Transforming trauma: How Jewish voices from Iran and Arab lands can be a bridge for peace

With just the clothes on their backs and a few belongings hurriedly thrown into a sack, thousands of Jewish families were forced to flee from their homes after the declaration of the Jewish state on May 14, 1948. Read more

More than meets the eye in secretive meeting between America, Israel and Saudi Arabia

The private jet that took off from Israel on Sunday and banked south towards Saudi Arabia may have had some important passengers on board, but no one is talking about it. Read more

Can Biden renew foreign aid to Palestinians while still adhering to Taylor Force Act?

The incoming Biden administration has made clear it intends to renew funding to the Palestinian Authority and reopen the PLO mission in Washington, D.C. In November, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in an interview, “We will take immediate steps to restore economic and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reopen the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem and work to reopen the PLO mission in Washington.” Read more

Biden’s foreign-policy appointments and what they might mean for Israel

Former U.S. Vice President and President-elect Joe Biden has announced his choices for some of the key positions in his administration when he takes over in January. Read more

Will Biden follow Obama’s path on Iran or forge his own?

One of the top foreign-policy issues President-elect Joe Biden will be forced to address upon taking office in January will be the Iranian threat. Read more

Biden administration will likely seek to make its own stamp on Mideast, say experts

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s yet-to-be-confirmed victory over incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump has ushered in a flurry of questions in Israel over what a Biden-Harris administration would look like and how it would differ from the Obama administration specifically with regard to Israel. Read more

What the next US administration could mean for Israel and the Middle East

With razor-thin margins separating U.S. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the contentious race for the White House has yet to produce a clear victor. Read more

Digital conference: Gulf Arabs emphasize rapprochement with Israel, disappointment with Palestinians

Israelis are, of course, just getting used to the idea of having friendly relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain after signing normalization deals with each country in recent days. Read more

Could Lebanon’s first negotiations with Israel in decades lead to normalization?

For the first time in three decades, Israel and Lebanon held the first of what is expected to be a series of negotiations over the next few months regarding the two countries’ shared maritime border. Read more

What has (and has not) changed in the 20 years since the Second Intifada

The jubilant crowd gathered around the el-Bireh police station in Ramallah on that fateful day of Oct. 12, 2000, cheered when a terrorist came to the window and held up his hands, bloodied from lynching to death two Israel Defence Forces’ reservists who had gotten lost and entered Ramallah by mistake. Read more

France looks to restore influence in Lebanon, but Iran isn’t budging

The multiple explosions in Beirut on Aug. 4 ravaged more than just part of Lebanon’s capital city. Read more

Palestinians continue to incite terrorism and violence in school curriculum, says watchdog group

A Palestinian student in fourth grade opens his math book and is asked to count the number of martyrs in Palestinian uprisings based on an accompanying photograph of raised coffins at a mass funeral. Read more

Will Kosovo and Serbia establish embassies in Jerusalem? Not if the EU has its way

It’s easy to miss all of the announcements coming out right now by countries normalizing relations with Israel. Read more

As Arab states pivot towards Israel, will the Palestinians again miss an opportunity?

The ink has dried on the official signing by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Abraham Accords in Washington, D.C.—a combination agreement that sees Israel normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates and signing a similar deal with Bahrain, both opportunities organized by the United States. Read more

Turkey’s bid to return to Ottoman-era glory endangers Israel and the region

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has high ambitions. He wants to take his country back to what he perceives as the glory days of the Ottoman Empire, but the leader, who has been described as “pugnacious” and has been at the pinnacle of power since 2002, appears to be leading the country down the wrong path as he quashes secularism, supports radical Islamism, suppresses democratic reforms and adopts a forceful foreign-policy approach that aims to assert Turkish hegemony in the region. Read more

After Knesset fiasco, Twitter still refuses to remove Iran leader’s account

Twitter is refusing to take down the account of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s account on the social media platform, even though he posts tweets calling for the genocide of Israel and the Jewish people, and even after the company was called out for its double standard over how it decides who violates its guidelines. Read more

Is Hezbollah interested in a wide-scale conflict with Israel?

In light of threats from Hezbollah to retaliate over the death of one of its members in Syria last week, the Israel Defense Force has sent reinforcements to its northern border including advanced fire capabilities, intelligence collection systems and special operational units. Read more

Knesset makes effort to confront anti-Israel, anti-Jewish posts, hate speech online

Once heralded for bringing people together as a new form of digital communication, social-media companies have come under greater scrutiny in recent years for the spread of disinformation and extremism on their platforms. Read more

What does Iran’s pivot to China mean for Israel?

China and Iran are said to be currently working on a 25-year, $400 billion “strategic partnership” that would see massive Chinese investment in Iranian infrastructure in return for below-market-priced oil and massive regional influence. Read more

Mideast experts, officials debate Israel’s sovereignty move and the need to ‘finally define borders’

As questions over Israel’s application of sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria linger, several leading Mideast experts and former senior officials debated the merits of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan, and whether or not it should be implemented at all. Read more

Former US Mideast negotiator: World mired in past on solving Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Ahead of the planned move by Israeli to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, several leading Mideast experts and former senior officials debated the merits of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” vision and the imminent move by the Jewish state. Read more

New Irish government rejects effort to boycott Israeli products

The anti-Israel movement in Ireland has suffered a major defeat. Earlier this month, the political parties working on forming the next government in Ireland eliminated a key bill that would have placed a boycott on products produced in Israeli settlements. Read more

Experts: Israeli sovereignty not expected to cause massive violence or backlash

As reports and discussions rev up concerning Israel’s plan to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, as well as the Jordan Valley, concern is being increasingly raised by detractors of the plan over fears concerning potential fallout, including frayed relations with international and regional allies, an end to prospects of a two-state solution, as well as the potential of Palestinian and even larger Arab violence. Read more

Israeli Supreme Court reverses land decision in midst of sovereignty debate

Israel’s Supreme Court just reversed the 2017 Regulation Law, which gave Israel the authority to appropriate private Palestinian land in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria with compensation to the owners. Read more

How worried should Israel be about the Arab response on extending sovereignty?

The prospect of Israel extending its sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, and parts of Judea and Samaria, has raised questions over what the response by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan would be as both would be directly affected by such a move. Read more

Will Israel apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria?

Israel finally has a new government after three elections and more than a year of political stalemate. Read more

Israel loans millions to help Palestinians avert virus-related crisis; will they use it for terror?

In what can be considered an unusual turn of events for the Middle East, former Fatah terrorist Mohammad Aref Massad has asked Israel’s High Court to prevent the government from transferring tax-revenue funds to the Palestinian Authority. Read more

Legal experts argue impartiality, point to ICC bias in alleged Israeli ‘war crimes’ case

The Jewish state has long been no stranger to criticism and double standards in international bodies. For decades, the United Nations and its associated bodies have singled out Israel for criticism, while ignoring human-rights abuses elsewhere. Read more

As Israel’s Supreme Court weighs in on unity government, how much power should it have?

In a landmark ruling, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected all petitions against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forming a new government while under indictment, and against the emergency unity government deal signed by Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. Read more

Can IsraeI’s ‘haredi’ leadership learn from their mistakes made during coronavirus outbreak?

With some ultra-Orthodox (haredi) communities in Israel having been under complete lockdown due to the high rate of COVID-19 infections, a major controversy has been raging in Israel over whether the leaders of these communities were initially aware of the dangers of the virus and, if they were, whether they intentionally encouraged their followers to flout the government-imposed lockdown rules. Read more

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