Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel Sunday evening following a succesful visit to the West African country of Liberia, where he was an honored guest at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Conference. On the sidelines of the Conference, Netanyahu held meetings with African leaders and scored significant achievements in bi-lateral ties.

Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, lead by minister Gilad Erdan, launched a new global campaign on Sunday, aimed at bringing together and strengthening supporters of Israel from around the world in the fight against efforts to delegitimize Israel. “There are so many lies and so much hatred spread on Israel,” Erdan said at the Celebrate Israel Festival in New York City, where he was leading a massive parade down Fifth Avenue. “It’s time to fight back!”

The governments of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt issued an announcement over the weekend that they are cutting their diplomatic ties and discontinuing all land, sea and air travel to and from the tiny Gulf Emirate in protest of its support for “terrorism” as well as “flagrant violations” of international law. The move came following months of tensions between Qatar and its neighbors, as well as the US, over various forms of support it has given to the Moslem Brotherhood and its cozy relations with Iran.

The Foreign Ministry of Denmark announced over the weekend that it was freezing $8 million in grants to 24 Palestinian and Pro-Palestinian NGOs in order to conduct an investigation into how those monies are spent. It was the latest in a string of similar announcements made by EU governments following revelations of severe misconduct and mis-allocation of donated funds by the PA and various NGOs who support it in different ways. Meanwhile, German automaker Porsche announced recently that it will soon open a new R&D center in Israel.

Israel’s Water Authority announced on Sunday that the ongoing drought in the Eastern Mediterranean has brought the water level of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) to its lowest level since 1920. “During the month of May, more water evaporated from the Kinneret than entered into it from the [Upper] Jordan River and the springs around it,” the Water Authority said. “This caused a 15-cm. drop in the Kinneret’s level” to 213.135 meters below sea level, a point of deep crisis for the Sea and the entire region.

Violent clashes took place over the weekend in the predominantly Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea She’arim between hardi protesters and police. Protesters threw rocks and bottles at police, burned trash bins and blocked roads with rubbish in an attempt to prevent police from gathering security camera footage of riots which took place in the neighborhood in recent days in which protests against haredi men volunteering to serve in the Israeli military have turned violent.

Members of the UN Human Rights Council are – on paper – charged with “upholding the highest standards” of human rights. Does the Human Rights Council actually support human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality?