Tag: Israel

Israeli Family Seeks to Block Return of Boy to Italy

TEL AVIV, Israel—An Israeli family asked an appeals court on Thursday to halt the planned return of a 6-year-old boy who survived a cable crash in Italy to his relatives there. There was no immediate ruling in the case surrounding Eitan Biran, who has been at the center of a bitter custody battle between relatives…


United States Sours on Israeli Spyware Vendor

Days after being placed on a U.S. sanctions list, Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group was handed a major loss in federal appeals court Nov. 8 when justices denied the company’s sovereign immunity claims—paving the way for the firm to face legal liability in the United States. NSO Group faces legal and regulatory actions in numerous…


Israel Suggests US Open Consulate for Palestinians in West Bank, Not Jerusalem

JERUSALEM—Israel stepped up its public opposition on Saturday to a plan by President Joe Biden’s administration to reopen a U.S. consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, suggesting such a mission should be in the occupied West Bank. Under former President Donald Trump, Washington closed the Jerusalem consulate and placed its staff within the U.S. Embassy to…


Israel Spared 5th Snap Election as Lawmakers Pass Budget

JERUSALEM—Israel’s parliament passed a national budget for the first time in three years early on Thursday, avoiding a November deadline that would have brought down the new government and triggered another election. The marathon overnight voting on budget bills in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, was a major hurdle for the new government headed by Prime…


Israel Tests Massive Inflatable Missile Detection System

JERUSALEM—Israel said Wednesday it has begun testing a massive inflatable missile detection system designed to hover at high altitudes and detect long-range threats. Israel already boasts an array of sophisticated missile defenses, which were used successfully during the 11-day Gaza war this year. The High Availability Aerostat System resembles a giant blimp or zeppelin. The…


Israel’s Central Bank Urges Government to Meet Looming Budget Deadline

JERUSALEM—The Bank of Israel on Wednesday urged the government to pass the 2021–2022 state budget as a deadline approaches that could determine the fate of the ruling coalition, and praised the spending plan outlined by Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman. In a statement, it emphasised the “tremendous economic importance of approving the state budget at this…


Israel Designates 6 Palestinian Rights Organizations as ‘Terrorists’

The Israeli Defense Ministry has designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terror outfits operating as part of a network run by the left-wing militant Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The organizations are accused of funneling international donor aid to fund PFLP activities that include carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis. PFLP,…


Supreme Court Urged to Allow Suit Against UK Bank Over Terrorism Complicity

More than 200 U.S. citizens, family members, and estates of deceased U.S. citizens are asking the Supreme Court to revive their lawsuit against a foreign bank for allegedly processing hundreds of transfers moving millions of dollars for terrorist group Hamas’s principal European fundraiser, Interpal, over a decade. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has filed…


A Middle East ‘Quad’ Begins to Develop

NEW DELHI—First there was a quadrilateral security alliance or “quad” between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia in the Indo-Pacific. Now there’s buzz about a Middle East quad between the United States, India, Israel, and the UAE. What has been described as a “preliminary” and informal meeting between the foreign ministers of the four…


Israeli Scuba Diver Discovers Ancient Crusader Sword

JERUSALEM—An Israeli scuba diver has salvaged an ancient sword off the country’s Mediterranean coast that experts say dates back to the Crusaders. Israel’s Antiquities Authority said Monday the man was on a weekend dive in northern Israel when he spotted a trove of ancient artifacts that included anchors, pottery, and a yard-long sword. The diver…