Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: December 12, 2018

What We’re Reading

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Congress Is Trying to Use the Spending Bill to Criminalize Boycotts of Israel and Other Countries,

According to recent reports, congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are planning to sneak a bill criminalizing politically motivated boycotts of Israel into the end-of-the-year omnibus spending bill.

Americans Are Increasingly Critical of Israel,

New polling shows that the U.S. public’s views on Israel’s policies are shifting.

Trump invokes Israel’s wall in tense budget negotiation with Pelosi and Schumer,

In an extraordinarily tense exchange Tuesday with Democratic leaders, President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the government unless his proposed wall between the United States and Mexico is funded, and invoked an Israeli wall to defend his position.

Opinion: The New Capital of Israel,

“The deal of the century” is a fabulous name for a peace plan that for nearly two years has been slated to be revealed “soon.”

Can The Occupation’s Cheerleader Win Over American Jews? Q&A With Naftali Bennett,

“My formula is the maximum amount of land with the minimum amount of Palestinians.”

Occupation/Human rights

Dozens of Palestinians arrested in Israeli raids in West Bank towns,

On Monday evening, Israeli troops raided the offices of the Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA), the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency in Ramallah, firing tear gas into WAFA’s building, injuring several journalists and preventing staff from leaving or returning to their offices.

West Bank: Settler posters call for Palestinian president killing,

Notices posted by Jewish settlers feature Mahmoud Abbas in the crosshairs and labelled a ‘supporter of terrorists’.

New videos contradict IDF claims about West Bank killing,

Footage from four separate cameras appears to show Israeli soldiers were not in any danger when they shot a mentally challenged Palestinian man in the back of the head in Tulkarm last week.

Sent to prison for trespassing on his own land,

sraeli authorities have demolished Al-Araqib over 100 times. Before heading to prison for rebuilding and staying on his land, the village’s leader says he knows justice is on his side.

Israeli politics

Israel strengthens its ties with the West’s far right,

Under Netanyahu’s watch, Israel has amassed a conspicuous crop of illiberal allies.