Netanyahu meets with coalition leaders in bid to avoid elections

Netanyahu warns of regional nuclear arms race if Iran deal not fixed or scrapped

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the 2015 deal meant to limit Iran’s nuclear program isn’t altered or canceled.

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu says his discussions with US officials last week dealt mostly with Iran.

“I said the nuclear deal with Iran hides within it many dangers to the world, indcluding a particular danger of the nuclearization of the Middle East,” he says.

“Many countries in the Middle East say they should also be allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to. Therefore, the way to prevent this danger of nuclearization in the Middle East is to fundamentally fix the agreement or cancel it,” he adds.

Netanyahu is apparently referring to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to purchase nuclear reactors to the US and is reportedly conditioning any deal on the right to enrich uranium, an essential component in producing nuclear weapons.

“Beyond this, I remind you that Iran has declared almost every day that it intends to annihilate the State of Israel,” he says. “Needless to say we won’t allow this, to say the least.”

UK media: Traces of nerve agent found in ex-spy poisoning

LONDON — British media report Sunday that traces of the nerve agent used to attack a Russian ex-spy and his daughter have been found in Salisbury where the two were poisoned.

BBC says its sources say traces were found at a restaurant where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia reportedly ate before falling critically ill, and a pub. BBC also reports that up to 500 people who dined at the restaurant or frequented the pub have been told to wash their possessions as a precaution. Sky News says traces were found in several locations.

But UK officials haven’t publicly confirmed that any trace of the nerve agent has been found and say the risk to the public remains low. Officials haven’t said what type of nerve agent was used.

A large-scale police investigation is underway in Salisbury as forensics experts wearing protective gear search for clues. Among the sites they are searching are the Zizzi restaurant, which is closed to the public, and the gravesites where Skripal’s wife and son are buried. Skripal’s house has also been extensively searched for clues and traces of the nerve agent.

Wiltshire police plann to hold a news conference Sunday afternoon to release further details about the widening investigation.

— AP

Egyptian army says 16 jihadists killed in Sinai operation

CAIRO — Egypt’s military says Sunday 16 jihadists, an officer and a soldier were killed in the past four days during a major military operation against Islamic State group jihadists in Sinai.

The army launched a sweeping campaign after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is running in elections for his second term this month, gave them a three-month deadline to crush IS in Sinai.

He issued his ultimatum in November after suspected IS gunmen massacred more than 300 worshipers in a Sinai mosque associated with Sufi Muslim mystics.

Since the military, then led by Sissi, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, security forces have sought to quell attacks by the Egypt branch of IS.

— AFP

Mattis: Any gas attack in Syria would be ‘very unwise’

MUSCAT, Oman — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Sunday it would be “very unwise” for the Syrian regime to use gas as a weapon against the people of Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere.

Mattis’s warning comes amid reports President Bashar Assad’s forces have used chlorine gas in the rebel-held area near Damascus, and he underscores his remarks by referencing US President Donald Trump’s strike on a Syrian airbase after an alleged chemical attack last year.

“We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians on any battlefield,” Mattis tells reporters accompanying him on a trip to Oman.

“I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponized gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration.”

Mattis says he was aware of “an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas,” but indicated he did not have conclusive evidence.

Trump last April ordered a missile strike against a regime airbase at Shayrat, after Washington said it used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, killing scores of civilians.

— AFP

US Secretary for Defense Jim Mattis speaks to reporters aboard a military jet as he travels for a visit to Oman on March 10, 2018. (AFP Photo/Thomas Watkins)

Opposition lawmaker to submit bill dissolving Knesset

An opposition lawmaker says he’ll submit a bill Monday that would dissolve the government and set fresh elections for June.

“I will submit a bill tomorrow morning for the dissolution of the Knesset and the holding of elections of June 26,” tweets Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli. “The time has come for another government.”

Shmuli says he’ll request the Knesset fast-track the bill so it can be passed within two days of its submission.

Shmuli’s tweet comes as the talk of elections continue to grow, with coalition parties increasingly at odds over legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox students from mandatory military service.

Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli attends a Labor, Welfare, and Health Committee meeting at the Knesset on October 17, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Likud says coalition leaders’ meeting held in ‘good atmosphere’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party says the weekly meeting of coalition leaders was held in a “good atmosphere” as the government continues to bicker over legislation that could lead to its collapse.

“The coalition leaders meeting was held in a good atmosphere. There is still no agreed upon [legislative] formula between ultra-Orthodox parties. The coalition leaders are waiting for the [ultra-Orthodox] version and afterwards will continue the discussions in order to solve the crisis,” Likud says.

Despite the statement from the party, neither Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) or Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) attended the meeting. The two are at odds over a bill exempting ultra-Orthodox students from mandatory military service, raising the possibility of early elections.

Hebrew media reports say the meeting of coalition heads disbanded within minutes due to the two’s absence.

Risk to UK public remains low after poisoning

LONDON — British health officials say the risk to public health after the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy remains low.

Dr. Jenny Harries of Public Health England says Sunday there has been some limited contamination of a restaurant and pub in Salisbury following the nerve agent attack.

She says people who were in the restaurant and pub on March 4 and March 5 should take “simple” precautions by washing their clothes and taking other measures.

Harries says the announcement of these precautions doesn’t mean the risk level to the public has been raised.

Hospital officials in Salisbury also say there is no evidence of a wider risk beyond the three people hospitalized since the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

— AP

In this image dated March 9, 2018, and issued March 10, 2018, by Britain’s Ministry of Defense, troops in protective gear work to remove a contaminated police car from the Accident and Emergency entrance at the District Hospital in Salisbury, England. (Pete Brown/MoD via AP)

Netanyahu said to tell cabinet still no ‘concrete’ US peace plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells cabinet ministers there is still no “concrete” US peace plan, Channel 10 reports.

“At the moment there is no concrete American peace plan on the table. I’m not saying there won’t be, but at the moment there isn’t,” the network quotes him as saying.

The Trump administration has been working on a peace plan but has yet to release any of its details or give a date for when it’ll be presented.

Elbit buys state-owned Israel Military Industries for NIS 1.8 billion

Defense manufacturer Elbit Systems agrees to buy Israel Military Industries from the state for NIS 1.8 billion ($522 million).

As part of the deal, Elbit will move Israel Military Industries facilities in Ramat Hasharon and elsewhere to the Negev Desert, allowing the land to be used for the development of housing units.

Top US general in Europe pledges support for IDF

The commander of American military forces in Europe pledges to support the Israel Defense Forces in times of crisis, while visiting the army’s Tel Aviv headquarters during a joint US-Israel missile defense exercise, known as Juniper Cobra.

“The US is deeply committed to the defense of Israel. We will continue to work alongside the IDF to promote stability throughout the region, not only for the purposes of this exercise, but in the event of any real-world contingency,” says Commander of the European Command (EUCOM) Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti.

He makes his remarks during a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other senior army officers, including Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi, head of IDF Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin and Head of the Planning Directorate Maj. Gen. Amir Abulafia.

“During the meeting, the commanders discussed the current situation in the Middle East and the evolving threats, as well as opportunities, including the strategic military cooperation,” the army says in a statement.

The American general arrived in Israel on Friday to oversee the Juniper Cobra exercise, in which thousands of American and Israeli troops will take part over the course of several weeks.

“General Scaparrotti’s visit proves once more the commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel. This is the ninth time that the IDF and the US military have trained together in the Juniper Cobra exercise. This training is intended to improve our ability to defend against missile and rocket threats and to advance the capabilities of both forces against various threats,” Eisenkot says during the meeting.

— Judah Ari Gross

הרמטכ"ל איזנקוט נפגש עם מפקד הפיקוד האירופי של צבא ארה"ב, גנרל קרטיס מ. סקפרוטי, שביקר בארץ @OrHeller pic.twitter.com/jL4c0acTlw

— חדשות עשר (@news10) March 11, 2018

Putin says he’ll never give Crimea back to Ukraine

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that under no circumstances would he give Crimea back to Ukraine, speaking in a new documentary released Sunday ahead of his expected re-election in next week’s poll.

“What, have you gone mad?” he tells a journalist who asked him if there were any circumstances under which the Russian leader would be ready to give up Crimea.

“There are no such circumstances and never will be,” he says in the new two-hour documentary “Putin.”

It is published on the social media accounts of notorious pro-Kremlin TV host Dmitry Kiselev ahead of a presidential election on March 18.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and supported Russian-speaking insurgents in the east of the ex-Soviet country after a Western-backed popular uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime from power in Kiev.

The peninsula’s annexation led to European and US sanctions against Moscow amid the most serious crisis in ties with the West since the end of the Cold War.

— AFP

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks with US NBC news network anchor Megyn Kelly at the Kremlin on March 1, 2018. (AFP Photo/Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin)

Arson attack on Berlin mosque causes damage, no injuries

BERLIN — German police say a mosque in Berlin has been set on fire causing severe damage. There were no injuries.

They say the mosque in the Reinickendorf district was set ablaze early Sunday, likely by three teenagers.

The group that runs the Koca Sinan Mosque writes on Facebook that the entire interior of the building was destroyed. The mosque is run by DITIP, a religious organization that’s close to the Turkish government.

Berlin police say they’re investigating and assuming political motives behind the attack.

In separate incidents, firebombs were thrown at a Turkish immigrants’ association in the western town of Meschede also Sunday, and on a mosque in Lauffen, in southern Germany, on Friday. Nobody was injured in the attacks. Police are still investigating both incidents as well.

— AP

Berlin mosque ablaze after suspected arson attack https://t.co/9aPhBuCtAB pic.twitter.com/8WOd8rXKOJ

— The Local Germany (@TheLocalGermany) March 11, 2018

Opposition leader calls for fresh elections as soon as possible

Head of the opposition Zionist Union party Avi Gabbay says he supports holding Knesset elections as soon as possible, as coalition infighting puts the government’s future in doubt.

“We’ll support moving up elections to an early as possible date because this is the best thing for the Israeli people and the State of Israel,” Gabbay says at a conference of the Israel Democracy Institute.

“After nine years of division and hate, the Israeli people can choose a new path and a new hope,” he adds.

Ultra-Orthodox reject proposal for solving draft exemption impasse

The Council of Torah Sages for Agudath Israel, one of two parties that make up the United Torah Judaism faction, rejects Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s proposal for resolving the coalition impasse over legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox students from military service.

The council instructs the Agudath Israel lawmakers to push for the passage of the bill before the approval of the 2019 state budget.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have threatened to vote down the state budget if the draft exemption bill isn’t passed, prompting Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to say he’d bolt the government if the budget isn’t passed by the end of the week.

The exemption legislation is opposed by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and coalition infighting over the bill has led to growing talk of early elections.

ADL rips Putin for suggesting Jews behind US election interference

The Anti-Defamation League strongly criticizes Russian President Vladimir Putin for suggesting Russian Jews were possibly responsible for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election.

“As the Russian government faces expanding evidence and new questions about possible meddling in US elections, President Putin bizarrely has resorted to the blame game by pointing the finger at Jews and other minorities in his country,” ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt says in a statement.

“It is deeply disturbing to see the Russian president giving new life to classic anti-Semitic stereotypes that have plagued his country for hundreds of years, with a comment that sounds as if it was ripped from the pages of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'” he adds.

Greenblatt calls on Putin to clarify his remarks, saying they could stoke anti-Semitic violence.

“We live in a moment when anti-Semitic violence is on the rise and words can have profound consequences, particularly when spoken by public figures or elected officials like President Putin. We hope he swiftly clarifies his words before they cause further damage to those communities he has singled out.”

Army looking into reported ‘security situation’ in West Bank settlement

The IDF says it is looking into reports of a “security situation” in the Tekoa settlement, south of Bethlehem, after residents received a text message instructing them to lock themselves inside their homes.

“It has yet to be verified,” the army says.

— Judah Ari Gross

Le Pen proposes renaming her far-right party ‘National Rally’

PARIS — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen proposes changing the name of the National Front party co-founded by her father to National Rally.

The renaming proposal culminates Le Pen’s closing speech at the party’s two-day congress in Lille, the capital of the National Front’s northern heartland.

Le Pen says the name the party has had since its 1972 founding is linked to a “glorious” past, but serves as a psychological barrier for potential new members and voters.

The new name must be approved by members in a mail vote.

It is part of a broader makeover Le Pen hopes will help boost the party to power. Le Pen has worked since taking over in 2011 to remove the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism attached to the National Front.

— AP

French far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen casts her vote, in Lille, northern France, on March 10, 2018.(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Settlement says possible ‘security situation’ was false alarm

The West Bank settlement of Tekoa says a possible “security situation” was in fact a false alarm.

A text message sent by the settlement says a suspicious figure was likely a resident on a hike.

Top prosecutor hits back at Netanyahu’s criticism of state’s witnesses

State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan says his office would never tell a state’s witness to lie, rebuffing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of prosecutors last week.

“We would never enlist a state’s witness and tell him to lie in order to incriminate another person,” Nitzan says at a conference of the Israel Democracy Institute.

“State testimony, which purifies public corruption, has tremendous value for all of us,” he adds. “It should be remembered that corruption offenses, especially bribery, are not carried out publicly.”

In a video last week, Netanyahu accused investigators of engaging in a conspiracy to bring him down that includes encouraging false testimony and illegally pressuring witnesses.

Three former Netanyahu aides have turned state’s witness in a series of corruption investigations involving the prime minister.

Private plane flying from UAE to Turkey crashes in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — A Turkish private jet flying from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul with at least 11 people on board crashed Sunday night in a mountainous region of Iran, authorities says. There are no immediate report of injuries.

Iranian state television quotes Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of the country’s emergency management organization, as saying the plane hit a mountain in Shahr-e Kord and burst into flames.

Shahr-e Kord is some 370 kilometres (230 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. The state-run IRNA news agency and state television say rescuers were trying to reach the scene.

Villagers near the crash say they saw flames coming from the plane’s engine before the crash, according to a report by Iran’s state-run judiciary news agency Mizan.

The semi-official Fars news agency says the plane took off from Sharjah International Airport on its way to Istanbul. Officials at the airport don’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sunday’s crash comes after an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people on board in February.

— AP

Saudi king establishes anti-corruption prosecution units

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s king has established special anti-corruption units of prosecutors to pursue embezzlement cases in the kingdom after a recent crackdown.

King Salman’s decision is announced Sunday in a report on the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The report says the king’s decision came from “his concern over combating corruption in all its forms aiming to protect the homeland and its resources, maintain public money and protect the integrity of the public employment.”

The decision comes after Saudi Arabia arrested dozens of princes, business leaders and government officials in early November in a push led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Authorities say the arrests netted more than $106 billion in exchange for the release of most of the detainees.

Critics say the arrests were more to consolidate Crown Prince Mohammed’s power.

— AP

In this photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency, King Salman attends a swearing in ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on November 6, 2017. (Saudi Press Agency, via AP)

Knesset committee approves plan to replace aging APC fleet

The Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs approves a Defense Ministry plan to replace its aging fleet of M113 armored personal carriers with the newer “Eitan” APCs by 2020.

The committee also approves a plan to develop a new self-propelled artillery piece to replace those currently in use by the IDF.

“The procurement plan was approved unanimously and it is now possible to declare that within a decade, the IDF Ground Forces will undergo a dramatic upgrading of [its] capabilities,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says.

“Within a decade the Ground Forces will look completely different — deadlier, faster and more technological,” he adds.

The Defense Ministry’s “Eitan” (“Steadfast”) armored personnel carrier. (Dana Shraga, Israeli Ministry of Defense)

Netanyahu meets with Kahlon, Litzman in bid to end coalition infighting

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman to try and resolve the coalition crisis surrounding a bill exempting ultra-Orthodox students from mandatory military service, Channel 10 reports.

The meeting comes after the spiritual leaders of Litzman’s Agudath Israel party reject a plan to solve the coalition infighting over the legislation.

Litzman has threatened to veto the 2019 state budget if the military enlistment exemption is not passed, while Kahlon has threatened to bolt the government if the budget is not passed by the end of the week.

Syrian army cleaves rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta

BEIRUT — Syrian government forces divide the Eastern Ghouta enclave outside Damascus into two, pro-government media says Sunday, dealing a major setback to rebels and threatening to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation at the doors of the country’s capital.

A military media outlet linked to the Syrian army and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah says pro-government forces broke through rebel lines to establish a corridor through the besieged eastern Ghouta region, after capturing the town of Mudeira.

The advance cuts off the towns of Douma and Harasta from the rest of the enclave, according to the Central Military Media outlet. Douma is Eastern Ghouta’s largest settlement.

Government jets pound Harasta on Sunday evening, says Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV station, which is broadcasting live from a lookout over the town.

Hezbollah is one of several regional Shiite groups organized by Iran to support government forces and put down the rebellion sparked by the violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in 2011.

The government’s advance follows 22 days of intensive ground and air assaults on rebels and civilians trapped inside Eastern Ghouta, which have killed over 1,100 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

— AP

Smoke billows following a Syrian government bombardment on the rebel-controlled area of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, on March 11, 2018.(AFP Photo/Mohammed Eyad)

Trump says to tell Netanyahu he’ll scrap Iran deal if no ‘meaningful’ changes

US President Donald Trump tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he will pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal meant to limit Iran’s nuclear program if there are no “meaningful” changes to the pact, Channel 10 reports.

“The Europeans are suggesting cosmetic changes to the nuclear deal with Iran. This isn’t enough. I am demanding meaningful changes in the wording of the nuclear agreement itself and not in the appendix. If this doesn’t happen, the US will withdraw from the agreement,” the network quotes Trump as telling Netanyahu at the White House last week.

Trump said in January he would no longer ratify the nuclear deal unless the accord’s expiration dates are moved and it is changed to address Iran’s missile program. Netanyahu has also called for changing the agreement or altering it altogether.

Ultra-Orthodox protest in Jerusalem after draft dodger’s remand extended

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators block Jerusalem’s Kikar Hashabbat to protest the remand of religious student being extended, for avoiding mandatory military service.

Police at the scene are working to clear the demonstrators from the square.

The demonstration comes as coalition infighting over legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox students from serving in the military threatens to topple the government and lead to new elections.

Iran says all 11 on board crashed plane are dead

TEHRAN, Iran — A website associated with Iranian state television is quoting an emergency official as saying that all 11 people on board a Turkish private jet that crashed in the mountains have been killed.

The Young Journalists’ Club website quotes Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of the country’s emergency management agency, as saying that local villagers had reached the site of the airplane crash late Sunday night.

Khaledi says they found 11 badly burned bodies. He says DNA tests would be needed to identify the dead.

Authorities say the Turkish private jet was flying from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul. The doomed aircraft days earlier carried a bachelorette party bound for Dubai.

— AP

Macedonia observes 75th anniversary of Jewish deportations

BITOLA, Macedonia — Thousands of people march in southern Macedonia to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation and eventual death of almost the country’s entire Jewish population.

Public officials, civic group representatives and relatives of former Macedonian Jews came from Israel, Latin America and the United States to attend the event in the town of Bitola.

Macedonia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when it was occupied by Germany’s Bulgarian allies during World War II. More than 7,000 Jews from the cities of Skopje, Bitola and Stip were confined to ghettos in March 1943 before being deported to the Nazi death camp in German-occupied Treblinka, Poland.

Ninety-eight percent of Macedonia’s Jews perished there.

— AP

The U.S. Embassy joins in commemorating 75 years since the deportation of 7,144 Jews from #Macedonia to the Treblinka death camp. @StateSEHI joined us from Washington to participate in commemoration ceremonies in Bitola. #WeRemember pic.twitter.com/Wh10WwwIGg

— US Embassy Macedonia (@usembassymkd) March 11, 2018

Hundreds of Poles gather to express solidarity with Jews

WARSAW, Poland — Hundreds of Poles gather in Warsaw to express their solidarity with Jews who perished in the Holocaust, were expelled from Poland 50 years ago or fe,el targeted by a new wave of anti-Semitism today.

Speakers at the demonstration denounce policies of the current Polish government that have led to a dispute with Israel and sparked a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

They gather late Sunday afternoon at the Gdanski train station, the departure point for thousands of Poles of Jewish descent who were forced to leave the country in March 1968 by the Communist regime of the time.

The rally is part of a larger initiative by Polish civic groups that also published an open letter describing the government policies as “radical and inappropriate.”

— AP

A group holds up a Solidarity banner as hundreds of Poles gather to express their solidarity with Jews who perished in the Holocaust, were expelled from Poland 50 years ago or feel the effects of anti-Semitism today, in Warsaw, Poland, on March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)