Netanyahu sources reject ‘baseless’ claims in Bezeq case

In ‘challenge’ to rabbinate, Orthodox group launches own kosher supervision

An Orthodox rabbinical group announces a private kosher supervision program, in a bid to “challenge” the monopoly of the state-run Chief Rabbinate.

The announcement by the religious Zionist Tzohar organization comes after a High Court of Justice ruling in September said restaurateurs could inform their clientele of the origin of the food and detail its preparations — provided they don’t explicitly declare themselves “kosher” — in a decision that was seen as denting the rabbinate’s control over the kosher supervision process.

Tzohar’s new licensing division will also have to dodge the explicit designation of “kosher,” per the court order, while proving a detailed explanation of the kosher standards of Israeli restaurants. The new initiative has set itself a goal to offer licensing to some 10 percent of Israeli eateries within three years, largely targeting establishments that currently do not carry a rabbinate kosher certificate, according to its mission statement.

“We didn’t come to replace the rabbinate, but rather to challenge it, to create competition in a monopolistic market,” Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein of Tzohar says in a press conference this morning.

“We don’t want to take away from the rabbinate,” he adds. “I’m not playing innocent, there will be those [businesses currently supervised by the rabbinate] who will come over to us, but from our perspective we are not going to steal others’ livelihood or kashrut, but we are merely increasing the kashrut [certifications] in Israel. We want to bring more businesses, which were not kosher until today, into the fold.”

Other organizations, namely the private Hashgacha Pratit (Private Supervision) NGO behind the High Court petitions, have sought to break open the rabbinate monopoly. Private kosher certifications have long existed in the ultra-Orthodox community, though the various “badatz” licenses are given only on top of the rabbinate’s approval, rather than as standalone certificates.

— Marissa Newman

Text transcript seems to show investigator was informing judge, not coordinating

A full transcript of a texting conversation yesterday between a judge and an investigator for the Israel Securities Authority regarding the remanding of suspects in the Bezeq case reveals that their infraction may not have been as severe as first thought.

Channel 10, which broke the story last night, said at the time that the judge, Ronit Poznansky-Katz, and the investigator, Eran Shacham-Shavit, seemed to be coordinating her rulings on the length of the remand extensions she would hand down to the suspects. However, the longer transcript seems to show that Shacham-Sharvit was merely updating her in advance as to what conditions he and police investigators would be seeking ahead of a meeting in her chambers.

In the morning, the two coordinate the meeting, the texts show, and when he arrives in the afternoon, he texts her to let her know that he is there but that he will be waiting for the arrival of the police representative before entering her chambers.

It is then that he informs her of the length of the remand extensions that he and the police representatives plan to ask for, including pointing out the suspects in whose cases there are differences of opinion between him and police.

The transcript does not seem to imply that the judge was acceding to his requests ahead of time; only acknowledging them and saying that she would have to “look surprised” when he presented them at the meeting.

The investigation, Case 4000, involves suspicions that the chairman and controlling shareholder of the telecommunications giant Bezeq, Shaul Elovitch, ordered the Walla news site, which he owns, to grant positive coverage to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family, in exchange for the prime minister allegedly advancing regulations benefiting Bezeq and Elovitch.

Both the judge and the investigator were suspended from dealing with the case after Channel 10 broke its story on the texts last night.

You can read the full transcript (Hebrew) here.

Labor chief says judge-investigator texts mustn’t distract from Netanyahu

Labor party chairman Avi Gabbay says a report that a judge and an investigator coordinated over the remand of suspects in the so-called Case 4000 are “serious,” but should not divert attention from the police recommendations to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“A judge who coordinates remand extensions cannot extend the remand of a single other person, just as a prime minister with [police] recommendations [that he stand trial] for bribery cannot continue in his position,” says Gabbay at the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting.

Gabbay says the Channel 10 report on the alleged collusion “caused serious damage to the holy of holies, the rule of law.”

“But let us not be misled. Even on a day like this in which we are looking at the jaw-dropping texts [between the judge and investigator], we cannot forget what the main issue is,” he says, referring to the allegations against the prime minister.

— Marissa Newman

As Netanyahu investigations pile up, Lapid advises him to appoint a deputy

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid urges Prime Minister Netanyahu to appoint a permanent deputy prime minister amid the criminal investigations against him.

“There is one thing the prime minister must do if he is to retain even a semblance of national responsibility: appoint himself a permanent replacement,” says Lapid at the weekly Yesh Atid faction meeting. “I call on the prime minister to appoint himself a permanent deputy from among the Likud members.

“In the coming months, the prime minister will be very busy with his investigations,” Lapid adds. “His schedule will not be only up to him. To ensure the state continues to fully function, someone must be beside him who knows the system. A security cabinet member who can work with the various security agencies, the National Security Council, and the National Economic Council.”

— Marissa Newman

Justice minister: If judge colluded with investigator, she’ll be fired

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked says she’s waiting for a final report on the alleged collusion between a judge and an investigator in Case 4000 before making any decisions.

The authorities have questioned both and will submit their conclusions later this evening or tomorrow, Shaked tells reporters in the Knesset.

If they find the Channel 10 report to be true, “she won’t remain a judge,” she says.

“If necessary I will convene the judicial appointments committee and we will exercise our powers of impeachment,” Shaked says.

— Marissa Newman

State argues against freeing Elovitch, says graft amounted to ‘up to a billion’

During a deliberation of Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch’s request to be released to house arrest, Yehudit Tirosh of the Israel Securities Authority says Elovitch is suspected of giving and receiving bribes and illicit favors worth “up to a billion shekels.”

She says that Elovitch “proved with his actions that he cannot be trusted, not then and not since then” and that he should therefore be kept in custody despite the suspected coordination yesterday between an investigator in the case and a judge.

Shaul Elovitch arrives at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court for extension of his remand in Case 4000, February 22, 2018. (Flash90)

Tirosh says the case, which also involves several of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s confidants, one of whom has turned state’s witness, is “very severe” and the suspects should be remanded because there is a large risk they would obstruct the investigation if freed.

Elovitch, for his part, complains to the judge of “repeated efforts to break my spirit.”

“They’re trying to use this investigation to break me, to make me confess to something I never did,” he says. “But even if I keel over and have a heart attack, I won’t do it, I won’t lie.”

Four Case 4000 suspects released to house arrest

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court releases four of the seven suspects held in a high-profile corruption case involving Prime Minister Netanyahu’s confidants.

The development leaves two Netanyahu aides — Nir Hefetz, the premier’s former media adviser, and Communications Ministry director Shlomo Filber — and media tycoon Shaul Elovitch in jail.

The suspects released to house arrest today are Elovitch’s wife, Iris; his son, Or; Bezeq CEO Stella Handler; and Bezeq’s deputy CEO for business development, Amikam Shorer.

— with AP

Public security minister bans PA education minister from East Jerusalem

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan prohibits the Palestinian Authority’s education minister from visiting a private Christian school in Jerusalem’s Old City, saying the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords prohibit any official activity by the PA in Jerusalem.

Sabri Saidam had planned to visit the Terra Sancta School, deliver an address and speak to the media, Erdan’s office says in a statement, crediting Jerusalem police intelligence for the information.

Saidam was set to come with Samir Jibril, responsible under the PA for schools in East Jerusalem, and additional senior PA officials, the statement says.

Erdan’s office says that the planned visit was part of the “continuing attempts by the PA to strengthen its status in Jerusalem and demonstrate its presence on the ground.

“These attempts have been made more often recently, and the Israel Police and Minister Erdan act time after time to prevent them,” it adds.

“The battle for our sovereignty in Jerusalem isn’t over,” the statement quoted Erdan as saying. “The PA, together with additional elements, are trying to undermine it and to harm, and eat away at it every day and I will continue to act with all my strength to prevent this and demonstrate our sovereignty in every part of our capital.”

— Sue Surkes

Polish Holocaust rescuers call for Polish-Israeli dialogue

The last surviving Christian Poles who helped Jews during the Holocaust are appealing to Polish and Israeli authorities to return to a path of “dialogue and reconciliation” amid a bitter diplomatic crisis sparked by a controversial new Polish law that criminalizes some forms of Holocaust speech.

The letter, published today, is addressed to the governments and parliaments of Israel and Poland.

It is signed by 50 Poles who describe themselves as the last survivors of the more than 6,700 Poles who have been recognized by Israel’s Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations” — gentiles who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust.

They write that they oppose divisions being sown between Poles and Jews and seek a “future based on friendship, solidarity and truth.”

Earlier this month, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the controversial legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany.

The legislation, proposed by Poland’s conservative ruling party, sparked a bitter dispute with Israel, which says it will inhibit free speech about the Holocaust. The United States also strongly opposes the legislation, saying it could hurt Poland’s strategic relations with Israel and the US.

— with AP

Gaza public sector employees, fishermen strike

Public sector employees in the Gaza Strip go on strike today over unpaid salaries, amid a dispute between the two major Palestinian factions.

All government institutions closed their doors in the morning as the union of public employees called for a strike — the second in a month.

The union says the strike is necessary as staff members have only received 40 percent of their salaries for five months.

Khalil Hamada, a spokesman for the union, says the strike is “part of protest activities that will continue until the government responds to the rights of the staff in full.”

Separately, the fishermen’s union in Gaza also observes a strike today, to protest the death of one of its members who was shot by Israeli forces yesterday.

Israel says the boat traveled outside Gaza’s designated fishing zone and ignored orders to stop, prompting naval forces to fire warning shots before shooting toward the vessel.

The union disputes this version of events.

— AFP

Netanyahu ‘convinced’ other countries will move embassies to Jerusalem soon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “he’s convinced, it’s only a matter of time” before other countries follow Washington’s lead and move their embassies to Jerusalem.

He says he will “personally thank” US President Donald Trump for the embassy relocation, expected by May for Israel’s 70th anniversary, during his trip to Washington next week.

The US president is “worthy of all praise” for the move, Netanyahu says at the weekly Likud faction meeting.

The prime minister also vows to discuss Iran’s nuclear program in the meeting with the US president.

In his remarks, Netanyahu does not address a report on alleged collusion between a judge and investigator in the so-called Case 4000, but he does laugh heartily when a heckler asks him to “make a surprised face” — a reference to the text messages exchanged between the investigator and the judge.

— Marissa Newman

UN rights chief slams ‘pernicious’ Security Council veto use

The outgoing UN human rights chief accuses the veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council of being second only to criminals who kill and maim when it comes to responsibility for some of the world’s most egregious rights violations.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein delivers one of the strongest and clearest denunciations yet from a top UN official about certain uses of the Security Council veto, which gives extraordinary powers to the five countries that wield it: Britain, China, France, Russia and the US.

Speaking to the Human Rights Council, Zeid doesn’t mention specific vetoes. But the comments are an unmistakable allusion to the war in Syria, over which Russia, a major backer of President Bashar Assad, and China have repeatedly used the veto to block efforts such as to hold war criminals to account or punish Assad’s government for alleged use of chemical weapons.

— AP

Israeli convert to Islam sentenced for trying to join IS in Syria

A Belarusian-Israeli man is sentenced to 38 months in prison and a 12-month suspended sentence for attempting to join the Islamic State terror group in Syria.

The suspect, Valentin Vladmir Mazlevski, was arrested in a joint operation by police and the Shin Bet security service last February.

He is also handed a NIS 10,000 fine, with the option to forgo the fine in exchange for an additional 50 days in prison.

Valentin Vladmir Mazlevski, a Belarusian-Israeli man charged with attempting to join the Islamic State in Syria and Sinai, in an undated photograph. (Shin Bet)

As he was brought into the courtroom, Mazlevski told reporters in poor, heavily accented Arabic that “God will vindicate me.”

According to the indictment, he purchased a one-way ticket to Turkey in January, with the goal of crossing the border into Syria and joining the terrorist group.

He is from the Arab Israeli town of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam, his wife’s hometown. The 39-year-old father of five moved to Israel from Belarus in 1996 at age 18 and converted to Islam four years later, while he was serving in the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet said.

— with Judah Ari Gross

Yisrael Beytenu says it’ll oppose bill on ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions

The Yisrael Beytenu coalition party announces it will vote against a proposed bill on the ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions, should Haredi lawmakers bring it to a preliminary reading this week.

In a letter to coalition chairman David Amsalem (Likud), MK Robert Ilatov demands the proposed legislation be okayed by ministers before being brought to the plenum for a preliminary vote.

“In the event the bill does not go through the required process, the entire Yisrael Beytenu party, including Immigration Minister Sofa Landvar, will vote against the law,” he writes.

The ultra-Orthodox parties have been seeking to raise their bill by Wednesday for a preliminary vote, conditioning their support for the state budget — set to be brought to its final votes over the next several weeks — on the passage of their law.

The Defense Ministry, which is run by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, is formulating its own version of the draft law.

— Marissa Newman

Two Arab Israelis accused of planning IS-inspired attack at Tel Aviv synagogue

Two Arab Israeli men are charged with planning to carry out an Islamic State-inspired shooting in a Tel Aviv synagogue where one of them had worked.

They are also suspected of failing to report another group of Arab Israeli men — also supporters of the Islamic State group — who were planning a shooting attack on the Temple Mount holy site in September, similar to an attack in July that killed two Israel Police officers.

The cell was arrested before it could carry out its attack.

The suspects are identified as Muhammad Jabarin, 20, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named as he is a minor. Both of them are residents of the predominantly Arab town of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel.

— Judah Ari Gross

‘Polocaust’ museum would antagonize Jews, Polish government minister says

A “Polocaust” museum dedicated to non-Jewish Polish victims of the Nazis will not be built, as it would antagonize Jews, a Polish government minister who supported the idea says.

Deputy Culture Minister Jaroslaw Sellin walks back his support of the idea floated last week by writer and scholar Marek Kochan in the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, according to Reuters.

“Using the concept of ‘Polokaust’ in a way I understand it would hurt Jewish sensitivity and unnecessarily provoke more tension between our nations. The Polokaust museum will not be built,” Sellin says in an interview with Rzeczpospolita published today.

The Nazis murdered nearly 2 million Poles during World War II and about 3 million Polish Jews.

Critics from many circles slammed the idea when it was published last week.

The suggestion comes on the heels of Poland’s recently passed Holocaust law criminalizing claims that the Polish nation or state is responsible for Nazi crimes. The new law has triggered protests from Holocaust survivors and Israeli leaders, as well as researchers, historians, journalists and Jews around the world.

The term Polokaust has been used on some Polish Twitter accounts since at least 2012. Poland already runs a Museum of World War II.

— JTA

Weinstein Company declaring bankruptcy after sale falls through

The Weinstein Company will declare bankruptcy after a $500 million deal to sell the production company fell through.

The company, which has struggled to stay solvent since allegations of sexual misconduct against co-owner Harvey Weinstein were made public in October, made the announcement late Sunday night in a statement. Weinstein’s brother, Bob, is a co-owner.

Harvey Weinstein was dismissed from the company shortly after dozens of women came forward to make public accusations.

“While we recognize that this is an extremely unfortunate outcome for our employees, our creditors and any victims, the board has no choice,” the company says in the statement. “Over the coming days, the company will prepare its bankruptcy filing with the goal of achieving maximum value in court.”

The deal reportedly fell through after the group of investors in negotiations to buy the company did not agree to provide interim funding to keep the 150-employee studio in operation until the final deal was signed. The group had offered to pay approximately $275 million for the Weinstein Company, plus the assumption of $225 million in debt.

Expected to be finalized two weeks ago, the sale was delayed after the State of New York filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein brothers and their production company for violating laws against sexual harassment and sexual abuse. The civil rights lawsuit calls for the defendants to pay restitution and damages to the victims, something that had not been provided within the framework of the sale.

The deal was said to include tens of millions of dollars for victims of Harvey Weinstein and a mediation process for reaching settlements, according to The New York Times.

— JTA

Judge who texted with investigator will be forced out, won’t be tried – report

Sources in the legal system tell Hadashot TV news that Ronit Poznansky-Katz, a judge who texted with a state representative before a remand hearing for suspects in the Bezeq corruption probe yesterday, will be ousted from her position but will likely not stand trial for her infraction.

Judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz. (Judiciary of Israel)

The state official charged with reviewing the public’s complaints against judges is set to publish the findings of his examination of Poznansky-Katz’s comportment later today.

The official, Eliezer Rivlin, was instructed to look into the text messages by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked after the story broke last night, causing an uproar.

Rivlin, who according to Hadashot is known to be strict in his decisions, is nevertheless not expected to call for a criminal investigation of Poznansky-Katz, but will instead ask her to step down, the report says.

Netanyahu’s dog, Kaia, dies at 12

The Netanyahu family dog, Kaia, dies at the age of 12 after a long illness.

The Netanyahu family poses with Kaia the dog (Facebook)

In a statement on his Facebook page, the prime minister mourns the passing of the “seventh-generation Alaskan purebreed.”

“Our beloved Kaia is gone,” he writes, along with a picture of his family posing with the dog.

He describes her difficult last months and recalls “the joy and light that she brought into our lives.

“From Kaia we learned what an animal’s soul and consciousness is.”

Netanyahu also calls on Israelis who can, to adopt elderly pets.

“Give them a home and life, and you’ll receive so much warmth and love from them,” he says.

Kaia made headlines several times during her career as top dog.

About two years ago, she was quarantined for biting Likud MK Sharren Haskel, prompting the “Kaia bill,” legislation that would allow owners to quarantine their dogs at home rather than in kennels.

Conan O’Brien feeds the Netanyahu family dog Kaia as the prime minister looks on with worry (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

She also ate out of Conan O’Brien’s hand, without biting him, when the comedian was in Israel last year to film a special episode of his late-night show.

Also last year, a woman’s objection to Yair Netanyhahu’s failure to scoop up Kaia’s poop at a Jerusalem park prompted a rude gesture from the prime minister’s son, who then came under fierce media scrutiny.

Ivanka believes dad’s denials of sexual misconduct

Ivanka Trump says she believes her father’s denials of sexual misconduct, arguing that questions to her on the topic are “pretty inappropriate.”

Trump serves as a senior adviser in US President Donald Trump’s administration and just led the US delegation at the closing ceremony for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She makes the comments in an interview with NBC that aired today.

Asked about the allegations of inappropriate behavior against the president, Ivanka Trump says, “I think it’s a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he’s affirmatively stated there’s no truth to it.”

“I believe my father, I know my father,” she says. “I think I have that right as a daughter, to believe my father.”

The president has denied accusations of misconduct.

— AP

Bezeq owner, ex-Netanyahu adviser remanded until Sunday in Bezeq case

Shaul Elovitch, the majority shareholder in the Bezeq telecommunications company, and Nir Hefetz, a former media adviser for Prime Minister Netanyahu, are remanded until Sunday.

A third suspect, media adviser Eli Kamir, suspected of being a go-between linking Hefetz, and possibly Netanyahu, to Bezeq, in exchange for a massive retainer is remanded until Wednesday.

The decision, handed down by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, comes despite attempts by the suspects’ lawyers to argue that a leaked text exchange — published yesterday — between a judge and one of the investigators in the case invalidated the state’s bid to hold them in custody.

Elovitch is suspected of providing favorable coverage to Netanyahu and his family — along with possible other illicit benefits — in exchange for the enactment of policies that benefited him greatly.

In hot mic moment, ministers can’t believe Netanyahu’s ‘luck’

The Knesset Channel news airs a hot mic segment in which Transportation Minister Israel Katz (Likud) and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri banter about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “luck” in his police investigations.

They are apparently referring to a text message leaked last night that appeared to show one of the investigators in one of the cases involving Netanyahu coordinating remand extensions with a judge before the hearing.

The airing of the text message prompted a backlash against the investigation, with some Netanyahu allies saying it shored up claims the deck is stacked against the prime minister.

“How much luck does Bibi have? How much luck? Tell me, how much luck?” says Deri in the recording, seemingly amazed.

“Yes,” Katz replies.

“It’s something else,” Deri says, giggling.

They both agree that Netanyahu’s luck is “unbelievable,” and then Katz says, “Yalla, we’re in favor.”

“I appeared [on the news] on Saturday night. I backed him up,” Katz says, leaning closer to Deri and covering his mouth so the camera won’t catch his lip movements.

“I also appeared on Saturday night and supported [him], but look at that luck!” Deri exclaims.

You can watch the full exchange (Hebrew), which took place during a birthday celebration for Deri, here:

ועכשיו עם הסרטון.
שיחה בין השרים כ"ץ ודרעי על הוואטספים בפרשת 4000 כפי נקלטה במיקרופון ערוץ הכנסת. pic.twitter.com/MyKZZQfbho

— Yanir Cozin (יניר) (@yanircozin) February 26, 2018

EU, Arab League affirm Jerusalem must be joint capital

BRUSSELS — European Union and Arab League countries insist that Jerusalem must be the joint capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state, as the US prepares to move its embassy there in a step angering the Arab world.

Speaking after talks today between EU and Arab League foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says that the “special status and character of the city must be preserved.”

She says the two blocs also “see eye to eye” that there can only be a two-state solution to the conflict, with Israel and the Palestinians living side by side in peace.

The talks come as Washington prepares to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to a scaled-down, temporary facility that will open in Jerusalem in May.

— AP

Israeli forces raze 3 structures in West Bank outpost

Security forces demolish three makeshift homes in the illegal outpost of Geulat Tzion, which has been razed and rebuilt roughly a dozen times since its establishment in 2011.

Prior to the demolition this afternoon, the hilltop community sat adjacent to the grounds of a new settlement being built for evacuees of the illegal Amona outpost, which was demolished in February 2017.

Two young families and a group of yeshiva students had been living in the cabins prior to the demolition, according to Tzvi Succot, a settler activist who heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit group.

Succot says Border Police at the scene used excessive force in clearing the outpost, whose residents, present at the time, included a pregnant woman with her young child.

A spokeswoman for the Civil Administration — the Defense Ministry body that oversees construction in the West Bank — tells The Times of Israel that forces carried out a “routine enforcement” against illegal building, without incident.

The spokeswoman adds that she is unaware of any families that had even been living there on a permanent basis, but the residents deny her claim.

— Jacob Magid

Police still searching for man who stabbed wife, fled with 3-year-old son

Police are still searching for a man in his 40s, who stabbed his wife Sunday in Ra’anana and fled with the couple’s 3-year-old son.

The wife was taken to Meir Hospital and was injured only lightly, but relatives told Hadashot TV news that she is suffering great emotional stress over concern for her son’s well-being.

Police immediately began searching for the man and boy, but after 24 hours, they have not found any trace of them.

Paramedics who were at the scene yesterday said that they found the woman with stab wounds in her stomach. Her 8-year-old daughter was with her.

Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman reaches top 20 in world tennis rankings

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Argentine Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman won the Rio de Janeiro Open, raising his ranking to 18th in the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP.

It is the first time that a Jewish player is among the top 20 in the ATP rankings since 1990, when American Brad Gilbert was fourth. In 1987, Israeli Amos Mansdorf also was ranked 18th.

On Sunday, Schwartzman defeated the Fernando Verdasco of Spain, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the Rio Open, the biggest tournament of South America in prize money and ranking.

“I’m very happy to break into the top 20,” Schwartzman, 25, said in an interview on the tournament website. “It’s a very difficult tournament, with top 10 (players), great players in the draw and when the week starts you don’t think you are going to play the finals.”

Diego Schwartzman celebrates after the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 25, 2018 (Buda Mendes/Getty Images via JTA)

Schwartzman grew up in a Jewish family in Buenos Aires and rose as a tennis player in the Hacoaj JCC sport club in the Argentine capital.

Last week his entire family, including his grandmother, Celia, attended the Buenos Aires Open tournament to cheer him on.

In a corner of the court his parents, sister, two brothers and his grandmother shouted their support.

“I suffered like crazy, but finally I’m happy for him. He is a very good grandson, and despite his success he is still humble, he is still the same, he is still good people, a nice boy,” Celia told JTA after the Buenos Aires match.

Last season, Schwartzman broke into the Top 25 in the ATP rankings for the first time and earned more than $1.5 million in prize money.

Trump says he’d run into school shooting even without a gun

US President Donald Trump is telling the nation’s governors that he would have run into the deadly Florida high school shooting “even if I didn’t have a weapon.”

The president is again finding fault with officers who didn’t stop the Florida gunman who carried out the massacre earlier this month. Trump says the deputies “weren’t exactly Medal of Honor winners.”

He tells 39 of the nation’s governors, “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”

Trump is vowing to turn the nation’s “grief into action” following the mass school shooting that killed 17 people. Trump says that while “our nation is heartbroken,” the US needs “to have action” on measures related to school safety and gun violence.

— AP

Trump says only teachers with ‘talent’ should get guns

Trump says he doesn’t want all teachers to carry guns — just those who have a “natural talent.”

Speaking to the nation’s governors in the White House, the president responds to news coverage of his calls to arm teachers to prevent school shootings after the mass school shooting that killed 17 people.

Trump says he wants “highly-trained people that have a natural talent, like hitting a baseball or hitting a golf ball or putting” to be armed in schools.

Trump says the only way to stop school shootings is “retribution.” He says “the bad guy has to understand that there’s a big price to pay if your mess around with our students.”

Father on run from police kills son, self

A father who has been on the run since stabbing his wife and kidnapping his 4-year-old son yesterday has killed his son and committed suicide, reports say.

The boy’s body is found in a car, while the man kills himself by jumping off a bridge in front of a train.

Hefetz, Elovitch reportedly deleted incriminating texts

Nir Hefetz, the former spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu who is being held in connection with the Bezeq case, erased incriminating text messages from his phone, Channel 10 reports.

The messages allegedly linked the favorable coverage Netanyauh received on the Walla news site, owned by Tycoon Shaul Elovitch, to policies benefiting Bezeq, which Elovitch controls.

The texts were apparently exchanged between Hefetz and Elovitch, who also deleted the messages, Channel 10 said.

The implication is that the two men coordinated their versions of the events. Police are looking at possible obstruction of justice charges.

Circumstances forced judge to text investigator, sources close to her say

Sources close to Ronit Poznansky-Katz, the judge who was caught texting with a representative of the state, explain the circumstances that led to the debacle, and insist that, though the optics are bad, she did nothing wrong.

“She was asked to return from a long vacation that she took during a month of mourning over a disaster in her family, and was forced to coordinate the times for the hearings from her own phone, without a legal assistant, intern or office,” sources close to judge tell Channel 10 news.

“The judge has nothing to hide, and one must read the entire [text] exchange in order to correctly understand the situation,” they say. “The police and the Securities Agency had different opinions, and the agency’s representative mentioned them.”

The course concede that it is “supremely important to uphold the purity of judges’ conduct,” but insist that “despite the unfortunate formulation [in the text messages], the judge’s behavior did not diverge from that purity.”

Netanyahu sources reject ‘baseless’ claims in Bezeq case.

Sources close to the prime minister reject claims by the state to the effect that a tycoon swayed news coverage of Netanyahu, in exchange for policy decisions in an arrangement worth as much as NIS 1 billion (approximately $287 million).

“The claims against Prime Minister Netanyahu are baseless,” the sources say. “All of the decisions were made for relevant reasons and are based on professional opinions, committees and legal advice.”

The sources conclude, “The truth doesn’t get in the way of the mudslinging campaign against the prime minister. Every day they inflate the numbers more: First it was tens of millions, then hundreds of millions, today it’s a billion, and tomorrow it’ll be a trillion. But the truth will ultimately out, and the hot air will come out of this balloon too, because nothing happened.”

Netanyahu will be interrogated in the investigation, dubbed Case 4000, on Friday, reportedly as a suspect.

Canada’s Tories would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Canada’s opposition Conservatives say they would follow the US lead and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, if they beat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in the next election in 2019.

“Canada’s Conservatives recognize the obvious fact that Israel, like every other sovereign nation, has a right to determine where its capital is located,” the party says on its website.

As such, a Tory government led by Andrew Scheer “will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital when we form government in 2019,” it says.

The Conservatives held power from 2006 until 2015, when they were toppled by the Liberals in a general election.

— AFP