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After nearly 3 weeks, the question is whether the US president’s decision to not call Israel’s leader is a petty snub or a sign of how the administration will approach the region

Times of Israel: After 19 21 days, the unringing phone in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has become impossible to ignore, resonating louder than any actual conversation he could have had with US President Joe Biden by now. After nearly three weeks of silence from the United States to its closest ally in the region, and an indispensable partner in countering Iran’s malign ambitions, some Israelis are starting to worry.

Growing numbers of observers do not see the non-call as a minor snub, a harmless move in the game of diplomatic protocol. It has become a reason for them to start wondering about the new US administration’s approach to the region, and its willingness to let go of the past in order to solve today’s pressing challenges.

Nobody in Jerusalem or Washington harbored any illusions that Israel would be near the top of Biden’s agenda. But it is unlikely that many thought Biden would go three weeks without even a courtesy call to Netanyahu or any other Mideast leader. Read More

“You will know them by their fruits …” Matthew 7:16

Arutz Sheva: New legislation set to be introduced to the Knesset by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) would allow employers to force their employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, by enabling them to bar unvaccinated workers from coming in to their place of business.

Edelstein announced Wednesday afternoon at a press conference that he will push for the bill, after earlier efforts to draft a far more expansive bill which would have empowered the state to compel every citizen to get the COVID vaccine.

“Legislation will be promoted which will allow employers to prevent the unvaccinated from coming in to work,” Edelstein said at the press conference. Read More

Jewish Press: The highly politicized International Criminal Court just declared statehood for Palestinians. They did it without any negotiation with Israel, without any compromise, and without any recognized boundaries.

They also did it without any legal authority, because the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, makes no provision for this criminal court to recognize new states. Moreover, neither Israel nor the United States ratified that treaty, so the decisions of the International Criminal Court are not binding on them. Nor is this divided decision binding on signatories, since it exceeds the authority of the so-called court.

I say “so-called” court, because the International Criminal Court is not a real court in any meaningful sense of that word.

The United States should reject the International Criminal Court decision not only because it is unfair to its ally Israel, but because it sets a dangerous precedent that could be applied against the United States and other nations that operate under the rule of law. Read More