Israel

06 Oct 2020; MEMO: Early Jewish settlers in Palestine “looted Arab property”, a new book by an Israeli historian has said, adding “authorities turned a blind eye”.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s top rabbis prayed for U.S. President Donald Trump to recover from COVID-19 on Monday, invoking his name in a Jewish holiday ceremony at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

Support for Trump, who recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy to the city, is strong among Israelis, who mark the Jewish high holidays this year while under a second coronavirus lockdown.

Tel Aviv, Oct 4 (AP/PTI) Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in hundreds of locations across Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pressing ahead with their campaign against the Israeli leader on Saturday night after the government banned large, centralized demonstrations as part of a new coronavirus lockdown.

The protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem each week for over three months, demanding his resignation.

by Yvonne Ridley

The future of Israel is hanging in the balance as the number of immigrants has dropped by more than a third, according to the latest statistics. While the coronavirus pandemic is being blamed for this, stories of a broken economy and general decline in living standards are thought to be behind the decrease.

02 Oct 2020; MEMO: Asaf Zamir, Israel’s tourism minister, resigned from the post on Friday citing a lack of trust in the country’s premier Benjamin Netanyahu, Anadolu Agency reports.

Zamir is a member of the Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz, who is the country’s defense minister and the alternate prime minister.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For the last four months, Ahmed al-Kurdi, his wife and three children have been stranded in Jordan, where they traveled from their home in the Gaza Strip for life-saving medical treatment for his 2-year-old daughter.

At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has led to border closures and travel restrictions, they find themselves stuck, not because of quarantine measures, but because of a dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel will hold rare talks with Lebanon next month in an effort to resolve a longstanding maritime border dispute, an Israeli official said Saturday.

The official said Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation in talks mediated by the United States. Representatives from the three countries are likely to speak by video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic, the official said.

The official requested anonymity in line with regulations. There was no immediate comment from Lebanon.

JERUSALEM, Sept 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel is set to tighten its second nationwide coronavirus lockdown, with the prime minister warning that the country is at “the edge of the abyss”.

The new measures, which parliament must approve, would see more workplaces close and movement restricted further.

Synagogues would only be able to open for small groups next week for Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, and the size of protests would be limited.

The move came after the daily number of new Covid-19 cases exceeded 8,000.

26 Sep 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the construction of 5,000 new settlement units in an Israeli Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Friday.

According to the news website of Israeli TV Channel 7, Netanyahu has called for the Israeli High Council of Planning and Building to be convened in the West Bank after the Jewish holidays.

26 Sep 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies have threatened to impose emergency regulations to prevent anti-Netanyahu protests, after failing to pass restrictions on coronavirus law.