"You want to win, but it's friendly too."
--Karem Joubran, a 27-year-old Palestinian from Shuafat refugee camp, in E. Jerusalem, who crossed IDF military checkpoints to participate in a very special Jewish-Arab backgammon event held in west Jerusalem.*

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You Must Be Kidding: 
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi), who spearheaded the law to expropriate privately-owned land Palestinian land on which settlements were built, lives in an illegally built house in a West Bank settlement that might be on private Palestinian land.**

Gaza war report: Netanyahu's claims regarding Hamas' terror tunnels have been obliterated (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The State Comptroller's report contradicts claims IDF was prepared for Gaza war and Netanyahu informed cabinet of tunnel threat, but Shapira misses the main point: The hasty deterioration into war could happen again today. 
Israel Loves Wars (Gideon Levy , Haaretz+) There's no other way to read the state comptroller's report on the 2014 Gaza war and there's no more important conclusion that arises from it.           
Israel Must Stop Leaving Asylum Seekers in the Dark (Haaretz Editorial) The case of Petah Tikva, where families were forced to live in dark apartments without heat or running water, raises the urgent need for a national plan to normalize asylum seekers' status.
Volatile and dangerous: a look at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza (Elior Levy, Yedioth/Ynet) While Israel is engrossed in the comptroller's report on the Security Cabinet's behavior during Operation Protective Edge, over in the Gaza Strip there is a growing sense of civil unrest: with shoddy water infrastructure, polluted ground water, power outages and massive unemployment, Gaza is looking more and more like a powder keg in the making. 
How Can pro-Trump Jews Still Be in Denial About anti-Semitism? (Liza Rosenberg, Haaretz+) During the campaign, my pro-Trump friends twisted themselves in knots to pretend hate crimes weren’t rising. They belittled, unfriended and insulted me. Do they have buyer’s remorse, yet?
The Privilege and Responsibility of Jewish 'Whiteness' (Josh Rosenbaum, Haaretz) We white Jews have the choice of navigating our lives without ever having to grapple with our racial identities and our place in a racially hierarchical system. A university class gave us this chance.
Banning entry is not the way to fight anti-Israel groups (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Barring representatives of organizations with a clear anti-Israel agenda from the country only generates more hostile headlines and articles. The most logical move would be to prevent funding originating in bodies that support the BDS movement or deny Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.
Taylor Force Act Could Trigger Israelis' Nightmare Scenario (Michael J. Koplow, Haaretz+) U.S. Senators have the best intentions in seeking to punish the Palestinian Authority for financially rewarding terrorists' families. But they risk paving the road to Israel’s hell. 
Why I said no to dual citizenship (Yaron London, Yedioth/Ynet) I may have also been tempted to obtain a foreign citizenship if I were not troubled by the suspicion that those seeking foreign passports are preparing a lifeboat for themselves in case the Zionist project fails. 
Illegitimate Targets on Both Sides of Israel's Border (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The onslaughts on Gaza have introduced to our world three terms that have no right to exist: proportionate killing, collateral damage and target bank. 
Fight anti-Semitism in America, but Not by Demonizing Muslims (Naomi Dann, Haaretz+) Time for clarity: Desecrating graves and threatening JCCs are anti-Jewish hate crimes. Activism for Palestinian rights is not. 
With no sanctions, Protective Edge mistakes will be repeated in the future (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) The state comptroller’s report creates an illusion that it will set in motion a process of fixing the failures and the mistakes of the 2014 Gaza war. But although the IDF has drawn its own conclusions and will try to implement them while they are still fresh, the political echelon will likely show the same irresponsibility and reckless behavior in the next battle as well.
Netanyahu's Government Should Be Ashamed of the Gaza War Report (Emilie Moatti, Haaretz+) But those responsible for a war that might have been avoided altogether - according to the scathing report of the 2014 conflict in Gaza - are busy slinging mud.

 Interviews:
Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon: "Elor Azaria basically did what Yair Lapid told him to"
In an interview with Maariv, Ami Ayalon, who was formerly head of the Shin Bet and commander of the Navy and is now leader of the ‘Blue White Future’ movement looked at the people leading Israel and commented on the Elor Azaria trial. (Interviewed in Maariv)

On the trial:
"Elor Azaria basically did what Yair Lapid told him to. Lapid, during the period of the stabbings [late 2015-2016], said that any terrorist needs to end the incident in death. I was horrified. Children hear that from every politician seeking to get elected."
 
On Israeli leaders:
"There was never a greater gap between the characteristics required to be elected and the characteristics required to lead. There are very few people who are leaders in politics. Not the Likud, which is led by extremists and not the Zionist Camp and certainly not Yair Lapid, who is afraid of his own shadow.
Netanyahu is a gifted politician and a failed statesman.

"The worst (situation) is the continuation of the status quo."