The final deadline passed this afternoon for Israel’s political parties to register for the March 17 Knesset elections. Several last-minute decisions will substantially affect the map in the weeks ahead:
The Israeli government is shelving a proposal to resettle tens of thousands of Bedouin residents of the Negev that had drawn fierce criticism.
To understand why Shelly Yachimovich was booted out as head of the Israel Labor Party after just two years on the job, it helps to note that Labor has had a bad habit, ever since Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, of changing leaders every time it holds a primary.
Chuck Hagel visit to Israel has yielded some interesting fallout. Not least is the apparent puncturing of his distorted image as a sworn enemy of Israel.
Israel’s public is split down the middle on whether to go to war with Iran. The very fact that it’s being debated openly has some securocrats up in arms.