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Daybreak: Satisfaction

Give and take on the settlements, the Swedish thing, and more from the news

by
Hadara Graubart
August 19, 2009

• Between his meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak and Israel’s gestures toward a settlement freeze, President Obama sees “movement in the right direction” in the Middle East. [NYT]
• Israelis agree, but for the opposite reason; P.M. Bejamin Netanyahu has garnered support for his refusal to fully go along with Obama’s demands. [WPost]
• Meanwhile, the continuing evacuation of illegal outposts in the West Bank poses a problem for the IDF, as many soldiers have personal or family connections to settlers there. [Haaretz]
• The Swedish journalist who accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting Palestinians’ organs has “no clue” if the story’s true; although the Swedish Embassy has denounced the article, the incident has sparked tensions between the two nations. [JPost]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.