Israel’s political process continued on Wednesday evening as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz formally accepted the mandate to form a government during a brief ceremony at the President’s Residence. A few hours later at midnight, the clock started ticking on a 28-day period during which Gantz will attempt to form a governing coalition and avoid a third Knesset election that no one wants but which many analysts have said appears to be highly likely.

US President Donald Trump declared during a White House press conference on Wednesday that he was ordering the lifting of economic sanctions against Turkey in response to its compliance with a cease-fire deal negotiated between Ankara and Moscow earlier this week. He also said that the countries of the Middle East must do more to police their own region. “It’s their neighborhood, they have to maintain it,” he said.

Javaid Rehman, an independent expert who has been investigating the human rights record of Iran’s security apparatus on behalf of the UN, told a meeting of the Human Rights Committee on Wednesday that the security forces of the Islamic Republic routinely carries out the death penalty against minors. His report noted that there are currently 90 individuals in Iran who are imprisoned on a death sentence despite being under 18 years of age at the time of their offense. He also reported on a variety of other human rights abuses by Iranian officials and security forces against their own citizens.

Aging Lebanese President Michael Aoun gave a televised address to his countrymen on Thursday in an attempt to blunt massive street protests which threaten to upend its delicate political and sectarian balance and plunge it once more into civil war. The Lebanese Armed Forces were continuing their policy of remaining neutral in the standoff although the ground forces have been mobilized and deployed to several cities in an effort to discourage rioting and also, according to statements by some officers, protect protesters from efforts by Iranian-backed militias to intimidate and/or attack them.

Archeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered the remains of a Byzantine church at a dig near the modern Israeli city of Beit Shemesh recently. Inscriptions and intricate floor mosaics at the site identify it as the “Church of the Glorious Martyr” and indicate that it was visited by thousands of pilgrims annually during the late 5th Century AD, following its construction in the middle of that century.

In the Israeli context, the departure of US forces from Syria grants an easier-than-expected victory to adversaries of the United States, especially Iran. The US withdrawal is further expected to significantly ease Iran’s operation of a land route from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, and in effect leaves Israel alone in the fight against Iran’s entrenchment in the northern theater. (PDF)

In one of the most hopeful moments of recent Middle East history, the leaders of Jordan and Israel met in the Wadi Araba desert a quarter-century ago to sign a formal peace treaty, take their long-clandestine relationship out of the shadows, and commit themselves to a truly warm peace. Since then, relations between Amman and Jerusalem have experienced important breakthroughs but also difficult blows, in terms of both their bilateral ties and the Palestinian issue. The result today is a relationship under deep strain, anchored by security and intelligence ties but suffering from a mix of popular hostility among Jordanians and perceived indifference among Israelis.

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