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
Israel Worries Syria War Will Spread From Majdal Shams, the Druze village in the Israeli-annexed Golan, and throughout Israel, people are voicing concerns about the spread of the Syrian conflict and the threat of chemical weapons, reports Inna Lazareva. Israel
UN Report Sets Stage for Hague Case Against Israel Daoud Kuttab writes that the UN report calling on Israel to vacate its settlements in the West Bank paves the way for legal action against the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court. Palestine
Opposition Parties Accuse KRG of Mishandling Budget Kurdish oppposition politicians have accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of mismanagement ahead of deliberations on the 2013 federal budget, of which the region will receive an estimated $18 billion, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Iraqi Oil Contracts Reward Kuwait, Punish Turkey The signing of the latest round of oil contracts in Iraq has been a victory for the Iraq-Kuwait detente, but comes at the cost of deteriorating relations with Turkey, writes Omar al-Shaher. Kuwait
Lapid Plan for Ultra-Orthodox to Serve In Israeli Military Must Go Forward Yair Lapid, the chairman of Yesh Latid, must seize this historic opportunity and impose a real plan for drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army, writes Mazal Mualem. Israel
Clinton Leaves to Applause, Mixed Record on Middle East Outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mastered the memes of 21st century diplomacy but her substantive legacy, especially on the Middle East, is thin. Pan Arab
Will Hamas Make Bid For PLO Leadership? Geoffrey Aronson writes that Khaled Meshaal and Hamas may soon be able to make a bid for leadership of the PLO, given President Mahmoud Abbas’ present weakness. Palestine
Israeli Textbooks Under Scrutiny Akiva Eldar reports that the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs has tried to prevent publication of the results of a study on Israeli textbooks. Palestine
Racism in Israeli Sports Should End After fans of Beitar Jerusalem's soccer team demonstrated against the signing of two Muslim players this week, Shlomi Eldar writes that such racism remains a problem in Israeli sports and society. Israel
Jabhat al-Nusra Disrupts Syrian Opposition Mohammad Harfoush analyzes the growing influence of the Salafist jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra, and concludes that despite its military success, it has "contributed to the disarray of the revolution." Lebanon
NGOs Face Challenges in Gaza NGOs in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, have faced constant roadblocks to carrying out their work as they clash with local political interests, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
