August 31, 2020
(JTA) — The United Arab Emirates’ law boycotting Israel has been abolished as the first delegation of Israeli and U.S. officials prepared to visit the country for the first time following the historic normalization deal announced earlier this month.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday issued a decree canceling the law, paving the way for trade and business deals between companies in the two countries. The...
August 21, 2020
(JTA) — The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said his country’s move to normalize relations with Israel had “closed the gate on annexation and created new dynamics in the peace process.”
In an op-ed published Friday on the Israeli website Ynet, Yousef Al Otaiba described the rapprochement as serving both Palestinian and Israeli interests and welcomed Israelis to visit his country.
Under the terms of the agreement...
August 18, 2020
By MARCY OSTER
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Ukraine’s interior minister said his country will implement a ban on the convergence of foreign pilgrims at Uman for the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage as a coronavirus restriction.
Arsen Avakov also stressed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide “all technical measures to implement the above quarantine restrictions in Uman,” according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
Avakov noted in the statement...
August 18, 2020
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli Border Police officer stabbed in the chest in Jerusalem shot and killed his Palestinian assailant.
The 19-year-old officer, who finished his training about a month ago, underwent surgery on Monday night, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. A female bystander, 60, was injured in the gunfire, the Israel Police said.
The incident near the Lion’s Gate in the Old City was the first stabbing attack in Jerusalem in...
August 14, 2020
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
(JTA) — Is it on the table, or off?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his plan to annex part of the West Bank “remains on the table,” despite agreeing to suspend the move as part of an agreement to establish formal ties with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
“There is no change in my plan to apply sovereignty, our sovereignty, in Judea and Samaria, in...
August 14, 2020
(JTA) – Lots of candidates for New York City Council are expected to seek an endorsement from the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, a rising force in city politics, in next year’s elections.
To apply for the endorsement, the candidates will have to decide if they will pledge not to travel to Israel if elected.
According to a screenshot of a candidate questionnaire from the DSA posted to Twitter...
August 13, 2020
By ISRAEL KASNETT
(JNS) – A joint statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, announced the “Abraham Accord,” a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This is the first such agreement since Jordan signed a pact in 1994.
What does this deal include, and what does it portend for the...
August 13, 2020
This is a developing story. (JTA) — In a diplomatic breakthrough, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are normalizing ties. As part of a peace deal brokered by President Donald Trump, Israel will pause its plans to annex areas of the West Bank, according to a joint statement released Thursday by the White House.
“Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus...
August 07, 2020
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joe Biden personally intervened to keep the word “occupation” out of the official Democratic platform, according to a new report.
Foreign Policy reported Thursday that Biden intervened after pro-Israel groups appealed to him, citing three sources, including Jason Isaacson, the chief policy and political affairs officer at the American Jewish Committee.
“The question of whether to allow the text to refer to ‘occupation’ or use the phrase...
August 07, 2020
By RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Israel issue isn’t necessarily toward the top of the progressive to-do lists at the moment, but that doesn’t mean elements of the movement are any less at odds with the pro-Israel community.
That was evident in an interview this week that the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City co-chairwoman, Sumathy Kumar, gave with the news site Kings County Politics.
Here’s the passage...
