After much delay, Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust began on Monday. Ilan Yeshua, former chief executive of internet news site Walla, told the Jerusalem court that his boss feared that news stories angering Netanyahu would harm his chances of receiving regulatory relief. Netanyahu is Read more…
The Biden administration has agreed to join talks in Vienna aimed at resurrecting the Iran nuclear deal, which the Trump administration left in 2018. The remaining signatories – China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK – now need to find routes both for the US to lift sanctions imposed on Read more…
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan experienced an uncharacteristic episode of instability over the weekend, as a public rift between King Abdullah II and his younger half-brother, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, became public. What happened In videos passed to the BBC on Saturday, Prince Hamzah claimed to have been placed “under house arrest” Read more…
The rollout of covid-19 vaccinations in the West Bank and Gaza received a boost on Monday as the Palestinian Authority received 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from the Chinese government. The elderly, frontline medical staff and at-risk groups will be proritised, the PA says. This brings the PA’s total Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel chair Steve McCabe and Conservative Friends of Israel chair Stephen Crabb have written a joint op-ed in today’s Times Red Box, calling on the government to “seize the moment” at the G7 summit in Cornwall later this year by committing to an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian Read more…
A week after Israel’s fourth election in two years, negotiations to build a coalition government have begun. Of the 13 parties represented in the new Knesset, all have previously ruled out coalitions with at least one other party. Should all keep their promises, it will be impossible for a government Read more…
Israel’s success in rolling out covid-19 vaccinations has continued this week, with more than 100,000 West Bank Palestinians who work in Israel receiving their first dose so far in March. All Palestinians in East Jerusalem are likewise entitled to be vaccinated by Israel, while a further 2,000 vaccine doses have Read more…
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer held a phone call with Merav Michaeli, leader of Israel’s Labor Party, last weekend. Days before Israelis went to the polls for the fourth time in two years, Starmer wished Michaeli – elected to lead Labour in January 2021 – luck in the upcoming elections. Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu’s future as prime minister hangs in the balance after Israeli voters delivered another deadlocked election this week. Analysts predict that the country may be returning to the polls – for the fifth time since April 2019 – later this summer. What happened Overall, 57 percent of Israelis voted Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel vice-chair Rosie Cooper MP has written for LabourList. Click here to read the original. UK Labour can learn from the example of Merav Michaeli, new leader of Israel’s Labor Party The challenges facing Israel’s Labor Party will sound all too familiar to all of us; at successive Read more…
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have announced the establishment of a new $10bn investment fund aimed at boosting regional economic cooperation between the two countries. The fund builds on last summer’s Abraham Accords, which saw the Jewish state establish diplomatic relations with the UAE and Bahrain for the first Read more…
Campaigning in Israel’s general election is entering its final week, with polls indicating there will be no end to the deadlock which has paralysed the country’s politics for the past two years. Nonetheless, with “Bibi fatigue” apparently affecting some sections of the electorate, Benjamin Netanyahu’s long domination of the political Read more…