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During a recent visit to Ramallah, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Union would renew its funding of the Palestinian Authority after the majority of member states voted in favor of continuing the EU’s financial assistance progam.
The funding, which amounts to approximately 250 million euros a year, had been held up for several months as some EU representatives sought to condition the financial aid on the PA updating its school textbooks and removing inflammatory references to Jews and Israelis. The PA responded that they would not accept any aid that came with conditions.
Some of the EU funding is earmarked for specific projects in sectors such as welfare and healthcare while the rest of the aid will be delivered directly to the PA’s general coffers.
The renewal of Brussels’ aid comes amidst a severe economic crisis in the West Bank, with the PA claiming it is unable to pay public sector employees their full salaries.
According to PA officials, the economic downturn is due to a decline in funding from the US and Arab states as well as the withholding of tax revenue from Israel. Israel continues to withhold some funding from the PA in response to the latter’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy, which provides funding for Palestinian terrorists and their families.
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Recent reports indicate that Iran is preparing to launch a rocket into space, with satellite images showing a rocket resting on a launch pad at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in the rural Semnan province. According to experts, the rocket in the photos is a satellite-carrying Zuljanah rocket.
The satellite images come a month after Iranian state media announced that Iran is planning to have seven homemade satellites orbiting in space by March 2023.
Over the past decade, the Iranian space program has successfully sent several satellites into short-lived orbits around the earth but has also experienced numerous failed launches as well as a 2019 fire that killed three researchers.
According to the United States, Iranian satellite launches contravene a UN Security Council resolution and also shorten the timeline for Iran’s successful development of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
A Pentagon spokesman is reported as saying that the United States “will continue to closely monitor Iran’s pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program.”
The revelation that Iran is getting ready for a space launch comes amidst growing tensions between Iran and the West as talks between the two sides over the renewal of the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled and there is a growing concern that Iran is hiding aspects of its nuclear program from the international community.
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Ben & Jerry’s, the famous ice cream company, is reportedly requiring newly hired employees to watch four hour-long video lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of their job orientation.
Given by activists, the video lectures are part of Ben & Jerry’s “Scooper Series: Social Mission,” which addresses racism in the United States as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
One of the activists involved with this project is Omar Shakir, the director of the “Israel and Palestine” section of Human Rights Watch, who had his visa revoked by Israel in 2019 due to his support for the anti-Israel BDS movement.
In one of the video lectures, Shakir is heard commenting on Israel’s “control over Gaza” (even though it removed all forces from the enclave in 2005) as well as connecting the 2021 war with Hamas to Israel’s policies in Jerusalem.
Ben & Jerry’s critical stance towards the Jewish state came to the fore in July 2021, when the ice cream company announced that it would stop selling its product to Israelis in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.
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New Israeli elections could be in the offing after the Likud Party brought forward a bill to dissolve Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. If the bill passes, Israelis will go to the polls on October 25, making this the fifth election in four years.
The Knesset will meet to vote on this and other bills as Prime Minister Naftali Bennet’s fragile coalition government teeters on the brink of collapse due to rebellions by four MKs: Nir Orbach (Yamina), Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Meretz), Mazen Ghanaim (Ra’am) and Michael Biton (Blue & White).
Except for Zoabi, all other “rebellious” MKs are planning on abstaining from voting against the coalition. However, without their supportive votes, the coalition is due to lose every vote brought forward in the Knesset.
Alongside the Likud bill, the coalition is planning on bringing forward 22 bills to the Knesset for their final readings. Many of these bills would normally enjoy support from both the coalition and opposition parties but, as was seen with the recent vote on the renewal of Israeli law over Israeli communities in the West Bank, the Likud-led opposition is determined to vote against all coalition bills in an effort to bring down the government.
Recommended Reading
- EU Looks to East Mediterranean as Gas Alternative to Russia (Emily Rose, Associated Press)
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- Israel Joins the Invictus Games (J-Wire)
- SoLED Provides Innovative Approach to Water Disinfection (Simona Shemer, NoCamels)
- Israeli Novelist A.B. Yehoshua Passes Away (i24News)
