Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — Seeking re-election under a cloud of criminal investigations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks to be channeling his inner Donald Trump in an angry campaign against perceived domestic enemies.

Drawing clear inspiration from Trump, Netanyahu’s Likud party has plastered huge billboards of the two leaders together and launched a Trump-like weekly webcast to counter what it calls the “fake news” industry.

JERUSALEM: 06 Feb 2019; AA: Israel's top court has rejected a petition to postpone a decision by the attorney-general on the indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on graft allegations until after the April polls.

Last week, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit said that he would decide whether or not to indict Netanyahu on multiple graft charges before Knesset elections slated for April 9.

JERUSALEM; 05 Feb 2019; AA: Israeli forces rounded up 25 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military on Tuesday.

The individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terrorist activities”, the army said in a statement, without elaborating on the nature of these activities.

04 Feb 2019; DW: Israel on Sunday said it had started to build a new barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip, according to the Defense Ministry.

The ministry said in a statement that the above-ground barrier — 65 kilometers long and six meters high — would work in conjunction with an underground wall also under construction, to neutralize the possibility of cross-border tunnels built by Hamas militants.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israel condemned on Thursday a vote by the Irish parliament after it backed a bill to ban imports and sales of goods from territories seized by Israel in 1967.

The proposed legislation would ban the trade in goods or services originated from the West Bank settlements and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Israel's foreign ministry slammed the vote as an "expression of pure hostility."

JERUSALEM, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israel and the United States on Tuesday carried out a successful test of the advanced anti-ballistic missile system "Arrow-3," said the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

The test was carried out at the "Palmachim" military air base in central Israel by the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (MAFAT) at Israel's Defense Ministry, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

JERUSALEM (AP) — In an extraordinary statement, the Israeli military confirmed early Monday that it attacked Iranian military targets in Syria, hours after carrying out a rare daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport.

The statement was issued hours after Israeli missile defenses intercepted an incoming missile over the Golan Heights in the wake of the airport raid.

“We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory,” the military statement said. “We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.”

JERUSALEM; 13 Jan 2019; AA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted attacks on Iranian and Hezbollah positions in Syrian capital Damascus. 

“The Israel Defense Forces has attacked hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets,” Netanyahu said during a weekly government meeting on Sunday. 

“Just in the past 36 hours, the air force attacked Iranian depots full of Iranian weapons in the Damascus International Airport,” he was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel newspaper.  

09 Jan 2019; DW: After plea bargaining, Gonen Segev is to be jailed for 11 years. He was extradited from Africa last year for acting as an agent for a foreign power; Israel's main foe, Iran.

In his latest brush with the law, Gonen Segev agreed with Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday to plead guilty to spying charges.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military said on Monday that it struck the northern Gaza Strip overnight in retaliation for the rocket fire toward southern Israel.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that fighter jets and an attack helicopter struck several targets at a military camp belonging to Hamas that runs Gaza.

The strike came in the wake of rocket fire toward the coastal city of Ashkelon and Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in the Southern District of Israel. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-rocket system.