From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli, U.S. national security advisers meet amid tensions
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Israeli and U.S. national security advisers met amid tensions between the two countries as the top U.S. negotiator joined a new round of nuclear talks with Iran.
Susan Rice and Yossi Cohen met Thursday at the White House, according to Bernadette Meehan, the National Security Council spokeswoman.
“They discussed a range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship, and Israeli-Palestinian relations,” Meehan said in a statement. “The national security advisers agreed to continue close consultations on these and other issues.”
The meeting comes after weeks of tension between the Israeli and American governments and efforts on both sides to issue reassurances that close consultations continue nonetheless.
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From PressTV
Hamas condemns Egypt’s pro-Israel campaign against resistance
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned some Egyptian media for their “pro-Israeli campaign of incitement” against the group and the people of Gaza.
A statement by Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, on Saturday rejected reports by Egyptian media that militants from Gaza are involved in the armed militancy in east Egypt.
Abu Zuhri condemned the unfounded claims and urged the Arab governments to stop the conspiracy.
“Hamas calls on Arab states to bear their responsibilities towards this incitement not only on Hamas but also on the Palestinian people. We call for a large media campaign to unveil this conspiracy,” said Abu Zuhri.
The statement dismissed reports that Hamas fighters have crossed into Egyptian territory, saying that the resistance movement continues fulfilling its responsibility regarding the protection of the Gaza-Egypt border.
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From PressTV
Israeli forces clash with Open Shuhada Street demonstrators in al-Khalil
Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian protesters in the southern occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil also known as Hebron.
On Friday, Israeli soldiers used rubber bullets and fired tear gas to disperse the Palestinian demonstrators who were marking the 21st anniversary of the massacre of a number of Palestinian worshipers in al-Khalil and the resulting closure of the city’s main street, al-Shuhada.
The demonstrators denounced the closure of the street, and called for the re-opening of it.
They also condemned the Israeli occupation and Tel Aviv’s expansion of its illegal settlements in the West Bank, and chanted slogans such as “Free, Free Palestine.”
A number of protesters suffered teargas inhalation or were injured in the crackdown while several others were arrested.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Embattled Argentina President Slams Judges Over Alberto Nisman Protest Rally
Cristina Fernandez Accuses Judiciary of Political Meddling
Buenos Aires — Argentine President Cristina Fernandez accused the judiciary on Saturday of launching a political battle after state lawyers organized a march to demand justice for a dead prosecutor who had been investigating her.
The protest, known as 18F, drew tens of thousands into the streets of Buenos Aires on Wednesday, a month after state prosecutor Alberto Nisman turned up dead in his apartment in mysterious circumstances.
Nisman had accused Fernandez of plotting to cover up his inquiry into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
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From Ynet News
US fears Palestinian Authority collapse without more cash
Kerry tells British FM there’s real possibility of PA halting security cooperation with Israel or disbanding over economic issues.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday expressed concern about the viability of the Palestinian Authority if it does not soon receive tax revenue which has been withheld by Israel.
From Russia Today
‘Stop the war, probe Maidan shootings’ – Ukrainian ex-leader Yanukovich year after coup
The current Ukrainian authorities have no other way to resolve the crisis in the eastern regions but to negotiate with the rebels, former President Viktor Yanukovich says one year after the climax of the Maidan protests in Kiev saw him leave the country.
“Stop the war, stop insulting the inhabitants of the southeast, remove these labels from people. Give guarantees that self-administration would be sufficient for these regions to protect their rights. And this process should by all means involve European countries and Russia,” he said in an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel.
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From Russia Today
Batons vs Molotovs: Former Berkut riot police recall Ukrainian coup
Former members of the Berkut special force, accused by Kiev of instigating violence during Maidan protests a year ago, feel betrayed by the government and argue they had much less ammunition and supplies than those on the other side of the barricades.
Mikhail, formerly a member of the Crimean Berkut, shows RT how he was equipped to confront Maidan protesters a year ago: A pair of leg guards, a helmet, a shield and a rubber baton.
“We didn’t use weapons,” he says, recalling how protesters were growing more and more aggressive with each day and how he once went up in flames, after being hit by a Molotov cocktail.
“My clothes were burning, but thanks God the fire was extinguished before it got to my skin. Still, I was injured after a likely homemade explosive landed near me. Such explosives were often used against police by the people from the other side.”
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From The Times of Israel
US energy secretary to join Iran nuclear talks
Kerry asks Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist by training, to attend this week’s round of negotiations in Geneva
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was headed to Geneva Saturday to join talks with Iranian officials as efforts for an historic nuclear deal stepped up a gear.
It was the first time that Moniz, who is himself a nuclear physicist, had joined the negotiations, although US energy officials have been involved in the intensive technical talks under way ahead of new meetings between the countries’ top diplomats on Sunday and Monday.
“At the request of Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will travel to Geneva on Saturday to join Secretary Kerry in continued negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program,” an energy department spokesman said.
“Department of Energy officials have consistently been involved in these in-depth technical discussions as part of the US negotiating team and Secretary Moniz will be joining the team in Geneva to continue these ongoing detailed technical deliberations.”
A second day of technical talks was to be held on Saturday and the director of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi flew to Geneva to meet Moniz as part those discussions, Iranian officials said.
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From The Times of Israel
Herzog: I won’t build outside settlement blocs
Zionist Union leader says Netanyahu has failed to provide security for Israel, ‘and I’m trying to call his bluff on this’
Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog vowed Friday not to build Jewish homes outside the major settlement blocs in the West Bank if he is elected prime minister next month.
“I definitely don’t intend to initiate or enable construction outside the blocs,” Herzog said in a CNN interview, calling such a move a confidence building measure that will help “calm the surface and give a certain sense of change and hope” as part of his efforts to revive peace negotiations. He noted that the blocs, which Israel would aim to annex in return for land swaps as part of a peace treaty, constitute just 4% of West Bank territory.
He also castigated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security policies, implored him to cancel his speech to Congress next month on Iran, and vowed if elected to rebuild Israel’s strained relations with the Obama administration.
Herzog cited a “growing disappointment and mistrust about Netanyahu’s security policy, stemming in part from his settlement policy and his tense relationship with President Barack Obama. “I think that he failed and I’m trying to call his bluff on this,” the Zionist Union leader said.
“Security is not only at the balance of the gun,” he said. “It has to do with regional alliances with our neighbors such as Jordan and Egypt. It has to do with our strategic alliance with the United States.”
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Fight Over Real-Life Schindler’s List Rages in Court
Estate of Oskar Schindler’s Shunned Widow Battles for Legacy
This story has all the elements necessary to transform a tedious court case about estates, inheritances and family feuds into a gripping historical novel. At its center is Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist and bon vivant whom Yad Vashem named Righteous Among the Nations, a bankrupt man who brought Steven Spielberg his first Oscar as director.
Alongside Oskar is his wife Emilie Schindler, also a Righteous Gentile, whom he abandoned after World War II and who remained alone in distant Argentina. Between them is his mistress (or “best friend”), Annemarie (“Ami”) Staehr, who received or took a suitcase from Schindler containing thousands of valuable documents, which was later given to Yad Vashem.
None of the three is still alive. The person responsible for their reunion in an Israeli court is another woman, Prof. Erika Rosenberg, a Jewish resident of Argentina who befriended Schindler’s widow during the last decade of the latter’s life and became her biographer and legatee. Now she is suing Yad Vashem with a demand to take possession of the suitcase.
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