By JNS— The Trump administration’s approach to the Palestinians represents what Mideast experts and Israel advocates are describing as a paradigm shift in Washington, D.C.—acknowledging that Palestinian rejectionism lies at the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict, rather than reflexively blaming the Jewish state for the impasse in negotiations. The purported paradigm shift comes as the…
By Herb Keinon, JPost— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that the United States will likely move the embassy “much sooner than you think,” likely within the year. Netanyahu’s comments came as he was flying from New Delhi to the next leg of his India trip, to the state of Gujarat. Netanyahu said that…
By Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum— In the words of a veteran Washington hand, the problem of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the main U.N. agency dealing with Palestinians, is always important but never urgent. Well, it just became urgent. That’s because President Donald Trump tweeted, “With the Palestinians no longer willing to…
By World Israel News— In a letter, the State Department notified the U.N. Relief and Works Agency that the U.S. is withholding $65 million of a planned $125 million funding installment to the body. The letter also makes clear that additional U.S. donations will be contingent on major changes by UNRWA, which has been heavily…
By Israel Hayom— Israeli officials on Monday leveled harsh criticism at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his speech on Sunday in which he railed against U.S. President Donald Trump, rebuking him for his Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and for “mistreating” the Palestinians. Using particularly jarring language, Abbas said, “Trump, ‘ikhrab…
By Elior Levy, YNetnews— The Trump administration is preparing to withhold tens of millions of dollars from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, cutting the year’s first contribution by more than half or perhaps entirely, and making additional donations contingent on major changes to the organization, according to US officials. President Donald Trump hasn’t made…
By Victor Davis Hanson, Washington Times— President Trump set off another Twitter firestorm last week when he hinted that he may be considering cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in annual U.S. aid to the Palestinians. Mr. Trump was angered over Palestinian unwillingness to engage in peace talks with Israel after the Trump administration…
By Itamar Eichner, Ynetnews— Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon surprised fellow government ministers on Sunday by proposing to annex the main Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank in light of the freeze in the peace process. “I think it’s time to annex the settlement blocs,” Kahlon said during the weekly government meeting. Education Minister Naftali…
By Caroline Glick, JPost- The PLO and the Palestinian cause more generally are sinking into irrelevance and rather than reform their policies to rebuild their position, they have adopted a scorched earth policy that only intensifies their race to the bottom. On the face of things, the situation isn’t bad. Last month the PLO got…
By Yossi Kuperwasser, Israel Hayom— The validity of the Palestinian narrative is waning. Will this spur a shift in Palestinian policy? Developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent weeks, and some we can expect to unfold in the near future, have caused increasing frustration among Palestinians. This is due to the erosion of Palestinian power,…