Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Monday that the Islamic Republic’s stockpile of enriched uranium has exceeded the 300 kg limit set by the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal. The report comes two days after Iranian officials declared that if the European powers wanted to preserve the JCPOA they must find a way to accommodate Iranian demands for relief from economic sanctions imposed by the US.

IDF forces on Israel’s northern border were on alert Monday following reports in Syrian state media of airstrikes in Damascus and Homs which killed several people and wounded many more, which the Assad regime blamed on Israel. Unconfirmed reports by opposition groups said that most of the casualties from the strikes were members of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, while other reports indicated that Hezbollah positions near the Israeli border were also targeted by strikes.

US Ambassador David Friedman and US Middle East special envoy Jason Greenblatt were on hand Sunday as the Pilgrimage Road tunnel in the City of David, just south of Jerusalem’s Old City, was inaugurated Sunday morning. The participation of US officials at the event was denounced by the Palestinian Authority and some Arab governments as de facto US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem. In related news, dozens of incendiary devices were sent into Israel attached to kites and balloons from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in recent days, including after a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas was supposed to go into effect on Friday.

In the latest defeat for efforts to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel, Tel Aviv University Professor Judith Berman was selected on Friday to be one of 56 new members of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). “Prof. Berman’s election to EMBO is a strong recognition of her research, which is at the forefront of molecular biology of pathogenic yeasts,” said Prof. Abdussalam Azem, dean of the Wise Faculty at TAU.

A Center of Scientific Excellence in Segev Shalom, near Beer Sheba, was recently launched by the Israeli Ministry of Development of the Periphery, Negev and Galilee in collaboration with the Negev Development Authority. The purpose of the Center is to enhance educational opportunities for the region’s Bedouin population.

Senior presidential advisor Jared Kushner’s great insight is that economic development should come first and shape the discussion for a political solution. His second insight is that a single “grand bargain” is not realistic; that an evolutionary and gradual approach that builds trust along with economic milestones is more likely to succeed.

One of Israel’s most important yet complicated relationships is with Germany. In 2020 Israel and Germany will mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. INSS research associate Adi Kantor and Dr. Peter Lintl, researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, discuss the current state of affairs between the two countries.