Egypt’s Ministry of Education recently made an important announcement: a new course on common values from the three Abrahamic religions — Islam, Judaism and Christianity — had been approved and will be phased in at schools throughout the country. This is an encouraging development. For the first time ever, Muslim students in Egyptian schools will […]
Israel’s chilly bilateral relations with Jordan may be thawing following a series of recent meetings between Israeli and Jordanian leaders. In the past few weeks, Defence Minister Benny Gantz has met King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has conferred with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi to discuss a range of political and economic issues […]
With the March 23 election in Israel looming, Merav Michaeli, the new leader of Israel’s once dominant Labor Party, is working to restore it to its former preeminence. “The Labor Party is back on its feet,” she said during a Zoom lecture on February 25 sponsored by the American Friends for Peace Now. “We’re at […]
As expected, the Palestinian Authority expressed satisfaction with the International Criminal Court’s decision on February 5 to consider an investigation of allegations concerning war crimes by Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Muhammad Shtayyeh, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, praised its ruling as a victory for justice. Israel, of course, […]
Most Palestinians in the West Bank support a two-state solution, despite the glaring absence of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, say the leaders of two Palestinian non-governmental organizations. Nidal Foqaha and Mohammed Asideh, both residents of the West Bank town of Ramallah, conveyed this message at a webinar on January 31 sponsored […]
Israel has amassed an exemplary record in vaccinating its population against the Covid-19 virus. Since December, three out of nine million Israeli citizens have been immunized with the Pfizer vaccine. Nonetheless, the pandemic has killed nearly 5,000 Israelis, and Israel has gone through three lockdowns to contain its deadly effects. Israel, a hub of the […]
Israel has launched an orchestrated campaign to induce the United States to either stay out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement or completely revamp it to its satisfaction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vehement opponent of the accord, fired the first shot across the bow even before Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump as U.S. president […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov offered Israel some unsolicited advice recently. Criticizing Israel for having bombed Iranian military sites in Syria, which pose a threat to Israel’s security, he proposed that Russia should take care of this vexing problem. As he put it at a press conference in Moscow, “If Israel is really forced to […]
In the next few days, as President-elect Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration draws closer, Israel may well approve plans to expand its network of settlements in the West Bank. According to the Ministry of Defence’s High Planning Committee, Israel is preparing to build 800 housing units in seven settlements: Oranit, Givat Zeev, Beit El, Itamar, […]
Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel’s centrist Blue and White Party and the minister of defence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s caretaker coalition government, issued the understatement of the new year when he said, “Truth be told, the reality is difficult right now.” With several key Blue and White Knesset members leaving the party and […]