Joshua Lapide

The Emirates are the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. The agreement should "advance peace in the Middle East". For Abu Dhabi, it will stop Israeli annexation of the occupied territories; for Tel Aviv the annexations will be partial and only "postponed". For Hamas, the agreement is a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. Bahrain and Oman could follow Abu Dhabi's example. But the axis of the Resistance, led by Iran, would be strengthened.

The life and work of the prolific novelist and essayist span the whole Israeli epic: kibbutz, wars, supporter of "two peoples, two states". He often condemned fanaticism and illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

He was 93 years of age. In his youth he was a "hawk". He was responsible for the supplies of arms to Israel from the USSR, France, the United States. He was the first proponent of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. Twice prime minister, president for seven years. With Rabin and Arafat, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. He has participated as a "dove" at the meeting of prayer for peace in the Vatican in 2014. Gideon Levy: Peres was a man of "almost".

Netanyahu had asked for US$ 4.5 billion a year, he got 38 over ten in a single package without any further requests that must be spent on US weapons. Hillary Clinton praises the deal. Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlement activity can continue.

After a year, Israel and Saudi Arabia make public their talks on Mideast "challenges". Opposed to last year’s Iranian nuclear deal, the two talk about the stalled 2002 Arab peace imitative based on diplomatic relations in exchange for peace and the creation of a Palestinian state.

The work is expected to last up to a year, and be finished for Easter 2017. Pilgrims will still be able to visit and pray. Nothing was done to the aedicule for two centuries ago. The three Churches – Greek Orthodox, Latin and Armenian – will share the cost equally. Jordan’s King Abdullah II makes a donation.

The first two were trying to attack a settler and were killed by soldiers as they fled. Another Palestinian killed after two soldiers opened fire in the Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem following attack with stones and Molotov cocktails. Since last October 128 Palestinians and 28 Israelis have been killed.

The project focuses mainly in the area E1, near Maale Adumim and would separate the West Bank from East Jerusalem. Grave threat to chances of peace with two-state solution.

The head of the Coptic Church is in the holy city for the funeral of Archbishop Anba Abraham, who died two days ago. In 1980, Shenouda III forbade the Orthodox Copts from traveling to Jerusalem until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved. Welcomed at Notre Dame, owned by the Holy See. The Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest Christian community in the Middle East.

From now on fruit, oil, Dead Sea cosmetics, industrial products will have to specify whether they are "Made in Israel" or in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem. Israel fears a boycott. For the PLO the EU decision is good, but insufficient. Even if there was a boycott, it would be worth about 50 million US dollars, a drop in the ocean of trade between the EU and Israel.

The attack took place in Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. Four Israelis arrested for lynching a young Eritrean mistaken for "Palestinian aggressor". Benjamin Netanyahu accuses World War II Mufti of Jerusalem of inspiring Hitler to the final solution against the Jews. For him, Palestinians and Muslims are the perpetrators of the Holocaust. But Israeli historians contradict him.

The city’s Arab neighbourhoods and adjacent Jewish areas are cordoned off by checkpoints and searches. Netanyahu accuses Abbas of lying and inciting violence. Israeli and Palestinian authorities seem powerless. This is not a new intifada, but a grassroots movement by young people without hope. A 13-year-old Palestinian stabs a 13-year-old Israeli. Fearful, Israelis desert malls, markets and streets; parents keep children indoor and avoid public places. The status quo on the Temple Mount is an issue.