"I was there in the room, I know exactly what Netanyahu agreed to. Every letter in the draft was written by him. But because he does not have the courage to reach a decision [to make peace], he says it’s because of them. There is no leadership here.”
--Outgoing MK Tsipi Livni rejects Likud claim that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu thwarted a secret plan by former US president Barack Obama and former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz to withdraw from the West Bank.*

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Front Page:

The Arab World Just Trashed Trump's Mideast 'Peace' Plan (Saeb Erekat, Haaretz+) Despite U.S. envoys' exaggerations and pretense, the Warsaw conference burst the Trump Mideast team's biggest delusion: that Arab states would back a deal that sells out Palestine, and Palestinians.
What the Americans don’t understand (Giora Eiland, Yedioth) the only way to reach a permanent arrangement between Israel and Palestine requires cancelling the first basic assumption regarding the conflict that the geographical border is located in the land between the Jordan River and the sea...The Palestinians say that dividing the land on the ’67 bordersonly leaves them with 22% of the land and for that reason there is no reason they should give up on an inch of land, while the Israelis say that they need to control a significant part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for security reasons and to prevent the eviction of more than 120,000 Israelis living among other places in Kiryat Arba, Beit El, Ofra, Shilo, Eli and maybe even Ariel. Here we need to look at the regional aspect…Since there is no formula that will succeed in dividing the small cake in a way that both sides will be satisfied, the only thing that the Arab state have to offer is territory. The only way to get to a stable permanent agreement between Israel and Palestine requires a modest territorial concession from Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which could create a situation in which Israel and the Palestinians can be satisfied, and maybe even Jordan and Egypt can get more out of this than everyone else.
Reality program (Yitzhak Ben-Ner, Maariv) Suddenly, the Prime Minister pulls out the Palestinian issue to the foreign ministers of the Arab states. For whom exactly was this message of peace meant?…If we play it right, Netanyahu will say, we can claim that we tried 100 times, but the Palestinians again did not miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The competition of the fast draw (Lilach Sigan, Maariv) Israel is not presenting a serious position on any subject, even in regards to the Holocaust. The problem is not in the choice between truth and interests, but in irresponsible fast draws.
It will be hard for Netanyahu to sell Trump's ‘Deal of the Century’ to the right-wing camp (Ephraim Ganor, Maariv) It is possible that the prime minister is taking into account that in such a case, salvation will come from the center-left bloc, which, it can be guessed, will support a permanent arrangement that will also win the backing of the moderate Arab states.
Absentee News (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The Israeli media is a senior collaborator in blotting out our hostile foreign rule over the Palestinians.
Starving the Palestinians of money will cost Israel dearly (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The government in Jerusalem should be able to see the end result of the decision to withhold tax refunds from the PA; it's not like they haven’t been through this exercise in futility before.
Israel Tampers With Palestinian Authority Funds – and Could Get Hamas Rockets in Response (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The transfer freeze is an attempt by Netanyahu to portray himself as the strong right against Benny Gantz’s weak left. Any move Abbas makes to reduce the prisoners’ payments will cause him a huge domestic crisis.
Netanyahu’s Embrace of Ethno-nationalists Endangers European Jews Like Me (Giorgio Gomel, Haaretz+) Israel’s right-wing is seduced by European nationalists’ warmth toward the Jewish state, and their hostility toward Islam. But an illiberal Europe intolerant of minorities and pluralism is a disaster for Jews.
Rashida Tlaib and Benjamin Netanyahu's anti-Zionist alliance (Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) They're the strangest of bedfellows, but both want to destroy the Jewish state. At least Tlaib is honest about her support for a one state solution; Netanyahu is not.
Miri Regev, where have you been until now? (Nirit Andermann, Haaretz+) At the Berlin Film Festival, the Israeli film “Synonyms" recorded one of the greatest achievements in the history of Israeli cinema, but almost a day passed and Culture Minister Miri Regev did not open her mouth to congratulate. Nothing. Silence. Perhaps because she, too, knows that, contrary to her promises, the film that was made under her nose was a “Foxtrot 2.” A possible explanation for this mystery lays in the impressions published by those who watched the film in Berlin last week. Avner Shavit, for example, reported in Walla! website that “Synonyms,” directed by Nadav Lapid, criticizes Israeli militaristic society and that its contents "provoke unrest." He noted that at a press conference the Lapid wondered how "there aren’t more Israelis leaving the country, and instead so many remain in an unacceptable political situation." Variety Magazine hastened to state that Lapid's film "aimed a Kalashnikov into Israel's militaristic culture and its persecution complex," and wondered how the Culture Minister would respond to this work, which is so critical. This pushed Regev into a very unflattering corner, especially in the eyes of her potential voters. In the uproar that she made over Samuel Maoz's film, Foxtrot, at the time, she proudly waved the claim that the film had been approved by the Israeli Film Fund under her predecessor. "I had nothing to do with it," said the minister. "Such demonstrations of contempt for the state and its symbols will no longer be supported by the ministry…I will not allow support for the films that are playing into the hands of our haters and are being done on the backs of IDF soldiers and the State of Israel." And yet, a little less than two years passed, and Regev's resolute promise seemed to crumble, disappear and vanish without leaving any imprint. The "contempt" is still here, and four years of Regev as culture minister have not been able to change anything. Once again, a local film foundation (this time the Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation) supported a film that raises political demons from their depths. Again this film is internationally recognized, captures headlines all over the world, and proves that critical and biting art can be interesting and attractive - usually much more than an art of flattery and consensus. Nadav Lapid's “Synonyms" threatens to be Regev's "Foxtrot 2," but this time the Ministry of Culture that supported him did so while she was in charge, so this time she will not be able to shift the responsibility from her. So a little sigh of relief can now be released over the proof that there are still a few small islands of free art that Regev has not been able to destroy. And one can certainly understand why the most vocal culture minister that this country has ever known now prefers to keep her mouth shut. Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev and the Culture Ministry said in response: "We congratulate the creator Nadav Lapid for the prestigious award at the Berlin Film Festival, which is yet another testimony to the success of the Israeli cinema, its status and its prestige in the world. However, none of the ministry's staff have watched the film and we do not have the knowledge whether the film raises issues that are liable to harm the State of Israel, its symbols and values. We hope that this is a film that, even if it is critical, is consistent with Israeli law."
Why I, an Egyptian woman and author, decided to meet Israel’s ambassador (Mona Prince, Haaretz+) I knew I would pay a price for my decision to meet with ‘the enemy.’ But years of hatred left me exhausted - and I care about the future too much.
A veteran general for the ground forces (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) To strengthen the ground forces, which have been losing status for years, Chief of Staff Kochavi must continue the reforms begun by his predecessor and put an end to cliquishness in the general staff.
China Is Now Pakistan's Partner in Jihadist Terror (Shrenik Rao, Haaretz+) Beijing blocks international efforts to sanction Pakistan's Islamist terrorists, who foment insurgencies on India's borders and export their violent, deeply anti-Semitic jihad to the West. This is why.
Anti-Semitism Was Symptom and Catalyst of U.K. Labour Party Split, Not Root Cause (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The decision of seven lawmakers to leave Jeremy Corbyn’s party will have huge implications for Jews in left-wing parties everywhere, not just in Britain.
Anti-Semitism in yellow vests (Meyer Habib, Israel Hayom) French leaders are right to worry about rising anti-Semitism, which is integral to recent popular protests. But what is the sense in condemning anti-Semitism at home while rolling out the red carpet for Iran?
Judaizing the Galilee? Land Reform Marks an About-face (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz+) The government is encouraging home building in the Arab sector by granting ex-post facto legal recognition to illegal building and transferring state land for Arab construction to solve the sector’s housing shortage.
Lack of a culture and climate of safety awareness contributes to an increase in the number of work accidents (Dr. Amir Perry, Maariv) There is no doubt that creating safety costs money, but those who think that safety is too expensive to invest in should calculate how much a fatal work accident will cost the country.
Chilling report on Israeli soldier's death puts new army chief to the test (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The army has to prepare its soldiers for the kind of difficult scenarios that may occur in wartime. But the need to produce tough soldiers doesn’t justify a mishap ending in death.