“Mistrust between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu has widened even further in recent days because of U.S. suspicion that the Israeli prime minister has authorized leaks of details about the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran,” David Ignatius writes.

FMEP Program Director Mitchell Plitnick discusses Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.

The Supreme Court overturned on Wednesday the decision to disqualify lawmakers Haneen Zoabi and Baruch Marzel from running in Israel’s election on March 17. The original ruling was overturned by a majority of eight justices to one.

After nine years with Benjamin Netanyahu as their prime minister, Israelis know a lot about him and his first lady, Sara. Now they also know how much the couple spends on hair and makeup, maid service and swimming pool water.

“There are quite a few ways to explain to the world why uninvolved people were killed in Gaza or why Jews are allowed to settle in an occupied territory; but there is no way to explain why Israel is preventing a Palestinian city from receiving water,” writes Nahum Barnea.

A group of Jewish settlers from the Metzad settlement near Bethlehem uprooted over 500 newly planted olive tree saplings on Wednesday near the Hebron town of al-Shuyukh.

“What can we say about the Israeli soldiers who shot a live bullet directly at the leg of television cameraman Bashar Saleh on December 5, 2014, in Kafr Qadoum?” asks Amira Hass. “That they are good shots? That they are excellent soldiers carrying out their duties faithfully, the pride of every mother, father and commander?”

On the surface, it was just another illegal dwelling demolished in the city of Lyd (“Lod” in Hebrew). The image of a violence, crime-ridden city combined with that of too many law-breaking Arabs is particularly blinding for both the media and social activists. After all, we are simply talking about a municipality attempting to get its zoning matters straight, that’s all. But let me invite you to take a closer look at what is actually taking place in Lyd, where for the past 10 years, investment and high-momentum construction have been named national-level goals by one government decision after another.

“The awful experience of the past few years suggests that in about two years time will be ripe for yet another war with predictable outcomes: thousands of dead, each and every one of them a person who meant the world to their families and loved ones,” writes Hagai El-Ad.

“Nearly two million Gazans are living in a state of poverty and shortages, with few options of leaving and even fewer options for work,” writes Haggai Matar. “Nearly two million people who live in a giant prison, and Israelis cannot even begin to fathom how terrible their situation is.”

Deputy head of Hamas Mousa Abu Marzouk says the last visit to Gaza by international Quartet envoy Tony Blair came to notify the Hamas movement of a new set of preconditions before the war-torn coastal enclave could be rebuilt.

Khaled Mashaal and Iran’s al-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani held a meeting in Turkey several days after the conflict ended in late August, Saudi daily Al-Hayat reported.

A number of Palestinian officials, NGO representatives and activists yesterday announced their absolute refusal of the Palestinian-Israeli gas deal and the idea that Palestinians buy gas from Israel, Arabs48.com reported.