Update

As expected for several weeks, this week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had breached the 300kg limit on stocks of enriched uranium it is allowed to hold under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear plan.

The past week has seen the release of the Trump Administration's US$50 billion "Peace to Prosperity" economic vision for the Palestinians, and the holding of a "workshop" in Bahrain dedicated to encouraging and further developing this plan, with the participation of many Arab states.

This Update is devoted to the prospects of the upcoming "peace to prosperity" workshop to promote Palestinian economic welfare, to be held in Manama, Bahrain on June 25-26. The workshop, announced by the Trump Administration two weeks ago, is designed to be the first stage in the Administration's "Deal of the Century" Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

Israel is going back to the polls again on Sept. 17. This Update is devoted to how and why this unprecedented political event occurred, its wider implications and what might happen in the new poll.

This Update is dedicated to the aftermath of the major battle around Gaza that took place last weekend. It was the worst such violence since the 2014 Gaza war and saw 690 rockets fired into Israel, 4 Israelis killed, and at least 23 Palestinians, most of them members of terrorist groups, killed in Israeli counter-strikes.

This Update features material on the growing financial crisis being faced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of its refusal to accept tax funds from Israel because of Israel's deduction from these funds of money allocated for "pay for slay" payments to terrorists and their families, and its implications for Palestinian politics.

Israel's election is over, and despite the fact that the two largest parties, Likud and Blue and White, finished with only a one-seat difference, it looks virtually certain the incumbent PM Binyamin Netanyahu will form Israel's next government. This Update follows up with some expert analysis of what the result means and its implications for the future. 

This will be the final Update before Israel goes to the polls in a general election next Tuesday, April 9, and offers some analysis of what might happen and how the electoral landscape in Israel currently lies.

On Monday, during a visit to Washington of Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump signed a declaration on behalf of the US Government, recognising Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights. This Update deals with the background to this decision and why it has been widely welcomed in Israel, while also subject to international criticism.

This Update discusses the increasing clashes of recent weeks around the Temple Mount, centred on efforts by the Muslim religious authorities in charge of the area to unilaterally open a new prayer area in the previously closed Gate of Mercy compound on the Mount.