High Court orders Temple Mount shooters’ bodies be returned to families

Hospital gives Amman embassy guard clean bill of health

Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem says it treated the Israeli embassy guard stabbed in Amman, and released him in “good health” to his home.

Hundreds of Palestinians pray outside Temple Mount, still won’t enter

Hundreds of Palestinians are praying in a parking lot belonging to the Islamic Waqf that administers the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount.

The prayers are taking place just inside the Lions Gate to the Old City, meters from the Gate of the Tribes entrance to the holy site, as Muslim leaders continue to insist that worshipers stay out of the compound in protest, despite Israel’s removal of the metal detectors and cameras installed at the site.

The prayers end peacefully and the worshipers disperse.

— Dov Lieber

Tova Salomon leaves hospital to join mourning for murdered husband, children

Tova Salomon, wounded in the Friday night terror attack at Halamish in which her husband Yosef and children Elad and Chaya were killed, leaves the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem to join the shiva mourning period with family members in the central Israeli town of Elad.

She is expected to return to the hospital for further treatment, having sustained multiple stab wounds in the attack.

— Jacob Magid

Deadly strike hits Syria rebel town despite truce

An air strike kills eight civilians, half of them children, and wounds dozens more late Monday, in a rebel-held region near the Syrian capital, where a fragile truce was declared on the weekend.

A Russian military official says there were no air strikes in the ceasefire zone in the Eastern Ghouta region, calling reports to the contrary “a complete lie.”

The strike hits the town of Arbin in the Eastern Ghouta rebel enclave at around 11:30 p.m. (2030 GMT), residents say.

At least four children and one woman are among the dead, according to medics and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

— AFP

Trump continues tweet rant against his attorney general

US President Donald Trump is keeping up pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, taking to Twitter at daybreak Tuesday to accuse the former senator and campaign ally and adviser of taking a “VERY weak” position at the Justice Department on “Hillary Clinton crimes.”

In a post shortly after 6 a.m. EDT, the president says: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign — quietly working to boost Clinton. So where is the investigation A.G.”

Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign – "quietly working to boost Clinton." So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017

He also tweets: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017

The social network flares sent out from the White House follow a pattern that intensified earlier this month with Trump’s harsh criticism of Sessions in an interview with The New York Times. Earlier, Trump referred to the attorney general in a tweet as “beleaguered.” Trump has been angry that Sessions chose to recuse himself from the government’s investigation of Russian meddling in last year’s US election.

— AP

New York senator says Netanyahu does ‘not have a plan for peace’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does “not have a plan for peace,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, says, as she calls for a US “call for action” to Israel.

“I am concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu does not have a plan for peace, and doesn’t have a vision for peace,” Gillibrand said Saturday at a town hall meeting in the Bronx in New York City, in remarks first reported by Mondoweiss, an anti-Zionist news site.

Her remarks were significant for their sharpness in tone and for the robust applause she received. Wounds that were opened when Netanyahu sided with Republicans in 2015 to counter the Iran nuclear deal have yet to heal.

Gillibrand described a meeting she had last year when she led a delegation of senators to Israel.

“In our meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the question we asked is, what is your vision for peace, and he didn’t have one,” she said.

“He just said, ‘My only hope is that I protect my people from rockets,’” Gillibrand said. “If you don’t have a vision, if you don’t have a plan, then it is never going to happen. And so we do need to require more of our world leaders, and I think a call to action to Israel’s government to have a plan for peace is really incumbent on all of us.”

— JTA

Amid Temple Mount tensions, lawmakers advance Jerusalem amendment

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approves for a first reading a controversial amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem that requires the votes of 80 MKs — or two-thirds of the Knesset — to divide Jerusalem between an Israeli and Palestinian state.

The bill is likely to pass its first reading — the first of three to become law — on Wednesday, the last day of the current summer session.

If it passes, a future Knesset that seeks to divide the capital as part of a peace agreement would not necessarily need 80 votes, since the bill itself can be amended with just 61.

Opposition lawmaker MK Meirav Michaeli (Zionist Union) slammed the quick progress of the Jewish Home-backed bill, saying it should not be advanced “in such a tense period,” Army Radio reports.

Erdogan urges all Muslims to ‘visit’ and ‘protect’ Jerusalem

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urges all Muslims to visit and protect Jerusalem after violence broke out over metal detectors that Israel installed and later removed from the Temple Mount holy site in the city.

“From here I make a call to all Muslims. Anyone who has the opportunity should visit Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa mosque,” Erdogan says in Ankara, referring to the mosque atop the Mount. “Come, let’s all protect Jerusalem.”

Israel installed metal detectors at entrances to the site, which also includes the Dome of the Rock shrine, following a July 14 terror attack that killed two Israeli police officers.

Palestinians viewed the security measures as Israel asserting further control over the site and deadly clashes erupted during protests.

“They are attempting to take the mosque from Muslim hands on the pretext of fighting terrorism. There is no other explanation,” Erdogan says in a speech to ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers in parliament.

Israel removed the metal detectors late Monday after talks with Jordan aimed at calming tensions.

— AFP

Turkey’s Erdogan denounces attacks on Istanbul synagogues over Jerusalem tensions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounces attacks on synagogues in Turkey by nationalist and Islamist groups protesting over tensions at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount over the past 10 days.

“It does not make sense to attack synagogues here because something has happened at Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem]. This does not suit our religion and it is not allowed,” he says.

On Saturday, protesters marched on the Ahrida Synagogue on the European side of the Turkish capital, with reports of stones thrown at the building.

On Thursday, protesters showed up at the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, where they kicked the front door and hurled objects at it.

Leaders of Turkish Jews condemned the targeting of synagogues to protest Israel’s actions.

— AFP and JTA

Forces go on high alert near site of Friday terror attack

Security forces are on high alert near the West Bank settlement of Halamish over an intelligence alert about a planned terror attack in the area.

Halamish was the site of Friday night’s deadly terror attack in which three members of the Salomon family were killed by a 19-year-old Palestinian.

According to a report by the local council, authorities are searching for two Palestinians suspected of planning an attack.

A statement from the council orders any Israelis hiking in the riverbeds in the area to return to their homes and calls on all residents to stay alert.

Committee chair cancels Knesset vote on advancing Jerusalem amendment

A Knesset committee chairman cancels a vote to advance a bill that would make it harder to withdraw from parts of Jerusalem in a new peace deal, Israel Radio reports.

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee voted earlier today to approve an amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem that would require the approval of 80 MKs — or two-thirds of the Knesset — for the handover of any part of the capital to a future Palestinian state.

The vote set up the bill for its first of three votes in the Knesset plenum, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow.

But opposition lawmakers, led by Zionist Union’s Merav Michaeli, complained that the amendment was brought to a vote in the committee on a single day’s notice, preventing any serious debate.

The committee chairman, MK Nissan Slomiansky of the Jewish Home party that authored the bill, accepted the opposition’s complaint and canceled Tuesday’s vote.

The committee will vote again on Wednesday, then the bill is slated to face its first reading in the plenum later in the day.

Trump spokesman: President probably wants to fire his attorney general

US President Donald Trump’s new communications director says it’s “probably right” that Trump wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign.

Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump adviser, says in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt that Trump is “obviously frustrated” and that the two men “need to work this thing out.”

Scaramucci replies “you’re probably right” when Hewitt says it’s clear that Trump wants Sessions gone.

Trump is angry that Sessions recused himself from the investigation into the relationship between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. Officials say Trump has spoken with advisers about firing Sessions. The president has also been pressuring Sessions on Twitter in recent days.

— AP

IDF on alert as manhunt underway for suspected West Bank terror cell

A Palestinian is being questioned in the northern West Bank as part of a manhunt following an intelligence alert that a two-man cell is planning a terror attack in the Talmon area, northwest of Ramallah.

Residents of the settlements of Talmon and Dolev, which lie just south of Halamish, the site of Friday’s deadly slaying of three members of the Salomon family, are instructed to stay in their homes.

The detained Palestinian was not immediately identified by the army.

IDF forces are continuing to comb the area.

Jordanian teen stabber killed by Israeli embassy guard is buried

Hundreds of mourners attend the funeral of a 16-year-old Jordanian who was killed after an altercation with a guard at the Israeli Embassy in the kingdom.

The incident led to a 24-hour diplomatic standoff between Jordan and Israel, at a time when the two countries were also trying to defuse a crisis over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jordan is the Muslim custodian of the site.

The teen, Mohammed Jawawdeh, stabbed the guard with a screwdriver, and was then shot and killed by the Israeli. A bystander was also killed.

Jordanian police have said Jawawdeh argued with the guard during a furniture delivery, then attacked him. But mourners at the funeral portray the teen as a “martyr” who died for Muslim rights at the Jerusalem shrine.

— AP and Times of Israel staff

US Navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel

A US Navy patrol ship fires warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel after it approaches within 150 yards (137 meters), a US defense official says.

“The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-to-bridge calls, they felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots,” the defense official tells AFP on condition of anonymity.

— AFP

Mourners chant ‘death to Israel’ at funeral for embassy stabber

Thousands of Jordanians chant “death to Israel” as they attend the funeral of a teenager shot dead after he stabbed an Israeli embassy security guard.

Mohammed Jawawdeh, 17, was killed Sunday after he assaulted the guard with a screwdriver at the embassy compound, according to Israeli officials.

A second Jordanian was also killed, apparently by accident, and will be buried Thursday.

Mourners set off with Jawawdeh’s coffin from Wihdat city, home to a large Palestinian refugee camp east of Amman, towards the cemetery in nearby Umm al-Hiran, where he was buried.

They carry pictures of the 17-year-old, along with Palestinian and Jordanian flags, and chant “Death to Israel” and “We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions.”

Jawawdeh’s uncle, Sami, says the family is urging Jordan’s King Abdullah II to avenge his death “because he is the one who can decide in such matters.”

— AFP

Brazilian synagogue from 1637 is only non-Christian site on religious tourism project

The Kahal Zur Israel, the oldest synagogue in the Americas, is the first Jewish site to join a Brazilian governmental tourism project.

The synagogue is the only non-Christian house of worship to join the “Sacred Recife” project, which includes another seven churches, chapels and basilicas in the city of Recife, located in Brazil’s northeastern corner. Since 2014, the initiative has drawn some 72,000 visitors. The synagogue will now count on bilingual tour guides to introduce a piece of Jewish history to visitors.

“This invitation represents the perception of our synagogue as an important cultural and historical asset in both national and international scenarios, as well as the recognition of the relevant role that our Jewish community from ancient times plays in the life of the general society where it is immersed,” Sonia Sette, president of the Pernambuco Jewish Federation, tells JTA.

In 1624, the Dutch — who were tolerant of Jewish migration and open practice of religion — took over portions of northeast Brazil. In 1637, Jews built the Kahal Zur Israel synagogue in Recife, which was closed by the Portuguese when the Dutch were expelled in 1654. It was re-opened in 2002 and now stands as the oldest existing synagogue in the Americas, housing a Jewish cultural center and museum.

“This rescue of the history of the Dutch period in Brazil reminds us of a vision of respect for differences amidst a period of discrimination and intolerance and brings us to a still current reflection on the issue,” Sette adds.

— JTA

Knife-wielding man arrested in Spain in apparent terror attack

A man is arrested after he held a large knife against his abdomen and shouted “Allahu Akbar” — “God is Great” in Arabic — at a busy Spanish frontier with Morocco, authorities in the Spanish enclave of Melilla say.

Video released by Spain’s National Police shows how agents encircled the man, who wore shorts and a T-shirt and walked slowly. In the surveillance camera footage, a police officer throws a large plastic bollard at the man, who falls over before other officers subdue him.

One of the officers is treated after he received a small cut to one finger, Spain’s Interior Ministry delegate for Melilla, Abdelamalik El Barkani, tells reporters at a news conference.

The man, who is believed to be a 29-year-old Moroccan citizen, was arrested and brought to a police station where he was questioned.

— Agencies

Jared Kushner on Capitol Hill to meet with House intel panel

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law is talking with a House committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and possible involvement of Trump associates.

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner arrives on Capitol Hill to meet with the House intelligence committee a day after talking with a Senate committee.

Kushner faces questions about his involvement in a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer. The meeting is billed in emails to Donald Trump Jr. as a Russian government attempt to help Trump’s campaign.

Kushner said Monday that he did not collude with Russians. He also said he was unaware of anyone in the campaign who did.

— AP

Jordan wants situation at Temple Mount returned to pre-crisis status

Jordan’s foreign minister says the kingdom wants the situation at the Temple Mount returned to the way it was before the recent crisis over security measures there.

Hala Akhbar, a news site linked to the country’s military, quotes Ayman Safadi saying Jordan’s King Abdullah II had “led the crisis in a way to preserve the status quo, and revoking all the new measures on the ground.”

Jordan, the Muslim custodian of the shrine and mosque in the Haram al-Sharif compound atop the Mount, has played a key role in trying to end the crisis at the holy site, sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

Israel set up metal detectors outside the compound after three Arab gunmen killed two Israeli policemen there on July 14. The move incensed many in the Muslim world. Israel removed the devices early Tuesday after talks with Jordan.

Israel says new security arrangements based on “advanced technology” will be installed instead.

— AP

Officials say Jerusalem forest fire may have been deliberately set

Fire and rescue officials say they are investigating whether a major forest fire near Jerusalem today may have been started deliberately.

The fire led to the closure of the Arazim tunnel on the capital’s northwest edge. Eight firefighting teams and six planes were required to gain control over it in dry and hot weather.

Bus smashes into Tel Aviv building, none hurt

An bus without passengers smashed into a building on Hamasger Street in southern Tel Aviv. No one is hurt.

The building houses a car dealership and a police station.

There is no immediate report on the cause for the accident.

Police deny rumors of planned X-ray cameras on Temple Mount

Police are denying rumors that they are planning to install X-ray cameras on the Temple mount that can see through the clothes of worshipers.

Muslim worshipers have stayed away from the sacred compound since Israel installed metal detectors there last week in the wake of a terror attack carried out with guns that had been smuggled onto the Mount.

The detectors were removed early Tuesday morning but Israel’s security cabinet said it would replace the metal detectors with “advanced technologies,” reportedly referring to cameras that can detect hidden objects, but said the process could take up to six months.

Several ​worshipers who prayed at the entrance to the Temple Mount Tuesday tell The Times of Israel that they are concerned the new cameras would be used “to see our women naked.” Palestinian social media has been rife with similar rumors.

Responding to the claims, police say that ​they “do not use any type of camera that harms privacy in any way and has no intention of using such cameras in the future.”

“The purpose of the cameras is to protect and guard public safety,” a statement says, adding that all security measures “are done while maintaining full respect for the public and its privacy, whether the people are worshipers or passersby, let alone women.”

— Raoul Wootliff

Fifteen Israeli families squat illegally at contested Hebron home

Fifteen Israeli families, or some 100 people, enter the Machpela House in Hebron, a building they claim to have purchased, but whose purchase is contested by Palestinians.

The families briefly squatted in the building in 2012, but then-defense minister Ehud Barak ordered them removed and declared the site a closed military zone.

The squatters issue a statement demanding the government “proudly raise the banner of settlement and loyalty to the Land of Israel,” and call on it to allow them to remain in the building.

Security forces arrive at the scene and are preventing anyone else from entering the building.

Israeli squatters at the Machpela House in Hebron, July 25, 2017. (Courtesy Amutat Harchivi)

US envoy to the UN hopes ‘wisdom will prevail’ at Temple Mount

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley chooses not to weigh in on the ongoing tension surrounding the Temple Mount.

At a UN Security Council session dealing with tensions surrounding the holy site, Haley says that the Trump administration “shares everyone’s concerns about the heightened tensions” and offers to help restore calm.

“At the holy sites, it’s vital that both access and security are maintained,” she says, adding that she will refrain from further commenting on the matter “in the hope that wisdom will prevail over emotion.”

— Raphael Ahren

Israeli terror victim urges UNSC to act on Palestinian payments to terrorists

An Israeli man blinded by a Palestinian terror attack that claimed five members of his family, urges the UN Security Council to take action against Palestinian Authority stipends to terrorists and their families.

Oran Almog, who was ten years old in 2003 when a suicide bomber at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa killed his father, grandparents, brother and cousin, chastises the council at a meeting in New York today that deals with the tensions surrounding the Temple Mount.

“The Security Council is holding a discussion on the Middle East, but one of the most important subjects, the funding of terrorism by the Palestinian Authority, will remain outside this discussion,” says Almog, who is invited to address the council by Israel’s envoy Danny Danon.

“The Palestinian leadership is paying salaries to terrorists and their families every single month. Anyone who believes in the value of human life should act against these payments,” he adds.

Danon charges that “the murderous attack in Halamish [on Friday] did not happen in a vacuum. This terrorist committed a heinous crime following rampant, relentless calls by Palestinian officials inciting violence.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon addressing the UN Security Council with Oran Almog sitting behind him. (UN Photo/Manuel Elias via Israel’s mission to the UN)

Abbas: Security coordination with Israel to remain frozen

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says security coordination with Israel remains frozen despite Israel’s removal of metal detectors at the Temple Mount.

“If the situation does not return to what it was before July 14 in Jerusalem,” when two Israeli police officers were killed in a terror attack at the holy site, “then there will be no changes,” Abbas says in a speech at PA headquarters in Ramallah, known as the Muqata compound.

— Dov Lieber

Boy Scouts set world record in dreidel spinning

A Guinness World Record for the most dreidels spinning at one time is set at the Boy Scouts of America’s 2017 National Jamboree.

Some 820 dreidels spin simultaneously for 10 seconds Sunday at the Summit Bechtel Family Scout Reserve in Glen Jean, West Virginia, breaking the mark of 754 set in Tel Aviv in 2014.

The event is sponsored by the National Jewish Committee on Scouting, which provided the dreidels and cardboard spinning boards to participating scouts.

“Congratulations to all the Scouts who came together to break the world dreidel spinning record,” National Jewish Committee on Scouting Chairman Bruce Chudacoff says in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to challenge our brothers and sisters in Israel to more and more competitions like this, which will bring us closer together.”

— JTA

Uncle of Temple Mount shooter caught smuggling Palestinians into Israel

Police arrest Mahmoud Ahmad Jabarin, an uncle of one of the shooters in the July 14 terror attack at the Temple Mount that left two Israeli police officers dead, after catching him allegedly driving a vehicle with 12 Palestinians who were in Israel illegally on Tuesday.

Jabarin knew they did not have permits to be in Israel, police say, and helped them enter from the West Bank.

He is remanded until Thursday, when authorities expect to file an indictment.

High Court orders that Temple Mount shooters’ bodies be returned to families

The High Court of Justice orders police to return the bodies of the three Temple Mount shooters to their families.

The bodies have been held by authorities since the July 14 terror attack in which two Israeli police officers were killed.

Police have demanded guaranties from the families that the funerals of the three Arab Israelis won’t turn into parades glorifying their actions.

The court says the bodies must be returned within 30 hours.

Two-thirds of Israelis displeased with handling of Temple Mount crisis

A Channel 2 News poll finds that 67 percent of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handled the Temple Mount crisis badly.

A similar number 68% backed placing metal detectors at the entrances to the holy site, a step that enraged many Muslims, while even more, 77%, say it was a mistake to remove them, as Israel did late Monday after consultations with the Jordanian government.