The Palestine Chronology

The IDF patrols in 2 villages nr. Tulkarm (synchronized) and 1 nr. Ramallah during the day; patrols in Jenin, Jericho and 2 villages nr. Jericho and Ramallah late at night; and conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Hamas authorities in Gaza hang 3 Palestinian prisoners (all convicted of murder in 2004, 2009, and 2010). (PCHR 7/19; OCHA 7/20)

The Knesset education comm. votes to grant full university status to an academic center in Ariel settlement, deep in the West Bank, making it the first accredited Israeli university in occupied Palestinian territory. The decision comes as Palestinian medical students from al-Quds University in Abu Dis, just outside East Jerusalem, await a verdict on their appeal of a 2/2012 Israeli ruling that denied their request to be allowed to sit for Israeli exams that would certify them to practice in East Jerusalem or Israel. The Israeli government had denied the students permission to sit for the exams on the grounds that al-Quds was not an accredited Israeli university and could not gain accreditation because it was a Palestinian entity located in the West Bank. When they then sought permission to take the tests as foreigners, the Israeli court denied permission on the grounds that al-Quds could not be considered a foreign university, since it also has a campus in East Jerusalem. There has long been a shortage of doctors to treat Palestinians in East Jerusalem, where most Palestinian doctors are forced to work without licenses. (HA 2/13/12)

After 2 weeks of unsuccessful efforts to draft plans that would integrate ultraOrthodox Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel into the Israeli military, Kadima head Shaul Mofaz quits PM Netanyahu’s governing coalition; Netanyahu does not try to dissuade him. Analysts believed the decision (e.g., NYT 7/19) hurts both Kadima and Likud, and might hasten early elections. (NYT 7/18, 7/19)

Fmr. Israeli government attorney David Scharia is named the UNSC’s chief counterterrorism lawyer, marking the first time that an Israeli has been appointed to a security post within the UN Secretariat. (WP 7/18)

Hours before the Knesset is set to vote on whether to hold early elections, Israeli PM Netanyahu and opposition leader, Kadima party head Shaul Mofaz, make the surprise announcement that Kadima has agreed to join the governing coalition and that they will form a new unity government rather than send the country to early elections (see 5/6/12). The deal is contingent on meet 3 Kadima demands: (1) that Mofaz becomes a vice PM and “special minister in charge of the process with the Palestinians” (already agreed by Netanyahu); (2) that the Knesset passes legislation requiring all Israeli citizens including the ultra-Orthodox to perform military service if they are to receive government benefits; and (3) that unspecified elections reforms are enacted. With Kadima’s 28 Knesset seats, the coalition deal gives Netanyahu control of 94 of 120 seats in parliament and leaves no single faction in a position to topple the government. The deal is also a benefit to Netanyahu from the standpoint that he can keep Barak, a strong ally on the Iran issue, as DM. Kadima is seen (e.g., NYT 5/9) as being “given a life-line.” (NYT, WP 5/8; NYT, WP 5/9; WJW 5/10; JPI 5/18)

Israel’s High Court rejects appeals for the release of Islamic Jihad administrative detainees Diab and Halahleh, who have been on hunger strike for 69 days. The High Court also issues a ruling affirming the legal purchase by Jewish settlers of a Palestinian home in Jerusalem’s Old City, ordering the Palestinian family to vacate; and ruling ordering a Palestinian to vacate his shop in the Old City, ruling it is a historic Jewish property. A lower court in Jerusalem rules that Jewish settlers legally purchased a house in Shaykh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, ordering the Palestinian residents to vacate. (NYT 5/8)

The IDF raids the offices of the Palestinian People’s Party and the Public Comm. against the Annexation Wall in al-Bireh, confiscating computers, cameras, files, and photos. The IDF also conducts daytime patrols in Kafr Qaddum and 1 nearby village; conducts late-night patrols, arrest raids, and house searches in and around Tulkarm (rearresting 1 Palestinian released during the recent prisoner swap that freed captured IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit). (PCHR 5/10; OCHA 5/11)