Instead of holding his tongue, and thanking the good Lord and the exhausted, hesitant, merciful prosecution for the VIP criminal procedure it granted his wife, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose the second option, the one close to his heart: Slandering law enforcement and baseless, ridiculous self-pity.
Today the hunting season has ended, said the prime minister about the revelation of the criminal, embarrassing acts by my Sara, and her trial that ended with a light punishment.
>> Read more: Three judges put aside duty to protect Sara Netanyahu's honor | Analysis - Netanyahu blasts court for convicting his wife : She is the victim of a witch hunt
Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's announcement on Saturday night on Channel 13 News that he would work to establish a unity government instead of a right-wing government took the political world by surprise, except for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that is.
For a while now Netanyahu has seen more and more evidence that Lieberman, who is chairman of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, is working to take him out and that he has a thought-out, long-range plan the entire purpose of which is to separate Netanyahu from the prime minister's chair.
On May 14, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu believes that Lieberman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon from Kulanu party have been working together to keep him from establishing a government. Netanyahu still suspects Kahlon, and of course suspects that Likud rival Gideon Sa'ar is part of the conspiracy.
In huge gilded letters (what else?), on a piece of synthetic lawn (of course), a large sign was erected in the Golan Heights, as if taken directly from the best of comedy sketches. Ramat Trump, or Trump Heights, will be built here. Even the strong gusts, which made it difficult to put up the scenery, gave this ridiculous event the atmosphere of an Israeli satire a moment before a variety of government ministers began their comically dramatic march toward the ceremony.
We'll begin at the end. No new community named for U.S. President Donald Trump was actually established on Sunday in the Golan Heights. As even the founder of the Knesset caucus for the Golan, Kahol Lavan MK Zvi Hauser, observed: Anyone who reads the fine print of the historic' decision understands that this is a conceptual decision. There is no funding. There is no planning. There is no location and there is really no committed decision. That's what the Israbluff'" to borrow a term from Israeli comedy, avoiding a problem with a fictional solution "of establishing of a new community in the Golan Heights looks like. Salah Shabati at his best, he added, referring to the 1964 Israeli satire film.
>> Read more: Netanyahu promised to name a 'new' community after Trump. We went there and locals are not pleased - Never mind the embassy move and the Golan, Trump's true mark in Israel is on its economy | Opinion
Investors are growing nervous about the future of IDB, the holding group controlled by Argentinian property magnate Eduardo Elsztain, after the CEO of the company at the apex of the group announced plans to quit and the market was rife with rumors that its chief financial officer would be leaving as well.
The market was abuzz with reports on Sunday that IDB Development Limited CFO Gil Kotler, widely regarded as the key executive holding the fort at the financially struggling group, was in talks to join the U.S. unit of Delek Group, the holding company controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva.
The reports had it that Kotler hadn't made a decision yet. But late on Wednesday IDB did officially report that CEO Sholem Lapidot would be stepping down at an unspecified date.
When the masked men are Jews, like those who invaded the village of Jalud on June 5, they are ugly and despicable. When the masked men are Palestinians who demonstrate against the separation barrier in Gaza, in Kafr Kadum or in Nabi Saleh, they're beautiful and moving. There's no symmetry between the groups, despite the momentary external similarity that comes from concealing their faces.
The anonymous Jew knows that he will come to no harm, even if his face is revealed. The investigative file will be closed for lack of public interest. Covering one's face is part of imposing terror. The Palestinian who covers his face is doing something self evident: He is making things difficult for the vengeful police, army and Shin Bet security service, which will try to arrest him even 10 years after he demonstrated as a teenager.
When a hilltop youth throws stones at Palestinian farmers and Palestinian cars, he is a criminal following in the footsteps of the government's crimes. These are the crimes that built his parents' private home in the settlement, and ensure the welfare of the outpost that will be born of the outpost where he now lives happily.
About a week ago, the National Religious Education Administration (Hemed) in the Education Ministry announced the name of the role model for the coming school year: Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, who was the Sephardic chief rabbi. This year too, as in the past nine years, they refrained from choosing a woman.
Each year since 2012, the National Religious Education Administration chooses a role model, and provides lessons and activities centered around him. Each year they produce a children's book with stories about the person's life, which is distributed to children of kindergarten age. In addition, on Hemed's official website there are links to video clips, activities and quizzes about the honoree.
During the first years of the initiative, only men were chosen: Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, the first Sephardic chief rabbi; Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, founder of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and spiritual father of the Gush Emunim settlement movement; Rabbi Haim David Halevi, an arbiter of halakha (Jewish religious law) who served as the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and Rishon Letzion; and Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli, an Israel Prize laureate who headed Mercaz Harav after Kook's death, and is also identified with an uncompromising ideological policy against the evacuation of settlements.
The two leading contenders for Istanbul mayor faced off in a political debate Sunday, a week before the city is set to hold a repeat of the election an opposition candidate won and Turkey's governing party successfully challenged.
Ruling party favorite Binali Yildirim and secular opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu argued during the live televised debate, a rarity in Turkey, over the election authority's decision to void the first mayoral election. Yildirim, a former Turkish prime minister, said the March 31 election had been "stolen" from him.
>> Read more: In Istanbul, Turkey's anti-Erdogan opposition is becoming a dangerous cult | Opinion - Istanbul shatters Erdogan's dream | Analysis
The problem with the case of the prime minister's residences began with the indictment. The claim at the heart of the case is that Sara Netanyahu ordered catered meals to the prime minister's residence, which is against the rules when a cook is employed in the house. According to the rules, if no cook had been employed, Netanyahu could have freely ordered meals delivered from restaurants. In fact, this was an indictment about hiding a cook.
The prime minister's wife saw this as a minor matter, and she was right. The indictment itself is minor. But the cook is a small piece of a puzzle that the prosecution chose not to put together.
>> Read more: Sara Netanyahu admits criminal offense in plea deal, will pay fine
Slogans regarding the need to preserve the Jewish character of a place were once again heard in Afula, during a demonstration on Saturday night held in front of a home that was sold to an Arab family.
These slogans cannot hide the racist division between our people and the others, between the superior and inferior, between the holy and the unclean, that accompanies a person here from womb to tomb. The way the city fathers embraced the demonstration is indicative of the deepening cooperation between government representatives and avowed promoters of racism like the Lehava organization, whose flag was seen at the protest alongside the Israeli flag.
>> Read more: Israeli city votes against absorbing Arab village, aiming to 'preserve city's character' - Ignoring racism in Afula | Editorial
On the one side are some 1,600 Israeli companies in the healthcare segment, most of them startups, according to the Israel Advanced Technology Industries trade group. About half are focused on medical devices, but some 300 are in healthcare information technology, 130 in diagnostics and 210 in therapeutics.
Among the most successful, the robotic-surgery company Mazor Robotics was sold last year for $1.6 billion and NeuroDerm, a developer of next-generation treatments for central nervous system disorders, was acquired in 2017 for $1.1 billion.
A West Bank Palestinian has been charged with kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old Israeli girl whom he had met at the school where he was employed as a maintenance worker, the police said.
The defendant, a resident of the West Bank village of Deir Qadis, worked at an Israeli school in the Mateh Binyamin region in the central West Bank. The suspect developed a relationship with the child over an extended period, according to the indictment, engaging her in conversation and giving her candy.
>> Read more: Fatah official fired after Jewish settlers were filmed attending his son's wedding - Israel slams police for failing to enforce new laws against polygamy
Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, was boiling mad that the White House went ahead last Tuesday and announced that the kingdom will be participating in the Middle East peace conference in Bahrain sponsored by the United States.
Safadi said Jordan will be the one to decide when to announce its participation and should it decide not to participate, its decision would be based on its own assessments. Safadi added that Jordan has plenty of reasons not to take part in the peace conference. He also stated that "If Jordan does decide to attend, it would be to hear what the others have to say. If the things we hear will be in line with our positions, we'll give our consent, and if not we'll express our opposition."
Does Safadi's reaction attest that Washington has never even consulted with the royal family in Amman about the public announcement regarding Jordan's participation in the conference? The foreign minister hinted as much when he spelled out that Jordan has no idea what the "deal of the century" even includes, and that "it's not alone in that situation."
For the past few years, a disturbing report has been making the rounds on social media that Haaretz supported Hitler early on. Haaretz in 1932: Hitler makes a good impression is the headline of the post on social media, accompanied by the following explanation: Now we all know what the Haaretz newspaper is worth, along with the reports of the leftist media in general.
In the hope (however unrealistic) that it is possible to put an end to the rumors, interpretations and fake news, here for the first time is the full story behind the Haaretz report on Hitler from 1932. Readers can judge for themselves.
>> Read more: Why neo-Nazis love the BDS movement so much | Opinion - Just think what Goebbels could have done with Facebook
Ringing the opening bell for a company about to start its first day of trading is an old tradition on the New York Stock Exchange. The CEO on stage above the trading floor has the eyes of hundreds of traders for a few seconds and garners huge media attention.
In the case of Fiverr, the Israeli company whose online platform matches freelancers with employers, its founder and CEO, Micha Kaufman, did something unusual last Thursday when it began trading on the NYSE: Crowded on stage with him were 13 buyers and sellers of Fiverr's services.
The 13, some of Fiverr's most veteran users, were flown from around the world not only as a way of saying thanks for helping to make the company what it is, but to show the world the diversity of the Fiverr community. The entrance to the NYSE building on Wall Street was festooned with a banner designed by Fiverr community designers with the motto: Doers take Wall Street.
A Florida man was arrested for threatening to kill minorities, including Jews.
Joshua John Leff, 40, was arrested at his home in Fort Myers and charged with intimidation, sending written threats to kill and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
He made the threats on social media sites Bitchute and Gab, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a statement. The department began its investigation after receiving a tip about Leff's statements and videos inciting violence against minority groups.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his wife was convicted of a criminal offense only because she is married to him, and therefore suffers from political persecution.
"If she weren't my wife, there would be no investigation and no one would have dreamed of prosecuting her."
Sara Netanyahu admitted before a district court to intentionally exploiting another person's mistake and will be required to pay the state $15,000 - after having been originally charged with aggravated fraud, fraud and breach of trust.
Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Sunday that she is likely to run in Israel's upcoming election.
Speaking at the Jerusalem Post's annual conference, Shaked said that she doesn't rule out a merger with her former Habayit Hayehudi party, which she left along with Naftali Bennett in order to set up the Hayamin Hehadash party. The latter did not pass the electoral threshold in the April 9 election, leaving Shaked outside the Knesset. Last month, Netanyahu fired her and Bennett from their positions.
>> Read more: Ayelet Shaked should lead Israel's religious-Zionist camp, poll shows - The downfall of Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked - Netanyahu sacked Israel's justice minister out of spite, but can't be rid of her forever | Analysis
Algerian former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia appeared in a court in Algiers on Sunday to be questioned over alleged corruption involving the partner in Algeria of Germany's Volkswagen, state TV said.
This is the second time Ouyahia has been questioned since the Supreme Court last week ordered his detention as part of another investigation into alleged corruption.
A Pennsylvania man reportedly has been arrested in connection with a fire in the home of a Brooklyn rabbi that investigators suspect was an arson attack.
Menachem Karelefsky of McKeesport, Pennsylvania was arrested by officers from the New York Police Department at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday and charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson, the Vosizneias Jewish news website reported.
Thirteen people, including a 6-week-old baby, were injured in the early Friday morning fire. None of the injuries were life-threatening, although 12 people were sent to the hospital, including nine civilians, two firefighters and an EMS medic.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, the four year anniversary of the day he announced his presidential run, Trump wondered on Twitter if the people would demand he not leave the White House after two terms in office.
"A poll should be done on which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper, the Failing New York Times or the Amazon (lobbyist) Washington Post!" he said on Twitter. "They are both a disgrace to our Country, the Enemy of the People, but I just can't seem to figure out which is worse?"
"The good news is that at the end of 6 years, after America has been made GREAT again and I leave the beautiful White House both of these horrible papers will quickly go out of business & be forever gone.
Mysterious attacks on oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz show how one of the world's crucial chokepoints for global energy supplies can be easily targeted, 30 years after the U.S. Navy and Iran were entangled in a similarly shadowy conflict called the Tanker War.
While the current tensions are nowhere near the damage done then, it underscores how dangerous the situation is and how explosive it can become.
The so-called Tanker War involved American naval ships escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the strait after Iranian mines damaged vessels in the region. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw America accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people.
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt said on Sunday that President Donald Trump's administration may delay the publication of the long-awaited peace plan to November 2019.
Greenblatt made the remark during an interview with Yaakov Katz, the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, which was held as part the publication's annual conference.
>> Read more: Jared Kushner's 'paradigm-busting' Mideast peace deal just won't work | Opinion - Trump's man in Jerusalem is harming the peace process | Editorial - Trump's peace plan offers Palestinians a severance package for the occupation | Analysis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday the establishment of Ramat Trump, the new Golan Heights community named after the U.S. president.
During a government meeting, Netanyahu said that this is a historic day. "We're going to establish a new community, something that hasn't happened in many years, and in honor of President Donald Trump."
The meeting was followed by a sign unveiling ceremony for the town.
2020 Democratic presidential candidate, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, accused U.S. President Donald Trump of a destabilizing chain reaction initiated by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal in the Middle East.
Buttigieg made the remark on CNN with Jake Tapper in response to a question about how he would, as president, respond to the recent tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman. Buttigieg insisted that the U.S. needed to gather more intelligence on the attacks, but cautioned that the Trump administration's rhetoric was reminiscent of the run-up to the Iraq war and noted that an architect of that conflict is now Trump's national security adviser - John Bolton.
Buttigieg also appeared on Meet the Press where he argued that the U.S. needs to reassess its close ties to Saudi Arabia.
As Haaretz celebrates the 100th anniversary of its first edition, which was published on June 18, 1919, publisher Amos Schocken joins host Simon Spungin to discuss the newspaper's successes and failures, the state of Israel today and what he considers the main threats to the future of the Jewish state.
We also discuss the place of media outlets in modern democracies, the key role that Israel's Arab citizens must play in running and defining the country, and the positive message that can be taken from racist attitudes.
UPDATE: U.S. Mideast envoy Greenblatt says plan's publication may be postponed to November
As the unveiling of the "full" Kushner Mideast peace plan recedes once again, the features of a new, altered U.S. policy are becoming more apparent, whether or not a formal announcement of its parameters ever emerges.
The preparations for an "economic workshop" in Bahrain in late June come after several months of leaks and commentary indicating that the White House is backing away from supporting a Palestinian state. Key U.S. officials are not even explicitly ruling out unilateral Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.
Several people who joined opposition party Kahol Lavan, headed by three former top generals, felt that Haaretz's weekend editorial cartoon by Amos Biderman hit all too close to home.
The three generals, the great hope on which the party had based itself, are shown sprawled languidly on couches doing absolutely nothing. Party co-chair member Yair Lapid who has ironically come to appear to be the only fighter in the cockpit urges them: We must embitter the life of the coalition! to which his co-leader Benny Gantz answers, But not today.
>> Read more: This what Israel's center-left has to do if it wants to take Netanyahu down in the next election | Analysis - Everything you need to know about Benny Gantz, the general who declared victory over Netanyahu
Pope Francis called for restraint and a lowering of tensions in the Middle East on Sunday following attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that have raised fears of a broader confrontation in the region.
Francis, during a visit to a city in central Italy that was severely damaged by a string of earthquakes in 2016, said he was worried by the ramifications of the attacks.
"I invite everyone to use the instruments of diplomacy to resolve the complex problems of the conflicts in the Middle East," he said.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner took in as much as $135 million in revenue during their second year as aides to President Donald Trump, generated from their vast real estate holdings, stocks and bonds and even a book deal, according to their financial disclosures released Friday.
Ivanka Trump's stake in her family's Washington, D.C., hotel down the street from the Oval Office generated $3.95 million in revenue in 2018, barely changed from a year earlier. The hotel, a favorite gathering spot for foreign diplomats and lobbyists, is at the center of two federal lawsuits claiming Donald Trump is violating the Constitution's ban on foreign government payments to the president.
>> Read more: Kushner, Inc.' a book you can judge by its cover
While it is "unmistakable" that Iran was responsible for the attacks on two tankers last week, the United States does not want to go to war with Tehran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday", Pompeo said, "President Trump has done everything he can to avoid war. We don't want war." But he added that Washington will guarantee free navigation through vital shipping areas.
"The United States is going make sure that we take all the actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise that achieve that outcome," Pompeo said.
Julian Castro is the latest Democratic presidential contender to follow the trend of criticizing Fox News Channel while appearing on the network for a town hall.
The former Housing secretary's scolding of Fox on Thursday for its coverage of Hillary Clinton was mild compared to recent attacks by Pete Buttigieg and Kirsten Gillibrand. But it drew an answer from moderator Bret Baier.
The exchange illustrated the strong feelings Fox generates among many Democrats for its commentators' support of President Donald Trump, and the pressures faced by candidates who choose to engage with the network. The Democratic National Committee has said it won't sponsor a debate on Fox, and Elizabeth Warren has refused an invitation to appear there. She called Fox News a hate-for-profit racket.
Yair Lapid, the co-chair of opposition party Kahol Lavan, said on Sunday that he believes a unity government headed by his outfit is the "right thing for Israel."
Lapid said he would agree to form a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to comments made by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday. Lieberman stated that he is will aim for a unity government with Netanyahu and ex-general Benny Gantz in order to exclude the ultra-Orthodox parties.
Lapid took to Twitter to say that "we need a government that sets out each morning to tackle the country's challenges, not the legal challenges of the prime minister."
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a top foreign policy Republican, says he sees no viable peace outcome except for two states, one for Israel and one for the Palestinians.
That puts him at odds with his party platform, the Trump administration and Israel's government.
Graham in an interview published this week by the McClatchy news service referred to the peace plan soon to be unveiled by Jared Kushner, one of its main architects and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law. While Kushner has said the plan does not necessarily count out two states, he has also said that he does not find the term useful and has instructed his team not to use it.
The United Kingdom will send elite forces to the Gulf of Oman to protect its warships amid rising tensions with Iran, according to The Sunday Times.
Tobias Ellwood, the British defense minister, said tensions in the region were a concern for us all," the report noted, which added that the one hundred royal marine force is on its way to Middle East within weeks to join naval ships operating from the U.K.'s new naval base in Bahrain.
The force protection mission that had been planned for several weeks due to rising tensions with Iran, according to the newspaper.
U.S. President Donald Trump accused the New York Times of a "virtual act of treason" after the newspaper published a report on U.S. cyberattacks on Russia's electric power grid - a report Trump also denied.
"Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia," Trump tweeted. "This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country."
Trump, in a second tweet, claimed that the story was "not true!"
Dozens of people protested in Afula on Saturday night against the sale of a home to an Arab family. Afula's mayor, Avi Elkabetz, was among the protesters, as well as his deputy, Shlomo Malihi, and some members of the city council.
In response to Haaretz's request for a comment on his participation, Elkabetz said the protest was private and unconnected to the municipality.
The municipality refused to comment as well, but council member Itai Cohen told Haaretz: "We don't have a problem cooperating with Arab businesses, but we won't have them live here. We stand by the residents in this protest ... Afula must remain a Jewish city."
U.S. President Donald Trump once again criticised London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday, saying he is a "disaster" and will "only get worse" after three people were slain in the city in less than 20 hours.
Trump retweeted a tweet by the right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins who called London "stab city" and said "this is Khan's Londonistan," a pejorative phrase used to describe the city's alleged failure to tackle Muslim extremists.
>> Katie 'White Genocide' Hopkins Has Powerful Allies - in Jerusalem | Opinion
Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday Britain is "almost certain" Iran was behind attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, adding that London did not believe anyone else could have done it.
On Saturday, Iran summoned the British ambassador to Tehran after London blamed it for the attacks, the semi-official Students News Agency ISNA reported.
Asked whether Iran was behind the attacks on the tankers, Hunt told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "We have done our own intelligence assessment and the phrase we used is almost certain ... We don't believe anyone else could have done this."
Saudi Arabia's crown prince blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and called on the international community to take a "decisive stand" but said in an interview published on Sunday that the kingdom does not want a war in the region.
Attacks on two oil tankers on Thursday, which the United States also blamed on Iran, have raised fears of broader confrontation in the region. Iran has denied any role in the strikes south of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route and major transit route for oil.
The explosions that damaged the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous occurred while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Tehran trying to help ease rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
It's been clear for quite some time that "progressive" spaces have a problem with "Zionists"and their "offensive" symbols including any flags with the most recognizable Jewish symbol, the Star of David, on them.
That must be why, when progressive protesters countered a small Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Dayton, Ohio they tried to burn an Israeli flag. Their passionate "anti-Zionism" must have prompted burning the Jewish state's flag to equate it with KKK white supremacy.
>> 'Like a Swastika': How the Dyke March Turned the Star of David Into a Hate Symbol >> Far Right Parties in Austria and Germany Are Making anti-Semitism Acceptable Again >>Katie 'White Genocide' Hopkins Has Powerful Friends - in Jerusalem
A Turkish observation post in Syria's Idlib region was attacked with mortar fire and shelling from an area controlled by Syrian government forces, causing damage but no casualties, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry said its forces immediately retaliated with heavy weapons and it made representations to Moscow over the incident.
It did not specify when the shelling occurred, but said the attack was launched from what it named the Tall Bazan area and it was assessed to be deliberate.
The Israeli army announced a five-day wide-scale drill will begin on Sunday in northern Israel.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that the exercise will take place in the Jordan Rift Valley, the Upper Galilee, Nahariyya, the Sea of Galilee area and the Golan Heights. During the drill, heavy traffic of vehicles, fighter jets and attack helicopters and aircrafts is expected throughout the country.
The army added siren alerts will sound in several Israel Defense Forces bases across the country and smoke will billow from the compounds.
CAPE TOWN At its height, in the mid-1970s, South Africa's Jewish community numbered more than 120,000. The figure often cited by Jewish establishment leaders in recent years, following several large waves of emigration in the final quarter of the last century, is about 70,000.
So South African Jews will likely be in for a shock later this year when the Kaplan Centre at the University of Cape Town publishes its latest community survey the first to be undertaken in nearly 15 years.
Inside the BDS heartland | Special project: - Jews are leaving South Africa once again - On the road with Africa's only traveling rabbi - These South African Jews hate the occupation as much as they hate BDS
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara, admitted Sunday before a district court to receiving something by intentionally exploiting another person's mistake in a way that doesn't constitute fraud, and will pay the state $15,000.
The indictment against Netanyahu was filed in June 2018, alleging that the prime minister's wife ordered some $100,000 worth of catered meals to the Prime Minister's residence, paid for with public funds, while concealing the fact that the residence employed a cook.
Netanyahu signed Wednesday a plea deal after she had been originally charged with aggravated fraud, fraud and breach of trust. Though her offense no longer construes as fraud, it is still criminal.
Forty-six security prisoners in Ashkelon Prison ended a hunger strike on Sunday in protest of their living conditions after the prison service agreed to meet most their terms.
The strike began earlier on Sunday, lasting less than a day. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, the Israeli Prison Service agreed to several of the prisoners' demands - including an end to night searches, establishing a kitchen in the ward, provision of medical services and the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on some of the prisoners.
The prisoners, most of whom are members of Fatah, also asked for hot showers, air conditioning, longer breaks in the prison yard and the ability to buy fruit and vegetables. In addition, they want permission to take pictures with visiting relatives. It is unclear whether these demands were met.
Qatari envoy Mohammed Al-Emadi will be arriving in Gaza Sunday, the Gazan news agency SAWA reported Saturday.
Al-Emadi will hold meetings in Israel and visit the Strip in the evening to discuss implementing the cease-fire agreement reached between Israel and Palestinian factions in May.
According to the report, Al-Emadi will meet with senior Hamas officials and conduct meetings for the Qatari National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza. The report did not mention whether the envoy would be bringing money for Palestinians, as the Gulf country pledged it would last month.
Tel Aviv University is no longer sending African and Asian masters students in the plant sciences program to perform menial labor in the country's south.
A university committee found that the practical part of the program, which required the students to work long hours at backbreaking tasks in the fields of the Arava Desert, is improper and should be fundamentally changed.
>> Read more: 'I feel exploited': African, Asian students at Tel Aviv University put to work on farms for degree
Intelligence organizations in Israel and the West are decisive in their assessment: Iran was responsible for Thursday's attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as it was for other incidents in recent weeks in the area. But what they're not yet providing is evidence to prove it.
And when we take into account historical precedents (notably the claims before the 2003 Iraq War that Saddam's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction), U.S. President Donald Trump's credibility problem and European concerns about an unnecessary war, it's no wonder the media chatter about the crisis is filled with skepticism.
In any event, the Iranian denials don't sound convincing. The idea that Saudi Arabia initiated the attacks simply to push the United States into war with Iran, without tripping itself up or leaving traces, doesn't seem serious. The Saudis have already proved how clumsy they can be, like the murder at their Istanbul Consulate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the forced visit to Riyadh (basically an abduction) of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Of particular importance is the fact that Britain is pointing a finger at Tehran, adhering completely to what the Americans are claiming.
Yemen's Houthi movement launched fresh drone attacks targeting Jizan and Abha airports in southern Saudi Arabia, the group's Al-Masirah TV said on Saturday, adding the installations were out of service.
The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that it had intercepted and downed a Houthi drone targeting the southwestern city of Abha.
The Iran-aligned group said multiple drone strike targeted control rooms at Jizan airport and a fuel station at Abha airport.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and called on the international community to take a "decisive stand" but said in an interview published on Sunday that the kingdom does not want a war in the region.
Attacks on two oil tankers on Thursday, which the United States also blamed on Iran, have raised fears of broader confrontation in the region. Iran has denied any role in the strikes south of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route and major transit route for oil.
>> Read more: Oman attack: Why Israel remains mum as accusations against Iran abound | Analysis
There was a time when the navy was really made up of the best people. It was a small, modest force, dress uniforms white as snow, far from the killing fields and the centers of Palestinian cities. The sailors were guardians of our coasts who loved the sea and adventure, occasionally embarking on a secret mission in foreign ports, usually flawed and unnecessary. But these weren't the pilots who bomb neighborhoods or ground forces that shoot youths in the back.
Still, the ship has run aground. Now the navy is riddled with rot. It's not only the top brass, contaminated by the submarine affair, it's also the least of the sailors. In recent years, the navy has carried out some of the most despicable operations the military has produced. It's the subcontractor for the policy of the Gaza blockade, jailors in white, overcoming the weakest people imaginable.
>> Read more: IDF gunfire left this Gaza fisherman blind. Israel won't let him get treatment
Over the past decade, the Netanyahu government has neglected civil equality. Increased religious influence and the exclusion of women, with both the active and passive support of the government, has damaged many parts of society. But the demand for equality when dealing with government institutions has never disappeared, and the justified pressure for change now finds a welcome response in local government.
City council members in charge of LGBT issues have been appointed in Modi'in, Ramat Gan, Rishon Letzion, Kfar Sava and Herzliya. They join the municipalities of Tel Aviv, Givatayim and Haifa, where this role has existed for a number of years.
>> Read more: Israel's ultra-Orthodox are starting to surrender | Opinion
With Zimbabwe's economy in shambles and political tensions rising, leaving the country seems the best option for many who are desperate for jobs. But those dreams often end at the passport office, which doesn't have enough foreign currency to import proper paper and ink.
A passport now takes no less than a year to be issued. An emergency passport can take months amid a backlog of 280,000 applications, never mind recent ones.
Zimbabweans at the main office in the capital, Harare, have taken to sleeping in line for any chance at being served the following day and that's just to submit an application.
Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam sought to quell public anger Saturday by shelving an unpopular extradition bill that has highlighted apprehension about relations with mainland China, but opponents of the measure said it was not enough.
Activists said they were still planning a mass protest for Sunday, a week after hundreds of thousands marched to demand Lam drop the legislation, which many fear would undermine freedoms enjoyed by this former British colony but not elsewhere in China.
The battle over the proposal to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance to allow some suspects to face trial in mainland Chinese courts has evolved into Hong Kong's most severe political test since the Communist Party-ruled mainland took control in 1997 with a promise not to interfere with the city's civil liberties and courts.
Can Benny Gantz pull off an upset and form the next government after the September election? Has the image he built in the last campaign, the fresh hope for replacing Netanyahu, fallen apart since? Kahol Lavan strategists have been busy outlining a number of moves meant to breathe hope into center-left voters, all while acknowledging that the chances of success are slim.
The strategy aims to boost the bloc's number of Knesset seats to a minimum of 61, thus blocking any possibility of Netanyahu forming the next coalition. But some of the key moves in this plan are not dependent at all on what Kahol Lavan itself does, but rather on other parties in the bloc.
Major European nations are considering imposing sanctions on Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and several top officials for their recent crackdown on political opponents, although divisions remain over the timing of any action for fear of derailing a negotiated exit to the country's crisis, The Associated Press has learned.
The financial and travel restrictions are being mulled by a core group of five nations U.K., France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands before being proposed to the European Council, said diplomats and members of the Venezuelan opposition with knowledge of the plan.
>> Read more: Venezuelan Jews accept Israel's recognition of opposition leader, chief rabbi says - Venezuela crisis: From a U.S.-backed operation to a military coup, what could happen next?
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday evening that his party intends to promote a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan, in order to exclude the ultra-Orthodox parties.
In an interview with Channel 13, he said: "We will aim for a government with Likud and with Kahol Lavan, and that will be an emergency government, a national-liberal government."
"We will do everything to limit the Haredim, so that they won't enter the government," Lieberman added.
Read Part 1 here: Between Hezbollah, Israel and another war: Can UN peacekeepers really keep the peace?
On my last day at UNIFIL, I join a patrol with an all-female battalion of Nepalese soldiers. The liaison branch of UNIFIL is the only unit that speaks to all parties on both sides of the border; they're often seated across from Israeli and Lebanese officers in the same room. The unit is also present on the Blue Line, the ceasefire line that functions as a border and which is the site of the highest tensions. Joining a border patrol proved impossible.
Alongside UNIFIL, another UN mission, UNTSO, operates in the same area and conducts border patrols. UNTSO is also active in Israel, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
Standing in his one-room store between tables stacked with brightly colored T-shirts and jeans, Fathi Mars gestures in despair. If the war continues we will shut down, says the shopkeeper.
It's a common refrain in Ben Guerdane. The town in Tunisia's impoverished south has for decades served as an entrepot for goods, smuggled or imported, 35 kilometers across the border from Libya.
Since the toppling of Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, however, conflict in the neighboring country has decimated business.
Iran has been racing to step up exports of petrochemicals and tap new markets to compensate for sliding oil sales, Iranian and international industry sources said, but now risks losing that crucial revenue as Washington tightens the screw on sanctions.
Tehran has been selling increased volumes of petrochemical products at below market rates, in countries including Brazil, China and India, since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports in November, according to the six sources who include two senior Iranian government officials.
Available ship-tracking data also points to a rise in monthly shipments since then.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of "ultimate fighting" in light of the numerous "trade wars" being fought internationally.
"Unfortunately, trade wars are raging across the world," Putin said on Saturday in the Central Asian ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan, according to the Kremlin. "Ultimate fighting is ongoing, which involves bullying and attempts to eliminate competitors through non-market methods."
Putin was speaking at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the Tajik capital Dushanbe.
A British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran for more than three years has begun a hunger strike to protest her detention, her husband said Saturday.
Richard Ratcliffe said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has told judicial officials she will refuse food but will drink water until she is granted "unconditional release."
Ratcliffe said he would hold a vigil outside Iran's London embassy, and would fast in support of his wife.
An explosion was heard in the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian state TV said on Saturday.
According to State TV, the blast occured in an undisclosed military area in Dummar, west of the capital.
Other reports quote a military source, who said the explosion, which took place in an army weapons warehouse, was caused by a spreading wildfire rather than a deliberate attack.
Syrian opposition activists say government airstrikes and intense shelling on rebel-held areas in northwest Syria have claimed the lives of dozens of people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the opposition's Syrian Civil Defense said at least 10 civilians have been killed in Saturday's airstrikes and shelling of rebel-held villages and towns in Idlib province.
>> Read more: Syrian Crisis: Russia, Turkey and Assad do battle in Idlib with millions of lives hanging in the balance | Explained - Trump tells Russia, Syria and Iran to 'STOP' 'Bombing the hell out of Idlib Province in Syria'
The new capital that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi is building near Cairo is already known as the white elephant that devours billions of dollars and doesn't promise a return. It has received two elaborate housewarming ceremonies one marking the construction of Cairo's largest church, the other the dedication of the largest mosque but the construction of housing for hundreds of thousands of Egyptians is proceeding sluggishly.
Some of the money for housing is being provided by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the big money is coming from another source. China has committed to invest some $20 billion in the new capital and has provided a $3 billion loan for building the city's financial district.
>> Read more: U.S. senate condemns deepening Israel-China ties, cites 'serious security concerns' - Israel won't vet Chinese investment, risking U.S. ire | Analysis - With its national security at stake, Israel takes sides in U.S.-China trade war | Analysis
Sudan's chief prosecutor said on Saturday that ousted President Omar al-Bashir would be sent for trial soon on corruption charges related to his three decades in power.
Alwaleed Sayed Ahmed Mahmoud told a news conference the trial referral would be made after a one-week period for objections expires, adding that criminal cases have been opened against 41 other former officials accused of graft.
>> Read more: Why Hamas is mourning the downfall of Sudan's dictator | Opinion
A swastika was spray-painted on a Holocaust memorial in the northeastern Argentine city of Resistencia.
The Monument to Humanity commemorates, among other victims, Irene Schwimmer de Korytnicki, the last survivor of the Holocaust who lived in the capital of the Chaco region. She died this year.
>> Read more: Iranian couple with amateurish fake Israeli passports arrested in Argentina - Were they murdered just as Jews in the Holocaust, or as citizens as well? | Opinion
The council head of a Palestinian village was dismissed Friday from the Fatah movement after a video emerged this week of his son's wedding and revealed that four Jews participated in the celebrations.
According to Palestinian media, the four Jewish attendees are settlers.
Radi Nasser was also removed from his position in the Palestinian Education Ministry. The ministry announced that a special council will examine the event and decide on the steps that will be taken against Nasser. "This is a scathing violation of all of our national values and an affront to the position of every Palestinian," a statement by the ministry statement read.
A week ago Wednesday, the first day of the holiday Eid al-Fitr, a fire broke out in the olive groves and fields of a few Palestinian families in the village of Jalud northeast of Ramallah. The fire broke out in the morning and spread toward noon, then rekindled in the afternoon. The residents of this West Bank village first tried to put it out with their hands, because the Palestinian fire station is in Nablus and the fire trucks were busy with another blaze. Later on Palestinian fire trucks arrived: one in the late morning, one in the afternoon. But in the absence of an access road to the groves, they couldn't help much.
Only a few minutes before the fire began, nine masked people passed near the village's school and threw stones at four youths sitting in the courtyard. The youths fled through the back entrance while five of the masked people entered through the front.
>> Read more: Israeli army blamed Palestinians for West Bank arson, but settler soldier is behind it - Everyone knows settlers cut down Palestinian olive trees. But Israel doesn't care
The ongoing debate between supporters of a two-state solution and those who advocate for one state is an argument about the goal: Is one of them an ideal solution, or only a pragmatic one, and what would the solution look like?
In the 1980s and 90s, the answer to those questions was clear. The two-state solution received international backing, and support for it among the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians was growing. The road to achieving it was direct negotiations based on the June 4, 1967 lines with mutual border adjustments. Today, U.S. President Donald Trump's deal of the century, disregarding the international consensus, is meant to force upon the Palestinians different terms, tailor-made for the Israeli right.
The failure of the negotiations based on the Oslo Accords and the settlement expansion that went on during the talks and continues have increased support for a one-state solution among both Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Israeli government appears to have abandoned the search for a solution, settling instead for management of the conflict.
The United Arab Emirates' top diplomat says evidence his country possesses indicates that recent attacks against oil tankers inside UAE waters were "state-sponsored."
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan didn't name the state, but said his country wants to work with other nations to prevent a further escalation of tensions in the region.
>> Read more: Iran is the immediate, but unlikely, suspect | Analysis
Last week, a restaurant owner in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood petitioned the High Court of Justice to allow restaurants and cafes to be allowed to operate on Shabbat without losing their kashrut certification.
He argued that it is unfair that his restaurant, which scrupulously adheres to all the rules of kashrut, should be denied certification just because it opens on the Jewish Sabbath, as Haaretz reported on June 3.
Historical records preserved in the archives of the National Library show that, in fact, an interesting precedent does exist. In the mid-18th century, the rabbis of Prague sanctioned the opening of coffeehouses on Shabbat, and even permitted this in the city's Jewish quarter.
Amir Ounallah, a descendant of one of the largest and best known families in Nazareth, waves at someone driving by on the dirt road leading to the family's fields in the Jezreel Valley. The gestures and body language of the wordless encounter are second nature to anyone who grew up in a village, Arab or Jewish. The farmer's right hand grips the vehicle's steering wheel, while his left hand rests on the edge of the open window; only the palm of that hand moves slightly upward to acknowledge the presence of a colleague, whether a close neighbor or a complete stranger.
We continue to travel through the fields amid the yellow stubble of wheat and red flashes in the pomegranate trees. Ounallah's forefathers assigned to each family plot names names that correspond to their shape: a long, narrow piece of land called El-Isan (tongue, in Arabic); El-khanjarye ( a short knife). This year's wheat crop was grown in El-Batof, a relatively low section into which water flows and floods the dense soil. On El-Danane, the plot closest to the residential area of the village of Iksal, Amir and his family established Bustana, an organic farm following the principles of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), last year. The young farm is among the first of its type among the Palestinians of Israel.
For hundreds of years, the grains, legumes and vegetables grown in the Jezreel Valley by Amir Ounallah's forebears fed residents of Nazareth and the nearby villages. The lands of the valley feed the people of the hills around, and that is what my grandfather and his father before him did, says Amir, 41. The Ounallahs like the Fahoum, Kawar and other leading Nazareth families acquired wealth and renown in the 18th and 19th centuries thanks to ties they forged with the Ottoman rulers. Some Fahoum family members were Ottoman officials and Onallahs served as officers in the Turkish army.
A Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen's capital Sanaa, Saudi state television reported early on Saturday, part of an escalation of tit-for-tat strikes that has stoked regional tensions.
The strikes hit air-defense systems and other military positions in the Houthi-controlled city, days after the Houthis launched a missile attack on a Saudi airport, according to the TV report.
The Western-backed, Sunni Muslim coalition has been battling the Houthis in Yemen since 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government that was forced out of Sanaa by the Houthis.
Iran will continue scaling back its compliance with its nuclear deal commitments in the absence of "positive signals" from other signatories to the pact, Iranian President Hassan Rohani told a meeting of Russia, China and other Asia leaders in Tajikistan.
Iran stopped complying in May with some commitments in a 2015 nuclear deal that was agreed with global powers, a year after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord and tightened sanctions.
Tehran has said in May that, unless world powers protected its economy from U.S. sanctions within 60 days, Iran would start enriching uranium at higher level.
It was Yael's second pregnancy. She had received a sperm donation and gave birth to her first child, a daughter, four years earlier, and went through the same procedure this time, too. All the tests were good but now, because she was 44, the single mother also underwent amniocentesis and paid 2,000 shekels ($550) for a CMA (DNA chip) test. The result indicated a problem in the fetus' genetic sequence.
The doctor talked about possible intellectual disability and autism, about delayed development and attention deficit problems, recalls Yael, who lives in the center of the country. (Some of the names in this article have been changed to protect the interviewees' privacy.) He showed me a list of all kinds of disabilities, which had a 30-percent probability of happening. That sounded very high. I cried but we reached the conclusion that it would be out of the question for me to give birth to a baby with disabilities. I am a single parent with limited resources. There was no way I could cope with that.
From the outset, Yael's physician painted a bleak picture. Right off he talked about the reception hours of the pregnancy termination committee because I was in an advanced stage we had to hurry. The unequivocal scenario was to end the pregnancy. He told me, You don't want to deal either with ADD or delayed development.' (After week 24, termination of pregnancy typically involves causing the death of the fetus by injection of a substance into its heart, then giving birth to it.)
It's amusing to watch efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to beef up and broaden the shoulders of the transition government that was created by the dissolution of the Knesset. One meeting, then another with Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich, the duo from the Union of Right-Wing Parties, in an attempt to find compensation and dispensation and pacification for them though it's not clear for what. Instead of occupying himself with the threatening hearing that he is facing or with the election that looms, Netanyahu is playing at creating a government, scattering promises and leaks about the promotion and upgrading of five or six Likud figures, all of them his flunkies, of course. Maybe this fulfills some sort of personal need for him.
Let him enjoy it while he can. In a certain scenario, not in the least impossible, he's liable to find himself kicked off the playing field in 100 days or so.
The election is set for September 17, and a few days later the official results of it will be known. If the Likud-Haredi-rightist bloc doesn't garner 61 seats without Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party, it's far from certain that President Reuven Rivlin will assign Netanyahu the task of forming the government again. And that's even if the rival candidate, Benny Gantz (Kahol Lavan), has fewer MKs to recommend him and undertake to serve in his government 48-50, let's say (without the joint Arab slate now being cobbled together) and Netanyahu has 60.
Iran launched a surface-to-air missile at a U.S drone several hours before the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, a U.S. official told CNN on Friday.
The missile missed the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and crashed into the water, CNN quoted the official as saying.
The official said an American MQ-9 Reaper drone identified Iranian boats approaching the tankers, however, did not provide information whether the UAV spotted the vessels carrying out the attack.
We keep hearing the same old tune. There's a lot of talk about the obstacles in the way of the Israeli left. Everyone who mourns its bitter fate repeatedly falls into the trap set by the right that can be summed up in one tribal word Jew and all its derivatives.
Even this newspaper, which serves as a platform for voices of the so-called left-wing camp, often falls into the same trap. It's enough to read two recent editorials to understand the root of the problem that affects all those who call themselves left or have pretentions about replacing Israel's right-wing government.
>> Read more: Israelis are all Republicans | Opinion - Time to unite the left | Editorial
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently tweeted a promise that Israel wouldn't be a state of Jewish law. The public doesn't believe him. Didn't Netanyahu also basically respond the same way when asked if he would try to obtain immunity from prosecution in the corruption cases against him?
In Israel there's a clear trend of an increasing presence of religion and religious coercion in matters such as marriage, divorce, conversion, burial, Shabbat observance, the exclusion of women and gender segregation. All these things have been increasing under Netanyahu, who forged an alliance with the ultra-Orthodox the Haredim and messianic parties.
>> Read more: Why Israel will never be governed by Jewish religious law | Opinion
Forty-six Gazans were injured Friday during weekly protests along the border, the Gaza Health Ministry said as firefighters worked to extinguish flames on the Israeli side of the border that were started by incendiary balloons launched from the Strip.
Three paramedics were among those injured during protests in Gaza, the Health Ministry added.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, about 6,500 Gazans demonstrated with some attempting to damage the fence. The IDF responded by firing tear gas at demonstrators. Three demonstrators reportedly crossed the fence into Israel but returned after being fired at with live ammunition.
The director of Berlin's Jewish Museum has resigned, the museum announced Friday, days after it was criticized for endorsing a petition against a parliamentary motion defining anti-Israel boycotts as anti-Semitic and banning the boycott movement from using public buildings.
The resignation of museum Director Peter Schäfer comes after Israeli Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff called the museum's sharing of the petition shameful.
The petition, asserting that "boycotts are a legitimate and nonviolent tool of resistance," was signed by 240 Jewish intellectuals.
The home of a Brooklyn rabbi erupted in fire early Friday in what investigators suspect was an arson attack by a man who accused the rabbi of being a pedophile.
Thirteen people, including a 6-week-old baby, were injured. None of the injuries were life-threatening, although 12 people were sent to the hospital, including nine civilians, two firefighters and an EMS medic.
The blaze erupted in a car outside a home in the Midwood neighborhood and spread to three others, including that of Rabbi Jonathan Max, the New York Daily News reported.
Under the radar, this month Israel and Lebanon set an important milestone in their relations that could help prevent another war in the north. After almost a decade of American efforts, U.S. envoy David Satterfield persuaded the two countries to use a tripartite forum, together with the United States, to establish the maritime boundary between them.
Down the road, the deliberations are designed to let the Lebanese begin to explore for natural gas in the Mediterranean; Beirut hopes to upgrade its energy economy the way Israel did a few years ago.
The talks are due to begin at the end of this month at the UNIFIL base at Naqoura just north of the Israeli border. They will mainly be about a gas field whose boundaries the two countries disagree on. The discussion isn't slated to include the land border, along which 13 points are still in dispute.
U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Iran on Friday for attacks on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf despite Tehran's denials, stoking fears of a confrontation in the vital oil shipping route.
Iran has dismissed earlier U.S. charges that it was behind Thursday's attacks that crippled two tankers and has previously threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of globally consumed oil passes, if its oil exports were halted.
Read more: Strait of Hormuz: What happens if the world's key oil artery gets blocked? | Japanese shipping company confirms its tanker was attacked in Gulf
The Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, the latest congressional bid to address an issue that has roiled American politics.
The resolution passed Thursday was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, a Texas Repubilcan, and Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia. It lists a number of classic anti-Semitic slanders and prohibitions on freedoms imposed on Jews overseas and in the United States. It also alludes to recent deadly attacks on U.S. synagogues.
>> Read more: 'Like a swastika, or Confederate flag': How the Dyke March turned the Star of David into a hate symbol | Opinion
The United States blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday that drove up oil prices and raised concerns about a new U.S.-Iranian confrontation, but Tehran bluntly denied the allegation.
It was not immediately clear what befell the Norwegian-owned Front Altair or the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, which both experienced explosions, forcing crews to abandon ship and leave the vessels adrift in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran.
Read more: Strait of Hormuz: What happens if the world's key oil artery gets blocked? | Japanese shipping company confirms its tanker was attacked in Gulf
The European Union said online platforms must do more to combat disinformation, including sharing data on their efforts, after it tracked suspected Russian and domestic attempts to disrupt last month's European Parliament elections.
In a review due to be published on Friday and seen by Reuters, the EU assesses efforts to safeguard the May vote for the EU's legislature by funding fact-checking organisations, building up an in-house unit to counter disinformation from Russia, and enlisting the help of Facebook, Google, Twitter and others.
It cites what it called evidence of a "continued and sustained" effort by Russian elements to promote extreme views and polarise local debate through disinformation spread online.
The Jerusalem municipality removed the Dome of the Rock from a drawing of the Temple Mount displayed at a an event attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon on Thursday.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the gates of the Temple Mount and the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer are prominently placed in the image, however the dome is conspicuously absent. Despite the dome being one of the most recognizable elements of the Jerusalem skyline, the designers depicted only the building's base.
The image was the central element of the decoration for a tribute to Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon, which took place in Safra Square. The drawing depicted many sites in Jerusalem's Old City and the Temple Mount, including the Temple Mount gates and the steeple of the Church of the Redeemer.
A New Jersey judge ordered a Jersey City-based Jewish gay conversion therapy organization to permanently shut down.
Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality, or JONAH, settled with former clients in a 2015 lawsuit and agreed to stop its discredited gay conversion counseling. But it has since been operating under a new name Jewish Institute for Global Awareness, or JIFGA Hudson County Superior Court Assignment Judge Peter Barisio said in his ruling, according to NJ.com.
>> Israel's LGBT justice chief is no cause for great pride | Opinion
Some 250,000 people marched in the Tel Aviv Pride Parade on Friday, calling for full and equal rights for the LGBTQ community in Israel.
The parade, the biggest the city has seen in terms of participants and floats, began at 12 P.M. in the center of the city on Ben Tzion Boulevard. Its route will follow the Tel Aviv beach promenade down to Charles Clore Park at the city's southern tip, where the main Pride party will take place.
This year's parade is calling for full and equal rights for the LGBTQ community in Israel. "We are marching today in the biggest and most consistent protest in Israel, demanding equal rights so that every person can write their own story," said Ohad Hizki, the head of the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel.
The U.S. Senate has criticized Israel over its deepening economic ties with China, promoting a bill that expresses "serious security concerns" about a contract letting a Chinese company operate a port in Haifa that has long been a docking point for the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
The tough language on the port in the north has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act, a major piece of legislation that sets the U.S. Defense Department's budget and priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
The bill was passed Thursday by the Senate Armed Services Committee, led by Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
While the national government does not permit gay marriage in Israel and is not meeting a promise to the High Court of Justice on adoptions by same-sex couples, Israeli cities are increasingly leading the fight for LGBT rights.
Six cities Modi'in, Ramat Gan, Rishon Letzion, Ramat Hasharon, Kfar Sava and Herzliya have created an LGBTQ rights adviser this year. Tel Aviv, Haifa and Givatayim have had such positions for years.
Tel Aviv and Haifa are considering some form of civil marriage for LGBTQ couples. Givatayim, Haifa and Modi'in are changing the wording of forms, replacing "Mother" and "Father" name fields with Parent 1 and Parent 2.
A unnamed senior U.S. Defense Department official was quick to tell CBS that Iran was "apparently" behind the Thursday attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, followed by State Secretary Mike Pompeo who later told reported that it was his government's assessment. There's nothing new about that, but neither is it a decisive proof.
Who, then, struck the tankers? Whom does this strike serve and what can be done against such attacks?
In all previous attacks in the Gulf in recent weeks Iran was naturally taken to be the immediate suspect. After all, Iran had threatened that if it could now sell its oil in the Gulf, other countries would not be able to ship oil through it; Tehran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, and in any case it's in the sights of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. But this explanation is too easy.
A small office in an old building in Haifa's lower city is the headquarters of a tiny company on whom many of the world's oligarchs, politicians and celebrities rely when they run into trouble.
They retain Sabra Intelligence Solutions to help them with problems in their business and private lives, figure out who's threatening or blackmailing them and, perhaps most important, help them avoid costly and time-consuming legal entanglements.
Formed in 2017, Sabra is new to the field. But its founder, Eran Bachar, had a long career in the Shin Bet security service, the police and the army. CEO Shay Chervinsky brings the company skills from more than 20 years in high-tech.
New York eliminated the religious exemption to vaccine requirements for schoolchildren Thursday, as the nation's worst measles outbreak in decades prompts states to reconsider giving parents ways to opt out of immunization rules.
The Democrat-led Senate and Assembly voted Thursday to repeal the exemption, which allows parents to cite religious beliefs to forego getting their child the vaccines required for school enrollment.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the measure minutes after the final vote. The law takes effect immediately but will give unvaccinated students up to 30 days after they enter a school to show they've had the first dose of each required immunization.
A concert for the so-called Messianic Jewish community in Jerusalem two weeks ago turned violent when more than three dozen Jewish and right-wing extremists attacked members of the audience.
For seven hours, about 40 right-wing extremists, so-called hilltop youth from the West Bank and members of the self-styled anti-assimilation group Lehava cursed and screamed, sprayed pepper spray and tossed live frogs at members of the community.
Several eyewitnesses said the police witnesses responded weakly in defense of the concertgoers and organizers. Two people were detained for questioning and released, the case against them was closed and a week later those same protesters were given a permit to stage a demonstration against the gay pride parade in the city.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, told The New York Times: Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank. Haaretz raised a hue and a cry.
About two months ago, when U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, politicians, experts on international law and columnists raised the hue even higher. Some expected the sky to fall, but even disappointed warrior Zvi Bar'el noted in Haaretz that this did not happen and the threat to Israel's international status proved unfounded.
Fact: Not one country called on the UN Security Council to condemn Trump. The European countries are in a deep sleep and the Arab countries, including the important ones, turned their backs on the Palestinians.
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
