“Today, we have seen the victory of diplomacy over war. This is an important day for American global leadership, and for the overwhelming majority of Americans who prefer global challenges to be addressed peacefully, rather than militarily,” said FMEP President Matthew Duss.

US President Barack Obama hailed a Congressional vote allowing a nuclear deal with Iran to go ahead on Thursday, saying work would now shift to implementing and verifying the accord.

“As a political strategist, Israel’s prime minister should have realized that he was fighting a lost battle once the nuclear agreement was signed, and that an Israeli victory in Congress would have been perceived as a putsch,” writes Ariela Ringel Hoffman.

Residents of Khirbet Zanuta, south of Hebron in the West Bank, received a reason for hope last week that they won’t be uprooted from the village they and their families have lived in for decades.

The Abu Snineh family woke up at their home in East Jerusalem one morning a few weeks ago to find Jewish residents had moved into the building and Israeli flags were on the roof.

EU parliamentarians voted overwhelmingly on Thursday on a motion that encouraged labels to be put on consumer goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

“Though he’s occupied with Iran, the U.S. Congress and the gas deal, the prime minister is also thinking about the next elections – and a large right-center bloc he would lead to victory,” writes Yossi Vurter.

“The Knesset opposition seems to have forgotten that it has a crucial role to play in keeping the government in check,” writes Akiva Eldar.

“A law barring public broadcasters from expressing opinions is just the latest in a long line of legislative and regulatory attempts to limit speech in Israel,” writes Dahlia Scheindlin.

The Palestinian Authority has been plagued by a protracted financial crisis amid thinning foreign aid and not enough local revenues to end the deficit.

“Some factions within Hamas’ political leadership think that recognizing Israel might be the only way to relieve the situation of the Gaza Strip and ensure the survival of the Hamas movement,” writes Shlomi Eldar.