Daily Archives: 17. Januar 2022


17.01.2022 - 16:40 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Ministry Seeks Extention of Controversial Fingerprint Collection Order

Despite its statements, the Interior Ministry plans to continue collecting fingerprints for its biometric ID database until 2025, at the earliest. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked has proposed a three-year extension of the emergency order that provides for gathering fingerprints from citizens. The Knesset must vote on the measure.

The ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority says it needs about two years to buy and introduce facial recognition technology that will obviate the need for fingerprints. The agency is considering retaining the fingerprint database for victim identification in the event of a national disaster.

17.01.2022 - 16:24 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Racist ‘Citizenship Law’ Advances, Months after Ban on Palestinian Spouses Lapsed

The bill was rejected by the Knesset plenum six months ago, and since then, Shaked has struggled to obtain a majority. Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) said he was determined to prevent its passage. “We toppled the Citizenship Law, because we oppose racist, anti-democratic legislation”, Odeh said. “We will do everything we can to topple it again.” According to Hadash MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), “This Israeli law is racist, collective, pre-emptive punishment. It can neither be justified, nor redeemed.” The Joint List also oppose Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s bill on drafting yeshiva students. All parties in the coalition support the bill, including Islamist Ra’am (United Arab List).

17.01.2022 - 16:01 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Controversial right-wing citizenship bill advanced by ministers

The controversial bill would tighten immigration controls and make it harder for Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs to receive citizenship. The passage of a bill backed by right-wing parties and opposed by Meretz and Ra’am (United Arab List) was seen as a first step toward the formation of a right-wing government if opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu accepts a plea agreement.

17.01.2022 - 15:59 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Government doesn‘t depend on Netanyahu – Lapid

Asked at Yesh Atid‘s faction meeting if he still thinks his rotation as prime minister would happen if Netanyahu signs a plea deal, Lapid said: „This government will last because it does not depend on Netanyahu. It depends on working together & national unity.“

17.01.2022 - 15:17 [ הדמוקרטים @democratimOrg / Twitter ]

ארגוני מחאת בלפור הודיעו כי יפגינו ליד ביתו של היועמ“ש מנדלבליט, בעקבות פרסומים על משא ומתן עם נתניהו. „לאחר שנים של טיוח תיקים ושנמוך אישומים, מנסה מנדבליט, רגע לפני פרישתו, להציל את עורו של הנאשם. שום טיעון לא יכול להצדיק את קיומה של העסקה המפוקפקת הזאת שפוגעת באמון הציבור“

17.01.2022 - 15:12 [ BBC ]

Israeli ex-PM Netanyahu‘s cases could be dropped in plea deal

Reports say Mr Netanyahu is, however, objecting to accepting a charge which would require him to leave politics.

Israel‘s longest serving leader was unseated after elections last year.

17.01.2022 - 15:00 [ Haaretz ]

Netanyahu Plea Deal Could Be Rejected for Being Too Lenient

The prosecution’s proposed plea bargain with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contains an inherent contradiction: by insisting that the amended indictment still stresses the gravity of his misdeeds, it risks leading the court to reject the proposed sentence as too lenient.

17.01.2022 - 14:59 [ thePost;illennial.com ]

BREAKING: After outcry, FBI admits ‘the Jewish community was targeted’ in synagogue hostage taking

The FBI released a new statement Sunday night, attempting to walk back their previous comments that the hostage taking at a Texas synagogue, on the Jewish Sabbath, during services „…was not specifically related to the Jewish community.“
In the new statement, the FBI said, „This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.“

17.01.2022 - 14:49 [ Fox News ]

‚Corrupt‘ FBI should be ‚eliminated‘ for statement on Texas synagogue hostage taker: Critics

The suspected hostage taker died at the scene. The hostages were released without injury.

The FBI was ripped on social media for the statement that the hostage taker had no direct demands related to the Jewish community, including calling for the FBI to be „defunded and eliminated.“

17.01.2022 - 06:00 [ Radio Utopie ]

Gelder für illegales Spionage-Netzwerk von US-Militär abgezweigt

(15. March 2010)

Bergdahl war im Juni 2009 in Afghanistan verschwunden und tauchte dann in recht mittelmässigen psychologischen Operationen der „Taliban“ als Geiseldarsteller in Videos auf. Immer wieder wurde in den Videos die jahrelang verschwundene Wissenschaftlierin Aafia Siddiqui erwähnt und in Zusammenhang gebracht. Siddiqui, eine in den USA ausgebildete Wissenschaftlerin, war mit ihren Kindern im März 2003 in Pakistan verschleppt worden und tauchte erst am 18.Juli 2008 mit einer Schusswunde im US-Stützpunkt Bagram wieder auf. Bagram enthält ein berüchtigtes Geheimgefängnis für „Verdächtige“. Angeblich war die Frau am 17.Juni auf der Strasse durch afghanische Polizei verhaftet worden, hatte einen Tag später US-Soldaten überwältigt, ihnen die Waffe entrissen und auf sie geschossen ohne sie zu treffen. Daraufhin sei sie selbst durch US-Kugeln schwer verletzt worden, etc.

Mittlerweile ist Aafia Siddiqui in New York zu 60 Jahren Haft verurteilt worden – aber nicht wegen irgendwelcher terroristischer Aktivitäten, wegen denen sie jahrelang offensichtlich in Geheimgefängnissen verschwand, sondern wegen „versuchten Mordes“ an den Soldaten die sie fast erschossen; und dies obwohl ein FBI-Beamter ausgesagt hatte, dass die auf der Tatwaffe gefundenen Fingerabdrücke nicht von ihr stammten. Der Fall Siddiqui hat weltweit grosse Empröung ausgelöst, besonders in Pakistan. Millionen verlangen die Freilassung der Wissenschaftlerin und Heimkehr nach Pakistan.

17.01.2022 - 05:50 [ abc7chicago.com ]

FBI identifies hostage-taker at Colleyville, Texas synagogue

Two law enforcement officials told CNN earlier Saturday that investigators believe the hostage taker may have been motivated by a desire to release Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence at a facility in Texas. She was convicted in 2010 on seven charges, including attempted murder and armed assault on US officers in Afghanistan.

„We do believe from our engaging with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, but we‘ll continue to work to find motive,“ DeSarno said.

17.01.2022 - 05:47 [ Washington Post ]

House Jan. 6 committee dismisses ‘unsupported’ claim of FBI involvement in riot

(January 11, 2022)

“The Select Committee is aware of unsupported claims that Ray Epps was an FBI informant based on the fact that he was on the FBI Wanted list and then was removed from that list without being charged,” said a committee spokesman. “The Select Committee has interviewed Mr. Epps. Mr. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on January 5th or 6th or at any other time, and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency.”

17.01.2022 - 05:42 [ New York Times ]

Among Those Who Marched Into the Capitol on Jan. 6: An F.B.I. Informant

(Published Sept. 25, 2021 Updated Oct. 18, 2021)

But the records, and information from two people familiar with the matter, suggest that federal law enforcement had a far greater visibility into the assault on the Capitol, even as it was taking place, than was previously known.

At the same time, the new information is likely to complicate the government’s efforts to prove the high-profile conspiracy charges it has brought against several members of the Proud Boys.

17.01.2022 - 04:49 [ ABC News ]

Case against Netanyahu includes billionaire witnesses

(December 2, 2019)

By submitting his letter to parliament’s speaker, Mandelblit began an official 30-day window for Netanyahu to ask parliament for immunity. With only a minority in favor, Netanyahu’s odds of success appear slim.

But late Monday, the parliament’s legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, said that any request for immunity would have to be considered by the legislature’s “House Committee.”

The current caretaker government does not have such a committee, and it appears unlikely that it will appoint one before the Dec. 11 deadline.

That means that if Netanyahu submits an immunity request, it will likely be ruled upon only after new elections and formation of a new government that appoints a committee.

17.01.2022 - 04:25 [ Haaretz ]

‚Slim‘ Chances to Reach Netanyahu Plea Deal Before Attorney General Retires

Since negotiations for a plea bargain were first made public, Mendelblit has been harshly criticized by Justice Ministry officials and the legal team that manages Netanyahu‘s corruption cases, which will be required to negotiate with the former prime minister‘s defense attorneys on the wording of the amended indictment. Sources close to the attorney general also believe that he will have a difficult time converting those who oppose the deal in the time he has left.

17.01.2022 - 04:18 [ Times of Israel ]

Most Israelis oppose plea deal in Netanyahu trial, polls find

Talks on a possible plea deal for Netanyahu in his criminal trial have progressed in recent weeks, with a potential solution found to the major sticking point left between his team and state prosecutors, Hebrew-language media reports said over the weekend. Netanyahu has been resisting a deal primarily due to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s demand that his actions be designated as carrying “moral turpitude” — legally barring him from public service for seven years.

17.01.2022 - 04:14 [ NPR.org ]

Netanyahu in talks to reach plea bargain in corruption trial

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is set to retire at the end of January. With with no permanent successor yet determined, it‘s unclear if a new attorney general would offer the same deal if Netanyahu does not accept it within the next two weeks.

Mandelblit could see a plea bargain as favorable to end Netanyahu‘s attacks on the justice system.

17.01.2022 - 03:59 [ ORF.at ]

Frankreichs Parlament billigt Einschränkungen für Ungeimpfte

Wann genau die Neuerung in Kraft tritt, ist noch unklar. Einzelne Abgeordnete hatten angekündigt, den Verfassungsrat wegen des Textes anrufen zu wollen

17.01.2022 - 03:49 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Boris Johnson grilled by Sue Gray over Downing Street parties as Tory anger boils over

One Tory MP said that they had written a letter of no confidence that would be submitted to the 1922 Committee once Ms Gray’s report was completed, and claimed that six other MPs would do likewise.

In a sign of the suspicion sweeping the parliamentary party, it is claimed that Tory whips have been monitoring the approach to the 1922 committee chairman’s office to see who submits letters.