Israel

TEL AVIV (AP) — Israel has approved a fourth vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to COVID-19, an official said Thursday, becoming one of the first countries to do so as it braces for a wave of infections fueled by the omicron variant.

Nachman Ash, the director general of the Health Ministry, announced the decision at a press conference, saying the doses would initially be given to those with weakened immune systems.

“We will continue to track the data on a daily basis and we will see if we need to broaden this recommendation to more of the population,” he said.

29 Dec 2021; MEMO: An Australian man living in Israel was banned from leaving the country for 8,000 years unless he pays a 'future debt' of over $2.4m in child support, the Guardian reported.

Noam Huppert, 44, was told he must remain in Israel until 31 December 9999, by a family court, unless the outstanding debt is paid off. He is not allowed to leave for work purposes or holidays.

30 Dec 2021; MEMO: An Israeli court turned down on Wednesday a request by the Public Prosecution to demolish 41 homes in Israel's Arab city of Qalansuwa, Arab48 reported.

The Israeli authorities are planning to extend a high-pressure electricity network over the Arab homes and is using this a pretext to demolish them.

Owners of the homes said that there should be an alternative plan as did occur in Tel Aviv when the Israeli authorities created an underground electricity network.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister approved a raft of measures aimed at improving relations with the Palestinians on Wednesday following a rare meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Israel.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Abbas at his private residence in a Tel Aviv suburb late Tuesday night. It was the first time Abbas met an Israeli official inside Israel since 2010. The two discussed security coordination between Israel and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, which administers pockets of the occupied West Bank.

28 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has stressed that no American consulate would be opened in Jerusalem while he is in his post, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Knesset, Bennett said: "The government under my leadership has repeatedly clarified its position that there is no place for a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem."

According to The Jerusalem Post, Bennett said: "Jerusalem is the capital of one state, the State of Israel, period."

JERUSALEM, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel will lift the travel ban to 55 countries, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ease, subject to the approval of the cabinet and a parliamentary committee, will take effect on Thursday, the ministry noted.

Most African countries will be released from the ban list, as well as some European countries, including Germany, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, Belgium, Finland and Norway, it added.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday he is not opposed to a “good” nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, but voiced skepticism that such an outcome would emerge from the current negotiations.

Bennett spoke a day after negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed talks in Vienna on restoring Tehran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal. He reiterated that Israel was not bound by any accord, leaving it room to maneuver militarily.

27 Dec 2021; MEMO: The Israeli government unanimously approved on Sunday a NIS1 billion ($317m) plan to increase the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media reported.

The Times of Israel reported Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as saying that Israel intends to double the number of Israelis living in "the strategic area" in the coming years.

28 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Israel supports reaching a "good agreement" over Iran's Iranian nuclear file which guarantees "real supervision" of Tehran's nuclear facilities.

"We are opposed to an agreement that does not have a possibility of real supervision over the Iranian nuclear program, over the Iranian money, and over the Iranian terrorist network," Lapid said on Monday during a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.

26 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went into isolation at home on Sunday and will await the results of a COVID-19 PCR test after his 14-year-old daughter tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said.

Bennett left the weekly meeting of his cabinet and headed home after learning of his daughter's positive test, which came amid fast-spreading infections in Israel caused by the Omicron variant.