Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided Monday that Knesset members could resume visits to the Temple Mount after Ramadan if the security situation remains calm, and the police and security services give them a green light. The number of visits permitted could gradually be increased, subject to conditions on the ground.
To avoid provoking the Palestinians, Israeli elected officials have not been allowed for the past 18 months to visit the sacred site, which Muslims revere as the Haram al-Sharif. Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick, who heads the lobby for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, threatened last week to petition Israel’s High Court if Netanyahu did not rescind the ban.
Public support in Israel for the establishment of a Palestinian state has hit a historic low, according to the findings of a new poll that shows the Israeli people are more skeptical than ever that the Palestinians will take the steps necessary to strike a peace accord with the Jewish state. – Washington Free Beacon
In response to the growing rocket threat to Israel’s offshore energy assets, the Israel Navy is tweaking the design of its new Sa’ar-6 corvettes now under contract in Germany to make room for twice as many Iron Dome interceptors as originally planned. – Defense News
An Israeli attempt to establish sovereignty over a disputed area of the Mediterranean has angered Lebanon and put the two countries at odds when both are trying to attract foreign investors in oil and gas. – Financial Times
Editorial: Republicans in Congress want to stop the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars a year in U.S. aid to a state sponsor of terrorism: the Palestinian Authority. That’s the same PA that the U.S. and Israel have long supported as a partner for peace. But the PA is no such thing, so this is a chance to bring policy into line with moral and strategic realities. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)