ISRAEL DEFENSE MINISTRY DECLARES ‘BREAKTHROUGH’ IN CORONA ANTIBODY TREATMENT (Ness Ziona) — The Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel’s biological defense research lab has discovered a “breakthrough” in finding an antidote to the coronavirus by isolating and developing an antibody that attacks the virus. Researchers said the development phase was completed, they are filing for a patent for the antibody and looking for a commercial partner to manufacture it in large quantities. A defense ministry statement said the antibody attacks the virus and “can neutralize it within the bodies of those who are ill.” (WIN, May 5, 2020)
‘WAR CRIME’: ARAB LEAGUE BLASTS ISRAEL’S PLAN TO ANNEX JUDEA AND SAMARIA (Middle East) – Meeting virtually and at the request of the Palestinian Authority, an emergency Arab League meeting called Israel’s plan to annex parts of Judea and Samaria a “war crime” and urged the U.S. to oppose it. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Malki claimed during the meeting that under Israel’s plan the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem would eventually be “demolished and replaced by the ostensible Temple.” (WIN, Apr. 30, 2020)
ATTORNEY GENERAL: NO LEGAL BARRIER TO NETANYAHU SERVING AS PM (Jerusalem) — Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit told the High Court of Justice he sees no legal reason to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government. Mandelblit had to give his legal opinion in advance of the court deciding next week on eight petitions calling for Netanyahu to be barred from office because he has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. (WIN, Apr. 30, 2020)
POLL: 40 PERCENT OF ISRAELIS DON’T TRUST SUPREME COURT(Jerusalem) – An opinion poll, conducted by researchers from polling organization BrainPower, reported that even more Israelis (47%) say they do not trust the attorney general and State Attorney’s office. According to the poll, the most trusted institution in Israel is the IDF, with 81% of respondents reporting strong faith in the army. (WIN, May 5, 2020)
CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS HAVEN’T SLOWED JIHADISTS(Paris) — Riots recently broke out in the Paris’s banlieues — the working class, largely immigrant areas known for their high crime rates, where Muslim youths have long clashed with French police. And it isn’t only Paris. Extremists of all types, including ISIS and far-right and far-left groups are using the coronavirus pandemic to recruit, propagandize, and even to stage attacks across Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa, according to counter-terrorism expert Andreea Stoian Karadeli who spoke at a webinar sponsored by the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). (Algemeiner, Apr. 30, 2020)
TEHRAN APPROVES CURRENCY CHANGE FROM RIAL TO TOMAN AS ECONOMY STRUGGLES (Tehran) — Iran’s parliament passed legislation to cut four zeros from the rial after a steep drop in the value of the currency. The bill paves the way for Iran to change its currency from the rial to the toman, according to a Reuters report. The toman will be set as 10,000 rials. (JNS, May 6, 2020)
IRANIAN AIRLINE DESIGNATED FOR TERROR LINKS SPREAD CORONAVIRUS THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST, NEW REPORT REVEALS (Tehran) — An Iranian airline closely tied to the Tehran regime’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) played a major role in the spread of the Covid-19 virus across the Middle East, a special investigation by the BBC revealed. Mahan Air continued to fly from its hubs in Iran to destinations across the region and further afield even after flight bans were imposed in February, when the pandemic started to spread dramatically, according to the exclusive report by the British broadcaster’s Arabic service. (Algemeiner, May 5, 2020)
AIR FORCE STRIKES FORCING IRAN OUT OF SYRIA, ISRAELI OFFICIALS SAY (Jerusalem) — Under the pressure of continuing IAF air strikes, Iran is beginning to draw down its military presence in Syria, unnamed Israeli security officials were quoted as telling the Israeli news site Walla. Recently, Israel has stepped up its attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, including an air strike on Monday night near Aleppo. Strikes last week hit Homs, Quneitra and the outskirts of Damascus. (Algemeiner, May 5, 2020)
ISRAEL DECRIES EGYPTIAN TV SHOW PREDICTING ITS DESTRUCTION, BREAKUP OF THE US (Jerusalem) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned a new Egyptian TV drama set in the year 2120 that predicts the Jewish state’s destruction, as well as the breakup of the United States. The Egyptian series “El-Nehaya” — Arabic for “The End” — is about a computer engineer living in a dystopian future dominated by cyborg clones. (Times of Israel, Apr. 26, 2020)
‘JEWS EASILY EXAGGERATE’: NEWLY-DISCLOSED DOCUMENT IN VATICAN ARCHIVES EXPOSES POPE PIUS XII’S ADVISER ON HOLOCAUST (Vatican) — A document unveiled by German researchers at the Vatican’s newly-opened archive of documents relating to wartime Pope Pius XII indicates that the pontiff misled US officials who were seeking information on the massacres of Jews in Eastern Europe by the Nazi regime. “This is a key document that has been kept hidden from us because it is clearly antisemitic and shows why Pius XII did not speak out against the Holocaust,” Hubert Wolf — a Catholic priest who headed the German team — told the Catholic weekly Kirche + Leben. (Algemeiner, May 5, 2020)
ICC PROSECUTOR RECOMMENDS ISRAEL BE INVESTIGATED FOR WAR CRIMES (The Hague) — The Chief Prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, reaffirmed her recommendation that Israel be investigated on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity toward the Palestinians. The complaint submitted by the Palestinians refers first and foremost to alleged crimes committed by Israel in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, as well as Israeli settlement construction and its handling of the violent riots at the Gaza security fence since March 2018. An investigation into Israel’s conduct is now contingent upon authorization from a pre-trial chamber of three ICC judges. (Algemeiner, May 5, 2020)
UK SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST GOVERNMENT ATTEMPT TO CURB BDS (London) — The UK’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) won a landmark case in the Supreme Court today in its challenge to the government regulations that restrict Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) from divesting contrary to UK foreign and defence policy. The regulations limited the possibility of divestment from companies involved in or profiting from Israel’s human rights violations. In bringing the legal case, the PSC raised concerns about threats to freedom of expression, government overreach in local democracy and the right of pension holders to have a say in the investment and divestment of their funds. (MEMO, Apr. 29, 2020)
SUDAN LEADER: ISRAEL IS NOT OUR ENEMY (Khartoum) — Head of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, said that his country does not have any hostility with anyone, including Israel. Speaking to a Sudanese TV channel, Al Burhan answered a question about hostility with Israel saying: “Sudan should not be in a state of hostility with any party, religion or sect. Sudan, after the revolution, must be different from what it was.” When asked about his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, Al Burhan said that it was for the interest of Sudan. (MEMO, Apr. 28, 2020)
INTEL BUYS ISRAEL’S MOOVIT FOR $900 MILLION (Jerusalem) — Intel Corporation acquired Israeli company Moovit for approximately $900 million. Millions of commuters in 3,100 cities across 102 countries use Moovit’s urban mobility application for planning trips via public transportation, bicycle and scooter services, ride-hailing, and car-sharing. The addition of Moovit brings Intel’s Mobileye – a Jerusalem-based company acquired for $15.3 billion in 2017 — closer to becoming a complete mobility provider, including robotaxi services, which is forecast to be an estimated $160 billion opportunity by 2030. (United With Israel, May 5, 2020)
TOP UK JEWISH GROUPS BLAST LABOUR AFTER MPS TAKE PART IN ONLINE CALL WITH MEMBERS EXPELLED FOR ANTISEMITISM (London) — Top UK Jewish groups sharply criticized the Labour party for failing to live up to its promises to root out antisemitism from its ranks after it failed to discipline several officials who took part in an online conference with activists previously expelled from Labour for antisemitism. After Labour was overwhelmingly defeated in last December’s general elections, new party leader Keir Starmer pledged to eradicate antisemitism from the party. However, MPs Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy addressed an online forum of far-leftists involving a number of members who had been disciplined for antisemitic statements or activities. These included Tony Greenstein and Jackie Walker, who were both expelled from the party for antisemitism. (Algemeiner, Apr. 30, 2020)
GERMANY BANS HEZBOLLAH ACTIVITY, POLICE RAID MOSQUES ACROSS COUNTRY (Warsaw) — Germany banned all Hezbollah activity on its soil and designated the Iran-backed group a terrorist organization. Police also raided mosque associations in cities across Germany which officials believe are close to the heavily-armed Shi’ite Islamist group. The move means that Hezbollah symbols are banned at gatherings and in publications or in the media and Hezbollah assets can be confiscated, said the ministry, adding as it is a foreign organization, it is not possible to ban and dissolve it. Security officials believe up to 1,050 people in Germany are part of what they describe as Hezbollah‘s extremist wing. (Algemeiner, Apr. 30, 2020)
OVER 100 JEWISH LEADERS AND GROUPS DENOUNCE NEW YORK MAYOR DE BLASIO FOR ATTACK ON CITY’S JEWS (NYC) — After a Hasidic rabbi’s – Rabbi Chaim Mertz – funeral in Brooklyn saw apparent breaches of social-distancing rules, de Blasio issued an angry tweet, saying, “My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed.” The tweet was met with outrage from Jewish and non-Jewish leaders and organizations, who blasted de Blasio for singling out the entire Jewish community and stoking hatred at a time when antisemitic conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus were rampant. (Algemeiner,Apr. 30, 2020)
FLATBUSH JEWISH JOURNAL MOURNS CORONAVIRUS VICTIMS IN 50 PAGES OF OBITUARIES (NYC) — The Flatbush Jewish Journal, a weekly Orthodox publication based in Brooklyn, published no less than fifty pages of obituaries in its most recent issue, a testimony to the devastating power of the coronavirus which has left the local community bereft of some of its most prestigious personalities that included the Novominsker Rebbe and the Sasregener Rebbe, heads of two Hasidic dynasties/ Other tributes memorialized respected rabbis and yeshiva leaders, as well as Noach Dear, a Brooklyn councilman and judge. (VosIzNeias, Apr.30, 2020)
IN SURPRISE MOVE, OMAR SIGNS AIPAC LETTER, URGES TRUMP TO EXTEND IRAN ARMS EMBARGO (Washington) — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has added her name to an AIPAC-promoted letter calling for an extension of the UN arms embargo on Iran. The letter, which was signed by 387 of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, was authored by Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) and delivered to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on May 4. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the other three squad members, all declined to add their signatures. (WIN, May 5, 2020)
