NEWS:
PM Netanyahu reportedly cut short a national security meeting on Iran, accusing one of its participants of leaking information to the media. Israel is trying to downplay differences with the United States over Iran policy. A senior Palestinian security officer in Jenin is killed by gunmen. The PA asks Israel to facilitate the travel of a French team investigating the death of the late Pres. Arafat. Israel releases a Hamas leader in the West Bank. PM Fayyad will debate a Palestinian youth leader on television. The PA forms a committee to investigate the rising cost of living. A Jewish Australian businessman has big plans for occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli government is paying hundreds of thousands of shekels to move settlers' mobile homes from one part of the occupied West Bank to another. Norway's FM says Israel and the Palestinians may be losing the chance at a two-state solution. Knesset Speaker Rivlin says Pres. Obama doesn't understand the Middle East, while FM Lieberman praises him. The Israeli campaign to “counterbalance” the final status issue of Palestinian refugees with the question of Jewish refugees and migrants to Israel from Arab states is continuing. Bedouin children again begin attending a school threatened with demolition by Israel. The Democratic Party platform is changed to better reflect occupied East Jerusalem's role as a final status issue to be negotiated between the parties.
COMMENTARY:
Haim Saban says Pres. Obama's support for Israel has been rocksolid in every way. Ha'aretz says Israel's police are serving as an unlikely bridge between Palestinian and Jewish citizens. Zvi Bar'el says the blockade of Gaza has been counterproductive and should be lifted. Linda Gradstein asks if Israel is preparing to attack Iran. The Forward says there's too much secrecy about funding in American politics, including among pro-Israel organizations. Tony Karon says Israeli plans to attack Iran have fallen apart because of the force of reason. Avner Cohen says Israel's constant threats against Iran are damaging its relations with the United States. Peter Beinart says it looks like the United States, including the Democratic Party, is giving up on Israeli-Palestinian peace for the meanwhile.
NEWS:
A man in Gaza commits self immolation apparently in an act of economic despair. In response to Israeli prompting, the US is weighing new measures against Iran. Pro-settler vandals attack a monastery near Jerusalem. Egypt appoints a new ambassador to Israel. 300 settlers finally evacuate a tiny outpost after years of wrangling, although some of them are vowing to return. Israeli authorities threaten to demolish a Bedouin school in the occupied West Bank. Occupation forces are increasingly using their new “skunk” weapon against Palestinian protesters. Palestinians are increasingly distressed by the high cost of living in the West Bank. Sweeping new divorce laws empowering wives come into effect in the West Bank. Two people are killed as Syrian government forces again shell a Palestinian refugee camp. Israeli settlers and police begin evicting a Palestinian family in occupied East Jerusalem. Hamas is persisting with plans to censor the Internet in Gaza. Palestinians accuse Israel of pillaging Dead Sea resources. Hugh Naylor looks at the motivations for Suha Arafat's campaign regarding her late husband's death. Egyptian Jihadists claim Palestinians were behind the attack on Egyptian forces in Sinai. Palestinian refugees from Syria are facing harsh conditions in Jordan.
COMMENTARY:
Hussein Ibish says Americans have to make up their minds about whether Israeli-Palestinian peace is a vital national interest or not. Paul Thomas Chamberlin says history shows today's terrorists can be tomorrow's peacemakers. Avi Issacharoff says Israel, Egypt and Hamas need to work in an uneasy, unspoken coalition against Sinai extremists. Oudeh Basharat says emerging Arab democracy is good for Israel. Nir Hasson says a united Palestinian electorate could pick the next mayor of Jerusalem. Nahum Barnea says as bad as the current Israeli government is, the next one won't be any better. Herb Keinon says US-Israel differences over Iran are mainly due to the upcoming American election. Leonard Fein says the occupation is corrupting the soul of Israel. Julia Hurley says a new UN report has sounded a wake-up call on living conditions in Gaza. Shai Feldman says Pres. Peres is still important.
NEWS: New divorce laws are allowing Palestinian women to more easily initiate divorces on their own. A rocket fired from Gaza hits a house in southern Israel, with no injuries reported. PM Netanyahu announces he will address the UN in September and focus mainly on Iran. DM Barak says Egypt is determined to control Sinai. Palestinians denounce new Israeli plans to control more land in the occupied West Bank. Iranian leaders say they support Palestinian reconciliation. Settlers stone a Palestinian bus near Ramallah injuring five. Hamas says it plans to censor the Internet in Gaza, ostensibly to fight pornography. Many Western countries have travel warnings for Israel. FM Lieberman compares FM Al-Maliki to Joseph Goebbels. Deputy PM Ya'alon complains that the US is undermining Israeli military threats against Iran. A UN rapporteur for human rights condemns the Rachel Corrie verdict. Normal life continues in Tel Aviv in spite of rumors of war with Iran. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dempsey says the US should not be complicit in an Israeli attack against Iran. Gaza is enduring a severe and protracted crisis over water. The rabbi of a major Israeli settlement says attacking innocent Palestinians is “a sacrilege.” Swiss experts reiterate their willingness to analyze the remains of the late Pres. Arafat but they warn time is running out.
COMMENTARY:
Chaim Levinson provides a primer on the ongoing dispute over a tiny settlement outpost. Ben Shalev looks at a new sound being explored by violinist-composer Nassim Dakwar. Yehuda Lukacs says Israel should join NATO. Hassan Barari thinks Israel might attack Iran even without prior warning to the United States. Rachel Dolev says women are shut out of the national security conversation in Israel. Emily Hauser looks at the history of extremist comments by Rabbi Yosef of the Shas party.
NEWS:
Palestinians say their next moves at the UN will be determined in the coming weeks. An Israeli court yet again rules that a small group of settler families from a tiny unauthorized outpost must relocate. A French murder investigation deepens the controversy about the death of the late Pres. Arafat. The Israeli government says it plans to start rounding up and expelling Sudanese migrants. The religious Shas party in Israel is reportedly wary of war with Iran. An Israeli police officer kills a Palestinian during an alleged carjacking. Pres. Abbas says he won't hold bilateral talks with Iranian leaders during the NAM summit. Palestinian athletes in Gaza face obstacles training for the Paralympic games. Hamas says its politburo office in Damascus is “still open.” Israeli occupation forces destroy numerous Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank. The University of California rejects an effort to create restrictions on free speech, especially regarding the Middle East conflict. Abbas reportedly tells a delegation of Israelis that “Israel is here to stay,” but that Palestine needs to be added to the map as well.
COMMENTARY:
Mahdi Abdul Hadi explains the Palestinian logic for Abbas attending the NAM summit. Yossi Verter says the settlers of "Migron" have only themselves to blame for court rulings against them. Gideon Levy says the Rachel Corrie verdict shows anyone protesting Israeli mischief is risking their lives. Carlo Strenger reiterates his view that the two-state solution "is dead.” Oren Yiftachel says Israeli colonization of the occupied West Bank is more dangerous to the country than any threat from Iran. Jonathan Rosen says it is willfully blind to ignore the damage done to the Israeli mindset by the occupation. Donald MacIntyre says the idea that Arafat was poisoned is a conspiracy theory, but widely believed in by Palestinians at all levels of society. Faik Tunay says Palestine is central to Israeli-Turkish relations. Hani al-Masri list three reasons why he thinks Israel is giving more travel permits to Palestinians.
NEWS:
A British eyewitness to the killing of Rachel Corrie contradicts the official Israeli account in a statement to the New York Times. Former commandos are coming to dominate Israel's politics. Egypt is reportedly negotiating with extremists in the Sinai Peninsula, as it simultaneously widens its campaign against them. FM Malki says Palestinians have put their renewed UN efforts on hold for now. A woman in Gaza is critically injured by Israeli forces. Two Palestinian cars are torched in the occupied West Bank. FM Lieberman invites Pres. Morsy to visit Israel. French authorities say they have opened a murder investigation into the death of the late Pres. Arafat, and a former senior Israeli official denies Israel was involved in any way in his death. PM Fayyad approves measures to counter the growing electricity crisis. A new report suggests that 40% of high school seniors in occupied East Jerusalem drop out. Fayyad will be making the case for statehood and introducing a new film about it at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
COMMENTARY:
Anshel Pfeffer says the extreme right wing in Europe is now embroiled in a controversy over who to hate more: Muslims or Jews? Mordechai Twersky recalls a massacre of Jews in Hebron in 1929. Avi Issacharoff asks why, in the end, Hamas did not show up in Tehran during the NAM. The Jerusalem Post says the Rachel Corrie verdict should be a wake-up call for pro-Palestinian activists, but Hussein Ibish says it should be a wake-up call to Americans. The National says the verdict exposes the falsity of Israel's official narrative of Corrie's death. Natalia Simanovsky says the media missed the real importance of the visit to Auschwitz by an advisor to Pres. Abbas. David Horovitz outlines the bitter debate among Israeli insiders about the possibility of an attack against Iran.