Shots reportedly fired at soldiers on Lebanese border, no injuries

Thousands gather for funeral of slain Bedouin teacher

Thousands are attending the funeral of Yaqoub Mousa Abu Al-Qia’an, who was killed last week in a violent clash over house demolitions.

Those eulogizing Abu al-Qia’an express anger over the police and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that he was a radical Islamist-inspired terrorist.

Police had held onto Abu al-Qia’an’s body until this morning, claiming that the teacher was a terrorist who drove his car into policemen intentionally, killing 1st Sgt. Erez Levi.

However, family members and witnesses say that police first shot Abu Al-Qia’an, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. The court decision ordering police to release the body made no mention of Abu Al-Qia’an being a terrorist.

— Dov Lieber

Arnon Mozes questioned again in Netanyahu probe

The publisher of Israel’s best-selling newspaper is again being questioned by police amid an ongoing investigation into suspicions that he negotiated a behind-the-scenes deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the premier more favorable coverage in exchange for legislation that would damage a competing daily.

Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes presents himself today at the Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit in Lod.

The interview is part of Case 2000, an investigation into corruption allegations against Netanyahu that threatens his hold on power.

Jerusalem municipality to strike next week

Jerusalem city hall is to go on strike next week over a spat with the Finance Ministry.

The municipality says that the treasury is not transferring a promised budget.

“It is a shame that at a time when the US is strengthening Jerusalem, the Finance Ministry is not standing behind it and is preventing the flow of funds,” city hall says in a statement, in an apparent reference to promises by the new Trump administration to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

The city also plans to begin a spate of construction in East Jerusalem Jewish neighborhoods, which had been frozen under the Obama administration.

Nigeria suicide bomber ‘had baby strapped to her back’

A female suicide bomber who attacked a town in northeast Nigeria earlier this month was carrying a baby at the time, the country’s main relief agency says.

But the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it was unclear whether this was a new tactic on the part of Boko Haram Islamists to allow would-be bombers to evade detection.

“From the report we got after the Madagali attack (on January 13), one of the female suicide bombers had a baby strapped to her back,” said the NEMA coordinator for Adamawa state, Saad Bello.

At least two other people were killed and 15 others injured in the explosions in Madagali carried out by four female bombers.

— AFP

Police chief says senior investigators are being harassed

Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich says senior investigators are being harassed.

“Senior police officers involved in investigations are being harassed. You can all interpret this as you will,” he says, speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, according to Ynet.

Alsheich’s comments come after a TV report yesterday that said malicious reports are being spread about senior investigators linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s graft investigations.

Firebrand Iraq cleric calls to set up unit to liberate Jerusalem if Trump moves embassy

Moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a declaration of war on Islam, says influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

“Transferring the US Embassy to Jerusalem would be a public and more-explicit-than-ever declaration of war against Islam,” he says in a statement.

In a break with previous administrations, new US President Donald Trump has indicated he will relocate the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Sadr, a firebrand Shiite cleric whose militia once fought US occupation forces in Iraq, calls for the “formation of a special division to liberate Jerusalem were the decision to be implemented.”

— AFP

Syria talks in Astana pledge to safeguard truce

Syria talks in Kazakhstan between the Damascus government and rebel factions have concluded with Russia, Turkey and Iran striking a deal on a three-way mechanism to consolidate the country’s nearly month-old ceasefire.

Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, read out a statement today, at the end of the two-day meeting, saying the three countries will use their “influence” to strengthen the truce, without specifying how that would work.

The statement says the three nations will continue their joint efforts in fighting the Islamic State group and the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

It also calls for Syria’s rebels to separate from the al-Qaeda-linked group known as Fatah al-Sham.

The statement adds that agreement in Astana paves the way for political talks to be held in Geneva on February 8.

— AP

At least 40 dead in battle for Yemen port

Fighting for a key port city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast has left at least 40 rebel and pro-government fighters dead, military officials say.

Loyalist forces said yesterday they had captured the port of Mokha, almost three weeks into an offensive to oust Shiite Huthi insurgents and their allies from Yemen’s southwestern coast.

But they exchanged fire overnight with rebels still holed up in the port on Mokha’s southwestern edge.

Clashes continued today on the southern and eastern outskirts of the city.

“Despite the significant human toll, the Huthis are still in the center of Mokha,” a military official tells AFP.

— AFP

Heavy police presence around funeral of alleged Bedouin attacker

Police say they have deployed a heavy presence following a funeral for Yaqoub Mousa Abu Al-Qia’an, who was killed last week in a violent clash over house demolitions.

Thousands attended the funeral, in the Negev town of Hura, and police closed dozens of roads in the area. “As soon as possible the police will lift the roadblocks and return traffic to normal,” police say.

Hamas warns US against moving Israel embassy, burns Trump effigy

Gaza’s Hamas rulers are warning the US not to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, saying such a step could unleash new violence.

In a statement Tuesday, the Islamic militant group said a move would “open a new chapter of conflict” and “add fuel to the fire.”

In southern Gaza, dozens of Palestinians demonstrated against the move. Some burned a caricature of Trump.

Hamas is sworn to Israel’s destruction. It has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, and fought three wars with Israel since seizing control of Gaza 10 years ago.

The rival Palestinian Authority has also urged US President Donald Trump not to follow through on his campaign promise to move the embassy. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their hoped-for capital.

— AP

Israel approves 2,500 new homes in West Bank settlements

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today approve the construction of 2,500 homes in the West Bank, the majority in existing settlement blocs.

According to Liberman’s office, the decision was made in order to “provide a response to the housing needs.”

Most of the housing units will be built in the large settlement areas, but approximately 100 will be constructed in the Beit El settlement and in the Yekev neighborhood of the Kochav Yaakov settlement, outside Ramallah.

— Judah Ari Gross

Liberman to seek approval for new Palestinian industrial park

The Defense Ministry will ask the cabinet to approve the construction of a Palestinian industrial park in the southern West Bank.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman makes the announcement alongside the approval of 2,500 houses in West Bank settlements.

The new industrial park is slated to be built in Tarkumiya, northwest of Hebron.

“It will be one of the largest industrial zones in the West Bank, in which we are planning to set up warehouse and fuel storage infrastructure, along with other elements,” Liberman’s office says in a statement.

— Judah Ari Gross

Netanyahu on new settlement homes: ‘We are building’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that 2,500 new homes approved in the West Bank today are a sign that Israel will continue to build.

“I have agreed with the defense minister on 2,500 units in Judea and Samaria. We are building, and will continue to build,” Netanyahu tweets, using the Hebrew name for the West Bank.

סיכמתי עם שר הביטחון על בנייה של 2,500 יחידות דיור ביהודה ושומרון. אנחנו בונים – ונמשיך לבנות

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) January 24, 2017

Far-right MK tells Netanyahu ‘we’re not stupid’

Far-right MK Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home party tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the authorization of 2,500 West Bank homes is a sop designed to distract from his refusal to annex parts of the West Bank.

“We are not stupid,” Smotrich tells Israel National News. “This attempt to throw us a media ‘candy’ … is in the best-case scenario an attempt to prevent the extension of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, and in the worst case forming the basis for the establishment of a ‘Palestinian state-minus.'”

He is referring to a comment from Netanyahu in which he said he would be prepared to give the Palestinians a state with less responsibilities.

Palestinians condemn Israeli settlement plans

The Palestinians are condemning Israel’s latest plans to build new settlement homes.

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Israeli plans announced today deal a new blow to attempts to bring peace to the region and will promote extremism and terrorism.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh says the decision “disregards” international opposition to the settlements and calls on the international community to take a “real and serious position” against Israel.

The Palestinians say settlements are undermining peace hopes by gobbling up the land where they hope to establish an independent state. Their position is backed by most of the world, but the new Trump administration has hinted it will be more tolerant of Israeli settlement activity.

— AP

2 Jewish actors, Mel Gibson nominated for Oscar

Two Jewish actors are nominated for an Oscar.

Natalie Portman received a best actress nomination nod for her portrayal of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the film “Jackie,” and Andrew Garfield was nominated for Best Lead Actor for his performance in “Hacksaw Ridge.”

There is a Jewish connection for “La La Land,” which snagged a record-tying 14 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, director, actor and actress.

The songs in the film are written by Jewish composer Justin Hurwitz, who was roommates with director Damien Chazelle at Harvard. The lyrics are written by Benj Pasek, who is Jewish, and Justin Paul. Chazelle’s parents are Catholic, but they enrolled him in Hebrew school for four years when they became dissatisfied with their church Sunday school.

Mel Gibson, who is remembered in the Jewish community for his anti-Semitic tirade during a 2006 traffic stop, was nominated for best director for his film “Hacksaw Ridge.”

The Israeli film “Sand Storm” failed to make the cut last month for the nine semifinalists out of 85 in the best foreign language film category.

The 2017 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on February 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

— JTA

Anger at Croatian school’s snub of Anne Frank exhibit

A Croatian school came under fire today for refusing to display an exhibition on Jewish diarist Anne Frank because it included panels on crimes committed by the country’s World War II pro-Nazi regime.

The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center is calling for the school’s head to be dismissed, saying otherwise it signaled that pro-Nazi nostalgia was “perfectly legitimate” in modern-day Croatia.

The exhibition, prepared by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, was due to be displayed at a high school in the coastal town of Sibenik from Tuesday last week.

But the organizers withdrew the same day after the school’s director Josip Belamaric refused to allow six panels explaining the role of Croatia’s wartime Ustasha regime, saying the pro-Nazis were presented as “criminals” while their rival communists’ crimes were ignored.

The Ustasha persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians.

— AFP

President Rivlin meets Croatian leaders

President Reuven Rivlin this afternoon met at his residence with Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković, accompanied by the country’s minister of defense and deputy prime minister, Damir Krstičević, and the deputy president of the Croatian Parliament, Milijan Brkić.

“I want to thank you for Croatia’s support for Israel in the international arena” Rivlin says, according to his office.

Plenković thanked Rivlin.

“This is great timing, and a great opportunity to enhance our relationship with this visit. I think we have opened new avenues of cooperation when it comes to political, economic and trade relations, and defense and security cooperation,” he says.

Vandals deface new Milan ‘stumbling stone’ Holocaust memorial

Vandals defaced one of the “stumbling stone” Holocaust memorials unveiled last week in Milan, covering it with black paint.

The vandalism was discovered Saturday by Ornella Coen, the daughter of Dante Coen, the person commemorated by the plaque, who was deported to Auschwitz and then killed at Buchenwald on April 4, 1945.

“Stumbling stones,” or “stolpersteine,” are individual commemorative cobblestones placed in front of the houses of people who were deported during the Holocaust. Placing them is an ongoing memorial and art project by the German artist Gunter Deming, who installs each one — nearly 60,000 in various countries since the mid-1990s.

The defaced stone was one of the first six stumbling stones to be installed in Milan, during a ceremony on January 19. It is believed to have been defaced the next day.

— JTA

Former chief rabbi Metzger going to jail for 3.5 years

Former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger will serve three and a half years in prison and pay a fine of NIS 5 million ($1.3 million) after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors, the court says.

Under the deal Metzger pleads guilty to fraud, breach of trust and tax offenses, in exchange for a reduced jail sentence after facing a slew of corruption and bribery charges involving some NIS 10 million ($2.5 million).

Last year, the Jerusalem District Court charged Metzger with accepting some NIS 10 million ($2.58 million) in bribes. He is accused of keeping NIS 7 million ($1.8 million) for himself.

Metzger stepped down as chief rabbi on July 24, 2013, due to the pending fraud investigation, just before the end of his 10-year term in office.

Israel has two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi, whose responsibilities include running the rabbinical courts and regulating the kosher food supervision industry.

Thousands of Druze protest planned home demolitions

Thousands of Druze are protesting the slated demolitions of homes belonging to Druze citizens of Israel in the town of Maghar, in northern Israel.

The Interior Ministry on Tuesday morning announced it was delaying the planned demolition of 20 homes in Druze communities around the country after Druze leaders warned that the actions could spark violence.

Last night, thousands gathered in Maghar due to a false report that police were on their way demolish several homes.

Today’s protest has been planned for several days. In November some 20 families in the northern Druze villages of Maghar, Yarka and Isfiya received demolition orders for their supposedly illegally built houses.

“I am here among thousands of residents that came to express their opposition and their anger at the continual and deliberate home demolition policy of Netanyahu’s government,” says MK Abdullah Abu Ma’aruf (Joint List).

— Dov Lieber

Thousands of Druze gather to protest planned home demolitions in northern Israel on January 24, 2017. (Joint List/ Courtesy)

Liberman says world over-involved in Mideast conflict

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says if the world wants to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict they should simply “forget” it.

Addressing the US, the European Union, Russia and others, he tells the a security conference in Tel Aviv that the international community’s “over-involvement” in the conflict does not help to solve it.

The Palestinians do not have the “capacity” to sign a peace agreement with Israel on a purely bilateral track. A lasting treaty could only happen in the framework of a regional arrangement, he says.

— Raphael Ahren

Mostly Jewish golf club in Maryland invites Obama to join

The Woodmont Country Club, an exclusive, mostly Jewish golf club in Maryland, has invited former president Barack Obama to join following a contentious debate.

In an email to members yesterday, Woodmont President Barry Forman says that after “many hours in recent weeks considering this matter and the views of our members,” the club’s executive committee decided to invite Obama to join, the Washington Post reports.

The rather public debate at the Rockville club over whether to admit Obama for membership stemmed from the US decision to abstain from a UN vote against Israeli settlements, as well as other actions perceived as hostile to Israel. The New York Post was the first to report the dispute.

— JTA

Settler council praises new homes, asks for more

The West Bank settlers’ council is praising the government for announcing 2,500 new homes in settlements and calls for “the beginning of a wave of new building across our ancestral homeland after eight very difficult years.”

“The Yesha Council congratulates the government on the announcement of new building permits in Judea and Samaria,” a statement from Oded Revivi says.

Revivi is a senior figure in the council and also mayor of the Efrat settlement.

— Raphael Ahren

IDF no longer to control Army Radio

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is today accepting the recommendation of the Defense Ministry to take Army Radio out of the IDF.

While it won’t be a military unit, it will become a subdivision at the Defense Ministry, a ministry statement says.

The statement says that the decision stems from a desire from IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot to have the army focus on its core areas of responsibility.

The move is expected to be completed by May 17. There was no word on if the legendary station would undergo a name change too.

Iran responds to Netanyahu message: Stop massacring Palestinians

Iran today responds to a video message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Iranian people, telling him to first “stop the massacres against the Palestinian people.”

On Saturday Netanyahu posted on Facebook stressing that Israel does not consider the Iranian people to be the enemy, but only the regime that rules them. While stopping short of calling on the Iranians to revolt, he described a brutal dictatorship preventing them from living the Western lives they ostensibly seek.

Teheran was apparently not impressed.

“Netanyahu ought to stop the massacres against the Palestinian people, and not talk about Iran, the Iranian people or the Plasco incident,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi says at news conference according to Al Arabiya.

The Plasco incident was the collapse of a 17-story building in Tehran, which killed dozens last week.

Trump says he’ll announce Supreme Court nominee next week

US President Donald Trump says that he would be moving quickly to fill a US Supreme Court vacancy that has been open for almost a year.

“We’ll pick a truly great Supreme Court justice and I’ll be announcing it sometime next week,” Trump says in the Oval Office.

Dear @realDonaldTrump, billion dollar idea- Supreme Court Apprentice! Best ratings ever, whole country gets to vote via text. Thoughts?

— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) January 24, 2017

A court seat has been open since justice Antonin Scalia died in February last year. Throughout that time Senate Republicans refused to give president Barack Obama’s nominee a confirmation hearing.

Israeli team advances to last 5 in Google spacecraft contest

The Israeli nonprofit group SpaceIL has made it to the final five teams selected in a $20 million competition sponsored by Google to send a privately-funded spacecraft to the moon.

The finalists include teams from Japan, India, the United States (two teams), and Israel and “they all have rocket launch contracts to go to the Moon in 2017,” organizers say.

The Google Lunar XPrize is meant to encourage private industry to create new technologies to reach the moon at lower costs than what governments have spent in past lunar expeditions.

Hamas courts in Gaza sentence two to death: NGO

Hamas courts in the Gaza Strip today sentenced two men to death, legal sources and a human rights NGO in the enclave say.

The Supreme Judicial Council in Gaza announces that a court in Gaza City and another in Deir al-Balah sentenced the two to death by hanging in unrelated cases.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) says that in the first case a man was convicted of murdering his brother, while the second man was found guilty of premeditated murder.

The names of the individuals and their victims were not published.

Four people have already been sentenced to death since the beginning of the year in Gaza, PCHR said.

— AFP

Senate panel approves Haley nomination to UN

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has overwhelmingly approved South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nations.

By voice vote, the panel recommended President Donald Trump’s selection of Haley to the full Senate. She is expected to be confirmed easily.

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the committee’s top Democrat, backed Haley’s nomination. Cardin says what Haley lacks in foreign policy experience, “she makes up for in capability, intelligence, and a track record of building coalitions in South Carolina.”

During her confirmation hearing, Haley declared her support for moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Haley also took a hard line against Russia. She says she doesn’t think Moscow can be trusted right now.

— AP

EU condemns ‘regrettable’ new settlement housing announcement

The European Union is condemning today’s announcement of 2,500 new homes in West Bank settlements.

“It is regrettable that Israel is proceeding with this policy, despite the continuous serious international concern and objections, which have been constantly raised at all levels,” says an EU statement.

“A negotiated two-state solution is the only way to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of both parties and to achieve enduring peace,” it says, citing the recent UN Security Council resolution on the issue.

Ya’alon questioned by police over submarine scandal

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has been questioned by police over the so-called submarine scandal, Channel 2 reports.

The TV report says that the investigation currently does not involve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but concerns people close to him.

The case, known as case 3000 deals with the submarine affair, in which Netanyahu’s personal lawyer David Shimron is suspected of having a possible conflict of interest in representing German shipbuilder Thyssenkrup while it was selling Israel naval vessels.

Ya’alon was ousted as defense minister last year, in part over disagreements with Netanyahu over the purchase of new submarines.

The TV says the questioning focused on three issues.

The first involves the apparent changing of a tender for naval vessels to suit Thyssenkrup.

The second issue is the decision by Netanyahu to purchase three new submarines, despite the disagreement of Ya’alon over the necessity.

Thirdly, he was asked about the decision by Netanyahu to purchase two anti-submarine craft despite the defense establishment not having a previous discussion about it.

The deals for patrol boats and submarines came under intense scrutiny after it emerged that Shimron also served in an advisory capacity for ThyssenKrupp, the German shipbuilder awarded the contracts for building Israel’s submarines and naval attack boats.

Private investigators hired to dig up dirt on top cops – report

Private investigators have been hired to dig up dirt on top police investigators, Channel 10 reports.

The report comes after Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich says police investigators conducting corruption investigations into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been the target of harassment.

“Senior police officers involved in investigations are being harassed,” Alsheich says today at the “Muni-Expo” innovation convention in Tel Aviv. “I do not know who is responsible for all of them, but you can interpret this however you want,” he says without elaborating.

J Street slams settlement announcement as ‘highly dangerous’

The liberal US Jewish group J Street also condemns Israel’s announcement of new West Bank settlement houses, saying Israel appears to have free rein from the US government.

“The Israeli government’s approval today of 2,500 new housing units in the West Bank is highly dangerous, reflecting its sense that it now has carte blanche from the new American President for unlimited settlement expansion,” J Street says.

Asked about cash to the PA, White House says Trump to take fresh look at overseas aid

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says that US President Trump will review all US after being asked about a last minute transfer of $221 million to the Palestinian Authority by the Obama administration.

Spicer declines to directly address the payment to the Palestinians, but says that “When it comes to how US taxpayer money is spent … he is very concerned to get a good deal for every dollar that is spent on behalf of the taxpayer.”

Spicer is also asked about US funding for Palestinian schools that teach incitement against Jews. Spicer reiterates that Trump will review all overseas aid.

Two Likud MKs get a mention at White House briefing

Two Likud MKs got a surprise mention at the briefing of White House Spokesman Sean Spicer.

A correspondent for a Christian publication asked Spicer about US money going to fund Palestinian schools that teach incitement against Jews. He then cited a conversation with MKs “Yehuda Glick and Sharren Haskal who described it as a real problem.”

Both lawmakers were in Washington DC for the US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Spicer didn’t really answer the question, just saying that Trump would review all foreign funding.

Shooting reported on Lebanese border, no injuries

The IDF has received reports that soldiers came under fire near the Lebanese border.

An army spokesperson says the soldiers heard gunshots as they were on patrol near the town of Metulla.

No soldiers arebeen reported injured.

“The incident is being reviewed,” the spokesperson says.

— Judah Ari Gross

White House dodges question on settlement announcement

White House spokesman Sean Spicer today declined to condemn or offer support for Israel’s announcement of 2,500 new West Bank homes.

Asked at today’s briefing about Israel’s announcement, Spicer says: “Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States, he wants to grow closer with Israel, to make sure that it gets the full respect that it deserves in the Middle East.”

“We’re going to have a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and we’ll continue to discuss that.”

Asked again if US President Donald Trump “supports the expansion of settlements, ” Spicer says that: “Like I said, we’ll have a conversation with the prime minister.”

— Eric Cortellessa