US President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly working to get another Arab- or Muslim-majority nation to join the “circle of peace” with Israel by establishing ties with Jerusalem in the coming weeks.
In recent months, the US has brokered a string of normalization treaties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
Indonesia, Mauritania and Oman have been widely speculated to be the main candidates for Israel to normalize ties with next.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — the first official visit to the two Gulf Arab states by an Israeli prime minister — has again been postponed.
According to local media, the most recent delay is due to the national lockdown that was imposed this week to curb coronavirus infections. It is the second time in the past month that Netanyahu’s Gulf tour has been pushed back.
Rights groups have demanded that Palestinian authorities free a woman disc jockey arrested after a dance event at a Muslim religious site near the West Bank city of Jericho.
On Sunday, Palestinian Authority police arrested Sama Abd al-Hadi, 30. The day before, she had performed at Nabi Musa, the traditional burial place of Moses according to Islamic tradition.
Ammar Dweik, director of the Independent Palestinian Commission for Human Rights, said that al-Hadi was remanded in custody on Tuesday for a further 15 days. Dweik, whose organization was established by the Palestinian Authority, noted that “Nabi Musa is not only a religious site but also a tourist site. If electronic music was not appropriate for it, the ministry should not have given its authorization.”
Videos from Nabi Musa showed a rave being held at the scene that featured young Palestinians and Arab Israelis dancing and drinking.
At the request of PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, a commission of inquiry has been set up “to determine what happened at Nabi Musa.”
The United States sold the ambassador’s residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July, according to an official Israeli record of the sale that shines new light on a transaction that has been shrouded in secrecy.
The State Department confirmed the sale in September but refused to identify the buyer or disclose the sale price of the sprawling beachfront compound in the upscale suburb of Herzliya.
The Israeli business newspaper Globes has identified the buyer as US casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a strong supporter of both President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At more than $67 million, it appears to be the most expensive single residence ever sold in the country. The sale helped to cement Trump’s decision to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 and recognize the ancient Jewish city as Israel’s capital.
A 21-year-old from Boston who shelved thoughts of a medical career in the United States is Israel’s first American female air force pilot.
Lt. O, whose father was a longtime IAF veteran, was among 39 candidates in a class of 500 to make the grade. She was also one of only two female pilots to complete the grueling three-year course.
“I’m really ecstatic,” Lt. O said of her graduation. “It took a while until I could feel all the excitement. As soon as my family landed I felt it. Until then I had a bunch of tests and flights.”
Lt. O, an Israel native who was raised in the United States, was trained to fly a Boeing 707. She will take on a role that consists of aerial refueling operations and hauling cargo, including medical supplies needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Anti-Jewish COVID Theories Top List of Worst Antisemitism Outbreaks (Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post)
- Israel’s “West Point” Increasingly Shapes the IDF Ground Forces (Yaakov Lappin, Begin-Sadat Center For Strategic Studies)
- Braving Raging Controversy, Muslim Indonesian Woman Hopes For Peace With Israel (Hila Timor Ashur, Israel Hayom)
- Unicorn Sightings: 15 Israeli-Founded Firms Join the Billion Dollar Club This Year (Eliyahu Korn, NoCamels)
- Israeli Model Yael Shelbia Hopes to ‘Extend Peace in the Middle East’ After Her UAE Magazine Cover Shoot (Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner)
