Rebuild Gaza, and avert the next war

What We’re Reading

Gaza

Rebuild Gaza, and avert the next war,

“Nearly seven months after the end of the latest war in Gaza, none of the underlying causes of the conflict have been addressed,” writes former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. “In the meantime, the people of Gaza are experiencing unprecedented levels of deprivation, and the prospect for renewed armed conflict is very real.”

Gaza in ruins: why money, cement, and leadership are scarce,

More than half a year after a devastating conflict in Gaza, large sections of the Palestinian territory show little sign of a rebuilding effort, leaving tensions to build toward another war.

Permits to leave Gaza: is getting a timely response too much to ask?,

It is very difficult to travel from Gaza. That is no secret. Gisha’s position on those travel restrictions is also well-known. But once in a while even we are surprised by decisions and don’t believe the things we find ourselves having to argue over. And somehow, those things almost always hide behind the most mundane-seeming titles. Introducing “the response procedure”.

A Week in Photos: Survivors, art and destruction in Gaza,

Ten photos from Gaza — of survivors and the devastated urban landscape seven months after the last Israeli offensive.

Israeli politics

Netanyahu's delicate coalition dance,

With both the parties he needs and his own Likud MKs clamoring for what they see as their deserved portfolios, the prime minister must make everyone happy – but does he have a coalition ace up his sleeve?

Netanyahu looks for way out of rightist coalition,

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs a diplomatic process with the Palestinians to appease the international community, but the parties with which he is negotiating a coalition government are not challenging him on this issue,” writes Mazal Mualem.

Herzog and Livni must not become Netanyahu's fig leafs,

“Instead of joining a unity government, they must present a clear alternative to Likud’s destructive policies from the opposition, and develop a political force that will eventually replace rightist rule,” write the editors of Ha’aretz.

Hotovely: Netanyahu Will Form a Nationalist Government,

Likud MK dismisses claims that Netanyahu will form a unity government, advises voters not to believe every headline they read.

Herzog says he won’t be Netanyahu’s ‘bleaching agent’,

Zionist Union party leader Isaac Herzog ruled out the possibility of forming a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu, echoing the prime minister’s words by saying the differences between the two were too profound for them to work together.

Are Kahlon and His New Party Here To Stay or a Passing Fad?,

“Whether Kulanu has sticking power remains to be seen,” writes Naomi Zeveloff. “Kulanu is a ‘mood party,’ said Assaf Shapira, a researcher at the Israeli Democracy Institute. Chaired by a charismatic figure who appeals to Israel’s elusive center, mood parties, he explained, zoom in on one or a set of issues plaguing Israelis, in this case the high cost of living. Kulanu’s focus on housing prices has earned it comparisons to Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, which won 19 seats in the 2013 elections and dropped to 11 seats in the latest vote.”

Occupation/Human Rights

Land Day: Palestinians walk among old memories,

Every year on March 30, exiled Palestinians return home to protest the Israeli occupation.

Settlers destroy 1200 Palestinian olive trees near Hebron,

Israeli settlers on Saturday destroyed more than 1,000 olive trees near the village of al-Shuyukh north of Hebron, in the third such attack on the villagers’ livelihood in recent memory.

Palestinian politics

Palestinians deny halting war crimes charges against Israel in exchange for tax revenues,

Senior Palestinian officials have vehemently denied a report in the Israeli media, which claimed that the Palestinian Authority has agreed to halt efforts to get Israeli charged with war crimes in exchange for Friday’s decision by Jerusalem to unfreeze part of the tax revenues collected on behalf of the PA.

Abbas at Egypt summit: Relationship with Israel must change,

President Mahmoud Abbas said at an Egyptian-hosted Arab summit on Saturday that the Palestinian relationship with Israel cannot continue as it has in recent years.