After Jordan, Emirates also furious with Netanyahu Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not only managed to get into a diplomatic row with Jordan, he also succeeded in angering the Emiratis. Israel
Iran operating new advanced centrifuges, nuclear watchdog finds According to an International Atomic Energy Agency report, Iran is now using IR-4 centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the nuclear accord. Iran
Lawsuit filed to close pro-Kurdish party after lawmaker stripped of parliamentary seat Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party deputy known to focus on human rights abuses, was stripped of his parliament seat and a lawsuit was filed to close the party March 17. Turkey
Netanyahu courts Arab voters as 'Abu Yair' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted a new strategy for the Arab public: cynically rebranding himself as "Abu Yair." Israel
Morsi, Brotherhood, Opposition Taken Aback by Court Decision The decision by Egypt’s Administrative Court to postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for April provides President Morsi, the Brotherhood and the opposition an opportunity to reconsider their strategies and take the country back from the brink, Bassem Sabry writes from Cairo. Egypt
Obama’s Visit to Israel Is All About Iran US President Barack Obama will have a broad regional agenda when he visits Israel, including the peace process, but the trip is really all about Iran, writes Alon Pinkas. Israel
The Glass Ceiling Remains For Women in Israeli Politics Israeli women are bold, assertive, and talented, writes Ben Caspit, but they face an insurmountable obstacle on their way to the highest echelons of political power because they lack a glorious military background. Israel
Iraqi Factions Debate Transferring Ministerial Powers to Provinces Iraqi politicians have divided along factional lines in a debate over whether certain ministries should be shifted from federal to provinicial authority, reports Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Kurds Protest Iraqi Forces Sent To Disputed Region on Syrian Border Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deploys forces to the Sinjar province, near the Syrian border, upsetting local Kurds and signaling an escalation of the Syrian conflict to Iraq, reports Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Lebanese Elections Likely to Face Postponement As the debate regarding the Orthodox Gathering law rages on, amid a complicated web of alliances between Lebanon’s sectarian contingents, elections are unlikely to take place according to schedule, writes Elie Hajj. Lebanon
High Stakes for Erdogan In Turkish Talks With PKK Semih Idiz considers whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan are speaking past each other in the current Imrali process. Turkey
Iraqi Provincial Election Campaigns Begin The electoral campaigns are starting for the April 2013 elections, with calls from senior clerics for clean campaigning by candidates, writes Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Iraq
Palestinian Women Set Back By Conservative Society Recent moves against women's rights in Gaza show a retraction of the once revered role of Palestinian women in the resistance, Daoud Kuttab writes. Palestine
World Powers Blinked First In Iran Nuclear Talks Alon Ben David writes that the outcome of the nuclear talks in Kazakhstan has put the option of an Israeli attack back on the agenda in Jerusalem. Israel
Feminists Empower Opposition In New Israeli Knesset Mazal Mualem foresees the new Knesset opposition parties to be both diverse and formidable. Israel
My Mother Inspired Us to Fight For Palestinian Rights On International Women’s Day, lawyer-activist Shireen Issawi writes about how her mother inspired her and her brother, Samer Issawi, who has been on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison for some 222 days, to fight for Palestinian independence. Palestine
