Middle East

Iranian investigated in UAE for suspected terror plot against Israelis

On the anniversary of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Chief Qasem Soleimani assassination, Iran was suspected to plan revenge for the killing of one of its most senior officials, N12 reported.UAE intelligence agencies have arrested lately an Iranian squad in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on suspicion of plotting to carry out attacks in the […]

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Middle East

Sudan Deal Violates Rights of Terror Victims

A month after Israel reached agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the framework of the Abraham Accords — a truly historic moment for the future of the Middle East — US President Donald Trump announced that Sudan was joining the Accords and would establish full ties with the Jewish state. But, there was a catch. The Trump administration, eager to score a political win before the November 3 presidential elections, rushed the agreement. Sudan’s strongman Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made it clear that he wouldn’t sign the accords unless the United States removed the East African nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and Congress granted Khartoum full immunity from future claims in American courts of law for its role as a state sponsor of international terrorism. [Nitsana Darshan-Leitner]

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International, Middle East, USA

Good News from Israel (January 3, 2021)

NETANYA, Israel — In the January 3, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

Israeli surgeons used Augmented Reality to repair a patient’s eye socket.
An Israeli NGO brought water and light to 200 African villages in 2020.
Israeli prize-winning technology for hydrogen production.
An Israeli startup is developing floating video phones to keep seniors safe.
The UAE-Israel Business Council now has over 3,000 members .
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman 1984 is the most successful new release in the pandemic.
Despite the pandemic, more than 20,000 people made Aliyah in 2020. [Michael Ordman]

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International, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

More violent protests in Jerusalem over death of 16-year-old settler

On Saturday evening, about a thousand right-wing Israelis demonstrated in Jerusalem near a facility for internal police investigations, as protests continue after the death of a 16-year-old settler boy a month ago. Protesters have been demanding an official investigation into the incident. According to police, the demonstrators blocked a central street, threw stones at police

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Middle East

Netanyahu to court Palestinian vote in latest re-election bid: reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set his sights on swinging Palestinian votes as Israel heads towards its fourth election in two years, according to local media reports. On Friday, the Israeli premier was shown in a television report visiting the Palestinian city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel as part of a coronavirus vaccination

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Middle East

Israel, US vote against UN funds for ‘antisemitic’ Durban Conference

Both Israel and the United States voted Thursday against the United Nations budget to protest the allocation of funds to the World Conference against Racism, historically known for its tolerance of virulent antisemitism.When the conference was first held in Durban, South Africa in 2000, participants sold copies of the antisemitic trope, Protocols of the Elders

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International, Middle East, USA

Education for Girls in Britain and Israel

My grandchildren, who have grown up in a secular environment in Israel, find it odd that I, their (hopefully) broad-minded grandmother, should have gone to a secondary school for girls. In Israel, it is only those segments of the population which adhere to ancient tenets of gender identification that maintain gender-segregated schools for their offspring. In England, where I grew up, the situation was similar but the ideas behind it were different. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Guilty plea in Goldstein case raises many questions

Every time there’s a new development in the unfolding fraud cases against disgraced Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway and his associates, even more questions seem to arise.The San Diego Union-Tribune reported this morning that Rotem Cooper, 54, had pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he made fake contributions to the Friendship Circle, an organization created by Goldstein to reach out to people with developmental disabilities.  But, Goldstein returned 90 percent of the contribution back to Cooper, while certifying the full amount had been donated for tax purposes.  Cooper’s “contribution” triggered a matching contribution from Qualcomm, where he worked as an engineering manager, which Goldstein then split with someone named “Y.H,” who is described as “the director of a religious congregation and community organization located in San Diego.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Eight things to know about the UNGA condemnation of Israel in 2020

The UN General Assembly approved 17 pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli resolutions in December, as part of what has become an annual end of the year ritual by the 193-member body, where the Palestinians have an automatic majority of support.To put this number in perspective, the UNGA approved only six country specific resolutions for human rights situations

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Middle East

In Israeli politics, everyone wants to be top dog – analysis

“Great, just what we need, another political party,” was a thought that many people undoubtedly shared Tuesday when they heard that Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai was setting up a party to compete in the upcoming elections.“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis feel that they don’t have a home in the present political system,” he said,

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Middle East