither of whom have a workable long-term vision. Jay Bushinski says it's only the occupation that's keeping the Israeli right in power. Rachel Cohen compares her very different trips to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories under the Birthright program and J Street U. Michael Sharnoff interviews Mohammed Dajani. Lara Friedman responds to Dani Dayan's recent New York Times commentary. A new book outlines the bureaucracy of Israel's occupation. CNN interviews a survivor of the attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Economist asks what would happen to Hebron in a two-state solution.
NEWS: UN officials express concern about the PA financial crisis and the economy in Gaza. The World Bank says the Palestinian economy is unsustainable given Israeli restrictions and a combination of reliance on foreign aid and reduced international assistance. A PA official says the economy is unlikely to be fixed this year. Gaza Christians say they fear for the future of their small community. Israeli and foreign tourists are gathering in the occupied Golan Heights to watch fighting across the border in Syria. Iran accuses Israel itself of being behind the terrorist attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. Hamas denounces PA plans for municipal elections in the West Bank. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians and the Arab League will decide on September 6 what, if anything, they will do at the UN. The PA says it has finished restoring Gaza's only power plant. Israel's Interior Ministry says there are now more than 350,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, but Peace Now says the figures are inflated. PM Fayyad is reportedly suing a Fatah parliamentarian for defamation. A joint Israeli-Palestinian concert scheduled for the Mount of Olives is canceled because some Palestinians claimed it would have been an act of “normalization.” The world Jewish population is enjoying an unexpected revival, according to the Economist. Forces loyal to Syrian Pres. Assad bomb a hospital in Damascus' Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. COMMENTARY: Donald McIntyre interviews Fayyad. Settler leader Dani Dayan says the international community should abandon the two-state solution, without clearly specifying any alternative. Aluf Benn says DM Barak is the only Israeli leader who could challenge PM Netanyahu. Douglas Bloomfield says Dennis Ross has a 12 point plan to improve conditions for peace. The Forward says it's irrelevant that Mitt Romney is visiting Israel while Pres. Obama has not done so during his term of office. Oren Kessler says Romney is trying to poach votes from Obama by going to Israel. Jonathan Schanzer says Hamas is growing in regional strength as the PA suffers under a financial crisis. Aaron David Miller says if Obama is reelected, there will be a very tense relationship with Netanyahu.
NEWS: Hundreds of Palestinians are facing eviction to make way for an Israeli firing range in the occupied West Bank, and PM Fayyad urges EU leaders to intervene. PLO officials say upgrading Palestine's status at the UN to that of nonmember observer state doesn't contradict a two-state solution, but Pres. Abbas may have agreed to delay any such effort until after the US presidential elections. Hamas leaders are asking Egypt to open the crossing with Gaza. Because of Israel's blockade, books have become a rare commodity in Gaza. A bomb is detonated near Israeli soldiers on the Gaza border without any reported injuries. Palestinian families are fleeing Syria to escape the fighting. A Palestinian-American woman was among the shooting victims in Colorado. A PA investigation concludes that violence against protesters last month was unjustified. GOP candidate Romney condemns Pres. Obama for “lecturing” Israeli leaders. A Jerusalem family is keeping up the tradition of firing a cannon to signal the end of fasting during Ramadan. COMMENTARY: Ruth Marcus says Israel's approach to African migrants is a moral failure. Brandon Davis looks at a new documentary about the life of the late Pres. Arafat. Carlo Strenger says Israel's right is likely to stay in power. Michael Sfard says Israel's crackdown on OCHA is part of a larger assault on democracy. Ben Caspit asks what if PM Rabin had lived. Eli Avidar says Israel stands to gain from the downfall of Pres. Assad. Tom Phillips lists 10 reasons why there hasn't been Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Jewish Week interviews Alan Baker, a member of the Levy Committee.
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