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Mr. Abbas Goes to Moscow and Ankara
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Sochi, Russia November 23, 2021. Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Kremlin via REUTERS
JNS.org – Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, has clung to power for so long that an entire generation of Palestinians and Israelis have grown up not knowing any other leader in that role. First elected in 2005, he was to serve a four-year term ending in 2009. Abbas, however, wasn’t prepared to leave, and so he extended his term by another year. Fifteen years later, he’s still there—and still encouraging the perception that when he does finally vacate the office, he’ll be going out feet first.
As his indefinite term as president has dragged on, the 88-year-old has become increasingly irrelevant in terms of the situation on the ground, both diplomatically and militarily. Israel has taken a “better the devil you know” approach to him, reasoning that a gerontocratic PLO leader with dictatorial tendencies is a more sensible option than retaking those parts of the West Bank under P.A. control or allowing the emergence of a more radical leader. The outside world, particularly the European Union, has thought in similar terms, continuing to bankroll the notoriously corrupt P.A.—in the E.U.’s case, with nearly $1.5 billion over the last three years—and treating it as a state-in-the-making.
Yet from his perch in Ramallah, Abbas has failed to deliver security guarantees for Israelis. He’s failed to deliver any kind of prosperity to Palestinians in the West Bank, where more than 30% of the workforce is unemployed. He’s failed to achieve any kind of unity with Hamas, his bitter Islamist rival, or rein in the desire of Hamas and allied groups to inflict monstrous atrocities upon Israelis, as illustrated by the Oct. 7 pogrom in southern Israel. Most significantly of all, Abbas is hated by the vast majority of Palestinians. According to the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which is based in Ramallah, 85% of respondents are dissatisfied with his performance, and 90% want him gone.
Paying heed to public opinion is not something that Abbas has ever done, and he’s hardly going to start now. Desperate to prove that Hamas isn’t calling all the shots, he continues to travel the world, presenting himself as the legitimate, elected leader of Palestine, rather than a petty tyrant who has remained in the post despite the objections to him doing so voiced from all sides. On some of those foreign visits, Abbas has demonstrated better than any of his critics why he should retire from politics. On a trip to Germany two years ago, he launched into an extraordinary tirade when asked by a journalist whether he had an apology for the families of the Israeli Olympic athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Munich 50 years previously, accusing the Israelis of having carried out “50 holocausts.” Such comparisons are particularly unpalatable in Germany, and this one left Abbas’s host, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, crimson-faced at their joint press conference.
During the last week, Abbas has been on the road again but this time visiting countries where crudely antisemitic Holocaust analogies don’t attract opprobrium. His first stop was in Moscow, a city he knows well because that was where he wrote his doctoral thesis holding the Zionist movement—and not the Nazis—responsible for the Holocaust of 6 million Jews. As he met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, just as Ukraine’s military launched a courageous and much-welcome counter-offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, Abbas declared that the Palestinians have taken the Russian side “without the slightest doubt.” Russia was “one of the dearest friends of the Palestinian people,” Abbas said, adding: “We believe in you, we trust you, we feel your support.” For his part, Putin reacted warmly, telling his Palestinian guest that “we are doing everything to support Palestine and the Palestinian people” and underlining, without any sense of irony, given Russia’s numerous war crimes against the Ukrainian population, that Moscow is concerned above all with “civilian losses.”
After glad-handing the Russian president, Abbas made his way to the Turkish capital of Ankara. That visit was a little more complicated, insofar as his arrival there came off the back of a spat with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A previous invitation to address the Turkish parliament was turned down by Abbas, who cited Ankara’s alignment with Hamas as the reason, leading Erdoğan to claim angrily that the P.A. leader “owes us an apology.” Having smoothed over their differences, Abbas delivered a speech to the Turkish parliament on Aug. 15 to a chamber in which all those present draped themselves in white scarves specially designed for the occasion, bearing the Palestinian and Turkish flags.
At a private meeting before the speech, the two leaders issued full-throated condemnations of “the massacres committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories,” a theme much in evidence in Abbas’s remarks to the Turkish parliamentarians. The centerpiece of the speech was his pledge to visit Gaza personally, encouraging Muslim leaders to travel there alongside him. “I have decided to go to Gaza with all my brothers in Palestine,” Abbas said to applause. “I will go even if the price is my life. My life, our lives, are not more valuable than the life of any child who died in Gaza.”
All very noble, though Abbas didn’t name a date for his journey. Moreover, he would have been acutely aware that several Parliament members were brandishing portraits of his rival, Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader assassinated in Tehran on July 31. In many ways, the speech was Abbas’s attempt to remind politicians in a country that has embraced Hamas and its genocidal agenda that the P.A. can be sufficiently radical, too.
It’s tempting to dismiss all this talk as just that; hot air that Abbas has no intention of following up on. But doing so ignores the fact that once the war is over, governance of Gaza is a key issue for negotiators. If Hamas isn’t going to be permitted to rule and Israel is opposed to reinstating direct rule, then who will run the territory? For many Israelis, the suggestion that the P.A. should do so (on the grounds that as bad as it is, it isn’t Hamas) isn’t very persuasive. Neither are the alternatives to Abbas—like the Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail—overly appealing. In his jaunts to Moscow and Ankara then, Abbas has merely reinforced the very message he hoped to undermine; namely, that there are no credible, trustworthy leaders on the Palestinian side. That is a headache for everybody concerned, but above all, for the Israelis.
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Brooklyn Nets Select Israeli Basketball Players Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf in NBA Draft
The opening tip between the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, at Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 13, 2020. Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
In a landmark night for Israeli basketball, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf were selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets, marking the first time two Israeli players have been drafted in the same year.
Saraf, a 19-year-old guard known for his explosive athleticism and creative playmaking, was taken with the 26th pick. A standout with Maccabi Rishon LeZion and a rising star on Israel’s youth national teams, Saraf gained international attention with his electrifying scoring and commanding court presence.
With the 27th pick, the Nets selected 7-foot center Danny Wolf out of the University of Michigan. Wolf, who holds dual US-Israeli citizenship and represented Israel at the U-20 level, brings a versatile skill set, including sharp passing, perimeter shooting, and a strong feel for the game. After his name was called, Wolf grew emotional in an on-air interview, crediting his family for helping him reach the moment.
“I have the two greatest brothers in the world; I have an unbelievable sister who I love,” Wolf said. “They all helped me get to where I am today, and they’re going to help me get to where I am going to go in this league.”
The historic double-pick adds to the growing wave of Israeli presence on the NBA stage, led by Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who just completed a breakout 2024–25 season. After being traded to Portland last summer, Avdija thrived as a starter, averaging 16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. In March alone, he posted 23.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, including two triple-doubles.
“I don’t think I’ve played like this before … I knew I had it in me. But I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just playing. I’m just free,” Avdija told reporters in March
With Saraf and Wolf joining Avdija, Israel’s basketball pipeline has reached unprecedented visibility. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the moment “a national celebration for sports and youth,” and Israeli sports commentators widely hailed the night as “historic.”
Both Saraf and Wolf are expected to suit up for the Nets’ Summer League team in July. As the two rookies begin their NBA journey, they join a growing generation of Israeli athletes proving that their game belongs on basketball’s biggest stage.
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Iran Denies Any Meeting With US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran currently has no plan to meet with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday in an interview on state TV, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the US were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the US attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The US and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely geared toward civilian use.
Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of Iran’s nuclear program, which he said would inform Iran’s future diplomatic stance.
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Ireland Becomes First European Nation to Advance Ban on Trade With Israeli Settlements
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Ireland has become the first European nation to push forward legislation banning trade with Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — an effort officials say is meant “to address the horrifying situation” in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris announced that the legislation has already been approved by the government and will now move to the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for pre-legislative scrutiny.
“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Harris said during a press conference.
The Irish diplomat also told reporters he hopes the “real benefit” of the legislation will be to encourage other countries to follow suit, “because it is important that every country uses every lever at its disposal.”
Today Ireland becomes the first country in Europe to bring forward legislation to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza.
Every country must pull every lever at its disposal. pic.twitter.com/Z4RTjqntEY— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) June 24, 2025
Joining a growing number of EU member states aiming to curb Israel’s defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Ireland’s decision comes after a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.
The ICJ ruled that third countries must avoid trade or investment that supports “the illegal situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Once implemented, the law will criminalize the importation of goods from Israeli settlements into Ireland, empowering customs officials to inspect, seize, and confiscate any such shipments.
“The situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern,” Harris said. “I have made it consistently clear that this government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long-term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”
“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal and threaten the viability of the two-state solution,” the Irish diplomat continued. “This is the longstanding position of the European Union and our international partners. Furthermore, this is the clear position under international law.”
Harris also urged the EU to comply with the ICJ’s ruling by taking a more decisive and “adequate response” regarding imports from Israeli settlements.
“This is an issue that I will continue to press at EU level, and I reiterated my call for concrete proposals from the European Commission at the Foreign Affairs Council this week,” he said.
Last week, Ireland and eight other EU member states — Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden — called on the European Commission to draft proposals for how EU countries can halt trade and imports with Israeli settlements, in line with obligations set out by the ICJ.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the latest move by European countries, calling it “shameful” and a misguided attempt to undermine Israel while it faces “existential” threats from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas.
“It is regrettable that even when Israel is fighting an existential threat which is in Europe’s vital interest — there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession,” the top Israeli diplomat said in a post on X.
It is regrettable that even when Israel fighting an existential threat which is in Europe vital interest – there are those who can’t resist their anti-Israeli obsession.
Shameful! https://t.co/lxm9qm8sM1— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 19, 2025
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