In the U.S., 21 states are seeing rising rates of infection, with about 12 states experiencing a rise in hospitalizations and some reaching ICU capacities. With revised predictions, the U.S. could see nearly 200,000 dead from the virus come fall. There are currently over 2 million Americans infected and over 115,000 dead from the virus.

• Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee are the current hotspots, which experts are warning may quickly strain local hospital systems. Arizona’s ICU units are nearly at maximum capacity, and the health department has urged hospitals to quickly prepare for a crisis situation.
• New York, New Jersey, California, and Illinois remain the top four states by death count.

In Israel: With large increases in the number of coronavirus cases, including 200 cases in a one-day period, the Israeli government has “hit the emergency brake” on efforts to reopen the country, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• The death toll in Israel has surpassed 300, a small but meaningful rise. As the easing of all restrictions was halted, including the opening of public transportation, Netanyahu said the growing case toll, particularly in Tel Aviv, could spur the country to reinstate social distancing measures. The hardest hit spots, so-called “red zones,” are subject to reinforced lockdowns, announced the government. With increased coronavirus testing, testing sites are already overwhelmed, which could be even more problematic for a future wave of infections. The inability to test may even cause harsher lockdown measures as the state deals with an inability to properly assess the scope of the problem (much as was done in the U.S. in the early days of the pandemic).
• The country’s Health Minister, Yuli Edelstein, said the government was going to step up measures to enforce social distancing requirements. Not wearing a mask in public, he said, is akin to driving at 100 miles per hour, and the government will implement the requirements like they do the traffic laws. Despite the problems facing Israel’s reopening, and the comments from the Prime and Health Ministers, Israel was still ranked third safest country in dealing with the coronavirus. According to a Hong Kong survey organization, Israel had been in first place, but was moved into third behind Switzerland and Germany.
• The security service’s ability to keep tabs on coronavirus patients without a court order is winding down. The head of the agency, the Shin Bet, proposed the activities be taken over by civilian infrastructure, meaning the extreme measures from the security service were no longer necessary and appropriate. And even though the Knesset aimed to push ahead with legislation granting the authority to the Shin Bet, that too has been withdrawn.

PA submits counter-proposal: The Palestinian Authority (“PA”) has submitted a counter-proposal in response to Netanyahu’s promise to annex roughly 30% of the West Bank in accordance with Trump’s peace plan. Presented before the U.N., Russia, the E.U., and the U.S., the Palestinians call for all of the West in accordance with the 1967 borders to be a part of their future state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Their plan also proposes a demilitarized state, something for which Israel has long called. Additionally, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, asserted that the Palestinians would unilaterally declare a state on the 1967 Six Day War borders and pressure international players to recognize it should Israel proceed with annexation.

• Backup a little: Under the coalition deal signed between alternate Prime Ministers Netanyahu and Gantz, the Israeli government can begin the process of applying sovereignty to the West Bank settlements, an area otherwise known as Judea and Samaria, on July 1 in accordance with the U.S. peace plan. The Palestinians have rejected the peace plan in its entirety. There are now conflicting reports whether the U.S. will grant Israel the go-ahead, as it seems the U.S. is now urging Israeli authorities to delay the move.
• PA hiding documents: With the region on edge preparing for potential Israeli annexation, the PA is taking a proactive step it hasn’t done since the Second Intifada battered the territory: hiding of confidential and sensitive documents. With the fear of violence and protest, at least two Palestinian cities have been ordered to conduct this rare and extreme measure.
• Israel may be changing course: Netanyahu may be steering away from a hardline annexation of the kind proposed in the Trump peace plan. Instead, the Israeli government is possibly planning on annexing three settlement blocs—towns of settlement houses—that are thought to be part of Israel in any potential two-state solution. The area in question is home to some 450,000 Israelis and represents a much smaller portion of the West Bank, rather than roughly 30% granted under the Trump deal. The three land blocs—Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, and Ariel, are all within ten miles of Israel proper. Etzion and Ma’ale Adumim are both suburbs of Jerusalem, and Ariel, while further within the West Bank, has a direct line to Tel Aviv. 

Israel’s High Court weighs in: The Israeli Supreme Court struck down a 2017 law which retroactively legalized about 4,000 settler homes built at least partially on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank. Although the decision was praised in international bodies and in the U.S., the Israeli right-wing was infuriated by the Court’s ruling, calling it a “violation” of the Knesset’s powers and a “declaration of war” on the position of settlers in the West Bank. In her ruling, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut said the law did not meet constitutional standards of Israeli law and that the law sought to “retroactively legalize illegal acts perpetrated by a specific population in the region whilst harming the rights of another.”
 

AIPAC weighs in: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel’s most powerful friend in D.C., has been privately telling congresspeople they are free to criticize Israel on annexation—at least up to a point. This is a highly unusual tactic for them. AIPAC still made clear that it is unacceptable to propose conditioning U.S. aid to Israel on the annexation issue, but nevertheless the group has stated its expressed support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.