It becomes clearer every day that Binyamin Netanyahu's government is terrified by the prospect that the Palestinians are planning to unilaterally declare a state later this year. In fact, it is safe to say that no other proposed Palestinian action has ever shaken up any Israeli government the way that the idea of a unilateral declaration has.
According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Netanyahu is so frightened at the prospect of a Palestinian declaration that he is considering withdrawing Israeli forces (not settlers, of course) from the West Bank as an inducement to prevent the Palestinians from acting:
Netanyahu is weighing a withdrawal of Israel Defence Forces troops from the West Bank and a series of other measures to block the "diplomatic tsunami" that may follow international recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
US public supports Palestine statehood
Orthodox IDF soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian prisoners

An Israel Defense Forces soldier from a unit made up exclusively of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men was convicted on Wednesday in the Central Military Court of illegal use of a weapon and disgraceful conduct.
The soldier, a member of the Nahal Haredi Brigade unit, was found guilty as a result of photos taken on his cellular phone, in which a Palestinian prisoner was shown tied up. The pictures were discovered when a military criminal investigation team conducted a search for drug use in the unit.
WikiLeaks cable casts doubt on Guantanamo medical care

The U.S. offered to transport, guard and pay for medical procedures for any captive the Pentagon couldn't treat at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba, according to the cable, which was made public by the WikiLeaks website. One by one, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Mexico declined.
5 Wash. peace demonstrators sentenced to prison
Two priests, a nun and two women in their 60s who cut through fences at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor to protest submarine nuclear weapons were sentenced Monday to prison terms ranging from two to 15 months.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle sentenced Jesuit priest Stephen Kelly, 62, of Oakland, Calif., and retired teacher Susan Crane, 67, of Baltimore, to 15 months in prison, U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Emily Langlie said.
Alabama House apologizes for handling of 1944 rape

The Alabama House has reached back into history and apologized for how authorities mishandled the 1944 rape of a young black woman by a gang of white men as she walked home from church in a southwestern Alabama town.
The House on Tuesday approved by an apparent unanimous voice vote a resolution that expresses "deepest sympathies and solemn regrets" to Recy Taylor, who is now 91 years old and lives in Florida.
Top Bush-era GITMO and Abu Ghraib psychologist is WH's newest appointment

One of the most intense scandals the field of psychology has faced over the last decade is the involvement of several of its members in enabling Bush's worldwide torture regime. Numerous health professionals worked for the U.S. government to help understand how best to mentally degrade and break down detainees.
At the center of that controversy was -- and is -- Dr. Larry James. James, a retired Army colonel, was the Chief Psychologist at Guantanamo in 2003, at the height of the abuses at that camp, and then served in the same position at Abu Ghraib during 2004.
Knesset passes segregation law
The Knesset passed a segregation bill today. Palestinian Israelis are not allowed to live in Jewish localities built on land confiscated from them. Government policy also makes sure they cannot build on the little private land that was left in their ownership. How long can Jewish Israelis continue pretending that Palestinians do not exist?
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