Israel

A summit of central European leaders in Israel has been cancelled because of an Israel-Poland row over the Holocaust. Poland withdrew after being angered by comments from Israeli leaders about Polish complicity in the Holocaust.In particular, Israel's acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz used the phrase, "Poles imbibe anti-Semitism with their mother's milk".Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews, mostly in Poland. Some Poles did collaborate with the Nazis.Mr Katz's remarks were "racist and unacceptable", Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. There was also Polish fury at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying "Poles co-operated with the Germans" during the Holocaust.About six million Polish citizens died in World War Two, of whom about three million were Jews. Skip Twitter post by @mmagierowski It is really astonishing that the newly appointed foreign minister of Israel quotes such a shameful and racist remark. Utterly unacceptable. … [Read more...] about Holocaust: Israel summit scrapped in ‘racism’ row with Poland

The leaders of 56 Muslim-majority countries on Saturday opposed any Middle East peace plan that favors Israel and undermines Palestinians. The Saudi-hosted summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca condemned countries that have made the "illegal and irresponsible decision" to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, angering Palestinian authorities and many Arab nations. In May 2018, Trump moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guatemala followed suit soon afterwards. Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital. "The Palestinian people have the right to achieve their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state," the OIC statement said. Read more: UN agency for Palestinians UNRWA rejects US call to close it down Kushner's Middle East plan … [Read more...] about Islamic bloc supports Palestinians, backs Saudis in Iran conflict

AMBITIOUS Boris Johnson will need to keep a cool head as he faces the toughest challenge of any PM to take office outside of wartime. Handicapped by a wafer-thin Commons majority, he has to deliver Brexit in 100 days, solve the Iranian crisis and rule on domestic policy decisions kicked into the long grass by predecessor Theresa May. And Tory MPs pointed out that all of this has to be achieved against a backdrop of feuding advisers and Boris’ headline grabbing relationship with PR girlfriend Carrie Symonds. There was no sign of Carrie yesterday but she expected to be by his side in No10 in the coming days as the new PM settles into the biggest job in the nation.Boris claimed to be “undaunted” by the scale of the task facing him in his “dream job”. Defeated rival Jeremy Hunt said today: “It’s a challenging moment for our country — this is perhaps the most difficult legacy that a prime minister has inherited in peacetime. It’s going … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson faces toughest challenge of any Prime Minister outside wartime but is ‘undaunted’

JO Swinson issued a “come and join us” plea to Tory and Labour MPs yesterday after being unveiled as the first ever female leader of the Lib Dems. She romped to victory over rival Sir Ed Davey - winning nearly two thirds of the members’ votes in the race to replace outgoing boss Sir Vince Cable. And the new chief immediately declared: “As your leader, I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit.” Ms Swinson used her victory speech to make a direct appeal to disaffected Tory MPs who want to stop Brexit and also to Labour moderates who despair at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.She wants more to follow Chuka Umunna in joining the party. Ms Swinson also hinted she would be prepared to take the Lib Dems back into coalition, saying: “This is the time for working together, not the time for tribalism.” 'WE CAN STOP BREXIT' The new Lib Dem leader said: ”My message to MPs in other parties, who share our values is this: “If you believe our … [Read more...] about New Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson issues plea for rivals to join party and ‘stop Brexit’ in victory speech

BORIS Johnson will today start to unveil a blitzkrieg of domestic plans now he has been elected PM in a bid to widen his Premiership away from just Brexit. The new PM is now expected to promise immediate action on a raft of long standing problems that Theresa May’s administration failed to grip. They include an immediate insurance plan to tackle the spiralling cost of social care, a major overhaul of school funding, and moves to turbo-charge business in the regions. Boris’s leadership team were last night hoping for victory against rival Jeremy Hunt by “at least 20 points”, as they predicted he will win between 60 and 70 per cent of the vote.Voting among the Tories’ 165,000 eligible members closed at 5pm last night, and the winner was announced at midday today after an overnight count. Mr Johnson received 92,153 votes compared to Hunt's 46,656 in a landslide victory. NEW POLICIES The policy announcements will mark a significant change in tone from … [Read more...] about New Prime Minister Boris Johnson to unveil domestic policy blitz to look beyond Brexit