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In Brief: Biden to reverse Trump’s Palestinian aid cut

Posted 15 April, 2021 in Analysis, Coexistence, Israel, Middle East, Palestinian Territories, Peace process
President Joe Biden. White House, Public domain. The Biden administration has announced plans to restore $235m (£171m) of aid to Palestinians, in a reversal of a cut made by Donald Trump. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, will receive two-thirds of the aid. UNRWA experienced a sharp financial crisis when the Trump administration slashed $360m in US…

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Analysis: Iran nuclear site attack as Vienna talks commence

Posted 15 April, 2021 in Analysis, Iran, Middle East
Negotiations about Iranian Nuclear Program. US State Department, Public domain. Iran last weekend began speeding up its nuclear enrichment programme – just days after talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action began in Vienna. But Tehran’s launch of banned advanced centrifuges at the secret Natanz plant appears to have been disrupted by a…

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In Brief: Coalition-building begins after election

Posted 7 April, 2021 in Analysis, Israel, Israeli Politics
Reuven Rivlin. Spokesperson unit of the President of Israel, Public domain. Almost two weeks after Israel’s fourth general election in two years, President Reuven Rivlin gave Benjamin Netanyahu the first opportunity to form a government on Monday. He said he did so reluctantly, with “moral and ethical” reservations over the fact that Netanyahu is on…

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In Brief: Evidence heard in Netanyahu trial

Posted 7 April, 2021 in Analysis, Israel, Israeli Politics
Benjamin Netanyahu. Crown Copyright, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 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…

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In Brief: Hope for Iran nuclear deal in Vienna

Posted 7 April, 2021 in Analysis, Iran, Israel, Middle East
Negotiations about Iranian Nuclear Program, US State Department, Public domain. 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…

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Analysis: Jordan rocked by royal family feuding

Posted 7 April, 2021 in Analysis, Israel, Middle East
King Abdullah II of Jordan. European Parliament, CC BY-4.0. 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…

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In Brief: Internationally led vaccine progress in the Palestinian Territories

Posted 30 March, 2021 in Analysis, Israel, Middle East, Palestinian Territories
CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 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…

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In Brief: Labour and Conservative Friends chairs call for international peace fund

Posted 30 March, 2021 in Analysis, Coexistence, Israel, Middle East, Palestinian Territories, Peace process
LFI chair Steve McCabe. Chris McAndrew, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 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…

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In Brief: Post-election coalition building ongoing as fifth election looms

Posted 30 March, 2021 in Analysis, Israel, Israeli Politics, Labour Party
PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Crown Copyright, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 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…

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Analysis: Iran and China seal $400bn economic and military pact

Posted 30 March, 2021 in Analysis, Iran, Middle East
Xi Jinping visits Iran. Official website of Ali Khamenei, Supreme leader of Iran, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Iran and China signed a major 25-year economic and military partnership agreement at the weekend which could boost the Islamic republic’s sanctions-wracked economy by $400bn. The move comes as Tehran continues to resist efforts by the Biden…

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