U.S. and Israel Renew Spat Over Iran Nuclear Deal

A row erupted between the Obama Administration and Israel following a press conference President Obama held on the one year anniversary of the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran last Thursday, in which he suggested that Israeli officials who had objected to the deal should admit that they were wrong to oppose it since it has, in his estimation, been so successful. Israeli officials reacted with incredulity to the statement even as some analysts in the US and Europe suggested that President Obama was attempting to divert attention from criticism of his administration’s handling of certain aspects of the JCPOA.

Representatives from the US-based Christian charity World Vision were denying Monday that monies the organization had sent to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, intended to be used for humanitarian relief projects, had been hijacked by Hamas for military purposes. Israeli security officials arrested the group’s manager of operations in the Strip, Muhammad el-Halabi, last week and shortly thereafter presented evidence of the accusations that they had gathered by various means over the last several years.

The water level in the Sea of Galilee has fallen dramatically this summer, with high temperatures following years of record-low winter rains and snowfall on Mount Hermon. Officials are warning that the extended drought might have long-term repercussions on the region’s ecosystem as well as the economy, as the lower levels of overflow into the Jordan River might eventually eliminate such popular tourist attractions as the Yardenit Baptism site.

The Fatah political faction led by PA President Mahmoud Abbas posted a campaign message to its Facebook page last week apparently meant to drum up support among Palestinian voters ahead of upcoming elections in which it faces stiff competition from the Islamist terror militia Hamas. The statement said “for those who do not know history, the Fatah movement killed 11,000 Israelis.” A representative of Abbas’s office dismissed the post as the work of “hot-blooded youths” among Fatah’s supporters.

Several leading Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) rabbis in Jerusalem have condemned a haredi school which is planning to teach core curriculum subjects including math and English to pupils in the upcoming school year. The rabbis have even taken the step of demanding that the secular government remove the offending institution, Chachmei Lev yeshiva high school, headed by Rabbi Betzalel Cohen, from the predominantly haredi Bayit Vegan neighborhood in order to avoid the possibility of the idea gaining additional credibility in their community.

The growing ties between Israel and the region’s Sunni Arab states are a result of instability fueled by the growing power of Iran and Islamic State, and by US retrenchment. But unhindered public cooperation between Israel and these Arab states will necessitate an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.