The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not agree to the current formulation of the Arab Peace Initiative as the basis for the peace process with the Palestinians.
The prime minister makes the comments at a meeting of Likud ministers, Haaretz reports, citing two sources present at the time.
“If the Arab states understand that they need to amend the Arab Peace Initiative in line with the changes that Israel demands, then we will have something to discuss,” Netanyahu says.
Firefighters are battling a blaze on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Ramat Gan. Rescuers are also searching for anyone trapped by the fire.
Heavy flames and plumes of smoke from the blaze can be seen across the city, Channel 2 says.
Israel extends the administrative detention of Palestinian circus performer Mohammad Abu Sakha for another six months, his circus school says.
Abu Sakha, 24, was arrested in the West Bank on December 14, and has been in administrative detention since January. The measure is generally used for individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism.
“Administrative detention order extended another six months. Our hearts are heavy,” says the Palestinian Circus School in a statement.
There is no immediate confirmation of the extension from the IDF.
Israeli clowns protest outside Megiddo prison over the administrative detention of a Palestinian counterpart, March 2016 (screen capture: YouTube)
— AFP
An independent British study finds that UK aid to the Palestinian Authority is “more likely” to boost terrorism, as the funding is being used to support civil servants convicted of carrying out terrorist acts.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, the Overseas Development Institute says that a £156.4 million ($221.7 million) grant from the UK to the PA encourages civil servants to take part in “active conflict,” as their families still receive a salary even if they are jailed for criminal activity, including terrorism.
Furthermore, the study finds, after completing their sentences, civil servants can return to positions “kept open [for] when they return from detention.”
The father of the gunman behind the Florida massacre says it is “up to God to punish homosexuals.”
In a video posted on Facebook early Monday, Seddique Mateen says he is grieved by the rampage that left 49 people dead in a gay nightclub in Orlando, calling the 29-year-old killer Omar Mateen a “good and educated son.”
“I am deeply saddened and have announced this to the people of America,” Seddique says in the three-minute video in the Dari language, voicing disbelief that his son carried out the killings during the holy month of Ramadan.
“It is up to God to punish homosexuals. It is not up to servants,” the US resident adds, sitting before a flag of his home country Afghanistan.
Mourners hold up signs during a vigil in Washington, DC on June 12, 2016, in reaction to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida a day earlier. (AFP PHOTO/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
— AFP
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid sends his condolences to the American people for the Orlando mass shooting, saying there was a connection between last week’s attack in Tel Aviv and the deadly assault at the Pulse nightclub.
“On Wednesday four Israelis were murdered at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv. Yesterday 50 members of the LGBT community were murdered in Orlando,” says Lapid in a statement. “There is a line connecting these two murders. In both cases innocent people were murdered not because of something they did but because of who and what they are.”
He says: “The connection between Israel and the United States stems first and foremost from our shared values and the fact that in this war against extremism, against hatred – we’re on the same side.”
Lapid also says that the world’s population must “choose a side” in what he calls “a global war.”
“On one side there are those who define themselves by hatred of the other, by murderous Islamist fanaticism, by the attempt to drag us back to the Middle Ages. On the other side, us, all those who define themselves by tolerance, acceptance of the other and the ability to live together with those who we disagree with. There is one thing you can’t be in this war and that’s neutral. Everyone must choose a side,” he says.
Police say an East Jerusalem man is in custody for suspected incitement and support for Hamas on social media.
The man, in his 20s, was arrested last week for allegedly posting comments and images on Facebook over the last 18 months that support the activities of Hamas and actions by terrorists. He also posted his siupport for an intifada to liberate Jerusalem, police say.
The arrest is part of a police drive to aggressively crack down on online incitement against Israel.
— Judah Ari Gross
Microsoft says it is buying professional networking service site LinkedIn for about $26.2 billion.
LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, California, has more than 430 million members. Users can network with professionals, upload their resumes and search for jobs on the site.
Microsoft Corp. says it is paying $196 for each share of LinkedIn Corp., a 50 percent premium of the stock’s closing price of $131.08 on Friday.
LinkedIn shares soar 49 percent before the stock market opens.
— AP
Republican candidate Donald Trump says that there are American Muslims who have been radicalized, and their communities know who they are but have not turned them in.
“The problem is we have thousands of people right now in our country. You have people that were born in this country” who are susceptible to becoming “radicalized,” the reality star turned politician tells Fox News. He says there are Muslims living in the US who “know who they are” and says it is time to “turn them in.”
“You look at the people that have come to the country, and are here, and for that we need intelligence-gathering,” he also tells CNN. “We have to look at the mosques. The [Muslim] communities know the people that have the potential for blowup.”
Trump also says in a phone interview with NBC’s “Today” show that he would not support a ban on the sale of assault-style rifles in the wake of the weekend massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“There are millions” of such weapons already in circulation, he says, and instituting a ban not would help.
“Absolutely, I wouldn’t” support such a prohibition, the real estate mogul says, “because people need protection.”
— AP
Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary warns against feeding propaganda by the Islamic State group that convinces new recruits the US hates Islam.
“Turning against the Muslim American community is not only wrong, it’s counterproductive and dangerous,” she tells MSNBC in a phone interview.
She does, however, point to the US’s failure to keep guns “out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals.”
— AP
Omar Mateen, the self-professed Islamic State supporter who shot dead 49 people at a gay club in Orlando this weekend, visited Saudi Arabia twice in recent years, MSNBC reports.
Mateen was in the kingdom in 2011 and 2012, the network says. Quoting federal officials, the network initially says it is unclear what he did there or who he met.
NBC later quotes the Saudi Interior Ministry as saying Mateen was both times in the country for umrah, a lesser pilgrimage to Mecca.
Avigdor Liberman appoints former senior aide Sharon Shalom as his new chief of staff at the Defense Ministry.
Shalom held the same post at the Foreign Ministry during Liberman’s tenure there from 2009 to 2015, and played a senior role in the implementation of Israel’s foreign policy, Liberman’s office says in a statement announcing the appointment.
Avigdor Liberman, right, with his chief of staff Sharon Shalom (Courtesy Defense Ministry)
Lebanese banks warn that the country’s financial sector is at risk after a bomb blast outside a major bank in a western part of Beirut.
Politicians and local media link the attack to a law voted in December by the US Congress to impose sanctions on banks that deal with Hezbollah, which the US — along with Israel, Canada, Australia and the Arab League — defines as a terrorist group.
Several Beirut newspapers known to be critical of Hezbollah say the explosion was a “message” to banks complying with the ruling.
The explosion late last night blew out the entire glass facade of the headquarters of BLOM BANK, one of the country’s largest, but only one person was lightly wounded.
After an emergency meeting on Monday morning, the Association of Lebanese Banks condemns the attack, which it says “hurt the entire banking sector and aims to rattle economic stability.”
“The Association is subject to the applicable Lebanese laws and to the Central Bank’s circulars,” the statement says.
— AFP
An East Jerusalem terrorist who killed three people on a bus in the capital in October is convicted by Jerusalem District Court on thee counts of murder, seven counts of attempted murder and aiding the enemy in wartime.
The conviction comes after the court rejects a plea bargain struck between the prosecution and the defense after defendant Bilal Abu Ghanem refuses to stand up in court and admit carrying out the attack, Ynet reports.
Abu Ghanem is yet to be sentenced, although the prosecution is seeking three consecutive life sentences for the killings and another 70 years for the attempted murders.
Police and emergency services respond to an attack in Jerusalem on October 13, 2015 after Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people. (AP/Oren Ziv)
Shares in the security company G4S fall over 5 percent after it emerges that the killer in the Orlando nightclub attack worked for the firm.
The company’s shares fall 9.6 pence to 177.80 on the London stock exchange after the company acknowledges that Omar Mateen worked for G4S at a residential community in south Florida. The company says Mateen was subject to a detailed screening and checks by US law enforcement, which reported no findings to G4S.
G4S, a global security company, is active in some 100 countries and has 610,000 employees. It came under fire during the 2012 London Olympics after failing to provide the number of security guards promised to protect the games. The British military had to be called in to fill the gap.
— AP
Jewish groups in Orlando respond to the mass shooting attack at the Pulse nightclub with messages of sadness and sympathy, and calls to action.
“The Jewish community has been impacted many times by terror attacks, and we stand united in denouncing all violence. We are in close touch with local, federal and state authorities, and we have full faith and confidence in our law enforcement,” says the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando in a statement.
“At this time we have not been notified of any threats to the Greater Orlando Jewish community. However, in the aftermath of Sunday’s attack we ask that you remain vigilant and alert authorities immediately about any suspicious activity you witness.”
The statement signed by Rhonda Forest, chair of the board, and Olga Yorish, executive director, extends condolences to all those in the Greater Orlando community affected by the act of terror. It ends by encouraging members of the Jewish community: “If you see something, say something.”
— JTA
Obama says there’s no clear evidence that the shooter at an Orlando nightclub was directed to conduct his attack from abroad or was part of a larger plot.
Speaking from the Oval Office after a briefing by senior security officials, the president says it appears the shooter was inspired by “various extremist information” found online. He says the investigation is at the preliminary stages and is being treated as a terrorism investigation. He says the attack appears to be similar to last year’s shooting spree in San Bernardino, California.
The president says investigators are still looking into the motivations of the shooter, including the fact that the shooting took place at a gay venue.
"In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give into fear." —@POTUS https://t.co/i7fOS38GzH
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 12, 2016
— Agencies
Five people are still in critical condition after the shooting attack at an Orlando nightclub that left 49 dead and dozens more wounded, the hospital treating the injured says.
Orlando Regional Medical Center says 29 people are still at the hospital and a number of patients remain critically ill and in shock. Six more surgeries on the victims are scheduled for today.
— AP
Obama says the US must act against a corrupted form of Islam that is targeting the “troubled” and the “weak,” and inducing such people to carry out terror attacks.
“The biggest challenge we are going to have is this kind of propaganda and perversions of Islam that you see generated on the internet, and the capacity for that to seep into the minds of troubled individuals or weak individuals, and seeing them motivated then to take against people here in the United States,” he tells reporters in the Oval Office, following a briefing by senior security officials on the Orlando shooting.
Federal officials tell People Magazine that Orlando gunman Omar Mateen scouted the Disney World amusement park on the outskirts of the city, as well as the Pulse nightclub at which he ultimately struck.
According to People, Mateenh’s wife Noor Zahi Salman told federal authorities yesterday that her husband had more recently been “scouting Downtown Disney [shopping area now known as Disney Springs] and Pulse for attacks.”
FBI chief James B. Comey says the Orlando gunman had “strong indications of radicalization” and was potentially inspired by “foreign terrorist organizations.”
The bureau is “highly confident” Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub yesterday, was “radicalized,” Comey says.
The FBI chief says Mateen first came to their attention in 2013, when he claimed a familial connection to the Sunni terror group al-Qaeda but also said he was a member of the Shiite Hezbollah organization.
FBI first became aware of Orlando gunman in May 2013, after making "inflammatory" statements https://t.co/5HsAkKaqvp https://t.co/g1RgYhud9g
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) June 13, 2016
— Agencies
A number of university buildings in downtown Toronto are closed amid reports of a man dressed in all black with a backpack and mask.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says they received a call about the man and later reports that he might have a gun.
Saunders says he’s seen a photo of the male that someone took but he didn’t see a gun and they haven’t found anything. He says it looks like the man was wearing a surgical kind of mask.
He says police are working to clear some of the buildings at the University of Toronto.
“It’s clear to say that we live in a different time right now,” Saunders says when asked if the public should be proactive in reporting suspicious activity following the nightclub shooting in Orlando.
— AP
Palestinian Authority customs officials seize 600 marijuana saplings from two drug dealers in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian news agency Ma’an says the plants were found in the car belonging to the dealers after an ambush by the customs officials.
“One of the suspects tried to convince the officers that the saplings were flowers he brought from Israel for a plant nursery in Nablus,” says a customs spokesperson, according to Ma’an.
Israel asks Germany for assistance in an corruption investigation into Shas leader Aryeh Deri, Channel 10 reports.
The request includes details of a real estate deal between Shlomo Deri, the brother of the Shas chief, and Austrian Jewish businessman James Schlaff, Channel 10 correspondent Baruch Kra says.
Iran condemns yesterday’s mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub, which left 49 people dead, calling it a “terrorist attack.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in line with its principled policy in condemning terrorism and its strong determination to firmly and decisively counter this ominous phenomenon, denounces the recent terrorist attack in US [city of] Orlando,” says Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari, according to the state-run Press TV.
Hillary Clinton says the deadly shooting in Orlando shows that the Islamic State cannot be contained but must be defeated. She says the country faces a “twisted ideology and a poisoned psychology” that inspires the so-called “lone wolf,” and vows to make identifying and prosecuting these types of attackers a top priority.
Speaking in Cleveland, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee says America’s biggest mass killing breaks the nation’s collective heart, tears at the country’s sense of security and infuriates Americans.
She says the attack is “a moment when all Americans need to stand together,” and calls on the US to attack home-grown terrorism with “clear eyes” and “steady hands.”
Supporters wait to hear Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speak at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on June 13, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Angelo Merendino/Getty Images/AFP)
— AP
A Democratic congressman expresses frustration with inaction on gun control, saying he’s done with the moments of silence typically held on the House floor after mass shootings, calling them “obnoxious expressions of smug incompetence.”
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes vows to leave the House floor when the chamber pauses to honor 49 people killed at an Orlando nightclub yesterday morning. House Speaker Paul Ryan has scheduled the observance for this evening.
In a series of tweets, Himes says the silence doesn’t honor victims, but mocks them. He calls the observances an “abomination” and says he will not be silent.
Himes says the point is not to be disruptive, but “to make the obvious moral point that silence in the face of death is not acceptable.”
Nope. We'll have a moment of silence. Perfectly emblematic of Congressional gross negligence. https://t.co/kPWLOzbY7h
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) June 13, 2016
— AP
Former minister Gideon Sa’ar pours water on claims that he is planning to make a political comeback outside of the Likud.
“A run outside the Likud with [former defense minister Moshe] Ya’alon and others is pure speculation. I am loyal to the Likud and the path it represents,” Sa’ar tells Haredi radio station Kol Barama. “I had offers to leave years ago and I refused.”
A Palestinian terrorist who shot dead an Israeli rabbi and his teenage son in the West Bank in November is sentenced to three life sentences by an IDF military court.
Two life sentences are handed down for the murders of Rabbi Ya’akov Litman, 40, and his 18-year-old son Netanel. The third life sentence is given for the attempted murder of the other five family members in the car at the time of the attack.
The attack happened when the family car came under fire as they drove to an event to celebrate another daughter’s upcoming wedding.
A child looks at the photos of terror victims Rabbi Ya’akov Litman, 40, and his son Netanel, 18 who were killed on November 13, 2015 in a terror attack, at the wedding of Sarah Litman and Ariel Biegel. (Hadas Parush)
The US is investigating whether the terrorist who shot dead 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in the early hours of yesterday had any help in perpetrating the attack, Reuters reports.
According to the report, the FBI and other agencies are looking at evidence inside the Pulse club as well as the streets surrounding it, which are still closed off.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon is elected as chairman of the UN Legal Committee.
The election marks the first time that an Israeli official is picked to head a UN permanent committee since the Jewish state joined the international body in 1949.
The Legal Committee, formally known as United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee, deals with the legal issues facing the UN.
“I am proud to be the first Israeli elected to this position,” says Danon in a statement released to the media. “Israel is a world leader in international law and in fighting terrorism. We are pleased to have the opportunity to share our knowledge with the countries of the world.”
