Israel PM Bennett says Putin apologised over FM Lavrov’s Holocaust remarks

 Asked in an interview about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to denazify the country, Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even though its president Zelenskyy is a Jewish

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he accepted an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for controversial remarks about the Holocaust made by Moscow’s top diplomat. The two leaders talked over the phone, after which an Israeli statement said Putin had apologized. However, the Russian statement about the call made no mention of an apology. Instead, it said they emphasized the importance of marking the Nazi defeat in World War II, which Russia celebrates on Monday.

Bennett emerged as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine shortly after Moscow’s invasion. But that role was thrown into doubt this week when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made comments about the Holocaust that were deeply offensive to Jews. Asked in an interview with an Italian news channel about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to denazify the country, Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even though its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.

In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish, he said, speaking to the station in Russian, dubbed over by an Italian translation. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who has harshly criticized Russia over the invasion, called Lavrov’s statement unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error….Read More

Zelenskyy voices hope, says he's open for talks with Putin in Israel

 Bennett, acting at Ukraine’s behest, held a three-hour Kremlin meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Saturday

Ukraine voiced hope for positive results from Israel’s bid to broker peace with Russia, denying a media report that suggested Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had tried to nudge Kyiv into caving to Moscow’s demands. Bennett, acting at Ukraine’s behest, held a three-hour Kremlin meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Saturday. He has since spoken twice with Putin by phone and four times with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (pictured), officials say.

“I believe (Bennett) can play an important role, because Israel is a country with a lot of history and parallels, as well as having a large migration of Jews from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus,” Zelenskyy said. Earlier on Saturday, a top Ukrainian adviser denied a report that had suggested that Bennett had urged Ukraine to give in.

Israeli PM likely to visit India as 2 nations celebrate 30 years of ties

 Gilon launched the logo virtually along with his Indian counterpart in Tel Aviv, Ambassador Sanjeev Singla

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior officials are likely to visit India this year as the two countries celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations, Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said on Monday. In a Webinar held for the virtual launch of a special logo to set in motion the year-long celebrations to commemorate the occasion, Gilon said he feels very lucky to be Israel’s Ambassador in India when “relations are exceptional” and “beyond regular”, one of “partnership between ancient civilisations”.

To further deepen bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, Gilon said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other officials are likely to visit India as the two countries celebrate 30 years of establishment of diplomatic ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had extended an invitation to Bennett from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Israel last year.

“This is an important occasion to reflect on our mutual successes as well as a good opportunity to look ahead and shape the next 30 years of our relations. I am sure that our close existing cooperation in different fields will only continue to grow and flourish in the coming years, Gilon stressed. Gilon launched the logo virtually along with his Indian counterpart in Tel Aviv, Ambassador Sanjeev Singla…Read More

Israel launches airstrikes on Hamas targets after rockets fired from Gaza

There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage

International News: Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Israeli security fence late Thursday, and Israel carried out airstrikes on targets linked to the territory’s Hamas rulers, the Israeli military said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. The military said it struck a concrete manufacturing site used for underground infrastructure and tunnel construction, belonging to the Hamas terror organization.

Tensions have risen in recent days as groups affiliated with Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have launched incendiary balloons across the frontier, igniting farmland inside Israel. Hamas is demanding that Israel ease the blockade it imposed when the Islamic militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. In response to the balloons, Israel has closed Gaza’s main commercial crossing forcing the territory’s only power plant to shut down and barred fishermen from its waters.

Israel has also carried out airstrikes on targets linked to Hamas, which it blames for all violence emanating from the territory. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and several smaller battles since the militants seized power. Egyptian mediators visited Gaza earlier this week try and shore up an informal cease-fire but left without announcing any progress. Hamas says Israel is not honoring previous understandings reached with the help of Egypt and Qatar, in which Israel should ease the blockade and allow for large-scale projects to help rescue Gaza’s collapsing economy…Read More

Imran Khan says Pakistan won’t have diplomatic relations with Israel

Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and their aircraft are not allowed to use each other’s airspace

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically rejected any possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, according to a media report. “Our policy on Israel is clear: The Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) had said that Pakistan can never accept state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and an independent state, Khan said in an interview with private news channel Dunya TV’ on Tuesday.

Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and their aircraft are not allowed to use each other’s airspace. “If we recognise Israel and ignore tyranny faced by the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do, he said. His remarks came in the backdrop of recent peace overtures between the UAE and Israel, with the former becoming only the third Arab nation to enter into a peace deal with the Jewish state.

Questions were also asked in Pakistan why it was following an antagonistic policy toward Israel when the Arabs were embracing the Jewish state in the changing regional political alignment. When asked to comment on the UAE’s ties with Israel, Khan said that every state had its own foreign policy. He also rejected the impression that Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia were under stress due to the Kashmir issue. Saudi Arabia is one of our key friends and our relations are still fraternal and unchanged, he said..Read More

Water to space: India, Israel ink 7 key strategic pacts during Modi visit

Sign a $40-mn R&D fund for joint innovation in agriculture, water, energy and technology

India and Israel on Wednesday elevated their ties to the “strategic partnership” level with a vow to do “much more together” to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism and pitched for “strong measures” against those financing and providing sanctuaries to terror groups.(Economy news)

The issue of terror and “strategic threats” along with various other topics like cooperation in defence and security, water, agriculture, space and West Asia figured prominently in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu here on Wednesday.

After the wide-ranging talks, the two sides signed seven pacts covering areas like innovation, water conservation, agriculture and space.

India and Israel also agreed to set up a $40 million fund for industrial Research and Development, and innovation fund, with both countries contributing $20 million each.

“Our goal is to build a relationship that reflects our shared priorities and draws on enduring bonds between our peoples,” Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, said in a joint media appearance with Netanyahu.

India, Israel ink 7 pacts 

India and Israel signed 7 agreements to step-up cooperation in key sectors like space, agriculture and water conservation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held in-depth talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu

• MoU signed between Department of Science & Technology and Israel’s National Technological Innovation Authority for setting up of $40 million worth India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technical Innovation Fund 

• Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, and Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy & Water Resources signed a pact on National Campaign for Water Conservation in India 

• The second one was signed between Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy & Water Resources on state water utility reform in India 

• In the farm sector, the two countries have agreed upon India-Israel development cooperation - a three-year work programme in agriculture from 2018 to 2020 

• They also agreed for cooperation between the Isro and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) regarding cooperation in atomic clocks 

• Besides, separate MoUs were signed between Isro and ISA for cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link, and in electric propulsion for small satellites 

Modi, on the second day of his three-day visit, said India and Israel live in “complex geographies” and are aware of “strategic threats” to regional peace and stability.

“India has suffered first-hand the violence and hatred spread by terror. So has Israel,” he said, adding the two leaders had “agreed to do much more together to protect our strategic interests and also cooperate to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism, including in cyberspace.”(Read more)