The past week has seen a major escalation of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as confrontations and violence in Jerusalem have been followed by more than 1,000 rockets being fired indiscriminately into Israel by Gaza-based terror groups. Israel has responded with strikes targeted at Hamas in Gaza. What happened Tensions Read more…
US president Joe Biden has expressed his support for the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Arab countries and Israel that has developed out of last year’s Abraham Accords. In a phone call with the UAE’s crown prince Mohamad bin Zayed Al Nahyen on Tuesday, Biden “underlined the strategic importance of Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a coalition government following Israel’s March general election expired on Tuesday night. After 28 days of negotiations, Netanyahu announced that he had failed to persuade enough other parties to join a government led by his Likud party. Netanyahu’s efforts ultimately failed when Bezalel Smotrich, leader Read more…
Israel experienced its worst ever civilian disaster last week, when a stampede at Mount Meron in the northern Galilee led to the deaths of at least 45 people. More than 100,000 people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gathered at the annual Lag B’Omer celebrations, which include visits to the gravesite of the Read more…
Elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council and presidency, respectively scheduled for 22 May and 31 July, have been postponed indefinitely – and effectively cancelled. What happened Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas announced on Thursday that the elections, which would have been the first to take place since 2006, would be Read more…
LFI and BITUD invites you to us in conversation with Peter Lerner. 12 May 2021, 7pm via Zoom. The last year has seen a crisis for workers that is truly global. This webinar will hear from the Histadrut’s (Israeli TUC) International Director General, Peter Lerner, to talk about the response Read more…
Israel saw zero coronavirus deaths on 22 April, the first day in 10 months without a single death due to the virus. With a total death toll of over 6,000, Israel’s daily death toll has been decreasing since January, when daily deaths averaged at about 60 per day. The last Read more…
Israeli energy company Delek Drilling has signed an agreement to sell its 22 percent share in the offshore Tamar natural gas field to Abu Dhabi’s Mubdala Petroleum Company for $1.1 billion. The deal represents the largest and most significant commercial agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the Read more…
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has offered a glimpse into Iran’s internal power struggles in a leaked recording, claiming that the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) dominates governmental decision-making. Zarif claimed that IRGC commander Qassim Suleimani, who was killed by the United States in January 2020, had consistently undermined Read more…
Following several nights of rocket fire from Gaza, Israel has warned Hamas that it will face major retaliation should the attacks continue. Gaza-based armed factions launched more than 40 rockets into Israel over the weekend, against a background of continued unrest in Jerusalem and electoral uncertainty in both Israel and the Read more…