Middle East

(JTA) — Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, reiterated statements about terminating his government’s dealings with Israel. Abbas’ announcement Thursday followed an emergency meeting after Israel razed Palestinian buildings built without permit on the edge of Jerusalem, near the security barrier that Israel built in the West… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Days ahead of a workshop where Jared Kushner will seek tens of billions of dollars for his Middle East peace plan, the White House unveiled an outline of its economic portion, including proposals, like a Gaza-West Bank travel corridor, that are sure to rattle Israel’s government.… Read more »

(JTA) — The national security advisers of the United States, Israel and Russia will meet in Jerusalem in June, the White House said Wednesday. The announcement said that John Bolton of the United States, Meir Ben-Shabbat of Israel and Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, would convene… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An American administration is issuing dire warnings about a Persian Gulf nation, there’s talk of war and questions about the quality of intelligence. And those who back confronting Iran and those who don’t are citing Israel as a factor. If the Iran war talk sounds familiar,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration is deploying air and sea strike forces to the Middle East in response to what it described as “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran. It’s not clear what Iranian escalations National Security Adviser John Bolton was referring to Sunday evening in… Read more »

(JTA) — A senior Islamic leader will visit Auschwitz as part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Muslim World League and the American Jewish Committee. Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary general of the Muslim World League, will join American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris at the 75th… Read more »

(JTA) — The Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan will be unveiled in June, White House special adviser Jared Kushner said. Kushner, one of the main authors of the plan, told a group of about 100 ambassadors in Washington, D.C., that the plan will be made public after a… Read more »

(JTA) — An Iranian nuclear scientist was smuggled out of the country and into the United Kingdom in a joint operation involving the Mossad, the CIA and MI6, England’s intelligence service. After the MI6 and CIA questioned the scientist about Iran’s nuclear program and its future plans, he was… Read more »

This is a developing story. JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah submitted his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas. The rest of the government also resigned on Tuesday, according to reports. Abbas will have to decide whether to accept any or all of the resignations. The resignations… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Reports of rollbacks in Palestinian aid projects are emerging as massive cuts in U.S. aid to the Palestinians kick in. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that up to 90,000 Palestinians will not get food aid in programs that are administered by nongovernmental organizations funded by U.S.… Read more »

(JTA) — A New York rabbi says he has been asked by the Muslim country Qatar for advice on how to host Jewish soccer fans at the 2022 World Cup. Rabbi Marc Schneier told Bloomberg News that he was asked by Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the organizing committee… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a letter calling for a policy of treating allies with respect and enemies and rivals with caution, Defense Secretary James Mattis said he would quit his post, days after President Donald Trump launched the withdrawal from Syria of U.S. troops. Mattis in his resignation letter… Read more »

This summer season marked the 18th anniversary of Birthright Israel, the program that brings Diaspora Jews, ages 18-26, on a free trip to Israel. From May 24-June 4, Bus #1545 carried University of Arizona students along with participants from the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, and San… Read more »

(JTA) — When Ahed Tamimi left an Israeli prison on Sunday after eight months, she returned home to jubilation from friends and family in her West Bank hometown of Nabi Saleh. The 17-year-old Palestinian activist also was celebrated as a hero around the world for what some see as… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Donniel Hartman had some bad news for his audience on the largely liberal Upper West Side: The two-state solution might not be dead, but it’s not imminent either, and most Israelis don’t believe the two-state solution is “implementable in their lifetime.” It’s not a… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When the smoke from the rifles of Israeli sharpshooters and the firebombs thrown by Gaza Palestinians cleared in the wake of the Palestinian March of Return, there were at least 15 Palestinians dead and hundreds of protesters injured. Israel, meanwhile, had a huge PR mess. Israeli… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — There’s a battle going on among pro-Israel leaders, and it’s over Qatar. It’s like watching ice hockey players clear the bench for a brawl, only the antagonists are all on the same team. The folks lining up to praise or bury the emirate are best known… Read more »

(JTA) — Israel and Iran have been clashing for years. But on Saturday, their war of words briefly became an actual fight. In short succession, Iran sent a drone into Israel, Israel shot it down and took out the drone launcher in Syria, Iranian-allied Syria downed an Israeli plane,… Read more »

(JTA) — Donald Trump is just the man to get an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal done. Just ask Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister was gushing last week about Trump’s negotiating team, which is led by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. “The thing the people don’t realize is that these people… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s government may be ambivalent about the nascent reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, but it outright opposes Palestinian bids for statehood recognition through international bodies, including the United Nations. However, for one influential Israeli constituency — the families of Israelis held captive in Hamas-controlled… Read more »