White House says Israel to hold back on settlements over Trump’s ‘concerns’

London police won’t stop protesters from flying Hezbollah flag

London’s police department tells a British lawmaker that it will not stop protesters at an “Al Quds Day Parade” in central London on June 10 from carrying flags of the Hezbollah terror group.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, police explain in a letter to MP Louise Ellman that the organization’s “political wing” is legal in Britain — as distinct from its armed branch.

Quoting from the letter, the Chronicle reports that police explained that the British parliament had “consciously chosen” to outlaw one part of the group but not the other, making flying of the terror group’s flag “lawful.” The letter adds: “Purely holding a flag does not necessarily incite religious or racial hatred. It is the words or actions of the person holding the flag that can cause incitement.”

Hezbollah, a proxy armed and trained by the Iranian regime, is sworn to Israel’s destruction and has advocated anti-Semitic views.

In response, Ellman, a deputy head of Labour Friends of Israel, says: “We must remove this false and ludicrous distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wings from UK law, and I would urge the new home secretary to take this action immediately. If we see the machine-gun adorned flag of an antisemitic terror group on London’s streets again this June it will be due to the inaction of the government – they must act now.”

Palestinian injured on Gaza border dies of wounds

A Palestinian shot during violent protests and clashes on the Gaza border earlier this month dies of his wounds, the Palestinian health ministry says, bringing the total Palestinian death toll in the clashes since March 30 to 122.

Naji Ghonaim, 23, was wounded several days ago near Rafah in southern Gaza, the ministry says, without giving a specific date.

He was later transferred to Jerusalem for treatment but dies Wednesday morning, the Ramallah-based ministry says in a statement.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry also confirms Ghonaim’s death.

— AFP

Haftarah scroll seized from Rio criminal den

RIO DE JANEIRO — A Jewish ritual object that initially was believed to be a Torah scroll is seized from criminals during a police raid of a Rio slum.

Jewish representatives were called Monday to identify the object, which was determined to be a sefer Haftarah, or readings from the books of the prophets that go with each section of the Torah and is read on the Sabbath following the Torah reading. It was found last Friday at a drug dealer’s bunker in the Parada de Lucas shantytown in the midst of an abundant amount of ammunition “that could shoot down a helicopter,” reported the newspaper Extra.

“This is not a Torah. We have found the signature of a Rabbi David Basri, a great Sephardi spiritual leader of the Sucat David community in Jerusalem. Usually this type of sefer [holy book] was given as a gift to large community donors,” says Rabbi Mendy Aboutboul, of the Edmond J. Safra Ipanema synagogue.

Rabbi Mendy Aboutboul of the Edmond J. Safra Ipanema synagogue in Rio de Janeiro inspects the sefer haftarah scoll found by police in a local shantytown, on May 28, 2018. (Courtesy of Edmond J. Safra Ipanema synagogue via JTA)

The sefer Haftarah was found among some 1,000 bullets — including 350 powerful 30-caliber ones — at a basement hidden under a secret passageway between two shacks revealed when some 20 police officers raided the slum in an armored tank.

“Taking into consideration the religious content of the object seized during the raid, it will be sent to specialists for a descriptive criminal investigation with the proper care that a holy book deserves, and then it will be returned to the Jewish community to keep in its custody,” says Rachel Glatt, legal representative of the Rio Jewish federation.

— JTA

Amid Gaza tensions, IDF postpones Southern Command handover ceremony

In light of the ongoing tensions with Gaza, the military decided to postpone a planned ceremony for Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi to take over as head of the IDF Southern Command from Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

The ceremony was due to take place on Sunday, but it has been pushed back to Wednesday, the army says.

Halevi comes to his new position after serving as head of Military Intelligence.

Zamir will end his tenure as head of the Southern Command after nearly three years in the position.

— Judah Ari Gross

Swiss foreign minister renews questions about UNRWA’s role

Switzerland’s new foreign minister says the international community should decide whether the UN refugee agency for Palestinians has become a “state within a state,” questioning whether the Swiss should continue to help funding it.

In what critics call a break from vaunted Swiss neutrality, Ignazio Cassis doubled down on his recent comments that UNRWA had strayed too far from its original ambition to help Palestinian refugees temporarily.

Switzerland has given UNRWA more than $20 million annually in the last five years, and plans to continue similar funding through 2020.

Cassis tells RTS radio Wednesday it’s his job to question Swiss public funding.

He visited Jordan this month. He tells the Aargauer Zeitung newspaper that UNRWA was once part of the solution, but has become “part of the problem” in the Middle East.

— AP

Police arrest 3 Haredi protesters at archaeological dig

Police arrest three ultra-Orthodox protesters near an archaeological dig on Route 38 close to Beit Shemesh.

The protesters, who belong to an extremist sect, were protesting what they claimed were grave desecrations by the archaeologists.

Police say squad cars are at the site to ensure no further violent protests take place.

— Jacob Magid

Argentina coach complains about Israel trip before World Cup

Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli complains that his side has to play its final World Cup warm-up match in Israel.

A hat-trick from Lionel Messi gave Argentina an easy 4-0 win over Haiti on Tuesday in Buenos Aires and the squad will fly to Barcelona on Thursday to continue its preparations.

The match in Jerusalem against Israel will be its last before traveling to Russia.

“I’m not the one who decides when we play and who we play,” Sampaoli says after the victory against Haiti at La Bombonera.

Sampaoli stresses he does not want to get drawn into any comment on the tension between Israelis and Palestinians.

But he says: “From a sporting point of view, I would have preferred to play in Barcelona. But that’s the way it is, we have to travel on the day before the match, play Israel in Israel and then from there go on to Russia. That is the schedule that the AFA (the Argentinian football federation) have given us.”

All 20,000 tickets for the friendly in Jerusalem sold out in 20 minutes, the company handling the sales said.

— AFP

Police find handgun hidden in Palestinian man’s car

Border police officers find a handgun hidden in a Palestinian man’s car near the Israeli settlement of Shilo north of Jerusalem.

The gun is found in an early Wednesday search of the car officers identified as “suspicious.” The handgun, along with several magazines, was found hidden in the vehicle’s gearbox.

The man, a Nablus resident in his 40s, is arrested and taken for questioning.

— Jacob Magid

British man sentenced to psychiatric hospital over neo-Nazi plot to attack gay bar

A British man who planned a neo-Nazi-inspired machete attack on a gay pride event has been sentenced to an indefinite stay in a psychiatric hospital.

Ethan Stables was arrested in June 2017 as he walked toward a pub in his hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, northwest England, on what prosecutors said was a reconnaissance trip. Police found an ax, a machete and a swastika flag at his home.

Prosecutors said Stables had posted on Facebook that he wanted to “slaughter every single one of the gay bastards.”

Defense lawyers said the 20-year-old, who has an autism spectrum disorder, had been brainwashed by right-wing extremists. But he was convicted in February of preparing an act of terrorism.

Passing sentence Wednesday, Judge Peter Collier says Stables poses “a very real risk to the public.”

— AP

Government authorizes nearly 2,000 new settlement homes

The Defense Ministry committee responsible for authorizing settlement construction advances plans Wednesday for nearly 2,000 new homes in the West Bank.

Of the 1,957 homes green-lighted by the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee, 696 of the units gain final approval for construction while 1,262 are advanced through an earlier planning stage known as a “deposit.”

Some 300 of the houses that gain final building approval are located in isolated settlements outside the so-called “settlement blocs” that most Israeli leaders argue will remain part of the Jewish state in any peace deal with the Palestinians.

— Jacob Magid

Family wakes up Wednesday to find Gaza rocket fell on their porch

One couple living in a kibbutz on the Gaza border awoke Wednesday morning to find a rocket from Gaza had fallen and detonated on their porch.

“There were sirens all day from 7 a.m.,” Naomi Fletcher tells Hadashot television news.

The rocket’s fall caused a meter-wide hole in the floor and smashed nearby furniture.

“Sometime overnight a rocket apparently fell on my house,” she says. “My husband and I were home without the kids. I slept in my bed at first, next to where the rocket fell.”

She adds: “When the [rocket alert] siren went off at 11 p.m., my husband said we weren’t going to sleep if we had to wake up every time [a rocket is launched from Gaza], so we went to sleep in the bomb shelter.”

Army tells Gaza area residents they can return to routine

The IDF’s Homefront Command tells residents of the Gaza periphery that they can return to their daily routine starting at 6 p.m., about an hour from now.

The statement comes after 24 tense hours of rocket fire and retaliatory IDF strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Security cabinet to meet on Gaza situation

Israel’s security cabinet, the committee of 10  top ministers who have the legal power to take the country to war, is meeting shortly to discuss the Gaza situation amid renewed calm on the Gaza border after a day and a night of rocket attacks from Gaza and retaliatory airstrikes by the IDF.

Netanyahu: Gaza terror groups were hit harder than at any time in recent years

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF has hit Gaza’s terror groups hard in overnight airstrikes, and warns the groups against continuing their rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages near the Gaza border.

“Over the past day, the IDF has responded with force to the [rocket] fire from the Gaza Strip by attacking dozens of targets belonging to terror groups,” Netanyahu says at a memorial service for the pre-state Jewish Etzel militia fighters killed on the Altalena ship in a beach battle with Haganah forces in 1948.

The attacks on Gazan terror groups were “the hardest hit we have dealt them in years,” the prime minister adds.

“The parties responsible for the escalation, inspired by Iran, are the Hamas regime [in Gaza], Islamic Jihad and other terror organizations,” he continues.

“I won’t offer any details about our plans because I don’t want the enemy to know what awaits it, but one thing has been made clear to it: when they test us, they pay for it immediately. If they continue to test us, it will cost them dearly.”

Islamic Jihad publishes footage of its rocket launches at Israel

Islamic Jihad in Gaza publishes footage it alleges are of its fighters launching rockets toward Israel yesterday.

Russian journalist reported killed in Ukraine shows up alive

Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko turns up at a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday less than 24 hours after police reported he had been shot and killed at his Kiev apartment building. The country’s security services says Babchenko’s death was faked to foil a plot to take his life.

Ukrainian police said Tuesday that Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot multiple times in the back Tuesday and found bleeding there by his wife. Authorities said they suspected he was killed because of his work.

Vasyl Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, announces at a news conference Wednesday that the security agency and the police had solved Babchenko’s slaying. He then startles everyone there by inviting the 41-year-old reporter into the room.

To the applause and gasps of the press, Babchenko takes the floor and apologizes to the friends and family who mourned for him and were unaware of the plan.

Before ushering Babchenko into the room, Gritsak says investigators had identified a Ukrainian citizen who had been recruited and paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the killing. The unidentified Ukrainian man in turn hired an acquaintance who had fought in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine as the gunman.

Babchenko, one of Russia’s best-known war reporters, fled the country in February 2017 after receiving death threats. He spoke and wrote about leaving the country because of the threats against him and his family. He said his home address was published online and the threats he received were made by phone, email and social media.

— AP

Brushfire erupts near Jerusalem, shuttering major urban highway

A brushfire is burning in the Lifta area near Jerusalem, police say.

The fire has closed the Begin highway that cuts through western Jerusalem.

Firefighters are battling the blaze, including with the use of firefighting planes.

Missouri prosecutor denies ‘witch hunt’ in Greitens case

St. Louis’s top prosecutor is pushing back against Gov. Eric Greitens’ past statements that the charges she initially filed against him were part of a coordinated “witch hunt.”

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announces Wednesday that she’s dropping the computer tampering charge against Greitens, who is resigning on Friday. A special prosecutor is weighing whether to refile another criminal charge against him.

Gardner says she made the agreement to dismiss the computer charge after conversations with Greitens’ attorneys. She says there was enough evidence to bring the charge but that if he were convicted, it’s unlikely Greitens would have served any jail time due to his status as a first-time offender.

As for Greitens’ allegations of a witch hunt, Gardner says she rejects his “shameful personal attacks” and “dangerous and false rhetoric about the criminal justice system and the rule of law.”

Greitens, 44, the state’s first Jewish governor, is a former Navy SEAL and Rhodes scholar. Prosecutors earlier this month dropped a charge stemming from an extramarital affair that he photographed a partially nude woman without her consent, but he still faces charges that he illegally created a political donor list from a separate veterans charity that he founded.

He maintains his insistence that he is the victim of a vague conspiracy to oust him, although state Republicans have joined in calls for him to step down.

— AP and JTA

Kuwait blocks US-drafted UNSC resolution condemning Gaza rocket fire

Kuwait on Wednesday blocks a US-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have strongly condemned Palestinian rocket firings from the Gaza Strip on Israel that triggered the worst military flareup since a 2014 war.

The United States had circulated the draft text ahead of an emergency council meeting, to be held later Wednesday at Washington’s request, on the rocket and mortar attacks by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member that represents Arab countries, says it is blocking the statement to allow for consideration of a draft resolution it has put forward on the protection of Palestinian civilians.

In an email to the US mission seen by AFP, Kuwait says: “We cannot agree to the text put forth by your delegation especially as we are considering a draft resolution that deals with the protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip.”

— AFP

White House says Israel to hold back on settlements over Trump’s ‘concerns’

Hours after the announcement of nearly 2,000 new homes approved for construction in West Bank settlements, the White House releases a gently worded statement suggesting that Israel is going to scale back on future settlement construction in order to allow an American peace plan to advance.

“The president has made his position on new settlement activity clear, and we encourage all parties to continue to work towards peace,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council tells The Times of Israel.

“The Israeli government has made clear that going forward, its intent is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes the president’s concerns into consideration,” the spokesperson says.

“The United States welcomes this. As the president has said repeatedly, the administration is firmly committed to pursuing a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

— Raphael Ahren

Netanyahu asks Pompeo to demand that Iranian forces leave Syria

Channel 10 reports that the security cabinet meeting two hours ago dealt primarily with the sensitive situation in Syria, and not, as expected, with the violence in Gaza over the past day and a half.

At the two-hour meeting in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells his ministers that he spoke with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo primarily to urge the US government to demand that a developing US-Russian-Jordanian agreement on the deployment of forces in Syria include a stipulation that Iranian forces leave Syria entirely.

The agreement appears to be slated to demand that Iranian and Iran-backed forces stay 20 kilometers from the Israeli and Jordanian borders.

Liberman heads to Moscow for talks on Iran

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman takes off for Moscow where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to discuss Iran’s presence in Syria.

“The primary focus of the defense establishment is preventing the entrenchment of Iran and its proxies in Syria,” Liberman writes in a tweet before his flight.

— Judah Ari Gross

Firefighters gain control over brush fire at entrance to Jerusalem

Firefighters have gained control over a brush fire near the entrance to Jerusalem that briefly shut down part of the Begin highway in the capital.

Court extends open-ended gag order in Netanyahu-Bezeq graft probe

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court grants an extension of a gag order in the Bezeq graft probe.

The order forbids the publication of any details from the ongoing investigation, known as Case 4000, including details of any state’s witness agreements signed so far.

In a rare move, Judge Aalah Masura does not specify a time limit on the gag order, suggesting investigators have further work to do in the probe.

The case involves suspicions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced regulation benefiting Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch in exchange for positive coverage from Bezeq’s Walla news site.

Both have denied wrongdoing.

— Raoul Wootliff

State conversion program due to close because of budget shortfall

Hadashot television news reports that the state’s most successful conversion program for non-Jewish family members of Jewish immigrants is due to close because of a shortage of funds.

According to the report, some NIS 20 million shekels are missing from the Nativ program’s annual budget, forcing the closure of the program in the coming days.

Some 1,500 soldiers are among the 2,500 students studying Judaism for months before applying for conversion in a rabbinic court.

The budget shortfall was caused by a massive growth in demand for the program, according to officials.

The Prime Minister’s Office, the ministry in charge of the program, says it is looking for funds to cover the budget shortfall.