Middle East Inside Line: Hariri Again PM-Designate in Lebanon; Israel's Roadblock "Concession"

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Hariri Back as Lebanon Prime Minister-Designate: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has reappointed Saad Hariri as Prime Minister-designate for the second time, although the political deadlock between the Western-backed majority represented by Hariri and Hezbollah-led bloc has not been resolved. After meetings with lawmakers, President Suleiman acted on the basis that a majority still wanted Hariri as the new Prime Minister.

Israel Removes West Bank Roadblocks: Haaretz reports that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered troops to remove 100 roadblocks from the entrances to Palestinian villages across the West Bank. The barriers were erected after the start of sucide bombings in the Second Intifada several years ago.

Israel's gesture is a belated compromise in the wake of an unfruitful round of talks with United States on the possibility of a two-state solution. The tactical offers a "concession" which, in fact, has no political cost but a possible economic advantage by providing a relatively integrated market (including for Israeli goods) in the West Bank.

Middle East Inside Line: Instability in Lebanon

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Hariri Withdraws as Proposed Lebanon PM: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Sa'ad Hariri's plans did not work. At the risk of breaking ties with Israel, he was behind his decision to form a government including Hezbollah. However, Hariri has withdrawn from his nomination after Hezbollah's rejection of Hariri's proposed 30-member cabinet list. After meeting President Michel Suleiman, Hariri said: "I declare to all Lebanese, that today, I apologized to his excellency the president about [not being able to] form the government, hoping that this decision will be in Lebanon's interest."

Now, Suleiman is consulting with lawmakers to name a new Prime Minister to form the government.

Middle East Inside Line: Stalemate over Lebanon's Government; Israel's Settlements as "Human Rights"

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Stalemate over Lebanon Government: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri (pictured) submitted the list for a new national unity government to Lebanese president Michel Suleiman on Monday. Hariri's "March 14" alliance gets 15 of 30 seats in the new cabinet and the opposition "March 8" alliance 10 seats. The other five seats will be chosen by the president.

Hezbollah and its allies refused to support the  list since several ministries and appointees that it demanded had been rejected by Hariri. Haaretz quotes one senior Hezbollah official: "We will not deal with this proposal because we know nothing about it. As far as we are concerned, it does not exist and we will have nothing to do with it."

President Suleiman is not expected to approve any Cabinet proposal that does not have opposition support.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Government has decided to intervene. An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the issue in the past, and that his position then still stands: "If Hezbollah joins the Lebanese government, then the Lebanese government is accepting responsibility for Hezbollah's actions, including its actions against Israel."

Israel's Settlements Expand for Sake of "Human Rights": On Monday, right-wing lawmakers, including Supreme Court Judge Eliyakim Rubinstein, celebrated the establishment of a new neighborhood in the E-1 corridor connecting Jerusalem to settlement suburbs in the West Bank. National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau and Information Minister Yuli Edelstein were also present.

Following Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to approve construction of 455 new homes, this was a "victory" demonstration for some Likud Party members. Landau told the crowd:

This land is ours and ours alone... It is the Arabs who are occupiers... A settlement freeze is a violation of human rights. What can we tell the families? Don't have any more kids, don't build another house, you can't have a playground here. This construction must not stop under any circumstances.