fbpx

Media Summary

Iran ratifies UN-anti-terror treaty

[ssba]

The Guardian reports that two Israelis were shot dead by a Palestinian in the West Bank at an industrial zone. Israeli Defence Forces spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, said the 23-year-old Palestinian had worked in the Barkan industrial zone where the attack took place. The Palestinian used a homemade gun in the attack, known locally as a Carlo, according to Conricus. He said it appeared to be a “lone-wolf attack” and that security forces were searching for the suspected perpetrator. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group called the attack a “natural response” to Israeli crimes in Gaza, Jerusalem and Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village in the West Bank slated for demolition.

The Daily Mail reports that Palestinian female guerrilla fighters of the al-Quds brigade displayed their combat skills in a military display in Gaza. The Brigades often launch Quds rockets from populated civilian areas. Women of the group took part in an exercise at Khan Yunis at the southern Gaza Strip in which they marched and fired their weapons. When US President Donald Trump’s recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December last year, female fighters of the group burned the US flag and vowed to ‘redeem Palestine with our souls and our blood,’ as they marched through Gaza.

Reuters reports that Israel has received bids to build the world’s largest desalination plant which will be able to produce about 200 million cubic meters of water a year. The tender, still in its early stages, is for a new desalination plant in the area of Soreq in central Israel, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said bids came from Israel’s IDE Technologies, Hutchinson, Israel’s GES, China’s PMEC, France’s SUEZ, a partnership of Spain’s Acciona and Israel’s Allied, and a partnership between Spain’s Aqualia and Israel’s WPI.

The BBC and The Times report that Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi is believed to have been been murdered when visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The BBC reports that Turkish officials said Mr Khashoggi was killed on the premises and his body was then removed. Investigators said a 15-person team arrived at the consulate on Tuesday, returning to Riyadh the same day. The Times reports that Erdogan suggested that Mr Khashoggi might still be alive. “God willing we will not be faced with a situation we do not want,” he said. “I still am hopeful.” Mohammad al-Otaibi, the Saudi consul-general, gave Reuters journalists a tour of the building to show that Mr Khashoggi was not there, and said he was not in the kingdom. “We are worried about this case,” Mr Otaibi said.

The FT reports that US prosecutors have told Standard Chartered they are preparing to bring criminal charges against two of the bank’s former employees over alleged sanction breaches involving Iran-linked companies.  There is no certainty that US prosecutors will press ahead with their plan to charge StanChart’s former employees. US prosecutors are also seeking to impose fines of about $1.5bn on StanChart.

The Times and the Daily Mail report that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wife has gone on trial. The Times reports that  Sara Netanyahu went on trial in Jerusalem yesterday for fraud and embezzlement, following allegations that she spent £75,000 of taxpayers’ money on food prepared by celebrity chefs. Two members of Mrs Netanyahu’s defence team resigned shortly before the trial after she rejected their advice to opt for a plea bargain, under which she would have paid a fine in exchange for admitting guilt. On trial with her is Ezra Seidoff, who ran the Netanyahus’ official Jerusalem residence at the time of the alleged offences. He is charged with fraud and falsifying documents. Prosecutors accuse them of misusing state funds to pay for catered meals costing $100,000 by falsely declaring there were no cooks available at the residence. From 2010 to 2013, Sara Netanyahu, her family and guests received “fraudulently from the state hundreds of prepared meals”, the indictment read. According to the charge sheet, the meals were ordered from a variety of well-known Jerusalem businesses, including an Italian restaurant, a Middle Eastern grill and a sushi establishment.

The FT reports that Iran’s parliament has voted to ratify a UN anti-terror funding treaty on tackling terrorist financing and money-laundering. On Sunday, 143 out of 271 legislators voted for the controversial move to join, while 120 were against and the rest abstained.  Mohammad Javad Zarif, foreign minister of Iran, said no one could guarantee that the country’s problems would be resolved with the new measure. “But we can give assurances that the US will have no excuse to increase pressure on [other countries which] do business with us,” he said. Hardline forces — mostly in the elite Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and among senior clergy — warned that a western body such as the FATF could be used to interfere in Iran’s foreign policies.

Reuters and The Telegraph report that Netanyahu is to meet with Putin to discuss Syria. Reuters reports that Netanyahu made the announcement at a cabinet meeting, without citing a specific date for the talks. The Telegraph reports that Russia-Israel relations deteriorated sharply after the 17 September downing of a Russian IL-20 spy plane, which saw 15 Russian crewmen killed by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike. Putin absolved Israel of responsibility over the plane incident, but warned Mr Netanyahu “Not to allow such situations in the future.”

The Israeli media is dominated by the shooting attack yesterday morning in the Barkan industrial zone.  Maariv describes the Barkan Industrial Zone as, “An island of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, a model of “economic peace”.   Yediot Ahronot says: “Despite this serious terror attack, the IDF will want to stick to this policy and preserve the coexistence in the industrial zones, which help the Palestinian economy, as well as the Israeli. But at the same time, it must clean up its house in regard to the security arrangements in the industrial zone, so as to prevent such incidents from recurring. While it’s true that a civilian company handled security in the industrial zone, it is the IDF’s responsibility to prevent weapons from entering industrial zones.  The security establishment fears that the terror attack will inspire copycats, who in the current atmosphere in the territories, will try to carry out a similar attack.”  Yediot Ahronot, notes, “Like the terrorists who committed the attacks in Itamar and Halamish, the assailant who carried out yesterday’s terror attack had no terrorist background. Ostensibly, he met all the characteristics of the lone-wolf terrorist: he had no organisational affiliation, he had no terrorist record, he had a work permit and a good job. But unlike previous cases, the terrorist from Barkan acted with professionalism, and the assessment is that he had guidance.”  Maariv includes interviews with people at the site, Rafi Alon, one of the owners of the factory that employs more than 200 Palestinians said the factory would continue operating and employing Israelis and Palestinians, but something in him had been broken. “I’m in favour of coexistence,” he said. “I want to believe that this was just an errant weed sent by cruel people. I treated the Palestinians here like I did the Israelis, perhaps even better. Today, I feel that they’ve betrayed me. We’ll see how we go on from here.”  Also Palestinians employed there expressed rage about the terrorist. “One crazy person full of hate destroyed our livelihood,” they said. “No one knows what’s going to happen now. We hope that we will continue to work and make a living.”

Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to meet.

Israel Hayom reveals a “senior coalition official” saying that there will be early elections. Similarly, Kan radio news report three coalition party chairmen said that the prime minister has decided to hold early elections in another three or four months, at the beginning of 2019.   This was after the coalition chairmen’s meeting at which the prime minister raised the crisis over the conscription law, but rejected any proposal to resolve it. Netanyahu reportedly said that the resolution to the crisis would strengthen the left-wing bloc and the Yesh Atid party. Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri said yesterday that if the decision was already made to hold early elections, they should be held as soon as possible since there is no reason to waste time.

Channel 2 News published a new opinion poll that gives Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party 32 seats, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid 18 and the Zionist Union 12.  The Joint (Arab) List receives 12, the Jewish Home 10, Kulanu 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Meretz 6. A party led by Orli Levi Abekasis would receive 6, Defence Minister Lieberman’s Israel Beteinu 5 and Shas 5.   However, in a separate poll a new party headed by former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz would receive 12 seats, taking seats from Likud, Yesh Atid and Zionist  Union.  In another poll, they asked who is most appropriate to be Prime Minister.  Netanyahu receives 38%, Gantz 12%, Yair Lapid 9%, Lieberman 5%, Gabbay 4% and Bennett 1%.

Maariv and Haaretz report the first day of Sara Natanyahu’s trial for alleged fraud and misuse of funds involving the purchase of expensive meals when there was a chef employed at the Prime Minister’s residence.   After a brief discussion, the court president, Avital Chen, set another hearing for November 13, giving the sides a month to try to reach an agreement. Mrs Netanyahu has so far refused a plea bargain deal that would involve pleading guilty and paying a fine.