Middle East

Chanan Weisman Names White House Jewish Liaison

The Biden administration has chosen a former White House Jewish liaison to resume the position on Thursday after months of pleading from Jewish communal organizations to name someone to the post. Chanan Weissman, 37, who currently serves the administration as director of technology and democracy at the National Security Council, was first reported by The Washington Post to have gotten the tap from U.S. President Joe Biden. [JNS.org]

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Middle East, USA

Israel Renews Retaliatory Strikes on Lebanese Targets

Israeli fighter jets struck terror sites in Lebanon early on Thursday, renewing Israel’s retaliatory measures following a rocket strike against Israel’s north on Wednesday. The airstrikes were in response to three rockets that were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon. Two fell on the Israeli side of the border, with the third landing in Lebanese territory, according to the Israeli military. [JNS.org]

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Middle East

Hardline cleric Raisi sworn in as Iran president amid tensions with West

Published by Reuters By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) -Hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took the oath of office before parliament on Thursday, with the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad. The mid-ranking Shi’ite cleric formally started his four-year term on Tuesday when supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed his victory

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Middle East

Telling the Truth About the Palestinians

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — “If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson “During the 1948 war,” says letter-writer Bob Holden of Los Angeles, “the Israelis expelled more than half the Palestinian population (some 700,000) and seized their land and businesses

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

How three Israeli filmmakers wound up becoming the story in Africa

By Josh Hasten (JNS) Three Israeli documentary filmmakers arrived home safely from Nigeria at the end of last week, after what they described as 20 “hellish days” detained under inhumane conditions by the government’s Department of State Services (DSS) security agency. Rudy Rochman, David Benaym and Noam Leibman had set off for the African country

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Middle East

Israel: Iran weeks away from weapons-grade nuclear material

Published by DPA Israel warned on Wednesday that its arch-enemy Iran is weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade nuclear material. “Iran has violated all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA and is only around 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon,” Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said, using the acronym

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Middle East

Israel Adopts Tighter Rules in Response to COVID-19 Resurgence

Israel’s ministerial committee approved new restrictions on fighting the spread of COVID-19, announced the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. They are set to be instituted on Aug. 8 as a result of the uptick in Delta-variant infection rates in the country, according to the PMO. [jns.org]

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food

Israel Ambassador calls for Firing UNWRA Workers Who Promoted Violence

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, is urging the United Nations and world leaders to take action against the U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNWRA) after a watchdog report found more than 100 UNRWA educators and staff have publicly promoted violence and anti-Semitism on social media. [JNS.org]

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International, Middle East, USA

Team Israel Out of Running for Olympics Baseball Medal

Team Israel baseball’s hopes of an Olympic medal ended on Tuesday after it lost a game in dramatic fashion to the Dominican Republic. It lost 7-6 to the Dominicans after former MLB All-Star José Bautista drove in a walk-off, RBI single off Israeli pitcher DJ Sharabi in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game. [JNS.org]

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International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions