The Day the Music Died

"We're not looking for a happy marriage with the Palestinians, but for a divorce agreement we can live with."--Yair Lapid unveiled his political platform on a settlement yesterday.

• New outposts built in Judea and Samaria, says Peace Now - Peace Now intends to petition the High Court of Justice to remove the new Nahlei Tal and Tzofim North outposts. Residents claim outposts were built on land belonging to established settlements. (Israel Hayom)
• 22 groups call for EU ban on Israeli settler products - Religious groups, charities urge European Union to boycott settlement goods, saying ban would undercut settlers' economic reason for staying in 'occupied territories.' (Ynet)
• Amid censure of left-leaning politics, Israeli university urged to 'rectify faults' - The Council for Higher Education has given Ben-Gurion University's Department of Politics and Government three weeks to rectify perceived deficiencies before it decides whether to shutter the department, which the right-wing Im Tirzu organization has criticized for its "anti-Zionist tilt." (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
• Panel on IDF, national service for Christians riles Israeli Arab community - Priest excommunicated from gathering aimed at encouraging Christian Arab youths to be drafted to the IDF and volunteer for National Service; event initiated by Defense Ministry's Youth and Community department. (Haaretz+)
• Number of ultra-Orthodox men exempted from IDF service reaches all-time high - IDF says it expects number of exemptions for ultra-Orthodox to continue rising, unless government decides to draft them; in 2011, a quarter of all draft-eligible Israeli males received exemptions from military service for various reasons. (Haaretz+)
• Group decries plans for army college on Mount of Olives - A Muslim-Christian group on Sunday decried an Israeli government plan to build a military academy in occupied East Jerusalem. Peace Now settlement watch director Hagit Ofran said on Sunday that notices were hung, giving the public 60 days to file objections. (Maan)
• The last performance: Tehran's Philharmonic Orchestra has stopped playing - The official reason is the economic crisis, the actual reason may be the religious institution's opposition to Western music. (Agencies, Yedioth)

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