From The Daily Mail
Iran must end ‘aggression’ for sanctions relief: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Iran should have to end its “aggression in the region” to win relief from sanctions, taking another swipe at a framework nuclear agreement.
World powers agreed with Iran last week on the framework of a deal to be signed by the end of June to rein in its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday called for the sanctions to be totally lifted on the same day that the deal is implemented.
But Netanyahu, whose government has repeatedly denounced the framework agreement as an “historic mistake”, said any such move should be linked to other issues.
“Instead of lifting the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear facilities and programme at a fixed date, a better deal would link the lifting of these restrictions to an end of Iran’s aggression in the region, its worldwide terrorism and its threats to annihilate Israel,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, Netanyahu warned the Islamic republic could not be trusted.
“To my regret, all of the things I warned about vis-a-vis the framework agreement that was put together in Lausanne are coming true before our eyes,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying, referring to the Swiss city where the framework deal was agreed.
“This framework gives the leading terrorist state in the world a certain path to nuclear bombs,” he said.
“How can such a country be trusted?”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Rubio, pro-Israel hawk, declares run for GOP nod
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a hawk on pro-Israel issues, declared his bid for the Republican presidential candidacy.
Rubio, 43, spoke Monday with donors, according to various media reports, and said his campaign would emphasize his biography: The child of refugees from the Cuban dictatorship who made good in America. He was due to make a formal announcement Monday evening.
Rubio’s presence in the race splits Florida’s influential Republican Jewish community between two viable candidates; Jeb Bush, the state’s former governor and a onetime mentor to Rubio is also running.
Rubio already has the backing of one of the state’s most important Jewish GOP funders, Norman Braman, a car dealership magnate who owned the Philadelphia eagles from 1986-1994, when he sold the team and moved to Florida.
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From The Times of Israel
Israel alarmed at news Russia to supply Iran advanced air defense system
Deal for S-300 batteries was blocked in 2007 amid opposition from US and Israel; system could hamper strike on nuclear facilities
President Vladimir Putin on Monday lifted a ban on supplying Iran with sophisticated S-300 air defense missile systems, the Kremlin said, after Tehran struck a deal with the West over its nuclear program.
Israeli officials denounced the decision as proof of Tehran’s untenable newfound “legitimacy” following nuclear talks.
“This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran is receiving from the nuclear deal that is being prepared, and proof that the Iranian economic growth which follows the lifting of sanctions will be exploited for arming itself and not for the welfare of the Iranian people,” Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement.
Israeli officials said supply of the system to Iran could prevent any military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Channel 2 news reported. The officials said the supply, if it goes ahead, would change the balance of power in the region. The TV report also cited unnamed American officials responding with concern to the news.
From The Times of Israel
Netanyahu: Nuke deal will let Iran step up terror activities
Israel, US raise hackles over Russian sale of S-300 missiles to Tehran, but Moscow says move won’t threaten Israel; US negotiator defends accord as best shot at stopping Iranian bomb
The Kremlin okayed the transfer of the S-300 air-defense missile system to Iran Monday, saying an embargo in place since 2010 was no longer necessary, given the pact with Tehran over its nuclear program.
The US said it was concerned by the sale and Israel, long fearful of the missile array’s effects on its air superiority, expressed alarm over the move, saying it was proof the nuclear agreement will result in an arms buildup and won’t make the region safer.
In a call to Israeli journalists, top US negotiator Wendy Sherman defended the nuclear deal, saying while Israel has the right to be concerned, there was no alternative. She added that the sides could reach a final agreement by June 30.
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From Ynet News
What to do with Dad: A dilemma for France’s Le Pen
Feud within Le Pen dynasty that has ruled National Front for four decades is teetering between high drama and a low farce that could emerge as the biggest threat yet to the party’s quest for mainstream power.
The daughter accuses the father of political suicide; the father publicly suspects she would like him dead anyway; and the grand-daughter watches in the wings, ready to pick up the pieces.
The feud within the Le Pen dynasty that has ruled France’s National Front (FN) for four decades is teetering between high drama and a low farce that could emerge as the biggest threat yet to the far-right party’s quest for mainstream power.
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From The Times of Israel
Saudi-led planes hit Yemen rebels as gunfire kills 5
War rages on between Riyadh-backed coalition forces and Shiite-backed Houthis
ADEN, Yemen — Saudi-led warplanes hit rebel positions in southern Yemen Monday including the rebel-held presidential palace in Aden as gunfire killed five people in the port city, medics and residents said.
The palace complex in the main southern city was President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s last refuge before he fled to neighboring Saudi Arabia as the coalition air war began on March 26 and has been repeatedly targeted by air strikes.
Coalition aircraft also hit rebel positions and checkpoints at the entrances to Aden in the sorties that continued until 6:00 am, residents said.
Two civilians and three militiamen loyal to Hadi were killed by gunfire in the city, a medic said.
The Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies in army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with Hadi supporters in several neighborhoods during the night, residents said.
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From The Times of Israel
Report: Iran suspends hajj trips to Saudi Arabia
Disagreement centers on alleged abuse suffered by two pilgrims traveling through Jeddah airport in March
TEHRAN — Iran suspended all minor hajj trips to Saudi Arabia on Monday amid growing diplomatic tensions between the two countries, state television reported.
Iran’s Culture Ministry made the decision over alleged abuse suffered by two male Iranian pilgrims traveling through Saudi’s Jeddah airport in March, the station reported.
Culture Ministry spokesman Hossein Nooshabadi told state TV that the minor hajj would be suspended until the Saudi government “applies a strong attitude” to the case. He also said “capital punishment” should apply to the case, without offering specifics about the allegations.
The alleged abuse, the details of which authorities have not publicly discussed, has sparked unauthorized protests at the Saudi Embassy in Tehran on Saturday.
Some 500,000 Iranians visit Saudi Arabia each year for the minor hajj, which involves pilgrims visiting Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites. Some 100,000 Iranian pilgrims annually travel to Saudi Arabia for the main hajj season.
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From The Times of Israel
‘We’ve lost an engine!’ ‘Oh,’ said Hillary and went back to her book
Israeli businessman Haim Saban extols the would-be president’s self-control in a minor airborne crisis, says it shows her suitability for top job
Haim Saban, US-based Israeli businessman and good friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Sunday offered an inside story underlining what he called the would-be US president’s exemplary calm in a crisis, and thus her suitability for the job of commander-in-chief.
Interviewed from California on Israel’s Channel 10 news, Saban, a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, recounted the day when he gave Clinton a ride in his private plane from Los Angeles to New York (he didn’t specify the date).
Five minutes after takeoff, the flight attendant told Saban that the pilots needed to speak to him in the cockpit. He went to the front of the plane, and they told him, “We’ve lost an engine. We’ll have to make an emergency landing.”
Nervous and stammering, he went back to give Mrs. Clinton the news, and found her reading a book.
“She said, ‘What’s up?’” Saban recounted.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Putin lifts ban on Russian air defense missile sales to Iran
(JTA) — President Vladimir Putin of Russia lifted a ban on the sale of an advanced Russian missile defense system that could reinforce Iran’s defense of its nuclear facilities.
A statement released by the Kremlin said that Putin signed a decree to remove the ban on Monday.
The move signals that Russia is greatly interested in reaping profits from the resumption of international trade with Iran should a final deal be reached, The New York Times reported.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that the framework deal signed by world powers and Iran earlier this month in Lausanne, Switzerland, made the ban obsolete.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli soldier indicted for leaking information to right-wing activists
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli soldier was indicted in military court for allegedly leaking classified military information to right-wing activists.
Cpl. Elad Yaakov Sela, 25, of the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin, was indicted Monday in Jaffa on charges of espionage and disclosure of sensitive information, according to reports. Sela will remain in custody until the end of proceedings against him.
Sela reportedly provided information on the planned arrest of Bat Ayin activists, the Shin Bet security service said. Three other Bat Ayin residents also were arrested in connection with the case.
The soldier was arrested several weeks ago, according to reports. Sela also allegedly passed on information about military activities against Palestinian terrorists on several occasions.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jean-Marie Le Pen quits French election after conflict with daughter
(JTA) — Far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen said he will not run in regional elections following a conflict with his daughter, who heads the National Front party he founded.
Le Pen told the French magazine Le Figaro that he will not run this year in the southeast Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region, “even though I think I am the best candidate.”
“If I must make a sacrifice for the future of the movement, I would not be the one to cause it damage,” he said.
His daughter, Marine Le Pen, said last week that she would oppose allowing her father to run for office as a member of the party after the elder Le Pen slammed her in an interview for criticizing his remarks diminishing the Holocaust.
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From PressTV
Abbas hails Russia role in Middle East
The president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has lauded Russia’s role in the Middle East, highlighting the significance of Moscow’s “constant presence” for the Palestinians.
Mahmoud Abbas made the comments in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the capital Moscow on Monday.
“Constant presence of Russia in the region is very important for us. So I suppose that it is very important for us to engage in consultations from time to time,” the Palestinian leader said.
“There are many problems in our region on which Russia can work, and Russia’s efforts are successful,” Abbas added.
He further thanked Putin for his country’s cooperation with Palestine and its efforts to solve the Palestinian crisis.
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From PressTV
Israeli settlers violating int’l law by using Palestinian child laborers: HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Israeli settlement farmers in the occupied West Bank are using Palestinian child laborers in dangerous conditions in violation of international laws.
The New York-based group said in a report released on Monday that Palestinian children as young as 11 years old work on Israeli settlement farms to grow, harvest and pack agricultural produce, adding that most of the harvested crop is later exported to Europe and the United States.
“Israel’s settlements are profiting from rights abuses against Palestinian children,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director.
According to the report, there are hundreds of children working in Israeli agricultural settlements year-round, and the number rises during harvest times.
The rights group said “children from communities impoverished by Israel’s discrimination and settlement policies” are leaving school and taking on dangerous work on the settlement farms as they felt they had no alternative to help support their families.
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From Russia Today
UN envoy to Syria tells world to listen to Russia to end civil war
The UN special peace envoy to Syria has urged the international community to take advice from Russia to resolve the four-year-long civil war that has claimed 210,000 lives and left 1.5 million Syrians with injuries and disabilities.
“Russia has influence on Damascus, and it’s very important that they get involved,” Staffan de Mistura, who was challenged by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last Thursday to relaunch the failed political peace process in Syria, told The Independent.
“The two countries’ relationship goes back to the time when Bashar al-Assad’s father was in power. Therefore the Russians do have a knowledge of the system and the way they think,” the Swedish-Italian diplomat said.
The civil war in Syria began in 2011, when the US-backed opposition began an armed rebellion against President Bashar Assad’s government during the Arab Spring. By 2013, large portions of eastern Syria and western Iraq had fallen under control of militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL, now known as Islamic State). While declaring the need to fight ISIS, Washington has continued to demand the overthrow of Assad in favor of “moderate opposition.”
READ MORE: Assad: Anti-ISIS coalition doesn’t want to get rid of Islamic State completely
The US has been supporting the Syrian rebels, who insist that the Syrian president should be ousted. Meanwhile, Russia has used its veto on three occasions since the outbreak of the conflict to prevent the UN Security Council from taking punitive actions against Bashar Assad. In January, Russia and the US held the Geneva-2 peace talks between Assad’s government and the Syrian opposition. No agreement was reached after two rounds of negotiations, however.
Last September, the US-led coalition started airstrikes in Syria as a part of a joint effort to battle Islamic State militants, who had seized large swathes of land in north Syria and Iraq. Assad repeatedly pointed out that strikes are an illegal intervention, saying they are unauthorized by a UN Security Council resolution and thus violate the sovereignty of Syria.
The Syrian president told Russian media in late March that the West does not have a political solution to the crisis in Syria, and claimed it is only interested in destroying his government.
“They want to turn us into puppets. I do not think that the West has a political solution. It does not want one. When I say the West, I am primarily referring to the US, France, the UK. Other countries are secondary,” Mr Assad stated, adding that to halt the ongoing armed conflict in Syria countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some European states should first and foremost stop arming the terrorists. He told journalists that the Syrian Air Force, which is relatively small in comparison to the US-led coalition, conducts in a single day many times the number of the airstrikes conducted by a coalition that includes 60 countries. “This doesn’t make sense. This shows the lack of seriousness,” Syria’s president said. “They don’t want to get rid of ISIS completely,” he added.
Syria has meanwhile turned into a hotbed for international terrorism. Assad’s government has been long sounding the alarm, saying foreign fighters were increasingly present among the rebel forces for years, but neighbors like Turkey chose to turn a blind eye to the stream of extremists traveling across the border.
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