The near-bankrupt PA has been ordered by an American court to compensate American families who were affected by the second intifada. Lieberman and Netanyahu are delighted at this ‘moral victory’ – though will not be pleased if their security force in the West Bank is unable to operate.

These charts, posted by Vox on July 14, 2014 give as accurate account as possible of the numbers of Israelis and Palestinians killed by the other side since 2000. It does not include the 72 Israelis and ‘at least’ 2,104 Palestinians killed in the IDF assault on Gaza last summer.

Values and identity are in conflict for Jews of the diaspora who regard Israel as their own, as emblematic of Jewish identity. But, argues Ilan Baron, the connection with Israel is now silencing many Jews and tearing apart Jewish communities.

There is still a Jewish Left in Israel which puts co-existence with Arabs as their electoral priority. They are considering whether the Arab-led Joint List is the best vehicle for their aspirations.

The Israeli government is giving up on its costly efforts to persuade people in the EU and US that it is a nation of sweetness and light and the West’s main defence against Islamist violence. It is now being carried by its defence industry into the weapons-hungry arms of India and China – traditional supporters of the Palestinians.

The Obama administration and PM Netanyahu are so angry with each other their staff no longer bother with the smooth talk that usually glosses over disagreements. The US government says Bibi has broken the bipartisanship on which US support for Israel rests. In the short term it might not matter as Bibi is relying on a Republican Congress to give him all the support he wants. Democrats might not forgive him.

The preferential EU Israel Association Agreement has been controversial since it was signed in 1995. There has been a variety of protests since against treating Israel as a European country and the only colonial power with which the EU has a formal trade agreement. Now 63 MEPs have called for the agreement to be ended, or at least for ‘restrictive measures’ to be imposed, as the EU was quick to do with Russia.

Despite their highly sophisticated military systems, Israel doesn’t do ‘smart’ bombing. Instead, it follows the Dahiya doctrine established in the 2006 attack on Lebanon. This is that ‘We will apply disproportionate force on [any place from which anything is fired] and cause great damage and destruction there. ‘

Someone took a video and posted it on Youtube showing what presumably passes for normal in Israel: an outburst of petulant, obscene and racist remarks uttered by passengers who couldn’t wait for a bar of chocolate. Decades of customary racism seems to have stripped some Israelis of all civility.

Our younger sister, Independent Jewish Voices, is holding a two-day conference on how far pursuing equal rights can cut to the chase while diplomats and politicians get nowhere (even when they want to). All the people you want to hear.

The rate of Israeli building on Palestinian land increased by 40% last year says Peace Now in a new report. The PA condemns the construction as a ‘war crime’ but most Israeli parties know there are no votes in ending this means of providing cheap housing for Jewish citizens.

In the last decade, the EU has edged towards making trade with Israel conditional on its reaching an agreement with Palestinians, while Israeli politicians regard Europe as the bad old past which must be left behind. Now a group of academics has advised that Europe is not nearly as hostile as many Israelis think and it is in Israel’s interest to get to know the EU better and establish better relations with its biggest trading partner.

Police and Jerusalem city council have reported that they have successfully re-asserted their authority and the city is calm. Ynet finds this is an illusion – stone-throwing, firebombs and firework attacks continue to occur on a daily basis. No surprise there.

Since last December Israel has not handed over the tax revenues it collects for the PA. Forcing the PA into insolvency is a punishment for joining the International Criminal Court. PM Netanyahu fears he’ll look soft to the right wing if he authorises the fiscal transfer. John Kerry and IDF strategists have warned that the collapse of the PA is in no-one’s interest.

When Bibi made his dramatic announcement to the UN in September 2012 that Iran was on the threshold of making nuclear weapons he knew that the state intelligence agency, Mossad, disagreed with him. That did not act as a deterrent to his war-mongering.

This week. February 16th – 22nd, 2015, we have our second Signatories Blog, from Prof. Lynne Segal How Israel tries to instil despair, on the importance, but difficulty, of not succumbing to despair when the power you’re opposing, for example Israel’s over the Palestinians, takes many forms and many routes. This space is open to […]

Netanyahu’s hectic attempt to make the international headlines are souring his relations with many national leaders. He has broken the bi-partisan support for Israel in the US by accepting a Republican invitation to speak to Congress – but upset many by his rudeness to Americans’ President. He is insulting leaders of European nations by suggesting they cannot protect their Jewish citizens and indeed suggesting Europe should be ethnically cleansed of all Jews – in their own interest of course. He is banking on all this pleasing Israeli voters.

Perhaps for psephological wonks, assessments of the polls on how Israelis will vote in the March election. As we have posted before, only the Joint List makes racism and the treatment of Palestinians its prime issue, but because Likud is so identified with Netanyahu, his slow drift from grace will have effect. Polls which ask what issue is most important get the result ‘the economy’; polls which ask about Palestinians get the result – outside intervention needed.

In 2015, seven Jews (2 at Charlie Hebdo, 4 at the Hyper-Cacher supermarket, 1 in Copenhagen) were killed by Islamists. The number of non-Jews killed in the same attacks was far higher. In Israel, the number of Jews killed in 2014 by Palestinians was 46. Uri Avnery, doubting the claimed rise in antisemitism, asks why Bibi is making hay out of Jew-killing in Europe and insisting that Israel is their only safe haven.

In the second of our SIgnatories’ blogs, Prof. Lynne Segal takes a wide view of the strategies used by the Israeli state to make people feel Zionism is the only answer, and the psychological strategies employed by many dissidents to sustain their morale in the face of an implacable force.