The Latest from Israel-Gaza-Palestine (22 February)

7:20 p.m.: Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured), the Likud Party leader, has said he will meet Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima,  in an attempt to form a coalition government in Israel.

Netanyahu also issued a reassuring pro forma to Washington, "I intend and expect to cooperate with the Obama administration and to try to advance the common goals of peace, security and prosperity for us and our neighbours."

12 noon (2 p.m. Israel/Palestine): Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing to students, but not to other residents, for three days. The sick are also being allowed to cross, although 200 have been unable to reach Egyptian hospitals because they lack "correct paperwork".

Comments

[Mae]

Tikun Olam reports that "the Israel lobby is up in arms" over the proposed appointment of Chas W. Freeman as chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

Freeman, 2008:

“The so-called ‘two-state solution’ is widely seen in the region as too late and too little. Too late, because so much land has been colonized by Israel that there is not enough left for a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel; too little, because what is on offer looks to Palestinians more like an Indian reservation than a country.”

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/02/22/obama-picks-israel-critic-for-senior-intelligence-post/
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/02/20/1003154/israel-critic-is-reported-appointment-to-top-intelligence-post