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→ 20 August 2020
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US will not consent to West Bank annexation ‘for some time,’ Jared Kushner says | JTA

Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to the President

Israel will not move forward with its West Bank annexation plan without U.S. approval — and that consent won’t come for some time.

That’s what Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, told reporters from Middle East media outlets on Monday. Kushner said the Trump administration had gained Israel’s trust by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and thus Israel will honor its commitment not to advance its idea to annex parts of the West Bank.

“That land is land that right now that Israel, quite frankly, controls,” Kushner said. “Israelis that live there aren’t going anywhere. There shouldn’t be any urgency to applying Israeli law.”

Kushner said the focus now has to be on implementing the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that was announced on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to suspend annexation as part of the deal.

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→ 18 August 2020
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The Israel-UAE agreement, winners and losers edition | JTA

(L-R, rear) Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien clap for US President Donald Trump (L) after he announced an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties, the White House August 13, 2020, in Washington, DC. – Trump on Thursday made the surprise announcement of a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel is a “HUGE breakthrough” Trump tweeted, calling it a “Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends.” (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a big deal. 

President Trump announces the Israel-UAE agreement with, from left to right, senior adviser Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Aug. 13, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

The UAE is a Muslim kingdom in the Persian Gulf made up of seven smaller entities, called emirates, with huge oil and natural gas reserves. Its metropolis, Dubai, is a wealthy city known as a commercial center for the region. The country borders Saudi Arabia and is only dozens of miles across the water from Iran. It has a tiny Jewish community.

It becomes only the third Arab nation to establish official ties with the Jewish state. In addition to trade, tourism and other exchanges, the treaty means the two countries can collaborate on treatment for the coronavirus and countering the influence of Iran, a shared nemesis. 

That makes Iran a likely loser in this deal. The dealmakers are, of course, likely winners.

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→ 12 August 2020
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China And Iran Approach Massive $400 Billion Deal | Forbes

The Iranian and Chinese Foreign Ministers shake hands

NZFOI: There is much talk about a potential treaty between Iran and China that will enable Iran to circumvent US sanctions, bring respite to their economic hardships, allow Iran to pursue its nuclear programme and will give China access to oil and naval bases in the region.

China, sensing America’s internal political difficulties amidst social justice protests and a poor COVID-19 response, is taking off the gloves: Beijing is said to be in the final stages of approving a $400 billion economic and security deal with Tehran.

In addition to massive infrastructure investments, the agreement envisions closer cooperation on defense and intelligence sharing, and is rumored to include discounts for Iranian oil. If finalized, the PRC would gain massive influence in this geopolitically critical region, and simultaneously throw a lifeline to the embattled Mullah Regime.

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→ 8 July 2020
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Qassem Soleimani deemed ‘unlawful’ | Stuff

Qassem Soleimani funeral procession

The drone strike that had the stamp of approval from US President Donald Trump and killed Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani​ has been labelled “unlawful”.

A report conducted by the United Nations said the targeted drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3 that killed 10 people violated a UN charter that prohibited the threat or use of force against other states.

After claiming responsibility for the attack, the US asserted it was “in response to an escalating series of armed attacks” spanning months.

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→ 10 January 2020
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US President Donald Trump called Iran’s bluff and won | Stuff

US President, Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump is not a strategy man. He has made clear he doesn’t like to think too far down the road; he likes to govern by instinct.

In short, he is a tactical leader, a Twitter president. Tactical leaders tend to make mistakes, largely because they cannot see the long-term implications of their decisions.

On Iran, however, President Donald Trump has not made a mistake.

His tactical game has worked, at least for the moment. He has called Iran’s bluff, taken out one of its most valuable leaders and, so far, made the correct calculation that Tehran will not risk a wider war with the United States.

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→ 6 January 2020
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What the killing of the top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani means for Jews, the US and Israel | JTA

Crowds gather for Suleimani’s Funeral Procession

A U.S. strike on a vehicle near Baghdad airport early Friday morning killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most influential military commander. Soleimani was the leader of the Iranian Quds Force, which had ties to American and Israeli enemies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and was directly responsible for some of the actions against Israel in Hezbollah’s war against the Jewish state in 2006.

Washington has been gripped by talk about what comes next — a real war between the U.S. and Iran? Iranian strikes on Israel? a string reaction of chaos across the Middle East? — but little actual insight as to what may ensue.

Still, there are already signs that one possible outcome is being taken seriously: attacks on domestic targets, including Jewish ones, like the gathering this weekend of what could be thousands of Jews to protest anti-Semitism in New York City. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that he had spoken with top police officials about “immediate steps” the NYPD will take to protect key city locations from “any attempt by Iran or its terrorist allies to retaliate against America.”

Here’s what you need to know about the assassination, and what it means for American Jews and Israel.

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→ 19 November 2019
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Trump administration says Israel’s West Bank settlements do not violate international law | Washington Post

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Monday that Israeli settlements in the West Bank do not violate international law.

Pompeo said the Trump administration, as it did with recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, had simply “recognized the reality on the ground.”

In remarks to reporters at the State Department, he said the administration was overturning actions taken late in the Obama administration, which for the first time declined to veto a United Nations resolution calling for the dismantlement of West Bank settlements.

Instead, Pompeo said, the administration said it was returning to policy under the administration of Ronald Reagan, who declined to characterize settlements as illegal but called them “ill-advised” and an obstacle to peace.

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→ 8 April 2019
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Israel’s election: As voters head to polls, it’s all about Netanyahu | NZ Herald

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel’s election campaign has been a three-month roller coaster of mudslinging, scandals and more scandals.

But when voters head to the polls tomorrow, one name will be predominantly on their minds: Benjamin Netanyahu.

At its core, the vote boils down to a referendum on Netanyahu, the man who has dominated Israeli politics for the better part of three decades.

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→ 2 April 2019
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US President Donald Trump formally recognises Israeli control of Golan Heights | NZ Herald

Trump and Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Monday recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing more than a half-century of US policy.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump made formal a move he announced in a tweet last week. The president said it was time for the US to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.

Netanyahu had pressed for such recognition for months. Trump’s action gives him a political boost weeks before what’s expected to be a close Israeli election.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war but its sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the international community.

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→ 16 January 2019
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Israeli PM confirms weekend strikes in Syria against Iran | NZ Herald

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel’s prime minister says the country struck an Iranian weapons storage facility over the weekend at the Damascus International Airport.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on Sunday at his weekly Cabinet meeting mark a rare public acknowledgement of Israeli activity in Syria. Advertisement

Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets throughout the Syrian civil war but has generally refrained from commenting about them for fear of being drawn into the fighting.

Only recently has it begun to speak publicly about thwarting the weapons smuggling from Iran through Styria into Lebanon. Israel’s outgoing military chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, did so over the weekend in various interviews.

Netanyahu says Israel says the recent strikes prove “we are committed more than ever to act against Iran in Syria.”

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