Netanyahu, Herzog said planning Cairo trip to discuss peace process

Louis C.K. adds second show in Jerusalem

American comedian Louis C.K. adds a second show in Jerusalem this summer, after tickets for his original, one-off performance sells out in hours.

The second performance will be held on the same day, August 18, and at the same venue, the Pais Arena.

Tickets for the second show go on sale at 7 p.m. this evening.

— Jessica Steinberg

Russians said building army base at Syria’s Palmyra site

An American heritage organization says the Russian military is constructing a new army base in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, within the protected zone that holds the archaeological site listed by UNESCO as world heritage.

The American School of Oriental Research’s Cultural Heritage Initiative posted DigitalGlobe satellite imagery that shows the construction on the northern edge of the ancient site that was damaged by the Islamic State group, which held Palmyra for 10 months.

Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March and fighting continues miles away until this day.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, who heads the department of Damascus antiquities and museums, says the Russians are building small barracks that include offices and clinics. His organization was not asked for permission, he says.

— AP

Paris confirms summit delay, Valls’s Israel trip still on

The French Foreign Ministry confirms that an international summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is delayed until next month.

“The meeting initially planned for May 30 will take place at a [different] date in the near future. A new date at the start of June should be set in soon,” says a statement from the ministry.

The French embassy in Israel confirms to The Times of Israel that Prime Minister Manuel Valls’s trip to Israel next week is still going ahead, despite the postponement.

— Raoul Wootliff

Jordan court frees preacher jailed for incitement

Jordan frees an Islamist preacher imprisoned for nearly a year for inciting hatred against the regime on social media, his lawyer says, following criticism from rights campaigners.

Iyad Qunaibi, a 40-year-old Kuwaiti-born Jordanian, was arrested last June for posting an audio message entitled “Jordan on the brink of the abyss” on his Facebook page.

In it he criticizes Jordanian relations with Israel and the “Westernization” of Jordanian society.

Qunaibi, who holds a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Houston in the United States, was sentenced in December to two years in prison, which was increased to three years on appeal. But the State Security Court reduces the sentence and frees Qunaibi based on time already served, his lawyer Abdelkader al-Khatib says.

— AFP

Right-wing news website calls Trump critic a ‘renegade Jew’

Right-wing news website Breitbart runs as its top story a piece calling Bill Kristol, a vehement critic of Donald Trump, a “renegade Jew.”

The article, by FrontPage Magazine editor David Horowitz, has as its headline “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew.”

In the Sunday article, Horowitz slams Kristol — the prominent Jewish conservative commentator and editor of The Weekly Standard — for opposing Trump’s candidacy even since he became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

At the very end, Horowitz mentions what he thinks voting for someone other than Trump would mean for Jews.

“To weaken the only party that stands between the Jews and their annihilation, and between America and the forces intent on destroying her, is a political miscalculation so great and a betrayal so profound as to not be easily forgiven,” he writes.

— JTA

Suspect in 1980 Paris synagogue attack freed on bail

The chief suspect in a deadly attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980 is released on bail after being held for 18 months, judicial and investigation sources say.

Hassan Diab, 62, is accused of being part of the Special Operations branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was blamed for the bombing on October 3, 1980, that left four dead and around 40 injured.

But Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian sociology professor extradited from Canada in November 2014, is released on bail after a judge rules there is a doubt on the “fundamental question” of whether he was in France on the day of the attack.

The Paris prosecutor’s office is appealing the decision.

— AFP

Australian Trademarks Office nixes ‘McKosher’ trademark request

An Australian lawyer who claims he is of Scottish-Jewish descent fails in a bid to register the trademark “McKosher.”

Trademark applicant Mark Glaser has an office based in the northern New South Wales town of Maclean, which prides itself on being the Scottish capital of Australia and even boasts tartan telegraph poles.

Glaser claims to have had ancestors with surnames such as McKosher, Zimmerman and Rosenthal, the Australian Broadcast Company (ABC) reports.

Glaser reportedly wants to open “a Scottish and Jewish restaurant bearing the name McKosher,” leading to a trademark fight with fast food operator McDonald’s.

A hearing held last week in New South was told that the Jerusalem rabbinate is in negotiations with the international McDonald’s headquarters, requesting the use of the name “McKosher” for the chain’s kosher-certified branches in the city to avoid confusion with those that are not kosher.

— JTA

Sissi: There is ‘real opportunity’ for Mideast peace

Egypt’s president says there is now “real opportunity” for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement that would also lead to warmer ties between Egypt and the Jewish state.

Abdel-Fatteh el-Sissi says the amount of animosity between Egypt and Israel that existed prior to the conclusion of their 1979 landmark accord was no different from how the Palestinians and Israelis feel now. Egypt, the president says, is prepared to “make every effort” to contribute to an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.

“There is an Arab initiative, there is currently a French initiative, and there are American efforts” to broker an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, he says.

Sissi urges both sides to draw hope from the “real and stable peace” between Israel and Egypt.

“Maybe some people can say this peace is not warm,” the president says. “I tell them a warmer peace will be achieved if we were able to resolve the issues of our Palestinian brothers.”

The Egyptian leader also calls on Israeli parties and leaders to “please, reach an agreement so a solution can be found” and urges “a real reconciliation, and quickly” between Palestinian factions, offering Cairo’s full support.

“If we are able to — all of us together — with effort and a real will and devotion, find a solution for this issue, and find hope for the Palestinians and security for the Israelis, I am telling you a new page will be written,” he says.

— AFP

Herzog welcomes Sissi support for peace process

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog welcomes Sissi’s support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“I welcome the announcement by Egyptian President Sissi. This is a dramatic announcement that shows the possibility of a historical process,” he says. “It is our duty to examine it seriously, otherwise we will find ourselves doing so after the next funeral. It is vital to listen to the Egyptian president and take a serious and responsible look at this opportunity.”

Court frees Jewish terror suspect from administrative detention

Lod District Court rules to release suspected Jewish terrorist Meir Ettinger after eight months in administrative detention.

The Shin Bet tells the court that it does not intend to request an extension of the detension, Walla news website reports.

Ettinger is the grandson of assassinated extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.

Cabinet minister investigated for financial impropriety

A member of the cabinet is being investigated by the Israel Securities Authority on suspicions of making unlawful use of inside information, Channel 10 reports.

Publication of the minister’s name is currently banned by a gag order.

Haim Katz named as minister under investigation for graft

Channel 2 names Welfare Minister Haim Katz (Likud) as the minister under investigation for financial impropriety.

According to Channel 10, the Israel Securities Authority is investigating the minister on suspicion of making unlawful use of inside information.

Publication of the minister’s name was previously banned by a gag order.

Israeli economist confirmed head of Brazil’s Central Bank

Ilan Goldfajn, an Israeli-born economist with an acknowledged career in both the public and private sectors, is confirmed as president of Brazil’s Central Bank.

Born in Haifa and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Goldfajn has served as chief economist at Itau, Brazil’s largest private bank, deputy to the bank governor of Brazil, an adviser to the World Bank and adviser to the International Monetary Fund.

Goldfajn, 50, is an active member of the Brazilian Jewish community. He was educated in Rio’s Liessin Jewish day school. In a May meeting held by the Brazil-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Goldfajn says that “Brazil has a lot to learn from Israel.”

— JTA

PM: Israel ready to work with Arab states on peace process

Benjamin Netanyahu praises Egypt’s Sissi for his comments on promoting the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, saying Israel is ready to work with Arab states to advance peace.

“I welcome Egyptian President el-Sissi’s remarks and his willingness to make every effort to advance a future of peace and security between us and the Palestinians and the peoples of the region,” he says. “Israel is ready to participate with Egypt and other Arab states in advancing both the diplomatic process and stability in the region. I appreciate President el-Sissi’s work and also draw encouragement from his leadership on this important issue.”

Kerry: World Food Programme to drop aid into besieged Syria towns

World powers call on the United Nations to carry out air drops over besieged areas in Syria as regime blockades in rebel-held areas are stopping all food and medical aid in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

“Starting on June 1, if the UN is denied humanitarian access to any of these designated areas, the International Syria Support calls on the World Food Programme to immediately carry out a program for air bridges and air drops to all of those areas in need,” US Secretary of State John Kerry says after conflict talks in Vienna.

— AFP

Nevada Democratic Party files complaint against Sanders campaign

The Nevada Democratic Party complains to the national party about the campaign of Bernie Sanders after violence by the senator’s supporters during the state convention on Saturday.

The convention is shut down on Saturday night because security at the Paris Las Vegas hotel can no longer ensure order. The gathering closes with some Sanders supporters throwing chairs; later, some make death threats against state party chairwoman Roberta Lange.

Sanders’s backers had been protesting convention rules that ultimately led to Hillary Clinton winning more pledged delegates. Clinton won the state’s caucuses in February, 53-47, but Sanders backers hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings.

The letter by the state party’s general counsel, Bradley S. Schrager, warns that similarly chaotic scenes could unfold in Philadelphia, site of the Democratic National Committee’s July convention.

“We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia in July for our National Convention,” Schrager writes.

“We write to alert you to what we perceive as the Sanders campaign’s penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior — indeed, actual violence — in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting, and furthermore what we can only describe as their encouragement of, and complicity in, a very dangerous atmosphere that ended in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats.”

— AP

United Methodist Church rejects 4 divestment resolutions

The United Methodist Church rejects four resolutions calling for it to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s control of the West Bank.

The votes took place over the weekend at the quadrennial United Methodist Church General Conference that began May 10 in Portland, Oregon.

The resolutions called for divesting from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola — three companies that pro-Palestinian activists have accused of working with Israeli security forces to sustain Israel’s West Bank settlement enterprise.

— JTA

Accused would-be Florida synagogue bomber pleads not guilty

A South Florida man pleads not guilty to the charge that he plotted to bomb a Miami-area synagogue.

The plea is entered in federal court by the court-appointed attorney for James Medina.

Medina, 40, from Hollywood, a convert to Islam, is arrested by the FBI on April 29 while approaching the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center with what he believed was a bomb, furnished by an FBI informant.

Medina’s family and attorney say he is mentally ill and was previously committed to a psychiatric hospital.

— JTA

IMF official: Iran can’t count on big jump in oil revenue

A senior International Monetary Fund official says Iran must deal with a shift to lower crude prices and cannot count on a big jump in oil revenue as it looks to boost production and better integrate with the global economy.

First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton makes the remarks during a visit to Iran’s Central Bank.

According to a transcript of his speech, Lipton says high global oil output and weak demand limit Iran’s prospects for a large increase in oil revenue. He says sustainable growth and job creation will increasingly depend on sectors other than oil in the future.

He also stresses the importance of fighting money laundering and terrorism financing in plugging Iran’s banks into the global financial system, and said the IMF stands ready to help.

— AP

Hamas welcomes Sissi remarks on Palestinian unity

The Palestinian terror group Hamas welcomes Sissi’s remarks about Palestinian unity in a televised speech earlier today.

In a statement on its website, Hamas writes that it “welcomes the Egyptian statements for realizing Palestinian reconciliation, and emphasizes [its] readiness to deal with all the efforts to achieve reconciliation and restore national unity.”

The statement makes no mention of Sissi’s support for fresh efforts to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

— Dov Lieber

Report: No institutional anti-Semitism at Oxford Labour Club

An investigation into anti-Jewish sentiment at Oxford University Labour Club finds there is no institutional anti-Semitism, but there are “difficulties.”

The Jewish Chronicle reports that Baroness Janet Royall, the Labour peer heading the probe, is to make 11 recommendations for “immediate and sustained action” for the club, regarding complaints made against it. Another seven issues will be raised with the Labour Party’s own internal inquiry into anti-Semitism, the report says.

Baroness Royall also advises against lifetime bans for Labour members who are found guilty of anti-Semitism.

Judge said under investigation by police, social services

Police and social services are conducting a joint investigation into a senior judicial official, Haaretz reports. The paper does not go into further details of the subject of the investigation, but Ynet identifies the official as a judge.

Haaretz says the investigation began at the start of January, at around the time when the unnamed official was due to begin his sabbatical leave.

The investigation is being conducted on the police side by the fraud squad, Haaretz says, and the findings are being transferred for examination by Attonrey General Avihai Mandelblit.

Abbas: Israeli leaders must back two-state solution

Mahmoud Abbas tells members of Israel’s left-wing Meretz party that Israeli leaders should come out in support of a two-state solution.

“We hope that the leaders in Israel, if they [value] peace, will say something simple: We accept the two-state solution,” he says, according to Channel 2. “After that we will be ready to sit at the negotiating table in order to solve the conflict.”

Donald Trump to meet with Henry Kissinger

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, reportedly will meet with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

The meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, is scheduled to take place this week. Several news outlets confirm the meeting.

Trump and Kissinger, 92, have spoken by telephone several times, according to the Post, but this will be their first face-to-face meeting.

Kissinger, a Holocaust refugee from Germany, served as national security adviser and secretary of state under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He remains a prominent voice on US foreign policy, particularly within the Republican Party.

— JTA

Liberman rejects PM offer to become defense minister

Avigdor Liberman turns down a request from Netanyahu to take the role of defense minister in return for the PM’s promise to support a law introducing the death penalty for convicted terrorists, Channel 10 reports.

Joint List head: Izz ad-Din al-Qassam was a great man

MK Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint (Arab) List praises Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the radical Muslim preacher who fought the British and the Jews in pre-state Palestine.

Al-Qassam was a great man, Odeh says in an interview, Channel 10 reports.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and the Qassam rocket are both named for al-Qassam.

Senate passes bill allowing 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia

The US Senate passes legislation allowing families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia — despite a White House veto threat and fierce objections from the US ally.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, approved by voice vote, is triggering a threat from Riyadh to pull billions of dollars from the US economy if the bill is enacted.

The legislation, sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Schumer, D-NY, gives victims’ families the right to sue in US court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands in New York, the Washington, DC area and Pennsylvania.

Schumer says that any foreign government that aids terrorists who strike the US “will pay a price if it is proven they have done so.”

— AP

Netanyahu, Herzog said planning Sissi meet as part of new coalition

Netanyahu and Herzog are reportedly planning a joint trip to meet Egyptian President el-Sissi in Cairo, to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, should Zionist Union enter the coalition government.

The trip, Channel 10 says, would serve as a fig leaf for Herzog bringing his reluctant party out of opposition and into Netanyahu’s government.

The report comes as Liberman claims that Netanyahu also tried to persuade him to join the government with a series of inducements, including approval for the death penalty for terrorists.

Israelis griping over Louis C.K. prices threatened with lawsuit

The company selling tickets for Louis C.K.’s shows in Jerusalem this summer is threatening to sue Israelis who complain about the prices on Facebook.

Haaretz says that an employee for Pashbar contacts a Facebook group called “Pashbar is stupid name for a ticket company and the company stinks anyway. And Louis C.K. is greedy.” The employee tells the person who set up the group that it must be removed immediately or legal action will be taken. The group administrator tries to explain that the group has no impact, but takes the group down due to the threat of legal action.

According to Haaretz, Israelis are also up in arms over the fact that the Pashbar company’s website crashed within minutes of the tickets going on sale.

The tickets for the initial show sold so fast that the comedian is now performing a second show on the same day.

Abbas welcomes Sissi call for new peace push

Abbas welcomes Sissi’s call for a fresh effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In his statement on the Egyptian president’s speech, the PA leader praises “Egypt’s historic role in supporting Palestinian affairs,” the Hebrew-language Walla website reports.