Israel News for 1-27-2020
News Update
Blue and White leader Gantz and PM Netanyahu are set to meet, seperately, with President Trump today at the White House, where Trump will reveal his peace plan to them. On Tuesday the President will deliver joint remarks with the 2 Israeli leaders. According to a White House official, Trump will tell the Israelis that they have 6 weeks to get the plan going.
Palestinian lawmakers backed by President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, said Sunday that the day President Trump presents his Middle East peace plan would be a “Day of Rage” with riots and protests in the West Bank. PA President Abbas released a statement saying, “The Palestinian leadership, with support of the people, will hamper all attempts to bring to an end the Palestinian issue, as has done numerous times in the past.” [And that says it all]
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri signed an order allowing Israeli Muslims to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious worship and business trips. The announcement also confirmed that for the first time ever, Jewish Israelis will also be permitted to go to Saudi Arabia on business trips. While some Israelis are believed to already visit Saudi Arabia, this requires either a foreign passport or special permission. The interior ministry said Israeli visitors would require an official invitation to enter the kingdom. It said the decision had been coordinated with Israeli security officials and other “relevant” bodies, including the foreign ministry.
Naama Issachar, the American-Israeli woman jailed in Russia on drug charges, has formally requested a pardon from Putin. During his visit to Israel last week, Putin met with Issachar’s mother and assured her “everything will be alright” – hinting that her daughter would soon be released.
The Shin Bet revealed that it discovered and dismantled a Hamas spy ring in Israel several weeks ago. The spies included Israeli Arabs with relatives in Gaza.
Israel Army Radio is reporting that PM Netanyahu will not push to annex the Jordan Valley in the near future. Instead, the report says, he is planning to annex the city of Maale Adumim, the third largest Israeli town in Judea and Samaria, located just to the east of Jerusalem.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is in Poland to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Rivlin met with Polish President Duda, who refused to attend the commemoration event in Jerusalem last week. Later today, Rivlin will participate in a ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau along with survivors of the death camp, President Duda of Poland, President Steinmeier of Germany, the President of the World Jewish Congress Ron Lauder and the head of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Dr. Piotr Cywiński.
