Middle East diplomacy - Page 19

The Jerusalem Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned his cabinet ministers not to turn to the media with their predictions of what US President-elect Donald Trump’s policy will be toward Israel. “Allow the incoming administration to formulate – together

Before Donald Trump won the presidency, Democratic foreign policy circles hummed with talk that an outgoing President Barack Obama could take a last stab at peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Despite a finding published by the UN’s atomic energy agency this week that Iran has — for the second time — stockpiled more heavy water than permitted under the terms of the nuclear agreement it reached with six world powers last year, the US State Department is declining to acknowledge this as a violation of the deal.

US president-elect Donald Trump pledged Friday to work for a “just, lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians, in his first public message on the issue since his upset victory.

Israel will prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, and will continue to intervene to stop Iran arming Hezbollah and other Shiite militias there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday in Jerusalem.

The Egyptian army as stepped up its campaign against Islamic State loyalists in the Sinai Peninsula against the backdrop of a warming of relations between Cairo and Tehran.

An Egyptian lawmaker celebrated Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential elections as “a strong message against Islamists.”

Uncertainty spread across the Middle East following Donald Trump’s US election win, with questions hanging over the war against the Islamic State group, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran’s nuclear deal.

Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president on Wednesday drew concern among Syrian rebel groups and a degree of optimism in Damascus, where his victory was seen as a better outcome than a Hillary Clinton win.

Israel is the greatest threat to humanity, Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday, during a meeting in Beirut with leaders of Palestinian terrorist groups.

Interpol has suspended applications from Palestine, Kosovo and Solomon Islands to join the international police organization, a decision hailed by Israel as a “triumph” for its diplomacy.

On November 15, following multiple delays, the Foreign Ministry’s appointments committee is scheduled to choose Israel’s new ambassador to Turkey.

Fijian Prime minister Frank Bainimarama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, during a state visit to Israel.

Hamas has stepped up measures against Islamic State loyalists in the Gaza Strip, an official in the movement told Breitbart Jerusalem.

Russia on Monday said its air force was continuing to hold off on strikes against war-ravaged Aleppo, after rebels snubbed Moscow’s offer to quit Syria’s second city.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Avi Dichter (Likud), said Sunday that he would speak with his Russian counterparts about their support for the “scandalous and unconscionable” resolutions recently passed by UNESCO that ignored the Jewish connection to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

President Bashar al-Assad claimed Western powers are “becoming much weaker” in Syria, in a confident interview published in The Sunday Times.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a public plea Sunday for the US continue its support for Israel and not seek a UN resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “whoever wins” Tuesday’s election.

The Palestinian government will protest against a delay in its application to join the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) at the body’s annual conference next week, an official said Friday.

Old disputes between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran resurfaced at a meeting of OPEC experts last week, with Riyadh threatening to raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.

Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis signed an agreement on Wednesday that will promote cooperation between Israeli and Canadian universities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday told visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella that Israel was “gravely disappointed” by Italy’s abstention in a UNESCO vote last month that ignored Jewish and Christian links to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, but was heartened to hear a subsequent pledge from Italy’s prime minister that it would oppose such resolutions in the future.

The Middle East has few bright spots these days, but one is the budding rapprochement between Israel and its Sunni Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, thanks to shared threats from Iran and Islamic State.

Iran’s judiciary has issued verdicts for 20 people accused of storming Saudi diplomatic missions in January and will announce them in the near future, an official was quoted as saying by the judiciary news agency on Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew visited Israel for talks on the Iran nuclear deal and other issues. The visit on Sunday came just weeks after the United States and Israel signed a $38 billion defense assistance deal.

The IDF is in a panic about the Russian military’s presence and deployment of sophisticated weaponry in the region, Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Sunday.

A pro-Palestinian group funded a 2009 visit by Jeremy Corbyn, the current leader of the U.K. Labour Party, to Syria, where he met with President Bashar Assad, English-language reports said this week.

The head of US military operations in the Middle East wrapped up an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, amid mounting friction over the kingdom’s bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen.

A dispute between Iraq and Turkey has emerged as a dramatic geopolitical sideshow to the complicated military campaign to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from the Islamic State.

Amid Russia’s stepped up military activity in Syria and increased tension between Moscow and Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, while Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to come for a visit on November 10.

Forces loyal to Libya’s unity government on Saturday freed 13 foreigners held by the Islamic State group in its former coastal bastion of Sirte, the forces said.

The UN human rights council opened a special session on Syria’s devastated city Aleppo on Friday, with rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein demanding action against “crimes of historic proportions.”

The Russian and Syrian bombing raids in Aleppo have had horrific results with nearly 500 dead, while food rations are expected to run out by the end of the month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

Iran said on Wednesday it would accept no US “interference” after Washington demanded the release of a dual national and his 80-year-old father given 10 year sentences for espionage.

Once the battle of Mosul is complete and if the Islamic State eradicated, the Iraqi government plans to enhance ties with Russia, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem.

Iran has rejected remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry that its policies in Syria and Yemen are blocking efforts to encourage banks to do business with it.