November 25, 2012 | 3:10 am

November 25, 2012

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the UN General Assembly, September 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

In-depth

Israel under siege

Israel is increasingly surrounded by Islamist neighbors - and their influence is growing, writes Douglas Murray in the Spectator. 

Since 1973 Israel has suffered a status quo of quiet enemies and quieter friends. Now it is surrounded by disappearing friends and ever louder enemies. Of course, there are those who portray this shift as the fault of Israel. Doubtless there are many things that Israel — like any country — could have done better. But to think this factor is the cause is to miss the over-arching movement that has been overlooked for too much of the century since its birth.

The forgotten man: Abbas

Israel should support the Palestinian Authority president's UN statehood bid, or it could be the end of the two-state solution, writes Trudy Rubin in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

At present, the Palestinian Authority's police provide Israel with crucial security assistance and help curb any Hamas surge on the West Bank. If peace talks officially die, the Palestinian police will no longer be able to cooperate with Israel, lest they be branded as collaborators. Hamas would be likely to reemerge in force in West Bank villages and cities, which may force Israel to fully reoccupy the territory to exert control over security. And, having thus boosted Hamas, the Israeli government may find the only way it can prevent rocket fire from restarting is to reoccupy Gaza as well.

Daily Digest

• Times of Israel: Iran to increase financial, military aid for Gazan terrorist groups, Hamas founder claims
• Haaretz: From wild man to statesman: Meet the new Avigdor Lieberman
• Jerusalem Post: Electronic ballot problems reported as Likud members vote in primary
• Ynet: Gaza cleric calls violation of Israel truce sinful
• New York Times: A Fragile Cease-Fire Achieved by Leaving Thorny Issues Unresolved
• Washington Post: Colombian evangelical Christians convert to Judaism, embracing hidden past
• Wall Street Journal: Egyptian Judicial Council Condemns Morsi's Edicts

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