“The figures speak for themselves. Netanyahu continues to sabotage the possibility of a political agreement with the Palestinians by promoting more settlement construction in the West Bank, including in places where Israel may have to evacuate as part of a future agreement. This is yet another dangerous step for both Israel and the Palestinians, led by a transitional prime minister whom the public did not trust in his policies. The next government must put a freeze on the development of settlements and to strive for immediate resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions and to end the bloody conflict based on the principle of two states for two peoples.”

“According to data collected by Right to Education, a grassroots campaign aimed at defending education in Palestine, Israeli forces have detained at least 64 university students since the start of this year. Eighteen of the detainees are students at Birzeit — the second-largest university in the occupied West Bank. Israeli authorities routinely arrest politically active Palestinian students, but rights groups say the numbers have increased with the current crackdown.”

“An Israeli winery linked to the biggest donors to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hired top lobbying talent to enlist the Donald Trump administration in a legal and political fight against the European Union. The Psagot Winery in the West Bank settlement of the same name hired Covington and Burling in late September to battle pending EU regulations on country of origin labels, newly disclosed lobbying records show. The rules would require products from the West Bank and the Golan Heights to specify whether they were made in Israeli settlements, which critics say is discriminatory.”

“It’s not easy to visit the Palestinian territories. To witness Hebron’s ancient religious sites in the West Bank, you normally need an Israel-issued visa. Entering Gaza, still under a 12-year Israeli-Egyptian air, land and sea blockade, is even more difficult, with access usually restricted to journalists and NGO workers. But an app launched on Oct. 30 wants to bring the occupied Palestinian Territories into homes around the world. Palestine VR offers an array of virtual reality tours of the West Bank and Gaza, with users spared immigration interviews, soldiers at checkpoints, or the risk of attention by Hamas, or potentially fraught encounters with settlers.Highlights of the new app include a tour of the ancient city of Hebron, guided by a former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier-turned activist; a walk through Ramallah with 13-year-old journalist Jana Jihad; and a visit to Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock in the company of Palestinian anthropologist Ali Qleibo.”

“The Israeli military detention system consists of a network of military bases, interrogation and detention centers, police stations and prisons in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and inside Israel. Some of these facilities are inside Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank or closed military areas.”

“The truly important question is what the significance of this change is for Palestinians in Jerusalem and their ties with Israeli society. In a few years there will be a new Palestinian elite group in Jerusalem, the first since 1967, whose members will speak Hebrew and have a more intimate knowledge of Israeli society. There could be far-reaching implications such as the realistic possibility of attaining a peace agreement that could include having East Jerusalem administered by the Palestinian Authority. Not all the Palestinian students see it that way…”

“This time, however, Sheikh said if the port was established it would be in the town of Tarqumiyah, where the Palestinian Authority’s Palestinian Industrial Estates and Free Zones Authority (PIEFZA) is located, and it would be affiliated with the Tarqumiyah industrial zone. PIEFZA head Ali Shaath said that the authority is making arrangements to establish the port within the industrial zone in Tarqumiyah. The port zone will consist of three sections: the factories, the land port area and a logistics zone serving both sides. The industrial zone will be completely funded by China. Shaath told Al-Monitor, ‘There is no official approval so far for the implementation of this phase of the project, but everything’s ready to operate the industrial zone in case of an agreement with Israel to this effect’.”

“Israel has issued a travel ban against a Palestinian campaigner for Amnesty International amid a growing Israeli crackdown on human rights groups inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On 26 October, Israeli authorities stopped Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty’s campaigner on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), from leaving the West Bank to attend a relative’s funeral in Jordan. “

“As the meeting concluded, Gantz, Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh and faction whip Ahmad Tibi said in a joint statement it was cordial and that issues important to Israel’s Arab society were discussed, focusing on addressing civil issues, which Gantz clarified do not require any preconditions to handle. Odeh added that ‘We’ve discussed burning issues in the Arab society, in addition to the joint interests of all of Israel’s citizens. We are staying loyal to the values of peace and equality, and as always, we welcome Likud’s hysteria’.”

“While senior Likud leaders do not dispute Netanyahu’s position, a rebellious group within the party — calling itself ‘the New Likudnicks’ — has protested the alliance with the right-ultra-Orthodox parties. In recent weeks, they posted various statements on Facebook against the bloc, such as on Oct. 20, ‘We are Likud members. Not anti-Zionist Lithuanians [an ultra-Orthodox sect]. No to the bloc!’ On Oct. 28, they launched a campaign on the streets and on social media, with the slogan, ‘We voted for the Likud, not for the bloc. National unity now’…According to Hirshman, in a survey they conducted they discovered that about 57% of Likud voters agree with their position regarding the formation of a unity government with the Blue and White party. Even if this support is real, its impact on Netanyahu is nil. If he decides to give up the bloc, he would do so only because he had no other choice and this would be the least bad option from his respect. However, the position expressed by the New Likudnicks is important in highlighting opposition to Netanyahu within the Likud, although it is not yet clear what the impact would be of the group’s split Oct. 28 into two faction.”

“As political pundits focus on the impossibility of such a government and bemoan a scenario in which Israel heads to a third election, right-wing activists and settler leaders have campaigned to ensure that the Jordan Valley is not forgotten should there be a unity government.”

“The J Street conference marked a significant shift in the discourse around the U.S.-Israel relationship in general, and J Street’s role in particular. J Street has, since its founding in 2007, worked with obstinate determination for a U.S. brokered two-state solution; until this year, however, it never suggested or even broached the issue of setting conditions for financial and military aid to Israel. Meanwhile, the situation on the ground deteriorated significantly over the past decade, with expanding settlements, three Israeli military assaults on Gaza, and the passing of the Jewish Nation-State Law. Netanyahu, who has dominated the Israeli political landscape for almost as long as J Street has been around, shifted from paying lip service to the two-state solution in 2009 to espousing explicitly anti-democratic, anti-Arab policies.”

“But as J Street claims the center, the group has exposed itself to criticism from the left flank…These differences are probably just the beginning for J Street, an organization that was founded on challenging mainstream political shibboleths and now finds itself shaping the mainstream. To the extent that a progressive consensus on Israel exists, it converges on a critique of Netanyahu, the longtime Likudnik hawk who worked glove-in-hand with President Donald Trump after antagonizing Barack Obama… Some critics—including speakers at the conference—see expansion of Israeli settlements as de facto annexation of Palestinian territory. But without Netanyahu to condemn for it, Democratic leaders might find it politically expedient to back off their criticisms of Israel’s moves. (In his J Street appearance, Castro seemed to suggest that dialogue with a new government in Jerusalem might be a reason not to place conditions on U.S. military aid just yet.).”