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ple through the whole economy. For a large part of the population, electricity will become a luxury. Driving your car will become a luxury, too. Transportation will become a luxury.”

He added, “Drinking water is all about transportation. If you don’t have diesel, you can’t get water from the mountain to the coast,” Wimmen noted. “For all merchandise that have a significant transportation element in them, prices will have to explode. The large majority of Lebanese ... will get drastically poorer.”

The announcement was expected for several days before it was made, and the country’s Central Bank had already suspended lines of credit to fuel importers.

On Thursday, the Central Bank said the subsidies had been exploited by businesses.

Neighborhoods and towns already suffering long outages lost access to fuel needed to power backup generators.

Lebanon has been without a functioning government for over a year, and according to the United Nations, approximately 77% of households cannot afford to purchase enough food. Over 71% are expected to lose access to safe water.

Poland’s Holocaust Restitution Bill

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Saturday signed into law a bill limiting restitution for Holocaust-related claims.

In a Saturday statement, Duda said, “I made a decision today on the act, which in recent months was the subject of a lively and loud debate at home and abroad. After an in-depth analysis, I have decided to sign the amendment.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) responded, “Today, Poland approved, not for the first time, an anti-Semitic and unethical law. Tonight, I instructed the chargé d’affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw to return to Israel immediately for indefinite consultations.

“The new Ambassador to Poland, who was due to leave for Warsaw soon, will not be departing for Poland at this stage. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will recommend today that the Polish Ambassador to Israel remain on holiday in his country. This time should be used to explain to the people of Poland the meaning of the Holocaust to the citizens of Israel and the extent to which we will refuse to tolerate any contempt for the memory of Holocaust and its victims. It will not end here.”

Lapid’s response has been criticized by some Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, who fear it could trigger harsh backlash and the loss of a potential ally in the European Union. According to them, Poland’s decision is not unusual, other than in its publicity and fanfare.

Responding to Lapid, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, “The decision of Israel to downgrade its diplomatic representation in Warsaw lacks justification and any sense of responsibility. The words spoken by [Israeli Foreign Minister] Yair Lapid enrage every upstanding person.”

Criticizing the Israeli government’s “aggressive actions” in response to the Polish bill, Morawiecki added, “The use of this tragedy for political ends is irresponsible and shameful. If the Israeli government continues to attack Poland in such a manner, it will most definitely have a very negative impact on our mutual relations – both bilaterally and in international forums.”

Bennett Slashes Number of New “Settlement” Homes

was upended after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett cut the number to just 2,200 new housing units. The decision was supposedly made in an effort not to upset the Biden administration.

The units are the first to be approved under U.S. President Joe Biden’s watch. They are set to be approved by Israel’s Civil Administration next week.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White) approved the construction of 1,000 homes for Palestinian Authority Arabs, within the boundaries of Area C, the only area of Judea and Samaria where Jews are allowed to live.

Bennett and Biden have been discussing a trip by Bennett to Washington; the trip is expected to be held in the coming weeks.

An Invite to Cairo

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has invited Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to make an official visit to Egypt within the next few weeks.

Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate chair Abbas Kamel relayed the invite to Bennett while he was visiting Jerusalem for talks with the prime minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

A visit to Egypt would be the first public visit by an Israeli premier since 2011, when prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with president Hosni Mubarak in the Sinai resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. Netanyahu also reportedly paid a secret, unofficial visit in 2018.

Kamel met with Bennett in Jerusalem at the Prime Minister’s Office, which said the two discussed bilateral ties between the countries and “the matter of Egyptian mediation in the security situation vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip.”

Egypt helped broker the truce that ended the 11-day conflict in May between Israel and Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza.

After meeting with senior Israeli officials, Kamel visited the West

Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kamel’s trip comes two days after two rockets were fired from Gaza toward the town of Sderot in a brief flare-up of violence amid a shaky calm in place since the May war. One of the missiles was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and the second landed inside the Strip. Israel has so far not responded to the launch.

Another Jab

Israel has begun offering Israelis ages 50 and over a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

The decision was approved by an expert Health Ministry committee. The government hopes that third doses will be available to those over 40 beginning next week, Arutz Sheva said.

On Monday evening, Israel passed the one-million mark for its third doses. That same day, the IDF announced that it would begin vaccinating medical staff over age 30 with a third dose.

Coronavirus czar Professor Salman Zarka said on Tuesday morning that, so far, no unusual side effects had been reported from the third dose of the vaccine and that no one who received the vaccine had contracted coronavirus – either the Delta variant or others.

Full Diplomatic Relations with Morocco Soon

Israel and Morocco would upgrade to a full diplomatic relationship within two months.

“Within two months, full embassies will be open — in Israel and in Rabat,” Lapid asserted on Thursday morning after inaugurating Israel’s Liaison Office during his historic trip to Rabat, Morocco.

He added that Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita is expected to arrive in Israel for the opening of a Tel Aviv embassy in October or early November.

Present at the inauguration ceremony were Welfare Minister Meir Cohen (Blue and White), Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee head MK Ram Ben Barak (Yesh Atid), and Charge D’affaires David Govrin. Morocco was represented at the ceremony by Deputy Foreign Minister Mohcine Jazouli.

In a statement, Lapid said, “This historic visit is a continuation of the longstanding friendship and deep roots and traditions that the Jewish community in Morocco, and the large community of Israelis with origins in Morocco have.”

Thursday’s ceremony followed a Wednesday evening meeting between Bourita and Lapid, during which three cooperation agreements were signed on the issues of political consultation; culture, youth, and sports; and air service between the two countries.