September 21, 2020
By ISRAEL KASNETT
(JNS.org) – The recent normalization deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have fundamentally shifted the region’s alliances. Both Gulf countries maintain close ties with Saudi Arabia, and speculation abounds as to whether or not the Saudis will be the next country to formalize ties with the Jewish state.
While Israel may be on the verge of cementing a close alliance with major Sunni...
September 21, 2020
(JTA) — A hearing in the trial of alleged accomplices in the 2015 Hyper Cacher kosher store attack in Paris that left four people dead was set for Yom Kippur.
Lawyers for the families of victims have asked for a postponement for the Sept. 28 hearing, i24 News reported Tuesday. On the Day of Atonement, the most sacred on the Jewish calendar, Jews are prevented from traveling, working, eating and...
September 20, 2020
By TOBY AXELROD
(JTA) – Germany has pledged an additional $26 million to the country’s Jewish umbrella organization this year to cover security costs as Jewish leaders fret over a rise in right-wing anti-Semitism.
The announcement comes nearly a year after a violent attack on the synagogue in Halle, on Yom Kippur, which left two passersby dead. The alleged perpetrator, who attempted to enter the synagogue with a gun but...
September 18, 2020
By GABE FRIEDMAN and BEN SALES
(JTA) — Israel has signed diplomatic agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two of its Arab neighbors, and the word “historic” has been used a lot.
For Israel and the region, the so-called Abraham Accords signings truly were historic: There was a big ceremony on the White House Lawn, which conjured memories of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands after signing...
September 15, 2020
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu has complained for years about Arab leaders telling their people one thing in Arabic and diplomats saying another to Western audiences in English.
Not on Tuesday.
Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, was on the White House lawn speaking — in Arabic — about the “innate principle” of peace and thanking the Israeli...
September 14, 2020
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
(JTA) — For Flori Dedoni, a member of the tiny Jewish community of Kosovo, the news that his country is establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel is cause for celebration.
Until last week, Israel was among the dozens of countries that had not recognized the Muslim-majority territory sandwiched between Albania and Serbia.
“When someone learns I’m Jewish, they usually ask sometime during the conversation why Israel doesn’t...
September 11, 2020
By JACKSON RICKMAN
(JNS.org) – Jewish and pro-Israel groups instantly applauded Israel and Bahrain for agreeing on Friday to normalize relations between the two countries—the second of its kind between Israel and a Persian Gulf nation in the wake of the United Arab Emirates.
It’s also the fourth peace accord between Israel and a Middle Eastern country, following Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994 and the UAE, which agreed to...
September 11, 2020
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
(JTA) — A Polish auction house has announced the sale of 51 objects that belonged to the Holocaust survivor whose life story served as the basis for the 2002 film “The Pianist.”
Desa Unicum will start selling Władysław Szpilman’s objects, including bowties, an antique metronome and a death mask of the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin, on Sept. 22, the Warsaw-based firm said on its website. Szpilman was...
September 11, 2020
(WASHINGTON) – Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, jointly announced the normalization of relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Israel.
Bahrain becomes the fourth Arab nation to formally recognize Israel.
According to Trump’s announcement Bahrain “will fully normalize its diplomatic relations with Israel. They will exchange embassies and ambassadors, begin direct flights between their countries and launch cooperation initiatives against a broad range of factors including, health, business,...
September 09, 2020
(JTA) — Serbia will not move its embassy to Jerusalem if Israel recognizes Kosovo as an independent country, according to two English-language Israeli publications.
The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post each cited unnamed sources who said that Israeli recognition of Kosovo would torpedo the Israel-Serbia relationship.
President Donald Trump announced that Serbia would move its embassy to Jerusalem in the next year, and that Israel and Kosovo will...
