“His approach may have made Sheldon Adelson and a lot of Republicans very happy, but that never translated into any influence over the multi-party Iran nuclear talks. In fact it made him irrelevant,” writes Douglas Bloomfield.

For nearly a half-century, Sen. Ben Cardin has been a state legislator, speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, a member of the U.S. House and for the last eight years, a senator. Now, he’s an ambassador of sorts, representing diverse constituencies in a tense and complex standoff over the threat a nuclear Iran could pose to Israel and the United States.

“The parameters that Iran, the United States and its negotiating partners agreed to in Switzerland on April 2 lay the foundation for a strong, effective nuclear deal that verifiably blocks Iran’s pathways to nuclear weapons,” writes Kelsey Davenport. “There is no better nuclear deal with Iran on the horizon.”

“The statements issued by Iran and the United States after the Lausanne agreement have important discrepancies on key issues that need to be resolved before the June 30 deadline,” writes Shahir Shahidsaless.

“Obama has sought to deflect Netanyahu’s criticism and prevent unilateral Israeli interference with a nuclear deal by emphasizing what his administration has done to shore up Israeli security,” writes Barbara Slavin.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has stopped short of giving his endorsement to the framework nuclear deal struck last week between Tehran and world powers, while the country’s elected leader warned separately that his country would not sign a final deal unless economic sanctions were lifted immediately.

The White House has poked fun of Netanyahu’s infamous UN bomb cartoon by co-oping it for a tweet promoting the P5+1 Iran deal.

Reports emerged in right-wing news website NRG that Netanyahu was seeking to bury the Jewish State bill due to opposition from the ultra-orthodox parties in the Knesset, who are prospective partners in his government coalition. Movement forward on the bill is a key condition of the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party for entering the government, as well as some members of Netanyahu’s own party, Likud.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is set to announce his first coalition agreement for the formation of his new government next week, right after the conclusion of the Passover holiday, sources said Wednesday.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, newly elected Knesset member Yousef Jabareen says that the State of Israel discriminates against its Arab citizens in regard to religious and educational services, land allocation and development budgets.

“By disarming Hamas and establishing a joint force in the Jordan Valley, a Palestinian state will only serve as a security asset to Israel,” writes Ilan Baruch.

“Even as Palestinians commemorate the 39th Nakba Day, Israel is still expanding its settlements in a bid to undermine the two-state solution,” writes Ahmad Melhem.

Police forces belonging to PA to patrol towns near Jerusalem for first time as a result of an extension of security control in parts of the West Bank following a deal with Israel.

There was a marked increase in raids and detentions in East Jerusalem in March, a Palestinian information center said Thursday.

The Palestinian Authority announced yesterday that it had received a $100 million loan from Qatar to help pay the salaries of civil servants in the light of continuing Israeli freeze of PA tax revenues.

A US judge on Wednesday rejected Arab Bank Plc’s bid to overturn a jury verdict finding it liable for knowingly supporting terrorism efforts related to a series of attacks in the Middle East.

Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni, the man charged with probing the IDF’s actions during last summer’s Gaza war, says he is determined to uncover potential wrongdoing, regardless of external pressures.