Bennett: ‘I’ll topple the government’ to prevent a Palestinian state

Israel to release PFLP lawmaker after 14 months in prison

Israel is set to release a prominent Palestinian lawmaker who has been in prison since August for encouraging attacks against Israel and violating a travel ban, Palestinian and Israeli sources said Thursday.

Khalida Jarrar will be set free at the Jubara checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Friday morning, the Israel Prisons Service and Palestinian Prisoners Club tell AFP.

Jarrar, a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a well-known political figure, had been sentenced by Israel to 15 months in prison.

The prisons service spokesman said she was being released a month early as part of an “administrative release,” which can take place when prisons are filled beyond capacity.

— AFP

Migrants hurt, tents torched in Greek island brawl

MYTILENE, Greece – Over a dozen migrants are hurt Thursday in a brawl in the main detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos that also sees nearly 30 tents torched, an AFP correspondent says.

Hundreds of people — mainly families with children — are evacuated from the camp during the night as rival groups of Afghans and Pakistanis go at each other with clubs and stones.

Three of the injured — two Pakistanis and an Afghan — are hospitalized, two of them with head injuries.

There are nearly 3,000 people in the Moria camp ahead of the clash, most of them asylum applicants trying to avoid deportation to Turkey under an EU deal that went into effect in March.

— AFP

Yuval Steinitz: Turkey reconciliation deal nearing completion

Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says nearly all outstanding issues for a reconciliation agreement with Turkey have been finalized by both sides.

“I’d say we’ve successfully finished dealing with 90 percent of the topics,” Steinitz says in a radio interview.

Steinitz’s remarks are the latest in a long series of iterations from both sides implying a deal was imminent to end the rift between the former allies.

Pressed by 103FM radio to say when he thought a deal might be completed, Steinitz says he hopes it will “in the coming weeks.”

“There is huge interest on both sides — a strategic interest and an energy-related and economic one,” he says.

— AFP

German Parliament labels Armenians’ killings as genocide

BERLIN — The German Parliament overwhelmingly approves a motion labeling the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide, a decision that Turkey’s prime minister says would “test” relations between the two countries at a sensitive time.

The resolution, which was put forward by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition of right and left and the opposition Greens, passes Thursday with support from all the parties in Parliament. In a show of hands, there was one abstention and one vote against.

Merkel spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz has made clear that the chancellor supported the motion.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier this week his country would not nix a deal with the European Union on curbing the flow of migrants to Europe over the motion, but told party officials in Ankara earlier Thursday that the vote was a “true test of friendship.”

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event viewed by many scholars as the 20th century’s first genocide. Turkey denies that the killings that started in 1915 were genocide and contends the dead were victims of civil war and unrest. Ankara also insists the death toll has been inflated.

— AP

At long last, an emoji Bible

As an ever larger proportion of humanity increasingly communicates via the internet, an anonymous Bible reader has “translated” the world’s most-translated book into the unique English shorthand that makes cyber-communications so efficient.

Using Unicode “emoji” icons that will show up on nearly all computer systems, accompanied by common online abbreviations, the iOS ebook — available for reading on iPhones and iPads — runs to almost 3,300 pages.

The book is a project of the Bible Emoji website, which “translates” Biblical verses into “emojis” by substituting certain words, such as “world” or “God,” with emoji equivalents.

The Bible… translated w/ Emojis! pic.twitter.com/3OsT7Nr8iD

— Bible Emoji (@BibleEmoji) May 29, 2016

https://twitter.com/BibleEmoji/status/714143242883825665

The Twitter account bills itself as “Scripture for millennials.”

In an interview with the Australian daily Guardian Australia, the author said, “I thought if we fast forwarded 100 years in the future, an emoji bible would exist. So I thought it’d be fun to try to make it…

“I wanted to make it similar to how you might text or tweet a Bible verse, by shrinking the total character count.”

But the dictionary is limited – just 80 emojis that serve in lieu of 200 words.

According to Jezebel, the author’s purpose is clear: “this new, hip bible (now with 15 percent fewer words) might finally be the ticket to luring the heathen tweens to God.”

While “Spread love, not fear” is written as “spread 😍, not 😨,” with half the words finding an emoji equivalent, less popularly known verses, such as Exodus 22:18 in the King James version — “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” — merely changes “to” to “2.”

.@BibleEmoji – Follow, retweet like and share! pic.twitter.com/U0hYsQt6xK

— Bible Emoji (@BibleEmoji) March 29, 2016

Syria refugees kept behind fences amid Jordan security fears

AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan — A barbed wire-topped fence encircles a section of a bleak UN-run camp, isolating thousands of recent arrivals — whom Jordan considers a potential security risk — from other Syrian refugees.

This camp-within-a-camp, called “Village 5,” was set up in late March as part of an uneasy trade-off between Jordan and international aid agencies trying to speed up admission of tens of thousands of refugees stranded in remote desert areas on the kingdom’s border.

Under the deal, Jordan agreed to let in about 300 Syrians a day, or five times more than before, on condition that newcomers are isolated in Azraq for more security checks. Jordan says strict vetting is crucial to prevent Islamic State extremists, who control large areas of Syria, from infiltrating the kingdom.

In turn, aid agencies agreed to put traumatized war survivors behind barbed wire, if only temporarily.

Yet neither side expects the new admissions deal to empty out two rapidly growing encampments on the Syrian-Jordanian border. Instead, the population there — currently at 64,000, half of them children — is expected to reach 100,000 by the end of the year if fighting in Syria continues.

— AP

Syrians nabbed for planning terror attack in Germany

BERLIN — Prosecutors say three Syrian men suspected of planning an attack in Dusseldorf for the Islamic State group are arrested in Germany. They say a fourth suspect, who informed officials in Paris about the plot, is already in custody in France.

The federal prosecutor’s office says the three men were arrested in three different German states on Thursday.

It says in a statement that the plan called for two suicide attackers to blow themselves up in central Dusseldorf and then for further attackers to kill as many people as possible with firearms and explosives.

However, it says there are no indications that they had started with concrete preparations, and the plot was thwarted when one of the plotters went to French prosecutors February 1 with details of the plan.

— AP

Iran says no Iranian pilgrims at next hajj

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran officially announces that it won’t be sending pilgrims to the hajj this year, blaming Saudi Arabia for the move and claiming the kingdom has failed to provide adequate security for the pilgrims.

The hajj has become a contentious issue as tensions between the two Mideast powers escalated after last year’s disaster at the hajj killed at least 2,426 people, according to an AP count. Iran has said the disaster killed 464 of its pilgrims.

Iran has since demanded additional security guarantees for pilgrims but a second round of talks in Saudi Arabia this week failed to resolve the issue.

Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, says Thursday that “Saudi Arabia knows it will pay a heavy price for depriving pilgrims” from Iran of the chance to perform the hajj, considered a duty for every able-bodied Muslim.

He also says Riyadh sought to restrict the number of makeshift clinics Iran wanted to set up for its pilgrims and the amount of medicines it wanted to supply them with. In addition, last month the kingdom said it would not allow Iranian pilgrims to perform a Shiite ritual during the hajj.

— AP

Cabinet okays NIS 850m for Jerusalem development

At a special cabinet meeting Thursday to mark Jerusalem Day, Israel’s government announces an NIS 850 million ($220 million) five-year development plan for Jerusalem.

The cabinet meeting is held this morning at southern Jerusalem’s Ein Lavan park, with ministers casting their votes in an open-air meeting.

The budget goes to fund the city’s “Jerusalem 2020” development plan, which calls for investments in housing, the city’s technology sector and its higher education institutions.

Erdogan: German genocide resolution will ‘seriously’ affect ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that the German parliament’s recognition of World War I killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide would “seriously affect” bilateral ties.

“The resolution adopted by the German parliament will seriously affect relations between Germany and Turkey,” Erdogan says, confirming that Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Germany for consultations.

Germany’s charge d’affaires in the capital has also been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry later in the day, a spokesperson for German embassy in Ankara tells AFP.

— AFP

US envoy proudly parades Pride Parade preparations

The US Embassy in Tel Aviv is decked out ahead of Friday’s Gay Pride Parade in the metropolis.

In a bilingual Hebrew-English language tweet, US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro declares the embassy “is ready for #TelAvivPride! See you tomorrow!”

An attached photo shows the embassy’s beachfront building draped in the rainbow flags of the gay rights movement.

שגרירות ארנ״ב מוכנה למצעד הגאווה! נתראה מחר!@usembassyta is ready for #TelAvivPride! See you tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1BomWk5dQq

— Dan Shapiro (@AmbShapiro) June 2, 2016

Anti-Israel boycott movement faced slew of cyberattacks

The international movement calling for a boycott of Israel says its website was repeatedly attacked earlier this year.

The BDS movement releases a report Thursday showing that its main website suffered six attacks in February and March.

The report, compiled by nonprofit online security service eQualit.ie, said the attacks had a level of “sophistication and commitment” it normally does not see.

Assigning responsibility for cyberattacks is notoriously difficult, and the report doesn’t speculate on who might be behind the rogue traffic. The BDS movement raises the possibility of Israeli involvement, but it offers no hard evidence.

— AP

Police shutter construction site that employed Tel Aviv stabber

The Israel Police shuts down a construction site in the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim for illegally employing the 19-year-old Palestinian who stabbed an IDF soldier on Monday.

The Israeli employer hired the Palestinian man despite the fact that he did not have a legal permit to enter and work in Israel, police say.

It appears the site’s owner may also have provided housing for the worker, a police spokesperson says.

Construction at the site will be frozen for 15 days.

“The police call on the public to abide by the law and not employ, house or transport people who do not have legal permits,” a police statement says.

— Judah Ari Gross

Ya’alon, Liberman meet for on-the-job Defense Ministry training

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman meets with his recently ousted predecessor Moshe Ya’alon for some on-the-job training.

Last week, Liberman asked Ya’alon, a former chief of staff of the IDF, to carry out a comprehensive handover of the post in order to help ease the transition.

Ya’alon and Liberman meet for an hour and a half on Thursday at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, discussing mostly classified matters, according to Army Radio.

Ya’alon tells Liberman that he stands ready to help in any way Liberman sees fit.

Israeli civilian helicopter overflies south Lebanon

An Israeli civilian helicopter pilot flies his privately owned chopper over southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon.

Israeli air defense authorities make contact with the pilot after detecting his passage into Lebanese air space and help guide him back into Israeli territory.

The Air Force is investigating the cause for the overflight.

According to Channel 2, the pilot took off from the northern city of Kiryat Shemona and may have attempted to fly in a straight line toward the coastal city of Nahariya, a route that would necessarily take him over southern Lebanon.

Police chase stolen car into Issawiya, fend off rock-throwers

A police chase of a stolen car in northern Jerusalem leads to rioting in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, according to police.

Police attempt to stop a suspicious vehicle in the French Hill neighborhood in the city’s north, causing the driver to flee, in the process slamming his car into a police cruiser.

The vehicle races toward Issawiya with cops in hot pursuit. While racing from police, the car overturns. A passenger climbs out of the vehicle and flees the scene as police close on the driver.

At the same time, residents of the neighborhood begin lobbing rocks at the cops, who call in reinforcements to push back the crowd.

A check on the vehicle determines that it was stolen and bears duplicate license plates.

The driver, a Palestinian resident of Issawiya, is arrested. A manhunt is underway for his suspected accomplice.

Syrian state TV: Deadly blast at Latakia mosque

BEIRUT – Syrian state TV is reporting that an explosion has struck outside a mosque in the coastal government stronghold of Latakia, inflicting casualties.

The TV says the blast occurred Thursday as people were leaving the Khulafa Rashideen mosque following afternoon prayers.

State TV says the blast killed and wounded several people, but did not give numbers.

The explosion comes a week after a series of coordinated bombings struck the coastal city of Tartus and the town of Jableh on the Syrian coast, killing some 160 people.

The coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus have been a government stronghold since the country’s conflict began in 2011.

— AP

Clinton to tackle Trump on foreign policy

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton is set to unleash a major foreign policy attack on Donald Trump, using a speech in San Diego to cast the Republican as unqualified and dangerous.

The former secretary of state, who has repeatedly called Trump a “loose cannon,” will seek Thursday to contrast her foreign policy experience with Trump’s. Foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan says Clinton would make clear how high the stakes are in the race, as well as share her “larger vision of who we are, what we’re all about as a country.”

“She is going to make clear why Donald Trump is simply unqualified to be commander in chief,” Sullivan says, adding that the speech “will go into specifics in a very direct and clear way about what makes Donald Trump unfit, both in terms of temperament and ideas. This is as full-throated and full-bodied a case as you will have seen from anyone on the danger that Donald Trump poses.”

During an appearance in Newark, New Jersey Wednesday, Clinton assailed Trump over his past statements, criticizing him for proposing to ban Muslims from entering the country, for advocating the use of torture and for saying other countries should acquire nuclear weapons.

— AP

Soldier hurt in apparent accidental shooting dies of wounds

The IDF says a soldier hurt in an apparently accidental shooting has succumbed to his wounds today.

The soldier was critically injured yesterday after he was shot on an IDF base in the south. He was taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

The Military Police is investigating the incident.

Galant: Israel and Turkey close to reconciliation

Housing Minister Yoav Galant confirms that Israel and Turkey are close to a reconciliation agreement.

“Israel and Turkey are close to a deal, which is fundamental for Israel from the national security viewpoint, but which also has economic ramifications that can extend to the construction sector,” says Galant, who serves as Israel’s top regulator of the housing and construction industries.

“We have many enemies. We don’t need more,” he says.

Earlier today, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said “90 percent of the issues” that have prevented reconciliation between former allies Ankara and Jerusalem have been resolved.

Foreign Ministry director: French peace initiative ‘will fail’

Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold today insists that the French-led effort to restart peace negotiations “will fail.”

“One hundred years ago, Sykes and Picot tried to establish a new order in the Middle East. This was at the height of colonialism in our region. It failed then and it will fail today,” Gold tells journalists.

“The only way to make peace is through direct negotiations without preconditions, with the support of Arab states, and not through conferences in Paris,” he adds.

The French initiative will see the convening of a peace confab in Paris on Friday. Israeli and Palestinian officials are not invited to the gathering.

“If you have a conflict with a neighbor, you don’t travel all the way to France and invite Senegal in order to resolve it,” Gold quips.

Bennett: ‘I’ll topple the government’ to prevent a Palestinian state

Education Minister Naftali Bennett promises to topple the government to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“We’re the only party and I’m the only leader who says there won’t be a Palestinian state established here,” he tells Channel 2’s Rina Matzliach in an interview segment aired Thursday evening.

In recent days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have promised to pursue a peace agreement and said they support the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“They’re wrong,” says Bennett, who leads the right-wing Jewish Home party.

Palestinian statehood is not part of the government’s policy guidelines as set down in last year’s coalition talks, the education minister notes.

“We’re in a government that I insisted not have [the establishment of] a Palestinian state in its guidelines,” he says.

“As long as we’re here [in the coalition], there won’t be a state of Palestine establishment on Route 6. We won’t split Jerusalem.”

Would he resign, Matzliach asked?

“Unequivocally. I won’t only resign, I’ll topple the government.”

Jerusalem police to beef up security for Old City march

Police plan to deploy hundreds of officers to Jerusalem’s Old City next week, a spokesman says Thursday, in a bid to secure an annual march commemorating Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War that may coincide with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says some 2,000 officers will be sent to secure Sunday’s march, which is expected to draw some 30,000 people. Ramadan, which draws tens of thousands of worshipers to the Temple Mount in the Old City, could begin Sunday evening.

Rosenfeld says police intend to make sure the marchers and Muslim faithful do not cross paths, hoping to ensure that “there will be no incidents whatsoever.”

— AP

Interior minister: Home front unprepared for war

Israel’s home front may be unready for the exigencies of war.

In an apparent hot mike moment, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri is heard telling new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman at the cabinet meeting this morning that “the home front is not prepared” for the next war.

His words are caught on a microphone before the meeting officially begins, apparently without his knowledge, and are broadcast Thursday evening on Channel 2.

“We have a terrible failure here, we have no inventories, we have nothing,” Deri tells Liberman.

“I intend to raise this in a big way on Sunday, this can’t continue,” he adds, referring to a special cabinet session on home front preparedness called for Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Deri is believed to be pushing to move oversight of home front preparedness from the Defense Ministry to the Interior Ministry, a move recommended by the National Security Council.

“The NSC are giving us assignments, coordinating with local councils,” Deri says to Liberman, referring to the recommendations. “But there isn’t a penny, no salaries, nothing. Everyone is in a state of ‘trust me,’ until something falls and then they’ll understand,” he warns.