Moody’s yesterday affirmed Israel’s A1 rating, primarily citing the resilience and growth of the Jewish state’s economy. The rating agency declared that Israel’s “high-tech niche and entrepreneurial culture have continued to underpin its latent dynamism,” and noted that official reserves have risen “to record high levels.” The rating agency also emphasized, however,...

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Egyptian government and military forces are struggling to dampen violence this evening, after a day of clashes between the army and supporters of Egypt’s former Muslim Brotherhood-linked president Mohammed Morsi reportedly killed over 230 protesters and 43 police officers. Cairo is urging Morsi supporters to “listen to the voice of...

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The BBC reports on “a further backlash” against Egypt’s Christians, who have found themselves increasingly subject to physical attacks – up to and including several murders – at the hands of Islamists who support former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The Coptic Orthodox Church is one of Christianity’s oldest, founded in Alexandria around 50 AD....

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Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system yesterday intercepted a rocket fired from the Egypt-controlled Sinai Peninsula and aimed at the southern resort city of Eilat. Islamist militants operating in the lawless desert peninsula said they fired the rocket at the city, which was packed with tourists, in retaliation for the killing of...

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An Egyptian military source told journalists over the weekend that a mysterious blast in the northern Sinai Peninsula last week – which had been ascribed to an Israeli drone strike – was in fact the result of an unannounced security operation to crack down on “terrorists and jihadists.” Confusion has swirled around...

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Syrian Christians are experiencing their own version of what the Associated Press describes – in the context of Egypt – as a “stepped-up hate campaign” by Islamists. In Egypt the pretexts used by Islamists are political. Supporters of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi have leveled conspiracy theories linking the country’s...

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Hamas authorities in Gaza are intensifying their crack down on political activity across a number of platforsm. The Palestinian terror group si reportedly driven, among other things, by fears that the territory could experience mass protests like those that overthrow the organization’s Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt. Gazan activists, unhappy...

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Earlier this month, a Coptic Christian man was found beheaded in the Sinai Peninsula. Scores of Christian homes have been burned. Massive intimidation marches, death threats, and a string of attacks have all increased in recent weeks, amid Islamist conspiracy theories that blame Christians for the removal from power of former President Mohammed...

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Egyptian authorities will prevent Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from going through with a plan that would have seen the Islamist official travel to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip through Egypt, according to sources who spoke to Egyptian media outlets. The development is the result of multiple Middle East dynamics. The Egyptian...

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A security sweep in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula this week resulted in 10 killed and 20 arrested, after a month in which jihadists killed at least 30 people and injured over 150 in the territory. Attacks on Egyptian soldiers and civilians are now occurring daily, and the Washington Post this week raised fears that an...

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