Battered Netanyahu comes out fighting.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Britain's decision to expel an Israeli diplomat in connection with the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai comes as a stunning new blow to prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, just as he was picking himself up off the floor in Washington. But the pugnacious Bibi, as he is commonly known, is a former commando and seasoned political street-fighter. There's no sign yet he is ready to throw in the towel.

Punches have been raining down on Netanyahu from all directions in the past fortnight, ever since the Obama administration in effect declared open season on his government by explicitly condemning a planned housing development in occupied East Jerusalem. It was notable the way the normally tame Quartet peace process group, which comprises the US, Russia, the EU and the UN, joined in the pummelling, setting a 24-month deadline for a two-state solution. …