Unrest, clashes over Temple Mount continue in Jerusalem

Police reopen Temple Mount to non-Muslims shuttered over Jewish prayer

Police reopen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to non-Muslim visitors after shuttering the complex earlier today over repeated violations of the holy site’s rules by Jewish visitors.

This morning, Jerusalem police chief Yoram Halevi barred Jewish visitors from entering the Temple Mount after a group of Jewish visitors attempted to pray at the site, despite rules at the site forbidding prayer by non-Muslims.

The group was removed from the Temple Mount by police.

Scuffles in Jerusalem’s Old City as Temple Mount tensions continue

Minor clashes break out between Muslim worshipers and police in the Old City of Jerusalem for the fourth day in a row, in response to Israel placing metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount compound following last week’s terror attack at the holy site.

A statement from police says a man distributing flyers to protesters gathered at Lion’s Gate was shouting and “disturbing public order.”

The man refused police orders to leave the area, and was detained by forces stationed there.

According to police spokeswoman Luba Samri, the man resisted arrest, and other protesters at Lions Gate attacked security forces with rocks and water bottles during the arrest.

The protesters are dispersed by police.

Rouhani says Iran will ‘stand up to’ the US

Iran’s president says his country will stand up to the United States and reciprocate for any new sanctions that America imposes on the Islamic Republic.

Hassan Rouhani says that if Washington, under any pretext, imposes new sanctions against Iran, “we will stand up to the United States.”

He says the “great nation of Iran will have an appropriate answer” and then adds — without elaborating — that the Iranian parliament will also act.

Rouhani’s remarks are broadcast on state TV. He speaks a day after the Trump administration announced new, non-nuclear sanctions on Iranians while at the same time warning Iran that it would face consequences for breaching “the spirit” of the nuclear deal with world powers.

The new sanctions target 18 Iranian individuals and groups.

— AP

Anti-prostitution bills to jail ‘johns’ leap first Knesset hurdle

Two private bills setting out jail sentences for those who hire prostitutes are cleared unanimously in the Knesset plenum in their preliminary readings, in a move cheered by female lawmakers.

Seventy-one MKs vote in favor of Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie’s proposal, with none opposed, while 74 lawmakers backed a similar bill by Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli and Meretz MK Zehava Gal-on, again with no opposition.

The private legislation, which also calls for fines against “johns” and rehabilitation programs for Israeli sex workers, will not be advanced until the Justice Ministry presents its own version of the proposal. The bills require three more readings in the plenum before becoming law.

— Marissa Newman

Saudi airline says US laptop ban lifted

Saudi Arabia’s national carrier say a US ban on laptops and tablets in the cabins of its US-bound planes has been lifted.

The kingdom’s civil aviation authorities informed Saudia that the ban had been lifted after a US team inspected security measures at airports in Riyadh and Jeddah, the airline’s spokesman Abdulrahman al-Taieb says.

Washington in March had issued the ban from 10 cities in the Middle East and Turkey over concerns Islamic State fighters and other extremists could hide bombs inside laptops.

Riyadh and Jeddah were the last two cities to have the ban lifted by US authorities. In recent weeks, airports in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey received clearance to lift the ban after implementing additional security measures.

— with agencies

PMO denies Netanyahu mulling removing Temple Mount metal detectors

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while on a visit to Hungary, is discussing the volatile situation on the Temple Mount in a series of telephone briefings with his security chiefs.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Police Chief Roni Alsheikh, head of Shin Bet Nadav Argaman and other senior official participated in the security briefing with the prime minister earlier today. No operative decisions were made.

Another security consultation is planned for later today.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office denies reports in Channel 2 that the security consultations are an indication Netanyahu is considering removing the metal detectors he ordered placed at the entrances to the Temple Mount in response to last week’s deadly terror attack there.

— Rahpael Ahren

Temple Mount metal detectors may not be permanent, police say

The metal detectors placed at the entrances to the Temple Mount in the wake of a terror attack at the holy site may not be permanent, a police spokesperson tells the Times of Israel.

“The changes are a government decision. They can continue for weeks or months, or as long as necessary,” Mickey Rosenfeld says at a press conference in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Separately, the head of the Waqf says Israel and Jordan are in contact over the issue.

“We are in communication with the Jordanian government which is in contact with the government of Israel,” Sheikh Azzam Al Khatib says.

Hungarian PM calls on EU to restore ‘common sense’ in Israel policy

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán calls on the European Union to improve its relations with Israel, saying that Brussels’ current policy toward Jerusalem is “pointless” and hurts its own interests.

“Once again, we should reiterate our acknowledgement towards Israel for what it does for the security of Europe,” Orban says in a joint appearance with Netanyahu and three other prime ministers from EU member states in Central Europe.

“In the future, we shall promote that the cooperation between the European Union and Israel become better,” he says in Hungarian. “If Europe does not cooperate with Israel, it is punishing itself, which is pointless. And therefore, we shall propose in the upcoming period that the Israeli-EU cooperation should return to the field of common sense.”

— Raphael Ahren

Israel sending firefighting plane to help with Montenegro wildfires

Israel is joining firefighting efforts in Montenegro after the country asked for international help to battle wildfires raging along the Adriatic coast.

Authorities say an Israeli waterbombing plane is expected to arrive later today, and that Ukraine, Switzerland and Bulgaria were also sending assistance. Emergency official Zoran Barbic says “the situation is much better now.”

Wildfires reaching close to fishing villages and tourist resorts at Lustica peninsula have forced at least 100 people to evacuate the area. Montenegro sought NATO and EU help to fight the blaze.

In neighboring Croatia, authorities fear new fires could erupt with a heat wave that is expected to hit the region in the coming days. They say thousands of acres of pine forests and low shrubbery have been destroyed in the massive fire this week that also threatened the key port of Split.

— with AP

Channel 20’s winning bid for Knesset channel nixed by High Court

The High Court of Justice bars Channel 20 from winning a tender to operate the Knesset channel.

The court’s decision comes in response to a petition filed by Channel 2, which argued the decision to award the conservative TV station the tender was marred by “a series of failures.”

The Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting will revisit the decision at a later date.

MK Glick says not opposed to removing Temple Mount metal detectors

Likud MK and Temple Mount activist Yehudah Glick says he isn’t opposed to removing the metal detectors placed at the entrances to the holy site in the wake of a deadly terror attack there, as long as security in Jerusalem wasn’t compromised.

“I believe in negotiation and dialogue, but I’m not going to compromise on security. Maybe they will find other means” to secure the Temple Mount, Glick tells journalists at the Old City.

Acknowledging the tense atmosphere in the capital in recent days sparked by the new security measures, Glick says he will hold off campaigning for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount for several days.

“This is not the time to pull the string,” he says.

— Dov Lieber

Muslim protesters slam Temple Mount metal detectors as Israeli ‘provocation’

Muslim worshipers participating in protests against the new security measures at the Temple Mount say the placement of metal detectors at the entrances of the holy site is a “provocation” by Israel.

“Al Aqsa is just for us. The [Waqf] guards can be the ones who check people. The people here see the metal detectors as a provocation,” one protester who asked to remain anonymous says.

Asked how Israeli police can mitigate the threat of a future attack at the site, he responds: “There is danger everywhere. A policeman walking anywhere in America, a man can come up in shoot him.”

Another worshiper, who also asked to remain anonymous, says: “Why are the settlers coming to Al Aqsa. It’s a provocation.”

— Dov Lieber

Palestinian civilians urge ICC to speed up Israel ‘war crimes’ probe

Palestinian lawyers and civil society groups are urging the International Criminal Court to speed up inquiries and open a full investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“Since two years Palestine is under preliminary examination,” says lawyer Gilles Devers, adding “in Gaza, we think two years is too long.”

Since the 2014 Gaza war, Palestinian officials have sought to prosecute Israel in the international court.

In January 2015, the tribunal opened a preliminary examination into alleged abuses by all sides in the conflict. And an ICC delegation visited Israel and the West Bank in late 2016.

But Palestinian activists say the investigation has stalled, calling for both the ICC and the PA to speed up efforts.

The group says it is taking action because of “the lack of political will on behalf of the Palestinian Authority” which it said had not made an official complaint as a state member of the ICC.

Devers says the group was also hoping to persuade the ICC to open a full investigation “as a matter of urgency” into the heightened tensions in Jerusalem sparked by new security measures imposed at the Temple Mount in the wake of a deadly terror attack at the holy site.

— with AFP

5 killed in West Bank car crash between Israeli, Palestinian vehicles

Five people are killed and three injured in a car accident in the northern West Bank, the Magen David Adom emergency rescue service says.

The collision between the Israeli truck and Palestinian work van occurred on Highway 6235 near the settlement of Shaked.

According to reports, the 5 fatalities were all Palestinian.

Three others injured in the crash are being transported by an IDF helicopter to Haifa’s Rambam Hospital for treatment.

30 civilians dead in anti-IS strikes in Syria, monitor says

At least 30 civilians are killed in separate bombing raids by the US-led coalition and pro-regime warplanes on jihadist-held territory in Syria, a monitor says.

Fifteen of the victims die in coalition airstrikes on a village near the Islamic State group’s stronghold of Raqqa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The strikes this morning hit the village of Zur Shammar, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Raaqa on the southern banks of the Euphrates River,” says Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

“The victims included three children and four women,” he adds.

To the southeast, suspected Russian airstrikes kill another 15 civilians — mostly children — in an IS-held village in the Deir Ezzor province, the Observatory says.

The dead were two families, Abdel Rahman says, “a man, his two wives, and their seven children, and a second family of two parents and three children.”

— AFP

IDF discloses extent of humanitarian aid to Syria

The IDF for the first time discloses the extent of humanitarian aid it has transferred to victims of the Syrian civil war in recent years.

The aid, code-named “Operation Good Neighbor,” has seen Israel transfer over 360 tons of food, 450,000 liters of gas and 50 tons of clothes over its northern border to victims of the Syrian war since the initiative was launched in June 2016.

Israel has also transferred aid in the form of medicine, food and infrastructure equipment to some 200,000 Syrians living in the villages adjacent to the Israeli border.

US: Iran still top state terror sponsor; global attacks down

The Trump administration says in a new report that Iran continues to be the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The report also notes a drop in the number of terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2016.

In its annual “Country Reports on Terrorism” released today, the State Department accuses Iran of being the “foremost” state sponsor of terrorism in 2016.

It says Iran was firm in its backing of anti-Israel groups as well as proxies that have destabilized conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. It also says Iran continues to recruit for Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq and that its support for the Hezbollah terror group remains unchanged.

The report, the first of the Trump administration, also finds that terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 percent from 2015.

— AP

Abbas cutting short China visit over Temple Mount tensions

PA President Abbas is cutting short his trip to China in light of the protests and clashes between Muslim worshipers and Israel Police sparked by new security measures imposed at the Temple Mount following a recent terror attack.

According to the official PA news agency Wafa, Abbas is returning to Ramallah to convene urgent meetings with Palestinian leaders to discuss the escalating tensions.

Palestinian officials have denounced metal detectors placed at the entrances to the Temple Mount as a change in the delicate status quo that governs the site. Israel denies the upgraded security measures amount to a change in the longstanding rules.

PM believes submarine sale will proceed despite investigation

Israel’s deal with Germany regarding the sale of additional submarines will likely proceed, even though it is currently frozen, Netanyahu says.

“As soon as things will clear up, I assume that the deal will go forward,” he tells reporters during a briefing in his Budapest hotel. “I have no idea [how the current investigation into the matter will end] but believe it will go ahead.”

Germany has reportedly told Israel that it is delaying the signing of a deal for Israel to purchase three new submarines amid the rapidly expanding corruption scandal surrounding several multi-billion-dollar naval deals between the two countries.

“There’s now an asterisk in the deal,” Netanyahu says, adding that the German side is waiting to see how the ongoing corruption investigation will play out. “There’s a probe, let the probe be concluded,” he says.

Netanyahu angrily dismisses attempts to implicate him in the affair, saying much of the press is out to topple him. “All these efforts to bring me down have crossed all boundaries and are beginning to hurt Israel’s national security,” he said.

“I don’t know what is corruption and what is not corruption in the submarines affair,” Netanyahu said. “The decisions the security establishment took were transparent and matter-of-factly. I don’t judge people; people have the presumption of innocence. I don’t know what will come of it or not come to it.”

Netanyahu also denies that Israel gave Germany the go-ahead to sell advanced submarines to Egypt, and calls reports suggesting otherwise “irresponsible.”

— Raphael Ahren

Temple Mount metal detectors to stay up for now, PM says

Israel will not remove the metal detectors from the Temple Mount, but is constantly monitoring the situation and might do so at a later stage, Prime Minister Netanyahu says.

“We had a security consultation and no decision was taken. There will be additional security consultations,” he tells journalists accompanying him on his visit to Hungary.

Netanyahu says his security chiefs have varying opinions on what the next step should be, “and I listen to them all,” he adds.

“We want to solve this crisis in the most quiet manner possible and to bring back the calm,” the prime minister says. “We talk with the Arab world and we explain that there is absolutely no change to the status quo” on the holy site. The metal detectors, which were erected after Friday’s deadly shooting attack, “is a means to prevent fire arms from being brought to the Temple Mount,” he says.

Before traveling to Budapest, Netanyahu was in Paris. “When I visited the Eiffel Tower, I noticed that something had changed. You know what had changed? They installed metal detectors.”

— Raphael Ahren

Deputy minister: Temple Mount metal detectors don’t restrict religious freedom

Kulanu MK and Deputy Minister Michael Oren expresses support for the metal detectors placed at the entrances to the Temple Mount in the wake of deadly terror attack that is escalating into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world.

“Israel is sovereign over all of Jerusalem, and is responsible for public order throughout the city,” Oren says in a statement. “And as we’ve seen at the Western Wall, the presence of metal detectors does not restrict religious worship.”

“Just like the construction of the separation fence proved, safety measures can significantly increase everyone’s safety,” Oren says.

Temple Mount tensions spark clashes in West Bank

Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces break out in the West Bank refugee camp of Qalandiya over the new security measures at the Temple Mount following a recent terror attack.

The spark in violence come after Abbas’s Fatah movement yesterday called for a “Day of Rage” in order to denounce Israeli “terrorist procedures” at the Jerusalem holy site.

Clashes between Muslim protesters and Israel Police at one of the entrances to the Old City continued today for the fourth day in a row.

New bill could see graves of missing Yemenite children exhumed for DNA tests

A bill that could see the graves of Yemenite children who were allegedly kidnapped by Israeli authorities in the early years of the state exhumed for investigation is unanimously approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.

Under the legislation proposed by Likud MK Nurit Koren, families whose relatives went missing between the 1950s and 1970’s will be able to request court approval to have the remains of their suspected relatives exhumed for genetic testing.

Since the 1950s, over 1,000 immigrant families have alleged their children were systematically kidnapped from Israeli hospitals and put up for adoption, sometimes abroad. In December, the government declassified 400,000 pages of documents in an effort to bring closure to the decades-long controversy known as the “Yemenite Children Affair.”

Over the past several decades, the government has appointed three investigative committees to probe the case, with all concluding the majority of children died in the hospital and were simply buried without the families’ being informed or involved.

3 arrested as clashes over Temple Mount continue in Jerusalem

Israeli security forces arrest three Palestinians in the Jerusalem area at separate protests against the new security measures at the Temple Mount following a recent terror attack.

According to a police statement, one protester who threw a Molotov cocktail at forces at Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp is detained for questioning.

Another two are detained adjacent to Rachel’s Tomb in southern Jerusalem for throwing rocks at Israeli troops.

Defying calls to boycott, Radiohead kicks off Tel Aviv concert

American rock group Radiohead kick off their show at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park with over 50,000 fans in attendance.

Radiohead defied calls from prominent artists and BDS activists to cancel the show, saying such demands have been patronizing.

The band’s singer Thom Yorke has defended their decision to play in Israel several times in recent weeks, saying earlier this month that “playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government.”

Yorke added that “music, art and academia is about crossing borders not building them, about open minds not closed ones, about shared humanity, dialogue and freedom of expression.”

With 50,000+ sweaty, whooing fans in attendance, Radiohead starts its Tel Aviv show pic.twitter.com/chHEqhU9fM

— Judah Ari Gross (@JudahAriGross) July 19, 2017

US justices allow strict enforcement of Trump refugee ban

The US Supreme Court is granting the Trump administration’s request to more strictly enforce its ban on refugees, at least until a federal appeals court weighs in.

But the justices are leaving in place a lower court order that makes it easier for travelers from six mostly Muslim countries to enter the US.

The administration had appealed last week’s ruling by US District Judge Derrick Watson that required the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the United States. Watson also vastly expanded the family relations that refugees and visitors can use to get into the country.

The court this afternoon blocks Watson’s order as it applies to refugees, but not the expanded list of relatives. The justices say the federal appeals court in San Francisco should now consider the appeal. It’s not clear how quickly that will happen.

In the meantime, though, up to 24,000 refugees who already have been assigned to a charity or religious organization in the US will not be able to use that connection to get into the country.

— AP