• House Votes for New Tough Sanctions Against Iran - Paul Richter
  The U.S. House of Representatives voted 400-20 Wednesday to hit Iran with the toughest sanctions yet over its nuclear program, in a forceful rejection of arguments that Congress should refrain from new penalties pending international negotiations with the new Iranian government. The new bill would basically block Iran from selling any oil abroad, after a year in which its exports have already been cut in half by international sanctions.
      Lawmakers said they wanted to send Tehran a strong signal before the negotiations, and didn't believe statements by Iran's president-elect, Hassan Rowhani, that he wants a better relationship with the West. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "Today the House took a critical step toward crippling this regime to prevent a nuclear Iran and dire security consequences....Iran may have a new president, but its march toward a nuclear program continues."  (Los Angeles Times)
• Egypt's Government Orders Break-Up of Pro-Morsi Protests - Abigail Hauslohner and Michael Birnbaum
  Egypt's military-backed interim government on Wednesday ordered the security forces to break up protest encampments in Cairo where thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi have held running demonstrations over the past month. "The continuation of the grave situation in Rabaa and Nahda squares and the acts of terrorism, intimidation and cutting off roads is no longer acceptable," Information Minister Dorreya Sharaf said, reading from the cabinet statement. (Washington Post)
• Iran Gives Gazans Aid, But Bypasses Hamas - Rushdi Abu Alouf
  On Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, Hamas' rival, began distributing Iranian food aid valued at $2 million to Gaza residents during Ramadan. Dozens of men and women lined up in front of trucks carrying pictures of the Iranian flag. (Los Angeles Times)
      See also In Gaza, Iran Finds an Ally More Agreeable than Hamas - Fares Akram (New York Times)

• Livni: We'll Know Which Way Talks Are Headed in a Month - Adiv Sterman
  Israel's chief negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, told Israel Channel 2 TV on Wednesday that the seriousness of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be determined well before the nine-month target set by Washington. "If after one month we will see that the talks aren't headed anywhere, we won't pursue them," she said. (Times of Israel)
      See also U.S.: Mideast Deal in Nine Months Is Target, Not Deadline
  Reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal within nine months is a target, not a deadline, Michael Ratney, the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, said Wednesday. "We never set a deadline, but we have clearly set a target," he said. (AP)
• Israel Rejects UN Criticism of Bedouin Resettlement Plan - Raphael Ahren and Lazar Berman
  Israel on Tuesday slammed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for criticizing Israel's plan to resettle some unrecognized Bedouin communities in the Negev while recognizing others. The plan would officially recognize and register the vast majority of Bedouin settlements and compensate the residents of 35 unrecognized villages who are to be moved off state-owned land.
      The Israel Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "It is strange that [Pillay's] communique demands that Bedouins be entitled to the same rights to property, housing and public services, when this is exactly the declared purpose of the bill....Moreover, the text presents as known facts affirmations which have been examined and invalidated by the Supreme Court."  (Times of Israel)
• IDF Legal Adviser: Soldiers Should Stop Child Stone-Throwers - Tovah Lazaroff
  The soldiers who detained a five-year-old Palestinian stone-thrower in Hebron earlier this month were justified, IDF West Bank legal adviser Doron Ben-Barak wrote in response to a complaint. While minors under the age of 12 bear no criminal liability, "one can't stand idly by while minors throw stones that endanger bystanders and themselves."
      There is a growing phenomenon of minors throwing stones at cars on West Bank roads, at civilians and soldiers, and during riots. Among the measures soldiers can take are removing the minor from the area and handing them over to their parents and/or the PA. "It would be irresponsible for the soldiers to ignore the situation and leave the child to his own devices, so that he could continue his dangerous activity," Ben-Barak wrote. (Jerusalem Post)

• Abbas and the "Peace Process" - Ahmed Feteha
  PA President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to return to the negotiating table was attacked not only in Hamas-run Gaza, as expected, but also inside his Palestine Liberation Organization. On July 18, the PLO's executive committee, the PA's highest governing body, rejected the Kerry deal. Abbas ignored the executive committee. So much for democratic accountability in the Palestinian Authority.
      Defiant Palestinian media called this week's meetings in Washington "Abbas' negotiations." A major faction of the PLO - the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - on Monday formally opposed the resumption of talks. While Abbas says any future peace deal would be put to a popular vote, Hamas rejected the idea outright, saying "the rights of Palestinians" can never be voted on. (Wall Street Journal)
      See also Palestinian NGO Network: Resuming Peace Talks Now Is "Dangerous"
  The Palestinian NGO Network, a group of 133 Palestinian NGOs in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, said Wednesday that resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would be "dangerous" at this time, Middle East Monitor reported. "Negotiations are being held in the absence of a cohesive Palestinian and Arab foundation that should act as an element of support for any political process," the group said. (Jerusalem Post)
      See also Palestinian Analysts: Peace Talks "Doomed" - Shatha Yaish (AFP)
• Egypt's Generals' Dilemma - Amir Taheri
  Egypt's military is starting to divide into two camps. Several active and retired officers close to Gen. Sami Annan, a former chief of staff, urge the appointment of a "consensus" prime minister with a program for early elections. They also want Morsi released and invited to negotiations on the timetable for the transition. A second group of officers, close to al-Sissi, believe that only direct military rule can save the situation.
      In recent days al-Sissi has appeared with military decorations designating him as a "hero" several times over, although he has never fought in any war. His radio and TV tone has also changed - he no longer reads in a flat voice, but attempts eloquence, the way Arabs like. Al-Sissi won't run for president, his spokesman insists - but his agents are busy distributing his pictures all over Egypt. (New York Post)
• Demands that Underpin an Israel-Palestine Peace Deal - Damien McElroy
  To present a deal to its voters in a referendum, Israel must secure Palestinian agreement for recognition of the Jewish state as an integral part of the Middle East. The history of modern Israel is rooted in the homecoming of a religious community to a land where their faith began. But Arabs and Muslims have never formally reconciled with that historic development.
      Israel needs to erase the Palestinian quest for the right of return by refugees from the fighting that accompanied the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. Slices of land with Jewish settlements will be retained by Israel. In addition, the Palestinian state will be largely demilitarized and obliged to cooperate heavily with Israeli security forces. (Telegraph-UK)

True Democracy Still Out of Reach for Arab Spring States - Shlomi Eldar (Al-Monitor)

• In Egypt, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, democracy begins with democratic elections, but what happened after those elections has no connection whatsoever to the values that stand at the core of democracy: liberty, equality, freedom of expression for the individual and the protection of the rights of minorities.
• Hamas won by democratic means, yet Mahmoud Abbas kept searching for excuses to allow him and Fatah to stay in power. Hamas responded with a military coup and the violent expulsion of Fatah in Gaza. Seven years have passed, but there are no new elections on the horizon in Gaza. In Ramallah, too, no one dares mention the idea of new elections to Abbas.
• Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won Egypt's democratic elections in June 2012. A year later Morsi was deposed and arrested. Tunisia pioneered the Arab Spring, but two leaders of the opposition were assassinated within a single year.
• Elections in these countries were intended as a democratic tool, but they have turned into a corrupt means intended to maintain the rule of brutal regimes drunk with power. There is an interminable list of leaders and movements who rode the wave of protest that was the Arab Spring to power, only to toss democratic values into the waste bin immediately afterward.