Some 17 Palestinian municipalities in the occupied West Bank have petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to strike down a new law that retroactively sanctions the theft of their lands by settlers. Lawyers representing the villages have in the meantime asked the court to impose an immediate freeze on the so-called Regulation Law, passed by the Israeli parliament on Monday night.
The Israeli parliament passed the Legalisation Law on Monday – a piece of legislation every bit as suspect as its title suggests. The law widens the powers of Israeli officials to seize the last fragments of Palestinian land in the West Bank that were supposed to be off-limits. Palestinian leaders warned that the law hammered the last nail in the coffin of a two-state solution. Government ministers gleefully agreed.
On today’s episode I lay out my predictions for 2017. In the first hour I look at geopolitics and the places I think will be important in 2017. I begin by focusing on a possible resolution in Syria and how this may play out for the future. I also talk about a few other hot-spots in the middle east to pay attention to: Israel and Yemen. I discuss why these are both important for the future of the region and on a global scale. I also explore Asia, focusing on China and North Korea.
In this photo provided by Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel. (Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP via AP)
AUSTIN, Texas — President-elect Donald Trump has selected David Friedman, a notorious opponent of the peace process in Israel and Palestine and a financial supporter of illegal Israeli settlements, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Friedman's appointment would mean more than a change of address for the US embassy and a deterioration in the prospects for Palestinian statehood. Analysts say it would mark a seismic shift in the "special relationship" between the US and Israel - and an early casualty of the shockwaves might be the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas.
Fatah launched its seventh congress this week, amid heated speculation about the future of its leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Among those watching closely as events unfold is the Israeli leadership. The congress – the first since 2009 – will determine the make up of Fatah’s main representative bodies and may offer clues as to whom is best placed to succeed the 81-year-old Abbas.
As world leaders congregated in Jerusalem to eulogise Shimon Peres as a "great peacemaker", the peace camp of which he was the figurehead went to war against its main Palestinian partner in Israel. Ayman Odeh, head of the only Jewish-Arab party in the Israeli legislature, enraged the Israeli Jewish public by refusing to attend Peres’ funeral.
The death of Shimon Peres, aged 93, marks the departure of the last major figure in Israel's founding generation. Peres spent his long political career in the public spotlight, but his greatest successes – from overseeing the construction of Israel's nuclear bomb to devising an interminable "peace process" via the Oslo accords – were engineered in the shadows.
The announcement last week by the United States of the largest military aid package in its history – to Israel – was a win for both sides. Benjamin Netanyahu could boast that his lobbying had boosted aid from $3.1 billion to $3.8bn a year. Barack Obama, meanwhile, hoped to stifle critics who insinuate that he is anti-Israel, as well as offer a presidential election fillip to Hillary Clinton. In reality, however, Obama's aid deal has quietly punished Netanyahu for his misbehaviour.
A new peace movement, Decision at 50, stuffed with former political and security leaders, is demanding the Israeli government hold a referendum next year – to mark the 50th anniversary of the occupation – on whether it is time to leave the territories. Whatever its proponents imply, the referendum is about neither peace nor the Palestinians’ best interests. Its assumption is that yet again Israel should determine unilaterally the Palestinians’ fate.
