Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned a bipartisan group of US lawmakers that a nuclear arms race could erupt if Iran obtains the bomb.
Speaking during a recent virtual meeting held over Zoom, the Israeli leader said it is in the United States’ best interests to avert such a crisis and the resulting “cascade of failed states.” He added that “every country that Iran touches becomes a failed state.”
Bennett touched down in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night ahead of his visit to the White House for talks with Joe Biden in which he will urge the US president to not re-join the Iran nuclear pact.
The Israeli prime minister is also planning a visit to the United Nations for the annual United Nations General Assembly held in New York City in September. He will reportedly attend part of the General Debate on September 21.
The IDF has deployed more troops to the Israel-Gaza Strip border in anticipation of more Palestinian violence on Wednesday following the Hamas-organized riots last weekend.
An initial IDF probe into its response to Saturday’s events, in which an Israeli officer, Barel Shmueli, was critically wounded after being shot in the head at point-blank range, found there was evidence of mismanagement.
While the investigation is ongoing, changes have already been implemented, including sending additional manpower to the border and enforcing rules that will prevent Gazans from approaching the security fence.
“In recent days, the troops have prepared massively. As specific plans were approved, exercises were being carried out in different locations and examinations were taking place on the ground,” the military said in a statement. “IDF troops will act aggressively against terrorist attempts along the border.”
The United Nations and the European Union have condemned the Palestinian Authority over its arrests of activists amid West Bank demonstrations over the death of PA critic Nizar Banat at the hands of security forces.
Describing the human rights crackdown as “deeply concerning,” the UN human rights office said 23 people were detained in Ramallah on the grounds they were “holding a public protest.” However, it noted they were arrested before any events had started.
Calling for their immediate release, the UN body added that “more arrests appear to be taking place” that are targeting “well-known human rights defenders and political activists.”
A statement released by the EU representative in Jerusalem also criticized the “apparently politically motivated arrests.”
Bahrain’s Jewish community held the country’s first bar mitzvah in 16 years following the recent normalization accord with Israel.
The ceremony took place in the nation’s only operational synagogue, the House of the Ten Commandments, in the capital city of Manama.
The bar mitzvah boy, who has not been named, read from a Torah scroll that was donated by former US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner.
Kushner helped broker the historic Abraham Accords under which Israel established diplomatic ties with several of its Arab neighbors.
Recommended Reading
- Will There Be a BDS Movement Against the Taliban? (Dan Schnur, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Into the Heart of a Hezbollah Terror Tunnel (Dr. Edy Cohen, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies)
- Abraham Accords Are Solid (David Weinberg, Israel Hayom)
- Meet the Fly That Could Help Save the Planet (Brian Blum, Israel21C)
