Netanyahu to Visit U.S. President Trump on February 15th

White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced on Monday that US President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 15 February, for a discussion which is expected to center on security issues, particularly the threat from Iran’s renegade nuclear program. “I look forward to discussing with him the areas of cooperation between us that are so vital to the security and well-being of our two countries,” Netanyahu said in response.

The IDF issued a notice to 40 families living in the outpost of Amona in the West Bank that they must leave the area by midnight Wednesday, after which the area will become a closed military zone. The notice comes in the midst of intense legal action by the families and their supporters in an effort to save the settlement. Border Police and IDF units are preparing to enforce the order if residents do not comply and/or resist.

Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit announced on Monday evening that he was closing an investigation into allegations of corruption against opposition leader Isaac Herzog due to insufficient evidence. However, his statement hinted that although he couldn’t prove Herzog was guilty, he didn’t believe he was entirely innocent either. The accusations relate to incomplete reporting of financial contributions made during the 2013 Labor primary, with several of Herzog’s senior aides still under investigation.

The IDF Home Front Command recently issued a series of reports outlining the preparations it is making for what the defense establishment considers to be the inevitability of hundreds of rockets a day landing in Israel during the next war. Large amounts of money have been spent upgrading bomb shelters, building strategic capabilities and preparing procedures for the estimated 150,000 residents of the North who are expected to require temporary evacuation.

The meeting between Iran, Turkey, and Russia in Astana, Kazakhstan on January 23-24, in advance of the next round of U.N. sponsored Geneva III meetings, has been characterized as a new anti-West axis meant to marginalize the U.S. in Syria and the region. Yet Moscow’s reset with Ankara is not primarily directed at the West.

Experts gathered recently for a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think tank at Tel Aviv University to discuss Security in and Age of Instability with a special focus on refugee flows from Middle East wars and related issues.