Carter says Saudis accept Iran deal, with reservations

120 Palestinians caught trying to infiltrate

Border Police officers arrest 120 Palestinians who tried to infiltrate Israel in the northern West Bank near the settlement of Oranit, Israel Radio reports.

The troops were scrambled to the scene before the Palestinians crossed the security fence. All 120 were taken to interrogation by security forces and an initial investigation reveals that some are wanted for security and criminal offenses.

EU urged to cut ties with Israeli banks working in West Bank

European Union institutions will be sent a document calling on them to cease working with Israeli banks investing in the West Bank, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the document was prepared in a research institute and constitutes only a proposal for the European financial bodies.

The paper, by the European Council on Foreign Relations, argues that the EU is in breach of its own laws if it deals with Israeli entities doing business in territory captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.

“Under its own regulations and principles, Europe cannot legally escape from its duty to differentiate between Israel and its activities in the occupied Palestinian territories,” says the report, titled “EU Differentiation and Israeli Settlements.”

Foreign Ministry dismisses think tank report

A Foreign Ministry official says in response to document prepared by the European Council on Foreign Relations, which was the subject of a Reuters story, that it “is a report by a European research institute and not the European Union, and we have no intention to respond to a research document by this or that European think tank.”

WJC head says German minister ‘naive’ on Iran

Head of the World Jewish Congress Ron Lauder criticizes German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel for his recent visit to Iran, according to a report in Reuters.

Lauder accuses Gabriel of putting business interests first and calls his approach to Tehran “naive.”

“It is somewhat irritating that Germany’s vice chancellor and economics minister waited only five days before flying to Tehran with a delegation of German business leaders,” Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, is quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement.

He adds that Gabriel’s offer to serve as a bridge builder between Tehran and Jerusalem is naïve and says that “it would have been much better to make new commercial relations with Iran dependent on a change in the regime’s stance toward Israel.”

Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Berlin, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.(Photo credit: AP/Markus Schreiber)

Knesset panel won’t rule on MK Hazan’s conduct

The Knesset’s Ethics Committee will not discuss complaints against Likud MK Oren Hazan relating to his conduct prior to his election for office.

The Knesset’s legal adviser decides that the Ethics Committee has no jurisdiction over Hazan’s past behavior.

Members of the committee nevertheless say they regard the allegations against him seriously, if they are true, and affirm the decision by Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein not to appoint him in the roster of MKs running plenum sessions.

Hazan has been accused of pimping, procuring drugs and using drugs when he managed a hotel adjacent to a casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.

Likud MK Oren Hazan seen during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, June 15, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israeli coops warned after Gaza bird flu outbreak

The Agriculture Ministry warns chicken coop owners in Gaza periphery communities of the risk of their fowl contracting bird flu, following an outbreak of the disease in the Gaza Strip.

According to Palestinian Authority reports, several farms breeding some 45,000 egg-laying chickens and other fowl are suspected of contamination in the virus.

The ministry instructs coop owners near the Gaza border fence to report any unusual chicken deaths in their farms and to seek approval when transferring birds from their coops. The Gaza periphery farms that received the warning are located mostly within 10 kilometers from the epicenter of the breakout in the Gaza Strip.

The Agriculture Ministry and the PA have increased coordination in preparing for battling the disease, with ministry officials and their Palestinian counterparts undergoing joint training on how to defeat the virus.

According to NRG, Israel gave the PA kits to identify the disease, as well as equipment to protect handlers and medicine to treat the disease. Additionally, Israel is allowing the PA to send samples for tests in the Beit Dagan Veterinary Institute, in order to predict future outbreaks in PA-controlled areas.

Gaza doctor gives grants to Jewish, Arab students

Dr. Azz a-Din Abu el-Ayash, a Gaza-based physician who lost three daughters when an errant IDF missile hit their home in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9, presented Jewish and Arab students with a scholarship, during a ceremony at the Ahva Academic College near Kiryat Malachi.

“I saw my daughters die before my eyes. The only thing I can do to commemorate them and to bring back their joy of life is to give, in their name, the option for women to learn in academia,” Abu el-Ayash says at the ceremony, according to NRG.

Iran’s Araqchi says no restrictions after 10 years

Iran says it will not agree to extend the mechanism enabling the renewal of sanctions against it in case it violates the nuclear agreement beyond a period of ten tears, Israel Radio reports.

Speaking at a press conference in Dubai, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was referring to comments made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that after the ten years mandated by the agreement, world countries will seek to extend restrictions on Iran’s weapons program by five years.

“At the top of our priorities are Iran’s national interests and not [UN] Security Council resolutions,” Araqchi says.

He adds that the nuclear agreement clearly determines it will expire after ten years.

Araqchi also says Tehran will do all it can to help its allies in the Middle East, implying that the Islamic Republic will not change its policy of funding terror groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaking during United Nations Day in Tehran, Iran, on October 22, 2013. (AFP/Atta Kenare)

Araqchi: Held US citizens discussed at talks

Iran’s deputy foreign minister says that Iranian diplomats discussed the case of Americans still held captive by Tehran. The issue was raised on the sidelines of negotiations in Vienna earlier this month that led to the landmark deal on curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that US officials raised the issue of captive Americans with Iran every day during the recent nuclear talks, but did not make it part of the negotiations because they feared it would scuttle any deal.

In Tehran, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi tells reporters that cases of “imprisoned citizens” were discussed with their American counterparts during the nuclear talks.

He said “humanitarian” reasons motivated the discussion but did not elaborate.

It was the first confirmation by the Iranians of any talks that may have involved the fate of former US Marine Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, and retired FBI agent Robert Levinson.

Araqchi speaks on the first anniversary of Rezaian’s arrest on espionage charges.

— AP

Gaza reconstruction finally begins

Palestinian housing minister Mufid al-Hasayneh laid a brick today for the first Gaza home to be rebuilt since the Israel-Hamas war a year ago, as frustration mounts over the slow pace of reconstruction.

The 50-day war in July-August 2014 killed 2,200 Palestinians, 73 on the Israeli side, and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of homes in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Until now the only repairs have been to homes which were partially damaged, while 18,000 totally destroyed houses remain in ruins.

Hasayneh laid the brick at the Harara family’s home in Shejaiya, an area east of Gaza City.

“The march towards real reconstruction of the Gaza Strip has begun, and nothing will stop it,” Hasayneh says.

“We will see a lot of movement on the reconstruction front in the coming days. We will rebuild all homes destroyed by Israel,” he said, thanking several Arab countries, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, for their donations towards Gaza’s reconstruction.

— AFP

A Palestinian man rides his horse through the rubble of buildings, reportedly destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014, in Gaza City on July 21, 2015. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Rivlin tells Italian PM Iran ‘exports fundamentalism’

President Reuven Rivlin says that Israel is gravely concerned not only by the nuclear deal with Iran, but also by Iran’s policy of exporting its brand of extremism throughout the Middle East.

Speaking with visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Rivlin says in English that “we are greatly concerned by the deal signed between the free world and Iran. It is our desire to see an end to any conflict but we view with great concern the Iranian strategy to export fundamentalism across the region and the whole world.”

“It is clear to us that in order to stop Iranian fundamentalism, it must be made clear to Iran that this is not the way. Despite our concern over the deal, we know we have many friends and are pleased to count you among our closest,” Rivlin tells Renzi.

— Avi Lewis

President Reuven Rivlin (R) with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday, July 22 2015. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

Large rally in NYC this evening against Iran deal

Members of 70 Jewish organizations will hold a demonstration today in Times Square in New York against the Iranian nuclear deal.

The “Stop Iran Now” rally, scheduled to be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will feature 18 high-profile speakers including, according to the website The Jewish Star, former CIA director James Woolsey, former senior US military representative to the UN James A. Lyons, Prof. Alan Dershowitz, Hudson Institute President Herbert London and others.

A poster for the Stop Iran Now rally, scheduled to take place in New York’s Times Square on Wednesday, July 22 2015 at 5:30 p.m. (Screen capture)

US team beats Iranians in robot soccer final

A team of American humanoid robots defeat foes from Iran on Wednesday in the final of an annual football tournament for intelligent sporting machines held in China.

In a tightly fought final, a team designed by the University of Pennsylvania and named THORwIn scores five goals compared to four from Iranian team Baset Adult-Size, organizers say.

The game was the final of the largest “adult” size category in the Robocup, an annual event held this year in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei.

The annual Robocup is seen by some scientists as helping promote the cause of designing machines capable of carrying out more complex tasks.

The robots are not human-controlled and play football in a manner resembling young children: swarming around the ball, kicking haphazardly and often falling over.

Iran has emerged as an unlikely force in the world of robot soccer in recent years, and last year the finals were held in Tehran.

The Robocup saw machines competing in a variety of categories depending on their size.

A total of 175 robot teams from 47 different countries and regions took part in this year’s event, according to the China Daily newspaper.

— AFP

Robots compete during a match at the RoboCup 2015 in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province on July 22, 2015. (AFP)

Carter says Saudis welcome Iran deal, with reservations

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter says Saudi King Salman welcomes the Iran nuclear deal but has reservations about how effectively it will be enforced.

Carter met with the king as well as his defense minister today in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jedda.

Carter tells reporters afterward that the king expressed reservations about how well Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal can be verified. And he expressed concern about the mechanism for reinstating international economic sanctions in the event that Iran is found to have violated the deal.

Carter said the US shares those same concerns.

Saudi Arabia sees Iran as its chief regional foe and is worried about growing Iranian influence in Yemen and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region.

— AP

Yemen loyalists retake Aden palace

Yemeni pro-government forces recaptured the presidential palace in Aden and a Saudi military plane landed in the war-scarred southern city following recent territorial losses by Iran-backed rebels.

The arrival of reinforcements freshly trained and heavily armed by the Saudi-led coalition helped forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to retake most of Aden after four months of fierce fighting.

Thirty rebels were killed in the battle for the Al-Maashiq hilltop palace, where Hadi has taken refuge before fleeing to Saudi Arabia in March, a source in the pro-government Popular Resistance militia says.

Underscoring the recent advances by the pro-Hadi forces, a Saudi military plane touched down Wednesday in the city’s newly reopened airport.

The plane, carrying relief aid, will be followed by others in the coming days, according to transport minister Badr Basalma, one of two ministers who returned to the city after it was declared “liberated” by the exiled government on Friday.

— AFP

Boehner vows to fight nuke deal and ‘stop it’

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vows to fight the nuclear agreement with Iran during its 60-day review in Congress.

The agreement “may have been applauded at the United Nations, I think he faces serious skepticism here at home,” Boehner tells reporters after a GOP conference meeting.

“Let me just assure you that members of Congress will ask much tougher questions this afternoon when we meet with the president’s team, because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people and we’re going to do everything possible to stop it,” Boehner is quoted by website The Hill as saying.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says: “I continue to see more concerns on our side and the other side of the aisle well.”

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Major Beitar Jerusalem sponsor pulls out

iTrader, the primary sponsor of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club, cancels its sponsorship agreement with the club after fans rioted in a Belgian stadium and injured the goalkeeper of Belgian opponent Sporting Charleroi during a match last week.

The funding given to the club by investment house iTrader had totaled NIS 1 million ($260,000).

Smoke bombs and flares are thrown onto the pitch by fans of Beitar Jerusalem soccer club during an away match against Belgian team Sporting Charleroi on Thursday, July 16, 2015. (screenshot: Ynet)

IS threatens ‘slaughter on streets of Paris’

The Islamic State terror group is threatening to carry out terror attacks against France and other countries party to the international coalition fighting against the organization in Iraq and Syria.

In a clip posted by the terror group’s propaganda arm Wednesday, a spokesperson for IS threatens in both Arabic and French to “slaughter Frenchmen on the streets of Paris.”

At the end of the clip the killing of a man presented as a soldier in the Syrian army is shown.

Terrorists claiming allegiance to the Islamic State have carried out a number of attacks in France over the past year, including an assault on a kosher shop that left four people dead.

PM lays out IDF budget wishlist to sparring officials

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yohanan Locker, head of a panel that this week published its conclusions on cutbacks to the IDF, his main concerns for the next defense budget.

.According to Hebrew website Ynet, Netanyahu said wants a budget answering Israel’s major security challenges, wants to streamline the military where possible, wants to preserve high quality personnel and to adjust the budget to the needs of Israeli society.

After meeting Locker, the prime minister met separately with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen Gadi Eisenkot and presented him with the same points.

Locker and Eisenkot have been locked in a public battle over where to make cuts to the military budget and how to reform the IDF’s structure.