Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a directive to ministers and deputy ministers in his government on Monday to have no direct contacts with the transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump, instead moving any questions they might have through the Prime Minister’s Office or the US Embassy in Washington. The directive is seen by political analysts as an attempt to control what might otherwise be an embarrassing drama played out in the media in both countries.

Reports out of Iran indicate that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is attempting to capitalize on the recent presidential election in the US by pushing hard on their domestic opponents during the final weeks of outgoing President Barak Obama’s Administration and before the Trump Administration gets settled in the White House. “Trump and the Islamic State militants were gifts from God to the IRGC,” a senior official within the clerical regime in Teheran told Reuters.

Albert Pujols of Major League baseball’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was in Israel this week for a solidarity tour, along with his wife Deidre. On Sunday, the couple started their tour at Shalva National Children’s Center which assists special needs children, a cause which the Pujols have championed in the US. In related news, Chris Martin of the British rock band Coldplay was in Tel Aviv on Monday, sparking rumors that the band’s long-promised concert in Israel might be in the offing.

The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel released a report Tuesday which painted a grim picture of poverty in Israel. The report indicated that plans to reduce levels of poverty in Israel to at least the OECD average by the middle of the 2020’s are far behind schedule and in need of urgent attention.

Click here to see how the ICEJ is addressing the issue of poverty in Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave his first interview with an Israeli TV station in 13 years Monday evening, expressing his hope for reconciliation and cooperation between his country and the Jewish State while also offering no apology for various incidents of hostile behavior by his government in the recent past. Jerusalem and Ankara announced last week that they are exchanging ambassadors, signifying a restoration of full diplomatic relations.

Moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a good example of the kind of policy change that President-Elect Donald Trump has said is needed in Washington. More importantly, this action could mark a new US strategy for pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peace: Telling the truth.