“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered a blow on Thursday afernoon when Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman endorsed Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s efforts to pass a law that would prevent an indicted MK from forming a government.Liberman’s endorsement gave the bill a majority, with the support of all 62 MKs who are not in Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc. Liberman said he would also back term limits for prime ministers. Speaking at a meeting of the MKs in his right-wing bloc on Thursday, the prime minister said the effort to pass the bill would undermine democracy. The leaders of the parties in his bloc vowed to remain united and insist that only Netanyahu form the next government. ‘This is an effort to divide the nation when we are facing serious challenges like the corona crisis,’ Netanyahu said in the part of the meeting that was open to the press. ‘There are also opportunities like US President Donald Trump’s plan that require us to be united and respect the will of the people.’ After the press was asked to leave the room, Netanyahu upgraded his attack on Gantz, saying that he was worse than Iranian Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei. ‘In Iran, they disqualify candidates before their elections, but here Gantz is doing it after an election despite the results,’ Netanyahu said.The Knesset reconvenes on Monday, March 16.”

“Israeli voters made one of their strongest statements to date in favor of unilateral annexation, even if they failed to deliver a clear leadership mandate to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…Monday’s election created a clear bloc of parliamentarians, 98 out of 120 Knesset members, who belong to parties that would support the application of sovereignty over West Bank settlements in some scenario. The two parties who opposed sovereignty are the Joint List, standing at 15 mandates, and Labor-Gesher-Meretz, at seven.There has rarely been a time in Israeli history with such political unity of thought on the topic.”

“Israel’s elections results do not change the reality of the occupation, Palestinian factions have said, as all political parties in Israel have the same agenda against the Palestinians. Quds Press reported Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum saying yesterday: ‘We do not care about the changes inside the Israeli society because all the Israeli factions are offshoots of the same Zionist enterprise which aims to stablise the Zionist entity at the expense of the Palestinian rights. The identity of the Israeli government does not change the nature of the struggle with the occupation. This does not affect the resistance of our people who insist on continuing their fight against the occupation until it ends.’ Meanwhile, the Secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat said: ‘Settlement, apartheid and annexation won.’”

“Despite Blue and White’s unimpeachable security credentials and strong tilt rightwards in the last election, the party is seen, or has been painted, as leftist and religious-Zionist voters worry that the party would advance the two state solution and give up control over large parts of Judea and Samaria, and some of the settlements. So even though Yamina campaigned furiously for immediate annexation of territories in the West Bank allocated to Israel under the Trump peace plan, religious-Zionist voters still flocked to Netanyahu’s cause to restore Likud as the biggest party in Israel and ward of Gantz’s ‘threat.’”

“Palestinian officials in the West Bank and Gaza Strip followed the results of Monday’s election with interest after a volatile period in Israeli politics that saw three national ballots in less than 12 months. Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, had hoped for a change in leadership following the elections.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on claiming victory in this week’s election, saying on Wednesday that he won among the ‘Zionist’ voters because ‘Arabs are not part of the equation.’ The premier made this statement during a meeting with the leaders of the parties comprising his right-wing bloc. The prime minister had spoken to the party leaders on reports from earlier in the day that members of the center-left bloc were trying to promote a bill that would forbid an indicted individual to serve as prime minister – which would block him from having a chance at assembling a coalition.” [Also see: With One Stroke of the Pen, Netanyahu Writes Off Half a Million Israelis]

“Every time it seems we’ve reached a new low, Israel’s extreme-right government surprises us with new forms of incitement, discrimination, and erasure, while simultaneously dragging Israel’s Jewish public to normalize racism. The results of Monday’s elections, in which Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc will likely end up with 58 Knesset seats, reflected just how widespread racism has become in Jewish-Israeli society. It is yet another step toward undoing whatever democracy is left here. But from under the rubble left behind by the Zionist movement has risen a new Palestinian people. Victims of Zionist colonialism, represented by the four Arab slates, and with the help of a few Jewish partners, formed the Joint List.” Also see: Smotrich to Joint List chairman: You and your friends are ingrates

“…most of the credit for Arab voters’ awakening goes to the nasty intentions of Jewish legislators. The Likud’s campaign slogan ‘Gantz doesn’t have a government without Tibi’ attempted and even succeeded at delegitimizing a community that accounts for 21% of Israel’s citizens – pushing that 21% to prove that it has a voice. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no doubt has an important role in the Arab awakening. What began as ‘Arab voters are flocking to the polls in droves’ in 2015 continued with the nation-state law and then Trump’s so-called deal of the century, which called for transferring the Arab Israeli citizens within the  Triangle region near the West Bank to a future Palestinian state. Not much more was needed to warn Israel’s Arab citizens that their citizenship was in danger, and that if they didn’t wake up and use their power to protect themselves, they might find themselves stateless…Kahol Lavan also committed a strategic error when it got swept up in Netanyahu’s delegitimacy campaign, and stated that it would form a coalition resting on a ‘Jewish majority.’” Also see: Arab Citizens Are Playing the Political Game, but Israel Isn’t Ready for Them Yet

“Jared Kushner briefed senators behind closed doors today on the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, White House officials tell me. Where things stand: Palestinian leaders swiftly rejected the plan last month, as expected, but Kushner told a bipartisan group from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the international reaction was otherwise encouraging. His briefing was part of an effort to build support for the plan in Washington and overseas. Using a PowerPoint presentation, Kushner pointed to two factors making a solution harder to reach: increased dependence of Palestinian leaders on foreign aid and increasing expansion by Israeli leaders of settlements in the West Bank.” [View the actual powerpoint presentation here; Lara Friedman Twitter thread examining that powerpoint is here].

“Head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said that Palestinians ‘must’ form a unity government that unites all Palestinian institutions and carry out elections in order to face the US ‘deal of the century’. Speaking to the media in the Russian capital Moscow on Sunday, Haniyeh said: ‘Russia rejects the deal of the century which aims to liquidate the Palestinian rights.’ Regarding the meetings with the Russian officials, Haniyeh said: ‘We discussed the dangers of the deal of the century at the national and regional levels.’”

“Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday denied that there had been secret talks between his movement and the United States. Speaking to the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV, Haniyeh said: ‘The US is trying to spread rumour that the deal of century was revealed after meetings with Palestinian groups.’ Haniyeh reiterated that his movement rejected an invitation by the US for a secret meeting between the two parties. He said that his movement refused the secret meeting because the US is trying to spread rumour that its ‘notorious’ plan was revealed following secret meetings with Palestinian groups.”

“Basic health care provision for vulnerable Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank is under threat due to a shortfall in funding. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in an update published this week as part of periodic reporting by UN OCHA, at the end of 2019 ‘mobile clinic coverage of communities in Area C fell from 85 to 60 per cent of people in need’, due to ‘severe funding shortages’. More than 100 Palestinian communities which are home to some 162,000 residents in ‘Area C’ of the occupied West Bank – which is under full Israeli civil control – ‘have limited or no access to primary healthcare and are therefore in need of mobile clinics services’. As noted by the WHO update, this critical absence is ‘primarily because of the restrictive Israeli planning regime, which prevents the construction of the necessary facilities, as well as the prevailing access and movement restrictions, which impedes access to main service centres.’”

“Israeli Defense Force soldiers entered the village of Bir Zeit in the northern West Bank early Thursday morning and were preparing to demolish the home of a suspected terrorist, Palestinian media reported. There was no immediate confirmation from the IDF. The report comes two weeks after the High Court of Justice rejected petitions against the demolition of the homes of two suspects in last August’s killing of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb in a bombing at a natural spring near a West Bank settlement. The families of Walid Hanatsheh and Yasan Majamas had appealed the army’s intention to wreck their homes, but the court overruled them. A panel of three judges said that ‘the harm to relatives and neighbors not involved in the attacks is great, but in light of the murderous waves of terror, a reasonable and limited use of the authority to confiscate and destroy, for deterrent purposes, is necessary and should not be condemned.’”

“…Clashes broke out between the IDF and Palestinians, with dozens of protesters suffering from suffocation due to tear gas, according to Palestinian reports. Two youths were reportedly wounded by rubber bullets in the clashes, as Palestinian youth were called upon to go to the houses as the army headed towards the two structures.The military stated that violent disturbances broke out during the demolition, with dozens of Palestinians burning tires and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails towards soldiers, who responded with riot dispersal methods. Palestinian media claimed that IDF soldiers stormed apartments near Hanatshe’s house and ‘terrorized the residents, especially the children.’ The soldiers then took pictures of the house after the demolition, according to the reports.Defense Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Shnerb’s parents on Thursday morning and said ‘we settled the score with the heinous murderers. Those who spill Jewish blood will be held accountable. We must exact a heavy price from all who raise their hand to harm an Israeli citizen,’ he added. ‘We won’t stop going after those who wish to harm us.’”

“The Israeli occupation army yesterday delivered demolition and stop-work orders against three homes in Nahalin town, west of occupied Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. The Palestinian Information Centre reported Nahalin Deputy Mayor Hani Fannoun saying the Israeli army’s civil administration notified Ahmed Mahmoud of its intent to demolish his home in Al-Bakoush area of the town. Two others citizens, Adel Najajera and Ra’ed Sawad, received stop-work notices ordering them to halt construction works at their homes, which are located in the same area. A few days ago, the Israeli army confiscated two concrete mixers and forced citizens to stop construction works in the area.”

“Palestinians have launched protests in the West Bank after Israeli bulldozers began clearing land in what villagers fear is an attempt to confiscate it for future Jewish settlements. Scuffles intensified this week as Israeli voters voted in an election, with Palestinians saying settlers had been emboldened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan and Israeli election rhetoric about annexing settlements…An Israeli military statement said that on March 1 Israelis were carrying out ‘agricultural work’ near Migdalim when around 30 Palestinians ‘came to the area, hurled rocks and came into a physical confrontation with the Israelis. Military forces came to the area and dispersed the crowd.’ Soon afterward, the statement said, 120 Palestinians gathered nearby in what the IDF termed a ‘riot.’ It said its troops were confronted with burning tires and ‘large amounts of rocks’ and ‘responded with riot dispersal means.’ Qusra protesters said Israel had stopped Palestinians using or farming the lands in question since the 1990s, and now they feared settlers would seize them for their own use. ‘I am afraid that in a few days Netanyahu may come to lay the cornerstone of a new settlement,’ said Mohammad Shokri, 80, from Qusra.”

“Israeli occupation forces yesterday kidnapped two Palestinian children at a checkpoint in Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Information Centre reported. Eyewitnesses said Israeli soldiers arrested two children, whose identities are not known, at a military checkpoint near the Ibrahimi Mosque. They were then transferred to an unknown destination, the witnesses added.”

“Israeli occupation forces arrested 440 Palestinian citizens, including 67 children, 11 women and three journalists, in February, Al-Resalah newspaper reported yesterday. According to a report issued by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Centre for Studies, six of those detained were from Gaza, including three fishermen held at sea and one Palestinian arrested while passing through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing and two caught passing through the eastern fence.”

“Israel security forces stole thousands of shekels from Palestinians in Al-Zawiya in the Salfit district of the occupied West Bank last night. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, around 50,000 shekels ($14,500) were seized during raids that were carried out overnight in the houses of Palestinian citizens and former prisoners.”

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recommended a Swiss expert in humanitarian affairs to lead the UN agency responsible for aiding Palestinian refugees, a UN source said Wednesday. Guterres’ pick for the sensitive UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) post, Philippe Lazzarini, has served as the UN coordinator in Lebanon for the past five years. He has deep experience in humanitarian relief work in conflict zones, including Somalia, Iraq, Angola and the Palestinian territories.”

“Syrian air defenses responded to attacks allegedly launched by Israel in southern and central Syria on Wednesday night, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. The Step News Agency reported that the airstrikes in Homs targeted a site belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group and the Dabaa Military Airfield.The attack was reportedly launched by Israel from over Lebanese airspace and the Golan Heights, according to SANA, and targeted Homs and the Quneitra region of southwestern Syria. The Syrian military told SANA that Syrian air defenses successfully prevented any of the rockets from hitting their targets. Homs is nearly 125 miles (about 200 km) away from the Golan Heights.The airstrikes come just days after the IDF thwarted an attempted sniper attack along the Syria-Israel border in the Golan Heights on Monday as Israelis voted in the 23rd Knesset elections.”