The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they unfolded.
US, EU warns shippers to avoid Iranian waters over seizure threats
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Western-backed maritime forces in the Middle East warn shippers traveling through the strategic Strait of Hormuz to stay as far away from Iranian territorial waters as possible to avoid being seized, a stark advisory amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.
A similar warning went out to shippers earlier this year ahead of Iran seizing two tankers traveling near the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.
While Iran and the US are near an apparent deal that would see billions of Iranian assets held in South Korea unfrozen in exchange for the release of five Iranian Americans detained in Tehran, the warning shows that the tensions remain high at sea. Already, the US is exploring plans to put armed troops on commercial ships in the strait to deter Iran amid a buildup of troops, ships, and aircraft in the region.
US Navy Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the Mideast-based 5th Fleet, acknowledges the warning has been given, but declined to discuss specifics about it.
A US-backed maritime group called the International Maritime Security Construct “is notifying regional mariners of appropriate precautions to minimize the risk of seizure based on current regional tensions, which we seek to de-escalate,” Hawkins says. “Vessels are being advised to transit as far away from Iranian territorial waters as possible.”
Separately, a European Union-led maritime organization watching shipping in the strait has “warned of a possibility of an attack on a merchant vessel of unknown flag in the Strait of Hormuz in the next 12 to 72 hours,” says private intelligence firm Ambrey.
6 dead after migrant boat capsizes in English Channel
LONDON — An overloaded boat carrying migrants capsizes before dawn Saturday in the English Channel, killing at least six people and leaving more than 50 others to be rescued, according to French authorities.
About 65 people are estimated to have boarded the boat and two people may still be lost at sea, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.
When rescuers pluck people from the waters, six are initially in critical condition. One of those, who is flown by helicopter to a Calais hospital, is pronounced dead and the other five later perish and are ferried to shore.
“This morning, a migrant boat capsized off Calais,” French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says on social media. “My thoughts are with the victims.”
The deaths come as Britain’s ruling Conservative party has sought to stop crossings of small, often unseaworthy, boats with a variety of policies that have come under fire for failing to stem the flow of migrants.
White supremacist arrested for threatening jury, witnesses at Pittsburgh synagogue trial

A self-proclaimed white supremacist was arrested Thursday on charges that he made online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the US Justice Department says.
Hardy Carroll Lloyd of Follansbee, West Virginia, is accused of sending threatening social media posts and emails along with comments on websites about the trial of Robert Bowers. In addition, Lloyd, 45, allegedly was responsible for stickers placed in predominantly Jewish areas of Pittsburgh directing people to a website containing his threats and antisemitic messages, the Justice Department says in a news release.
“Jury trials are a hallmark of the American justice system and attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors will be met with a strong response,” US Attorney William Ihlenfeld says. “The use of hateful threats in an effort to undermine a trial is especially troubling.”
Bowers was sentenced to death last week after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
The Justice Department describes Lloyd as a self-proclaimed “reverend” of a white supremacy movement. He was being held without bond in the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville. Jail records didn’t indicate whether Lloyd has an attorney who could comment on the charges.
Lloyd, who was arrested without incident, is charged with obstruction of the due administration of justice, transmitting threats in interstate and foreign commerce, and witness tampering. The charges carry a total maximum punishment of 35 years in prison.
Bnei Brak hospital bracing for release of sensitive patient information after hack
Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak says it is bracing for the possible release of sensitive patient information, two days after it was targeted in a ransomware attack that shut down its administrative computer systems.
“At this stage, no data has been publically released and the hospital is preparing for such a scenario,” the hospital says. “As soon as we finish our investigation, the hospital will update patients with transparency and sensitivity.”
The hospital adds that most of its computer systems are now back online.
According to the hospital, no harm was caused to patients or medical equipment during the hack, and the hospital continued providing care.
It was still not clear who was behind the attack.
Virgin Galactic flies its first tourists to the edge of space

Virgin Galactic rockets to the edge of space with its first tourists, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.
The space plane glides back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.
This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.
“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” passenger Jon Goodwin told the crowd after his flight.
Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip. The 80-year-old athlete — he competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics — has Parkinson’s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.
Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000.
Gallant pens letter to Ben Gvir slamming civil guard as ‘private militia’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sends a harsh letter to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, slamming his plan to set up a national guard, Channel 12 reports.
In the letter, Gallant tells Ben Gvir that “there is no place in Israel for private militias.”
“The establishment of a new security body will cause real problems and be a distraction for the security establishment,” Gallant writes.
Ben Gvir won approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his long-sought “national guard” in March in exchange for supporting a temporary pause on judicial overhaul legislation.
The far-right Ben Gvir rejected Gallant’s criticism telling him to concentrate on problems in his own ministry.
Ben Gvir has long called for the creation of a so-called national guard under his direct control.
He has said that he seeks to establish a volunteer national guard that would be deployed in times of ethnic unrest, such as the May 2021 Jewish-Arab race riots that took place in some Israeli cities, against a background of war with the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.
Anthony Hopkins to star in film on ‘British Schindler’ Sir Nicholas Winton

Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins will portray Sir Nicholas Winton, known as the “British Schindler” in a film about his efforts that saved 669 Jewish children from the Nazis during World War II, the BBC reports.
Hopkins will star in “One Life” which tells the story of Winston and the children from Prague who were among some 10,000 mostly Jewish children who made it to Britain on what were known as the Kindertransports (children’s transports). Few of them would see their parents again.
The baptized son of Jewish parents, Winton was a 29-year-old stockbroker when he arrived in Prague in December 1938. He was planning to go on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, but changed his plans when he heard about the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia, which had just been occupied by the Nazis. In the following nine months, he organized eight trains that carried hundreds of children, the vast majority of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.
Winton’s heroism was unremarked until the 1980s, when his wife found evidence of the rescues. The discovery led to a reunion with some of the children and a documentary. Winton received many honors in his later years, including the knighthood.
Winton died in 2015 at the age of 106.
Four US prisoners in Iran moved to house arrest: Family
Four American prisoners in Iran were released today into house arrest, their family said, raising hopes of a deal to allow them to leave the country.
Prisoners Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and an unidentified fourth American were moved from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison to an undisclosed house, a lawyer for the Namazi family said, with a separate source saying a fifth American was moved in recent weeks to house arrest.
Anti-overhaul protesters shut Tel Aviv highway, demonstrate outside ministers’ homes
Dozens of anti-Judicial overhaul protesters shut down the main highway through Tel Aviv on its northbound lanes.
The demonstrators are currently blocking traffic between the Halacha and Rokah exits, beating drums, waving flags and singing songs.
כעשרים מפגינים חוסמים את איילון צפון סמוך למחלף רוקח, כחלק מערב המחאה שתוכנן היום בסמוך לבתי שרים וחברי כנסת pic.twitter.com/WjorQCA2po
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) August 10, 2023
Protests are also being held outside the homes of several coalition ministers and lawmakers, including Yoav Gallant, Yariv Levin, Nir Barkat, Ron Dermer, Idit Silman and Gila Gamliel.
High Court rejects appeal against release of suspect in killing of Palestinian

The High Court rejects an appeal by the state prosecutor over the release from custody of one of the suspects in the killing of a Palestinian man.
Last night, the Jerusalem District Court approved the release of Elisha Yered to house arrest prompting prosecutors to file an appeal, claiming that the settler “endangers public order,” and that his release to house arrest “could cause real damage to the completion of the investigation.”
But the High Court rejects the appeal, and Yered will remain under house arrest for the next week.
In a clash Friday night in the Palestinian village of Burqa, 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Matan was allegedly shot dead by Yehiel Indore — who is hospitalized under police guard. Yered was arrested on suspicion of being involved and obstructing the police investigation.
Trump valet pleads not guilty in classified documents case

Donald Trump’s valet pleads not guilty to new charges in the case accusing the ex-president of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate while the property manager had his arraignment postponed because he still hasn’t secured a Florida-based attorney.
Trump waived his right to appear alongside valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira at the hearing in the federal court in Fort Pierce, and the judge accepted a not-guilty plea he made in court papers last week.
De Oliveira’s failure to finalize local counsel marks the latest delay in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in May — a date Trump’s lawyers made clear they want to push back. The judge set a new arraignment date for De Oliveira on Tuesday.
An updated indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith late last month accuses Nauta and De Oliveira of scheming with the Republican former president to try to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance video sought by investigators. They face charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case stemming from secret government documents found at the Palm Beach club after Trump left the White House in 2021.
‘Stray’ gunfire from Hezbollah funeral hits car of Lebanese defense minister

Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group buried one of its members who was killed a day earlier when a truck carrying ammunition belonging to the Iran-backed group overturned near Beirut, sparking clashes.
Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Ahmad Ali Kassas in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, an AFP photographer says, adding that heavy gunfire rang out during the procession.
The office of Lebanon’s Defence Minister Maurice Slim said a bullet hit the minister’s car as it passed through a district near the area, without harming him.
Ruling out an assassination attempt, a military source and a security source tell AFP on condition of anonymity that Slim’s vehicle was hit by “a stray bullet” whose origin was unidentified.
Earlier today, the Lebanese army said it seized munitions from a Hezbollah truck that had overturned in the town of Kahale near Beirut, leading to deadly clashes between Christian residents and members of the powerful Shiite Muslim group.
Weekend weather: Extreme heat, rain and thunderstorms

Israel is set to experience extreme weather this weekend with forecast highs of up to 47 degrees Celsius (116°F) in some places to be followed by rain and thunderstorms.
The forecast sees temperatures rising sharply on Saturday with a hot, easterly windstorm, known as sharav, hitting the country.
Most cities will see temperatures of between 38-40 degrees C (100-104°F,) while the Sea of Galilee could hit 47.
The heatwave is expected to break on Sunday with rain and thunderstorms predicted.
Eisenkot says Gallant, Netanyahu downplaying damage to IDF from reservist protests

Opposition MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are downplaying the damage to the military caused by the refusal of thousands of reservists to volunteer for duty.
In an interview with the Walla news site, Eisenkot says Netanyahu and Gallant “are painting an incorrect picture.”
“This is very complicated,” he says, adding that the military has already been harmed.
“The IDF is still strong and can achieve its goals, but if this situation continues in the coming months the army will be damaged. Confidence in the chain of command has already been damaged, and so has solidarity.”
“I advise them not to try and hide things, but to look at the reality,” he says.”
Netanyahu on Ethiopia rescue: Israel looks after its citizens wherever they are

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “Israel looks after its citizens wherever they are,” after more than 200 people are rescued from conflict areas in Ethiopia.
Netanyahu thanks those involved for a “quick, silent and most importantly, successful” operation.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also hails the resuce.
“The State of Israel will not stand by and will not leave a single Israeli behind,” says Cohen.
“This is the result of successful cooperation and close coordination with the Prime Minister’s Office, the NSA and the Jewish Agency,” he says. “I am proud of the people of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia for their quick and high-quality activities.”
Israel rescues more than 200 citizens and local Jews from Ethiopia conflict areas

Israel extracts some 200 citizens and local Jews from conflict zones in Ethiopia, the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office announce.
Amid fighting in northern Ethiopia’s Amhara region, Israel rescues 174 Israelis and Ethiopians eligible to make aliyah from the city of Gondar in Amhara, home to thousands of Ethiopians waiting for permission to move to Israel.
Another 30 Israelis were rescued from Amhara’s capital city of Bahir Dar.
Four flights brought the evacuees to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
Earlier this week, after a meeting with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and other officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to prepare the rescue operation.
During the operation, the Foreign Ministry’s situation room was expanded to include representatives from the Jewish Agency and Ethiopian IDF soldiers who speak Amharic.

After contacting the Israelis and local Jews yesterday, the Foreign Ministry told them last night to head to sites where they could be picked up by buses to be spirited to the airports for their flights to Addis Ababa.
They can decide to stay in the capital or travel to Israel, says Cohen.
Netanyahu said they would be received at the airport, and thanked the relevant agencies for their speedy and quiet operation.
1,600 academics join call for economic shutdown if government forces constitutional crisis
Some 1,600 leading academics join a call by Tel Aviv University head Ariel Porat to bring the economy to a halt if the government forces a constitutional crisis over the judicial overhaul.
The call comes with the High Court of Justice set to discuss the first plank of the controversial judicial overhaul plan, which limit the court’s oversight over cabinet and ministerial decisions.
“If the government had known ahead of time how the public would react to the revolution, they might not have been a constitutional revolution,” Porat wrote.”The next major step that may be upon us soon, which is incomparably more serious than the elimination of the reasonableness clause, is a ‘constitutional crisis.'”
“We, the citizens of the country, must not wait until this crisis arrives and only then act. It may be too late. We must act now,” he says.
Israeli-based founder of Russian tech giant Yandex slams ‘barbaric war’ in Ukraine

The founder of Russian tech giant Yandex describes Moscow’s military invasion of Ukraine as “barbaric,” making him one of few prominent Russian-linked businessmen to speak out against the conflict.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is barbaric, and I am categorically against it,” Arkady Volozh says in a statement.
“I am horrified about the fate of people in Ukraine — many of them my personal friends and relatives — whose houses are being bombed every day,” Volozh says.
“I am against the war,” he adds.
Volozh, who moved to Israel in 2014, resigned as CEO of Yandex and stepped down from the board of directors in June last year after he was targeted by EU sanctions.
AG halts plan for sex-segregated swimming at natural springs: Needs legislation

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells Environment Protection Minister Idit Silman that she can’t go ahead with a pilot plan to introduce sex-segregated swimming at two natural pools.
According to Hebrew media reports, Baharav-Miara informs Silman that such a plan would need to be legislated.
“The current legal status is that the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is not authorized to limit entrance to its sites on the basis of gender and such a move would require an agreed-upon and clear legislation,” Baharav-Miara writes.
The plan had aimed to mirror segregated bathing allowed at some beaches to accommodate the beliefs of some religious communities in Israel.
US sanctions Lebanon ex-central bank chief Salameh

The US Treasury announced new sanctions against Riad Salameh, Lebanon’s former central bank chief who recently left office without a successor.
Salameh’s “corrupt and unlawful actions have contributed to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon,” the Treasury department says in a statement, adding that its action had been coordinated with Britain and Canada.
Military court frees 4 Palestinian suspects in Burqa clash

A West Bank military court orders the release of four Palestinians suspected of involvement in a clash between local residents and settlers in the village of Burqa last week in which a Palestinian was killed.
The judge rules that there is “no reasonable suspicion” against them and said the investigation could continue while they were free.
On Wednesday, a Jerusalem court accepted a police appeal against the release of Yehiel Indore — who is hospitalized under police guard — but approved the release of another Israeli suspect, Elisha Yered, to house arrest.
In a clash Friday night in the Palestinian village of Burqa, 19-year-old Qusai Jamal Matan was allegedly shot dead by Indore, who was arrested a day later. Yered was arrested on suspicion of being involved and obstructing the police investigation.
Five Palestinians — all members of one family — were also arrested over their involvement in the clash, in which Indore was wounded.
All five have now been released.
The settlers claim they acted in self-defense as they were being pelted with rocks thrown by Palestinians, but investigators have cast doubt on their version of events.
In major overhaul, Abbas removes 10 West Bank, Gaza Strip governors

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas orders the removal of 10 regional governors, the official Wafa news agency reports.
Among those ordered to “retire” are the governors of northern Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, he orders the removal of the governors of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Tubas, Jericho and the Jordan Valley.
No reason is given for the political upheaval, but the report says Abbas ordered the creation of a presidential committee to find suitable candidates to take over the positions.
Michaeli calls for Knesset committee to debate possible Saudi deal

Labor party leader Merav Michaeli calls on Likud MK Yuli Edelstein to convene the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee amid reports of an emerging US-brokered normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
Michaeli says the Knesset needs to verify the details behind the talks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “coup government need to be watched with an infinite number of eyes,” she says. “We have to make sure that vital diplomatic decisions are made in accordance with the existential security needs of Israel and not according to the political interests of Netanyahu.”
KFC opens ‘flagship’ Tel Aviv store

Kentucky Fried Chicken opens its Tel Aviv flagship store, some three years after returning to the Israeli market for a fourth time.
KFC opened and closed in Israel in the 1980s and 90s, and then remained open between 2003 and 2012. In all three previous cases the brand was operated by local franchises rather than the parent company itself.
Unlike previous iterations of the chain in Israel, these branches are not kosher.
In 2020 KFC opened its first branch in Nazareth. The Tel Aviv branch is its 17th as the chain looks to expand further.
In previous cases the famous fried chicken recipe was modified to hew to Jewish dietary laws, but these changes made the food more expensive and, according to some consumers, less tasty than the American original.
Northeast Ukraine town urges evacuations in face of Russian advance

Authorities in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk urge vulnerable residents to leave the area, citing an uptick in Russian attacks on the settlement.
“Vulnerable citizens: women with children, the elderly, the sick and those with limited mobility. Given the difficult security situation and the increasing number of attacks by Russian terrorist forces on the territory of the Kupiansk community, you have the opportunity to evacuate to a safer place,” Kupiansk city council says in a statement on social media.
Right-wing group petitions against Hayut chairing hearing on ‘reasonableness’ law

A right-wing group petitions the High Court against a decision to have Chief Justice Esther Hayut chair the upcoming hearing on the “reasonableness” law.
The High Court of Justice will for the first time ever convene a 15-judge panel to hear petitions against the highly controversial law passed last week to limit the court’s oversight.
The petition against Hayut is filed by the Lavi lobbying group, which claims that the judge has already publicly expressed her opposition to the law.
Lavi had already asked for Hayut to recuse herself completely from the discussion, which she declined.
“The petition is filed due to the well-known position regarding the reasonableness law that she has frequently expressed in public,” the petition says.
Hayut issued a statement last week according to which she had decided that every justice on the court would preside over the hugely significant and explosive hearing against the “reasonableness” law which, together with the rest of the Netanyahu coalition’s judicial overhaul agenda, has created an unprecedented protest movement against the government.
The petitions the court has accepted against the law will be heard on September 12.
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