Israel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel tightened a national lockdown on Friday in a bid to curb a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising that all Israeli adults could be vaccinated by the end of March.

With a population of nine million, Israel is leading the world in a swift rollout of vaccinations, but the number of new infections has climbed to about 8,000 a day, the highest in months.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday condemned violence at the Capitol as “completely unacceptable” and said he looked forward to continued work on the transition to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden

Mnuchin spoke during a visit to Israel, where his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also condemned Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Congress by supporters of outgoing Republican President Donald Trump.

06 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israel and Greece are set to sign the largest ever security agreement between the two countries, worth up to $1.68 billion, the Times of Israel has reported.

The deal to be signed by the respective defence ministries, approves the establishment and operation of a flight school for the Hellenic Air Force by Elbit Systems, Israel's largest private arms company.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For media-obsessed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the coronavirus vaccine has arrived just in time.

With elections approaching in March, Netanyahu has placed his world-leading vaccination drive at the center of his reelection campaign — launching an aggressive media blitz portraying him as almost singlehandedly leading the country out of the pandemic. He appears to be betting that a successful vaccination effort can persuade voters to forget about his corruption trial and the economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis.

04 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been canvassing Arab citizens in Israel for their votes in the upcoming General Election, Quds Press reported on Sunday. Netanyahu is also the leader of the Likud Party.

According to Quds Press, official Israeli radio reported Netanyahu telling closed Likud meetings that he is planning to allocate a guaranteed place for an Arab candidate on the party's electoral list. He also said that he might even choose an Arab as a minister.

04 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israeli prosecutors released an amended indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that included details of the many requests that he made for favourable media coverage from the owner of a major telecom company.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s defence minister said on Monday that he wants the country to buy a third squadron of stealth F-35 warplanes from the United States, and that he hoped a deal could be clinched before President Donald Trump steps down on Jan. 20.

Israel has been in talks with Washington on how to preserve its military advantage after the Trump administration approved a possible F-35 sale to the United Arab Emirates last year. The plane was previously available only to Israel in the region.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli official on Sunday dismissed as “nonsense” an allegation by the Iranian foreign minister that Israel was trying to trick the United States into waging war on Iran.

It was Israel that needed to be on alert for possible Iranian strikes on the one-year anniversary on Sunday of the assassination of Tehran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Kan public radio.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov met on Thursday at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu thanked Mladenov for "the positive role he filled vis-a-vis various elements in the region," said a statement issued by the prime minister's office.

He underlined the continued UN assistance in negotiations for the return of the Israeli fallen soldiers and civilians, whose bodies, according to Israel, are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — In the early days of the pandemic, a panicked Israel began using a mass surveillance tool on its civilians, tracking people’s cellphones in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

The government touted the technology, normally used to catch wanted Palestinian militants, as a breakthrough against the virus. But months later, the tool’s effectiveness is being called into question and critics say its use has come at an immeasurable cost to the country’s democratic principles.