Israel

06 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israel is working to expand its ties with Arab states, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said at the Jewish Federations of North America's annual conference yesterday.

"I wouldn't name names because this will harm the process, but of course, we're working with the United States and with the new friends in the Emirates, in Bahrain and Morocco… in order to expand this to other countries," he said.

05 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) has provided the four Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah an offer which would allow them to remain in their homes for 15 years as "protected tenants".

05 Oct 2021; MEMO: Mohammed Al-Arida, one of six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Israel's high-security Gilboa Prison on 6 September and was recaptured days later, yesterday started an open-ended hunger strike protesting the strict detention conditions he is being held under, the PLO's Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said.

JERUSALEM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Israeli Mossad intelligence agents carried out a "wide-ranging and bold" operation last month to try to uncover the fate of Ron Arad, a long-missing Israeli airman, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday.

Arad, an air force navigator, bailed out of a warplane that went down over Lebanon during a 1986 bombing mission. Initially taken prisoner by Lebanese Amal guerrillas, he is widely assumed to no longer be alive. The aircraft's pilot was rescued.

JERUSALEM/NICOSIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Israel accused Iran on Monday of orchestrating an attempted attack against Israelis in Cyprus after police on the Mediterranean island said an armed individual had been arrested. Iran swiftly denied the accusation.

"This was a terrorist incident directed by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus," Matan Sidi, spokesman for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said in a statement.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Egypt’s national carrier Sunday made its first official direct flight to Israel since the two countries signed an historic 1979 peace treaty as an EgyptAir jet landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

The airline’s affiliate, AirSinai, has for decades operated flights to Israel without the company logo, out of fear of public backlash. The national carrier will now run three weekly flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv with the EgyptAir markings.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel restricted its COVID Green Pass on Sunday to allow only those who have received a vaccine booster dose or recently recuperated from coronavirus to enter indoor venues.

Technical problems hamstrung the Health Ministry’s rollout of the updated green pass — a kind of digital vaccination passport — as millions of Israelis tried to reissue digital documentation that would allow entry to shops, restaurants, cultural events, gyms and other indoor venues.

01 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israeli authorities yesterday transferred the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from the Gilboa maximum security prison in early September to solitary confinement in various prisons.

Lawyer Khaled Mahajna said in a statement that after occupation forces completed their investigations, they transferred the detainees to solitary confinement in different prisons.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister arrived in Bahrain on Thursday, the first high-level visit to the small Gulf state by a senior Israeli official since the signing last year of a landmark agreement to establish diplomatic ties.

Yair Lapid landed in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, for meetings with his Bahraini counterpart and to inaugurate Israel’s embassy. It was the first official visit by an Israeli Cabinet member.

After Lapid landed, Bahrain carrier Gulf Air launched its first direct flight between Manama and Tel Aviv.

29 Sep 2021; MEMO: Hamas yesterday said it blamed the occupation authorities for the rising crime rates among the Palestinian residents of Israel.

In a statement issued by Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif Al-Qanou, the movement said: "The Israeli occupation government keeps silent about crimes among Arabs, aiming to disintegrate their internal structure."

Al-Qanou said that the rising crime rates within the Arab community "has reached a record rate," pointing out that "this is a dangerous indication."