“Honest observers must give up irrational hopes that Trump will surprise the world with an ‘ultimate deal’ that can bring about Israeli-Palestinian peace,” writes Lara Friedman.

This week covering: the advancement of another settlement project at the entrance of the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem; NGOs file an appeal to stop the construction of a new settler-backed footbridge near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan; and more.

Lara Friedman and Peter Beinart discuss Peter’s recent article on the Gaza “Great March of Return” protests.

The Trump administration will ask Israel to withdraw from four Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, which will likely become the capital of a future Palestinian state, US officials told Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman during his visit to Washington last week.

The committee on legalizing the issues of land ownership for the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria has finished its work and presented its final report. The 200-page report includes detailed – and unprecedented –recommendations intended to legalize thousands of homes built without proper permits throughout the West Bank, sometimes on what is privately-owned Palestinian land.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday offered an apology after he was accused of anti-Semitism for suggesting that historic persecution of European Jews had been caused by their conduct, not by their religion.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) Executive Committee on Friday, as the veteran leader sought to renew his legitimacy while installing loyalists who he hopes will eventually continue his legac.

A new coalition crisis appeared to be brewing Thursday night between the ruling Likud party and its rightist coalition partner Jewish Home, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked for another week’s delay to a key ministerial debate over a Jewish Home bill that would curtail the powers of the High Court of Justice.