Israel

Israeli foreign minister to pay first visit to UAE next week -statement

TEL AVIV, June 21 (Reuters) - Israel's top diplomat will travel to the United Arab Emirates next week in the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the Gulf state since the two countries established diplomatic relations last year.

Yair Lapid, who was sworn in last week under a new government, will be hosted by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan from June 29-30, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Minister Lapid will inaugurate the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of Israel in Dubai."

Israel's new PM vows to toughen up approaches against Hamas

JERUSALEM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned Gaza's Hamas rulers on Sunday that Israel will not tolerate "any more violence" from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony to commemorate the fallen soldiers during Israel's 2014 military campaign in Gaza, Bennett said that Israel "has lost its patience."

He said that Hamas will "have to get used to a different Israeli approach, one of initiative, decisiveness, and suspicion."

After asking Cairo to halt entry of goods to Gaza, Israel, Egypt ministers discuss reviving peace process

19 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Friday discussed with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israeli and Egyptian media reported.

This came as Lapid made a telephone call to Shoukry in an attempt to thaw the years-long political stalemate between Israel and Palestine.

Lapid said that Shoukry emphasised the importance of returning to peace negotiations.

Israeli cabinet orders inquiry on deadly festival stampede

JERUSALEM, June 20 (Reuters) - Israel's new government approved on Sunday an official inquiry into a stampede in April in which killed 45 people at a Jewish pilgrimage site long deemed dangerously crowded by authorities.

Though it was the country's worst civilian disaster, a full-scale investigation into the Mount Meron deaths and dozens of injuries had lagged under the previous government amid feuding between its ultra-Orthodox Jewish and opposition politicians.

Ousted Israel PM plotted with Saudi's MBS to undermine Jordan king

14 June 2021; MEMO: New details have emerged about the alleged plot to overthrow Jordan's King Abdullah, indicating that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a starring role along with senior officials within the Trump administration, prominent Jordanians, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Israeli PM: World powers must ‘wake up’ on Iran nuke deal

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday opened his first Cabinet meeting since swearing in his new coalition government last week with a condemnation of the new Iranian president. He said Iran’s presidential election was a sign for world powers to “wake up” before returning to a nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Israel To Sell Germany 69 Radar Systems In 36-Million-Euro Deal

JERUSALEM, Jun 18 (NNN-PNN) – The state-owned company, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), yesterday announced, it will manufacture and deliver 69 tactical mobile radar systems to the German Land Forces, in a deal valued at 36 million euros.

The systems are IAI’s WatchGuard, the fifth generation of motion-detection tactical ground surveillance radars. Employing both staring and electronic-steering search techniques, the systems are expected to replace the aging legacy systems, in the German army, IAI said.

Israel: Palestinian citizens condemn arrest of senior Imam

18 June 2021; MEMO: The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel (HFC) has condemned the arrest of the Imam of the Grand Omari Mosque in the city of Lod at dawn on Thursday. Sheikh Yousef Al-Baz's arrest, said the committee, is part of "an organised campaign targeting political and leadership figures."

Israel dismisses probes into 90% of anti-Arab religious hate crimes

17 June 2021; MEMO: Israel has reportedly closed nine out of ten investigations into anti-Arab religious hate crime cases between 2018 and 2020 on account of not being able to locate the perpetrators. The cases entailed the vandalising of at least ten mosques and churches in both the occupied West Bank and within Israel. A decision by the State Prosecutor's Office is yet to be made regarding the tenth case.

Israel: far-right 'plays politics' with apartheid law to embarrass government

17 June 2021; MEMO: Far-right opposition parties in Israel have claimed victory after embarrassing the new coalition government by ensuring that it failed to extend an apartheid law barring Palestinian family reunification. The law, which prevents Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving citizenship, failed to get its usual backing from the right-wing bloc.

Subscribe to Israel