A new Peace Now analysis of Israel's 2009-2010 state budget shows that the Israeli government still grants West Bank settlers preferential treatment.

The new report shows that settlement local councils receive a much higher percentage of financial transfers from the government than the settlers' proportion in Israeli society and that per-capita gross investment in public construction in West Bank settlements (not including East Jerusalem) is more than triple the investment in public construction within the Green Line.

The analysis also shows that at least 16 illegal outposts enjoy support from the Agriculture Ministry's Settlement Division. It shows that Settlers who export goods to Europe receive millions of shekels to compensate for loss of tax discounts in the European Union, which does not recognize exports from as part of the Israeli-European free-trade agreement.

The report shows how the government of Israel grants settlers a variety of benefits, even though most settlers need them less than the larger proportion of low-income Israelis who reside within the state of Israel.

To view the report click here.

The Red Cross published a report yesterday titled "Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair." The report describes Gazans' efforts to rebuild their lives in the wake of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, and the obstacles presented by Israel's policy of economic blockade and restrictions on aid, reconstruction and movement.

The Israeli Peace Now movement issued the following statement in response to Netanyahu's speech yesterday:

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did indicate his willingness to accept a demilitarized Palestinian state today, his http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechbarilan140609.htm (link has expired) speech overall missed the opportunity to move Israel closer to peace.

In case there was any question about how low the right will go to stop President Obama from making any progress towards peace for Israel, here's one example:

In the lead-up to Netanyahu's foreign policy speech next week, it is clear that the Middle East is hungry for a new course.

Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest circulation newspaper, today publishes an interesting investigative piece on the state of settlement construction in the West Bank. If you closely follow Peace Now's reports on settlement construction, you are probably familiar with the data -- at least with the general trends.

Here is Yedioth's story:

The following entry was prepared by Dan Fischer, an intern in APN's Washington office:

Last week, Agivdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and Netanyahu's cabinet championed a series of proposals which threatened Israelis' freedom of speech and appeared to target Israel's Arab population. This legislation is in deep discord with the values that Israel was founded on.

Here are some interesting findings from a public opinion poll published in Israel today by Yedioth

Reacting to President Obama's speech in Cairo today Debra DeLee said that the president "made a compelling connection between political interests and moral values, between pragmatism and tolerance. It is in this mindset that the parties to the conflict should act, using the services of a resolute, popular American president, to push for peace. Israelis, Palestinians and Arab leaders know what they ought to do to generate progress toward peace. It's time for them to transcend the zero-sum mentality that is so prevalent in the region and work toward peace."

Below are excerpts of the speech delivered today in Cairo by President Barack Obama thatare of particular relevance to the issue of peace for Israel. The full text is available here.