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Daybreak: Katsav Sentenced for Rape

Plus Israel retaliates, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
March 22, 2011
Katsav arriving to hear his verdict.(Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)
Katsav arriving to hear his verdict.(Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

• Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years for rape. His lawyer vowed they would continue to fight on. [NYT]

• Israel launched around eight airstrikes at various Hamas sites in Gaza last night in retaliation for the weekend’s shelling. [NYT]

• The Obama administration’s Mideast policy, and particularly its varying reaction to different states, is dictated to a great deal by fear of Iran—one explanation for the seemingly inconsistent approach to Libya and, say, Bahrain, where it has let a regime repress protesters. [WSJ]

• Saturday’s vote in Egypt seems an indicator that political Islamists are gaining ground in the Egyptian revolution. [WSJ]

• There is tension in the West Bank, with, it seems, two rock-throwing Palestinians shot in response by an Israeli driver. [JPost]

• Hamas officials strongly protested United Nations plans to teach Gaza Palestinian children about the Holocaust. [AP/WP]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.