News From the Israeli and Palestinian Front

A biweekly feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press.

1.) Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia wants his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, to allow for the creation of a standing Palestinian army. According to Ynet News, “Livni, though perplexed by the sudden demand, made clear that all previous accords specifically spoke of a demilitarized Palestinian state. A senior Israeli source said that Livni sought to clarify if perhaps Qureia had meant a Palestinian police force, but the latter was reiterated that it was a proper regular army the PA was after. The source added that the new Palestinian stipulation incensed Livni, who ardently rejects the idea of such an army.” Alongside ongoing disputes over settlements, borders, and the division of Jerusalem, this new issue adds to the challenges facing the current round of negotiations.

2.) Playing into fears of an increasing “Islamization” of the Gaza Strip, Hamas blocked access to pornographic websites on Monday as part of an effort to “protect the Palestinian community from cultural pollution.”

3.) Israel’s intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, said in an interview recently that peace between Israel and Syria is not likely to happen until a change in American leadership occurs. “Assad is preparing for the moment when the U.S. administration will change, when, he believes, Israel will give him what he wants,” Yadlin said. Nonetheless, achieving such an agreement is likely to be more difficult than in the past because of what he characterized as Iran’s increasingly tight “bear hug” of the Assad regime.

4.) Publicly calling for his release, Ynet News columnist Yehuda Litani argues in a recent op-ed that only jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has the clout to achieve a peace agreement with Israel that will be broadly accepted by the Palestinian people.

Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called for Barghouti’s release on several occasions. “Only he can change the picture,” the minister says. “I respect Abbas and Fayyad, they are good people…but I’m looking for someone we can finalize a deal with.”

…It appears that Barghouti’s release won’t be an overly great Israeli gamble, as the possibility of stopping Hamas and the need to see a strong leader, a Fatah man who gained great popularity in recent years, is much more important than holding him in prison for many years to come.

5.) Mahmoud Abbas will resign if a peace agreement is not reached within the next six months, reports Haaretz. “Abbas had defined the next six months as critical for the peace process and added that there would be no point for him to proceed in his post if a settlement was not reached.”