Introduction

According to international law and even the Israeli legal system, no one should be detained for their political beliefs. However, this is not the reality in the occupied Palestinian territories. Elected Palestinian political leaders are arrested and detained regularly as part of Israel's effort to hinder Palestinian political processes, leading to the stifling of Palestine's political sovereignty and independence. Such arrests have recently been focused on parliamentarians who are linked in some way to Hamas.

Introduction

The idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, which first emerged four decades ago, has resurfaced in recent months and is creating something of a controversy. The origins of the concept go back to 1972 when King Hussein of Jordan offered a plan to establish a federal united Arab kingdom to include Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank. The fundamental aim of this federation was to assert Arab sovereignty over all three territories.

In 1985, an agreement to seek Palestinian self-determination within such an alliance was reached between the two parties. However, during the first Intifada [Palestinian uprising] in 1988, King Hussein unexpectedly withdrew his plan and severed ties with the Palestinian territories. He asserted that it was time for Palestine to become self-dependent and negotiate with Israel without Jordanian interference. Since then, the focus has shifted to securing an independent Palestinian state and discussion of a confederation became taboo.

Prior to Operation Pillar of Defence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party Likud had been declining in popularity.

Netanyahu was also threatened by an opposition alliance of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, former foreign minister Shaul Mofaz, leader of Kadima Shaul Mofaz and Yair Labed.

In light of these developments, in order to secure his re-election, Netanyahu will therefore become the biggest bloc in the Knesset by forming an alliance with rightwing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and his ultranationalist Yisrael Beitnu party.

The EU-Israel Association Agreement is the legal framework upon which relations between Israel and the European Union are based. It was signed in 1995 and came into effect in 2000, allowing Israel preferential access to EU markets. Today, the EU remains Israel's largest trading partner. The Agreement was due to be upgraded but was put on hold after Israel's 2008-09 attack on the Gaza Strip during which 1,400 Palestinians were killed, one-third of them children. Since 2009, there have been numerous calls for the Agreement to be completely abrogated, or at the very least downgraded. However, following a meeting of the Association Council on 24th July, the EU confirmed that it has moved to upgrade relations with the State of Israel.