“Likud leadership candidate Gideon Sa’ar symbolically began his campaign on Tuesday by touring sites in the Jordan Valley that are seen as a symbol of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broken promises… ‘I support the views that the prime minister expressed here during past election campaigns,’ Sa’ar said mockingly at E-1. ‘It is possible to carry out these views better.’ Sa’ar said there was a window of opportunity to take action while Israel enjoys an administration in Washington that gives Israel a relatively free hand, because there is no guarantee that the next American administration will be better. He said the time had come to take steps to ensure contiguity from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley. ‘The struggle for E-1 is a struggle for the heart of Israel,’ Sa’ar said…Speaking earlier at Khan al-Ahmar, Sa’ar said the reason the illegal outpost in the West Bank’s Area C was not removed was that it is not a Jewish site. He criticized Netanyahu for saying Khan al-Ahmar would be removed ‘very soon’ and not following through.”

“Israel is demanding that the Palestinian municipal government of Hebron consent to a plan to demolish the West Bank city’s wholesale market, where the municipality is a protected tenant, and rebuild it with additional housing to accommodate Jewish settlers. In practice, the move would create a new Jewish neighborhood in the city.”

“Officials in the attorney general’s office have recently warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that making good on his pledge to annex the Jordan Valley could lead to the opening of International Criminal Court investigations against IDF officers and Israeli mayors in the West Bank, according to a report Monday. ‘The European [Union Court of Justice] ruling on settlement labeling will just be the beginning,’ officers warned Netanyahu, according to the Haaretz daily. The warnings come amid Netanyahu’s repeated insistence in recent weeks that Israel currently enjoys a unique ‘window of opportunity’ provided by a supportive Trump administration that would allow it to annex the Jordan Valley with surmountable international backlash.”

“If, seven years from now, settlers declare that the Palestinian village of Atara, north of Ramallah, endangers them because of its high location and proximity to the road, and demand that its homes be emptied, what will the army’s district brigade commander and Central Command chief do? What will they do if the declaration is accompanied by violence and vandalism targeting the villagers, and later mass prayers at the entrance to the village? Judging by previous experience, it’s likely that the senior officers will send soldiers to protect the Israeli citizens during their assaults and their prayers, and might even shoot at Palestinians who dare to protest. But we cannot rule out the possibility that the commanders will also find or invent an appropriate order allowing them to permanently expel the villagers from their homes, because that’s what the settlers demand. Go to Ramallah, there are lots of vacant apartments there, the Civil Administration officers will say as they come to deliver the expulsion orders.”

“On Wednesday, December 3, 15 of the 20 employees of the “Mevashlim Bishvilech” factory in the industrial zone of Mishor Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, went on a two-day strike demanding fair wages and social benefits according to Israeli law, after they said the company’s management cut about NIS 1,000 from their wages in October. The company also refused to pay for holidays or past debts owed to the employees, they said. The striking employees, most of whom are Palestinian women who were leading a work strike demanding their employee rights for the first time, were unionized by the labor organization Workers Advice Center (WAC-MAAN) trade union in September.”

“The friendship between Jerusalem and pro-Israel Christians is based on shared values, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a meeting with lawmakers from 25 countries on Monday. ‘There are two kinds of friendships: friendships based on values and friendships based on interests. Sometimes they overlap,’ Netanyahu told the delegation from the Israel Allies Foundation in his office. ‘What’s important about this group is that, first and foremost, it is based on shared values.’…’We are not occupiers in a foreign land. This is our homeland since Abraham the Patriarch came here 3,500 years ago. The word ‘Jew’ comes from ‘Judea,’’ Netanyahu said. The IAF delegation gave Netanyahu a signed declaration stating that ‘never again will nations stand silent in the face of boycotts against the Jewish people.’ The petition was a response to the European Court of Justice’s decision to label products from east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Golan Heights as not being from Israel.”

“A bus used to transport Border Police officers to a flashpoint outpost in the northern West Bank had its tires slashed and the phrase ‘go [join] the enemy’ spray-painted on it in Hebrew overnight Saturday, law enforcement said. The vehicle was shuttling a group of officers to enforce a closed military zone order at the Kumi Ori wildcat community. When it arrived at the entrance to the Yitzhar settlement just north of the outpost, officers identified a pair of young people holding stones in their hands, Border Police said in a statement. A number of cops got off the bus to scan the area, but the suspects had fled.”

“The pages below are an exhumation, digging up the past. For each year since 1989, we brought an account of a single instance in which soldiers killed, injured or beat a Palestinian. The account of each incident presents the testimony we collected at the time and then describes how one or another of the state’s legal branches whitewashed the actual event. Lastly, we bring a testimony we recorded this year from a relative or from the victims themselves. Their personal stories tell of lives unalterably changed in an instant. They were never the same again. The violence and its whitewashing are the double helix that make up the occupation’s DNA. The two are closely intertwined: without state violence, as carried out by its security forces, a people cannot be oppressed and its life regimented and controlled. But without whitewashing, the security forces would refuse to employ violence. This, then, is the awful pact between government control and ‘security,’ a deal without which there could be no occupation or control. [also see: To understand the violence of Israel’s occupation, know these 30 stories]

“’The kind of green colonialism that we see in Israel, with the JNF and the planting of trees as a means of seizing Palestinian land, is part of a historical and ongoing process where forests get used as weapons of land theft. We have to be aware of that, while we understand that we have put so much carbon in the atmosphere that we absolutely need to plant trees and protect trees and rehabilitate wetland and do it in a way that doesn’t repeat these colonial patterns,’ she says. ‘Climate change is no longer the issue that you care about after every single other issue,’ she says. Now, polls ahead of the 2020 U.S. election show that Democratic voters are ranking climate change as high as healthcare and jobs in terms of issues they care about, according to Klein.”

“It was supposed to be a normal Wednesday for Samer Arbeed and his wife, Noura, picking up and dropping off the children, eating leftovers for lunch, and working on a sink-load of dishes. ‘”We drove the kids to school and were almost at work, when a civilian car with Israeli number plates pulled up behind us,’ Noura said, describing how her husband was detained in Ramallah by undercover Israeli forces on September 25. ‘They snatched him from the car and started beating him on the head, neck and stomach,’ she recalled. Samer, 44, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an IED explosion that took place on August 23 near the illegal Israeli settlement of Dolev, northwest of Ramallah. The bomb killed 17-year-old Israeli girl Rina Shnerb and wounded her father and brother. Three days later, Samer’s lawyer was informed his client had been transferred to a hospital the previous day – in critical condition, unconscious, and on artificial respiration. He was also suffering from kidney failure and had 11 broken ribs, the lawyer said.”

“Residents of East Jerusalem say that there was always a serious drug problem, but now it has become an absolute plague. In almost every neighborhood, residents know where to find the local dealer, where the addicted lay helpless and recount stories of the drug-related violence that erupts periodically. Many blame the Israel Police and Shin Bet security service. Residents say that the Israeli authorities prefer that the youth of East Jerusalem be busy with drugs rather than firebombs – that drugs are part of the security services’ toolbox to maintain quiet in the eastern part of the city.”

“Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday evening issued an order banning the activities of Adnan Ghaith, who is defined by the Palestinian Authority as ‘the governor of Jerusalem’… Minister Erdan clarified, ‘I will continue to take firm action against anyone who tries to challenge our sovereignty in Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority acts in every way to take hold of our capital and issuing the personal order is another step in this important struggle…These days, I am promoting a law that imposes a five-year sentence for illegal activity on behalf of the Palestinian Authority within the territory of the State of Israel and we must act rigorously to deter hostile elements operating against Israel from Jerusalem,’ Erdan said.”

“Police said Monday that around 160 vehicles were vandalized in a suspected anti-Arab hate crime overnight in the Shuafat neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Police originally said 40 vehicles had been damaged in the attack but later revised the number. The tires were slashed on around dozens of vehicles, and graffiti sprayed on walls including the phrase ‘When Jews are stabbed, do not stay silent.’”

“Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of a permanent US embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. Moshe Leon, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, said that US officials had received a green light to construct their embassy in the Allenby Complex, near the Hebron Road in the neighbourhood of Talpiot. The area falls within West Jerusalem and Israel’s 1948 borders, and offers a magnificent panorama of the Old City and the surrounding hills. Leon said in a statement that ‘within six months, we will start building the premises and God willing in few years we will be able to inaugurate the permanent building of United States embassy in the capital.’”

“While the crisis in the West Bank is sliding dangerously backwards from the ongoing denial of civil rights, massive land grabs and an upsurge in settler violence, any real hope for change is being undermined. ‘It’s no easy task,’ admits Shawan Jabarin, general director of Al-Haq, a Palestinian rights organisation that challenges human rights abuses, especially when many have simply stopped discussing solutions. The harassment and repression Palestinian activists are subjected to, which are perpetrated by illegal settlers and occupation forces then condoned by the ongoing policy of impunity that permeates the military and judicial system, is a blatant bid to stymie their human rights work, and in many cases, is life-threatening. ‘Israelis use smear campaigns to silence us, they’re trying to dry us of our resources and interfere with our emails and works,’ says Jabarin. The smear campaign began after a state-owned media – relaying views of the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs – published an article accusing Jabarin of ‘terrorism’. This, he explains, is part of Israel’s attempt to derail critical human rights monitors and those who document its violations of international humanitarian laws.”

“Several Jewish groups weren’t happy about President Donald Trump’s remarks over the weekend at the Israeli-American Council’s annual conference. At the event in Florida, the president slammed Jews who ‘don’t love Israel enough’ and implied that Jews would not vote for Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren because of their wealth…Trump’s speech was met with loud applause and vigorous chants of “four more years.” But several Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, took to Twitter to criticize his comments….But for some, the condemnations weren’t strong enough.”

“Alan Clemmons is the Republican South Carolina state legislator you may never have heard of who is shaking up U.S. Israel policy. His 2015 bill penalizing Israel boycotters has become a template for other state bills doing the same thing. He led the push in 2016 for the GOP to remove the two-state outcome commitment from its platform. Clemmons now chairs ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that circulates templates for state legislation — the model Clemmons pursued after passing his 2015 bill targeting the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. That puts him in a position of enormous influence in the conservative world. ALEC had its annual get-together this week in Scottsdale, Arizona. ‘ALEC is a wellspring of learning of, by and for legislators,’ he said in a release.” [for background & more details, see this Twittter thread]

“The president has a superhuman gift for resurrecting many of the most rapacious, hurtful, polarizing, long-mothballed waste products of the sick, segregated, self-deluded America of his boyhood. He has no equal in repackaging and marketing these waste products to key voters and donors for electoral advantage, finding eager, even enraptured buyers in constituencies that other politicians have undervalued, misread, and ignored. Waste products like anti-Semitism. Saturday night, his genius was in full display in Hollywood, Florida, as he addressed the National Summit of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson’s Israeli-American Council, an organization of Israelis living in America, which hopes its hard-right GOP bent and deep donor pockets will supplant AIPAC as a lobbying force.”

“…for right-wing Israelis and American Jews who believe Adelson’s adulating depiction of Trump as ‘the greatest president,’ it was a joyous celebration of his unyielding, one-sided support for Israel, which he reiterated from the podium. For everyone else, including the vast majority of U.S. Jews, Trump’s speech must have been excruciating – and his rousing reception by the Israeli-American audience more than slightly nauseating. It would have been a field day for American anti-Semites too, were it not for the fact that most of them are such firm Trump fans. Under any other circumstances, the sight of a U.S. president serving as speaker, host and standup comedian at a gala funded and orchestrated by a gambling magnate who just happens to be the top Republican donor – and, who, by sheer coincidence, approved of Trump’s every word – could have been added as an appendix to the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’”

“The organization was founded in 2007 in Los Angeles, which along with New York City has the biggest population of Israeli-Americans in the United States… The organization’s main financial backer for its first few years was Israeli-American entertainment guru Haim Saban, who is also a major Democratic donor. But in 2013, casino mogul and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, whose wife Miriam is Israeli, started giving millions of dollars a year to the organization, allowing it to massively expand across the country. That was the same year the organization rebranded to be the Israeli-American Council…critics argue that since the Adelsons became its most generous supporters ($6.5 million of the group’s $19.7 million of revenue in 2017), the IAC has moved in a right-wing direction, engaging far more in pro-Israel political advocacy, and a hawkish brand of advocacy at that.”

“As first- and second-generation Israelis living in America often have close family members still living in the Jewish state, they have a deep connection and unbreakable love for Israel that is not contingent upon Israeli government policy. Many are traditional if not fully religious. Many have served in the Israeli military and have first-hand knowledge of the sensitive and existential realities of Israel’s vast security challenges, and an intuitive understanding of the nature and behavior of Israel’s enemies. They also understand many of the challenges facing the Jewish community in America, from unsustainably high intermarriage rates, to the unaffordable costs of Jewish day schools, to anti-Israel bias on university campuses. Israeli Americans recognize fully that anti-Israel sentiment is anti-Semitism, and they take it personally. And they also intuitively sense when American politicians genuinely and consistently support Israel and when they are inconsistent, simply paying lip service or actually endangering Israel, intentionally or otherwise. And Israelis aren’t caught up in the need to be overly politically correct. They are not afraid to tell it like they see it, although most have adapted to American cultural norms and politeness. And while many did not find the wealth they hoped to find in the United States, many others did.”

“Jewish philanthropist and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has announced that he is going to establish a new organization to fight antisemitism in the political and academic field and that he has set aside $25 million from his personal funds for this purpose… Lauder said he plans to target university and professors taking ‘an antisemitic point of view’ by going after their donors and persuade them to stop funding the institution.”

“A string of statements, announcements and press briefings not coordinated with the army have created tensions between Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and the army brass, as well as the defense establishment in general… Top army and security officials met recently at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss Bennett’s public statements, which have included threats against Iranian leaders, advancing Jewish settlement construction in Hebron and statements about changing the rules of the game vis-à-vis Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. During the discussion, the question of how to handle Bennett’s declarations, some of which officials in the room deemed irresponsible, arose. Some present at the forum even hypothesized that Bennett is attempting to belittle the defense achievements of former officials such as the previous IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot.”

“A former US secretary of defense and an ex-IDF chief of staff on Monday rejected a proposed America-Israeli mutual defense pact, saying such a measure was unnecessary. In recent months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the prospect of a defense treaty between Jerusalem and Washington on several occasions. On Monday evening, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot brushed off the need for such a treaty at this time, during an event held by the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, where he recently became a fellow. ‘This is not necessary, not when Israel is at its peak military capability, compared to its enemies. This is not something that it is correct to advance now. What is correct to advance now is the special relationship with the United States,’ he said.”

“As far as Israel’s right is concerned, the ‘demon’ — the urgent concern they will present to their voters — is this: the now very real possibility that the country will be led by a Jewish-Arab partnership. Such cooperation can begin with limited support from the Joint List, the majority-Palestinian party, and continue with an agreement on base lines, then manifest in achievements on the ground, and so on. This is the very development that would collapse the right’s empowerment in Israel. Such a partnership signals a new political agenda: it undoes the segregation and animosity between Jews and Palestinians. It brings light after many years of political darkness that resulted in poor Jews, occupied Palestinians and fearful ultra-Orthodox, mediated by those seeking conflict and oppression. Jewish-Arab partnership is the highlight of the September elections, and it’s what’s preoccupying right-wing leaders now. The daily war against such partnership is in full swing. It’s taking place on billboards with Arabic letters removed, in hospital departments, in student groups, in colleges and universities, in acceptance committees and cultural events, and in the enactment of the Jewish Nation-State Law.”

“At midnight on Dec. 11, we will know whether Israel is, in fact, heading for third elections. The Joint List believes another round of voting could boost its Knesset faction by two and perhaps three members. That would be a significant political step up for Israel’s 21% Arab minority, whose Knesset members intend to fight for their improved civil standing and serve as gatekeepers against the annexation intentions. Once upon a time, annexation was a fantasy entertained by the radical right; now it verges on a consensual issue for the state’s Jewish majority.”

“Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday warned Israel against annexing the Jordan Valley, saying that if it goes ahead with the move, the PA will cancel all agreements with it, the Wafa news agency reported. ‘As for the Israelis, we said that if Israel decides to [annex] the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, we must cancel all agreements between us and them,’ he was quoted as having said.”

“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that elections would take place within the next few months at a conference in Ramallah, according to Maariv.”

” The Palestinian Authority has submitted an official request to Israel to allow residents of east Jerusalem to participate in new Palestinian presidential and parliamentary elections, when and if they take place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip…Although Israel has not given its official response to the PA request, Palestinian officials in Ramallah said on Tuesday that they were not optimistic. The officials pointed out that in the past few months Israeli authorities have stepped up their crackdown on PA representatives operating in Jerusalem in violation of Israeli law.”

“Hamas has denied that Egypt proposed a long-term truce with Israel during their visit to Cairo. In a statement MEMO received a copy of Hamas said: ‘The news which reported the issue of the long-term truce was inaccurate.’ The statement added: ‘These reports are fake rumours,’ stressing that ‘this topic was not raised during [Hamas’] meetings with mediators.’ Hamas described these reports as ‘an extension of the incitement and smear campaigns targeting Hamas. We speculate that this came as part of an effort to keep public opinion busy and provide a cover for serious concessions made by certain sides.’”

“All institutions in the Palestinian city of Hebron shut down on Monday in protest of Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement that a new Jewish neighborhood would be built in the city. City offices, schools and businesses participated in the strike, declared by the Hebron district office of Fatah, which governs the city and several nearby towns. Sources in the city, who aren’t affiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Fatah, told Haaretz that the strike was a show of power by the movement against fellow factions and the general public, as a strike does not provoke Israel but only hurts local businessmen and residents. Sources in Fatah said the protest is legitimate and is a necessary reaction to Israel’s policy.”

“For decades, the people of Bethlehem have watched tour buses drive up to the Church of the Nativity, disgorge their passengers for a few hours at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and then return to Israel. But in recent years a new form of tourism has taken root, focused on the West Bank town’s Palestinian residents, their culture and history and their struggles. As pilgrims descend on Bethlehem this Christmas, they have the option of staying in restored centuries-old guesthouses, taking food tours of local markets, and perusing the dystopian art in and around a hotel designed by the British graffiti artist Banksy.”

“As early as June 2004, The New Yorker reported that Israeli military and intelligence operatives were providing training for Kurdish commando units and, most important from Israel’s perspective, running covert operations inside Kurdish areas of Iran and Syria. ‘Israel has always supported the Kurds in a Machiavellian way,’ one former Israeli intelligence officer told the U.S. magazine. ‘It’s Realpolitik. By aligning with the Kurds, Israel gains eyes and ears in Iran, Iraq and Syria.’ At the time, Israel was worried that the chaos unleashed in Iraq following the U.S. invasion would eventually benefit Iran. Now, it fears the same thing about Syria.”

“Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is calling on European Union members states to recognize a Palestinian state in response to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement last month regarding the legality of Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, European officials told Axios in a report published on Sunday. Asselborn sent a letter last week to the new European Union foreign-policy chief, Josep Borrell, and other European foreign ministers calling for a way to be found to form a Palestinian state. He has been in his position for 15 years and has clout with other European foreign ministers, the report noted.”

“European Union foreign ministers will discuss next month whether the 28-nation bloc should modify its Middle East policy amid growing concern that Israeli settlement activity and U.S. diplomatic moves are undermining hopes for a two-state solution. ‘If we want a two-state solution we need to help and encourage both parties to enter into a serious and credible negotiation, and this is not the case’ at the moment, new EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters Monday after chairing talks between the ministers.”

“Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, and will take military action to prevent that if all other options fail, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday in response to Iranian threats to ‘level Tel Aviv from Lebanon.’… On Monday evening, a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Morteza Ghorbani said that if Israel made even the smallest error when it came to Iran, Tehran would ‘level Tel Aviv from Lebanon.’ Ghorbani claimed that Iran had no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and said that if Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to issue instructions to attack Israel, the latter would raise its hands in surrender. Ghorbani was speaking in response to an interview Katz gave to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, in which the foreign minister said that Iran must face the threat of military action in addition to sanctions.”

“Jordan’s leaders complain that Israel’s inflammatory policies are stoking tensions among Jordan’s Palestinian population and between Palestinians and native East Bank Jordanians, rather than helping to assuage these tensions. Prime Minister Netanyahu is perceived as the chief instigator. His public embrace of an Israeli embassy security guard, who shot and killed two Jordanians in a rent-related tussle in Amman in 2017, is still mentioned repeatedly as an example of a populist provocation. Not surprisingly, Jordan’s nightmare scenario is the specter of Israeli West Bank annexation. Jordanians fear such a move would lead to a mass migration of Palestinians – whether forced or unforced by Israel. Netanyahu’s recent statements of intent to annex the Jordan Valley as a first step toward full annexation are viewed in the Hashemite Kingdom as an existential threat. That is both because of their possible future impact on the demography of Jordan – which is already accommodating more than a million Syrian refugees and tens of thousands of refugees from Iraq – and because of their devastating impact on Jordanian Palestinians, who view annexation as a death blow to their aspirations for a national homeland.”

“Honduras is working to forge a strategic alliance with Israel, the U.S. and key Latin American allies, President Juan Jose Orlando Hernández told Jewish Insider in an exclusive interview Saturday. Hernández’s strategy, unveiled for the first time while the president is in the U.S. for the annual Israeli-American Council National Summit, is especially significant for Israel as it comes at a critical time in South and Central America, where the political tides are seemingly turning both for and against the Jewish state.”

“Outgoing Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales came to Israel in May 2018 for the opening of the Guatemalan Embassy, which had moved to Jerusalem. Now, new president-elect Alejandro Giammattei, who is due to take office on January 14, is in Israel to attend the world conference of parliamentarians taking place in Jerusalem. Giammattei met on Sunday with President Reuven Rivlin and told him that Israel is not just a friend, but an ally. ’Israel has proven that it is on our side in times of need,’ he said. ‘And that’s why Israel is our last stop in our tour of friendly allied nations.’ The president-elect, who is known to be pro-Israel, underscored the importance of the Jewish state’s security to Guatemala and pledged that under his tenure, Guatemala will continue to vote with Israel in international forums. ‘Israel’s friends are our friends,’ he declared. ‘And Israel’s enemies are our enemies.’”

“Children wearing the traditional costumes of Palestinian farmers and others cloaked in Palestinian flags flocked to the Husna FM Radio building in the Jordanian capital Dec. 3, carrying with them monetary donations to help cultivate land in Palestine. The donations from the children and their families came as part of the ‘Plant Your Resilience’ campaign by the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature. Through a day of fundraising, the initiative invited the public to donate to cover the costs of cultivation and drilling wells to help Palestinian farmers whose lands are threatened with expropriation by Israel in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The campaign asked for donations in various amounts, such as $7 to cover the price of planting a single tree, $282 to plant trees in one dunam (about a quarter acre) of land and $70 to contribute to drilling a well costing $5,000. ‘The campaign is returning for its third year to sponsor Palestinian farmers and promote their resilience. We hope to protect additional lands and villages threatened with confiscation by the Israeli occupation,’ Mohammed Qateishat, the group’s project director, told Al-Monitor.”

“Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar on Monday concluded a rare visit to Bahrain, where he met the Arab kingdom’s king, as well as religious leaders from Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Russia, the United States, Italy, India, and Thailand… He was invited by the king to attend an interfaith event. Diplomatic officials and the Foreign Ministry were involved in organizing the visit, the schedule and security arrangements.”

“In a speech to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Israel and called for Islamic unity among the ‘brothers and sisters’ to confront the West and conspiracies against Islamic countries. Turkey’s ruler insinuated that Turkey was a victim of ‘terrorist attacks’ because of its ‘principled stance’ against ‘oppression in Jerusalem.’ Ankara claimed it is the ‘lone voice’ standing up for Palestinians today.”

“El Al Israel Airlines has announced the dates of three direct flights from Tel Aviv to Melbourne, the longest scheduled flights in Israeli aviation history. The three flights, which are subject to regulatory approval, are an effort by Israel’s flagship carrier to test demand for regular service on the route, a decision that will be made in the coming months. Two of the flights will operate in April, before and after Passover. The third flight is scheduled for May.”

“Israeli authorities have denied Turkish singer Gizem Coskun entry into the occupied city of East Jerusalem, Turkey’s Yunus Emre Institute said Tuesday. The female singer was planned to attend a Palestinian cultural ceremony in the city later Tuesday. ‘We apologize for cancelling the show due to circumstances out of our hands,’  the cultural institute said on Twitter. There was no comment from Israeli authorities on the report.”