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Hello *|FNAME|*,
Israeli intelligence services will help the United States reinstate sanctions against Iran, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said. On Monday, the Trump Administration snapped back into place US sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and five other world powers. China, the European Union, and the United Kingdom opposed the reinstatement of sanctions.
The sole all-Palestinian list that ran in last week’s local vote in Jerusalem failed to win a single seat on the city’s municipal council. Ramallah-based Palestinian officials had called on Palestinians in East Jerusalem to maintain their long-held boycott of local elections. While Jerusalem, My Town failed to gain a seat on the council, it brought more voters in East Jerusalem to the polls compared to past years.
Clashes broke out in the northern West Bank city of Nablus after Israeli security forces entered the city to escort Jewish worshipers to the Joseph’s Tomb holy site, the army said. Joseph’s Tomb is located inside Area A of the West Bank, which is officially under complete Palestinian Authority control, though the Israeli military conducts activities there on its own volition. The IDF bars Israeli citizens from entering Area A without prior authorization. Jewish pilgrims are usually only allowed to visit the tomb once a month under heavy-armed guard.
Challenger Aliza Bloch unseated Moshe Abutbul as mayor of the city of Beit Shemesh by a razor-thin margin. The win by Bloch marks a sea change in the city of 80,000. A large influx of ultra-Orthodox families over the last decades had shifted the character of the city and led to incessant religious friction. The first woman to ever run for mayor of the city, let alone win it, Bloch is part of a wave of females leading cities for the first time, including Haifa’s Einat Kalisch Rotem, who became the first female mayor of a major city a day earlier.
Jordanian ambassador Ghassen Majali and Egyptian ambassador Khaled Azmi presented their letters of credence to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin yesterday. Majali said the resumption of the peace process and a sovereign Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel were priorities for Jordan. Azmi pledged that Egypt will continue to work toward peace and stability in the region, serve as a role model of tolerance and acceptance, and continue its efforts to bring to an end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jackie Congedo, Director, JCRC
Shep Englander, CEO, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati
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