Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah turned down a request for a meeting by former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, international Arabic news website Rai al-Youm reported last week. 

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According to sources, Mashaal contacted Nasrallah through senior Hamas members stationed in Beirut, but that Nasrallah refused to meet with him or with any other member of the Hamas delegation. 

Mashaal visited Lebanon following the explosion of a Hamas ammunition depot that rocked a Palestinian camp in the southern port city of Tyre, and the exchange of fire between Hamas and Fatah at the funeral of a Hamas engineer who was killed in the blast, in which four Hamas members were killed. 

Meanwhile, a top Iranian diplomat in Yemen left the country on Saturday following orders by the Houthi rebels, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday based on regional sources.

Hassan Irloo, a member of the Revolutionary Guards, was smuggled into Yemen last year and named Iran's ambassador to Houthi-controlled areas. 

According to the paper, the Houthis asked Saudi Arabia – which maintains an air blockade on capital Sanaa – to let Irloo fly back to Iran immediately. The request was interpreted by the Saudi officials as a sign of friction between Iran and the rebel group. 

Irloo left Yemen on an Iraqi military plane sent to pick him up after Saudis informed Houthi leaders that they wouldn't let Iran fly a plane to Yemen to get the diplomat, the sources said. 

Iranian officials said their diplomat was leaving Yemen to get urgent medical treatment after contracting Covid-19.

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was invited on Tuesday by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan for his first official visit to the United Arab Emirates.

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The invitation came via Emirati Ambassador to Israel Israel Mohamed Al Khaja who met with Bennett on Tuesday.

The two met at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss expanding ties between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi, as part of the Abraham Accords that saw Israel and four Arab nations normalize ties in 2020, as well as regional cooperation.

Bennett thanked the Emirati leader for the invitation. "The stronger the bond between our nations, the stronger the security and stability for the entire region," he said.

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US President Joe Biden is expected to choose his country's next ambassador to Israel in the coming days, after he concludes consultations on the matter with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior aides tasked with senior administration appointments.

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Two candidates for the posting, Thomas R. Nides and Robert Wexler, have reportedly reached the finish line.

Nides, 60, is the managing director and vice-chairman of Morgan Stanley and has served in multiple financial institutions, including Credit Suisse and Burson-Marsteller. He is also a former senior State Department official under Hillary Clinton.

From 2011 to 2013 he served as deputy secretary of state for management and resources under former US president Barack Obama, and he has served in a variety of other government positions.

Nides, born to a Jewish family in Duluth, Minnesota, played a key role in the Obama administration's approval of an extension on loan guarantees for Israel worth billions of dollars.

He also helped carry out Obama's policy against Congressional efforts to limit US support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Nides was reportedly considered by Hillary Clinton as White House chief of staff had she won the 2016 election.

The ambassadorship to Israel has been vacant since David Friedman left in January 2021. Friedman was the first US ambassador to serve at the newly dedicated embassy in Jerusalem, following former US President Donald Trump's historic decision to recognize the city as Israel's capital.

The other candidate, Wexler, is a former Florida congressman. He recently received support from at least three top Jewish Democrats in the US House of Representatives and prominent Jewish groups in the US, who have argued that Wexler is well-versed in Israeli affairs and the challenges facing the country.

He was the first Jewish member of Congress to back then-Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid in 2007. He left Congress in 2010 to lead the Center for Middle East Peace, a group that works behind the scenes to advance the two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The former congressman has been a longtime advocate for the two-state solution. He has spoken in favor of allowing Israel to build within the so-called large settlement "blocs" near the Green Line that most Israelis envision will remain part of the country in a future peace deal.

In 2017, Wexler told Congress that the Obama administration's decision to abstain on a UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements had been "a clumsy attempt to restate America's long-standing bipartisan policy of opposing unilateral steps by any party."

As part of his work with the Abraham Center, Wexler has sought to include religious voices in conflict resolution efforts, bringing delegations of Orthodox rabbis to Israel where they met with Palestinians.

Rabbi Kenneth Brander, president of the Ohr Torah Stone network of institutions, said, "I don't know anyone who cares as much about America and Israel as him. He's a true Zionist whose love for America and Israel will make him a good representative. I saw that he has respect for the Right, the center and the Left within the Jewish community. I don't know any other person who can speak with all the streams comprising the Jewish community and his appointment, in my opinion, would be in the interest of Israel and the US alike."

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Turkey has appointed an envoy to Israel after two years of increasingly rocky relations. Ufuk Ulutas, chair of the Center for Strategic Research at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, will take over the role.

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Ulutas is said to hold highly pro-Palestinian views. He is also described as a staunch supporter of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been posturing as the champion of the Palestinian cause.

The designation was designed as a way to appease the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden, who signaled a willingness to confront Erdogan.

Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, has recently held under-the-radar talks with Israel, with rapprochement being one of the subjects discussed.

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Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the Jewish state in 1949, ushering in decades of cooperation and friendship. However, the ties between the two countries turned increasingly sour in the past decade as Erdogan repeatedly came out in support of the Hamas terrorist group.

In 2018, both countries expelled each other's ambassadors as Erdogan lashed out at the US over relocating its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

This article was first published by i24NEWS. 

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United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba said Sunday that Israel and the United Arab Emirates hope to cooperate in making advancements in all fields following the signing of the Abraham Accords.

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The Emirati ambassador was a featured guest at the Iranian American Jewish Federation's 2020 virtual gala on Sunday night. He highlighted the "significant amount of cooperation" between the UAE and Israel since the signing of the normalization agreement on Sept. 15, including in artificial intelligence, health care, and the creation of commercial flights to and from both countries.

"We expect a host of other similar joint ventures in virtually every sector going forward," he said. 

"As more trade is conducted and more investment is executed, the relationship will only grow. More business means more people-to-people connection, more understanding and ultimately, more shared interests."

"A vision has been set by the leaders of these countries. It is now up to all of us in the government and the private sector to make it a successful reality. We need to create a better future together."

The ambassador also noted that "beyond the obvious economic opportunities," he is looking forward to the personal connections that will flourish between both countries.

"We are going to see a generation of young people who are working together to address the challenges of tomorrow. And whether it's health care, agriculture or technology, the UAE and Israel are going to be at the forefront of this work in our region," he said. "When people get to know one another, conflict is reduced, share prosperities increased, and peace becomes a reality."

"We cannot take this moment for granted," he concluded. "Opportunity is knocking, and we must open the door."

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The gala also featured Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who spoke about how the coronavirus pandemic has brought with it "challenges and opportunities" and that people should be "a source of strength and support for each other, no matter what comes."

The online event concluded with a performance by Iranian-Israeli singer and actress Liraz Charhi, star of the Israeli Tehran TV series, who sang one of her favorite Iranian tunes from a venue in the Old City of Jaffa.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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Ishmael Khaldi, has made history before, serving as the Jewish state's first Bedouin diplomat.

The 49-year-old is widely seen as a trailblazer. From living in a tent and working as a shepherd when he was a boy, he became the first member of Israel's tiny Bedouin community to serve in the Israeli diplomatic corps and is among a small number of Arab Israelis to rise to the senior levels of the Foreign Ministry.

He served in Israel's Consulate in San Francisco, was an adviser to then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and defended Israel against the Palestinian-led boycott movement while posted in London. He also has done temporary assignments in Africa and Miami.

The diplomat, however, was involved in an unpleasant incident recently. On June 15, Khaldi was thrown to the ground and reportedly choked by security guards at the Jerusalem central bus station.

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According to a complaint he filed with Israel Police, four security guards tackled him, pinned him to the ground and held him down for some five minutes.

Following the incident, Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the event was being investigated.

According to various reports, Khaldi had previously voiced support for an International Criminal Court investigation against Israel, claiming the "Israeli hatred toward Arabs is greater than the anti-Semitism against Jews." He later apologized for the remark.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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Israeli officials expressed shock at the attack and said they were investigating the assault on Marek Magierowski on Tuesday.

A 65-year-old man from Herzliya was arrested for allegedly spitting at Magierowski while the Polish diplomat was sitting in his car. The suspect was released from custody on Wednesday.

At his custody hearing, the suspect told the court that he was unaware the person in the car was the Polish ambassador. A lawyer for the man was quoted by Walla News as saying he had been turned away from the Polish Embassy after trying to inquire about restitution.

The lawyer also said that police officers who arrived at the scene failed to document the suspect's version of events, and that one of the security guards called him a "Jewboy."

According to the police, however, the incident was caused by road rage. "After [the suspect] honked at the driver of the [ambassador's] vehicle to move out of the way, the suspect approached the vehicle, banged forcefully on the roof, and when the ambassador used his cellphone to document the suspect, he opened a car door and spit in the ambassador's face."

In his decision to release the suspect from custody, the judge added: "The act is deserving of all contempt" and is an embarrassment to Israelis. Magierowski's "only sin," the judge said, "was addressing the suspect in a manner he found disagreeable."

The incident comes amid a bitter standoff between Poland and Israel over how to remember the Holocaust and over demands that Poland pay reparations for former Jewish properties that were seized by Nazi Germany and later nationalized by Poland's communist regime.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed his concern at what he described as a "racist" attack.

"Poland strongly condemns this xenophobic act of aggression. Violence against diplomats or any other citizens should never be tolerated," Morawiecki said.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Emmanuel Nahshon, said the assault was being investigated and that "we will update our Polish friends" on what is found.

"Israel expresses its full sympathy with the Polish ambassador and shock at the attack," Nahshon said. "This is a top priority to us, as we are fully committed to diplomats' safety and security."

Ties between the two countries became strained in January 2018 when Poland passed a law that criminalized blaming the Polish nation for the crimes of Nazi Germany during World War II. Poland's conservative nationalist government described it as an effort to end linguistic formulations such as "Polish death camps" to refer to the death camps that Germans operated on occupied Polish territory during the war.

However, many people in Israel felt it was an attempt by the Polish government to repress debate and scholarship looking at the cases of those Poles who helped the Nazis in killing Jews during the occupation.

The law was softened but tensions have continued to simmer, with tensions coming to the surface from time to time.

Earlier this week the Polish government canceled a visit by an Israeli delegation, saying the Israeli government made last-minute changes that suggested it would focus on the issue of the restitution of former Jewish property. The Polish government insists that the matter is closed and that because it lost so much in the war it will pay nothing.

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The summoning was first reported to i24NEWS on Monday evening by French lawmaker Meyer Habib.

"Relations are not good, they are deteriorating every day a little more," Habib told i24NEWS of the controversy over Araud's remarks, adding that the Israeli government has instructed officials not to meet with Araud during his upcoming visit to the country.

Araud said during an interview with The Atlantic last week that Israel must decide between leaving Palestinians "totally stateless or make them citizens of Israel."

"[Israel] won't make them citizens of Israel. So they will have to make it official, which is we know the situation, which is an apartheid. There will be officially an apartheid state. They are in fact already," he said.

In addition to Araud's comments, relations between France and Israel grew tense this week over Paris' reported opposition to Israel's decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues collected on behalf of the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority over its payments to convicted terrorists and other security prisoners.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected France's request to reverse the freeze, calling it in a statement "diplomatically and morally wrong."

"It goes against European countries' principles for fighting terror," Netanyahu said. "Israel will carry on in accordance with its policy and by the laws set by the Knesset."

This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.

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