The Biden administration has taken the first steps towards restoring relations between the US and the Palestinian Authority, which were severed in 2017. The move came shortly after the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas (pictured), announced new elections – the first to be held in nearly 15 years. What happened Joe Read more…
Iran is stepping up its breaches of the 2015 nuclear deal despite Joe Biden’s efforts to salvage the accord. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency obtained by Reuters this week confirms that Tehran is installing more efficient centrifuges to enrich uranium at its underground plant at Natanz. Speeding-up uranium enrichment Read more…
The Labor party, which appeared to be facing electoral catastrophe just weeks ago, is rising sharply in the polls in a boost to new leader Merav Michaeli. A Channel 13 survey released yesterday showed the party winning eight seats in March’s general election, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents ekeing out a Knesset majority. It is the latest survey to show Read more…
The Palestinian Authority has confirmed that it began vaccinating its medical staff on Tuesday after the shipment of 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine from Israel the previous day. However, the statement by the PA Ministry of Health – which said intensive care staff who “stand in the first line Read more…
Merav Michaeli, who refused to back her party’s decision to join Israel’s “unity government” last summer, was elected Labor leader on Sunday in a landslide victory. She now has a little under two months to revive the party, which had been threatened with an electoral wipeout, before voters return to Read more…
The first-ever Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday following the signing of last summer’s Abraham Accords. The move came as the UAE cabinet approved the decision to open an embassy in Tel Aviv. Senior diplomat Eitan Na’eh (pictured), who has previously been posted to the Israeli Embassy in London, will serve as charge Read more…
Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, held his first call on Sunday with his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat. They agreed to begin discussions between the new US administration and the Israeli government on a raft of issues of mutual concern, including the Abraham Accords, the Iran nuclear deal and the wider Middle East. The call came as Israeli media reported that the Read more…
The future of the Joint List – an alliance of Israeli-Arab parties which emerged as the third strongest force in the Knesset at last year’s general election – appears to be in increasing jeopardy as talks aimed at preventing its collapse faltered on Sunday. The dispute within the alliance – which includes communists, Islamists and Read more…
Gideon Saar, a former ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, said at the weekend that his new party might consider an alliance with Likud – but that the prime minister couldn’t be part of it. Formed in December, Saar’s New Hope party has soared in the polls and represents the biggest danger Read more…
The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that the first shipment of covid vaccines – which had been expected “within days” – had been delayed until mid-February for “technical reasons”. Last week, the PA health ministry granted emergency approval for the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. It is one of four providers with which the PA has signed contracts. Israel has already Read more…
A new tougher nuclear deal with Iran is needed, the shadow Middle East minister Wayne David has argued. In a piece for The House Magazine, David calls for the incoming Biden administration to rejoin the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and offer Iran relief from the crippling sanctions imposed by Donald Trump, Read more…
Mahmoud Abbas has fired the starting gun on presidential and parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza – 15 years after Palestinians last went to the polls. The Palestinian president signed a decree on Friday scheduling parliamentary elections for 22 May. Presidential elections will follow two months later on 31 July, with a vote for the Palestinian National Read more…