6 teens suspected of arson remanded as Israel’s wildfire probe continues
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Six 17-year-old residents of the Galilee village of Jadeidi-Makr, who were arrested last week over their alleged involvement in setting fire to the nearby Ahihud Forest, were denied bail Monday and remanded to Israeli police custody for an additional four days. The suspects were arraigned before the Acre Magistrates’ Court.
The group was arrested after police detectives noticed a suspicious vehicle leaving a dirt path from the direction of a fire they had spotted in a grove near the forest. The detectives stopped the vehicle and took the six teens inside into custody. Planes were able to extinguish the fire before it spread.
According to figures from the Israel Fire and Rescue Services, firefighters battled 1,773 fires in open areas during the week that wildfires raged in the Jewish state. Arson is suspected in at least 25 of the incidents.
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Palestinian Fatah party unanimously re-elects Mahmoud Abbas as leader
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Fatah political party unanimously re-elected Mahmoud Abbas as the head of the party at the opening of its first leadership congress in more than seven years.
The re-election of the 81-year-old Abbas, who also serves as president of the Palestinian Authority, comes despite growing unpopularity and internal dissent within Palestinian society. Abbas has been increasingly challenged by a younger generation of Palestinian leaders, including exiled rival Mohammad Dahlan, who currently resides in the United Arab Emirates.
Later this week, members of Fatah’s parliament and central committee will hold elections to determine the future of the party, which largely dominates Palestinian society in the West Bank.
“The system from the 1960s no longer works in 2016,” Jibril Rajoub, a former Palestinian intelligence chief and Fatah central committee member, told AFP.
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Guatemalan president makes historic visit to Israel
(JNS.org) Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales embarked Monday on a historic visit to Israel.
“I want to thank you, Mr. President, for your personal support and for the support of your country for Israel on the international stage,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Morales, who is making his first visit outside of the Western Hemisphere since taking office in January. “Israel can help greatly in development and innovation in your region and around the world, and we are committed to doing so.”
Morales visited the Israeli Knesset, where Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein noted Guatemala’s role in helping establish the state of Israel.
“The ties between Israel and Guatemala are deep and historic. Before Israel’s establishment, on the eve of the U.N. decision on November 29 [in 1947], we still remember and appreciate the actions of Guatemala’s ambassador to the U.N., Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados, who enlisted Latin American states to vote in favor of the partition plan,” Edelstein said.
Morales said, “In this visit, we want to deepen the dialogue between the two countries and strengthen bilateral ties.”
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Watchdog says its efforts spur Norwegian government to nix anti-Israel funding
(JNS.org) NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute and watchdog group, said Monday that its efforts have led Norway to abandon its financial commitment to an international funding mechanism that supports anti-Israel non-governmental organizations.
Norway no longer appears as a donor on the website of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (IHL Secretariat), whose members now include Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. According to a fact sheet published by NGO Monitor before Norway’s pullout, IHL Secretariat’s $17.6 million three-year budget for 2014-2016 devoted a total of $5.78 million to 13 organizations supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Norway joined IHL Secretariat in 2016 and contributed about $300,000 to the group, and it is “unclear how this funding was used,” NGO Monitor stated.
After Norway joined IHL Secretariat, NGO Monitor “sent documentation to stakeholders in Norway, outlining our detailed research into the IHL Secretariat’s funding to numerous political NGOs,” the watchdog group said Monday in an email to supporters.
“NGO Monitor fully briefed the Israeli mission in Norway and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the group said. “Following this, Israeli officials raised NGO Monitor’s concerns with Norwegian counterparts. This, coupled with the negative media attention, led many Norwegian officials to acknowledge the depth of Israel’s concerns about this problematic funding scheme, ultimately leading [the Norwegian government] to leave the IHL Secretariat.”
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