‘Nuclear Blackmail’: Bennett Urges US to Cease Iran Talks; Antisemitism Burns Bright With Hanukkah Assaults in Ramallah, London

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on the United States on Thursday to immediately halt the ongoing negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Bennett spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a conversation that largely focused on the Iranian talks, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Israel’s premier told Blinken that Tehran was utilizing “nuclear blackmail” as a tactic and therefore the United States should initiate “an immediate cessation of negotiations.”

In the phone conversation, Bennett referenced a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency revealing that the Islamic Republic has recently begun enriching uranium to 20 percent purity with advanced centrifuges at its Fordo facility.

Bennett told Blinken that instead of a return to the 2015 nuclear deal — which the United States pulled out of in 2018 — “concrete steps” against Iran should be “taken by the major powers.” The United States is participating indirectly in the negotiations with Tehran in Vienna, which restarted on Monday.

The Biden Administration has repeatedly reiterated its desire to return to the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of. Following its exit, Washington began reinstating sanctions on Tehran. In response, Iran began to openly breach the deal’s terms.

Jerusalem has long maintained its opposition to Washington’s plans to rejoin the JCPOA.

Palestinians on Wednesday night attacked two Israeli civilians and set their vehicle on fire after the pair had inadvertently entered the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Palestinian security forces intervened after they sustained minor injuries and turned the two over to Israeli authorities.

Footage of the incident shared online shows crowds of residents surrounding and looting the vehicle before setting it ablaze.

📹 متابعة صفا | شبان يحرقون سيارة المستوطنين بعد تحطيمها وسط رام الله pic.twitter.com/bVL6k4kjMM

— وكالة صفا (@SafaPs) December 1, 2021

Local media reported that the two men had mistakenly driven into Ramallah, which is a Palestinian Authority-controlled city officially off-limits to Israelis. According to one report, the men were ultra-Orthodox and told the Israel Police that they had been attempting to reach the West Bank Jewish community of Hashmonaim.

British police are investigating a video that appears to show a group of men spitting at a bus full of Jewish people in central London.

The Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitic incidents, said that the open-top bus was full of people celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Oxford Street, one of the British capital’s busiest shopping districts. It said the party was “interrupted by an extremely hostile, threatening and abusive group of men.”

Video taken from the bus appears to show people shouting and making obscene hand gestures and Nazi salutes at those on the privately hired bus.

📽️// Police are investigating after yobs attempted to smash the windows of an open-top bus carrying Jewish teens celebrating Chanukah. They also spat on the bus, swore at the passengers and yelled verbal threats and abuse.https://t.co/HidI4s908g pic.twitter.com/YyWjruTx2d

— Jewish News (@JewishNewsUK) December 1, 2021

Chabad Rabbi Shneor Glitsenstein, who was on the bus, told the Jewish Chronicle that a member of the crowd yelled “Free Palestine” at them.

“Antisemitism has no place whatsoever in society and I utterly condemn these disgusting acts,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted.

The Metropolitan Police said that the incident is being treated as a hate crime. No arrests have yet been made.