Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: January 2, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Emboldened Israeli Right Presses Moves to Doom 2-State Solution,

An emboldened Israeli right wing is moving quickly in the new year to make it far more difficult to create a Palestinian state, signaling its intention to doom hopes for a two-state solution to the conflict. The actions have come on multiple fronts, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party for the first time has urged the annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and the nation’s top legal officers pressed to extend Israeli law into occupied territory.

Likud calls for annexation of parts of West Bank,

Israel’s governing Likud party has approved a draft resolution urging its leaders to formally annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, a move that is expected to further anger Palestinians.

In late-night vote, Knesset passes law to hinder East Jerusalem withdrawal,

Lawmakers approved a bill in the early hours Tuesday that requires a special two-thirds majority vote in the Knesset to relinquish any part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians under a future peace accord.

Israel indicts Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi,

Israeli authorities are seeking 12 charges against Ahed Tamimi, a prominent 16-year-old Palestinian activist filmed slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

Jewish National Fund Working to Evict Palestinian Family From East Jerusalem,

A Palestinian family’s 27-year battle against attempts to evict them from their East Jerusalem home went forward on Monday in a Jerusalem court, where they are pitted against a right-wing organization that seeks to take possession of the property.

Israel arrests three leading Palestinian activists in West Bank,

Israeli forces arrest Manal Tamimi, Jamil Barghouti, and Munther Amira, three prominent activists in the nonviolent struggle against the occupation.

Michael Oren calls for IDF to ‘shoot to kill’ suspected terrorists,

Michael Oren tweeted that the Israel Defense Forces should “shoot to kill” suspected terrorists, rather than just “neutralize” them. Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States who serves as a deputy minister in Israel’s Knesset, made the call for extrajudicial killing while tweeting Wednesday about Omar al-Abed, who was convicted on the same day of murdering three Israelis in a July attack on the West Bank settlement of Halamish.

Nabi Saleh Is Where I Lost My Zionism,

“Is Israel, with all the money and manpower it pours into sophisticated advocacy campaigns via social media, really in a position to criticize the Tamimis for understanding how to publicize their own cause?” asks Lisa Goldman.

BDS/Differentiation

Israeli government OKs $72 million anti-BDS project,

The plan would entail the largest monetary investment yet by Israel specifically toward combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. It was announced last week to the cabinet ministers and approved as an executive order after none of them objected, the Ynet news site reported Friday.

Palestinian politics

Fatah official: Efforts underway to arrange rare Abbas-Haniyeh meeting,

There are ongoing efforts to arrange a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Fatah official said on Friday.

Palestinians ready for major shift in strategy,

Palestinian leaders are seriously considering a major shift in strategy that will include attempting to add key countries as international sponsors of the peace process. Serious considerations will be given to the relationship between Palestine and Israel that was set up during the two-decades-old Oslo process.

Gaza

Israel strikes Hamas military compound in response to Gaza rocket fire,

An Israeli airstrike hit a Hamas military compound in southern Gaza in response to a rocket fired hours earlier at southern Israel.

Qatar returns to Gaza scene,

The head of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza and the Qatari ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Mohammed al-Emadi, arrived in the Gaza Strip Dec. 18 along with his deputy Khaled al-Hardan and a delegation of Qatari doctors.

Israeli politics

75 Percent Rise in Religious Jews Visiting Temple Mount in 2017,

The number of religious Jews who visited the Temple Mount in 2017 rose by 75 percent compared to 2016. The Yeraeh organization, which encourages ascent to the Temple Mount, reported that 25,628 Jews went up to the compound last year, compared to 14,626 the year before.

Now is the time for one staters to unite and build a movement,

“Trump’s Jerusalem declaration provides those who believe in one democratic state across Israel-Palestine a golden opportunity. Now is our chance to promote a vision of peace that could save the future generations from endless bloodshed,” writes Awad Abdelfattah.