The congresswoman had been scheduled to take part in the October 20th virtual event, which is being organized by the Americans for Peace Now organization to mark the 25th anniversary of Rabin's assassination. It will be hosted by American Jewish actor Mandy Patinkin.

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After initially agreeing to attend the event, Ocasio-Cortez said her participation was under review, following criticism on social media of Rabin and his legacy.

"So AOC is doing a memorial event for Yitzhak Rabin. In the US Rabin is viewed as a liberal peacemaker but Palestinians remember him for his brutal rule suppressing Palestinian protest during the First Intifada, as someone who reportedly ordered the breaking of Palestinian bones," wrote Alex Kane, a writer at the left-wing +972 Magazine.

Hey there - this event and my involvement was presented to my team differently from how it's now being promoted.

Thanks for pointing it out. Taking a look into this now.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2020

A number of pro-Palestinian groups and figures lambasted Ocasio-Cortez as well for agreeing to attend, describing Rabin as a war criminal for repressing the First Intifada as defense minister from 1987-1990, among other allegations.

The Adalah Justice Project, a Palestinian advocacy group in the US, first tweeted Friday that Ocasio-Cortez had pulled out of the Rabin commemoration.

"His legacy is one of violence and dispossession for Palestinians. Thank you AOC for listening to the lived experience of the Palestinian people," the group wrote on Twitter.

Ocasio-Cortez responded Friday by tweeting that Americans for Peace Now had originally presented the event differently to her staff and that she would reconsider participating.

"Hey there − this event and my involvement was presented to my team differently from how it's now being promoted. Thanks for pointing it out. Taking a look into this now."

Former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro responded on Twitter, saying that if Ocasio-Cortez was "getting some bad advice, or undue pressure, to rethink her participation in a Yitzhak Rabin memorial, I hope she will not back down. Honoring Rabin, an Israeli patriot killed for trying to make peace, in no way detracts from a commitment to Palestinians' rights."

If @AOC is getting some bad advice, or undue pressure, to rethink her participation in a Yitzhak Rabin memorial, I hope she will not back down. Honoring Rabin, an Israeli patriot killed for trying to make peace, in no way detracts from a commitment to Palestinians' rights.

— Dan Shapiro (@DanielBShapiro) September 25, 2020

Rabin's granddaughter, Noa Rothman, also decried the US congresswoman's decision via Twitter, noting it was her late grandfather who said one makes peace with enemies, not with friends. "Due to This brave historical act he was assassinated. But off course Populism is easier," Rothman wrote.

After all, it was my late grandfather Itzhak Rabin, who said: You make peace with your enemies- not with your friends. Due to This brave historical act he was assassinated. But off course Populism is easier. @AOC https://t.co/LU9Mg0PTQC

— נעה רוטמן (@noarothman) September 26, 2020

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According to the report, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria, Israel's neighbor to the north where Russia has a considerable military presence, as well as the recent rapprochement between the United Arab Emirates and the Jewish state.

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Earlier this month, Russia became the first country to officially register a coronavirus vaccine. The Kremlin said that medical workers, teachers, and other at-risk groups will be the first to be inoculated.

Moscow's Health Ministry further said that the vaccine was expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years.

Russian officials have said that large-scale production of the vaccine will start in September, and mass vaccination may begin as early as October.

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WHO Emergencies Director Dr. Mike Ryan told reporters that there was "no use" in trying to predict when the virus, which has so far infected over 4 million people worldwide and claimed 297,000 lives, would disappear.

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He added that even if a vaccine is found, controlling the virus will require a "massive effort."

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses first identified in humans in the mid-1960s. Some cause the common cold, while others, found in bats, camels, and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses. The COVID-19 pandemic, named for the year in which it erupted, is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS‑CoV‑2.

"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," Ryan told the virtual press conference from Geneva.

"HIV has not gone away – but we have come to terms with the virus."

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions known since 1981. With no known vaccine or cure, it is considered an ongoing global pandemic.

According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, as of 2018, there were approximately 37.9 million people across the globe with HIV/AIDS. Of these, 36.2 million were adults and 1.7 million were children under the age of 15. About 1.7 million individuals worldwide became infected with HIV every year.

Ryan then said he doesn't believe "anyone can predict" when COVID-19 disease will disappear.

While there are currently more than 100 potential vaccines in development, Ryan noted there are other illnesses, such as measles, that still haven't been eliminated despite there being vaccines for them.

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was still possible to control the pandemic, with effort.

"The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic," he said.

WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told reporters, "We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic.

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Pompeo will make the lightning trip to Jerusalem to see Netanyahu and his new coalition partner Benny Gantz on Wednesday as the Trump administration tries to return to business as normal by resuming governmental travel and reopening an economy devastated by the COVID-19 outbreak. The State Department formally announced the trip more than a week after plans for it first surfaced and a day after some Israeli media outlets reported it.

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Pompeo will "discuss US and Israeli efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as regional security issues related to Iran's malign influence," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

"The US commitment to Israel has never been stronger than under President Trump's leadership. The United States and Israel will face threats to the security and prosperity of our peoples together. In challenging times, we stand by our friends, and our friends stand by us."

The top US diplomat for the Middle East, David Schenker, declined to comment on the status of the annexation discussions, noting that a joint US-Israeli mapping committee had not yet completed its work in determining the specific boundaries that might be proposed by Israel or accepted by the United States.

Pompeo and his small traveling party will need exemptions from Israel's own virus restrictions that bar foreign visitors from entering and require returning Israelis to self-quarantine for 14 days. Pompeo will be on the ground in Israel for only several hours on Wednesday before returning to Washington from his first overseas trip since making an unannounced visit to Afghanistan in March.

Dr. William Walters, the State Department's deputy director of medical operations, said the visit would be "highly choreographed" with Pompeo and his party undergoing frequent medical checks and wearing protective masks when necessary. Walters said there would be no quarantine imposed on the traveling party.

Schenker said Pompeo was making the trip "at the invitation of the Israeli government" to show the strong relationship between the new nations at a period of global unease over the pandemic. "We're such a close ally, I think it's important," he told reporters on a conference call.

He said threats posed by Iran to Israel, the Middle East and beyond would be a prime topic of conversation, along with US concerns about potential Israeli commercial activity with China. "Business with the Chinese is an issue of concern for us with Israel and across the region," he said. "We speak often to our friends in Israel about these risks."

Pompeo's arrival will coincide with the swearing-in of Israel's new government, which is expected to be sworn in on May 13.

Annexation advocates believe they have a narrow window to redraw the Mideast map before November's US presidential election. They also believe it would give Trump a boost with pro-Israel voters, particularly the politically influential evangelical Christian community. The presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, has said he opposed unilateral moves by Israel in keeping with what had been decades of US policy prior to Trump.

The annexation agreement says that any step must be coordinated with the US while also keeping regional stability and peace agreements in consideration.

Netanyahu's plan to annex the large settlement blocs in Judean and Samaria has been met with harsh criticism from nearly the entire international community, including Washington's European allies and key Arab partners, with the prominent exception of the United States. President Donald Trump's much-vaunted Mideast peace plan allows for the possibility of US recognition of such annexations provided Israel agrees to negotiate under the framework of the proposal that was unveiled in January.

That plan calls for the creation of a Palestinian state but gives it limited autonomy on a fraction of the land it has sought. The Palestinians have rejected the proposal outright.

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"As for the annexation of the West Bank, the Israelis will ultimately make those decisions," Pompeo told reporters. "That's an Israeli decision. And we will work closely with them to share with them our views of this in (a) private setting."

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Pompeo also said he was "happy" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on Monday to form a national emergency government, saying he did not think a fourth Israeli election was in Israel's interest.

The coalition agreement says that while the new government will strive for peace and regional stability, plans to extend Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements in the West Bank - land the Palestinians seek for a state – could advance.

The move would mean a de-facto annexation of territory that Israel seized in the 1967 Six-Day War. It would have to be greenlighted by the United States, after which Netanyahu would be permitted to advance the plans from July 1, the agreement says.

Pompeo's comment drew condemnation from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said his administration would view all agreements with Israel and the United States as "completely canceled" if Israel annexes land in the West Bank.

"We have informed the relevant international parties, including the American and the Israeli governments, that we will not stand hand-cuffed if Israel announces the annexation of any part of our land," Abbas said on Palestine TV.

According to Abbas' office, the televised remarks were recorded shortly before Pompeo made his statement. However, in the wake of that statement, Abbas reviewed his own recorded remarks and approved them for broadcast, Abbas' office said.

The Palestinians and many countries regard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and political connections to the land.

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Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions who was known for a forensic attention to detail when opposing the country's exit from the European Union, won 56% of the votes.

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The comprehensive defeat of an ally of outgoing Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the election of Angela Rayner as Starmer's deputy, heralds the end of the party leadership's embrace of radical socialism that was crushed in the December election.

Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey came second in the party's vote with 28% and Lisa Nandy was third with 16%. Many centrist Labour politicians celebrated the result as a sign that the government would finally face proper scrutiny.

Starmer, who takes over immediately, said he would work constructively with the government when it was the right thing to do while testing Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson's arguments and challenging the failures.

"Our purpose when we do that is the same as the government's, to save lives," he said in a statement.

Starmer added that once the country emerges on the other side, once the hospital wards have emptied and the threat subsided, it would need to build a fairer society, where key workers on the front line receive decent salaries and better chances in life.

"In their courage and their sacrifice and their bravery, we can see a better future. This crisis has brought out the resilience and human spirit in all of us," he said.

Johnson said on Twitter he had congratulated Starmer and the two agreed on the importance of working together.

Acknowledging the scope of the task ahead, he said, "This is my pledge to the British people. I will do my utmost to guide us through these difficult times, to serve all of our communities and to strive for the good of our country. I will lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and with hope."

Keir used his victory speech, delivered online due to the pandemic restrictions, to lash out at Corbyn for letting anti-Semitism run rampant in the party's ranks, something that led to the departure of many members and some Jewish MPs.

"We have to face the future with honesty," he said. "Anti-Semitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it's brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry. I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us," he vowed.

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