Israel spy agency must stop virus phone tracking: committee
Israel’s government must stop using its domestic security agency to tackle the novel coronavirus by tracking mobile phone data, the head of a parliamentary committee said Wednesday.
Israel
Palestinian Authority Submits Counter-Plan for Demilitarized Statehood Along 1967 Borders
Having rejected outright the Trump Peace Plan presented in January, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has now sent a counter-proposal for statehood to the diplomatic Quartet (UN, US, Russia and EU) that is mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Times of Israel reports.
Palestinians To Declare State If Israel Annexes West Bank Part
The Palestinian prime minister says his government will declare a new Palestinian state, perhaps as early as next month, if Israel goes ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
Palestinian official warns Abbas willing ‘to let PA collapse’ to foil Israel’s sovereignty bid
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to run his administration to the ground to prevent Israeli from pursuing its plan to apply sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, a senior Palestinian official told The New York Times on Monday.
Israeli Lawmakers Debate Controversial COVID-19 Bill
As Israel sees a spike in COVID-19 cases following the easing of lockdown restrictions, government leaders began to debate a controversial new bill Tuesday that would give the executive branch wide-ranging emergency powers to manage the virus outbreak, CBN News reported. The bill must first be approved by a special COVID-19 government committee before going on to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and to the Knesset for approval.
Netanyahu vows all settlements will be annexed July 1, but other lands may wait
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told settler leaders on Sunday that he still intends to annex all West Bank settlements on the July 1 date that is the earliest allowed by his coalition deals, but he acknowledged that annexing other lands allocated to Israel under the Trump peace plan will likely take more time, several participants in the meeting told The Times of Israel.
Pandemic driving broadest economic collapse in 150 years, World Bank says
The coronavirus pandemic inflicted a “swift and massive shock” that has caused the broadest collapse of the global economy since 1870 despite unprecedented government support, the World Bank said Monday.
Former Dubai Police Chief: Arab Nations Should Normalize Ties with Israel
A former police chief of Dubai has controversially called for all Arab states to normalize relations with Israel. On Twitter this weekend, Khalfan Tamim said: “Israel wants long-term peace and security. I support that.” Moreover, Tamim said: “From the moment that the Gulf States normalize their ties with Israel, Qatar’s job as a proxy state for terror organizations will end,” Israel Hayom reported.
Iran Closer Than Ever To Nuclear Weapon, U.N. Report Suggests
With much of the world in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, Iran rushed to increase its stockpiles of enriched uranium and has come closer than ever to develop a nuclear weapon, findings by the United Nations watchdog showed.
Europe’s Antiracism Protests Clouded By Violence
Protests, sometimes marred by violence, continue in Europe and elsewhere against perceived racist police brutality following the recent death of the unarmed black man George Floyd in U.S. police custody. The London police chief on Sunday condemned assaults the previous day against police in which at least fourteen police were reportedly injured.
Former Israeli Defense Official: Cyber-Attack on Israeli Water Supply Represents New Phase in Iranian Aggression
A former national security adviser to Israeli PM Netanyahu, says Iran’s failed cyber- attack on Israel’s water supply in April represents a new phase of Iranian aggression, World Israel News (WIN) reported. The Iranian attack sought to cause computers to add too much chlorine to Israel’s water supply. An official source told the Financial Times that the attack was almost successful.
Palestinian Shariah judge may have authorized Muslims to kill Israelis
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) says supreme Palestinian Shariah judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash appears to have authorized Muslims to kill Israelis, WND reported Sunday. Al-Habbash, who was appointed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a recent televised address that the Quran shows there are 10 transgressions against which Palestinians are commanded to fight: according to PMW, these transgressions seem to have “been carefully selected in order to turn every single Israeli into a target that every Palestinian Muslim is ‘commanded’ to fight and ‘allowed’ kill.”
Israel aiming to enable unprecedented human DNA edits, to help cure illnesses
Israel is setting up a task force aimed at bringing a new level of accuracy to genome editing, in the hope it will pave the way to cures for various medical conditions.
9 killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria – report
At least nine people were killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted Syrian defense factories near the city of Masyaf in northwest Syria on Thursday night, according to Syrian reports.
PLO Says It Will Continue Payments to Terrorists
The Palestinian Authority announced Monday it will continue paying monthly salaries to terrorists in prison, WND reports. In violation of recent Israeli law, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said the salaries would continue to be paid through local banks in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).
Highly unlikely the US will approve Israeli plans to start unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank on July 1
It is highly unlikely the US will approve Israeli advancement of plans to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank on July 1, a well-placed source told the Times of Israel (TOI) Wednesday. A central condition of US approval is that a joint US-Israel mapping committee must conclude its work on delineating the exact borders of the territory Israel would annex. According to the TOI source, it could take the committee weeks, if not months, to complete this task.
IAI tests short-range ballistic missile, hitting 2 small floating targets at sea
The Israel Aerospace Industries defense contractor performed two tests with one of its short-range ballistic missiles at sea on Tuesday, successfully hitting floating targets at two distances, the firm said.
Israel, Saudi Arabia in secret talks to curb Turkish presence on Temple Mount
Israel and Saudi Arabia have been reportedly engaged in secret talks since last December, through American mediation, over including Saudi representatives in the Islamic Waqf Council at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This development has been taking place against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s deal of the century, and the plan to apply Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
Europe, World Shocked Over U.S. Violence
Protestors in Europe and other countries have joined demonstrators in the United States to express outrage over the death of George Floyd. The unarmed black man died in the U.S. city of Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing.
Netanyahu say Right-Wing MKs Will Be Asked to Vote Only on Annexation, Not On a Palestinian State At This Time
As he prepares to ask the Knesset to vote on a plan for Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained Thursday that MKs will only have to vote on the issue of sovereignty, not on the issue of a Palestinian state, the Jerusalem Post reports.