Yasser Arafat passed away twenty years ago this month, on November 11, 2004, at 75 years old. Born in 1929 in Cairo, Arafat’s activism led to the founding of the Fatah movement in 1959, eventually becoming one of the major Palestinian factions that led to the formation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. The … Read more
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz launched a scathing attack on European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell on Saturday night, accusing him of leading an “antisemitic campaign” against Israel. Katz’s remarks followed Borrell’s involvement in discussions concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Katz believes aligns Borrell with Israel’s adversaries. In his statement, Katz … Read more
The US-based news website Politico raised speculation that the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), was at risk of assassination over his push for normalization ties with Israel. The column, written by Politico’s senior foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi, relied on anonymous sources who told her about conversations that MBS had with … Read more
The Biden administration is close to finalizing a mutual security pact with Saudi Arabia. Under the treaty, the US would commit to defending Saudi Arabia if the kingdom is attacked, and Saudi Arabia would allow the US to use Saudi territory and airspace to protect its interests. For more stories from The Media Line … Read more
The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority expressed hope on Sunday that Spain, Ireland, and Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage other European countries to do the same. Mohammad Mustafa, in Brussels to attend a meeting with international donors, said he was grateful that the three had effectively joined 143 other countries … Read more
Following the announcement that Spain would recognize Palestine as a state last week, the Secretary General of the Israeli Labor Party, Eran Hermoni, sent a letter on Saturday to the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticizing the decision. In the letter, Hermoni called the decision a contradiction of the traditional position of the Spanish … Read more
The Israeli government might not be in the position to proceed with Saudi normalization given that such a deal requires a pathway to Palestinian statehood, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The Saudis have been very clear that [normalization] would require calm in Gaza, and it would require … Read more
Albert Einstein once revealed the secret of his genius: “Simplify as much as possible – but not more so.” His famous equation E=mc2, linked mass and energy in a manner that changed the world. He discovered it by starting with a complex equation and striking out everything that was not essential. Simplify! Presto! Mass … Read more
The United States said on Wednesday that establishing an independent Palestinian state should happen through direct negotiations between the parties and not at the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday asked for renewed consideration of a 2011 application to become a full member of the United Nations. It currently has de facto recognition … Read more
What will happen in Gaza “the day after?” Yisrael Beiteinu chairman and MK Avigdor Liberman posed this question during budget debates in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. He claimed he “heard from an old friend in Washington” that war cabinet member and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had made a commitment to Saudi Arabia … Read more
