The outgoing Labor leader Amir Peretz announced today that he won’t stand in the Israeli general election scheduled for 23 March. Peretz announced he was quitting as Labor leader shortly after new Knesset elections were triggered last month following the government’s failure to pass an annual budget. Peretz controversially broke Read more…
Israel continues to lead the world in the speed of its coronavirus vaccine rollout programme. Less than one month after Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli to receive the covid-19 immunisation jab, the country has vaccinated over 22 percent of its population. By the start of this week, nearly three-quarters of Israelis over the Read more…
Morocco last week became the fourth Arab country in as many months to announce it would be normalising its relations with Israel. The announcement formalises relations between the two countries which the Moroccan foreign minister described over the weekend as “already normal”, and, given the ancient ties between the Jewish Read more…
The Knesset appears on track to dissolve next Tuesday, triggering the fourth round of Israeli elections in a little under two years. Negotiations between Likud and Blue and White – the two largest parties in the country’s “unity government” – to resolve a long-running budget dispute appear to have collapsed. Read more…
On Tuesday 15 December, LFI parliamentarians joined members of the UK-Israel Knesset Friendship Group for a special cross-party Zoom event in which candles were lit for the sixth night of Chanukah. Before the candle lighting ceremony, the event heard comments from former Attorney General and former Deputy President of the Read more…
Israel appears to be on the brink of new elections – the fourth round in less than two years – as its centre-left weighs options to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu emerging victorious. Last week, the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill to dissolve itself. Three more votes will be Read more…
Hanan Ashrawi, who rose to international fame when she headed the Palestinian delegation to the landmark 1991 Madrid peace talks, has reportedly resigned from the PLO’s Executive Committee. Ashrawi is thought to have quit in protest at the decision of the Palestinian Authority to resume civilian and security coordination with Read more…
The International Atomic Energy Agency has warned Iran of its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal after the country’s parliament voted to block international inspectors and increase uranium enrichment. The parliamentary vote followed the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the alleged mastermind of Iran’s military nuclear programme, last week. Tehran has Read more…
The Palestinian Authority appears to be engaged in a potentially significant repositioning exercise ahead of Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House. The moves by Ramallah are reviving hopes that, with a new administration in Washington committed to a two-state solution, the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process might be revived. In Read more…
Joe Biden’s desire for the US to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – from which Donald Trump withdrew two years ago – is simply stated but fiendishly complicated in practice. In September, the president-elect outlined his position in an article for CNN: “I will offer Tehran a credible Read more…
Nearly half of Israelis want Joe Biden to restart the stalled Middle East peace process and launch negotiations with the Palestinians when he takes office in January, a poll published this week found. The survey – carried out by the dovish Geneva Initiative – shows that 49 percent of Israelis Read more…
The West Bank saw a record increase in new coronavirus cases this week amid fears that the pandemic is spiralling out of control in the Palestinian territories. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, the West Bank saw 1,126 new cases yesterday. The previous record, set only a day before, Read more…