Israel

15 Sep 2020; MEMO: An Israeli court has sentenced a Jewish settler to three life terms following the killing of a Palestinian couple and their baby in an arson attack in 2015.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to leave late on Sunday for the United States, where he is slated to sign historic normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain on Tuesday.

The UAE and Bahrain will become the third and fourth Arab country to ink a peace agreement with Israel, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For the first time in more than a quarter-century, a U.S. president will host a signing ceremony between Israelis and Arabs at the White House, billing it as an “historic breakthrough” in a region long known for its stubborn conflicts.

But while the optics of Tuesday’s event will evoke the groundbreaking agreements that ended decades of war between Israel and neighboring Egypt and Jordan, and that launched the peace process with the Palestinians, the reality is quite different.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A deal establishing relations between Israel and Bahrain will result in direct flights between the countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

“There will be brisk and direct air traffic between the countries,” he said in remarks to the Israeli cabinet, a transcript of which was issued by his office.

The Bahrain deal, announced on Friday, followed a similar accommodation between another Gulf power, United Arab Emirates, and Israel and resulting pledges of direct air connections.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli cabinet minister tendered his resignation on Sunday in protest at a looming coronavirus lockdown that he argued would unfairly impede religious celebrations of Jewish holidays.

The restrictions - the most extensive Israel will have imposed since a lockdown that ran from late March to early May - are expected to go into effect on Friday, the Jewish new year Rosh Hashana, and span into the Yom Kippur fast day on Sept 27.

12 Sep 2020; MEMO: With over 4,300 more coronavirus cases reported on Friday, the steady rise in infections in Israel since June shows no signs of abating, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to the Health Ministry, 4,388 new cases over the past 24 hours raised the overall count to 146,542, including 1,077 deaths and 111,539 recoveries.

At least 489 patients are in critical condition, 180 in moderate condition, and 134 are on respirators, the ministry said.

09 Sep 2020; MEMO: The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah yesterday called on Israel to stop the demolition policy pursued against Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem including those funded by the EU and its member states.

09 Sep 2020; MEMO: Israel’s largest lender Bank Hapoalim expects to start working with banks in the United Arab Emirates once the two Middle East states sign a normalisation agreement, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

The UAE and Israel are due to sign the agreement, brokered by the United States, on September 15 at a ceremony held by US President Donald Trump.

09 Sep 2020; MEMO: A senior Chadian delegation arrived in Israel yesterday and met with senior officials and expressed a willingness to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, local media reported.

The delegation was headed by Abdelkerim Idriss Deby, the son of Chad’s President Idriss Deby, and the deputy director of Chad’s civil cabinet, the Jerusalem Post said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Ahmad Manasra was traveling home from a wedding when he spotted a family in distress on the side of a West Bank road. Moments later, the 22-year-old Palestinian was fatally shot while another Palestinian driver was seriously wounded — both by an Israeli soldier in a nearby watchtower.

The shootings are now the focus of a plea bargain offering the soldier three months of community service — a deal that has come under fierce criticism from the victims and their families.