The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they unfolded.

2:26 pm

In Holocaust Day statement, EU says fighting anti-Semitism ‘more urgent than ever’

The European Union delegation in Israel says fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance is “more urgent than ever,” in a statement issued on Holocaust Memorial Day.

In a joint statement, the 27 embassies of EU member states present in Israel say they “stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and the Jewish people around the world, in commemorating the 6 million Jews who were brutally murdered in the Holocaust.”

“On this day we reaffirm our responsibility to never forget. Time cannot erase the atrocities, nor bring solace to the survivors. The inconceivable crimes of the past can only spur us on to constantly renew our resolve to never allow these horrors to happen again.

“We are today witnessing again a rise of anti-Semitism, hatred and intolerance. The potential for evil is ever present. Upholding the values of democracy, human dignity and fundamental rights, on which the European Union was founded, are more relevant and urgent than ever,” the EU says.

“Our Union was built to respond to the Shoah and the horrors of World War II. Remembering the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism is our duty towards Jewish citizens in Europe and elsewhere in the world and indispensable to protect our common values.”

Israel will mark its annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at sundown.

2:26 pm

Assange sentenced to nearly a year in prison for bail breach

A British judge sentences WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in prison for jumping bail in 2012.

Judge Deborah Taylor says that Assange merits near the maximum sentence of one year because of the seriousness of his offense. She rejects his claim for leniency based on the nearly seven years he spent in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The white-haired Assange stood impassively with his hands clasped while the sentence was read. His supporters in the public gallery chanted “Shame on you” at the judge as Assange was led away.

Assange sought asylum in the South American country’s London embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

Earlier, his lawyers argued that he had jumped bail because he was a “desperate man” fearing extradition to the United States.

— AP

2:27 pm

Iran happy Venezuelans ‘defeated coup’

Iran expresses renewed support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as the opposition called for a huge May Day protest after armed clashes erupted in the capital Caracas.

Maduro says he had defeated an attempted coup last night led by his opponent, self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido.

“We believe the constitutional government of Venezuela needs to continue,” Iranian Foreign Ninister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in Doha.

“We are happy that the people of Venezuela defeated the coup, but we continue to believe in the need for discussions as the government has suggested,” he says. “We have always encouraged intra-Venezuelan dialogue.”

Guaido, who is recognized as acting president by more than 50 governments including those of the United States and Brazil, said troops had joined his campaign to oust Maduro, who is backed by China and Russia.

— AFP

2:43 pm

Scuffles break out at May Day rally in Paris

French protesters and police clash briefly in Paris as thousands of people gather for a May Day march.

Authorities fear some troublemakers could join anti-government protesters and union workers.

Police used some tear gas to control a crowd near Paris’ Montparnasse train station. AP reporters observed groups of hooded people in black shouting anti-police slogans, mixing with other protesters wearing yellow vests or waving union flags.

An injured protester is evacuated by street medics, prior to the start of May Day demonstrations, in Paris on May 1, 2019. (Zakaria ABDELKAFI / AFP)

French authorities warned “radical activists” may join the Paris demonstration and renew scenes of violence that marked previous yellow vest protests and May Day demonstrations in the past two years.

More than 7,400 police have been deployed in Paris.

Yellow vests have joined the traditional May Day union march to show their common rejection of French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies.

— AP

3:31 pm

Iran: US ‘in no position’ to declare Brotherhood terrorists while supporting Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticizes the United States for seeking to blacklist the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

“The United States is supporting the biggest terrorist in our region, and that is Israel,” Zarif tells reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in Doha.

“Trying to designate others as terrorists, the United States (is) not in a position, theoretically and practically, to start naming others as terrorist organizations,” he says when asked about US President Donald Trump’s bid to designate the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the Asia Society in New York, April 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

“We reject any attempt by the United States in this regard,” Zarif says.

The Brotherhood, a nearly century-old Islamist movement born in Egypt with pockets of support across the Arab world, was designated a terrorist organization by Cairo after the military in 2013 ousted Mohamed Morsi, a democratically elected president with roots in the movement.

In April, the US declared Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards a “foreign terrorist organization.”

— AFP

3:55 pm

Pompeo says US military action in Venezuela ‘possible’

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the administration of President Donald Trump is prepared to take military action to stem the crisis in Venezuela.

“The president has been crystal clear and incredibly consistent. Military action is possible. If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do,” Pompeo says on Fox Business Network.

4:40 pm

Friends launch crowdfunding drive to help Ansbacher family

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help the family of Ori Ansbacher, the Israeli teen who was raped and murdered by a Palestinian man in February.

Friends who launched the campaign told Hebrew-language news outlets the family from the West Bank settlement of Tekoa has been struggling to cope with the trauma in the aftermath of their daughter’s murder.

Ori Ansbacher, who was murdered in Jerusalem February 7, 2019 (Courtesy)

As of Wednesday afternoon, supporters donated over a half a million shekels to the Ansbachers.

They said that Ori’s mother, Na’ah Ansbacher, has not been able to return to work as a education consultant since the murder. The family has four other young children.

“In recent weeks, the economic instability that stemmed from this horrible case… has grown,” Uri Schechter tells Yedioth Ahronoth. “Na’ah tells us that she is extremely anxious and isn’t sleeping at night.”

“We felt that we had to do something, and we [set this up] to alleviate some of the stress and difficulties that come with coping with this great loss,” he says.

Arafat Irfaiya has been charged with terror offenses in Ansbacher’s murder. Two weeks ago, Israeli security forces demolished his home in the West Bank city of Hebron.

On Tuesday, Jerusalem District Court ordered Irfaiya to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

4:50 pm

May Day clashes seen in Sweden, Denmark, France

Police have briefly clashed with protesters in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city, and in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as May Day rallies were being held.

In Sweden, protesters threw cobblestones and fireworks at police as they were being kept away from reaching a rally by a neo-Nazi movement that had received official permission to march.

In Copenhagen, helmeted police circled their vans around a group of hooded people in black who were shouting anti-police slogans, trying to keep them away from other May Day demonstrations.

A handful of people were detained in both countries.

The heaviest May Day clashes in Europe took place in France, where police clashed with stone-throwing protesters as tens of thousands of people started marching in Paris on Wednesday under tight security. More than 200 arrests were made.

— AP

5:09 pm

Barr faces tough questions on handling of Mueller report

US Attorney General Bill Barr faces tough questions in the Senate after the explosive revelation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had objected to his downplaying of the Russia investigation report’s allegations against President Donald Trump.

Barr is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee amid an uproar over revelations that Mueller felt that Barr, in declaring in late March that the Russia report cleared Trump of wrongdoing, had misrepresented the evidence and conclusions of the nearly two-year investigation.

Three days after Barr’s March 24 summary of the report allowed Trump to declare that he was completely exonerated, Mueller wrote that his summary generated “public confusion” about the report’s results.

Barr’s four-page summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance,” of the investigation’s conclusions, the letter said.

The 448-page report, finally released on April 18, said it did not find evidence that Trump’s campaign conspired with Russians interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

5:23 pm

Mueller told Barr his summary caused ‘confusion’

Special counsel Robert Mueller told Attorney General William Barr that his summary of the Russia probe’s findings caused “public confusion about critical aspects” of the investigation.

A copy of Mueller’s letter to Barr is released today. In his letter, Mueller raised concerns about a letter that Barr sent to Congress detailing what he said were Mueller’s principal conclusions.

Mueller said Barr’s letter “did not fully capture the context, nature and substance” of the special counsel’s work and conclusions.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks past the White House on March 24, 2019, after attending St. John’s Episcopal Church for morning services, in Washington. (AP/Cliff Owen)

Barr’s letter was released just two days after the Justice Department received the special counsel’s report. It said Mueller hadn’t reached a conclusion on whether the president had obstructed justice despite presenting evidence on both sides of the question.

Mueller’s letter is likely to be a central focus at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Barr.

Barr’s prepared testimony shows he plans to defend his handling of Mueller’s report.

— AP

5:53 pm

Acting US Defense Secretary cancels Europe trip over Venezuela crisis

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has abruptly canceled plans to travel to Europe. Shanahan’s spokesman is citing the crisis in Venezuela and the situation along the US-Mexico border.

The spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, says in a statement that Shanahan decided he should remain in Washington to coordinate with the National Security Council and the State Department on Venezuela and the border, where the military is assisting the Homeland Security Department with the migrant crisis.

The Pentagon has thus far played no direct role in Venezuela.

Buccino’s statement comes just three hours after the Pentagon had publicly announced Shanahan’s trip to Germany, Belgium and England.

Shanahan was going to attend ceremonies in Germany and Belgium marking the change of commanders for US European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

— AP

6:19 pm

Istanbul police detains dozens as Turkey marks May Day

Istanbul police detains dozens of people who were trying to hold a May Day rally in the city center in defiance of a protest ban.

Some 127 people were detained attempting to make their way to an unauthorized demonstration at Taksim Square, a traditional focal point of protest in the city, according to Istanbul police, who barricaded nearby roads including the bustling Istiklal Avenue.

Protesters were pinned roughly to police vehicles during the arrests, AFP correspondents said, while tourists in the area were also subjected to baggage searches.

The annual workers’ holiday is often marked by confrontation between demonstrators and police.

— AFP

6:56 pm

UN says escalation in Syria’s Idlib displaces nearly 140,000

Fighting in northwestern Syria has displaced nearly 140,000 people since February, the UN says, as the regime and its ally Russia have stepped up their bombardment.

“Since February, over 138,500 women, children and men have been displaced from northern Hama and southern Idlib,” says David Swanson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA.

“Between 1 and 28 April, its estimated more than 32,500 individuals have moved to different communities in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama governorates,” he tells AFP.

A Syrian displaced girl stands on a mattress at a camp for displaced people in the village of Atme, in the jihadist-held northern Idlib province on May 1, 2019. (Aaref WATAD / AFP)

Idlib has been protected from a massive regime offensive by a September deal inked by Damascus ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. But the region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since former the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group took full control of it in January.

The escalation has killed more than 200 civilians since February, the UN said last week. A new wave of shelling and airstrikes this week targeted schools and medical centres, according to Swanson.

— AFP

7:23 pm

Stats show world Jewish population still lower than before Holocaust

The number of Jews around the world is lower than before World War II, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics says ahead of the Jewish state’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.

According to the CBS, there are approximately 14.6 million Jews in the world, compared to 16.6 million in 1939 when World War II began.

The compilation uses census figures from 2017.

Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Wednesday evening on the Jewish calendar, commemorates the six million Jewish victims murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Nearly half of the world’s Jews — 6.55 million — live in Israel, with the United States home to the second largest population of 5.7 million.

The CBS says 212,300 Holocaust survivors are currently living in Israel as of last year.

7:40 pm

US Air Force test launches Minuteman missile from California

A fiery streak lit up the California sky as the US Air Force conducted an early morning test of an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Air Force Global Strike Command says the missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base northwest of Los Angeles at 2:42 a.m. Wednesday.

The ICBM’s re-entry vehicle traveled approximately 6,759 kilometers (4,200 miles) over the Pacific to a target in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

This photo provided by Vandenberg Air Force Base shows an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (Airman 1st Class Aubree Milks/Vandenberg Air Force Base via AP)

An Air Force statement says such tests are scheduled years in advance to verify the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system, and are not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions.

The test was conducted by a team from the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.

— AP

8:02 pm

Russia: US influence in Venezuela ‘destructive,’ violates international law

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tells his US counterpart Mike Pompeo the “destructive influence” of the United States in Venezuela was a violation of international law.

In a US-led telephone conversation, Lavrov says “Washington’s interference in Venezuelan affairs is a flagrant violation of international law” and that “this destructive influence has nothing to do with democracy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry quotes him as saying in a statement.

— AFP

8:08 pm

National Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony underway at Yad Vashem

Israel has started marking national Holocaust Remembrance Day, launching 24 hours of ceremonies, services and events honoring the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

The annual remembrance is one of the most solemn days on Israel’s national calendar, with much of the country all but shutting down to honor the victims of the Nazi killing machine.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin are attending the event along with other Israeli officials.

8:18 pm

In Holocaust day remarks, Rivlin denounces alliances with far-right parties in Europe

President Reuven Rivlin warns against rising anti-Semitism in Europe, saying political considerations cannot justify forging alliances with far-right political parties that refuse to address their countries’ role in perpetrating the Holocaust.

Speaking at an official ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rivlin says Europe is seeing a reemergence of “the ghosts of the past” some 80 years after the Nazi genocide of European Jewry.

“But today, 80 years after the outbreak of the Second World War, we need to look today’s reality straight in the eye,” he says.

“Today, Europe – like other parts of the world – is changing once again. Today, Europe is once again pursued by the ghosts of the past,” Rivlin says in the televised remarks.

“Ideas of superiority, national purity, xenophobia, blatant anti-Semitism from the left and right are hovering over Europe.”

8:27 pm

Rivlin: Israel must set ‘uncompromising’ example in boycotting anti-Semitism

Rivlin says that Israel needs to set a “clear and uncompromising example” in forging political alliances with European parties.

“With the rise of neo-fascist and radical anti-Israel forces, we could find ourselves in a situation where important European allies are led by governments which include anti-Semitic elements or, God forbid, led by anti-Semitic leaders,” the president says at the national Holocaust Remembrance Day memorial at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

“In a case like this, particularly, Israel must speak in a clear and uncompromising voice,” Rivlin says in his remarks. “No interest and no consideration of realpolitik can justify a dishonorable alliance with racist groups or elements who do not acknowledge their past and their responsibility for the crimes of the Holocaust.”

8:36 pm

UK prime minister fires defense secretary over Huawei leaks

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson has been fired after an investigation into leaks from a secret government meeting about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s office says May has “lost confidence” in Williamson.

Downing St. says “the prime minister’s decision has been informed by his conduct surrounding an investigation into the circumstances of the unauthorized disclosure of information from a meeting of the National Security Council. ”

An investigation was launched last week after newspapers reported that the security council, which meets in private, had agreed to let Huawei participate in some aspects of Britain’s new 5G wireless communications network.

The government insists no decision has been made about that.

— AP

8:57 pm

Netanyahu: Far-right, far-left and Islamic extremists united in their anti-Semitism

Less than 80 years after the Holocaust, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel wields significant political influence and military power despite having many enemies.

“Israel is powerful and more admired worldwide than ever before, including in the places where our people were turned to dust,” he says at an official ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“There is a paradox, in that some of them places that admire Israel most there is also significant hatred of Jews. The radical right, the radical left and radical Islam agree only on one thing: hatred of Jews.

“Unlike during the Holocaust, we are able and determined to defend ourselves by ourselves,” he says. “The IDF is one of the strongest militaries in the world, and unlike then, we now have treaties with countries to protect ourselves against those who seek to destroy us.”

9:08 pm

In Holocaust Day remarks, Netanyahu calls to ramp up pressure on Iran

Netanyahu says Iran constantly threatens to destroy Israel, and calls for the world to ramp up pressure on Tehran.

“Iran threatens to destroy us day and night,” he says at Yad Vashem during the Holocaust Memorial service. “We don’t ignore them, and we are not deterred by them.”

Netanyahu in his remarks thanks Trump for withdrawing from the nuclear deal, resuming sanctions and declaring Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.

“We need pressure and more pressure,” he says.

Netanyahu reiterates that Israel will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily along the Israeli border.

9:15 pm

Netanyahu: Anti-Israel caricatures undermine legitimacy of a Jewish state

In an apparent reference to The New York Times, Netanyahu says that publishing “caricatures of hate towards Israel undermines the legitimacy of the Jewish state.”

Netanyahu makes the remarks during his Holocaust Remembrance Day speech at Yad Vashem.

Last week, The New York Times’ international edition published a political cartoon depicting Netanyahu as a dog wearing a Star of David collar and leading a blind and skullcap-wearing Donald Trump.

The Times has since apologized, calling the image “offensive,” and vowing to refrain from publishing such bigoted cartoons again.

A caricature of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump published in The New York Times’ international edition on April 25, 2019, which the paper later acknowledged ‘included anti-Semitic tropes.’ (Raoul Wootliff/Times of Israel)

 

9:27 pm

Large fire breaks out in southern Israel, officials suspect Gaza arson balloon

A large brushfire breaks out in the Eshkol region of southern Israel, with suspicions that it was caused by a balloon-borne incendiary device from the nearby Gaza Strip, officials say.

The blaze began in a field between the Eshkol National Park and Kibbutz Urim, spreading throughout the grasslands and into a wooded area, according to Fire and Rescue Department Eli Cohen.

“The teams are working together to get control over the fire and prevent it from spreading,” Cohen says.

Throughout the day, Palestinians launched dozens of incendiary devices, carried by balloons, into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. However, it is not immediately clear if the Eshkol fire was sparked by one of these objects.

“At this point, the cause of the fire is not known. We will only know after a check by fire investigators,” a spokesperson for the Eshkol region says.

— Judah Ari Gross

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