Israel suffered a diplomatic setback on Wednesday when the International Police Organization (Interpol) voted to accept the “state of Palestine” as a member, joining UNESCO and a number of world governments in granting statehood status to this entity.The proposal to accept “state of Palestine” as a member passed with a vote of 75 to 24, with 34 abstentions, at the annual Interpol convention currently underway in Beijing.

The UN issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon condemning the terrorist shooting attack in the Jerusalem suburb of Har Adar earlier in the day, referring to the community as a “settlement in the occupied West Bank.” They also condemned the Islamist terror militia Hamas for glorifying such attacks and urging all responsible actors to “condemn violence and stand up to terror.” The US issued a much stronger statement of condemnation shortly thereafter.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani declared on Tuesday evening that his people had voted “yes” to the question of declaring an independent country in a referendum that had been condemned by many regional governments, including the ruling regime in Baghdad, and strongly discouraged by world powers, with Israel being the sole country giving the idea an official endorsement. “We may face hardship but we will overcome,” Barzani said, adding a call for governments “to respect the will of millions of people” who voted.

The Israeli military was in mourning Wednesday following a training accident on the Golan Heights in which two soldiers were killed and four others injured. “During the night, as part of an exercise in a battalion commanders course in the Golan Heights, a TAT-type Reconnaissance Battalion vehicle flipped over,” the army said in a statement.

Israel’s Chief Rabbinate took punitive measures this week against Pasta Basta Jerusalem, one of the capital’s most popular restaurants, for employing the kashrut supervisory services of the Orthodox Hashgacha Pratit instead of the Chief Rabbinate’s own system. The move was taken despite a recent High Court of Justice ruling allowing businesses to use such an alternative system, leading to speculation that the Chief Rabbinate is attempting to discourage other businesses from taking advantage of the ruling.

Over the last number of weeks, the great debate over Iran has focused on whether Iran is complying with the JCPOA from 2015. Frankly, this story and that question have been put to rest when the national security adviser of the United States, General McMaster, said the Iranians have already violated parts of the agreement.

Israel was among the first countries to dispatch teams to assist Mexico following a series of devestating earthquakes there. This short video tells the story.