Obama: US commitment to Israel’s security ‘unshakeable’

Peres’s daughter says there are signs of improvement

Shimon Peres’s daughter, Tsvia Walden, tells Army Radio that there has been an improvement in his condition since last night, when the 93-year-old former president was fighting for his life after a massive stroke, but warns that the future is still uncertain.

“Yesterday he could hardly move his hand and today he has a tight grip,” she says. “There is an improvement since yesterday, but this does not help us predict the future.”

Rivlin: If Peres’s recovery depends on him alone, he will prevail

President Reuven Rivlin says he is in touch with Peres’s family, as he pays tribute to his predecessor’s tenacity and will to live.

President Reuven Rivlin (right) speaks with outgoing president Shimon Peres after being sworn in as the tenth president of Israel in a ceremony at the Knesset, July 24, 2014. (Haim Zach/GPO/Flash90)

“I want to send prayers for the recovery of my friend Shimon Peres. I am following the reports from the hospital with concern,” Rivlin says, according to Army Radio.

“I talked moments ago with his daughter,” he adds, “Shimon knows how to fight and if it is up to him – he will win.”

Arab MK calls Peres a blood-soaked war criminal

A day after the former president suffered a massive stroke, MK Basel Ghattas of the Joint (Arab) List calls Shimon Peres “one of the pillars of the Zionist colonial project, and one of the most despicable, cruel, radical and long-lived [of its leadership].”

As a result, Ghattas says in a Facebook post, Peres “was the most damaging and calamitous for the Palestinian nation.”

Even so, Ghattas continues, Peres managed to “portray himself as a dove” to the point that he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Arab MK Basel Ghattas from the Joint (Arab) List addresses the Knesset on November 26, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

“So let us at least remember his true essence in his death, as a tyrant directly responsible for crimes and war crimes directed against us,” Ghattas writes, adding “our blood soaks him from head to toe.”

Ghattas’s comments are met with outrage by other Israeli politicians. Among them is Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli, who calls Ghattas “a petty and wretched man who entire contribution to politics [is] sowing hatred and animosity, support for terror and cheap, provocative self-promotion. He is not fit to utter Peres’s name.”

Russia urges Syrian rebels to separate from ‘terrorists’

Russia is urging Syrian rebels to separate themselves from “terrorists” to ensure that the Russia-US-brokered ceasefire continues to hold in Syria, where a relative calm has prevailed since the truce went into effect two days ago.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin is hopeful that the truce deal “will create the necessary environment for political settlement.”

Activists in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo protest against the UN for what they say is its failure to lift the siege off their rebel-held area, on Sept. 13, 2016. (Modar Shekho via AP)

Dmitry Peskov tells reporters that the Kremlin welcomes the ceasefire, but that the key thing now is to make sure moderate opposition groups are separated from the “terrorists” — a reference to militant groups such as Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate.

Peskov calls this the “key task, without which further progress can hardly be possible.”

— AP

Likud MK: No place for people like Ghattas in Knesset

Likud minister Yariv Levin joins the outrage over Arab MK Basel Ghattas calling the ailing Peres a war criminal.

“He’s a rabble-rouser,” Levin tells Army Radio. “There is no place for people like this in the Israeli parliament.”

Ghattas hits back at the angry responses to his comments, saying: “It is beneath my dignity to reply to such lunatics.”

France investigates another teen over terror plans

A French teenager linked to an Islamic State extremist suspected of instigating attacks in France is arrested for allegedly offering to carry out a strike.

Police sources say the youth was in touch with French jihadist Rachid Kassim, who is suspected of ordering or inciting the killing of a police couple in their home in June and the murder of an elderly priest in a Normandy church in July.

Investigators search the teenager’s home in northeast Paris to try to ascertain whether he had been planning an imminent attack. His age is not given.

84-year-old French priest Jacques Hamel was murdered in an apparent Islamic State terror attack on his church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in Normandy on July 26, 2016 (Photo from Twitter)

His arrest comes two days after a 15-year-old from eastern Paris is charged with conspiring to commit terrorist acts after writing on Telegram — the encrypted messaging app popular among French radicals — of his plans to commit a stabbing, sources say.

He too had been in contact with Kassim, a 29-year-old social worker from the Loire valley, who has appeared in several Telegram videos made in Syria and Iraq urging attacks in France.

— AFP

Tel Aviv court jails soldier’s killer for life

Tel Aviv District Court hands down a life sentence to Palestinian man from Nablus who murdered an IDF soldier in an attack in the city in 2014.

Sahar Shiloni (L), twin brother of slain IDF soldier Almog Shiloni, mourns during his funeral at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on November 11, 2014. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Nur al-Din Abu Khashiyeh stabbed 20-year-old Almog Shiloni, who was serving in the Air Force, mutiple times outside the Tel Aviv train station in November 2014. Shiloni later died in hospital of his wounds.

The court rules that Khashiyeh should serve a minimum of 40 years and pay Shiloni’s family NIS 258,000 (approx. $70,000) in compensation, the Ynet news website reports.

Palestinian caught with concealed knife at West Bank checkpoint

Security forces arrest a Palestinian man who was carrying a concealed knife at the checkpoint at Rachel’s Tomb, near Bethlehem.

Jerusalem police say forces became suspicious of the man, who was trying to pass through the checkpoint. A search revealed the knife hidden underneath his shirt.

The man is detained and taken in for questioning, police say. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.

A knife found concealed under the shirt of a Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint near Bethlehem on September 14, 2016 (Israel Police)

— Judah Ari Gross

Putin looking forward to meeting Peres after his recovery

Russian President Vladimir Putin inquires after Peres’s health, and wishes him a speedy recovery from his stroke.

According to Maariv newspaper, the head of Putin’s bureau says the Russian leader is being updated on Peres’s condition, and looks forward to meeting with him again once he has recovered.

Vladmir Putin (L) and Shimon Peres at Peres’ residence in Jerusalem on June 25, 2012 (photo credit: Mark Neyman/GPO/Flash90)

Peres’s granddaughter says he looks comfortable, is not suffering

Shimon Peres’s granddaughter says he seems to be comfortable and not suffering, a day after he was hospitalized having suffered a stroke.

“I was at his side with the family and his excellent [medical] team most of the night and all morning,” Mika Almog writes on Facebook, in a post accompanied by a picture of her and Peres.

“He slept. He seems comfortable, not suffering. I hope he is regaining his strength. The rest is unknown at this point,” she writes.

“The dedicated and wonderful medical team at Sheba [Medical Center] is doing an amazing job. Thank you all and all of them for the support, love and prayers in all forms. Bottom line, one can understand if God claims him, but for now we are putting up a fight. Sending much love back, from all of us, and especially from him.”

7,000-year-old intact figurine found in Turkey

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry says a team of international archaeologists has found a “unique” 7,000-year-old figurine at a neolithic site in the Anatolia region.

The intact statuette of a woman, which measures 17 centimeters and weighs 1 kilogram, dates back to 5,500-8,000 BCE, Turkey’s Daily Sabah website quotes the ministry as saying.

The figurine is made of marmoreal (marble-like) stone, and is believed to have been used as part of a ritual.

Neolithic figurine discovered at Ҫatalhöyük #Turkey #UNESCO #archaeology #sculpture https://t.co/lCKdj1Chfv pic.twitter.com/Pt4MzW1oT6

— Bradshaw Foundation (@BradshawFND) September 14, 2016

Peres’s doctor: Still in serious condition, but there is improvement

The head of Sheba Medical Center says Shimon Peres is still in serious condition after suffering a stroke yesterday, but there has been an improvement.

“After 24 hours of intensive treatment, I can say that although he is still in serious condition, he is stable and there is an improvement,” Prof. Yitzhak Kreiss tells reporters outside the hospital.

Peres is still sedated and on a respirator, but he is stable, Kreiss says.

Peres’s personal physician says he is responsive

Rafi Walden, Shimon Peres’s son-in-law and personal physician, tells reporters that the former president is “responsive and understands what is being said to him.”

Walden says Peres is under relatively light sedation can be brought out his induced coma at any stage.

Arab MK slams Ghattas, says he is alone in anti-Peres sentiment

MK Issawi Freij, an MK from the Meretz party, calls comments by Basel Ghattas against Shimon Peres “unintelligent” and accuses him of trying to start a stir for no reason.

“These are things that are not fitting from someone who claims to serve on behalf of Arab society in Israel. MK Ghattas is seeking to put another unnecessary wrench in Jewish-Arab ties in the country,” he says on Facebook. “Someone who has nothing to contribute to strengthening ties between Jews and Arabs should keep quiet instead of making a disturbance.”

He adds that Ghattas’s diatribe calling Peres a “blood-covered war criminal” puts him in the smallest of minorities with the Arab public, almost all of which wishes Peres well.

Peres aide: He’s awake, even tried to get up

Peres aide Ayelet Frish, speaking to the media scrum at Tel Hashomer hospital, says his family is at his bedside at all times.

She describes him as awake and alert and says he even tried to sit up in bed.

“We don’t want to raise expectations but there is a positive development. He is raising his hand. I saw him wake up and it was very emotional. But we continue to pray,” she says.

She adds that he is being told about how his stroke made international news.

France slams Israel for razing West Bank building

Paris is criticizing Israel for what it says is the continued demolition of humanitarian structures in the West Bank, calling the moves illegal and saying they are happening more frequently than ever.

The French foreign ministry says Israeli forces razed a building in the West Bank village of al-Aqaba, adding it’s the fourth time Israel has torn down structures funded by France, among other donors.

A building funded by the European Union in the West Bank. EU-funded construction of some 1,000 buildings has stirred controversy. (Ben Sales/JTA)

“France expresses its deep concern at the continuation – at an unprecedented rate – of the demolition and confiscation of structures intended for the Palestinian population,” the ministry says. “It calls on the Israeli authorities to put an end to these operations which are contrary to international law and jeopardize the two-state solution to which France is attached.”

Israel says it tears down buildings put up without permits or on state lands.

Congresswoman nixes Capitol Hill BDS event booked in her name

A congresswoman whose office was set to sponsor the first conference in a congressional building backing the boycott Israel movement withdrew her support, canceling the event.

On Tuesday, the office of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, told The Weekly Standard, a conservative newsmagazine, that the event organized by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation would not take place.

The event, titled “What is BDS? A Capitol Hill Briefing,” was set to take place Friday. BDS is an acronym for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Ads for the briefing, which featured activists in the BDS movement, said it would be the “first of its kind” on Capitol Hill. It was to take place in the Rayburn Building.

Rooms in Capitol Hill office buildings must be booked through a member of Congress. Mike McQuerry, Jackson Lee’s spokesman, told The Weekly Standard that a staffer who was no longer working in the office had approved the booking in March, but that Jackson Lee was unaware of it.

McQuerry said that as soon as the congresswoman’s office was made aware of the booking, the office removed its name, effectively canceling the event.

— JTA

Russia says Syria ceasefire breached 60 times

The Russian military says rebels have violated a ceasefire in Syria brokered by Washington and Moscow 60 times since it came into force sunset Monday.

Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian military’s General Staff says that the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group and other opposition forces were behind most violations of the truce. He adds that Syrian government forces haven’t returned fire.

Poznikhir said Wednesday that Moscow backs the extension of the truce for another 48 hours.

He insists that Russia has fully met its obligations under the truce, but voiced doubt that the US would be able to fulfill its pledge to persuade the opposition to sever links with al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, which has changed its name from al-Nusra Front to Fatah al-Sham Front.

— AP

PA holding out hope for local election by year’s end

The Palestinian Authority hopes keenly awaited local elections slated for October 8 that were suspended last week will take place by the end of the year, foreign minister Riad Maliki says.

“For us it is important to stage the municipal elections because if we can pass this test it means we can also start seriously thinking about preparing parliamentary and presidential elections,” Maliki tells a news conference in Madrid.

“I hope we will see municipal elections by the end of this year,” he adds, speaking in Spanish.

A top Palestinian court on September 8 suspended the polls to choose municipal councils in some 416 cities and towns in Gaza and the West Bank following disputes between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements.

— AFP

Mandate-era mortar blown up in Netanya

Israel Police sappers have detonated a British Mandate-era mortar round that was discovered on a beach in central Israel, a police spokesperson says.

Police received a call of a “suspicious object” on Poleg Beach, south of Netanya. When the sappers arrived to inspect it, they found a 155 millimeter artillery shell that was in a “dangerous state.”

Unable to disarm it safely, they detonated the shell in situ, police say.

— Judah Ari Gross

IDF investigating possible mortar strike in Golan

The IDF is investigating reports that a mortar shell landed in the Golan Heights, a spokesperson says.

On Tuesday, three projectiles landed in northern Israel apparently as a result of spillover from the Syrian civil war.

In response, Israeli jets targeted Syrian artillery positions.

— Judah Ari Gross

UN envoy a fan of Israel-PA electricty debt deal

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov is praising an agreement between Israel and the PA to forgive three-quarters of a NIS 2 billion electricity debt, saying it will help boost the Palestinian economy.

“Such a significant step is in line with the Quartet’s recommendations calling on both sides to take steps to strengthen Palestinian institutions and develop a sustainable economy, consistent with the transition to greater Palestinian civil authority as contemplated by prior agreements,” he says in a statement.

“I congratulate and commend both sides for their efforts and encourage them to carry on in that positive path. Such steps, echoing the intentions of Oslo, are critical to the viability of a future Palestinian state,” he adds.

Congressional panel okays bill nixing cash payments to Iran

A Congressional House committee has passed election-year legislation that prohibits the United States from making cash payments to Iran and requires that Congress be notified before any future claims settlements are made with Tehran.

The bill’s approval comes weeks after the Obama administration says it delivered $1.7 billion in cash to Iran earlier this year to settle a decades-old arbitration claim between the two countries.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, center, and the committee’s ranking member Rep. Eliot Engel, second from right, listen to staffers as they confer on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the committee’s hearing on Iran on September 14, 2016. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

An initial $400 million delivery was sent January 17, the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners. The remainder followed in two additional installments.

Republicans decried the payments as ransom. The Obama administration has rejected the charge.

GOP Rep. Ed Royce of California — the House Foreign Affairs chairman — says Iran wanted cash so it could funnel the money to terrorist groups.

— AP

Ban pressing US, Russia to make sure aid trucks can reach Aleppo

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is in talks with Russia and the United States to ensure they press all sides in Syria to guarantee the security of a UN aid convoy ready to head toward the battered city of Aleppo.

Ban says 20 trucks loaded with food and other needed supplies were still at the Turkish border with Syria awaiting the all-clear for the journey to Aleppo.

— AFP

Thanks Obama, Netanyahu says as massive aid deal set to be inked

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is thanking the US for a $38 billion defense aid package, touting its massive size, about an hour before Israeli and American officials in Washington are expected to sign the massive deal.

“This agreement will ensure an unprecedented level of defense aid for Israel in the next decade,” he says in a statement. “This is the largest military aid package the US has ever given out to any nation.”

Netanyahu says the deal will not only help “stabilize the unstable Middle East,” but will also help secure the US, and says the deal proves ties between Jerusalem and Washington are strong.

Acknowledging disagreements with the US, he says they are like fights within a family.

“They don’t influence our great friendship,” he says.

“I want to thank President Obama and his government for the historic agreement. I also acknowledge our many friends in Congress, and the American people, for their great support, support that crosses party lines and spans the width and breadth of America,” he adds.

He also thanks his own negotiating team which came to the agreement after months of intense talks.

Defense Ministry told to boycott UN envoy — report

The Defense Ministry has been ordered to blackball UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov, Channel 2 reports, in retaliation for the UN’s criticism of Israeli demolitions being carried out against Palestinian structures in the West Bank.

The report says that Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered staff to boycott Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and refuse to work with him.

Mladenov drew fire from Israeli officials following a briefing to the UN security council two weeks ago in which he pummeled Israel for building settlements in the West Bank while demolishing Palestinian homes.

“For years we have been managing this conflict, while the occupation has continued, Palestinians have been dispossessed, and a one-state reality has been establishing itself on the ground,” Mladenov said at the time. “It is time for all of us — the leaders on both sides, with support from the region and the international community, to end the conflict on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and in a manner that meets the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples.”

The Defense Ministry refused to comment on the report.

There was also no immediate comment from Mladenov.

Army confirms mortar in fact hit Golan

At long last, the IDF confirms that a projectile hit the Golan Heights. No injuries or damage have been reported.

The army did not specify the type of munition, but it appears to be errant from the fighting across the border in Syria.

— Judah Ari Gross

Netanyahu visits Peres, says he’s doing better

Emerging after visiting Shimon Peres at Sheba Medical Center, Netanyahu tells the waiting press that the ailing former president is continuing to improve from a stroke he suffered Tuesday.

“We sense some relief and we hope to have more relief,” he says. “He’s better tonight than he was a night ago, and I hope he will be better the next night.”

Mladenov declines to respond to Liberman blackball report

Responding to reports that he is being boycotted by Israel’s Defense Minister, the office of UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov responds with the verbal equivalent of a shrug.

“UN Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov is currently in New York where tomorrow the UN Secretary General will be briefing the UN Security Council on the latest developments on the ground,” a UN official from the special coordinator’s office says.

— with Judah Ari Gross

MOU signing ceremony begins

At the State Department in Washington, a ceremony has begun for Israeli and US officials to sign a military aide deal worth $38 billion over 10 years.

First speaking is White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Rice says US praying for Peres

Susan Rice says the deal is a sign of the “unshakable” bond between Israel and the US.

“That ironclad bond has endured l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation, across parties and administrations,” she says.

She adds that Obama is praying for Shimon Peres’s recovery, calling him “one of the country’s greatest leaders.”

She calls Peres a friend.

“Our thoughts and prayers today are with President Peres and his family at this most difficult time.”

Missile defense aid will be guaranteed under deal, Rice says

Rice now touts the military aid given to Israel from the US.

“Like any discussion between friends these talks have had their twists and turns, but I think the end result speaks for itself.”

She says $5 billion of the $38 billion is for missile defense and says it will ensure Israel will maintain its qualitative edge.

She adds that the money is coming as the US going through belt-tightening.

Ticking off some things the money can be used for, she says it will help purchase more F-35s and strengthen missile defense systems like Iron Dome.

She adds that in the past missile defense aid was included in a yearly appropriation, but this ensure funds year to year.

MOU is a win-win, Rice says

Rice briefly talks up the importance of the Iran deal and of efforts to reach a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

US National Security Advisor Susan Rice at the signing ceremony of a $38 billion defense aid deal with Israel at the State Department on September 14, 2016 (screen capture: State Department livestream)

She adds that the money will be pumped into the American economy.

“This MOU is a win-win,” she says.

“The Untied states will always be there for the State of Israel and the Israeli people,” she says, concluding her remarks to applause.

Nagel thanks US for massive aid deal

Israeli acting national security adviser Jacob Nagel speaks next.

“Israel has no better friend …. than the United States of America. … That is something I see and feel every day, but on days like today, when we are strengthening a central pillar in our rock solid alliance, everyone can see the special relationship between our countries and our people.”

Thanking Obama, Nagel, speaking with a thick accent, mispronounces his name as “President Obaba.”

Money will be used to make US safer too, Nagel says

Nagel says the aid money will be used to help fight terror in the Middle Eats, among other things, thus ensuring security for the US.

He thanks Netanyahu and Obama, and tells Rice he admires her professionalism and determination.

Applause as Israel and US sign massive aid deal

Nagel calls the assistance, which won’t go into effect until 2018, a “great blessing for the State of Israel” at the new year, referring to the Jewish New Year, before concluding his remarks.

The signing of the US-Israel military aid deal in the State Department on September 14, 2016 (screen capture: State Department livestream)

He then sits at a table to sign the agreement beside Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon to a hushed silence, before the room erupts in applause and hugs.

Clinton applauds defense aid deal

Hillary Clinton releases statement saying she and running mate Tim Kaine “applaud” the defense aid deal inked with Israel.

“It sends a clear message to the world that we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel,” she says in the statement.

Hillary Clinton's statement on the 10-year, $38 billion U.S. military assistance package for Israel pic.twitter.com/lVx05UhBHr

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 14, 2016

Initial reports of stabbing in Ra’anana

There are early unconfirmed reports of a stabbing in the central Israeli city of Ra’anana.

According to reports, one person was stabbed and moderately injured. The assailant fled the scene.

The incident reportedly took place on Ahuza Street, a main east-west artery through the Tel Aviv suburb.

There is no confirmation from police.

Ra’anana saw a number of stabbings during a wave of attacks that roiled Israel nearly a year ago, but has since subsided.

Rescue service confirms stabbing in Ra’anana, motive unclear

A spokesperson from the Magen David Adom rescue service confirms that a man has been stabbed in Ra’anana.

He says the victim, about 29, was transferred to an area hospital in medium-to-serious condition, with stab wounds to his upper body.

It is not clear if the stabbing is terror-related.

Police searching for Ra’anana stabber

Police confirm that a man was stabbed in Ra’anana and say they are investigating the motive for the stabbing.

Police have launched a manhunt for the assailant, who fled the scene, a spokesperson says.

Obama says US commitment to Israel’s security ‘unshakable’

Following the signing of the defense aid deal, Obama says the US commitment to Israel’s security is “unshakable,” and urges Israel to pursue peace with the Palestinians.

“As I have said repeatedly, America’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakable. Over the past eight years, my administration has time and again demonstrated this commitment in word and deed,” the president says in a statement. “Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MOU will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a dangerous neighborhood. The continued supply of the world’s most advanced weapons technology will ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself from all manner of threats.

“For as long as the State of Israel has existed, the United States has been Israel’s greatest friend and partner, a fact underscored again today. This commitment to Israel’s security has been unwavering and is based on a genuine and abiding concern for the welfare of the Israeli people and the future of the State of Israel. It is because of this same commitment to Israel and its long-term security that we will also continue to press for a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite the deeply troubling trends on the ground that undermine this goal.

“As I have emphasized previously, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine. Ultimately, both this MOU and efforts to advance the two-state solution are motivated by the same core US objective that has been shared by all administrations, Democratic and Republican, over the last several decades — ensuring that Israelis can live alongside their neighbors in peace and security,” Obama says.