Reports: Turkey thwarts attack ahead of visit by Israeli FM
ANKARA, Turkey — (AP) — Turkish authorities have detained five Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis ahead of Thursday's visit to Turkey by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Turkish media reports said. They were also expected to discuss a recent warning issued by Israel calling on its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately. The warning angered Turkey, whose economy depends on tourism to a large extent. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has since said that a joint operation with Turkey succeeded in thwarting several attacks and resulted in the arrest of several suspected operatives on Turkish soil in recent days. Under the agreement that forged Bennett’s coalition government, Lapid is expected in the coming days to become caretaker prime minister until a new government is cobbled together after the elections.
wftv.comIsraeli FM thanks Turkey for foiling attacks on Israelis
Lapid made the comments after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as the two countries press ahead with efforts to repair ties that have been strained over Turkey’s strong support for the Palestinians. Earlier this month, Israel issued a warning for its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately.
news.yahoo.comLapid, set to be Israel's next premier, faces critical test
Israel politics Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid speaks during a joint statement with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 20, 2022. Next week, he is expected to assume his biggest role yet — as the new prime minister. Following the government’s decision to dissolve parliament, Lapid, now foreign minister, is set to take office as caretaker prime minister until elections in the fall. As caretaker prime minister, he is unlikely to launch any major military operations or bold peace initiatives with the Palestinians. “His new post, from next week on, as interim prime minister is his greatest asset going into the election.”Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.
wftv.comIsraeli government fast-tracks bill to dissolve parliament
Israel politics Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, left, speaks during a joint statement with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 20, 2022. Bennett and his main coalition partner, Yair Lapid, decided to present a vote to dissolve parliament in the coming days, Bennett's office said. A parliamentary committee approved holding a preliminary vote to dissolve parliament on Wednesday, with a final vote expected early next week. Israeli law does not explicitly state that a politician under indictment may not become prime minister. Along with the bill to dissolve parliament, he said he would advance legislation on Wednesday to bar a lawmaker under indictment from assuming the premiership.
wftv.comIsraeli government fast-tracks bill to dissolve parliament
Israel politics Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, left, speaks during a joint statement with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 20, 2022. Bennett and his main coalition partner, Yair Lapid, decided to present a vote to dissolve parliament in the coming days, Bennett's office said. A parliamentary committee approved holding a preliminary vote to dissolve parliament on Wednesday, with a final vote expected early next week. Israeli law does not explicitly state that a politician under indictment may not become prime minister. Along with the bill to dissolve parliament, he said he would advance legislation on Wednesday to bar a lawmaker under indictment from assuming the premiership.
wftv.comIsrael coalition to fast-track bill to dissolve parliament
Israel politics Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, left, speaks during a joint statement with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 20, 2022. Bennett and his main coalition partner, Yair Lapid, decided to present a vote to dissolve parliament in the coming days, Bennett's office said. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) (Maya Alleruzzo)JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel's outgoing coalition government will fast-track a bill this week to dissolve parliament, setting up the country for its fifth elections in three years, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday. A series of defections from his Yemina party had stripped the coalition of its majority in parliament. Israeli law does not explicitly state that a politician under indictment may not become prime minister.
wftv.comIsrael to dissolve parliament, call 5th election in 3 years
Israel Politics FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 19, 2022. Bennett has struggled to keep his unruly coalition of eight parties together, and defections have left the crumbling alliance without a majority in parliament for over two months. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File) (Abir Sultan)JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel’s weakened coalition government decided Monday to dissolve parliament and call a new election, the country's fifth in three years. The vote, expected this fall, could bring about the return of a nationalist religious government led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another prolonged period of political gridlock. It included a diverse array of parties, from dovish factions that support an end to Israel's occupation of lands captured in 1967, to hard-line parties that oppose Palestinian independence.
wftv.comIsraeli government dissolves parliament, calls new elections
Israel Politics FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 19, 2022. Bennett’s office announced Monday, June 20, 2022, that his weakened coalition will be disbanded and the country will head to new elections. The previous four elections, focused on Netanyahu's fitness to rule while on trial for corruption charges, ended in deadlock. It included a diverse array of parties, from dovish factions that support an end to Israel's occupation of lands captured in 1967, to hard-line parties that oppose Palestinian independence. Often described as a political “experiment,” it made history by becoming the first Israeli coalition government to include an Arab party.
wftv.comIsrael coalition agrees to dissolve, hold new elections
JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office announced Monday that his weakened coalition will be disbanded and the country will head to new elections. Bennett has struggled to keep his unruly coalition of eight parties together, and defections have left the crumbling alliance without a majority in parliament for over two months. Bennett and his main coalition partner, Yair Lapid, decided to present a vote to dissolve parliament in the coming days, Bennett's office said. Lapid is then to serve as caretakever prime minister. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
wftv.comIsrael army shoots Palestinian while crossing from West Bank
(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool) (Maya Alleruzzo)TEL AVIV, Israel — (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry said Sunday that a Palestinian man died after he was shot by Israeli troops near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. In a separate incident, a Palestinian man allegedly stabbed an Israeli police officer outside Jerusalem's Old City. “The Israeli government’s main goal is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens,” he said. Images in Israeli media showed masked security forces confronting the men, who appeared to be beneath a green shrub in a rugged patch of land. Nearly 30 Palestinians have died in violence — most of whom had carried out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank.
wftv.comIsrael captures Palestinians who killed 3 in stabbing attack
(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool) (Maya Alleruzzo)TEL AVIV, Israel — (AP) — Israeli police said Sunday forces captured two Palestinians who killed three people in a stabbing attack last week and fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt and keeping the country on edge. The stabbing was the latest in a series of deadly assaults deep inside the country in recent weeks. Israel says the policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians who kill Israelis serves to deter would-be attackers, while rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment. Nearly 30 Palestinians have died in violence — most of whom had carried out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.
wftv.comIsraeli FM accuses Hamas of orchestrating Jerusalem violence
Lapid also rejected suggestions that Israeli police have used excessive force to disperse the demonstrations at the Al-Aqsa site. Israeli police, meanwhile, have released their own videos showing Palestinians inside the mosque hurling stones and explosives. In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum blamed Israel for the violence. None of the rockets have caused any damage or injuries inside Israel, but they have set off sirens in parts of southern Israel and angered residents there. A misfired rocket also landed inside Gaza on Friday, exploding near a home and U.N. school and lightly wounding two people, according to local officials.
wftv.comArab, US top diplomats in Israel as Mideast dynamic shifts
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool) (Jacquelyn Martin)SDE BOKER, Israel — (AP) — Israel on Monday hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the group was “making history” as he announced the gathering would become an annual event. Although Iran has since raced ahead with its nuclear program, Israel and Gulf Arab countries are deeply concerned about restoring the original deal. Underscoring regional anxieties, Israel’s government hastily arranged the meeting of top diplomats from Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel. Lapid took the Arab ministers to visit Ben-Gurion's grave, a remarkable step given the sensitivities with the Palestinians over Israel's establishment.
wftv.comBlinken tries to calm allies ahead of Iran nuke deal
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool) (Jacquelyn Martin)JERUSALEM — (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday tried to soothe the fears of Israel and its Gulf Arab allies ahead of the expected renewal of global powers’ international nuclear deal with Iran. Blinken made the comments shortly before joining his counterparts from Israel and four Arab countries at a special gathering where the Iranian nuclear deal was expected to top the agenda. “We are both committed, both determined that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.”The Biden administration has been working to renew the 2015 nuclear deal, which placed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Although Iran has since raced ahead with its nuclear program, Israel and Gulf Arab countries are deeply concerned about restoring the original deal. Israel fears it does not include enough safeguards to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
wftv.comBlinken set to see Israelis, Arabs wary about Iran, Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will try to use his three-nation tour of the Middle East and North Africa to reassure wary Israelis and Arabs that the Biden administration is committed to the region’s security at a time when Washington is confronting multiple foreign policy challenges.
Live updates: Israel and Putin have another call on Ukraine
APTOPIX Russia Ukraine War People cover from shelling inside an entryway to an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, Sunday, March 13, 2022. ___MOSCOW — The Russian military says it will carry out strikes to knock out Ukrainian military industries. The Russian military also said that it will continue to target any foreign fighters who have come to Ukraine. Konashenkov said the missile was fired from an area northwest of Donetsk controlled by Ukrainian forces. Activists fear that the goods will help reinforce the Russian military as it intensifies its war against Ukraine.
wftv.comAs Ukraine war rages, Israel grapples with fate of oligarchs
Several dozen Jewish tycoons from Russia are believed to have taken on Israeli citizenship or residency in recent years. Israel, which has emerged as an unlikely mediator between Ukraine and Russia, has not joined the sanctions imposed by the U.S., Britain, European Union and others. But as the war in Ukraine drags on, and other names are added to the list, the pressure is increasing. With a limited number of places to go, a growing number of Jewish tycoons, especially those with Israeli citizenship, could find themselves spending more time in Israel. While Israel weighs its moves, Jewish organizations already are taking a closer look at their relations with Russian oligarchs.
wftv.comLive updates: Israeli foreign minister condemns Russia
His remarks set him apart from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has stopped short of condemning Russia. But Israel relies on Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israeli aircraft have frequently struck enemy targets over recent years. Since 2015, the U.S. has regularly sent instructors to the Yavoriv military range to train Ukraine’s military. ___LVIV, Ukraine – Russia is trying to create new “pseudo-republics” in Ukraine to break his country apart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation Saturday. Medical workers carried some young patients in their arms, on stretchers and in a wheelchair at a station in Medyka, near the Ukrainian border.
wftv.comRussia-Ukraine central to Blinken talks with Israel minister
Latvia US Blinken US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, in Riga, Latvia, Monday, March 7, 2022. He made the comments as he and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid sat down for hastily arranged talks in the Latvian capital of Riga just two days after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. “The war that is going on in Ukraine and the nuclear talks in Vienna are events that are changing the world as we know it,” he said. He said Israel is “totally committed” to doing everything in its power to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Blinken responded that both Israel and the United States are “united and committed to the proposition that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon.”Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.
wftv.comRussia-Ukraine central to Blinken talks with Israel minister
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday thanked Israel for its efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine as he and his Israeli counterpart met to discuss the conflict and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna. Blinken said that any initiative to try to halt the conflict would be welcome as long as the move is consistent with U.S., NATO and European principles that Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.
news.yahoo.comUkraine’s president says Russian missile hit site of Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial
Videos taken on March 1 in Kyiv captured the moment a second strike hit the Kyiv TV tower. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial opened last year after repeated delays. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko shared video through his Telegram channel on Monday showing a strike hitting the Kyiv TV tower. AdvertisementStory continues below advertisementIn one video, a man stopped at an intersection is filming the TV tower from about a quarter-mile away. There may be one more strike.”From another vantage point, the bomb appears to hit close to the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial site, which sits just west of the tower.
washingtonpost.comIsrael calls on Amnesty not to release apartheid report
Israel on Monday called on Amnesty International not to publish an upcoming report accusing it of apartheid, saying the conclusions of the London-based international human rights group are “false, biased and antisemitic.” Amnesty is expected to join the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Israeli rights group B'Tselem in accusing Israel of the international crime of apartheid based on its nearly 55-year military occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state and because of its treatment of its own Arab minority. Israel dismissed the other reports as biased, but is adopting a much more adversarial stance this time around.
news.yahoo.comIsrael faces crisis over tree-planting, protests in Negev
JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel’s fragile governing coalition faced a crisis on Wednesday after Bedouins staged protests against tree-planting by nationalists on disputed land in the Negev desert. Some protesters on Tuesday evening hurled stones at vehicles on a highway near Beersheba, blocked the railway line and torched a vehicle. The conflict over planting trees in the Negev in southern Israel - home to Bedouin villages unrecognized by the state - has divided the government. Ra’am, the Islamist party, secured four seats in the 120-member Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in last year’s elections, with strong support among Bedouin citizens of Israel. They range from the small Islamist and liberal parties to ultranationalists, and were united only in their opposition to longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
wftv.comIran presses on oil exports as nuclear talks resume
Iran Nuclear FILE - Palais Coburg, where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 17, 2021. Iran is insisting that the United States and its allies promise to allow Tehran to export its crude as negotiations on restoring the tattered nuclear deal are to resume in Vienna. Iran's foreign minister said on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, that Tehran wants the upcoming round of talks to focus on achieving unfettered access to oil revenue. Speaking in Tehran ahead of the talks' resumption, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Iran wants the upcoming round of talks to focus on its sanctions-hit oil industry. The aim is to get to the “point where Iranian oil is being sold easily and without any barriers and its money arrives in Iran’s bank accounts,” he said.
wftv.comIsrael to donate 1 million COVID vaccines to African nations
JERUSALEM — (AP) — The Israeli government on Wednesday said it was donating 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX program. The Foreign Ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred in the coming weeks, a decision that was part of Israel's strengthening ties with the African countries. The announcement said the vaccines would reach close to a quarter of African countries, though it did not provide a list. Israel has close ties with a number of African nations, including Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. COVAX is a global initiative that aims to provide coronavirus vaccines to poorer nations.
wftv.comIsrael to donate 1 million COVID vaccines to African nations
The Foreign Ministry said the AstraZenica vaccines would be transferred in the coming weeks, a decision that was part of Israel's strengthening ties with the African countries. The announcement said the vaccines would reach close to a quarter of African countries, though it did not provide a list. Israel has close ties with a number of African nations, including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. COVAX is a global initiative that aims to provide coronavirus vaccines to poorer nations. Since then, Israel has vaccinated tens of thousands of Palestinians who work in Israel and its settlements, and the Palestinians have procured vaccines from COVAX and other sources.
wftv.comIsraeli couple arrested in Turkey on espionage charges
ISTANBUL — (AP) — An Israeli married couple were arrested for espionage late Friday after taking photographs of the Turkish president’s residence in Istanbul, Turkey’s official news agency said. The employee claimed they were taking photographs of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s nearby home from the tower’s restaurant earlier this week. They were formally arrested pending trial for “political and military espionage” by an Istanbul court. In a statement issued late Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid denied the couple work for an “Israeli agency.” He said his department has been in regular contact with the pair and is trying to organize their release. Citing their lawyer, it said they were taking photographs of the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace while taking a ferry.
wftv.comUS, allies step up pressure on Iran to return to nuke talks
The United States and its closest partners are stepping up pressure on Iran to return to stalled nuclear negotiations, warning that it will face greater international isolation, new economic penalties and possibly military action if does not.
Going Dutch: Look out, German coalition talks could be long
As Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany embarks on the task of piecing together a new ruling coalition after Sunday’s knife-edge election, observers need only look to its neighbors, Belgium and the Netherlands, to see how tricky the process can be.