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UN claims settlement expansion setting the stage for annexation of West Bank

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A housing development in the Israeli West Bank settlement of Efrat, a bedroom community outside Jerusalem. Demand for housing there has risen as Israelis seeking a suburban lifestyle have become less concerned with settlement living. (Ben Sales/JTA)

A housing development in the Israeli West Bank settlement of Efrat, a bedroom community outside Jerusalem. Demand for housing there has risen as Israelis seeking a suburban lifestyle have become less concerned with settlement living. (Ben Sales/JTA)

(JTA) – The United Nations has called on Israel to back down after it advanced the construction of more than 2,300 housing units for West Bank settlements.

“The expansion of settlements has no legal effect and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement Wednesday. “By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.” [Read more…]

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Switzerland and the Netherlands suspend funding for UNRWA

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A boy sitting near sacks of flour distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at the Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza City, Gaza, Jan. 15, 2018. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A boy sitting near sacks of flour distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at the Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza City, Gaza, Jan. 15, 2018. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

(JTA) – The Netherlands and Switzerland announced the suspension of funding for UNRWA, the United Nations’ aid agency for Palestinians.

The suspensions, announced by both countries on Tuesday, followed a damning report alleging corruption on the organization’s highest levels. [Read more…]

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Five Jewish things to know about Boris Johnson

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Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, waits to glide on a zip line onto the Olympic Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012. (Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, waits to glide on a zip line onto the Olympic Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012. (Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, waits to glide on a zip line onto the Olympic Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012. (Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

(JTA) – No matter their political affiliation, all sides can agree that Boris Johnson, who has secured his Conservative Party’s vote to become the United Kingdom’s next prime minister, is a colourful character.

As mayor of London, a position he held for eight years until 2016, Johnson was lampooned by the media for his buffoonery. In one incident, he was wearing a helmet and waving British flags when he got stuck on a zip line that was supposed to be his dramatic entrance into the Olympic Park that year.

Also in ’16, his first year as foreign minister, Johnson was ridiculed for texting on his cellphone throughout Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech at the UN General Assembly in New York. [Read more…]

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Mahmoud Abbas set to assume chair of major UN bloc

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Mahmoud Abbas addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 22, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Mahmoud Abbas addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 22, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(JTA) – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in New York City to assume the chair of a major bloc of developing countries at the United Nations.

Abbas on Tuesday will succeed Egypt as the leader of the Group of 77 (G-77). He is scheduled to address the General Assembly, which elected the “State of Palestine” in July to head the bloc. [Read more…]

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Netanyahu and Pompeo discuss Hezbollah and Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo light Chanukah candles before the start of their meeting in Brussels on Dec. 3, 2018. (GPO)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo light Chanukah candles before the start of their meeting in Brussels on Dec. 3, 2018. (GPO)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo light Chanukah candles before the start of their meeting in Brussels on Dec. 3, 2018. (GPO)

(JTA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian aggression during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels.

Netanyahu left for the meeting on Monday, hours after it was announced, and returned early on Tuesday morning. [Read more…]

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UNESCO teams with World Jewish Congress to launch a Holocaust education website

(JTA) – UNESCO, the United Nations agency that has rejected Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) have launched a website dedicated to Holocaust education and memory.

The website, called Facts about the Holocaust, was unveiled Monday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris by the scientific and cultural agency’s director-general, Audrey Azoulay, who is Jewish, and WJC President Ronald Lauder. Some 150 presidents of Jewish communities worldwide were on hand to sign a commitment to the preservation of Holocaust memory and to fighting anti-Semitism worldwide. [Read more…]

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Palestinian terror groups say they will observe cease-fire

A home in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on Nov. 13, 2018. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

A home in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on Nov. 13, 2018. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)Israe

(JTA) – Palestinian terror groups in Gaza reportedly have agreed to commit to a cease-fire of hostilities that have seen more than 400 rockets bombard southern Israel and Israeli retaliation in a 25-hour period.

Four mediators – Egypt, the United Nations, Norway and Switzerland – helped achieve the cease-fire, according to reports. [Read more…]

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UN General Assembly approves Palestine as head of largest bloc of developing countries

Mahmoud Abbas addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 22, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 22, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(JTA) – The United Nations General Assembly voted to approve the observer state of Palestine as the head of the largest bloc of developing countries.

Some 146 countries on Tuesday voted in favor of Palestine to head the Group of 77. Three countries – Israel, the United States and Australia – voted against, and 15 countries abstained. Twenty-nine countries did not vote. [Read more…]

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Nikki Haley, fierce defender of Israel, resigns as U.S. ambassador to UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley at the United Nations in New York, March 8, 2018. (Haim Zach/Israeli Government Press Office)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley at the United Nations in New York, March 8, 2018. (Haim Zach/Israeli Government Press Office)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley at the United Nations in New York, March 8, 2018. (Haim Zach/Israeli Government Press Office)

NEW YORK (JTA) – Nikki Haley, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations and a strong defender of Israel in the world body, has resigned, according to reports.

Axios and The New York Times reported Tuesday morning that the former South Carolina governor had stepped down from her position. [Read more…]

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