Investigators have taken an Air National Guardsman into custody in the case of leaked classified documents that shed light on the war in Ukraine and rattled the U.S. government.
The leaked documents revealed sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, including warnings that China was considering giving Russia military aid and secret plans by South Korea to deliver more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukrainian forces.
Read More: Fox News
With 86% of the votes counted in Israel’s 25th Knesset election, the right-wing bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party leads with a projected 65-seat majority.
Read More: Daily Wire
The Biden administration is signaling that it wants to blunt any rightward turn by Israel in the event that Benjamin Netanyahu returns to power, singling out one potential ally of the former prime minister as “a huge problem for us.”
Read More: Daily Wire
A leaked recording obtained by the New York Times apparently shows former Secretary of State John Kerry telling the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about Israeli military strikes.
Read More: Breitbart
President Trump has helped broker a deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. The peace deal will see relations between the countries normalized. The President urged Israel to suspend the annexing of the West Bank region, which was a pint of contention between the countries.
Trump tweeted, “HUGE breakthrough,” describing it as a “historic peace agreement between our two GREAT friends.”
The three countries issued a joint statement saying that they,”agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”
“This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region,” the statement said.
Read More: Haaretz
This week President Trump signed an agreement which recognises the Golan Heights are Israeli territory. For years the region has been disputed and fought over. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu called the announcement a “Purim miracle”, falling as it did during the Jewish festival of Purim. This has lead to comparisons being drawn between President Trump and Queen Esther of the Bible.
When asked about the comparison in an interview, with CBN, Secretary of State Pompeo suggested that God could have sent Trump to help save Israel.
Read More: NBC News CBN Fox News
THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY REJECTED A PALESTINIAN DRAFT RESOLUTION CALLING FOR ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES BY LATE 2017 AND REACH A PEACE DEAL WITHIN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS.
THE PALESTINIAN RESOLUTION CALLED FOR NEGOTIATIONS TO BE BASED ON TERRITORIAL LINES THAT EXISTED BEFORE ISRAEL CAPTURED THE WEST BANK, EAST JERUSALEM AND THE GAZA STRIP IN 1967 MIDDLE EAST WAR.
THERE WERE EIGHT VOTES IN FAVOR, TWO VOTES AGAINST AND FIVE ABSTENTIONS INCLUDING THE UK. AUSTRALIA JOINED THE UNITED STATES IN VOTING AGAINST THE MEASURES. NINE VOTES ARE REQUIRED FOR A MOTION TO BE PASSED IN THE 15 MEMBER U. N. SECURITY COUNCIL.
AMERICA HOPES AGREEMENT CAN BE REACHED BETWEEN ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN LEADERS OVER THE NEGOTIATING TABLE, RATHER THAN BY UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTIONS.
DETROIT — The US Presbyterian Church on Friday became the most prominent religious group in the US to endorse divestment as a protest against Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. They voted to sell church stock in three different companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied territories.
The American Jewish Committee, a policy and advocacy group based out of New York, stated that the vote was “driven by hatred of Israel.”
Israeli officials, along with many American Jewish groups, denounced the campaign as an attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the Israeli Embassy in Washington denounced the resolution as “shameful.”
“Voting for symbolic measures marginalizes and removes its ability to be a constructive partner to promote peace in the Middle East,” said the statement.
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement, lauded the vote as a “sweet victory for human rights.”
He indicated that Presbyterian supporters of Palestinian rights have introduced divestment into the U.S. mainstream and have given Palestinians “real hope in the face of the relentless and intensifying cruelty of Israel’s regime of occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”
Two other smaller U.S. religious groups have also divested in protest of Israeli policies: the Friends Fiduciary Corp., which manages assets for U.S. Quakers, and the Mennonite Central Committee.
In a recent propaganda message on a jihadist forum, Al Qaeda have posted a map of future strikes on countries sympathetic to the French, following French and allied attempts to oust Al Qaeda forces from Mali.
Concern over President Obama’s nominee for Defense Secretary, former Senator Chuck Hagel, who is set to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
Conservative former officers say Mr. Hagel is the wrong person to head the Pentagon because of his soft-line views on Iran, hostility toward Israel and support for cuts in U.S. military and nuclear forces.
The UN has voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting Palestine non-member observer status- 138 in favor, 9 against, 41 abstentions. Israel had threatened before the vote to retailed with financial penalties if the vote was passed.
The move in effect recognises Palestinian statehood, and will give them access to a number of different bodies, like the International Criminal Court.
Before the vote Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told the General Assembly that it “is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.”
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON — After failing to head off a vote in the United Nations on Thursday that would upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status, the United States and Israel are looking ahead to how they can contain the damage from the approval of a resolution that even some European allies have signaled they will support.
The draft resolution calls on the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state. It is virtually certain to pass, despite the opposition of the United States and a handful of other nations.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has told the French parliament that France will vote in favour of the Palestinian Authorities UN bid to be made a non-member observer. If the Palestinian bid is successful it would implicitly recognise Palestinian statehood, and would give the Palestinian’s access to bodies like the International Court of Human Rights in the Hague. The Palestinian’s could then file complaints against Israel.
The rest of Europe remains divided over the issue. Portugal and Spain say they will vote for the motion, but Germany are opposed to any change in the Palestinian’s United Nations status. Britain remains undecided. The United States and Israel are strongly opposed to the move.
The Egyptian foreign minister has announced, as of this evening, a 24-hour cease fire will be in place between Israel and Hamas. Mohammed Kamel Amr made the announcement with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by his side.
If the 24 hour period passes without any violence both sides will be open to more serious talks.
In the agreement, Israel agreed to end it’s assassination of top Hamas officials, and end the blockade of Gaza. Hamas has agreed to end all rocket fire from militant groups within the Gaza strip.
Israel has not explained how the blockade will be lifted. Hamas believe this will mean the border between Gaza and Egypt will be opened.