Published by DPA South Korea has signed a free trade agreement with Israel, which eliminates import tariffs for more than 95 per cent of goods in bilateral trade, South Korea’s Trade Ministry announced on Wednesday. The deal not only reduces tariffs and improves the business environment but also serves as a “solid platform” for economic […]
South Korea and Israel sign free trade agreement Read More »
International
Things tend to run together in the Middle East. Right now, Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian elections, the Hamas-Fatah civil war, the Abraham Accords, U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Iran sanctions, Jerusalem Day, the Meron tragedy, Israel’s electoral issues and American money and diplomacy are all tangled. [Shoshana Bryen]
Miscalculations by Hamas, Fatah Lead to Their Disaster Read More »
Middle East, USA
Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a US envoy would travel to the Middle East to seek to calm tensions as he implored Israel to avoid civilian deaths. Hady Amr, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs, was leaving Wednesday and
Blinken sends envoy to Mideast, urges Israel to spare civilians Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Domestic violent extremist groups, particularly white supremacists, pose a growing threat to the United States, Attorney General Merrick Garland told a Senate panel on Wednesday. “The threat of lethality is higher than it ever was … I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy
White supremacist groups pose rising U.S. threat, Garland says Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that a meeting of four international mediators for resolving the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict is urgently required. Israel said it killed 16 members of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza in a barrage on Wednesday. At least 56 people have been killed
Russia urges ‘quartet’ meet on Israeli-Palestinian conflict Read More »
International, Middle East
Whenever trouble erupted in Israel during the 1980s, “colleagues” in my newsroom in central Pennsylvania would gaze at me suspiciously. At a laundromat in the same small town, a Democratic city councilman complained about Israel’s oppression of the poor Palestinians and an Israeli gunboat raid on the Liberty, an American intelligence vessel discovered off the Egyptian coast during the 1967 war. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Israeli Right-Wingers Exacerbate Hostilities with Palestinians Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East
Here’s a quick response to those of you who are concerned about what’s going on in Israel right now. Among a number of emails/messages regarding the current warfare in Israel, we received this one from our friend Ann in Arizona. {Steve Kramer]
Israel v Hamas – Again Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, OTHERS, RESPOND (SEE COMMENT SECTION BELOW ARTICLE) By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said it killed 16 members of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza in a barrage on Wednesday and Palestinian militants rained rockets into Israel as Washington said it would send an envoy to try to calm
Israel strikes kill senior Hamas commander, Palestinians fire rockets Read More »
Middle East
Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – Joe Biden entered the White House hoping to avoid entanglement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But, like US presidents before him, a crisis is dragging him in sooner than he would have liked. The flare-up in violence is putting Biden on a tightrope not only diplomatically but at home where
Middle East strife drags in reluctant Biden Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group that runs Gaza escalated on Tuesday as each side attacked the other with aerial bombardments that recalled their last major conflict in 2014. A 13-story residential block in Gaza collapsed after one of several dozen
Dozens dead as Israel and Hamas escalate aerial bombardments Read More »
Middle East
Regardless of how the current and future violent conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians in Jerusalem will end, there will be no Israeli-Palestinian peace unless East Jerusalem becomes the capital of a Palestinian state while the city remains united. [Alon Ben-Meir]
Jerusalem: Flashpoint or Microcosm for Peace Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East
Published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA — Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff introduced a bill Monday to prohibit states like Georgia from banning volunteers from distributing food and water to voters waiting in line. The legislation is a response to Georgia’s new voting law, which makes it a crime for volunteers and organizations to give
Ossoff introduces bill to roll back Georgia law on giving voters water Read More »
USA
Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – A US vessel fired warning shots at more than a dozen Iranian fast attack boats which buzzed close to a US Navy submarine and escort ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the Pentagon said. In the second such incident in two weeks, 13 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
US ship fires warning shots at Iranian boats in Strait of Hormuz: Pentagon Read More »
Middle East, USA
Published by Reuters By Jeffrey Heller and Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – Violent clashes over Jerusalem escalated dramatically on Monday with Gaza health officials saying at least 20 people, including nine children, were killed by Israeli air strikes launched after Palestinian militant groups fired rockets close to Jerusalem Israel’s military said it carried out strikes