Israel News

24 farming and politics from the peasants who lived there. Unfortunately, that policy resulted in China’s “lost generation,” The Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022 who squandered their best years in the countryside. U.S. to Renew Ties with Saudi Arabia

U.S. officials have conveyed to Saudi Arabia that the United States is ready to renew ties, putting the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi behind it, senior U.S. officials told CNN.

Last year, the U.S. administration released an intelligence report accusing Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of orchestrating Khashoggi’s death.

According to one U.S. official, “Both sides have decided that for the sake of achieving peace and stability in the Middle East, we need to move past it.”

Meanwhile, Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, said, “President Biden’s decision to meet MBS is horribly upsetting to me and supporters of freedom and justice everywhere.”

A U.S. official outside the White House noted, “I do think the desperation of the trajectory of the global economy is driving everything. They [the White House] are anxious, they are desperate.

“Their fear, and their anxiety, is making them throw principle out the door. The worst [economic] outcomes on this are really bad and would devastate any hopes the Democrats would have in November.”

At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. would continue “to make sure that human rights is fully reflected in our foreign policy.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm acknowleged, “There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia has to account for what they did with Jamal Khashoggi,” but, “there is also no question that we have to increase global [oil] supply. And OPEC,

Sri Lanka “Open” to Russian Oil

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he would be open to purchasing oil from Russia, although he emphasized that he would first seek oil from other sources.

In an interview with AP, Wickremesinghe also said he would be willing to accept financial aid from China.

Sri Lanka currently has $51 billion in foreign debt, leaving no money for basic imports.

Although Wickremesinghe admitted that Sri Lanka’s financial predicament is its own fault, he noted that the Ukraine war is exacerbating the crisis, leading to dire food shortages.

According to Wickremesinghe, Russia has also offered wheat to Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe is Sri Lanka’s finance minister and one month ago took over as prime minister, for a sixth time.

“If we can get from any other sources, we will get from there. Otherwise (we) may have to go to Russia again,” he said.

He added, “There is a lot of oil going around which can be sourced back informally to Iran or to Russia. Sometimes we may not know what oil we are buying. Certainly, we are looking at the Gulf as our main supply.”

According to Wickremesinghe, “We need to identify what are the projects that we need for economic recovery and take loans for those projects, whether it be from China or from others. It’s a question of where do we deploy the resources?

“China has agreed to come in with the other countries to give relief to Sri Lanka, which is a first step. This means they all have to agree (on) how the cuts are to take place and in what manner they should take place.”

Sri Lanka is seeking financial assistance from the World Food Program and from the International Monetary Fund, but even if it is approved, funds can be expected to arrive no earlier than October.

Norway to Label Israeli Products

Norway has announced that it will label food products originating in the Judea and Samaria areas of Israel.

The Norwegian government stated, “Foodstuffs originating in areas occupied by Israel must be marked with the area from which the product comes and that it comes from an Israeli settlement if that is the case. It is especially wine, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and potatoes that come from the relevant areas.”

It added, “A ruling by the European Court of Justice from 12.11.2019 states that the Food Information Regulation must be interpreted so that food from areas occupied by Israel must be labeled separately so that consumers are not misled by a lack of labeling about the origin of the products.

The statement continued, “In line with resolutions of the UN Security Council and assessments by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Norway’s position is that ‘Israel’ and ‘Israeli territory’ include the territory that was under Israeli control before June 4, 1967. The Israeli occupied territories include the Golan, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Norway considers the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to be contrary to international law. This territorial delimitation of the State of Israel is also the basis for understanding the geographical scope of the EFTA Free Trade Agreement with Israel.”

In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the decision, saying, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the Norwegian government’s decision to label products originating from Israeli localities in Judea and Samaria.”

The Foreign Ministry noted that “this decision will not contribute to the ad-

26 vancement of Israeli-Palestinian ties and will adversely affect bilateral relations between Israel and Norway, as well as NorThe Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022 way’s relevance to promoting relations between Israel and the Palestinians.” Russian Condemns Israel for Syrian Strike

Russia last week condemned Israel for an airstrike on the Damascus International Airport, allegedly carried out by the IDF.

The Hebrew-language Maariv quoted the rare condemnation by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which stated, “In the early morning hours of June 10, the Israeli Air Force again attacked the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. The target of the attack was Damascus International Airport. According to information that was received, serious material damage was caused to the airport.

“We are forced to emphasize that the ongoing Israeli shelling of Syrian territory, in violation of the basic norms of international law, is unacceptable. We strongly condemn Israel’s provocative attack on critical Syrian civilian infrastructure. Such irresponsible actions pose serious risks to international air traffic and endanger the lives of innocent people. We demand that the Israeli side stop this evil practice.”

ImageSat International (ISI) images showed that each of the airport’s runways in Syria appeared to have been struck three times. According to ISI, the strike “completely disabled” operations at both runways.

Later reports said that the airport’s main runway was rendered unusable until further notice.

Israel has not commented on the Syrian reports.

Yamina’s Nir Orbach Quits

Yamina MK Nir Orbach on Monday announced that he is no longer part of

Arutz Sheva quoted Orbach as saying, “After a week of meetings with the Prime Minister and other parties, I have come to the conclusion that the coalition cannot continue to exist in its current form.

“About a year ago, my friends and I believed that it was possible and necessary to get Israel out of the [repeated election] spiral it was in. We formed a coalition based on very clear guidelines, both at the ideological level and at the executive level. Unfortunately, the coalition today does not fulfill its purpose.”

Later on Monday, it was reported that Orbach had launched negotiations to form an alternative government within the current Knesset.

According to him, even if MKs Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Meretz) and Mazen Ghanaim (Ra’am) resign from the Knesset, there is no future for a government that relies on the Joint List and therefore he is at peace with his decision to resign from the coalition.

A Monday meeting between Orbach and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ended in a screaming match.

Meretz MK: I’ve Lost Faith in the Coalition

Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi has said that she has completely lost faith in the leaders of Israel’s coalition.

In an interview with Channel 12 News, Zoabi said that both she and United Arab List (Ra’am) MK Mazan Ghanaim are under pressure to resign from the Knesset but that she will not cave.

Both of those Arab MKs, along with Yamina’s MK Idit Silman, voted against the Judea and Samaria regulations, causing the bill to fail in the Knesset.

According to Zoabi, “I returned to the coalition and I was in a difficult position as far as the Arab community was concerned — they did not want me to go back.

“I am in a position where I have complete lack of faith in some of the coalition party leaders. I tried twice to compromise with them but got nothing in return.”

Meanwhile, Zoabi has listed her demands for keeping the coalition functioning. Among them are a government plan focused on developing the northern city of Nazareth and increased authority for Arab local municipal authorities.

Iran Attempted to Kidnap Israelis in Turkey

Israeli and Turkish security agencies in May uncovered an Iranian plot to kidnap Israeli tourists in Turkey and successfully foiled it, Hebrew media reported this week.

The Turkish security officials were tipped off by their Israeli counterparts and asked to take action.

The reports did not name the Israeli sources or specify other details about the Iranian agents.

According to Kan News, Israel also asked Turkey to take action against the Iranian network that had planned the kidnapping operation.

Kan also noted that the attempted kidnapping took place before an Iranian officer was killed last month and therefore was not revenge for his death.

The Iranian officer, Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, was shot five times in his car by two unidentified gunmen on motorbikes in the middle of Tehran, on one of the city’s most secure streets.

It is not yet clear who killed Khodaei, although it is suspected that Israel is behind the attack.

Despite the reports of the thwarted kidnapping and Israel’s Foreign Min-