The ACLU provides a detailed analysis of how the Israel Anti-Boycott Act would criminalize constitutionally protected boycotts and certain speech targeting Israel.

Israeli forces dismantled security measures installed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem late on Wednesday night and finally reopened all the gates to the compound on Thursday afternoon, in what was celebrated as a victory by Palestinian Jerusalemites, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian religious leaders said on Thursday that prayers could resume at the compound.

Palestinians took to the streets of Jerusalem in their thousands on Thursday, as Israel removed all security infrastructure it had installed around the Old City’s al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Israel’s parliament on Wednesday passed the first of three votes needed to enact legislation that would shift the demographics of Jerusalem and set an extra-high threshold for any future ceding of parts of the city to the Palestinians.

Following the removal of recently added security infrastructure from entrances to the Temple Mount, Jerusalem police chief Yoram Halevi warned Thursday that further violence over access to the holy site would not be tolerated and threatened that “there will be casualties” if protesters attempt to disrupt the fragile peace.

King Salman, according to a report in the Saudi-owned and London- based Arabic news site Elaph, sent a message to Jerusalem via the White House, urging Israel to reopen the site to Muslim worshipers as soon as possible.

The closed military zone order that was placed on the Machpela House in Hebron Wednesday morning did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the 15 settler families squatting in the contested building as night fell.

Despite statements made by Waqf religious trust officials that Muslim prayer will resume as normal at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday, the Israeli army is preparing for violent clashes Friday in the West Bank.

“NGO Monitor’s claim to be an ‘a-political and independent’ group that promotes ‘a public debate on the reports and activities of NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict’ is suspiciously focused only on one side of the political debate,” writes Sarit Michaeli.

While Netanyahu and Adelson did not comment on the state of their relationship, a legal twist could, in fact, turn this distancing into a valuable asset for Netanyahu.

The many scandals directly or indirectly involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coupled with media criticism over his handling of the Temple Mount crisis, are seriously destabilizing his administration.