Israel-UAE Signing Ceremony at White House, as Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Israel and the United Arab Emirates will sign a deal normalizing relations at a White House ceremony on September 15. Delegations from the two countries will be led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince. Concurrently, US President Donald Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker peace between Israel and the UAE.

Numerous Arab diplomats, including from countries that don’t have formal ties with Israel, are expected to attend the ceremony, in a bid to show that the agreement enjoys widespread support.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership has softened its criticism of the normalization deal before an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Wednesday at which the accord will be debated. A draft resolution presented by the Palestinian envoy does not include a call to condemn, or act against, the Emirates. On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued instructions banning any offensive statements or actions towards Arab leaders, including UAE rulers.

This tone is a marked shift, since on August 13 Abbas called normalization a “betrayal” and a “stab in the back of the Palestinian cause.”

The Israeli Health Ministry on Monday registered a record 3,514 new COVID-19 cases. Two additional patients succumbed to the virus, bringing the country’s death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,031. As of Tuesday morning, there were 467  patients hospitalized in serious condition, and 134 people were on ventilators.

The coronavirus cabinet has approved a list of 40 cities, towns, and neighborhoods on which a nighttime curfew will be imposed in an attempt to stop the spread of the pandemic in those communities.

However, the heads of Israel’s largest hospitals told Health Minister Yuli Edelstein that Israel will not be able to avoid a general lockdown for the coming holiday period.

Concurrently, coronavirus commissioner Prof. Roni Gamzu entered self-isolation on Tuesday after one of his staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Gamzu will continue to oversee efforts to combat the spread of the virus. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and several of his staff have also self-quarantined, as has Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch.

Overnight Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested Hamas operatives in the West Bank. The IDF spokesperson confirmed that 21 suspects were apprehended and transferred to Shin Bet for interrogation. Most of the arrests took place in Hebron and Bethlehem.

The purpose of the operation was to disrupt Hamas terrorist attacks planned for the upcoming Jewish holidays.

This was the Israeli military’s largest arrest operation since Operation Brother’s Keeper was launched in 2014, following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists.

Palestinian leaders described plans by Israel to install wheelchair access at the Tomb of the Patriarchs as “tantamount to igniting a religious war in the region and in the world,” and a “war crime.” In response to making the site more accessible for Jews and Muslims alike,  PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the  Department of Human Rights and Civil Society, Ahmed Tamimi, has called for a third intifada.

The Palestinian leadership has in recent months been attempting to incite a new round of violence against Israel, because of its opposition to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Israel’s proposed application of sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, and the normalization deal between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi.

France has asked Israel to postpone the expulsion of Franco-Palestinian Salah Hamouri who is accused of being a member of a terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

In 2005, Hamouri was charged with planning to kill Israel’s Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was freed as part of a prisoner swap with Hamas.

Israeli Foreign Ministry deputy director-general for Europe Anna Azari told French Ambassador to Israel Éric Danon that Israel plans to revoke Hamouri’s residency in light of his continued membership in the PFLP. As a result of his activities, Hamouri was recently put in administrative detention for 13 months.

A French foreign ministry spokesperson said that Hamouri “must be able to lead a normal life in Jerusalem, where he was born and where he resides.’’

A rider for the Israeli Tour de France team was banned from cycling for four months after failing a drug test.

Swiss rider Patrick Schelling is part of the Israel Start-Up Nation squad, which is making its first appearance in the race. He tested positive for terbutaline, a banned substance found in asthma inhalers.

The International Cycling Union is characterizing the offense as a “non-intentional anti-doping rule violation.”

Schelling, 30, said he has had asthma since he was a child and apologized for using a banned asthma spray.

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