Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the Sunday cabinet meeting to declare his warm appreciation for an announcement by the Trump Administration in the US that the Embassy of the United States to Israel will be moved to Jerusalem in the coming weeks and officially open on 14 May, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the modern State of Israel. “This is a great moment for the citizens of Israel and this is a historic moment for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Leaders of Jerusalem’s traditional churches issued a statement on Sunday that they are closing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to visitors in protest against a plan by the municipality to collect property taxes (arnona) on church-owned businesses. The municipality responded by re-iterating that there will not be any move to collect such taxes on houses of worship and that the centuries-old custom of not collecting taxes on church owned properties gave businesses operated by churches an unfair advantage over businesses not owned by churches.

The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Sunday that would expand the jurisdiction of Israeli courts over Area C of the West Bank. Analysts noted that the legislation’s progress brings closer the ambition of some lawmakers for Israel to functionally annex the West Bank.

Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul won a bronze medal in the under-73 kilogram competition at the Dusseldorf Grand Slam in Germany on Saturday after being handed a spot in the finals by an Iranian opponent who intentionally disqualified instead of facing him in an earlier round. This follows a similar situation in which Israeli Uri Kalashnikov won a bronze in a United World Wrestling competition last November following the intentional throwing of a match by an Iranian opponent.

Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) communities mourned the death of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach Friday evening at the age of 86. He was best known for his leadership of the so-called “Jerusalem Faction” and its staunch opposition to haredi men serving in the military, and his funeral was the scene of several eulogies by colleagues who vowed to carry on this legacy.

At the 2018 Munich Security Conference, the Palestinian issue was marginalized, given its low influence on Middle East problems in general. With the Palestinian issue sidelined, Israel has significant scope for presenting its own initiatives to shape its future environment, with emphasis on relations with the Palestinians.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem warmly welcomed the announcement on Friday (02/23) that the new United States Embassy to Israel will officially be opened in Jerusalem on May 14, just in time for Israel’s 70th anniversary celebrations!