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…
Labour Friends of Israel Director Michael Rubin has written for LabourList, click here to read the original. The inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was a tremendous day for the world. Donald Trump was a disaster, not just for America, but globally. His vile, divisive and racist politics caused 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…
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…
The US Congress has passed a historic bill which will provide a $250m boost to coexistence work in Israel-Palestine, as well as Palestinian economic development. The legislation, which received bipartisan support, was signed after days of prevarication by Donald Trump between Christmas and the new year. It is a major 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…
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 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…
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…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell has written to Middle East minister James Cleverely following last week’s parliamentary debate calling for the UK to back an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Ms McKinnell’s debate is part of a long-running LFI campaign to secure greater support from the British government for peace-building work Read more…