Israel news:
Police commissioner Roni Alsheich had a meeting in Jerusalem with security officials where they discussed the steps necessary to keep Jerusalem safe. Alsheich said, “Israel Police will continue to preserve Israel's sovereignty and status quo on the Temple Mount and allow all worshipers who wish to pray to come and do so. But we won’t allow this holy site to be used for disturbances, or riots, or any clash with security forces. We will be kind and respectful to worshipers, but we will deal harshly with rioters and inciters. Arab leaders must act responsibly, to stop the violence and incitement which brings unwanted escalation.”
Netanyahu wants to remove Al-Jazeera from Israel: This past Wednesday, Netanyahu said he intends to remove Al-Jazeera from Israel. He said they are a major source of incitement against Israel. If current laws don’t allow for it to be closed down he will seek legislation of new laws that will allow it. On Thursday, Al-Jazeera responded by condemning the ‘false accusations’ against their professional and objective coverage. They will take legal action if Netanyahu succeeds in closing them down.
At a memorial service marking 3 years for Hadar Goldin’s abduction and murder, Hadar’s father had strong words about the government and ministers who promised to get Hadar’s body back from the Hamas and failed to do so for 3 years. “Defense Minister Lieberman promised before becoming minister that he would get Hadar and Oron back in 48 hours but it never happened. The government abandons IDF soldiers in the hands of the enemy time after time…We demand these words not remain hanging in the air.”
After Israel removed security from the Temple Mount Abdul Gheit the head of the Arab League had the audacity to say “Israel is playing with fire when it attempts to control religious sites in Jerusalem and could ignite a religious war… we condemn the aim to Judaize the occupied city of Jerusalem…” Obviously no solution will be agreed upon as long as Israel exists but if the Arab league waits long enough maybe the government may hand that over on a silver platter too!
MK and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is working on stripping Amnesty International of its Israeli tax exempt status for supporting the BDS movement. Amnesty International also calls Israel a war criminal because the settlements are illegal and settlers are doing a war crime by living in territories that don’t belong to them. They call the six day war the beginning of ‘50 years of Dispossession’ which is the name of their recent report.
World news
Iranian Satellite deployment attempt: On Thursday Iran attempted to deploy a satellite when it launched a rocket but the deployment may not have succeeded. U.S. sources say they haven’t detected any more objects in space. Iran of course claims the satellite was successfully deployed.
The US sanctions Russia and Russia responds: On Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the sanctions the US is placing on them by ordering the reduction of U.S. diplomats in Russia. In addition a US embassy is being closed down according to Fox News. All this was in response to the almost unanimous vote of 98-2 in the Senate to sanction Russia for hacking the US elections and to sanction Iran and North Korea too. Even the House of Representatives had similar numbers 419-3 to issue the sanctions. These numbers mean that the sanctions can become law even if Trump vetoes them.
The sanctions are meant to punish Russia for its tampering in US elections, supporting Assad’s regime and their aggression against the Ukraine.