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
Palestinian Revolutionary Seeks First Visit to Homeland Daoud Kuttab writes about the bid of Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), to visit the occupied Palestinian territories for the first time. Palestine
Suicide Bombing Connected To Turkish Policies on Syria, Iran To the extent Turkey is active in Middle Eastern politics, especially in Syria, and is a party to confrontation with Iran, all the "terror exports" of the Middle East will be heading to the Turkish market, writes Cengiz Candar. Turkey
Erdogan’s Constitutional Crisis Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s initiative to change Turkey’s constitution to support a presidential, rather than parliamentary, system, is encountering some opposition, writes Tulin Daloglu. Turkey
Netanyahu, Lapid and Syria The reported Israeli attack on an arms convoy in Syria plays into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hands to form a government with Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid and the ultra-Orthodox parties, writes Mazal Mualem. Israel
Bin Laden Relative Arrested In Turkey Before Bombing While there's no connection between the arrest of Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Gheith, days before the suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, and the bombing itself, both incidents put the focus on Turkey’s role in combating terrorism, reports Tulin Daloglu. Turkey
Israel Rewrites Rules of Game To Deal With Syria Prime Minister Netanyahu is grappling with the profound strategic challenges posed by the potential disintegration of Syria, including dealing with chemical weapons and the prospects for a regional conflict, writes Ben Caspit. Israel
Syrian Jihadist Groups Take Conflict To Lebanon Friday’s deadly clash in Arsal, Lebanon, signals a dangerous escalation in confrontations between the Lebanese Army and Sunni Jihadist groups connected to those fighting in Syria, writes Jean Aziz from Beirut. Lebanon
Turkey: No Country for Journalists Semih Idiz writes that the Turkish government needs a sense of urgency to address the lack of press freedom. Turkey
Straight Talk Needed From Hamas About Israel For Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, there is no contradiction between attempting to reach a political agreement and the vision of Greater Palestine, writes Shlomi Eldar. Palestine
The Return of the Jordan Option for Palestine? Adnan Abu Amer surveys some of the latest "outside the box" thinking on a territorial solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestine
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
