Abbas, Netanyahu deliver dueling speeches at the UN

What We’re Reading

UN General Assembly

Abbas to UN: Declare 2017 year to end Israel occupation,

Palestinian leader tells UN Israel’s settlement expansion in occupied West Bank destroys hopes of a two-state solution.

In fiery UN speech, Netanyahu invites Abbas to address Knesset,

Netanyahu delivered a scathing rebuke of the Palestinian leadership, accusing it of “poisoning the future” by inciting terror through educational and TV programs and blasting it for its refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

US-Israel relations

Time to end aid to Israel?,

“Voices on both sides are increasingly saying it may be time to end US aid to Israel,” writes Douglas Bloomfield.

Opinion: Israeli right no longer bothered by Obama,

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last meeting with US President Barack Obama marked his success at stalling American efforts at peace,” writes Mazal Mualem.

Occupation/Human rights

Opinion: Dear Israelis, how would you like your Palestinian?,

“When the Israeli establishment prevents Palestinians on either side of the Green Line from struggling nonviolently, what other options are left?” asks Rami Younis.

Jewish National Fund Gives $530K in American Donor Cash to West Bank Settlement,

The Jewish National Fund’s American fundraising arm gave $530,000 to a visitor’s center in a West Bank settlement, according to a new disclosure by the JNF, which has been under pressure from the left-wing rabbis’ group T’ruah to list its donations to the West Bank.

In clip, 2 soldiers seen torching Palestinian property in Nablus,

Army says it’s investigating ‘unusual’ incident caught on a security camera; damage estimated at close to $40,000.

Gaza

Take Hamas off 'terrorist' list, says top EU lawyer,

A top EU lawyer on Thursday said the Hamas movement – as well as Sri Lankan rebel group the Tamil Tigers – should be taken off the bloc’s list of “terrorist” organisations because procedural mistakes invalidated the decision to put them on it.