diplomacy

JERUSALEM – Vice President Mike Pence was photographed Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of a painting of the Jewish Temple in the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday rallied against antisemitism, saying it “haunts our present time”, during a visit to Jerusalem to commemorate Holocaust victims.

Pope Francis has sent a message to the World Economic Forum at Davos Tuesday, condemning the isolationism and individualism that “characterizes too much contemporary debate.”

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif  has cancelled a planned appearance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos after its organizers “abruptly changed its agenda”, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

CLAIM: The nuclear deal with Iran was “working” before Trump pulled out. VERDICT: False. It allowed Iran to become a nuclear power on expiration.

Media based in or run by the Iranian authoritarian regime spent much of Monday and Tuesday publishing articles touting friendly relations with China in their English-language outlets. This follows a week in which China has largely remained silent about Iran losing its top terrorist mastermind and Chinese media blasted Iran’s military as “incompetent.”

President Donald Trump sent his greetings to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un this week after the country’s communist regime held a series of mass rallies and celebrations to celebrate his 36th birthday. 

TEL AVIV – President Donald Trump on Wednesday discussed “critical bilateral and regional issues” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an Iranian missile strike on U.S. bases in Iraq, the White House said.

Trump: “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.”

Analysts are reluctantly concluding that Iran’s retaliation Tuesday night for the strike on General Qasem Soleimani, in which there were no U.S. casualties from over a dozen missiles, is a policy “win” for President Donald Trump.

The Chinese government newspaper Global Times published a column Tuesday repeating a conspiracy theory growing popular among Democrat circles in Washington: that President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike against Iranian terror chief Qasem Soleimani to distract from impeachment proceedings.

Actress Rose McGowan apologized on behalf of America for the U.S. military airstrike near Baghdad’s airport that killed Tehran’s top general Qassem Soleimani. 

This year marked the 35th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See.

China, Russia and Iran will hold joint naval drills starting Friday in the Gulf of Oman, Beijing said, at a time of heightened tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

TEL AVIV – Australia has joined the U.S. in rejecting the top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court’s proposed investigation into Israel for unsubstantiated war crimes claimed by the Palestinians, while Germany, on the other hand, has expressed its support for the probe.

TEL AVIV – Amid the controversy surrounding the International Criminal Court’s proposed probe into Israel for unsubstantiated war crimes claimed by the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday repeated his campaign pledge to annex all West Bank settlements as well as the Jordan Valley.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a signing ceremony to confirm the first phase of the trade deal agreed to this month.

TEL AVIV – A UN anti-racism panel has given approval to investigate Palestinian complaints that Israel’s activities in the West Bank are tantamount to apartheid, despite the international body’s legal adviser in the past declaring that such an investigation would be outside its jurisdiction. 

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday charged the International Criminal Court of “pure anti-Semitism” over its announcement that it will investigate so-called Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

TEL AVIV – The United Arab Emirates’ top diplomat on Saturday tweeted an article lauding an emerging Arab-Israel alliance, prompting a tweet from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he welcomed Israel’s warming ties with the Arab world. 

TEL AVIV – Hamas over the weekend praised the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate alleged war crimes by both Israel and the terror group itself.  

Lest anyone be in any doubt about Iran’s continued hostile feelings towards “great satan” America, a spokesman on Friday called U.S. foreign policy “delusional” and its chief diplomat a “loudspeaker for bullying, deceit and disdain.”

Prince Charles will pay his first official state visit to Israel in January to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

JERUSALEM – Brazil will relocate the country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged at the opening of a new trade mission in the capital.

Australia’s conservative coalition government wants to strike a free trade deal with the UK as soon as possible in the wake of last week’s election result that puts Britain on a path to leave the European Union early next year.

Given the hostility from the U.S. and other Western countries, foreign allies matter a great deal to Venezuela. Luckily for the regime, a cheap supply of oil also matters a great deal to its allies.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is refusing to rule out rewarding some of his top political donors with ambassadorships if elected in 2020.

President Trump, unlike his predecessor, put Iran’s regime on the defensive. Now is no time to let them off the hook.

The White House approached several Arab states to encourage them to reach non-belligerence agreements with Israel, according to Israeli, Arab and U.S. sources.

President Donald Trump responded Wednesday to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s hot mic moment that went viral online.