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Of special relevance in the Latin American context, Brazil, the largest nation and economy of the continent, and a country that historically managed well to sustain a course of largely autonomous but close relations with the hemispheric hegemon, finds itself today in an especially challenging position

Amid the palpable anticipation, and the transformative discussions, we are witnessing the ascent of a momentous topic that promises to redefine global financial dynamics — the inception of a unified Brics currency

“An Arab list has the power to scoop up 10 mandates and bring about a significant change in the situation in Jerusalem,” Fatah activist Samir Singilawi said.

By Baruch Yedid, TPS

An Arab-Israeli candidate has emerged in the Jerusalem Municipality elections, vying to become mayor in order to shake up the city council’s balance of power and flex Arab political muscle.

Inspired by Mansour Abbas, the first Arab Knesset member to join a governing coalition, Fatah activists in eastern Jerusalem are throwing their support behind the candidacy of Walid Abu Tayeh, a lawyer and former Finance Ministry official originally from Nazareth.

Arabs have historically boycotted Jerusalem’s municipal elections. Arab parties and individuals have never received enough votes to receive one of the city council’s 31 seats. Historically, Arab participation in local elections has been around five percent.

“In broad circles it is becoming clear that the boycott of the elections for the Jerusalem municipality is a mistake,” Samer Singilawi, a Fatah activist in eastern Jerusalem and chairman of the East Jerusalem Development Fund told the Tazpit Press Service.

“An Arab list has the power to scoop up 10 mandates and bring about a significant change in the situation in Jerusalem,” Singilawi said. “This is the only way we can get budgets that will allow us to establish projects in the east of the city and improve housing and education for the residents. But in order for us to succeed in making a real change, we need the political power of 10-13 candidates and seats in the city council.”

Municipal elections are scheduled for October 31, and Mayor Moshe Lion is the only other candidate to formally announce his candidacy so far.

Abu Tayeh’s recent announcement of intention to run for mayor has generated significant buzz. A 62-year-old Israeli citizen, he has lived in eastern Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa neighborhood for 44 years.

In an editorial in the Arabic-language al-Quds explaining his decision, Abu Tayeh wrote, “The only way to force Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and the Gaza Strip and establish a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is to appeal to the residents of East Jerusalem to vote and participate in the municipal elections, because the only force that threatens the existence of the State of Israel is the demographic force.”

(In fact, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, evacuating all 800,000 Jews from the Gush Katif settlements.)

Palestinian activists are aiming for a voter participation rate of 60% to match, or even surpass, the Jewish voter participation rate which stands at 50% for municipal elections. Singilawi said a 60% turnout rate would give the Arabs 10 seats, or one-third of the council seats.

Jerusalem has a population of around one million, of whom some 700,000 are eligible to vote. This includes 420,000 Jews and 280,000 Arabs. Arab voters include Israeli citizens as well as roughly 150,000 Palestinian non-citizens who have temporary residence status.

Palestinians with temporary residence are entitled to vote in municipal elections and receive social benefits, but they are not allowed to vote in national elections or hold a mayoral office.

The Arab boycott of local elections dates back to 1967, when Jerusalem was reunited after the Six-Day War. Israel offered citizenship to the residents of the city’s eastern neighborhoods but the vast majority refused, opting to keep their Jordanian citizenship. The prevailing rationale was that participating in elections would legitimize Israeli control of the city.

The post Flexing political muscle: Arab-Israelis look to create earthquake in Jerusalem City Hall appeared first on World Israel News.

Arabella Kushner’s mother, Ivanka, thanked her father on Instagram for helping the family celebrate the milestone event.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Former President Donald Trump planned a pre-bat mitzvah party for his granddaughter Arabella, and was publicly thanked by his daughter for playing such an important role in the Jewish coming-of-age festivities. 

The bat mitzvah event was held this past weekend.

Ivanka Kushner wrote in her Instagram Stories that her father and his wife, Melania, had thrown Arabella “the sweetest birthday dinner at Mar-a-lago a few weeks ago in advance of her Bat Mitzvah,” saying that “It was very special. We love you both so much!”

Among the photos accompanying her post is one of the proud grandfather and step-grandmother sitting and smiling while flanking the star of the hour on either side, with Arabella’s parents standing behind them. There are others with Trump giving a thumbs-up while standing next to his smiling granddaughter.

The eldest daughter of Ivanka and Jared Kushner is actually turning 12 in July, but there is no rule saying a celebration cannot be held ahead of time. Perhaps it was planned this way ahead of the summer holidays, when many of her friends would likely be away.

Media sites have played up the fact that Trump doesn’t figure in the photo carousel Kushner uploaded to Instagram of the major event this past weekend, mentioning the fact that the ex-president is embroiled in serious legal difficulties.

Trump has just been indicted on 37 charges, including 31 counts of Willful Retention of National Defense Information under the Espionage Act. He has already announced that he will plead “not guilty” when he appears in court Tuesday.

Kushner focused her attention on her daughter, writing in part, “With an abundance of love and immense pride, Jared and I celebrated our daughter Arabella’s Bat Mitzvah this past weekend. We reflect on the weekend with full hearts and an abundance of joy and gratitude.

“From her commitment to feeding hungry families through the Jewish Community Service Kosher Food Bank to supporting children with special needs through her work volunteering with the Friendship Circle and Whispering Manes, Arabella’s giving heart and commitment to making a positive impact embodies the spirit of this special milestone.”

“We couldn’t be prouder of the extraordinary young woman she has become,” Kushner added.

Ivanka converted to Orthodox Judaism before marrying her husband in 2009. They have sent their three children to modern Orthodox and culturally Jewish schools in their various cities of residence over the years, including their stay in Washington, D.C., when Trump was president and both Jared and Ivanka played important roles in his administration.

The post Donald Trump celebrates granddaughter’s bat mitzvah, plans ‘sweetest birthday party’ appeared first on World Israel News.

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Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasts that Islamic Republic cannot be stopped from building nuclear weapons. He says an agreement with world powers could be made but the infrastructure must be maintained.

The post WATCH: Iran boasts they are ‘unstoppable’ appeared first on World Israel News.

A passenger was threatened with arrest for trying to photograph flight attendant who repeatedly announced that the plane was going to land in Palestine.

By World Israel News Staff

Passengers on a RyanAir flight from Italy to Tel Aviv were shocked after a flight attendant repeatedly described their final destination as Palestine.

Israelis present on the flight told Channel 14 News that a flight attendant had said they were bound for Palestine multiple times, in both Italian and English.

About half an hour before the plane was slated to touch down at Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, the flight attendant announced over the intercom that the plane was “approaching Palestine.”

Some of the passengers on the flight spoke up about the announcement, they told Channel 14, and asked the attendant to either correct herself or apologize.

“We didn’t [buy tickets] on the airline to deal with anti-Zionist opinions [from flight staff],” a passenger said. “All we wanted was [an announcement] that Tel Aviv is in Israel.”

Their requests were refused, and instead the cabin crew accused the passengers of creating a disturbance that endangered the safety of the flight, they recounted to the outlet.

An Italian-speaking passenger was surprised that the flight attendant doubled-down on their views during a conversation, insisting that Tel Aviv is located not in the State of Israel, but in Palestine.

The flight attendant who made the announcement was not wearing a name tag, making it impossible to identify anyone by name in order to file a complaint at a later time.

One passenger, who tried to take a picture of the attendant, was told that she would be arrested upon landing if she left her seat in order to get a clear image of the speaker, according to the Channel 14 report.

RyanAir refused to respond to multiple requests for comment from Channel 14 regarding the incident.

Channel 14 commentator Danny Newman noted that “RyanAir is an Irish company, and the Irish don’t exactly love Israel.”

Newman called on Israelis to avoid using the airline in the future, should RyanAir refuse to apologize for the episode.

The post ‘We’re approaching Palestine,’ RyanAir announces on Tel Aviv-bound flight appeared first on World Israel News.

Left-wing teacher plays victim after writing condescending letter to graduating student, framing his support for judicial reform as troubling and claiming that he doesn’t support Israeli democracy.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A high school civics teacher opposed to potential reforms to Israel’s judicial system wrote a letter to a student upon his graduation, revealing her deep biases against the legislation and expressing her “concern” for the pupil due to his support for the measure.

Muscat Mendelson, who graduated from Leo Baeck High School in Haifa earlier in June, is in favor of reforms to the Israeli legal system, and has made his views clear during discussions and debates in his civics class.

But his former teacher, Orly Picker, framed Mendelson’s support for the reforms, along with his admiration for the right-wing think-tank Kohelet Forum, as “radical and intolerant.”

‘I have had some question marks about you’

“In the last few months, I have had some question marks about you,” Picker wrote to Mendelson in a letter, which he distributed to Hebrew-language media.

Mendelson’s “adherence to the policies of the Kohelet Forum, the serious consideration of the false propaganda on [right-wing news station] Channel 14, the extreme positions you began to voice, the completely unfounded criticism of the Supreme Court and of the retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Prof. Aharon Barak, deeply disappoint me,” Picker wrote.

“I find it difficult to accept your adoption of radical and intolerant positions. I so hope that you will delve into the facts and that you will distance yourself from the intolerant positions you have recently adopted,” she added.

After receiving the letter in the mail alongside his high school diploma, Mendelson contacted his high school principal. The principal spoke with Picker, and she sent him a revised letter “that was even worse,” in Mendelson’s view.

In the new letter, Picker wrote that Mendelson was “critical of Israeli democracy,” implying that he does not support it, and that he supports “a legal revolution.”

Speaking to Hebrew-language media, Picker presented herself as a victim and said she had apologized to Mendelson.

In her statement, she did not acknowledge that framing a student’s views on the legal reform – which are shared by a substantial portion of voters in the country – as “intolerant and radical” was inherently inappropriate.

“The rest of the letter is full of compliments that the student certainly deserves,” Picker told Ynet. “it is not clear to me why, after a week, he chose to contact the media…Unfortunately, I understand that he wanted to hurt me.”

Picker claimed that she had received support from “hundreds of my past and present students, who [praise] my respectful and tolerant approach. I will continue to adhere to my all-important educational mission.”

‘Fascist spirit’

Communications Minister Galit Distel-Atbaryan (Likud) said she does not believe that Picker should be allowed to continue in her current position.

“She should have received a dismissal letter from the Education Ministry today,” Distel-Atbaryan said in a media statement.

“She insulted the student in order to break his spirit…implying in her ‘abuse letter’ that his ‘mental state is worrying. She is a bully.

“Anyone who exhibits a fascist spirit cannot be a teacher for citizenship in democratic Israel. She is shallower than her student,” Distel-Atbaryan added.

The Ministry of Education shirked responsibility for the incident, saying that Picker had written the letter outside of school hours and not within her role as a teacher, nor on behalf of a school. Picker was given a stern talking-to by the principal, the Ministry claimed, and did not elaborate on any further disciplinary action.

The post Haifa teacher slams student as ‘radical, intolerant’ for judicial reform support appeared first on World Israel News.

Despite blocking highways and physically attacking police officers, not a single criminal charge has been filed against any person arrested during the anti-government protests, according to recent report.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

Following an incident in which Energy Minister Israel Katz was repeatedly spat on by left-wing protesters, MK Keti Shitrit (Likud) questioned why violent protesters opposed to judicial reform and the current government are not facing criminal indictments for their behavior.

“It is unbelievable that there are no arrests and no investigation and indictments against those violent bullies who call for rebellion and spit on MKs and ministers,” Shitrit said during an interview with Radio Kol Chai on Tuesday morning.

The lawmaker noted that during the evacuation of Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip 18 years ago, security forces rounded up right-wing protesters and kept them incarcerated for long periods of time.

“I would like to remind everyone of the girls who spent months in detention over their behavior during the [2005] Disengagement,” she said. “What message are we conveying?”

Protesters are essentially granted carte blanche to stalk and intimidate members of the ruling right-wing coalition, she said.

“They honk horns in our ears, they harass families of public officials. It is impossible. We have reached a point of no return.”

Sheetreet stressed that the “police and the justice system need to do some soul-searching” regarding what she said was a double-standard in the treatment of protesters, based on their political views.

A recent report by Channel 14 News found that while some individual protesters were arrested for blatantly violating the law, such as attacking police officers and blocking major highways, not a single criminal indictment has been filed against participants in left-wing demonstrations.

At the time of the report in early June, the news outlet found that 92 out of 96 protesters arrested in recent weeks were released within hours of being detained. Just four arrestees were held for more than a few days.

Notably, not a single criminal charge has been filed against any person arrested during the protests.

“During the disengagement period, the [police and prosecutors’ office ] acted like a fearsome tiger and filed hundreds of indictments for blocking roads at lightning speed, including requests for detaining arrestees [and not releasing them from incarceration] until the end of the [criminal] proceedings,” said Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf.

“Now, they’re taking a cat nap and not making any effort to produce even a semblance of an iota of some kind of enforcement.”

The post MK asks: Why aren’t violent left-wing protesters criminally charged? appeared first on World Israel News.

Zionism is the legacy of Cyrus the Great and the national inheritance of the Iranians. The Islamic Republic’s anti-Zionism is not a historical norm, but a radical break from history by a radical regime. The Iranian revolution seeks to return to its historical origins, and Zionists must rejoice if it succeeds.

The former crown prince of Iran and the most prominent opposition figure, Reza Pahlavi, became the most prominent Iranian to have ever visited Israel this week. He made history by taking the first step to restore it. Pahlavi’s cautious approach to leadership, out of the fear of alienating Iranians from different camps, has been a point of criticism over the decades. His trip doesn’t suggest that he has overnight become more risk-taking, but that he understands that anti-Zionism is no longer a political force among his audience inside his country. This is an early sign that a free Iran will cease hostilities with Israel and end the region’s most destabilizing conflict, caused by one of the most destabilizing regimes in the world. Only a few years after Abraham Accords, we can now envision the potential for the future Cyrus Accords.

Pahlavi’s trip was as much about symbolic gestures as it was political business, evident by his decision to visit during Holocaust Remembrance Day and participate in the ceremonies. He posted a picture of himself wearing a kippah and his wife praying at the Western Wall. His post’s caption cited the Book of Ezra and Cyrus the Great’s edict to rebuild the Second Temple. On Farsi social media, Cyrus Accords immediately began to trend, with more than 100,000 tweets in 24 hours.

The Iranian opposition leader also met with Israeli government officials, likely to seek their assistance for the protest movement that has been roiling Iran for the last seven months. Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel hosted the crown prince, and the itinerary included meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. Given Israel’s covert assets in Iran, Pahlavi’s following there, and the two parties’ mutual interest in regime change, it is a reasonable guess that they discussed avenues of cooperation to effect change. He had also mentioned that, given Iran’s water crisis and Israel’s expertise in desalination, he intended to meet with Israeli water experts, so Gamliel gave him a tour of the water desalination facility in Shurk.

As seen by their reactions to Pahlavi’s visit, for many Iranians, Israel has transformed from an enemy to an ally against the Islamic Republic. Masih Alinejad, another opposition leader, tweeted that “the nation of Iran has no enmity with Israel. It is the Islamic Republic that has conquered the borders of hostility against Jews, not just in Iran, but also in the region and the world.” Hichkas, the first professional Iranian rapper, humorously tweeted his wish that the trip would result in countless Qassem Soleimani-like assassinations. Former national soccer team captain Ali Karimi, the opposition leader most in tune with the Iranian street, posted a picture of the Pahlavis and Gamliel with Iranian-flag-colored hearts.

The regime’s response, on the other hand, has been official silence. The spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs dismissed a question on the topic for it concerned “an irrelevant individual to an irrelevant destination country.” Unofficial and semi-official media tried to downplay it by mentioning Israel’s domestic political turmoil and the Pahlavi dynasty’s historically warm views of Israel. The combination of the regime’s dismissiveness and the opposition’s embrace is a hint that both sides are aware that Israel has ceased being a bogeyman in Iran.

There was recently another episode within the Iranian opposition that highlighted this change in Iranian attitudes. In February, several Israeli reporters mentioned that opposition leader Hamed Esmaeilion refuses to talk to them. On Farsi social media, Esmaeilion’s past quoting of Yasser Arafat resurfaced. 

Iranians’ reaction to Esmaeilion’s anti-Israeli sentiments vary from verbal attacks and harsh rebuttals to mild criticisms and silence, but nobody rushed to his defense. Kaveh Shahrooz, a prominent Iranian–Canadian human rights lawyer and occasional collaborator with Esmaeilion, tweeted, “The Islamic Republic is our enemy, not Israel.” The less prominent the figures and platforms got, the harsher the language became. Some went so far as to compare Esmaeilion with Ruhollah Khomeini for their shared anti-Zionism.

It was only a short time ago that Zionism was a political liability among Iranians. Now, anti-Zionism is becoming one.

Sensing this change, Pahlavi subtly rebuked Esmaeilion during a talk in London a day later. He cited Iran’s sole founding father Cyrus the Great’s pioneer Zionism, talked of “the Biblical relationship we have with Israel long before it became a state,” and confidently predicted that a free Iran will have good relations with Israel. He also cited material interests, including that his country’s water crisis necessitates Israel’s water desalination technology.

The signs of Iranians’ growing friendliness toward Israel have been increasingly evident since the late 2010s. In the early weeks of recent protests sparked by the murder of Mahsan Amini, pictures of “Palestine Street” street signs taken down and vandalized began circulating. Videos of young Iranians refusing to step on Israel’s flag frequently are distributed on social media—as well as the one video of a member of the basij catching fire from the Israeli flag he torched, which Iranians jubilantly shared. Outside regime-orchestrated protests, which are shrinking at a rapid and accelerating pace, nobody can find any protests wherein people denounce Zionism and Israel. Previous visits to Israel by less prominent opposition figures did not face public backlash, likely an encouraging factor in Pahlavi’s decision to travel there.

The death of Iranians’ anti-Zionism also has to do with convenience, reflexive anti-regime sentiments, rampant secularism, a young population that doesn’t have living memories of an Israel whose future existence was a question mark, and accepting the status quo. In this case, Iran is not that different from the Arabs who have made peace with Israel.

Most importantly, a driving factor of the Abraham Accords has been the parties’ shared opposition to the Islamic Republic, but that opposition is nowhere as strong as inside Iran, as the terror the Islamic Republic inflicts on its neighbors pales in comparison to what an average Iranian endures on a daily basis. The Israel that assassinates regime officials is not the enemy; it’s an ally. Moreover, while anti-Zionism as a political force was partly out of Jew-hatred, partly out of resenting the ruling Pahlavi regime with close ties with Israel, and partly out of religiosity, those factors have all turned upside down. Young revolutionaries associate anti-Zionism with political Islam and the ruling theocracy, hence a malignant force, with nostalgia for the Pahlavi era. The regime’s decades of starving its own people to fund anti-Israeli terrorist groups have only led to the popular chant, “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life [only] for Iran.”

During his talk, Pahlavi cited Iran’s water crisis of the last decade, adding that Israel’s abundance of water engineers means the key to solving a hot-button grievance in Iran rests in Israel. This has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fingerprints all over it. In 2018, he released a series of videos directly speaking to the Iranian people, making similar points as Pahlavi about the millennia of friendship between Iranians and Jews, as well as the sizable Persian Jewish population, and shrewdly feeding into the national pride of Iranians for their past. In one video, Netanyahu talked about the water crisis in Iran, expressing his regret for not being able to share his nation’s technology with his Iranian audience, but offering Farsi resources provided by his government so Iranians could on their own do the possible minimum. The videos were well-received, and they drew a sharp contrast between a regime that tries to conceal the pre-Islamic heritage Iranians take so much pride in and an alleged enemy who celebrates it.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu was busy attacking the Islamic Republic’s military and nuclear sites—and, on social media, many Iranians were celebrating those attacks. In the midst of the recent wave of protests, Israel reportedly attacked an Iranian UAV factory in Esfehan. There was no rallying ‘round the flag for the Islamic Republic, but a lot of Iranians took to the internet to humorously debate where Israel should strike next. Leader Ali Khamenei’s residence won by a nearly unanimous vote. Those who were not celebrating were only condemning that the attacks should be targeted in a way that would help the revolution. Again, this was not a surprise. Israel’s suspected attacks against Iran always incite the exact same reaction.

I have witnessed this change of attitudes among my friends too. Those who used to berate my [imprudently] vocal Zionism while living in Iran ten years ago are now supporters of not merely Israel but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being the Islamic Republic’s chief antagonist.

This is not to say that support for Israel in Iran reaches an overwhelming majority. It is more correct to say that, for most Iranians unfriendly to Israel, the issue is not among the top 20 issues they care about—and they certainly are not willing to make sacrifices for the Palestinian cause even if they dislike Israel—and they are often older Iranians who are not among the revolutionaries and will not determine the future of Iran. For the young revolutionaries, feelings are much warmer, and pro-Israel sentiments are far higher on the agenda.

Iranian–Israeli peace will be the contemporary Middle East’s most monumental development, and it is in sight. This won’t be an alteration of history, but a return to it—not merely to the pre-Islamic Revolution history, but to Cyrus the Great. 

Speaking to the regime-hostile Iran International last month, Netanyahu hit all the right notes to his Iranian audience, saying, “we have a man that we never forget, and that is Cyrus the Great, who entered our Bible. When we speak of Cyrus, we speak of a great leader of a great civilization, and we remember him for enabling the rebuilding of our holy temple in Jerusalem, for the return of our exiles in Babylon.” Talking about “a common history and shared values,” he savvily cited the Islamic Republic as the common enemy of Iranians and Israelis and an obstacle to peace between them, “if this regime longer will rule Iran, if the freedom movement will succeed, the friendship between Israel and Iran will surpass anything that we can imagine.”

The Islamic Republic has never been closer to collapse, and, thanks to Israel’s antagonization of the Islamic Republic and Netanyahu’s public diplomacy with the Iranian people, Iranians have never been readier to restore their historical friendship under the aegis of the “Cyrus Accords,” named after the man both sides look to in search of their common heritage.

The post <strong>The Coming Cyrus Accords?</strong> appeared first on Providence.