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BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their EU membership hopes by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina scrambling to limit the political fallout. In an unexpected move last week, Trump said that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of U.S.-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo. It surprised the Europeans, who are leading complex talks between Serbia and its...

A senior official from Chad told Israel on Tuesday that the country was willing to open an official diplomatic mission in Jerusalem. Chad’s cabinet chairman, Abdelkerim Déby, who is also its president’s son, visited Israel for a series of meetings, including with Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen. A statement from the Intelligence Ministry said Déby expressed “willingness to open an official mission in Jerusalem.”

The Middle East is not necessarily known for good news. But look a little deeper over the last several weeks, and a region normally stereotyped as hopeless, confusing, and blood-soaked is actually making some significant and potentially historic progress. And just as importantly, this progress is being constructed in conference rooms rather than on battlefields.   For the United States, which has invested so much blood and treasure in the Middle East over the last two decades ($2 trillion and tens of thousands of casualties in Iraq alone), there is a lesson in these latest accomplishments: Washington can achieve far...

September 4, in Washington, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti agreed on economic cooperation through the mediation of US President Donald Trump and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. Vučić still refuses to recognize the independence of the province of Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia as a result of the armed conflict in 1998-1999 and the US and NATO intervention. Therefore, the parties did not sign any bilateral agreements but concluded separate deals with the United States. If these agreements are implemented, their consequences may lead to a reduction in the influence of Russia and...

Turkey on Sunday voiced disappointment over majority-Muslim Kosovo's decision to recognize Israel and set up its mission in Jerusalem. A vocal advocate of the Palestinian cause, Turkey became one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. "Even the thought by Kosovo officials of taking such a step - which is a clear violation of international law - is disappointing," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry called on the Kosovo leadership to avoid such steps that would harm the legal status of Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday...

Boris Johnson privately told US diplomats that Donald Trump was “making America great again”, according to a cache of official notes taken during high-level UK-US meetings whose details have leaked to The Telegraph. The Prime Minister is quoted telling the US ambassador to Britain in August 2017, when he was foreign secretary, that Mr Trump was doing “fantastic stuff” on foreign policy issues like China, Syria and North Korea. Other records show Mr Johnson claimed the US president was becoming “increasingly popular” in Britain in 2017 and spoke warmly about how under his leadership America was “back and engaged in...

President Trump on Friday oversaw an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo that normalizes economic relations between the two countries, and that also includes Kosovo recognizing Israel and Serbia moving its embassy to Jerusalem. The Belgrade-Pristina deal was then signed by their two leaders in front of Trump in the Oval Office. “Truly, it is historic,” Trump said. “I look forward to going to both countries in the not too distant future.”

Senior Israeli official believes announcement will follow the signing of Israel's agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Bahrain is expected to announce the normalization of ties with Israel very soon, a senior Israeli official told Kan 11 News on Wednesday. According to the official, it is believed that the announcement will follow the signing of the agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The United States is interested in holding the signing ceremony before Rosh Hashanah, the report said. Recent reports indicated that, in the wake of the Israel-UAE agreement, Bahrain has signaled that it aims to be the next country...

Turkey has granted citizenship to several senior operatives of a Hamas terrorist cell, The Telegraph reports. According to a senior source in the region, seven of the twelve operatives have received passports as well as citizenship, and the other five are in the process of receiving them. The source added that: "These are not foot soldiers but the most senior Hamas operatives outside of Gaza. [They] are actively raising funds and directing operatives to carry out attacks in the present day. The Turkish government gave in to pressure by Hamas to grant citizenship to its operatives, thereby allowing them to...

Between his meetings in Jerusalem last Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recorded a short address for the Republican National Convention in which he discussed many of the Trump administrationÂ’s foreign policy accomplishments. By the time his remarks were broadcast in the United States on Tuesday night, Pompeo had already landed in Khartoum, Sudan, the second stop on his week-long shuttle diplomacy mission aimed at expanding the circle of normalization between Israel and the Arab states of the region. Aside from the fact that it was nice to hear PompeoÂ’s warm remarks about Jerusalem, his address was significant...

Rejecting peace for an entire century. Israel’s legendary Foreign Minister Abba Eban had famously quipped that “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” It is the most fitting attribute for the Palestinians. Historically, they have said no to the British Peel Commission of 1937, which promised them a state on 75% of mandatory Palestine. The Yishuv, Palestine’s Jews, who were originally called Palestinians during the British Mandate (1920-1948) said yes, despite of being offered a small piece of the second partition of Palestine. In the first partition of Mandatory Palestine, in 1922, Winston Churchill, then British Colonial Secretary, sliced off...

The accord reached between the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020, is a courageous step toward a more stable, integrated, and prosperous Middle East. The accord inverts traditional thinking about the way to address the region’s problems and challenges, focusing on pragmatic steps that have tangible, practical outcomes. It carries with it the promise of new bridges that will serve to de-escalate existing conflicts and prevent future conflicts. And it comes at the right time. Over the last decade we have seen a marked increase in war, destruction, and dislocation, and a growing...

Turkey's misguided vision of Pan-Islamism brings with it a culturally dominant form of political Islam and militant Jihadism A man gestures as people wait for the beginning of Friday prayers outside Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, for the first time after it was once again declared a mosque after 86 years, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 24, 2020 TurkeyÂ’s recent antics in the Eastern Mediterranean are giving serious cause for alarm to both Israel and the wider regionÂ’s key powers, as it seeks to outcast itself from any sort of cooperation. Instead it has sought to aggravate the already heightened geopolitical tensions...

The normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel has effectively ended the racist BDS movement. A Palestinian man walks by a grafitti sign calling to boycott Israel seen on a street in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on February 11, 2015. (photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90) With the recent developments between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, it’s become clearer than ever that there’s no future for the discriminatory and racist Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. From its inception, the movement was rooted in a desire to destroy the State of Israel as we know it. While cleverly presenting itself...

From the Israeli captain’s emotional greeting in Arabic upon takeoff in Tel Aviv, to the warm Emirati reception on the ground in scorching Abu Dhabi, it was obvious this was no typical flight. Monday’s El Al flight LY971 marked the first-ever direct flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates, placing a significant stamp on this month’s historic U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations between the two nations. The journey was steeped in symbolism. U.S. and Israeli flags adorned the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport as Israeli music played, and the word “peace” was emblazoned in English, Hebrew and Arabic above the...

Flight LY971 - numbered to represent the UAE's international dialling code - carried delegates including Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Israel's National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat. Mr Kushner led secret talks which resulted in the agreement between Israel and the UAE, a federation of seven Arab monarchies in the Gulf, including Dubai. Speaking to the media after landing in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, Mr Kushner described the deal between the countries as a "historic breakthrough" and said it was a "tremendous honour" to have joined the flight. "What happened here was three great leaders came...

Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri has said that the terror organization has decided to "remove the siege" in any way possible, Arab media reported. Al-Masri added that "if the negotiation efforts fail, it will mean that the Zionist enemy will experience a siege in the heart of the bomb shelters." "Since we have nothing to lose, we will not accept the continuation of the siege, the force, and the enemy's attempt to use the coronavirus plague to renew the siege on the Palestinian nation. All options are open." Meanwhile, the Qatari emissary to Gaza confirmed the continuation of negotiations to restore...

Arabs and Muslims across the world should watch the airplane flying from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday as a sign of what is possible through peace, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, said just before boarding the historic flight. It was the first-ever direct flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates by an Israeli commercial airline on Monday morning. "I prayed yesterday at the [Western] Wall that Muslims and Arabs from throughout the world will be watching this flight recognizing that we are all children of god and that the future does not have...

LY971 took off from Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel bound for Abu Dhabi at just after 11am on Monday, marking the latest stage in the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and a key Gulf Arab nation. Recommended 2/5 'Happy birthday, you rat': Protesters target Lukashenko on embattled Belarus leader's 66th birthday Looking to extend your home or add more daylight into your existing extension? We’ve partnered with Sky channels to help show you how. 2 minutes could save you thousands on private student debt. Prince Harry reveals coronavirus stopped him from visiting UK as he hopes...

Until today, Israeli travelers heading east for business or pleasure had very few choices, a mere handful of flights to India, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Seoul, none of them operated on a daily basis even before the pandemic.  Even worse, flights on Israeli aircraft had to waste hours’ worth of fuel and time detouring around Saudi airspace. As I write, the game-changing first-ever commercial airline flight of an Israeli airliner to the United Arab Emirates, from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to Abu Dhabi, is about to take off, carrying a delegation of Israeli and American officials and presidential...