Israeli right wing pushes settlement legalization bill forward

What We’re Reading

Israeli politics

Settlement bill could go to final vote next week amid US objections,

Bayit Yehudi MKs are pushing the controversial settlement regulation bill toward a final vote next week, a move that could put the government on a collision course with US President Barack Obama’s administration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers to wait until the end of January, and has publicly called for caution, as the current diplomatic climate is “sensitive.”

Jerusalem mayor says Trump is serious about moving US embassy,

While previous candidates have promised the same, ‘it’s different this time,’ says Nir Barkat.

Opinion: How Netanyahu's government is unifying Israeli Arabs,

“Members of the Joint List feel that coalition head David Bitan’s insulting Israeli Arabs is backfiring and instead strengthening and uniting the Israeli Arab sector,” writes Shlomi Eldar.

Does Netanyahu count on leftist NGOs to save him?,

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t feel the need to publicly oppose the settlement regularization law and anger the right because he thinks the left will do that work for him and win,” writes Akiva Eldar.

FMEP in the news

On the struggles and duties of the Israeli Left: A response to 'Palestine Today',

“We recognize that as members of the privileged majority in our respective countries, the onus is on us to listen and hear from those who bear the greatest brunt of the policies we are trying to change,” write Matt Duss and Dahlia Scheindlin.

Occupation/Human rights

Palestinian shot and killed after stabbing Israeli officer,

A Palestinian man was shot and died after stabbing an Israeli police officer with a screwdriver in annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

WATCH: How Israel turned its Bedouin citizens into 'intruders',

Contrary to popular belief, Bedouin in Israel-Palestine haven’t been nomadic for centuries. And yet the government propagates this myth in order to sever their connection to the land and make easier to justify their perpetual dispossession.

Living on borrowed time: Palestinian village fights for its existence,

Threatened with their village’s destruction, Palestinians in Susiya live in a political and psychological limbo. While working, studying and trying to lead a normal life, the residents are also fighting to stop their home from disappearing.

Palestinian politics

Poll: 53% of Palestinians don’t want Trump role in peace process,

A little over half of Palestinians (53 percent) do not want US President-elect Donald Trump to play a part in future peace talks with Israel, a poll published Tuesday indicates. Less than one third of respondents (30%) said they wanted him to want him to play a strong role in negotiations, and some 10% said they would be happy for the US to maintain the same level of involvement it currently has.