Israel

24 Sep 2019; MEMO: People close to the Likud leadership have told the Israeli police that the head of Jewish Home party, Avigdor Lieberman, has secret bank accounts overseas, Shehab news agency reported on Monday. According to Israeli news website Wallah, Lieberman did not disclose the existence of these accounts to the authorities.

24 Sep 2019; MEMO: A legal rights centre has told a United Nations committee that Israel has failed to comply with its 2012 recommendations to reverse racially discriminatory practices.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s president summoned the leaders of the country’s two largest political parties to his official residence late Monday, hoping to break a political deadlock that threatens to push the nation into months of limbo and potentially force a third election in less than a year.

Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, commented as President Reuven Rivlin brought them together for a photo at the beginning of the meeting. The two men looked tense and uncomfortable as Rivlin forced a smile.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Arab bloc in Israel’s parliament abandoned its usual hands-off stance Sunday and endorsed former military chief Benny Gantz for prime minister, potentially giving him the edge over hard-line incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.

The historic move marked the first time in nearly three decades that the Arab parties backed a candidate for prime minster, reflecting their contempt for Netanyahu, who was accused of fomenting hatred of the Arabs during his re-election campaign.

21 Sep 2019; MEMO: Archbishop Atallah Hanna, of the Sebastian Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, slammed on Friday the extrajudicial executions of Palestinians by Israeli occupation soldiers, Maan News Agency reported.

21 Sep 2019; MEMO: Israeli Jewish Home party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, warned on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is practicing “political tricks” to lead Israel to a third round of elections, Quds Press reported.

21 Sep 2019; MEMO: Chief of Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, is preparing to succeed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the head of the Likud party, Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported on Friday.

20 September 2019; AFP: We know what Neanderthals looked like. Now, thanks to ancient DNA, Israeli scientists have unveiled the appearance of another of our ancient relatives.

Very few clues exist about the lives of the Denisovans -- cousins of Neanderthals -- who went extinct around 50,000 years ago: three teeth, a pinky bone, and a lower jaw.

But that was enough for researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to draw conclusions on their appearance.

20 Sep 2019; MEMO: Benny Gantz, leader of the center-left Blue and White party (Kahol Lavan), on Thursday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer to form a government.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, centrist Benny Gantz, claimed on Thursday victory in the closely-fought parliamentary elections.

In a broadcast statement on Israel's main TV channels, he called on Netanyahu to join him to a "broad, liberal unity government under my leadership."

He rejected Netanyahu's earlier call to form a unity government with Gantz' centrist Blue and White party and far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties as a "spin."