Netanyahu Hosts NATO Ambassadors in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted ambassadors from NATO member states in Jerusalem on Tuesday, thanking them for the invitation Israel recently received to open an office at the alliances headquarters in Brussels and pledging to be a good friend. “Israel has much to contribute to NATO,” he said. “I believe NATO has much to contribute to Israel…terror knows no bounds, and that is why our cooperation in the battle against terrorism must know no bounds as well.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave another angry speech on Tuesday in which he declared his determination to match any reevaluation of last year’s nuclear deal with world powers by “setting it on fire” himself. He also reiterated Iranian complaints that sanctions relief Teheran expected to happen as a result of the deal have been slow to materialize.

In yet another blow to the international effort to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel, the large German bank Commerzbank recently disclosed to the Jerusalem Post that it has closed the account of an unnamed BDS group in Germany. Elsewhere, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order recently for all state institutions to cut their ties with any financial institution which participates in the BDS movement.

Israelis are watching with interest and some trepidation as support for the so-called “Brexit” movement for the UK to leave the EU gains support. The latest polls show widening support among UK voters for the idea, leading to worries among Israeli exporters about the effect it could have on as the economy in the UK and the EU, both major markets for Israeli goods and services.