A7News: Report: Senior Israeli, Lebanese officials meet in Moscow

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Thursday, Apr. 18 '19, י"ג בניסן תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. REPORT: SENIOR ISRAELI, LEBANESE OFFICIALS MEET IN MOSCOW
2. SUSPECTS HEADING TO TEMPLE MOUNT WITH GOATS ARRESTED
3. ROUHANI URGES MIDEAST STATES TO 'DRIVE BACK ZIONISM'
4. DID NASA EXPERIMENT SURVIVE 'BERESHEET' LUNAR CRASH?
5. GREENBLATT TO PA CABINET HEAD: TRY WORKING WITH US
6. BENNETT ADMITS DEFEAT
7. HAREDI PASSENGERS STRANDED FOR PASSOVER AFTER FLIGHT CANCELED
8. YAIR NETANYAHU: BENNETT BURNED RIGHT-WING VOTES


1. REPORT: SENIOR ISRAELI, LEBANESE OFFICIALS MEET IN MOSCOW
by Nitzan Keidar

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil recently met with a senior Israeli official in Moscow, the Saudi newspaper Elaph reported.

According to the report, which cited a Lebanese source, the two discussed the disputes between their respective countries regarding the maritime border, and the Assad regime in Syria.

The Israeli official also briefed the Lebanese minister on Israel's concern about the activities of Hezbollah's precision weapons factories in Lebanese territory.

He asked to convey a message to Lebanese President Michel Aoun that Israel does not view his country as an enemy, but would not hesitate to attack Iranian targets on its soil.

On the other hand, the Lebanese foreign minister requested from the Israeli official that Israel's defense establishment stop threatening the Lebanese regime because of problems caused by the Hezbollah terror organization.


2. SUSPECTS HEADING TO TEMPLE MOUNT WITH GOATS ARRESTED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Police last night arrested four people, two of them journalists, with two goats they apparently planned to sacrifice on the Temple Mount.

The four were arrested following a report received by the police about suspects in possession of goats making their way to the Temple Mount compound in order to sacrifice the goats as a Passover sacrifice.

Police searched for the suspects' vehicle, and during the night the vehicle was located when it arrived at the Old City near Jaffa Gate. During a search of the vehicle, goats were found in the trunk.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are a resident of Ofra in his forties, a 17-year-old boy from central Israel and two journalists. All the occupants of the vehicle were detained for interrogation and their equipment was seized.

The two suspects were investigated for offenses of animal abuse and behavior that could disrupt public order, while the two journalists were released later in the night; Police intend to call them for further investigation. Today the two suspects will be brought before a court.

"The Israel Police will not allow any person or person to incite and cause provocations in any way contrary to the law on the Temple Mount, and will act resolutely against every suspect and agent who acts deliberately to provoke and incite, with focus on these days before the holidays of Nissan and Easter," the police said.


3. ROUHANI URGES MIDEAST STATES TO 'DRIVE BACK ZIONISM'
by AFP

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called on Middle East states on Thursday to "drive back Zionism", saying Israel and its US ally were the root causes of the region's problems.


"The region's nations have lived alongside each other for centuries and never had a problem... If there is a problem, it is caused by others," Rouhani said in an Army Day address.


"Let us stand together, be together and rid the region of the aggressor's presence," he added in the speech shown live on state television.


Flanked by top generals, Rouhani told Iran's neighbors and countries across the region that its armed forces are "never against you or your national interests" but are "standing against the aggressors."


"If we have a problem in the region today, its roots are either with Zionism or America's arrogance," Rouhani said.


He called on Muslim nations to band together and "restore the historical right of the nation of Palestine," saying that "Zionism ... has been committing crimes in the region for the past 70 years."


"The final victory will surely be with the righteous," he said.


Iran's annual Army Day celebrations are an opportunity for the military to show off its latest weaponry but also for its political leaders to try to reassure neighboring countries that they are for defensive purposes only.


4. DID NASA EXPERIMENT SURVIVE 'BERESHEET' LUNAR CRASH?
by Tal Polon

A NASA piggyback experiment that was fastened to the top of the Israeli spacecraft "Beresheet" may have survived the spacecraft's failed lunar landing, experts said.

Beresheet was minutes away from landing on the moon on April 11 when contact was lost with the spacecraft and it crashed onto the moon's surface.

The spacecraft had carried a "time capsule" containing digital files including a Bible, children's drawings, Israeli songs, the memoirs of a Holocaust survivor, and a blue-and-white Israeli flag.

According to Space.com, a NASA device known as a Lunar Retroreflector Array (LRA) had also been attached to the top of the spacecraft.

The LRA experiment, composed of eight mirrors in a dome-shaped aluminum frame, aims to serve as a marker for other spacecraft during landing. It is smaller than a computer mouse and lightweight.

Researchers now believe that the device may have survived the crash.

"Yes, we believe the laser reflector array would have survived the crash, although it may have separated from the main spacecraft body," David Smith, principal investigator of the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, told Inside Outer Space.

"Of course, we do not know the orientation of the array," he added. "It could be upside down, but it has a 120-degree angle of reception, and we only need 1 of the 0.5-inch cubes for detection. But it has certainly not made it any easier."

He added that the LOLA team would start planning observations to find the LRA soon.


5. GREENBLATT TO PA CABINET HEAD: TRY WORKING WITH US
by Elad Benari

Jason Greenblatt, the US Representative for International Negotiations, on Wednesday ripped Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh, who said a day earlier that the Trump administration's peace plan will be "born dead".

"Why does the new PA Prime Minister hope for our plan to be 'born dead' and for peace to fail? By working with us, perhaps something wonderful can happen for Palestinians. We've repeatedly said this won't just be an economic plan," Greenblatt tweeted.

"PM Shtayyeh, starting a new job by condemning a plan you haven't seen is unfair to Palestinians. You have an obligation to first look at an opportunity before you dismiss it. The PA can continue to push us away, but that will do nothing to improve the lives of the Palestinians," he added in a second tweet.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262030

Shtayyeh, speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday, rejected the Trump administration's peace plan and declared, "There are no partners in Palestine for Trump. There are no Arab partners for Trump and there are no European partners for Trump."

He also stressed that any proposal that ignores key Palestinian demands will be rejected by the international community.

"Where are we going to have the Palestinian state?" he asked. "We are not looking for an entity. We are looking for a sovereign state."

"Palestinians are not interested in economic peace. We are interested in ending occupation," continued Shtayyeh. "Life cannot be enjoyed under occupation."

The PA, which has been boycotting the US ever since President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December of 2017, has rejected the US peace plan before it has even been unveiled.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration's peace plan will be unveiled after Israel forms a governing coalition and after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in early June.

Greenblatt later confirmed the report, tweeting a link to it and adding, "This is an accurate report".



6. BENNETT ADMITS DEFEAT
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Education Minister Naftali Bennett conceded that he had lost his Knesset seat and that the New Right party had failed to clear the electoral threshold.

"I did the best I could for my beloved people," Bennett wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening after the Central Elections Committee found that the New Right had gained less than 50 votes in the latest recount and remained over 1,400 votes shy of the electoral threshold.

"After six years of service as a government minister, 100 campaign days and another week of struggle for every voice, I can say: I did the best I could for the people of Israel, my beloved nation," Bennett said.

"This time it was not enough.

"I have no complaints to anyone. I and I alone are responsible for the result.

"Some people mocked us for trying to pass the threshold :"It's pathetic, hopeless, desperate."
That does not matter.

"I would prefer to be struggling at the front and not among the mocking people from the gallery. We are not contractors of successes, we are messengers of endeavor. And I did everything I could. Only in this way does one succeed in studies, in high-tech, in the army, anywhere in life, by trying. Even if it seems all is almost lost. Sometimes it works, but not this time.

"As a minister of education, I want to convey to every student, student, entrepreneur, and every person with a dream - do not give up! Never give up a worthy cause! Even if it seems hopeless.

"Indeed, we have found irregularities in the polls and beyond, but they do not, in and of themselves, nullify all the election results. Our lawyers will examine the findings in the next two weeks, but at this stage we are moving on.

'I believe in the great Israeli spirit.

"I believe that our people have a great mission: to be a model state, and we all have a lot of work to do.

"I would like to thank my wife Gilat first and foremost for being my strength and happiness.

"I want to thank my partner, Ayelet Shaked, whom I consider to be the best justice minister in Israel's history. Together, over the past six years, we have held the steering wheel of the ship, positioned it to the right, and succeeded in changing the path of the State of Israel. The ship will continue to sail without us. It hurts me for the state that it and Ayelet, who is so talented, will part for a while, but I have no doubt that she will serve our people again.

"Thank you to the wonderful Alona Barkat who will continue to contribute greatly to Israeli society, to Matan Kahane who was a true friend and a fighter, to Shuli Moalem with her huge heart, to the brave Carolyn Glick, and to Uri Shechter.

"I give thanks to Tal Gan Zvi, the head of my staff, a gifted and talented man, and to every staff member of my bureau and the wonderful campaign leader.

"I give thank to all the volunteers in the campaign and in recent days. It was incredible what mobilization there was for the cause.

"I give much thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, Whom I trust as always, and thank Him for the good and the bad..

"You will continue where I left off.

"And I promise: wherever I am, I will never stop being a soldier of the people of Israel.

"Yours with love,

Naftali Bennett"


7. HAREDI PASSENGERS STRANDED FOR PASSOVER AFTER FLIGHT CANCELED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

An Aeroflot flight to Israel from New York via Russia was canceled without the airline informing the passengers, who were delayed for seven hours at the airport.

The Israeli haredi website Behadrei Haredim reported that the families received notice that they had no way to reach their destination the Passover holiday, which begins on Friday night. Their only option is an alternative flight with El Al in the evening at a price of $2,000 per ticket, far less than the company is willing to reimburse the stranded passengers. According to the company the plane experienced a technical failure and cannot take off.

Moti Adler, the son of Meir Adler, the famous musician from Vizhnitz, told the site: "Suddenly they told us that the flight was postponed. Every hour they told us another hour, and in the end they simply canceled it and told us they had next week on Monday. They are willing to pay only the amount of the ticket, and we are forced to fly with El Al at twice the price, about $2,000."

"There are a lot of families here with children and babies, it's an intolerable situation. They brought in policemen who simply pushed us out, because we did not want to leave. We are now waiting for our suitcases. This is not a good situation. No one knows how he will fly and what he will do. They told us they would give us a hotel until next week, but it's not serious because we are on the eve of the Seder. What exactly will be done at the hotel?"


8. YAIR NETANYAHU: BENNETT BURNED RIGHT-WING VOTES
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, blasted Education Minister Naftali Bennett (New Right) for "burning" right-wing votes.

With 138,598 votes, New Right party fell just 1,400 votes shy of the electoral threshold.

Earlier, Israeli journalist Yinon Magal praised Bennett, tweeting: "Naftali Bennett, good for you! You could've remained in a secure place, but you dared and you proved that you were brave enough to run and to try to break the Jewish Home's glass ceiling. You also showed determination and a willingness to fight for every vote. Thank you for what you've done, and good luck."

In response, Yair tweeted, "Thanks for the fact that he burned four of the right wing's Knesset seats?"

"Who drank his seats and caused him and [Zehut leader Moshe] Feiglin not to cross the electoral threshold?" Magal shot back.

"Regarding the Likud you say it 'drank' mandates, but when it comes to [Blue and White leaders MK Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Gantz regarding the Meretz and Labor parties, you don't say anything - it's just an impressive and historic achievement," Yair responded.

"And another question," Yair continued. "Who didn't learn from the '92 elections and split the right in an irresponsible way for no reason? And who ensured that the small right-wing parties who otherwise wouldn't have crossed the electoral threshold would unite, and took criticism for making a 'treaty with Kahanists' and even made space for the Jewish Home in the Likud's list, in an unprecedented move?"