Trump lands in Israel

ISRAEL: Officials increased the pomp for President Donald Trump’s arrival in Tel Aviv this morning, and I saw the preparation on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport, where I arrived hours ahead of the president (and have spent the day out of range of his high-security visit, and instead I’m headed to the Golan Heights to begin a close look at Israel’s 1967 borders in conjunction with Philos Project).

Even The Economist thinks Trump might hold some keys to reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal. Or, as one Israeli noted, “maybe he will have something that is crazy enough to work.”

And the importance of the Six Day War (or Arab-Israeli War) is not to be overlooked:

“In the beginning they destroyed Egypt’s air force on the ground and knocked out the planes of Jordan, Iraq and Syria. That was Monday. Then they broke Egypt’s massive defences in Sinai. That was Tuesday. Next, they took the old city of Jerusalem and prayed. That was Wednesday. Then they reached the Suez Canal. That was Thursday. They ascended the Golan Heights. That was Friday. Then they took the peaks overlooking the plain of Damascus. In the evening the world declared a ceasefire. That was Saturday. And on the seventh day the soldiers of Israel rested.”

SAUDI ARABIA: In a sweeping and pointed speech to Arab world leaders, Trump called on Muslims to disavow extremist violence and to stand together “against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians.” He blamed Iran for instability in the region, but told Gulf leaders: “The path to peace begins right here.”

Emma Green and Uri Friedman have provided helpful annotations to the speech.

Iran’s Foreign Minister is concerned by what amounts to a 180-degree turn in U.S.-Iran policy from the Obama administration.

What Middle East leaders want to know: Is a coherent new U.S. approach to the region taking shape?

Let the record show, Saudi Arabia is one of the harshest places in the world to be a Christian, with public expressions of Christianity outlawed, converts tortured and crucified, and even Saudi converts living in other countries tracked down using Interpol.

PAKISTAN: Ramadan begins soon, and in Pakistan, with a large non-Muslim minority, new penalties mean those who smoke or eat during fasting times could go to jail.

RUSSIA: Some interesting backstory on America’s new favorite special counsel, Robert Mueller, and Alan Dershowitz doesn’t think Trump committed a crime.

Sally Yates speaks.

BRAZIL: There’s a 100 percent chance of President Michel Temer leaving office.

IRAQ: An elderly Christian woman has been rescued after she was found living under protection of a Muslim family in western Mosul.

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