French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian issued a statement Wednesday condemning Iran and Turkey for their military activities in Syria and demanding that all Iranian-backed forces, including the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, leave Syria immediately. He also condemned the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons in recent attacks on rebel-held areas. Also on Wednesday, Egypt warned Turkey regarding conflicting claims to undersea natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

Zionist Union MK Stav Shaffir vigorously protested her week-long suspension from the Knesset by its Ethics Committee for repeated name-calling on Wednesday, declaring her belief that she was being punished for speaking truth to power. In related news, Yesh Atid MK Yaakov Peri resigned from the Knesset on Wednesday over allegations of official misconduct during his time as leader of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) in the 1990s. His seat will be taken by Pnina Tamnu- Shata, who has previously served in the Knesset and was next in line on Yesh Atid’s slate in the last election.

A sometimes heated discussion is taking place in Israel’s National Religious/Modern Orthodox community over the role of women in the military, religious life and Israeli society more generally. Recent comments by several prominent rabbis suggesting that women’s roles have been expanded more than they should be has led to a backlash from other branches of the community, even expanding to the political realm. Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria flatly declaring that “National-religious girls have for some time are not listening to these rabbis.”

Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology were among the top 50 institutions of higher learning published this week in the 2018 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings. Additionally, the University of Haifa ranked 100th on the list while Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba was No. 104.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced this week that it has appointed Amir Weissbrod, a long-time specialist in Middle East affairs, to be the next ambassador to Jordan. Weissbrod has served the Israeli Embassy in Amman before, as First Secretary in charge of Media and Political Affairs from 2001 to 2004.

Until now, two approaches have dominated American foreign aid: the strategic and the humanitarian. Trump has added a third: the “business approach.” The strategic is based on interests, the humanitarian on compassion, and the business on yield. The business approach now guides US aid to the Palestinians.

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