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Netanyahu Predicts PA Return to Negotiations If Trump Gets Re-elected

Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
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Netanyahu Predicts PA Return to Negotiations If Trump Gets Re-elected

Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)
Palestinian youths in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Hebron (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believes that the Palestinian Authority would return to negotiations with Israel fairly soon. This came in statements published in the US-Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom

“In a closed-door conversation, Netanyahu said that the regional significance of the newly-signed peace deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain left the Palestinians no option other than to come back to the table,” Israel Hayom reporter Ariel Kahana wrote.

“However, the prime minister said that talks with the PA would re-launch only after the US presidential election on Nov. 3, and only if US President Donald Trump is re-elected,” he added.

In other news, statements made by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to Israel Hayom about Washington considering the unseating of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and replacing him with former Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan spurred widespread controversy.

After the rage Friedman’s statements caused, Israel Hayom edited the article to emphasize that the US diplomat’s answer to such speculations was no.

Asked whether the US is considering the possibility of appointing Dahlan, who lives in the UAE, as the next Palestinian leader, Friedman replied: "We're not thinking about it," we have no desire to engineer the Palestinian leadership.

The statement that caused uproar was published on Thursday. Due to the phrasing’s ambiguity, it was understood that the US administration is considering appointing Dahlan as the next Palestinian leader.

PA officials consequentially released vocal statements against such a conspiracy.

As for the impact of the developments on the Palestinians, Friedman said the Palestinian people are not being served properly by their leadership.

"They (the PA) need to join the 21st Century. They are on the wrong side of history at the moment," he said.

"Peace is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," said the ambassador.

After pushing the peace initiative forward and fully capitalizing on it, Friedman said he believes the sovereignty issue can be revisited in a manner that will be less controversial.

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UN Nuclear Watchdog Can Guarantee Iran Will Not Develop Nuclear Weapons

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Nuclear Watchdog Can Guarantee Iran Will Not Develop Nuclear Weapons

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency can do this “through a watertight inspection system.”

He said elements for an agreement on reining in Iran’s nuclear program have been discussed.

He was speaking at an emergency meeting of the Security Council about the Israel-Iran conflict.

Grossi called for “maximum restraint” in the war, adding: “A diplomatic solution is within reach if the necessary political will is there.”

He warned against any potential attack on Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant as well as a research reactor near Tehran, saying it could lead to radiation leaks with “severe consequences.”

Even a hit that disabled the two lines supplying electrical power to the Bushehr plant “could cause its reactor core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment,” he added.

Grossi said Israeli attacks on nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan and at the Arak heavy water plant have so far not led to any radiological release.

He said an Israeli military official erroneously reported Thursday that Bushehr was hit by an airstrike, but Israel then retracted that claim. He stressed that the confusion “underscored the vital need for clear and accurate communication.”

More on the Tehran Research Reactor

The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program.

The US actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America’s “Atoms for Peace” program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns

Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Arabian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility.

Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA.