Middle East

(JTA) — An Italian lawmaker has nominated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for the Nobel Peace Prize. Paolo Grimoldi of the right-wing Northern League party tweeted Wednesday that he had nominated Netanyahu because he signed peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as the… Read more »

(JTA) — The king of Saudi Arabia has thrown cold water on the assurances of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump who is leading Middle East policy, that all Arab countries will follow the United Arab Emirates’ lead and normalize ties with Israel. Saudi Arabian King Salman… Read more »

(JTA) — El Al, Israel’s national airline, is scheduled to make its first publicly advertised flight to the United Arab Emirates. The flight, which appears to be reserved for dignitaries, is set to leave Ben Gurion Airport on Monday bound for Abu Dhabi, the Associated Press reported. The flight… Read more »

(JTA) — The treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a big deal. The agreement, announced Thursday in a joint statement from the White House and called the Abraham Accord, means that Israel will now have diplomatic and economic relations with a country that had not recognized… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel has offered Lebanon humanitarian assistance after a massive explosion at Beirut’s waterfront killed at least 30 people and injured thousands. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz announced the offer on Twitter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army and at least one Israeli hospital also offered… Read more »

(JTA) — Nearly half the Jewish sites in Syria and a quarter of the sites in Iraq have been destroyed, according to a research project. In Iraq, at least 68 out of 297 Jewish heritage sites have deteriorated to the point that they are beyond repair, the London-based Jewish… Read more »

(JTA) — Twenty-six Israelis who were stuck in Morocco during the coronavirus pandemic were extracted from the country in a secret operation on a plane owned by Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. The group landed in Israel on Thursday morning, Israel Hayom reported. Miriam Adelson is the publisher of the… Read more »

(JTA) — Syrian state media reported that an Israeli drone had attacked a car and killed one person in a Syrian village near the border with Israel. The SANA news agency said the attack on Thursday took place in Hadr, a village in Quneitra province that is located in… Read more »

(JTA) — Facebook removed 30 fake accounts that were designed to keep Arab Israelis from voting in next week’s national elections. The Arabic-language accounts were uncovered by the nonprofit organization Democratic Bloc and were confirmed removed on Tuesday, Haaretz reported. The pages encouraged the Arab community to boycott the March… Read more »

(JTA) — As part of President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for Middle East peace, Israel says it will “apply its laws” to the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. At a press conference on Tuesday with Trump at the White House discussing the broad outlines of… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, which operates a number of regional militias and is allied with terrorist groups targeting Israel, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The strike early Friday morning hit a vehicle near Baghdad International Airport. The Quds Force… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Turkish government has allowed Hamas members to use the country as a safe haven from which to plan attacks against Israelis. The Daily Telegraph cited transcripts of Israeli interrogations of suspected Palestinian terrorists in its report Tuesday. Not only do Hamas members have free rein… Read more »

(JTA) — Iran is stockpiling short-range ballistic missiles in Iraq that can reach Israel, according to a New York Times report that cited American intelligence and military officials. The hidden rockets are part of a larger effort by Iran to intimidate countries in the region and assert its power,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration quintupled to $25 million rewards for information leading to the return of Robert Levinson, the Jewish American last seen in Iran 12 years ago. The $20 million allocation from the State Department Rewards for Justice announced Monday is in addition to the $5… Read more »

(JTA) — Iran will inject uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges at its underground Fordow nuclear enrichment plant. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the announcement during a speech Tuesday broadcast live on national television, the state-owned PressTV reported. The centrifuges had been spinning without the gas to produce stable isotopes… Read more »

(JTA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that his country is aiding the Jews of Syria. Except it’s unclear whether any Jews actually remain in Syria after more than eight years of civil war. “We also help representatives of Judaism, we help Jews also in the restoration of their… Read more »

(JTA) — Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria will “eventually become a nightmare for Israel.” Graham, one of the president’s staunchest supporters in the Senate, called the move “shortsighted and irresponsible” in a series of tweets. “The… Read more »

(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that if he is re-elected next week, he’ll immediately annex a big part of the West Bank: the Jordan Valley. That’s kind of a big deal. On the other hand, it’s not really — yet. That specific eastern swath of the West Bank… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – In 1992, Israel killed Abbas al-Musawi, a founder of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, in a dramatic helicopter attack. Iran, Hezbollah’s primary funder, threatened to retaliate – talk that was somewhat expected for a country that routinely calls for the destruction of Israel. But two… Read more »

(JTA) — Israel has carried out an airstrike on a weapons depot in Iraq that officials said was being used by Iran to move weapons to Syria, the New York Times reported. The attack, which happened last month and is believed to be the first Israeli bombing in Iraq… Read more »