Middle East Experience

The president said that US-Israel “friendship is based on values that are beyond partisan politics.”
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Rivlin, Netanyahu call Biden

Pressuring Egypt's Hosni Mubarak to resign while remaining passive on….
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Obama in book wrestles with 'messy' Arab Spring choices

A senior Palestinian official said Tuesday that the Israeli-Palestinian relationship will "return to how it was."
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Palestinian Authority to resume cooperation with Israel

Fayza Haidar has become Egypt’s first female coach to train a male soccer team, breaking all norms in a conservative society like Egypt.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Meet Egypt’s first female coach of a men's soccer team

Iraq and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reopened the Arar desert crossing, Baghdad's border commission said, in a long-awaited sign of closer trade ties after a 30-year closure.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Top officials including Iraq's interior minister and the head of its border commission traveled from Baghdad to formally open Arar, where a line of cargo trucks had been waiting since the morning.Arar has been closed since 1990 after the two countries cut ties following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.Iraqi and Saudi officials including the Saudi ambassador to Iraq toured the site on Wednesday.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iraq, Saudi Ararbia reopen Arar border crossing after 30 years: Official

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has joined Bahrain and UAE leaders for a trilateral summit in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.Read more: Coronavirus: UAE bans private parties on National Day, Christmas, New YearBahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa arrived in the UAE on Tuesday and was received by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Emirati state news agency WAM.Other officials present included UAE Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan.“They welcomed King Hamad and expressed sincere condolences to him on the death of [Bahrain’s] Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa,” WAM reported.King Abdullah arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as well, at the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed, according to the office of the Jordanian king.The summit comes after the UAE and Bahrain normalized relations in September with Jordan’s neighbor, Israel.Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994.UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba said in August that the UAE-Israel deal would directly benefit Jordan.The UAE’s treaty with Israel “bolsters Jordan’s stability and reaffirms its importance in future initiatives,” Al Otaiba wrote in an op-ed for Israeli news outlet Ynet.Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the UAE-Israel deal would “move the region toward a just peace” - if Israel approached it as an incentive to end occupation of Palestinian land.Read more:President Trump asked for options for attacking Iran nuclear site, held off: OfficialIsrael says air strikes in Syria hit Syrian, Iranian military targetsUAE's Mohammed bin Zayed, Israel's President exchange visit invitations
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE summit: Jordan’s King Abdullah meets Bahrain King, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince

Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday that final results from the late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine show it was 95 percent effective, adding it had the required two-months of safety data and would apply for emergency US authorization within days.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The drugmaker said efficacy of the vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE was consistent across age and ethnicity demographics, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that the immunization could be employed broadly around the world.Efficacy in adults over 65 years, who are at particular risk from the virus, was over 94 percent.The final analysis comes just one week after initial results from the trial showed the vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. Moderna Inc on Monday released preliminary data for its vaccine, showing similar effectiveness.The better-than-expected data from the two vaccines, both developed with new technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA), have raised hopes for an end to a resurgent pandemic that has killed more than 1.3 million people globally and wreaked havoc upon economies and daily life.However, while some groups such as healthcare workers will be prioritized in the United States for vaccinations this year, it will be months before large-scale rollouts begin.Pfizer said on Wednesday there had been 170 cases of the disease in its trial of more 43,000 volunteers, of which 162 were observed in the placebo arm and 8 were in the vaccine group.Ten people developed severe COVID-19, one of whom received the vaccine.It also said the vaccine was well-tolerated and that side effects were mostly mild to moderate and cleared up quickly.The only severe adverse event that affected more than 2 percent of those vaccinated was fatigue, which affected 3.7 percent of recipients after the second dose. Older adults tended to report fewer and milder solicited adverse events following vaccination.The results come as the virus is running rampant in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, placing an enormous strain on healthcare systems with record numbers of new cases and hospitalizations.The approach of winter in the northern hemisphere in tandem with the holiday season is expected to worsen case numbers as people spend more time indoors and get together for family gatherings.“With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.Read more:50 mln vaccines could be ready in 2020, immunity up to one yearUK expects to receive 10 mln doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in 2020Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine 90 pct effective in phase 3 trialsPfizer and BioNTech also said they plan to submit the data to other regulatory agencies around the world as well as the United States. They also plan to submit data from the study to a peer-reviewed scientific journal.Pfizer reiterated it expects to make as many as 50 million vaccine doses this year, enough to protect 25 million people, and then produce up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.Of the dozens of drugmakers and research groups racing to develop vaccines against COVID-19, the next data release will likely be from AstraZeneca Plc with the University of Oxford in November or December. Johnson & Johnson says it is on track to deliver data this year.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine 95 percent effective

Israel and Bahrain will open embassies soon, their foreign ministers said on Wednesday, as the two countries look to broaden cooperation that Washington has promoted as an anti-Iran alliance and potential economic bonanza.On a first official visit by Bahraini officials to Israel, the Gulf kingdom's foreign minister, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Asshkenazi, would visit Manama in December.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“I was pleased to convey to Minister Ashkenazi the Kingdom of Bahrain's formal request to open an embassy in Israel and to inform him that Israel's reciprocal request for an embassy in Manama has been approved. This is a process which I hope can now move forward relatively quickly,” said Al-Zayani.Askenazi, speaking at Israel's foreign ministry with al-Zayani, said he hoped the opening ceremonies would be held by the end of 2020.Israeli and Bahrani officials signed several memoranda of understanding in October in Manama covering trade, air services, telecommunications, finance, banking and agriculture.Visas and flightsIsrael and Bahrain will institute an E-visa system on Dec 1 to facilitate travel by their citizens between the two countries, Bahrain’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, anticipating 14 weekly flights between the Gulf kingdom and Tel Aviv.The Bahraini delegation travelled on Gulf Air flight GF972 - a reference to Israel's telephone country code - on the airline's first commercial flight to Tel Aviv.President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Avi Berkowitz, was also on the flight, which flew over Saudi Arabia, an accommodation by the Gulf's powerhouse, which has so far resisted US appeals to normalize ties with Israel.Since September, the Trump administration has brokered agreements with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan toward normalizing their relations with Israel in a strategic realignment against Iran.The shift has enraged the Palestinians who have demanded statehood before any such regional rapprochement.Although White House officials have said more countries are considering normalizing ties with Israel, further developments appear unlikely before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office and establishes his administration's policy on Iran.Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen, speaking on Army Radio, said a commitment towards a tough policy on Iran by the next administration in Washington would determine whether other countries would opt for normalization deals with Israel.Read more:Bahrain’s first official government delegation heads to Israel on Gulf Air flightUS sending delegation to Bahrain, Israel for first Manama to Tel Aviv direct flightBahrain’s FM to meet with Netanyahu, Pompeo in Israel
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Bahrain, Israel agree to open embassies, foreign ministers discuss visas, flights

Qatar's foreign minister also stressed a "united front" of Arab states on the Israel-Palestine issue and discussed Qatar's relations with Israel.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Qatar calls UAE and Bahrain's normalization with Israel 'sovereign decision'

Israel and Bahrain's foreign ministers met in Israel today as ties between the two countries warm at a rapid pace.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel celebrates first visit of Bahrain foreign minister