September 2020
The Arab Peace Initiative and UN resolutions are overshadowing the not-so-genius Kushner-designed Abraham Accords. UAE and Bahrain said at the UN this week their agreement with Israel was meant to stop annexation talks and promote a Palestinian two-state plan (more details below).
The Jerusalem Post wrote that in Amman on Thursday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan and the EU special representative for the Middle East peace process met to discuss ways to advance a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
Netanyahu and Gantz have spoken of the approval of 5000 new homes in the settlement communities in an attempt to appease leaders in Judea and Samaria. I am sure that will get a rebuke from the Arabs and the EU.
Abraham Accords TV ads and Rosh Hashanah message and Tropical Storm Beta
On Thursday of last week, President Trump’s campaign launched a TV commercial about the Abraham Accords agreement between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. That same day Tropical Depression 22 began (details below). Moreover, President Trump, touting the Abraham Accords, released his Rosh Hashanah message to Jews in the United States.
On Tuesday, as President Trump was speaking of the Abraham Accords in his annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) message and mentioning that other nations will be joining, Tropical Storm Beta (the former Tropical Depression 22), a massive rain producer, stalled over Houston.
Bahrain to UNGA: Peace with Israel was in exchange for halting annexation; Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia speak of pre-1967 lines
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said to the UNGA audience that the Israel-Bahrain deal was done in exchange to stop the annexation efforts and spoke of the continued pursuit of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia also spoke of the importance of a two-state solution at the pre-1967 lines when they addressed the UNGA. As the Jerusalem Post article stated, that vision runs counter to U.S. President Donald Trump’s two-state plan, which recognizes existing Israeli sovereignty over most of Jerusalem and allows for Israel to annex up to 30 percent of the West Bank.
Gantz at the White House with Kushner as Israel faces COVID-19 record daily numbers; cases jump to 100,000 in 30 days to total 200,041 since the beginning
Twenty-four hours after Benjamin Netanyahu’s signing of the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain at the White House, he arrived back in Israel facing another coronavirus national lockdown.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Gantz ordered the IDF to build field hospital for coronavirus cases as hospitals fill up. The next day he was at the White House to meet with Kushner and the defense department to discuss concerns over F-35s being sold to the UAE. This occurred as COVID cases on Tuesday and Wednesday exploded to 7000 per day with talks to further tighten the national lockdown, stricter than in March. Netanyahu said the nation is at war with COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Israel’s health ministry said 6923 new virus cases had been diagnosed the previous day. This was a jump of 100,000 cases in 30 days (back to Aug. 23), now totaling 200,041 since the beginning of the pandemic in Israel. The Israel-UAE Abraham Accords was announced at the White House on August 14, halting talks of annexation/extended sovereignty discussions.
Thursday, Sept. 24, it was reported that there were 6808 new virus cases the previous day.
Today a new stricter lockdown went into effect in Israel at 2:00 p.m., as Israeli lawmakers continued to argue over possible restrictions for protests and public prayers.
The COVID-19 disruption continues in Israel and the United States. COVID-19 worries are rapidly increasing in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and other European countries.