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Israel has reportedly warned its diplomatic missions around the world of an Iranian terror threat, following the arrest of an Azeri national over an alleged plot to assassinate one or more Israeli businesspeople in Cyprus.
The National Security Council earlier this year warned Israelis they could be targeted by the Islamic Republic abroad. It said Iran was behind a bombing attack near the Israeli Embassy in India in January.
Relatedly, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is slated to travel to Washington next week to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as talks on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal opposed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are expected to be revived.
Following a meeting with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “We are now finalizing consultations on this matter and will soon restore our negotiations in Vienna.”
In June, Lapid told Blinken during a tete-a-tete in Rome that Jerusalem has “some serious reservations” about the nuclear accord.
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The Biden Administration has reportedly been pressuring the Israeli government to curb construction in Jewish communities in the West Bank. According to Axios, US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during their August 27 meeting that he expects Jerusalem to show restraint on the issue, with Bennett replying that the Jewish state would only build according to needs arising from “natural growth.”
Both sides reportedly want to keep the matter from becoming a point of contention.
The US’ most senior envoy in Jerusalem, Michael Ratney, has reportedly raised specific concerns about possible construction in the E1 area near Israel’s capital city.
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During a visit this week to Egypt, a Hamas delegation headed by the terrorist group’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, continued efforts to reach a prisoner swap deal with Israel, while warning against “violations” in Jerusalem and against Palestinian prisoners.
At a meeting with Egypt’s Intelligence Minister Maj.-Gen. Abbas Kamel, the delegation also discussed the situation in Sheikh Jarrah and on the Temple Mount, as well as ways to “curb the behavior” of Israel in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians lined up across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hoping to get permits to work inside Israel after rumors circulated that more would be issued to residents of the Hamas-ruled territory.
An Israeli security official said authorities decided to allow in 7,000 workers in September but were only able to issue 4,500 permits. They are now taking applications for the remaining 2,500, the official said. The permits were for businesspeople, rather than day laborers.
Israel has lifted some restrictions since the end of the 11-day conflict in May while warning that any broader easing is contingent on continued calm.
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A senior official from Israel’s Foreign Ministry has expressed optimism that Jerusalem could be headed towards normalizing diplomatic relations with Oman.
Eliav Benjamin, chief of the ministry’s Middle East and Peace Process Division, said during a media briefing that, “We’re speaking basically to all countries in the region, in the Middle East and North Africa…. They each have to decide when will be the right time for them and how to go about it. We’re speaking to all of them, Oman as well… We have ongoing cooperation.”
Israel is also participating in a trilateral water initiative with Oman and Jordan, Benjamin revealed.
Oman has long been projected to be one of the nations potentially ready to forge official ties with Israel, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco did so under the auspices of the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords.
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The Israel State Archives on Wednesday published materials from the Yom Kippur War on the 48th anniversary of the outbreak of the armed conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. The newly declassified documents include 14 stenograms from government meetings during the war that was fought from October 6-25, 1973.
The conflict started with a surprise attack on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar when Egypt invaded the Sinai Peninsula and Syrian forces crossed into the Golan Heights.
Also made available to the public were 21 transcripts of sensitive political and security consultations and 26 others of conversations held at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The materials, which include 61 different documents spread over 1,292 pages, can be found on the State Archives website.
Recommended Reading
- Quest for More Leverage Drives Iran’s Nuclear Stalling Tactic (Reuters and Israel Hayom)
- Lessons of Sadat’s Assassination (Jerusalem Post)
- Profs Denounce Abraham Accords in the Name of ‘Democracy’ (Andrew E. Harrod, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Leading Jewish Groups Launch Portal for Students to Report Antisemitism Online (Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner)
- Herzog, in Ukraine, Delivers Babi Yar Anniversary Speech (i24News)
