ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 435
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz tells Jewish foreign press reporters in Israel that “Now is the time to pressure Iran to reach an improved nuclear deal.”
He says if this effort fails, “It’s time to use force and make a show of force.”
Gantz speaks before some 100 journalists at the annual Jewish Media Summit.
The congressional committee that investigated last year’s attack on the US Capitol recommends that criminal charges be filed against former president Donald Trump.
The House panel unanimously urges the Justice Department to pursue Trump for inciting an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiring to defraud the US government and making false statements.
“The committee has developed significant evidence that president Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power under our Constitution,” Representative Jamie Raskin says as he outlines the panel’s findings.
“We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today, and assembled throughout our hearings, warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump,” Raskin said.
The committee’s recommendations to the Justice Department will end up with a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into Trump’s role in the Capitol riot and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
UN chief Antonio Guterres says he is pessimistic that Russia’s war in Ukraine will end soon, but he hopes it will be over by the end of next year.
“I am not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future,” he tells reporters during his annual end-of-year press conference in New York.
It has been 10 months since Russia invaded its neighbor, late last February.
“I do believe that the military confrontation will go on,” the United Nations secretary-general says at the world body’s headquarters.
“I think we will have still to wait (for) a moment in which serious negotiations for peace will be possible. I don’t see them in the immediate horizon,” he adds.
Several media outlets report that Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed members of his office to undergo a polygraph test.
The reports indicate the tests may be the result of recent leaks from Netanyahu’s inner circle.
New York Times Executive Director of Communications Jordan Cohen defends the paper’s crossword puzzle from yesterday which many on social media have said resembles a swastika, telling Newsweek it is simply “a common crossword design.”
“Many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares,” Cohen says.
???? NEW: The New York Times has defended its Sunday crossword that very much resembled a swastika.
A spokesperson has told @JewishChron that the design is "common".
Full comment and story ????https://t.co/4HwoL595yh
— Ben Bloch (@realBenBloch) December 19, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a rare trip to Moscow’s ally Belarus as his forces pursue their campaign to torment Ukraine from the air, during a broad battlefield stalemate almost 10 months into the war.
Putin’s visit comes hours after Russia’s latest drone attack on Ukraine. Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s power grid since October as part of a strategy to try to leave the country without heat and light during the bitterly cold winter.
The Russian leader’s brief trip to Minsk could herald more military support for the Kremlin’s war effort, after Belarus provided the Kremlin’s troops with a launching pad for the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Belarus is believed to have Soviet-era weapons stockpiles that could be useful for Moscow. Lukashenko, meanwhile, needs help with his country’s ailing economy. It is a rare trip to Minsk by Putin, who usually receives Lukashenko at the Kremlin.
A top settler leader assails IDF Spokesperson Ran Kochav, after reports of a few members of the IDF Spokesperson Unit voicing left-wing positions on social media.
Tzahi Daboush, a media advisor for Likud MK Nir Barkat, posted photos this morning from posts made by three soldiers in the unit in which they spoke out against “the occupation” and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The unit has said the soldiers involved will be disciplined.
“Ran Kochav has turned the IDF Spokesperson Unit into a far-left party,” Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council says.
“A situation where soldiers [in the unit] feel comfortable publicly writing opinions in line with the far left proves that this is the atmosphere at the IDF Spokesperson Unit,” he claims.
In response, IDF chief of staff Aviv Kohavi warns in a statement against “an ugly campaign that must stop immediately.”
He says the military “is an apolitical army of the people, operating… without bias or a political agenda.”
Israel’s expulsion of a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer accused of terror offenses amounts to a “war crime,” the UN human rights office says.
Salah Hamouri, 37, arrived in France yesterday after having been held without charge in Israel under a controversial practice that allows suspects to be detained for renewable periods of up to six months.
“Deporting a protected person from occupied territory is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, constituting a war crime,” UN human rights spokesman Jeremy Laurence says.
Israel has accused Hamouri of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and of being a security threat. Hamouri denies links to the PFLP.
Iran claims to have busted a Mossad-led spy network in the country that sought to sabotage the country’s defense industry, and to have made several arrests in the case.
Press TV reports on the alleged network, saying Mossad used a company manufacturing spare parts as a front, which it used to build connections with Iranian firms and individuals tied to the defense industry in hopes of later recruiting them for its needs.
It says Iranian intelligence managed to identify the network, follow its activities and thwart its plans.
It does not say how many people were arrested.
Iran makes claims of busting Mossad spy rings from time to time. The veracity of such claims is unclear.
Moscow says its air defense systems shot down four US-made missiles over a southern Russian region bordering Ukraine, in one of its first such claims in nearly 10 months of fighting.
“Four American ‘HARM’ anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace over the Belgorod region,” Russia’s defense ministry says in a statement on social media, referring to a region that says it is regularly hit by Ukrainian strikes.
Designed to target air defense systems equipped with radars, HARM missiles have a range of more than 48 kilometers (30 miles). The missiles, which were first deployed in 1984, have been adapted so they can be fired from Kyiv’s Soviet-era warplanes.
Western-supplied weapons have helped turn the tide in Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, with Russia suffering a series of setbacks, most recently ceding the southern city of Kherson.
Sam Bankman-Fried arrived a courthouse in the Bahamas earlier and is expected to tell a judge he will not fight extradition to the US, where he faces multiple criminal and civil charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The decision comes just a week after Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had initially said that they planned to fight extradition. An extradition hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 8. His turnabout could speed up the timetable for him to be sent to the US.
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried last Monday at the request of the US government. The former FTX CEO faces criminal charges in the US, including wire fraud and money laundering, as well as civil charges. The 30-year-old could potentially spend the rest of his life in jail.
Bankman-Fried’s downfall, from crypto evangelist to pariah, occurred with stunning speed. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11 when it ran out of money after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run.
Before the bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried was considered by many in Washington and on Wall Street as a wunderkind of digital currencies, someone who could help take them mainstream, in part by working with policymakers to bring more oversight and trust to the industry.
Prospective prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pans outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid after the latter said earlier that the incoming government’s attitude toward public concerns over its policies is “Bite me.”
“This is what the new government is saying to the citizens of Israel,” Lapid said at the Knesset.
In response Netanyahu tweets that “Lapid can’t put a ball over the goal line even after the final whistle.
“He still hasn’t internalized the election results. Lapid lost and the right won. Very soon we’ll form a strong right-wing government that will fix Lapid’s mess and take care of all Israelis.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the West should work to degrade “Russia’s capability to regroup” as it continues its war in Ukraine, citing the drones that Iran has been providing to Moscow.
Sunak speaks at a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force in the Latvian capital Riga. The UK-led force is a group of 10 northern European nations designed to react more quickly in the event of threats like those now posed by Russia.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky also speaks by video link of the Iranian Shahed drones that Russia has been using to attack Ukraine, saying 34 were in the latest nighttime attacks.
“These are Shaheds from the new batch that Russia received from Iran; 250 units, that’s how many drones the terrorist state has now received. Russian missiles and Iranian drones are constantly used to strike,” Zelensky says.
Iran has acknowledged supplying Russia with drones, but has insisted that the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Sunak also says the economic consequences for Russia ”must continue to be severe.”
The New York Times is under fire after publishing a crossword puzzle yesterday that is shaped like a swastika.
Donald Trump Jr. has contributed to the backlash by bringing attention to the unfortunate shape, slamming it as “disgusting ” and saying “only the New York Times would get Hanukkah going with this the crossword puzzle.”
The paper has not yet commented on what was likely an oversight by the puzzle’s creator — as well as the editor.
New York Times faces backlash after crossword puzzle published on first day of Hanukkah is shaped like a swastika https://t.co/zJr3jEFI68
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) December 19, 2022
Shortly before voting to advance two Basic Law changes through a special Knesset committee, the bill’s backers insert a clause to give it immediate effect, causing members of the outgoing government to argue that the discussion must be reopened.
With the bill set to enable ministry postings for two party leaders, Aryeh Deri and Bezalel Smotrich, incoming coalition lawmakers are trying to subvert the required 10-day implementation timeline in order to allow the next government to be fully sworn in within days.
The parents of a young man who rights group warn is at imminent risk of execution over his involvement in Iran’s protest movement issue a video pleading with the judiciary to spare their son’s life.
Their appeal for the life of Mehdi Mohammad Karami comes as Amnesty International warns that at last 26 people are at risk of execution over the protests, the biggest challenge to the authorities since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran sparked global outrage by executing two protesters earlier this month.
The Islamic Republic has announced 11 death sentences in connection with the demonstrations, which it calls “riots” and blames on “foreign enemies” in the West. Authorities issued the capital sentences over sometimes-deadly violence, including against security force members.
#SayTheirNames Mohammad Mehdi Karami was on 5 December sentenced to death after convicting him of “corruption on earth” in connection with the fatal assault of a Basij agent during protesters. pic.twitter.com/vgQqNvHKnj
— Amnesty Norway (@Amnesty_Norge) December 15, 2022
Rights groups say the legal processes have been rushed. They are concerned detainees have been tortured and forced to confess.
“I am Mashallah Karami, father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami,” says the father in the video circulated on social media, sitting cross-legged on a carpet and flanked by his wife.
He describes his son as a “karate champion” who won national competitions and was a member of the national team.
“I respectfully ask the judiciary, I beg you please, I ask you… to remove the death penalty from my son’s case.”
“I beg from judiciary chief to lift death sentence issued against my son”: father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami says. Denied right to a lawyer he’s been sentenced to death in relation to Iran protest. The way his mother is cuddling her arms… #محمدمهدی_کرمی. pic.twitter.com/uD61Hfy8bh
— Khosro Kalbasi Isfahani (@KhosroKalbasi) December 18, 2022
At his faction meeting, Benny Gantz says prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu “speaks responsibly in English and conducts himself irresponsibly in Hebrew.
“Netanyahu used to say that [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership speak about peace in English, while inflaming terrorism in Arabic. It seems to me that he has adopted part of that method,” the National Unity party chief continues.
He cites examples in recent weeks in which Netanyahu said in English that he will not hand over powers in the West Bank — while giving far-right coalition partners sweeping authorities there; and promised in English to not harm minority rights — while pushing judicial reforms that will significantly curtail the Supreme Court’s ability to protect minorities. Gantz says that Netanyahu’s English-language commitments do not square with his actions at home.
Days after a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party said he would support constraining Israel’s Law of Return to close the door to possible non-Jewish immigration, Gantz says he supports maintaining the law establishing Diaspora Judaism’s right to Israeli citizenship as it is.
“I think we need to keep the grandchild clause,” Gantz says in response to reporter questions at the outset of his party’s Monday faction meeting.
Lawmaker Matan Kahana, until recently religious affairs minister, said on a Saturday evening news show that he supports the incoming coalition’s plans to alter the Law of Return to reduce non-Jewish immigration and preserve Israel’s Jewish character.
Far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties in the expected incoming coalition have pushed to cancel the law’s grandchild clause, which maintains citizenship eligibility for the grandchildren of Jews.
Gantz adds that Kahana’s statements don’t reflect National Unity’s position, but rather “represent Matan Kahana’s opinion.”
Iran’s foreign minister says that a summit to take place this week in Jordan is a “good opportunity” for negotiations aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear accord.
On-off talks to revive the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), started in April last year between Iran and France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly.
But the indirect talks between the US and Iran, mediated by the European Union, have stalled for several months with the Islamic Republic facing protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin.
“Jordan [visit] is a good opportunity for us to complete these discussions,” Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tells reporters in Tehran.
“I hope that according to the approach of the Americans in the last three months, we will see a change of approach and the American side will behave realistically,” Amir-Abdollahian adds.
“I clearly say to the Americans that they must choose between hypocrisy and the request to reach an agreement and the US return to the JCPOA.”
State prosecutors say they plan to indict a Palestinian man who ran over a motorcyclist in Tel Aviv with his car early this month, after an investigation found he had done so on purpose as a nationalistic attack.
Police and the Shin Bet security agency say Ali Hamad, 31, who was in Israel illegally, confessed to the attack, saying he had done so as revenge after his cousin, who was involved in terrorist activity, was killed in exchanges of fire with Israeli troops in the West Bank.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid holds a meeting at the Knesset on the state of the investigation into the 2021 Mount Meron disaster, an inquiry into which is ongoing. The committee presented its interim findings to Lapid in October.
The Lag B’Omer crush at the grave of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in April last year left 45 people dead and more than 150 injured.
Lapid says the government’s “first commitment is to keeping people safe while allowing freedom of worship.”
“I call on the next government to complete legislation recommended by the Meron committee. Some things are above politics.”
The panel recommended a variety of steps to centralize the event’s management moving forward, including the appointment of a government minister with relevant background to oversee the event’s planning and execution.
It also emphasized the importance of enlarging the space which hosts the festivities.
Losing finalist France become the last team to leave the World Cup as FIFA announces that the Qatar tournament attracted more than 3.4 million spectators, making it one of the most watched ever.
The French team left their hotel to fly back to France following their defeat on penalties by Argentina yesterday in one of the most acclaimed World Cup finals ever.
Coach Didier Deschamps said the manner of his side’s defeat, after twice fighting back to level scores 3-3 at the end of extra time, had been “cruel.” He refused to give an immediate answer on his own future.
Doha begins a post-World Cup cleanup, starting to take away the tens of thousands of crowd barriers around the city’s streets.
“Attendance for the final match pushed the cumulative total for this FIFA World Cup over 3.4 million spectators, with an average attendance capacity of 96.3 percent,” FIFA says.
The 1994 World Cup in the United States had the most spectators with more than 3.5 million. Brazil in 2014 also had more than 3.4 million spectators.
Debate continues in two Knesset special committees tasked with preparing legislation for the new government.
Amid strong opposition from political rivals, former and current police leaders and the attorney general’s office, prospective national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir continues to push legislation to tighten the post’s grip over police policy and leadership. Stuck in committee for the past five days, the bill is expected to come for a vote on its first reading as early as tomorrow.
In a second special committee, talks continue on advancing changes to existing law to enable the appointment of a permanent additional minister in the Defense Ministry and, separately, to enable a convicted lawmaker to serve as minister.
Committee members continue voting on some 1,700 reservations to the bill filed by opposition members, in part as a tactic to jam its progression. Once approved, the bill will advance to its final second and third readings on the Knesset floor.
US President Joe Biden will condemn growing antisemitism in remarks for a Hanukkah reception at the White House that will include a menorah lighting and blessing today.
The Democratic president will tell guests at the Monday night event that silence is complicity, according to White House officials, and will add that it’s imperative that hate, violence and antisemitism are condemned.
The holiday celebration comes during a spate of antisemitic episodes. Former US president Donald Trump hosted a Holocaust-denying white supremacist at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. The rapper Kanye West expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview. Basketball star Kyrie Irving appeared to promote an antisemitic film on social media. Neo-Nazi trolls are clamoring to return to Twitter as new CEO Elon Musk grants “amnesty” to suspended accounts.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, tracked 2,717 antisemitic instances of assault, harassment and vandalism last year, a 34% increase over the previous year and the highest number since the New York City-based group began tracking them in 1979.
Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because of Tehran’s claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the mass anti-government protests underway in Iran, multiple Iraqi officials say.
The talks had been lauded as a breakthrough that would ease regional tensions. Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month after taking office that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating the dialogue.
However, an anticipated sixth round of talks, to be hosted by Baghdad, has not been scheduled because Tehran refuses to meet with Saudi officials as protests in Iran enter a fourth month, according to the Iraqi officials.
“The Iranian-Saudi negotiations have stalled, and this will have a negative impact on the region,” says Amer al-Fayez, an Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.
A week into the incoming coalition’s legislative blitz and days before it is expected to announce the formation of a government, lawmakers officially pass the 25th Knesset’s first law, which will make it harder for rebel lawmakers to peel off from their factions.
The change removes a provision that enables four MKs from any faction to split off into a separate faction without suffering any political sanctions. Now, a group must constitute at least a third of a faction to split off.
The 32-member Likud faction pushed the bill to shut down the threat of disgruntled lawmakers splintering off, or using the potential of doing so as leverage for various demands.
The outgoing coalition had in 2021 lowered the threshold to four MKs from the previous seven in ultimately futile hopes of peeling off defectors from Likud.
A minimum of 11 MKs would now need to leave Likud as a group if they wished to do so without suffering severe penalties.
The bill is the first of four rushed policy points finalized by the incoming coalition. Netanyahu’s coalition partners have set the other three — combined into two bills — as preconditions for announcing the formation of a government by Wednesday’s deadline.
