ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 344
Michael Bachner is a news editor at The Times of Israel
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
The center-left Israel Policy Forum has come to the defense of its more dovish counterpart J Street, which Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli branded yesterday as “hostile.”
“Diaspora Affairs Minister Chikli’s comments about J Street are at odds with the goal of strengthening ties between Israel and US Jews. We hope that Chikli spends more time listening to US Jewish concerns rather than dismissing those who disagree with him as hostile,” the Israel Policy Forum tweets.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu tells Channel 13 news that former prime minister Ehud Barak’s calls for civil disobedience over the government’s judicial overhaul push are “worse” than former president Moshe Katsav’s rape of a woman, which the latter was convicted of and served in jail for.
“Harming the State of Israel and calling for civil disobedience is very grave. I’m not sure that someone coming and wanting to dismantle the State of Israel isn’t as bad as rape,” says Eliyahu, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
Asked whether Barak’s remarks during anti-government demonstrations are really as bad as Katsav’s rape, Eliyahu says: “It’s worse. Someone who wants to dismantle the State of Israel harms the most wonderful thing mankind has created, which we created with our own two hands.”
Two days ago, Likud MK Nissim Vaturi suggested that “in other countries,” Barak would be executed for his fierce criticism of the government’s judicial overhaul efforts and his calls for civil disobedience, but in democratic Israel, he should just go to prison for “at least 20 years.”
Lawmakers Danny Danon, Dan Illouz, Yifat Shasha-Biton and Elazar Stern are in Marrakech, Morocco for a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s conference in interfaith dialogue.
Likud MK Danon leads the delegation, and tells the meeting that relations between Israel and “moderate Arab countries” is “natural and will continue to develop and grow in the future.”
Fellow party lawmaker Illouz, whose parents are from Morocco, urges fellow parliamentarians to “call on [your governments] to be on the right side of history” and to join the Abraham Accords.
Former US president Donald Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Miami to formally surrender to authorities ahead of his court appearance on charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump’s motorcade arrives at the federal courthouse shortly before he’s scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge, a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.
It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, saying he’s being unfairly targeted by political opponents who want to hurt his campaign. After his court appearance, Trump will return to New Jersey, where he’s expected to hold a press event to publicly respond to the charges.
Several Hebrew media outlets say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu divulged purported details of the impending deal between the United States and Iran over a renewed nuclear agreement.
The reports say Netanyahu downplayed the negotiations as closing in on a “mini-agreement, not an agreement,” citing several unnamed lawmakers who took part in the closed-door, three-hour Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting. Some of the reports say Netanyahu apparently intended for his remarks to be leaked to the press.
“This isn’t the deal we are familiar with,” he reportedly says, in reference to the 2015 nuclear deal staunchly opposed by Jerusalem and which Washington left in 2018. “This is a mini-agreement, we will manage to deal with it.”
The “mini-agreement” will allegedly include an Iranian promise not to enrich uranium to more than 60% purity, in exchange for the US unfreezing tens of billions of dollars in Iranian funds held abroad and for the countries carrying out a prisoner swap deal.
This means there will be no significant sanctions relief. While some reports say Netanyahu said Israel will also oppose these understandings and won’t be bound by them, other reports say MKs understood that Israel will be able to “live with them.”
The Israel Football Association’s tribunal partially accepts soccer team Beitar Jerusalem’s appeal over its punishment for fans’ storming of the pitch last month after winning the State Cup, which disrupted the awards ceremony.
Last week, the tribunal said the club would be barred from the UEFA Europa Conference League, a contest of national league high-flyers and cup winners from across Europe. Beitar Jerusalem was also ordered to pay a NIS 70,000 ($18,720) fine. The club could also be banned from the State Cup and three points could be deducted in league play if the fan chaos recurs, that decision said.
The tribunal cancels the Conference League ban, meaning Beitar will take part in the European tournament. However, it rules that the club won’t participate in the State Cup next season, and it will start the league season with a three-point deduction.
Following Beitar’s 3-0 win against Netanya at Haifa’s Sammy Ofer stadium, supporters of the Jerusalem team known for its hardcore fan base rushed the pitch in celebration. People set fires and broke up a ceremony as President Isaac Herzog attempted to award medals to the winning team, reportedly making off with some of the hardware. Herzog was hustled off the field under heavy security, and held a makeup ceremony for the team at his Jerusalem residence the next day.
The Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstradt met earlier today with Christian leaders in Jerusalem to discuss the recent uptick in attacks on the religious minority in the city by young extremist Jews.
“Religious extremism, violence, and intolerance is unacceptable towards any faith group,” the US Office of Palestinian Affairs tweets afterward, saying Lipstadt and the Christian leaders “agreed on the need to protect the religious diversity of Jerusalem while building understanding across communities.”
Several Hebrew media outlets say President Isaac Herzog has been invited by US President Joe Biden to visit the White House and speak to Congress on the third week of July, probably July 19.
Herzog’s office tells The Times of Israel the president was invited in November and that the sides are still working on a date.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson similarly says: “We have nothing to announce.”
No date has been set, but the reports say one will be announced within days.
In a video address at the Israeli Embassy in Washington’s Independence Day party last week, Herzog said: “I’m looking forward to visiting the United States of America in the near future, to addressing a joint meeting of Congress, visiting my good friends at the White House, and meeting so many other good friends.”
The invitation to address a joint session of Congress was extended to Herzog when he was in Washington last October, when he also met with US President Joe Biden in the White House.
This will therefore be Herzog’s second visit to the White House in less than a year.
A similar invitation from the White House has not yet been extended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In March, Biden castigated the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plan and said Netanyahu would not be getting a White House invite in the near future.
David Friedman, who served as former US president Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel, announces his decision to endorse his old boss in the 2024 presidential election.
“I was privileged to have worked with President Trump and his team in setting and implementing his Middle East policies and I am very proud of our historic achievements. I believe that it is in America’s best interests to strongly support Israel. No president has more strongly supported Israel than President Donald J. Trump and I endorse him for President of the United States,” Friedman tweets.
The endorsement is not particularly surprising, given that Friedman has stuck with Trump amid the fallout of his presidency.
But Friedman did criticize Trump’s conduct surrounding the January 6 Capitol insurrection, as well as the former president’s decision to dine with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes last year.
Friedman’s announcement comes days after Trump came under federal indictment over his handling of classified documents.
Friedman was highly influential as ambassador during Trump’s first term. He would likely be offered a spot in the administration if Trump returns to the White House, and has been rumored as a potential candidate for the position of national security adviser.
I was privileged to have worked with President Trump @realDonaldTrump and his team in setting and implementing his Middle East policies and I am very proud of our historic achievements. I believe that it is in America’s best interests to strongly support Israel. No president has…
— David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) June 13, 2023
Ahead of tomorrow’s key Knesset vote to place two lawmakers on the Judicial Selection Committee, leaders of weekly protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plan warn that “everything will ignite” if one of the selected MKs isn’t from the opposition.
“We are on alert and all available [to spring into action] at a moment’s notice,” they say in a fiery statement. “If opposition representative [Karine Elharrar] isn’t selected as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee, everything will ignite. We suggest that the government not try us.
“But even if she is selected, as long as the threat of dictatorship isn’t shelved, and the fear of a rotten compromise isn’t removed, the protests will continue and become stronger. In front of politicians’ homes, in conferences and in Kaplan [Street in Tel Aviv],” they add.
“We will keep carrying out our duty to save Israeli democracy from those who want to turn it into a dangerous, messianic dictatorship.”
The crucial Knesset vote to place two representatives on the Judicial Selection Committee is now expected for tomorrow morning, earlier than expected.
Likud lawmakers have received a message saying that the vote will take place immediately after the Knesset’s initial agenda items, whereby ministers answer queries to the government.
The committee has become the center of focus after the coalition tried to change its makeup as part of its now-paused judicial overhaul push, and as the opposition has insisted on sending a representative to the committee alongside a coalition MK, as is customary but not mandatory. All the committee members must be picked by tomorrow.
Coalition party heads will sit down tomorrow morning to discuss and reach agreements regarding the selection of the Knesset’s and the government’s representatives in the Judicial Selection Committee, which picks the nation’s judges.
The committee has become the center of focus after the coalition tried to change its makeup as part of its now-paused judicial overhaul push, and as the opposition has insisted on sending a representative to the committee alongside a coalition MK, as is customary but not mandatory. All the committee members must be picked by tomorrow.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly in favor of allowing the opposition to send a representative to the committee as part of a deal apparently reached in compromise talks between coalition and opposition teams hosted by President Isaac Herzog.
But the premier wants to reach a consensus with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, both of whom are said to view the imminent agreement as caving to opposition demands.
At 9 a.m., coalition heads will meet to determine an agreed-upon potential second coalition candidate for the panel, and to remove extraneous names from the anonymous ballot.
At 10 a.m., Netanyahu’s Likud party will meet for a closed meeting, according to a message sent to party lawmakers and ministers.
Former US president Trump isn’t due in court in Miami for hours, but both his supporters and detractors are already gathering outside.
Trump is set to make his first court appearance after being indicted on 37 charges related to the mishandling of classified documents. The indictment marks the first time in US history that a former president faces criminal charges by the federal government he once oversaw.
Jack Kaplan says he drove two hours from Fort Pierce, where the judge assigned to the case is based, to counter the large number of Trump supporters who have already started showing up outside the federal courthouse in Miami.
Toting a copy of the indictment affixed to a clipboard and a sign reading “Trump is Toast,” the 68-year-old retired car dealer says he’ll celebrate with a $1,400 bottle of Mouton Rothschild red wine if the former president goes to prison.
“I’ve already got the bottle sitting in my wine cooler,” says Kaplan as a Trump supporter carrying a sign reading “Keep America Great” walks by coolly. “I’m going to have a big party.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow could have more successfully readied southern regions of the country bordering Ukraine for cross-border attacks from Ukrainian territory.
“Of course, there is nothing good in this,” he says, referring to recent cross-border counterattacks on Russia’s southern region of Belgorod.
“But, in principle, one could have assumed that the enemy would behave this way, and one could have prepared better,” he adds.
Iran’s nuclear negotiator says he has met with diplomats from three European countries in Abu Dhabi to discuss a number of issues, including the country’s atomic energy program.
“Following diplomatic consultations with regional and extra-regional parties, we met with our German, French and British counterparts in Abu Dhabi and discussed a range of issues,” deputy foreign minister and top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri tweets.
Germany’s foreign ministry tells AFP the meeting took place yesterday and discussions broached topics concerning Iran’s nuclear program.
State news agency IRNA adds that Bagheri is also in Abu Dhabi to discuss with the officials the promotion of bilateral cooperation and to review regional issues.
Iran’s nuclear program has long been the subject of scrutiny from Western powers, resulting in sanctions that have hit the country’s economy.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has reportedly accused top police commanders of failing to implement his policy during last week’s Tel Aviv Pride Parade, accusing cops of acting “illegally” when they arrested a protester against the LGBTQ rights march.
Aharon Burstein, a Haredi resident of Tel Aviv, has for years been staging a silent, one-man protest against the Parade, standing with a sign that says “I protest” while reciting Psalms.
זהו אהרון בורשטיין,התמונה מלפני שנה בה הוא הביע את מחאתו הפסיבית,החוקית נגד מצעד הגאווה.
השנה,הוא לא עמד בקרן הרחוב כי עמי אשד החליט שהוא מסוכן לציבור והורה על מעצר בית מנהלי ל48 שעות+שני בלשים שישגיחו.
רק על זה כל מי שקשור,צריך לעוף הביתה ביום ראשון.
זו הדיקטטורה.זן הבושה. pic.twitter.com/HyrJ3I3ks7— ???????? אלעד (@ungermongar) June 10, 2023
This year he was arrested ahead of the march on Thursday, questioned and sent to house arrest until Saturday night, despite the lack of any evidence to indicate he was dangerous. On Friday, the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court released him without any restrictive conditions, criticizing police.
According to the Walla news site, Ben Gvir sent an angry letter today to Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and police’s Tel Aviv District Commander Ami Eshed, saying police “violated freedom of speech” with the “false arrest.”
Ben Gvir reportedly says that in a discussion ahead of the Parade, he instructed Shabtai and Eshed to ensure freedom of expression both for the marchers and for counter-protesters, and that Eshed said he would do so.
“Turns out that the Israel Police violated the freedom of speech of a man named Aharon Burstein by wrongfully arresting him just for holding a sign saying ‘I protest,'” he writes, according to the report, adding that cops apparently broke the law. “Additionally, this is an incident that goes against my policy, and against your statement that you would enable freedom of expression for everyone.”
The report says Ben Gvir has asked for clarifications by Sunday.
President Isaac Herzog’s office officially acknowledges that Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska is coming to Israel next week at the invitation of her Israeli counterpart, Michal Herzog, to discuss trauma care and rehabilitation.
The Times of Israel reported on the planned visit earlier this week.
Zelenska and Herzog will conduct a joint visit on Monday to Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, and will hold meetings with the Israel Trauma Coalition and NATAL, an Israeli nonprofit that specializes in war and terror related trauma. Officials from the Foreign Ministry and European Union will participate in the talks as well.
Zelenska, wife of Ukraine’s wartime leader Volodymyr Zelensky, will also have a personal schedule that will likely include a visit to wounded Ukrainian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation in Israel.
Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera says it is treating four Israelis wounded in the shooting attack in the northern West Bank.
One is listed in moderate condition, and the other three are listed in good condition.
A fifth victim was taken by helicopter to Rambam hospital in Haifa in moderate condition, according to medics.
Amnesty International claims that Israeli strikes on Gaza and Palestinian rocket fire at Israeli cities during last month’s flareup could amount to “war crimes.”
Israel and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, including Islamic Jihad, traded heavy fire in the May 9-13 conflict.
The fighting began after the death in Israeli custody of a hunger-striking alleged Islamic Jihad terrorist, after which the terror group fired over 100 projectiles at Israel. A week later, Israeli airstrikes killed six top members of the Islamic Jihad terror group, and more than a dozen other alleged terror group members, among 33 total Gaza fatalities during the flareup. Islamic Jihad fired over 1,600 projectiles at Israel, and Israel said that at least four of the Gaza civilian fatalities were likely killed by failed rockets. Two people were killed in Israel — an elderly Israeli woman in her home in Rehovot and a Gazan worker.
The London-based human rights group charges that Israeli strikes carried out “without military necessity” amount to “a form of collective punishment against the civilian population.”
It also accuses Palestinian terror groups of “indiscriminate” rocket fire aimed at Israel that “should also be investigated as war crimes.”
Amnesty says the Israeli military operation damaged 2,943 housing units, including 103 homes that were completely destroyed.
“Israel also conducted apparently disproportionate airstrikes which killed and injured Palestinian civilians, including children,” the statement adds, noting that “intentionally launching disproportionate attacks… is a war crime.”
“Israel’s impunity for the war crimes it repeatedly commits against Palestinians, and for its cruel ongoing 16-year illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, emboldens further violations and makes injustice chronic,” says Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa regional director at Amnesty International.
The Israeli army does not immediately respond to requests from AFP for comment on Amnesty’s claims.
A spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad — considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union — says the group “welcomes” the report.
“We are doing our part to defend ourselves against the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” it adds in a statement.
France says it has uncovered a major disinformation campaign waged by Russia, involving the posting of false news items hostile to Ukraine made to look like they were published by prominent French news organizations.
“France condemns these actions unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna says in a statement. “The French authorities are working closely with their partners to defeat the hybrid warfare led by Russia.”
The Foreign Ministry appoints Ran Gidor, who currently heads humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV), as the next consul general in St. Petersburg, Russia.
He will be replacing Uri Resnick, who has been in the position for less than two years out of the usual four.
Gidor has served as ambassador in Cameroon and Georgia.
The mission in St. Petersburg is run by two diplomats. It is Israel’s only diplomatic office in Russia outside of the embassy in Moscow.
The Israel Defense Forces says that after apparent Palestinian gunmen targeted a civilian motorist in the West Bank shooting attack west of Jenin, they opened fire at a military vehicle, injuring three more. All four are said to be in moderate condition.
Large numbers of Israeli forces have begun searches in the area and are blocking off a number of roads near the village of Yabed, the IDF says.
The attack comes exactly two weeks after an Israeli man, 32-year-old Meir Tamari, was shot dead by Palestinian terrorists outside the settlement of Hermesh.
The military is investigating if the attack today was carried out by the same gunmen.
All four victims of the shooting attack in the northern West Bank are listed in moderate condition, medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says the 33-year-old Israeli motorist and another two Israeli victims shot near the Efes junction were taken to Hillel Yaffe hospital in Hadera.
The fourth Israeli victim, also in moderate condition, was taken by helicopter to Rambam hospital in Haifa, MDA says.
Palestinian health officials say that a young man has been killed during the Israeli military raid in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.
According to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry, the man is named as Fares Hashash, 19.
The ministry says he was shot in the chest, abdomen, and lower body.
عاجل| ارتقاء الشاب فارس حشاش بعد إصابته برصاص الاحتلال في مخيم بلاطة. pic.twitter.com/xevp6N5qTq
— Jmedia (@Jmediaps) June 13, 2023
Four Israelis are wounded in a suspected shooting attack in the northern West Bank, medics say.
An Israeli motorist in his 30s reported that he came under fire at the Efes junction, between the settlements of Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, west of Jenin.
The driver reached the Reihan checkpoint, where he is being treated by Magen David Adom medics.
MDA says the driver is suffering from gunshot wounds to his upper body, is conscious and in moderate condition.
According to the Rescuers Without Borders emergency service, after the Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the first Israeli motorist, they targeted other Israelis in the area, injuring three.
The service says the additional three victims suffered light injuries, one from a gunshot wound to his shoulder and the other two as a result of shrapnel.
The military says it will provide further details on the apparent attack later.
The Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approves a motion calling on the government to form a government commission of inquiry to probe the alleged illicit use of spyware by police to collect evidence and spy on citizens.
The move, proposed by committee chair Simcha Rothman, comes a week after prosecutors for the first time withdrew evidence from a court case after it became clear that police obtained it illegally using spyware.
It also comes amid persistent accusations that police have access to a watered-down version of the notorious NSO Group’s Pegasus software, known as Saifan, which reportedly allows police access to Israelis’ phones, including the ability to covertly listen to conversations.
At least two Palestinians are wounded by Israeli gunfire during a raid near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian health officials say.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry says the two people, one shot in the chest and the other in the elbow and thigh, are in stable condition.
According to Palestinian media, Israeli forces are surrounding a home in the Balata refugee camp.
The toll from overnight Russian strikes on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has risen to 10, authorities say.
“Ten people have died, one is under the rubble, 28 are injured,” Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city’s military administration, says in a statement on social media.
President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant award the Israel Defense Prize, one of the highest honors bestowed by the state, to four teams for top-secret work they accomplished over the past year.
The winners, announced last month, include the team behind a “groundbreaking” cyber-defense system aimed at giving Israel “freedom of action in the digital space,” and three other completely classified projects.
“Officers, soldiers and fellow citizens, the women and men of our esteemed defense establishment. Your invaluable contributions to Israel’s national strength are truly remarkable. Through your accomplishments, inventions, developments and outstanding achievements, the security of our beloved nation is safeguarded, ensuring our ability to defend ourselves independently,” says Herzog at the ceremony.
“The projects celebrated today are truly awe-inspiring, revolutionary, and serve as a wellspring of inspiration. They transform seemingly impossible fantasies into tangible realities,” he adds.
Gallant says the classified projects “send a clear message to our adversaries that we are always prepared for any threat.”
Palestinian media outlets are reporting an Israeli military raid in the Balata refugee camp, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Footage circulating on social media shows Israeli troops surrounding a home in the camp. Another clip shows a convoy of military vehicles in the area.
Palestinian media says there are clashes in the area between local gunmen and Israeli forces.
There is no immediate comment on the raid by the Israel Defense Forces or the Border Police.
قوات الاحتلال تحاصر منزلًا في مخيم بلاطة شرق نابلس pic.twitter.com/kRQILBmbKL
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 13, 2023
#شاهد جانب من التعزيزات التي يرسلها جيش الاحتلال لمخيم بلاطة بنابلس. pic.twitter.com/h1AezfHC3Q
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) June 13, 2023
