US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Israel Sunday evening on the third and final stop of his tour of regional allies, following brief meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah. Pence’s visit to Jerusalem was highlighted by an address to the Knesset on Monday afternoon, following statements in Cairo and Amman which raised some eyebrows in Jerusalem.

The ongoing crisis in the Middle East took another turn for the worse on Sunday when Turkish ground troops entered the Afrin region of northern Syria following a massive air and artillery bombardment of US-backed Kurdish forces there. The Turkish maneuvers, dubbed “Operation Olive Branch” by Ankara, were reportedly repulsed by the Kurdish YPG militias in some areas, while large-scale devastation was reportedly caused across the area as fierce battles continued on many fronts.

Despite an official boycott of Israel by the Saudi Arabian-led Arab League and a lack of any official diplomatic contacts between Jerusalem and Rhiyad, quiet contacts have blossomed between Israeli firms and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, a government run agency which recently unveiled plans for a “Smart City” to be built in the Western Saudi desert near Israel’s southern resort city of Eilat.

A diplomatic source in the Israeli government revealed on Sunday that Israel will not prosecute a guard from its embassy in Amman who killed two Jordanians in July under disputed circumstances, as had been demanded by Jordan. Instead, the incident will be vigorously reviewed by the Foreign Ministry and Shin Bet security agency and the results disclosed to Jordanian authorities.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, issued a statement over the weekend demanding that Israel cease work on a border fence along the Lebanese frontier, implying that the fence presented an unacceptable challenge to his organizations ability to carry out its agenda. Lebanon’s internationally recognized government in Beirut issued a much milder statement on the subject on Friday, saying the construction of a border wall would undermine chances for peace in the region.

Trump’s declaration reflects his persistent opposition to the nuclear agreement signed during President Obama’s term in office. The statement serves to box him in even more than his previous declarations on the subject, making it increasingly likely that in the end, the United States will withdraw from the agreement.

In the aftermath of the failed coup d’état of July 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is embarking on an attempt to improve Ankara’s relations with non-Western countries to avoid international isolation.

Since the early 1980s, the ICEJ has helped more than 117,000 Jews immigrate (make “Aliyah”) to Israel. From launching protests outside Soviet embassies worldwide to sponsoring charter flights, the ICEJ continues to play a key role in the Jewish people’s return ‘home’.