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In Brief: Vaccination progress in Israel and the Palestinian Territories

CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 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…

In Brief: Keir Starmer holds call with Israeli Labor leader Merav Michaeli

Merav Michaeli. Photo: Ron Kedmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 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 Brief: No clear lead in polling ahead of May Palestinian elections

Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons The unclear results of Israel’s general election this week appear to be mirrored within the Palestinian Authority, according to polling conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research. Should elections go ahead in May, the polling found that both Fatah, the party of PA president Mahmoud Abbas, and…

Analysis: Netanyahu faces further post-election deadlock

Photo: Crown Copyright, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 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 for…

LFI vice-chair: Labor’s ‘pink-collar revolution’ offers a vision for feminist politics in the 2020s

Merav Michaeli. Photo: Ron Kedmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 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…

In brief: UAE and Israel announce $10bn investment fund to boost regional cooperation

Photo: Wadiia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 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…

In brief: Blinken adopts tough line on Iran as US says alarmed at Houthi attacks

Photo: U.S. Embassy Nigeria, Public Domain via Flickr Anthony Blinken last week used his first appearance before a congressional committee since being confirmed as the new US secretary of state to adopt a tough line on Iran. America’s top diplomat (pictured) said the Biden administration did not intend to make any initial “concessions” to Tehran to…

In brief: Fatah and Hamas hold new Cairo talks on Palestinian elections

Photo: Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0  via Wikimedia Commons Representatives of arch-enemies Fatah and Hamas are meeting this week in Cairo for a second round of talks aimed at allowing elections in the West Bank and Gaza to go ahead this summer. Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) called the elections – the first for 15 years – in January but…

Analysis: Could “Bibi fatigue” topple Netanyahu next week?

Merav Michaeli. Photo: Ron Kedmi, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 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…

In brief: Biden targets torturers in first sanctions imposed on Iran

Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons The Biden administration targeted two Revolutionary Guard interrogators as it imposed its first set of sanctions on Iran this week. The secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, announced that two men - Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari - would be banned from entering the United States. The State…