The World Briefly

September 09, 2022

Rules of Engagement

Israel

Israel rejected calls to review the army’s rules of engagement in the West Bank as part of taking accountability for the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the territory, Axios reported. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has come under intense scrutiny in recent months...

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The World Briefly

September 07, 2022

Codifying Reality

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Israel amended a draft of controversial rules this week that would have imposed steep restrictions on foreigners wanting to live or visit the occupied West Bank, following widespread criticism of the rules, the Middle East Eye reported. The original draft was released by the Coordination of...

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The World Briefly

August 18, 2022

Friends, Again

IsraelTurkey

Israel and Turkey will restore full diplomatic ties, four years after the two regional powers severed relations following the United States' decision to open its embassy in Jerusalem, France 24 reported Wednesday. Israeli and Turkish officials said Wednesday they agreed to upgrade their relations to full...

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The World Briefly

August 09, 2022

A Fragile Peace

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Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reached a ceasefire agreement this week, ending three days of conflict that began following the arrest of a senior Hamas leader, the BBC reported. As of Monday, the Egypt-brokered truce appeared to be holding. Israel announced it was lifting...

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The World Briefly

July 15, 2022

Old Friends

IsraelSaudi Arabia

Israel and the United States signed a joint pledge Thursday to deny Iran nuclear weapons, a move that comes as President Joe Biden visits the Middle East in an effort to boost ties with allies in the region, Reuters reported. The “Jerusalem Declaration” – signed by...

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Need to Know

July 05, 2022

Pride and Politics

Israel

Israel is set to hold its fifth election in less than four years, a surfeit of democracy that is not likely to result in much change unless you are former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving leader, the BBC explained. He won four elections...

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The World Briefly

June 27, 2022

Killing the Messenger

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Israeli soldiers fired the shots that killed veteran Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh last month, found a probe by the United Nations, Haaretz reported over the weekend. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had conducted its own "monitoring" of the incident – refraining...

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The World Briefly

June 23, 2022

The Politics of Never Again

IsraelPoland

Poland is seeking a formal agreement with Israel to regulate the terms under which Israeli schoolchildren make Holocaust study visits, amid an ongoing row over educational trips to the European country, the Associated Press reported. Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz lamented this week that young...

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The World Briefly

June 22, 2022

We Rise, We Fall

Israel

Israel will hold its fifth election in three years after the country’s diverse but fragile ruling coalition collapsed amid internal disputes over the future of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, NPR reported. The government dissolved after lawmakers from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s nationalist party...

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The World Briefly

June 20, 2022

Symbolic, and Loaded

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The parliament of Spain’s Catalonia region passed a resolution this week accusing Israel of committing apartheid against the Palestinians, the first European legislature to do so, the Times of Israel reported. The vote came months after the region’s leftist parties proposed the draft resolution, which alleges...

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The World Briefly

June 16, 2022

Hat in Hand

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Israel, Egypt and the European Union signed a natural gas deal Wednesday that would provide Europe with an energy source as the bloc works to replace the Russian supplies it has relied on for years, the Washington Post reported. The trilateral deal would allow Israel to...

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The World Briefly

June 08, 2022

Welcome, Entropy

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The Israeli government failed to pass a bill that would extend legal protections to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, a major setback that could collapse the fragile ruling coalition and create a legal conundrum in the territory, the Associated Press reported. The vote would...

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The World Briefly

June 01, 2022

A New Bromance

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Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a free-trade agreement Tuesday, a landmark deal that will boost business ties and comes less than two years after both nations normalized relations in a US-brokered deal, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agreement will cover 96 percent of...

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The World Briefly

May 25, 2022

Conflicting Rules

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Israel will appeal a decision by a lower court this week in favor of three Jewish minors who prayed at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound and questioned a long-standing arrangement with Muslim authorities that prevents Jewish prayer at the contested holy site, Reuters reported. Earlier this week,...

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The World Briefly

May 16, 2022

Laid to Unrest

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Israeli police and Palestinian mourners clashed over the weekend during the funeral of a prominent Palestinian-American journalist, a death that has already inspired international condemnation and calls for an investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The clashes broke out over the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent...

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The World Briefly

April 28, 2022

Connecting the Dots

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Israel is planning to implement a policy addressing the entry and the residence of foreigners in the West Bank, a move that has raised concerns that the new rules will add further restrictions on movement in the occupied territory, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday. The “Procedure for...

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The World Briefly

April 20, 2022

Dry Tinder

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Israel’s fragile unity government faces a potential collapse after an independent Arab party suspended its membership in the ruling coalition, amid the breaking out of fresh violence between Israelis and Palestinians and recent attacks by Hamas, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Islamist Ra’am party said...

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The World Briefly

April 18, 2022

Holy Days, Bloody Days

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Palestinians and Israeli police clashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem over the weekend, the latest unrest that has followed an uptick in violence in recent weeks that has raised concerns over a wider conflict, the New York Times reported Sunday. Sunday’s clash was the...

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The World Briefly

April 07, 2022

Teeter, Totter

Israel

Israel’s government moved toward collapse Wednesday after a right-wing lawmaker from the ruling coalition announced she was joining the opposition, raising concerns that the country might head for an election in less than a year, Axios reported. Coalition whip Idit Silman of the Yamina Party said...

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The World Briefly

March 31, 2022

The Sparks

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Israel raised the nationwide alert level to the highest level possible for the first time since last year's war against Hamas in Gaza following a series of deadly attacks that have raised fears of a new round of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians just before...

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