Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Friday that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, potentially clearing the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The decision was welcomed by the Palestinians and decried by Israel’s prime minister, who vowed to fight “this perversion of justice.” The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, said it opposed the decision.

04 Feb 2021; MEMO: Three parties have agreed to continue to run in Israel's upcoming elections as one bloc; the Joint List.

The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), the National Democratic Gathering (Balad) and the Arab Movement for Renewal (Ta'al) yesterday agreed to run as a united list in the March election.

by Anadolu Agency

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proud of the fact that he was one of the first people called by Donald Trump when he entered the White House four years ago. However, he is still waiting for a call from new US President Joe Biden.

Israel's new Chargé d'Affaires to Morocco David Govrin confirmed that his government expects direct flights between Israel and Morocco to start within two months.

"An agreement has been reached between the two countries, and we are currently consulting about the procedures," Govrin said in an interview with the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan), confirming that the number of Israeli tourists to Morocco will double.

"All Israeli airlines companies have requested to operate flights to Morocco, in addition to Royal Air Maroc."

03 Feb 2021; MEMO: During political-security discussions, Chief of General Staff of Israeli Aviv Kochavi has agreed on forming a defence alliance with the US, Arabs48 reported yesterday.

The Arab site reported Haaretz saying that Kochavi agreed to the alliance after coming under pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s energy minister said on Tuesday it would take Iran around six months to produce enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon, a timeline almost twice as long as that anticipated by a senior member of the Biden administration.

Israel is wary of the Biden administration’s intent to reenter the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and has long opposed the agreement. Washington argues that the previous Trump administration’s withdrawal from the deal backfired by prompting Iran to abandon caps on nuclear activities.

02 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israel has vaccinated more than three million citizens against the coronavirus pandemic. However, the numbers of new infections are still on the rise, Anadolu Agency reports.

"The surge of COVID-19 infections is a complicated question," Ian Miskin, head of the coronavirus care and vaccination for the Clalit healthcare provider in Jerusalem, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Last week, Israel’s Labor party appeared headed for extinction, with polls indicating it wouldn’t win enough votes in upcoming elections to enter parliament. But following the election of progressive lawmaker Merav Michaeli as its new leader, the party is showing signs of life.

Labor, home of the country’s founding leaders and for decades its ruling party, has begun to climb in opinion polls, and Michaeli is determined to once again make it a major force in Israeli politics.

01 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israel's Mossad spy agency is involved in the investigation into the explosion near the Zionist state's embassy in India last week, RT reported on Sunday.

According to Israeli and Indian media, a bomb exploded near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, breaking the windows of three cars but causing little damage in the embassy itself. There were no casualties.

01 Feb 2021; MEMO: Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for him to step down, Quds Press has reported. This is the 32nd week that such protests have been held against the Israeli leader, who faces three indictments on corruption and fraud charges.