The Takeaway: Would Hamas complicate US plans for reset with Palestinians? Also: the back story on the spat between Israel and Jordan; Gulf post-COVID economic trends; Turkey’s Kurds; Egypt and Somalia; and more! Originals
Egypt sentences activist Sanaa Seif to 18 months in prison Seif, who had been in pretrial detention since June, was convicted Wednesday of spreading false news and misusing social media. Egypt
Ukraine rejects Iran's final report on downed passenger plane The Iranian government said last year's shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was the result of a human error. Iran
Palestinians receive first batch of vaccines through COVAX More than 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived in Ramallah on Wednesday. Palestine
Turkey's doctrine of pre-emptive authoritarianism Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “iron will” is tailor-made for a political culture in which concession is condemned as weakness and authoritarianism is praised as the only way to deal with opponents. Turkey
Kahlon's comeback doesn't worry Netanyahu Former Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon's popularity after the cell phone reform he championed might be enough to establish a mid-sized party, but his lack of diplomatic or security experience will pit his path to the premiership. Israel
Kerry's possible failure opens new, dark era in peace talks Even Menachem Begin did not support annexation of West Bank lands. Palestine
Erdogan pushes for interest rate cut Boosted by his party's performance in municipal elections, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed pressure on the Central Bank to cut interest rates, but the bank fears premature cuts amid rising inflation could destabilize the economy. Turkey
Israel's Jewish people and the Palestinian public Since its founding, Israel has defined itself as both a Jewish and democratic state, while denying Palestinians their right to self-determination. Palestine
Israeli settlers attack IDF, Palestinians The Palestinians living in the villages near the Yitzhar settlement were not surprised this week at the violence perpetrated by the settlers on IDF soldiers: “If this is what they do to the soldiers, think what they do to us.” Palestine
Report on Renaissance Dam notes concerns for Egypt, Sudan A leaked international expert report on the Renaissance Dam says that Egypt and Sudan have not been given sufficient reassurances about the dam’s impact. Egypt
Israeli institute prepares priests for Jerusalem's third temple The movement to rebuild the third temple expands, with a first ever course to prepare the priests for the offering rituals, and with prefabricated models for the third temple's modernized artifacts. Israel
Veteran settler Katzover: Livni encourages boycott wave In an interview with Al-Monitor, veteran settler Benny Katzover says there's a link between the settlers' youth violence against IDF soldiers and the forced evacuation of illegal outposts, and Katzover does not worry about the boycott of products. Palestine
Will ElBaradei run for president of Egypt? Supporters of former interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei have begun a campaign to gather enough signatures to authorize him to run for president, but some consider his chances to be very low. Egypt
Marginalized Saudi youth launch virtual protests Some Saudi youth have taken to social media to express their grievances with Saudi government policies. Saudi Arabia
'Halal beer' flops in Turkey Turkish consumers reject even nonalcoholic beer for various cultural reasons. Turkey
