Netanyahu ‘preparing for criminal investigation’

Menny Naftali threatens PM with libel suit

Menny Naftali, a former caretaker of the Netanyahu household which sued the Netanyahu couple earlier this year for allegations of mistreatment by Sara Netanyahu and then became the target of a concerted effort by the prime minister and his wife, including accusations that Naftali is responsible for the exorbitant expenses at the Prime Minister’s Residence, is threatening to sue the prime minister for libel.

Menny Neftali (photo credit: screenshot via Channel 2)

“The days are over when anyone says what they want, without a shred of truth and without taking responsibility for anything,” says Naftali. “There is a limit to the abuse and torture one man can suffer. I’m a regular normal guy. My workplace did not fulfill its obligations toward me and broke countless labor laws. In my darkest dreams I did not believe that a prime minister in Israel will behave thus, and pin the responsibility for his and his family’s personal expenses on me,” Naftali is quoted by Haaretz as saying.

Naftali met with a lawyer specializing in libel suits on Thursday morning, after Likud officials blamed him for the expenses detailed in a report published by the State Comptroller’s Office on Tuesday. The shifting of blame to Naftali was seen by Netanyahu’s rivals as an attempt to deflect blame regarding behavior, which while not overtly illegal still shed a negative light on the PM and his wife.

Dark horse Kahlon won’t say who he wants for PM

Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon refuses to meet either Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Labor leader Isaac Herzog, Israel Radio reports.

The former Likud minister, who rose to fame on a reform of the cellular communication providers’ market, received requests from both the prime minister and the head of the Zionist Union list to meet and reveal who he will recommend to the president for the role of prime minister.

Kahlon’s party is currently polling at between 8 and 10 Knesset seats and may become kingmaker when the president calls on the party to endorse Netanyahu or Herzog for the role of prime minister.

Bennett’s wife fears for his safety

The wife of Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, Gilat Bennett, writes on her Facebook page that she fears for her husband’s life, after left-wing activists behaved violently during a Jewish Home conference in Haifa.

Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett (R) and his wife, Gilat, cast their vote during the party’s preliminary elections, in Jerusalem, on January 14, 2014 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Gilat Bennett mentioned several incidents, including one where the minister of economy received a punch in his back as he was descending from the podium at a Haaretz conference last year, and a case where posters of his face were defaced with a Hitler moustache and a swastika on the forehead.

“I see their machinations on Facebook and I know these are not naïve activists but rather members of radical left-wing groups who are well-funded. I see the excitement over violence when they ‘explode’ one of his campaign parties – and then they go and whine about it to their friends in the media.

Gilat Bennett demanded that security for her husband be beefed up.

PM heads special meeting on storm preparations

Prime Minister Netanyahu heads a special meeting on the expected storm.

“Our first priority is saving lives. This comes before anything else. Our second priority is to keep roads open as much as we can and our third priority is to keep, as best we can, a regular supply of electricity,” says Netanyahu.

The meeting was attended by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, chief of police Yochanan Danino, head of fire services Shahar Ayalon, OC Home Front Command Eyal Eisenberg, Israel Prison Services chief Aharon Franco, Magen David Adom head Eli Bin, Israel Elctric Company CEO Eli Glickman and representatives of several government ministries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading a meeting on February 19, 2015 to prepare for the storm that is expected to hit Israel on the weekend. (photo credit: Haim Tzach/GPO)

Some 90 Ukrainian troops captured, 82 missing

More than 90 Ukrainian troops were captured and 82 are still missing after pro-Russian rebels seized the key town of Debaltseve, Ukraine’s army says.

The Ukrainian military says that it has mobilized “certain forces” to search for the missing and asked observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to help to locate them.

Also, Ukrainian forces retreat from the key railway hub Wednesday after a fierce onslaught by separatist fighters that Kiev claims are armed by Moscow and include regular Russian troops.

In a statement, Ukraine’s general staff says that 13 soldiers have been killed and 157 wounded during the withdrawal.

Kiev’s military claims that its forces have captured “several dozen” rebel fighters in Debaltseve and are holding them for questioning.

— AFP

Likud pulls appeal against V15 organization

Likud withdraws its appeal against the V15 organization, the Zionist Union and other left-wing parties, Ynet reports.

The decision was taken following a recommendation of Jerusalem District Court Judge Zvi Segal, who said at a court hearing on Wednesday that the evidence tying V15 (which stands for Victory 2015) — an organization that seeks to topple Netanayhu but claims to be independent from any political connection — to political parties running in the election are tenuous.

Roads 1, 443 congested; some Golan roads blocked

Heavy traffic is causing congestion on Roads 1 and 443 leading to Jerusalem. The Transportation Authority calls on drivers to avoid driving on these roads if possible.

Israel Radio reports that several roads in the Golan Heights were totally blocked by snow. Near the Dead Sea, Road 90 was blocked in both directions near Ein Bokek, for fear of flooding.

Zarif, Kerry to hold nuclear talks in Geneva

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and top US diplomat John Kerry will meet in Geneva this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, an Iranian official says.

Iran and world powers are trying to strike a deal that would prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb, a goal it denies having, in return for an easing of punishing economic sanctions.

Zarif and Kerry will hold two days of discussions from Sunday after their diplomats begin bilateral talks on Friday, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi says.

“After four days of bilateral discussions between the Iranian and US nuclear delegations, they could continue with the participation of all members of the P5+1,” Araghchi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

— AFP

India’s Kalyani to hold 51% of deal with Rafael

India’s Kalyani industrial group announces a “substantial” joint venture with Israel to make missiles and other weapons, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi eased rules on foreign ownership in defense.

Kalyani managing director B.N. Kalyani says his company would hold 51 percent of the venture, in one of the first such tie-ups since the cap was lifted on foreign investment in the sector last year.

“The joint venture will … manufacture (remote) weapons systems and advanced armor solutions for Indian and subsequently global customers of Rafael,” Kalyani told reporters in Bangalore.

Kalyani did not disclose the size of the venture, but said it would be “substantial”.

Riyadh talks seek stronger Iraqi army

Military chiefs gathered in the Saudi capital on Thursday sought to bolster the Iraqi army against the jihadist Islamic State group, a Western diplomatic source said.

United States General Lloyd Austin, who heads the US-led war against IS, is among the senior officers attending the two-day talks that opened Wednesday in Riyadh behind closed doors.

“I’m confident that they are looking at a firm plan, a coordinated plan, to empower the Iraqi army” against IS, the source said, asking for anonymity.

With “nobody” interested in putting ground troops into the country, strengthening Iraq’s 200,000-strong army against about 30,000 IS fighters remains the best option, he said.

— AFP

Obama calls on US to embrace its Muslims

US President Barack Obama says that in the fight against violent extremism, the US must tap its long tradition of warmly embracing its immigrants, including Muslims.

“If we’re going to prevent people from being susceptible to the false promises of extremism, then the international community has to offer something better — and the United States intends to do its part,” Obama tells the White House summit on violent extremism. “That’s the story extremists and terrorists don’t want the world to know: Muslims succeeding and thriving in America,” Obama says.

Calling on the world to broaden its response far beyond military interventions, the US president is expected to speak again today with delegates from about 65 countries who arrived in Washington for the summit’s closing session at the State Department.

US President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. (Photo credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

— AP

Like Kahlon, Lapid won’t say who he wants for PM

Yair Lapid refuses to say who will recommend for the role of prime minister to President Reuven Rivlin.

Speaking on Israel Radio, Lapid dodges a question on who he will recommend to Rivlin for the role. He was asked his opinion on who most deserves to lead the country immediately after finishing a tirade of accusations against Prime Minister Netanyahu, who, he charges, is busy first and foremost with his political survival.

Lapid argues that Netanyahu “rushed to call for new elections” as soon as he realized some of the ministers in his government may have significant achievements, citing especially the 2015 budget which was within the purview of his office when Lapid served as finance minister.

“Yesh Atid has a fine economic platform and that is the 2015 budget,” says Lapid. He implies that Netanyahu fired him because “he cannot let anyone grow in his shadow, just like he made [Moshe] Kahlon and [Likud Minister Gideon] Sa’ar go away.”

Eritrean gets 23 years in jail for raping 83-year-old woman

An Eritrean migrant who was convicted of raping an 83-year-old woman in the yard of her home will go to jail for 23 years, Ynet reports.

Rouvel Fadoul confessed to rape and sodomy and apart from imprisonment will need to compensate the woman to the tune of NIS 100,000 ($26,000).

“The defendant’s actions are severe and particularly revolting and they cause a traumatic damage to an old lady who one morning saw her whole life collapse in front of her,” Judge Gilad Noy wrote in Fadoul’s verdict.

Netanyahu’s ex-caretaker to get police immunity

Menny Naftali, the former caretaker of the Prime Minister’s Residence, will be given immunity from prosecution over testimony that he will provide to the police’s Fraud Investigation Unit 433 regarding evidence implying illegal conduct that he was witness to during his term of employment in the service of the Netanyahu family.

Naftali testified two weeks ago of his own volition and recounted some of the details that later appeared in a special State Comptroller report published on Tuesday. After telling investigators about the financial management for some 90 minutes, Naftali asked for immunity, saying that further testimony would reveal incidents that would implicate him.

433 investigators decided to stop Naftali at that point, since they needed approval from the attorney-general to grant immunity. The attorney-general’s office examined the two-week old testimony by Naftali and decided to grant him the immunity.

Naftali served as caretaker of the Prime Minister’s Residence for nearly two years. He resigned after he wasn’t given tenure that, he claimed, was promised him. He sued the Prime Minister’s Office, the deputy director-general of operations at the office, Ezra Saidoff, the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, and Netanyahu personally.

Naftali seeks NIS 1.1 million ($286,000) in damages. He also sued Netanyahu for libel following an interview where Netanyahu said Naftali had been fired, even though he claims to have resigned.

Naftali recently asked the Jerusalem Labor Court to summon Sara Netanyahu to testify. She will address the court after the March 17 elections.

The news of Naftali’s immunity comes after earlier on Thursday he announced another libel suit against Netanayahu, this time for a barrage of accusations against him following the publication of the state comptroller’s report.

The Likud headquarters tried earlier this week to deflect blame for apparent financial impropriety at the prime minister’s residence by blaming Naftali for inflated expenses during the time he served as caretaker.

Snow starts falling in Jerusalem

Snow started falling in Jerusalem shortly after 5 p.m.

Weather forecasts predict it will start piling up around 8 or 9 p.m.

But the Times of Israel is not deterred by the white flakes and will continue giving you up-to-date, top-quality news!

Russia starts sending gas to east Ukraine

Russia’s Gazprom starts supplying gas directly to the rebel-controlled area of east Ukraine after pro-Moscow separatist leaders said Kiev had cut supplies, the company’s chief says.

“According to the current sale-and-purchase contract between Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz, from 1600 (1300 GMT) on February 19, Gazprom is supplying gas to Ukraine including through the Prokhorovka and Platovo gas metering stations to an amount of 12 million cubic meters per 24 hours,” said Alexei Miller, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.

Prokhorovka is on the border of Russia and the rebel-controlled Lugansk region, while Platovo is on the border of Russia and the Donetsk region.

— AFP

No school in Jerusalem on Friday

The Jerusalem Municipality announces that schools will remain closed on Friday due to the snow.

A tractor removes snow from the roads in Jerusalem, as stormy winter weather hit the capital region, January 9, 2015. (photo credit: Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90)

Livni says 2 states a must, not a ‘gift to PA’

Zionist Union co-leader Tzipi Livni says the two-state solution is a necessity and not “a gift to the PA or the US president.”

Tzipi Livni and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization, in Jerusalem on Thursday, February 19, 2015. (photo credit: Courtesy Conference of Presidents)

Speaking in Jerusalem, at the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations annual Leadership Mission to Israel, Livni says that Israelis must decide between two visions, Greater Israel, one country where Palestinians will not have full rights, or a two-state solution.

“We will never give up Jerusalem, we will keep the settlement blocs and there is no right of return for Palestinian refugees,” she says, adding that uprooting Israelis from the Gaza Strip was one of the “toughest and most difficult decisions” of her life. And yet, she added, “Is there anyone who wants to replant Israelis in Gush Katif again?” Anyone who wishes to do so, she said, would never want any kind of agreement with the Palestinians.

Christians, Jews, Muslims hold peace pilgrimage in London

Christians, Jews and Muslims from all walks of British life make a pilgrimage through central London, in a show of unity against the hatred that drove recent attacks in France and Denmark.

More than 100 people, including faith leaders, children and pensioners, walk in the rain from London’s main mosque at Regent’s Park to the Central Synagogue and then through the bustling crowds of Soho to Westminster Abbey.

At each venue they gather for a moment of reflection, led variously by the local imam, rabbi and priest, to emphasize their shared values and hopes for peace.

“The terrorists hope to divide us but these atrocities are uniting us,” Sheikh Khalifa Ezzat, chief imam at London Central Mosque, tells AFP.

The march was called in response to last month’s Islamist attacks in Paris, by a group of religious leaders brought together under the inter-faith Coexist program.

— AFP

(From Left to Right) Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, the Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Association of Great Britain, Ibrahim Mogra, Reverend Margaret Cave and and unidentified person carry a banner reading ‘Coexist pilgrimage – people of faith walk as people of peace’ as they cross Westminster Bridge past the Houses of Parliament during an inter-religious march for peace from the Regents Park Mosque to St Thomas’ Hospital in London on February 19, 2015. (photo credit: Justin Tallis/AFP)

UK teen convicted of plan to behead soldier

A teenage British convert to Islam who said he wanted to decapitate a soldier is convicted of terrorism.

A jury at London’s Central Criminal Court finds 19-year-old Brusthom Ziamani guilty of preparing an act of terrorism.

Prosecutors said Ziamani was inspired by the two Islamic extremists who murdered soldier Lee Rigby in a London street in 2013. They said he researched the location of army cadet bases in London and told his girlfriend he planned to “kill soldiers” before he was arrested in August with a 12-inch (30-centimeter) knife and a hammer in his backpack.

Ziamani also posted comments on Facebook saying he was “willing to die in the cause of Allah” and calling for Islamic Sharia law. His sentence was not yet announced.

— AP

Israeli security adviser to discuss Iran with US counterpart

National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen is set to meet with his US counterpart Susan Rice today to discuss the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Yesterday, US Secretary of State John Kerry dropped in to Cohen’s meeting with Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, who leads the US teams in the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

— Raphael Ahren

Obama says Israel has been suffering from terror for decades

US President Barack Obama says at a White House summit on violent extremism that Israel has been suffering from terror attacks for decades.

Obama speaks to delegates from about 65 countries who arrived in Washington for the summit’s closing session at the State Department.

Among those present are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Israel’s National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen.

Temple Mount activist gets invite to Big Brother

Yehuda Glick, the Temple Mount activist who was badly wounded when he was shot after exiting a conference in Jerusalem, has received an invitation to be a contestant on “Big Brother VIP,” Glick writes on his Facebook page.

Rabbi Yehudah Glick and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau November 17, 2014 (YouTube screenshot)

“Let me think about it, I need to consult my wife and my friends,” Glick writes of his response to the Big Brother producer who called him with the offer.

After reading many readers’ comments, Glick posts: “I am happy that activity for the Temple Mount makes one a VIP. My only consideration is advancing awareness of the Temple Mount and sanctifying God’s name.

“I will participate in anything that will contribute to this,” he continues, “and steer clear of anything that would hurt this cause.”

Glick was hit with several bullets shot from a close range after he left a conference held at the Begin Center in Jerusalem on October 29. The shooter, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad activist who lived in a Jerusalem neighborhood and worked at a restaurant inside the Begin Center, was killed when he opened fire on police officers who came to arrest him the day after the shooting.

Two main traffic arteries to Jerusalem closed

Parts of routes 1 and 443 leading to Jerusalem have been closed due to fears of cars slipping off the road.

Reaching the capital by car via these roads is effectively impossible since both routes were closed in areas near the city.

1,000 lone soldiers get ’National Errands Day’

About 1,000 ‘lone soldiers’ from around the world serving in multiple IDF units convene at Beit HaChayal in Tel Aviv for a special “National Personal Errands Day.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh and Friends of the IDF are behind the initiative, in cooperation with the IDF’s Human Resources Department, the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Ministry of Interior, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund.

Lone Soldiers handle personal affairs during a special event sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh, Friends of the IDF and Israeli government ministries. (photo credit: Courtesy Yonit Schiller / Nefesh B’Nefesh

Nuclear deterrent important in ‘dangerous world’, says Hollande

French President Francois Hollande stresses the importance of maintaining the country’s nuclear deterrent in “a dangerous world”, as he details France’s atomic arsenal for the first time.

His comments are quickly shot down by the French branch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which says that far from making the world a safer place, they made it more dangerous.

“The international context does not allow for any weakness… the era of nuclear deterrence is therefore not over,” Hollande says on a trip to an air base in the southern city of Istres.

“In a dangerous world — and it is dangerous — France does not want to let down its guard,” he says.

— AFP

Netanyahu ‘preparing for criminal probe’

Prime Minister Netanyahu hires lawyer Ya’acov Weinrott to defend him against what may turn out to be allegations of mismanagement of funds at the Prime Minister’s Residence over the past several years, Channel 2 reports.

Netanyahu is “preparing for a criminal investigation,” the station reports, adding that the attorney general’s office is examining details also beyond what was detailed in a State Comptroller report published on Tuesday.

Iran deal bad for Israel and world, says PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses reports that the US decided to keep it in the dark on talks with Iran following a Washington Post report that said Israeli officials deliberately leaked details of a pending agreement with Iran in an effort to influence negotiations.

“We know that Tehran knows the details of the talks. Now I tell you that Israel also knows the details of the proposed agreement. I think this is a bad agreement that is dangerous for the State of Israel, and not just for Israel. If anyone thinks otherwise what is there to hide?”

Netanyahu was speaking during a meeting on the country’s preparedness for the storm that is expected to intensify this weekend.

23 senators to Boehner: Postpone PM’s address

Almost two dozen liberal Democrats ask the Republican leader of the US House of Representatives to postpone Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress next month.

“It appears that you are using a foreign leader as a political tool against the President,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner did not consult with the White House before inviting Netanyahu, while Republicans are pushing tougher sanctions on Tehran.

“This appears to be an attempt to promote new sanctions legislation against Iran that could undermine critical negotiations,” the Democrats wrote.

Generally speaking, the 23 lawmakers who signed the letter are among the most left-leaning Democrats, representing 12 percent of their party’s House membership.

“Support for the State of Israel in Congress has always been bipartisan, and it should remain so,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said.

— AP

New comptroller report on housing to criticize PM

A new State Comptroller report on housing prices, specifically the hike in prices over the past few years, will include among other things criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Channel 2 reports.

US rabbi accused of voyeurism to plead guilty

A lawyer for a rabbi accused of videotaping women at a Jewish ritual bath says his client will plead guilty to more than 50 counts of voyeurism.

Barry Freundel is expected to enter the plea Thursday in a Washington court. His lawyer, Jeffrey Harris, says his client will plead guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism.

Freundel is currently charged with six counts of voyeurism for videotaping six women. But prosecutors told a closed-door meeting of victims last week that Freundel had taped more than 150 women, though the statute of limitations bars them from charging him with many of the tapings.

— AP