Coalition deal close, but small ‘gaps’ said to remain

PM lays out conditions for Justice Ministry

According to the Ynet news website, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed in principle to the Jewish Home’s demand that MK Ayelet Shaked be appointed justice minister, on condition that the Likud party remain responsible for appointing both rabbinical and civil court judges.

Since the justice minister receives a slot in the security cabinet, and since Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett is expected to be in the high-level cabinet as well, Netanyahu is seeking to expand the security cabinet, the report says.

The prime minister has until midnight to persuade the Jewish Home party to join the coalition, bringing its number of seats to a razor-thin 61. Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Kulanu have already signed coalition deals with the Likud party.

Jewish Home rejects counteroffer

The Jewish Home rejects an offer by Netanyahu for the Justice Ministry without the chairmanship of the judicial appointment panel, Ynet reports.

4 Ethiopian-Israeli protesters indicted

Four Ethiopian-Israeli protesters are indicted for assaulting policemen at the Rabin Square protest on Sunday.

Germanwings co-pilot ‘practiced’ descent

The co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 4525 appeared to practice a controlled descent on his previous flight, two hours before he crashed the A320 jet into a mountainside in March, French air accident investigators say.

Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz set the plane into descent mode five times in a four and a half-minute period during a flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona, then brought it back up again, the BEA investigation agency says in an interim report on the crash.

Prosecutors have previously said Lubitz intentionally locked the pilot out of the cockpit and crashed the plane on its return flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf in the French Alps on March 24, killing all 150 people on board.

Wednesday’s 30-page report says the pilot appeared to have left the cockpit during the earlier flight as well.

The report shows that the pilot left the cockpit on the Duesseldorf-Barcelona flight for about 4 ½ minutes. Shortly after the pilot left, the “selected altitude” of the flight changed repeatedly, including several times as low as 100 feet (30 meters).

A chart released by the BEA showed the plane didn’t descend sharply during this period, suggesting that passengers and crew might not have noticed any change.

It would be highly unusual for a pilot to repeatedly set a plane for such a low altitude for no apparent reason.

— AP

Pope to canonize first Palestinian saints

Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarchate on Wednesday hails the upcoming canonization by Pope Francis of two nuns who will become the first modern-day Palestinian saints.

Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem and Mariam Bawardy of Galilee, both of whom lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 19th century, will be canonized at the Vatican in Rome later this month.

“In Rome, Pope Francis will declare on May 17 two Palestinian nuns as saints, and we are in full preparation,” Bishop William Shomali tells journalists.

The pair’s canonization “means that holiness is still possible, that… spiritual perfection is still possible,” he says.

“Our Holy Land continues to be holy, not only because of the holy places it hosts, but also because good people live here.”

Pope Francis announced in February that the two nuns would be canonized — the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

— AFP

German anti-Semitism said up 25% last year

Germany’s top security official says new statistics show a sharp rise in anti-Semitic offenses last year, as well as in crimes against foreigners.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere tells reporters that anti-Semitic offenses rose 25.2 percent last year to 1,596 after declining in 2013. Crimes against foreigners were up 21.5 percent to 3,945.

De Maiziere says the rise is partially due to new reporting methods that more closely track the motivation of perpetrators, but said nonetheless “this development is worrying and must be stopped.”

He says there is no political solution alone, but the “whole of society is needed.”

Overall, police registered more than 6 million crimes in 2014, up slightly from 2013.

— AP

Assad admits setbacks in civil war

Syrian President Bashar Assad says that setbacks are a normal part of any war and do not mean the conflict is lost, in his first comments after several regime defeats.

“Today we are fighting a war, not a battle. War is not one battle, but a series of many battles,” he says at a rare public appearance on Syria’s Martyrs Day.

“We are not talking about tens or hundreds but thousands of battles and … it is the nature of battles for there to be advances and retreats, victories and losses, ups and downs.”

— AFP

Likud official warns Bennett ‘will pay dearly’

A Likud official warns that Bennett’s political “blackmail” will cost him.

“Bennett squeezed us, and in this case the extortion probably worked for him. But there is no blackmail without a price, and Bennett will pay dearly for this in the future,” the Likud source tells Haaretz.

Haaretz reports that Netanyhu offered Shaked the Justice Ministry without heading the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, a key panel in advancing legislation, and the judicial appointments committee.

Empty Saudi plane lands in Israel

A Saudi Arabian plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport last night for technical maintenance, Ynet reports.

The aircraft, an Airbus A330 from Brussels, had no passengers on board.

The report says that the aircraft is owned by a European company and leased to Saudi Arabia Airlines. It landed in Israel for some upkeep, as per the directions of the European company.

מזרי תיכון חדש? מטוס סעודי נחת בנתב"ג עקב בעייה רפואית של אחד הנוסעים pic.twitter.com/81dk7qRZSO

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 6, 2015

Hundreds flock to Djerba, despite warnings

Hundreds of Jews are flocking to the Tunisian island of Djerba for an annual pilgrimage to Africa’s oldest synagogue with security tightened after the Bardo museum massacre and warnings of extremist attacks.

Barriers have been erected on access routes to Djerba in southern Tunisia and police checkpoints set up around Hara Kbira, the Jewish district of the island, an AFP journalist says.

“There is a lot of security, there are soldiers and police everywhere and that is very reassuring to us,” says Lorine Bendayan, who made this year’s trip from France.

Apart from Tunisian pilgrims, some 500 others are expected in Djerba for the two-day religious festival from France, Israel, Italy and Britain, according to the organizers.

Netanyahu said on Saturday that his country had learned of “concrete threats” of terror attacks against Jewish or Israeli targets in the North African country, prompting a quick denial from Tunis.

But many of the Jewish pilgrims at Djerba are defiant.

“We are not afraid. We don’t care what Israel has warned,” said Bendayan.

— AFP

2.2 million Iraqis displaced by IS — report

A Norwegian humanitarian group says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone forced to flee from their homes in 2014 after the Islamic State group overran their areas.

The study by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Center was released today.

It says 11 million were newly displaced last year — mostly because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounting for 60 percent of the new displacement.

The group says at least 1.1 million Syrians also fled their homes last year.

Syria has the highest number of internally displaced, with 7.6 million dislodged because of the conflict, now in its fifth year. That’s at least 35 percent of the population.

— AP

IDF decries attack on Ethiopian-Israeli soldier

In his first comment on the attack on Ethiopian-Israeli soldier Damas Pakada, which sparked a wave of protests, the IDF chief of staff instructs commanders to hold a one-hour session on violence and racism with an emphasis on the Ethiopian-Israeli community.

The head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate praises the integration of Ethiopian-Israelis in the army, but says “there is still a way to go.” The soldiers are “the pride of the nation and our shield. We will act on all fronts to protect you, and to clarify that we will not tolerate attacks against soldiers. In the name of IDF commanders, we strongly condemn any incidents of violence, whether physical or verbal, and any discrimination.”

At least 16 Kurdish fighters said killed by IS

At least 16 members of the Syrian Kurdish security forces were killed in an Islamic State group attack on a base in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, a monitor says.

“There was a large explosion at dawn today in Hasakeh city caused by an Islamic State car bomb attack on a base belonging to the Kurdish internal security forces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

The Britain-based group says IS jihadist militants opened fire on Kurdish forces after the blast, prompting fierce clashes.

All the attackers were killed, the Observatory says, without specifying the number of IS fighters involved in the assault in the provincial capital, where Kurdish and regime forces share control.

— AFP

Bennett meets with Uri Ariel

Bennett concludes a meeting with MK Uri Ariel to discuss the ongoing coalition talks, the Walla news website reports.

Ariel is reportedly demanding the Justice Ministry for himself. Bennett is negotiating for the portfolio on behalf of MK Ayelet Shaked.

Knesset speaker supports unity government

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of Likud comes out in favor of a unity government with Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union.

He tells Israel Radio a unity government could successfully advance electoral reform, as well as improve socioeconomic issues.

“A situation in which hours before the deadline there is still no coalition is a very sad situation,” Edelstein says.

Shelling kills 32 civilians fleeing Yemen

At least 32 civilians were killed and 67 wounded Wednesday in shelling that hit people trying to escape fighting in Yemen’s southern city of Aden by sea, a health official says.

The shelling hit a small fishing harbor and a barge carrying civilians, the official says, blaming Houthi rebels who have been trying to take control of Aden’s Tawahi neighborhood and clashing with forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

— AFP

Palestinian gets 30 years for murder attempts

An Israeli court sentences an East Jerusalem Palestinian to 30 years in prison for 10 counts of attempted murder, court documents show.

Aziz Oweissat, 50, is found guilty of attempts including an axe attack on a 73-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish man near Jerusalem’s Old City and the detaching of gas pipes at several homes in the city with the aim of blowing up their Israeli occupants.

During his trial, Oweissat said the attacks were carried out in revenge for the actions of Israeli authorities at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

— AFP

Egyptian army kills three Palestinian gunmen

The Egyptian military Wednesday shot dead three Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated through a smuggling tunnel in the Sinai town of Rafah on the border with Gaza, security officials say.

They said the “armed Palestinians” and the military clashed in a buffer zone established along the border.

The gunmen had infiltrated through one of the smuggling tunnels used to transport fuel and food supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Cairo accuses Hamas, which controls Gaza, of using the tunnels to infiltrate Egypt and aid jihadists who launch regular attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

— AFP

Iranian human rights activist detained

One of Iran’s most prominent human rights activists, Narges Mohammadi, has been arrested by state security forces and detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison, her husband says.

Mohammadi is a close associate of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. Her activism has included promoting women’s rights and campaigning to end the death penalty.

Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, tells The Associated Press that about 10 people showed up at Mohammadi’s house early Tuesday morning to detain her — a show of force he calls “very provocative.”

Authorities later called her 8-year-old twins to inform them she was behind bars, says Rahmani, who lives in exile in France.

“Narges is a human rights activist. … She hasn’t done anything wrong,” he says.

— AP

Israeli hiker killed in Nepal quake buried

Or Asraf, the Israeli hiker and IDF veteran who was killed in the Nepal earthquake, is being laid to rest in his hometown of Lehavim.

Thousands of people are attending the funeral, according to Ynet.

Iran leader tells negotiators to avoid ‘humiliation’

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructs his country’s negotiators to steer clear of “humiliation” in nuclear talks with world powers that resume next week in Vienna.

“The negotiators must respect the red lines and tolerate neither pressure nor humiliation, or threats,” he says in a speech to teachers carried on his website.

“It is unacceptable for the other side to make threats while negotiations are taking place. What use is negotiation in the shadow of threats?” Khamenei asks.

— AFP

FIFA to host Israeli, Palestinian soccer leaders

FIFA says it will host the leaders of the Israeli and Palestinian soccer federations within days, seeking an agreement before the governing body’s congress this month.

The Palestinian Football Association wants Israel suspended from world soccer because its security forces restrict movement of players in the West Bank and Gaza.

The PFA defied FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s wishes by pushing for a vote of 209 member countries on May 29 in Zurich.

FIFA says Blatter met Israeli soccer leaders on Wednesday and told them “any member association that is fulfilling its statutory duties should not be suspended.”

The Israeli federation has said the issues are political and beyond its control.

Blatter has worked to mediate between the two federations since a decision at the FIFA congress in 2013.

— AP

‘We managed to bring you home,’ father of hiker says

At the funeral of his son, Patrick Asraf praises the Israeli rescue team that found Or Asraf’s body in Nepal, eight days after the devastating earthquake claimed his life.

“Your friends in your unit located you in a long, complex mission, while risking their lives,” he says. “We managed to bring you home from the mountain.”

“We were given a rare treasure, and we feared that one day it would be stolen from us,” he says.

Earlier, Patrick Asraf told Channel 2 that Or’s death was “quick and painless.”

“We’re sad he was killed, but happy that we brought him home. He was in an environment that he loved — he loved and couldn’t get enough of nature, both in Israel and abroad, hiked Israel from top to bottom, he was happy.”

At the funeral in Lehavim, attended by thousands, Or’s sister eulogized her “guardian angel.”

“My guardian angel, it hurts me that you’re longer here with me,” Ella Asraf says. “You won’t tell me excitedly about a new song, you won’t show me photos of mountains you’ve climbed, won’t play ‘happy birthday’ on the harmonica, no longer call me your beautiful sister.”

Former House Speaker Jim Wright dies at age 92

Former House Speaker Jim Wright, the longtime Texas Democrat who became the first speaker in history to be driven out of office in midterm, has died. He was 92.

Wright, who had been living in a nursing home in Fort Worth, died early Wednesday morning, according to the Harveson and Cole funeral home in Fort Worth. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Wright helped President Jimmy Carter fashion the 1978 Camp David agreement that led to peace between Israel and Egypt.

In his long House career, Wright was the author of major legislation in several fields but was most proud of his efforts on behalf of a “pay-as-we-go” interstate highway system and water conservation.

— AP

Liberman bids goodbye to Foreign Ministry

Avigdor Liberman, who resigned from his position of foreign minister earlier this week and announced he would join the opposition, writes on Facebook that under his leadership Israel’s diplomatic ties and international image dramatically improved.

On his last day in office, Liberman says the ministry “improved Israel’s status and image in the world.”

“Upon entering office, I said the Foreign Ministry has to stop being a ministry of Palestinian affairs and start being an office that really works to advance Israel’s diplomacy. We’ve succeeded in this.”

Liberman touts ties between Israel and unspecified African and Asian nations, as well as countries in the Balkans, and says that these relationships benefited Israel in fending off international pressure, as well as economically in past years.

“Another important thing, and no less important, is the proud way we stood our ground on our positions and the key interests of the State of Israel to the world without apologizing (and for us this is not only an election slogan, but a policy that we insisted on and implemented on several important occasions),” he writes, in a jab at the Jewish Home party’s elections slogan “no more apologies.”

Ex-justice minister back Shaked for position

Former justice minister and law professor Daniel Friedman says the Jewish Home’s Ayelet Shaked will be make a “very good” justice minister.

“This is a very good appointment. She is very talented, with a unique voice, and her capabilities are impressive. She is fitting for the role,” Friedman tells the Walla news website.

Friedman served as justice minister under Ehud Olmert from 2007 to 2009, but was not a member of Knesset. During his term, he worked to limit the Supreme Court jurisdiction, a move that Shaked has vocally supported as well.

Coalition negotiations resume

Netanyahu is meeting with Jewish Home party representatives in the Knesset to iron out a deal before the midnight deadline.

Hundreds of thousands expected in Meron

As night falls, bonfires across the country are lit to mark the death of a second-century rabbi for the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to converge on the village of Meron on the slops of a Galilee mountain, where the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is located. The first bonfire at Meron was set to be lit at 8:15 p.m., and celebrations are expected to continue through the night.

Police closed off roads leading to Meron and to the tomb Wednesday morning ahead of the holiday, which began at sundown and lasts until Thursday evening.

The area will be reachable only by public transportation after that time, police say.

IDF to probe possible tunnel on Gaza border

The IDF will investigate a possible terror tunnel in the Gaza periphery, Channel 10 reports, amid complaints by residents of Kibbutz Nirim.

The residents of the Israeli community on the border of the coastal enclave hired a private company to evaluate the site, which concluded that a tunnel was being constructed underground, prompting the army inquiry, the report says.

Iran says nuke deal can make it the region’s top energy power

A nuclear agreement will allow Iran to become the number one energy player in the Middle East and herald major opportunities for foreign companies, top government officials in Tehran say.

The remarks, at an industry event, underlined the broader political and economic implications should sanctions on Iran be lifted under a deal, following long-running diplomatic efforts with six world powers.

Iran has the world’s fourth largest proven oil reserves and the second biggest gas deposits. Both are seen as long undertapped and ripe for exploration.

But exports have halved since US and EU sanctions were imposed on Iran’s energy industry in 2012 as punishment for the country’s disputed nuclear program.

Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who as nuclear talks have progressed in recent months has signaled willingness to see global oil giants return, says cooperation was essential.

But such a prospect is inextricably linked to the nuclear deal and its June 30 deadline.

“We have to use the foreign companies that will come to us after the removal of sanctions… to increase exports and access regional markets,” Zanganeh says in a speech at Iran’s 20th Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Fair.

“It is understandable that they left us during hard times. But we hope to prepare ourselves to work with them for a future in which we become the industry’s number one in the region.”

— AFP

Shas unsure who will head religious affairs ministry

According to a report by the Kikar HaShabat website, Shas has not yet appointed a religious affairs minister, after MK Yitzhak Cohen says he would prefer to work in the Finance Ministry.

The report indicates that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will bring in a candidate from outside the party to head the office.

The religious affairs portfolio was the subject of dispute between Shas, which ultimately received it, and the Jewish Home party.

‘Still gaps’ between Likud, Jewish Home

There are “still gaps” between the Likud and Jewish Home parties, officials tell the Walla news website, with the clock ticking toward the midnight deadline.

“The deal is not yet finalized. The big things have been closed, but on the level of the small details there are still gaps because we are only going over these things for the first time,” a source close to the meeting says.