US President Joe Biden greeted by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid upon his arrival in Israel (Image: Flickr)

US President Biden in Israel

July 15, 2022 | AIJAC staff

US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week is again on the top of the agenda in this Update. While in an op-ed in the Washington Post ahead of the trip, Biden placed an emphasis on the Saudi component of the tour, the President’s time in Israel was anything but routine, both in style in substance.

Image: Shutterstock

How to handle the Iran threat

July 8, 2022 | AIJAC staff

US President Joe Biden will be visiting Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia from July 13 to 16, and no doubt one pressing issue his Israeli and Saudi hosts will be eager to discuss will be the increasing threat posed by Iran.

A year ago, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid,  seen here with then-President Reuven Rivlin, were announcing the formation of their Government. Last week, they held a press conference to announce its dissolution (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Israel headed for yet another election

June 28, 2022 | AIJAC staff

The appropriate legislation will not be passed until Wednesday, Israel time, but it now appears to be a done deal that Israel will go to the polls yet again  – either on Oct. 25 or Nov. 1. This Update looks at what happened to get here, what might happen in the upcoming election campaign, and what is at stake in the actual poll. 

The diverse 8-party Israeli Government sworn in last June looks unlikely to last much longer. But what has it achieved during its year in office? (Photo: Avi Ohaion, Israeli Government Press Office)

One year later, Israel’s diverse Government looks shaky

June 18, 2022 | AIJAC staff

This Update focuses on both the achievements and the increasingly shaky position of Israel’s 8-party ruling “coalition of change” Government, which was sworn in one year ago but is not expected by most political observers to last much longer, given recent defections. It also has an important piece on the latest “report” issued about Israel-Palestinian issues by an unprecedented  Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council, and the larger pathologies it reflects at the world body. 

A screenshot from a video released to the Iranian media by the regime showing workers shutting off the power to IAEA cameras at Iranian nuclear facilities. (Source: Tasnim News)

IAEA Board rebukes Iran; Iran shuts off IAEA surveillance cameras

June 11, 2022 | AIJAC staff

This Update focuses on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ decision to censure Iran for non-compliance at its meeting this week, and Iran’s retaliation in the form of turning off 27 IAEA surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities. 

While Iran's economy is currently in poor shape, estimates are that a nuclear deal could provide Teheran with up to US$275 billion within a year and US$800 billion over five years (Image: motioncenter, Shutterstock)

International implications of Iran’s economic unrest

May 31, 2022 | AIJAC staff

Iran is in the grip of yet another round of popular protests sparked by huge spikes in prices of staples such as bread and cooking oil. These economic protests have been exacerbated by the collapse of a building in Abadan, killing at least 19 people, last week. This Update is about some potential international implications of Iran’s economic problems and the unrest they have sparked. 

Hezbollah does not hide its open affiliation with Iran - as these Hezbollah youth demonstrate - but the Middle Easterners are tired of the poverty, war and chaos that Iranian proxies bring to the countries they operate in. (Photo: nsf2019, Shutterstock)

Election setback for Hezbollah

May 21, 2022 | AIJAC staff

In the Lebanese election on Saturday, May 14, allies of the Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah – which effectively dominates that failing nation – appear to have suffered major setbacks. This Update looks at what this may mean and includes some thoughts from an Iranian dissident regarding the latest wave of unrest in Iran itself.

Shireen Abu Akleh, the well-known Al Jazeera journalist who was killed during a firefight between Palestinians and the IDF in Jenin under unclear circumstances on Wednesday, May 11 (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Controversy follows tragic death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

May 13, 2022 | AIJAC staff

This Update is about the tragic death of the well-known Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli-Palestinian firefight in Jenin on Wednesday – and the political firestorm that has erupted  since then concerning the circumstances of her death.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Italian TV: "Hitler also had Jewish blood. It means absolutely nothing…the most ardent antisemites are usually Jews." (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

The implications of Israel’s recent spat with Russia

May 7, 2022 | AIJAC staff

This Update deals with Israel’s very public dispute with Russia this week that resulted from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telling Italian television on May 1 that “Hitler also had Jewish blood. It means absolutely nothing…the most ardent antisemites are usually Jews”.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosts Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in January: A new Iran nuclear deal would be a boon to Russia and allied anti-democratic forces (Photo: ITAR-TASS News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo)

Are the Iran nuclear talks deadlocked?

April 29, 2022 | AIJAC staff

Numerous news reports, such as this one from Politico, are saying that the talks about a renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran have now “reached a complete standstill.”

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