The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 7 November that after a meeting with Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki it had decided to enhan

                Following the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S.

                In August, the European Union (EU) released its

                The World Bank’s “Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee” released on 27 September detailed the economic decline in Palestin

                Both Israelis and Palestinians filed war crime complaints to the International Criminal Court (ICC) during this extended quarter.

                On 17 October the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to confirm the State of Palestine as the next chair of the Group of 77 and China (see Intra-Palestinian Relations).

                By the end of 2018, U.S. president Donald Trump’s peace plan had still not been revealed nor had a date been set for when it would.

                (For update of Operation Northern Shield see Israel).

                King Abdullah II of Jordan decided to not renew 2 annexes of the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan after protest had been held for a couple of days in Jordan.

                The Qunaytra crossing connecting Syria to the occupied Golan Heights and to Jordan re-opened (10/15) for the first time in 4 year in October.

                In Israel the biggest political story relates to the Israeli attack on Gaza amid the cease-fire negotiations on 8 November (see Palestinian-Israeli Conflict and Intra-Palestinian Relations).

Reconciliation Process

Overview of Violence

Following a series of increasingly deadly skirmishes between Iranian-backed forces and Israeli troops in southwest Syria last quarter (see JPS 47 [4]), the Iranian role in the ongoing Syrian civil war took center stage.

After U.S. president Trump announced (5/8) that he was pulling the U.S. out of the 7/14/2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, attention shifted to its three European signatories—the UK, France, and Germany.

After Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the U.S.

Facilitating the Slaughter in Gaza

With the EU scrambling to preserve the JCPOA and pushing for Israel to cancel its plans to evacuate and demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar (see “Iran” and “Demolitions and Displacement” above), European-Israeli relations deteriorated this quarter.

The U.S. tried and failed to stymie criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza at the UN this quarter. After U.S.

With U.S.

Boycott

Besides the outpouring of international support for UNRWA in the wake of the U.S. aid cuts last quarter (see “UNRWA” above), there were a number of new pledges of support for the Palestinians.

Controversy dogged the UK Labour Party and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, this quarter, leading to a diplomatic row with Israel’s Labor Party.

As Israel met the protests in Gaza with lethal fire (see “The Great March of Return” above), the Israeli press reported (4/16) that a number of “European groups” had put forth the outlines of a possible “cease-fire” agreement.

UNESCO

Personnel Changes

Last quarter, Qatari officials reportedly blocked Al Jazeera from airing a documentary, titled “The Israel Lobby,” on the influence of pro-Israel groups in Washington. The move followed a string of visits from U.S.

Despite personal pleas from European leaders, repeated threats of retribution from the Iranian government, and frequent assurances of Iranian compliance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), U.S.

In the wake of a deadly exchange of violence on 2/10 (see JPS 47 [3]), tensions along the Israel-Syria border remained high.

The Jordanian government accepted the credentials of incoming Israeli ambassador Amir Weisbrod this quarter, ending the diplomatic crisis pursuant to the killing of 2 Jordanians in Amman by an Israeli embassy security guard on 7/23/2017 (see JPS 47 [2, 3]

Besides ongoing talks by the General Intelligence Directorate with Hamas on the stalled Palestinian reconciliation process and the Great March of Return (see “Intra-Palestinian Dynamics” and “Great March of Return” above), this quarter the Egyptian government

The Saudi role in Middle East affairs was evolving this quarter, particularly around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s campaign to consolidate his own power and further intensify Saudi Arabia’s antagonistic foreign policy toward Iran and to enhance the kingdom’s unofficial but warming relationsh

Ongoing Iranian involvement in the Syrian civil war stoked tensions with Israel, testing the uneasy cease-fire in southern Syria that the United States and Russia brokered in the summer of 2017 (see JPS 47 [1] and [2]).

After months of tension and uncertainty following the 7/23 killing of two Jordanians at the hands of an Israeli Embassy security guard and the subsequent recall of the Israeli Embassy staff from Amman (see JPS 47 [1] and [2]), the Israeli government t

With presidential elections approaching in 3/2018, Egypt was increasingly focused on domestic politics this quarter. Egyptian involvement in the Palestinian reconciliation process and the U.S.-led effort to restart Palestinian-Israeli peace talks consequently diminished.