From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon says he will run for prime minister
Moshe Yaalon speaking at a Tel Aviv news conference in which he announced his resignation from the Knesset, May 20, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Moshe Yaalon made it clear that he intends to run for prime minister of Israel less than a month after resigning as defense minister and from the Knesset.
“I intend to run for the leadership in Israel in the next elections,” Yaalon said Thursday during a speech at the annual Herzliya Conference.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli defense chief Avigdor Liberman to meet US counterpart Ashton Carter in Washington
Avigdor Liberman speaking at a news conference at the Knesset, May 18, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
(JTA) — Avigdor Liberman, Israel’s defense minister, will visit the United States to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Ashton Carter, in his first trip abroad since taking the post.
Carter and Liberman are scheduled to meet Monday. The meeting comes following concerns raised by the Obama administration over Liberman’s appointment last month, when his Yisrael Beiteinu party joined the government coalition.
Liberman, who will leave for the U.S. on Saturday, also reportedly will meet with the U.S. Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
House passes funding boost for Israeli missile defense despite Obama’s opposition
An Iron Dome Missile Defense battery firing near the Southern israeli town of Ashdod, July 16, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Despite President Barack Obama’s veto threat, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $576 billion defense appropriations bill, including an allocation of $635 million for Israel’s missile defense program.
Thursday’s vote on the bill in the Republican-controlled house passed 282-138, according to Defense News.
Congress routinely adds more funds to Israel’s missile defense programs than Republican and Democratic presidents request, but this is the first time an administration has objected.
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From Russia Today
Putin: ‘We know when US will get new missile threatening Russia’s nuclear capability’
Published time: 18 Jun, 2016 23:05
June 17,2016. President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with heads of large foreign companies and business associations during the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. © Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
The US anti-missile defense systems being installed near Russia’s borders can be “inconspicuously†transformed into offensive weapons, Vladimir Putin has said, adding that he knows “year by year†how Washington will develop its missile program.
Talking about NATO’s ballistic missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, Russia’s president said that the Americans are now deploying their missiles at these military complexes.
“The missiles are put into a capsule used for launches of sea-based Tomahawk missiles. Now they are placing their antimissiles there, which are capable of engaging a target at a distance of up to 500 kilometers [310 miles]. But technologies are developing, and we know around what year the Americans will get a new missile, which will have a range not of 500 kilometers, but 1,000, and then even more – and from that moment they will start threatening our nuclear capability,” Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.
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From Russia Today
‘Saber-rattling & warmongering’: German FM blasts NATO military drills in Eastern Europe
Published time: 18 Jun, 2016 10:15
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. © Axel Schmidt / Reuters
Sharply criticizing NATO war games in Eastern Europe, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that inflaming the standoff with Russia would endanger European security and increase risk of reviving an “old confrontation.â€
The ongoing large-scale Anakonda-16 NATO military maneuvers in Poland, simulating the repulsion of “Russian aggression” against the country, are counterproductive, Deutsche Welle cited German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as telling Bild am Sonntag newspaper, in an interview to be published Sunday.
“Whoever believes that a symbolic tank parade on the alliance’s eastern border will bring security is mistaken,” Steinmeier said ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw beginning July 8. “We are well-advised to not create pretexts to renew an old confrontation,” he emphasized.
Rather than inflaming the situation further “through saber-rattling and warmongering,” there ought to be more space for dialogue and cooperation with Moscow, Steinmeier said.
It would be “fatal to now narrow the focus to the military, and seek a remedy solely through a policy of deterrence,” German FM said, calling to give way to diplomacy instead of military posturing.
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From Russia Today
Over 20,000 sign US petition to probe Russian tycoon Khodorkovsky over ‘paying’ for anti-Putin bill
Published time: 18 Jun, 2016 05:42
Mikhail Khodorkovsky © Peter Nicholls / Reuters
A petition on “We the People†website wants the White House to investigate allegations that Russia’s Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served prison time for embezzlement and is wanted on murder charges, donated large sums to lobby the US Congress for a “relations-damaging†law.
Since it was created on June 14, the petition has gathered over 21,400 signatures. It needs a total of 100,000 by July 14 for the document to earn a response from the White House.
The authors’ demand is based on the allegations that in 2005 then-Senator Barack Obama and his future opponent in the 2008 presidential election, John McCain, co-sponsored a resolution introduced by Joe Biden condemning the arrest and imprisonment of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky while being sponsored by the man himself through the lobbying firm APCO Worldwide.
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