Israel

24 June 2020; MEMO: An Israeli occupation soldier had been sentenced to 45 days of community service for killing a Palestinian fisherman off the Gaza coast in 2018, Israel Hayom reported on Monday. In what rights groups have said is proof that Israel “protect[s] perpetrators, not their victims”.

The sentence came following an army investigation that found the soldier had opened fire at the Palestinian without authorisation.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Benjamin Pogrund spent decades battling apartheid as a journalist in South Africa. Since moving to Israel two decades ago, he has passionately defended the country against charges that it too is an apartheid state.

But at the age of 87, Pogrund is having second thoughts. He says that if Israel moves ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank, he will have no choice but to declare that his adopted homeland has become a modern-day version of apartheid-era South Africa.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Technology developed by Israeli cyber security company NSO Group was used by the Moroccan government to spy on journalist Omar Radi, a critic of Morocco’s human rights record, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The organization found that Radi’s phone was subjected to several attacks using a “sophisticated new technique” that silently installed NSO’s Pegasus spyware.

Jerusalem, Jun 22 (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will weigh possible steps to halt the spread of the coronavirus after Israel saw a major uptick in new confirmed cases in recent days.

Israel has over 20,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with new cases jumping by more than 300 in recent days.

At least 305 people have died with COVID-19 since the country's outbreak began in March.

JERUSALEM, June 22 (NNN-MA’AN) – The number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Israel doubled since early June, according to figures released by Israeli Ministry of Health on Sunday.

It said, 209 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalised in Israel, compared with 105 on June 1.

The total number of cases in Israel increased to 20,778, with 145 new patients, while the death toll rose from 305 to 306, and the number of patients in serious condition remained at 40.

17 June 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would never recognise a Palestinian state, senior Likud MK Miki Zohar revealed yesterday.

According to the Times of Israel, Zohar tweeted: “The prime minister announced yesterday [Monday] at the faction meeting that in no constellation will the government or the Knesset recognise the principle of establishing a Palestinian state.”

Netanyahu, according to Zohar, stressed: “We will never recognise a Palestinian state!”

16 June 2020; MEMO: Chief of Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, is set to visit Arab countries to persuade them to accept the planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, Al-Rai Al-Youm reported yesterday.

Quoting Israeli TV Channel 11, the Arabic paper said Cohen would visit both Arab countries with and those that do not have relations with Israel in order to discuss the plan which Israel is set to put into place next month.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial for accepting gifts from wealthy friends. But that has not stopped him from seeking another gift from a wealthy friend to pay for his multimillion-dollar legal defense.

The awkward arrangement opens a window into the very ties with billionaire friends that plunged Netanyahu into legal trouble and sheds light on the intersection of money and Israeli politics.

15 June 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week hailed US President Donald Trump for imposing economic sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, Israeli media reported.

15 June 2020; MEMO: The US Ambassador to Israel, David M Friedman, and Israeli leaders failed to reach agreement on the annexation plan at a meeting yesterday, local media have reported. Friedman is known to support Israel’s illegal settlements built on Palestinian land.