Middle East & North Africa

21 June 2022; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his deputy, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, have announced their agreement to dissolve the Knesset (parliament) and go for an early General Election.

In the meantime, Lapid will take over as interim Prime Minister. Bennett will become the alternate prime minister with responsibility for the Iran file.

21 June 2022; MEMO: The Head of the Economic and Social Committee that oversaw the national dialogue, Ibrahim Bouderbala, revealed that the draft of the new Constitution has been completed, pointing out that it will be handed over on Monday to President Kais Saied.

21 June 2022; MEMO: Two Omani fishermen have been found alive after being missing at sea for 10 days. They were spotted near Pakistan by a merchant ship, reported the Oman Observer on Saturday.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabian political analyst and journalist, Turki Al-Hamad, said Egypt is on the verge of bankruptcy and should solve its own crises instead of calling on Gulf countries to save it.

The Saudi writer made the remarks on his Twitter account, following an article published by Egyptian journalist, Imad Al-Din Adeeb, in which he called on the Gulf countries to provide substantial assistance to his country in order to overcome deteriorating economic conditions.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Turkiye is considering the purchase of Euro fighter Typhoon fighter jets in the case that its request to buy F-16 jets from the US is refused or delayed, a report has revealed.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Tuesday that Islam will not be the "state religion" in the new constitution, which he will present to a referendum on 25 July.

"God willing, in the upcoming constitution for Tunisia, we will not talk about a state whose religion is Islam," Saied told reporters at Tunis-Carthage International Airport, "but rather we will talk about a nation whose religion is Islam, and the nation is different from the state."

22 June 2022; MEMO: Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, prepares to restore relations with the Syrian regime after a 10-year hiatus, a Palestinian source said on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"The two sides will open a new phase in their relations in the coming period," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Anadolu Agency.

The source said the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, exerted "tireless efforts" to mediate between the two sides.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, arrived on Tuesday in Jordan as ties thaw after years of frayed relations due to divergent views on regional conflicts and unfulfilled pledges of aid, officials said, Reuters reports.

The first such visit in years by the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia comes at a time, officials say, when Jordan's economy is struggling with the economic knock-on effects of the Ukraine war.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Benjamin Netanyahu is planning his return to power through Israel's General Election, which will most likely take place in October, but close aides have said that he is thinking about making this the last time that he tries to be prime minister. This will be the country's fifth General Election in less than four years.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia and Egypt have signed 14 investment deals worth $7.7 billion, marking further economic cooperation between the two and enhancing the Kingdom's support for the North African country.

Announced by Saudi Commerce Minister, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, at a meeting of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council today, the deals cover a variety of industries including those of renewable energy, green hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and e-commerce.