Middle East

Israel to give Pfizer booster jab to the over 60s – reports

Editorial Bureau July 29, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) – Israel will set out on offering a third shot of the Pfizer/Biotech COVID-19 vaccine to people aged over 60, a world first in efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, Israeli TV and radio said on Thursday. Those eligible will be able to get

Middle East

Direct flights to Morocco from Israel, efforts to build diplomatic relations

Editorial Bureau July 25, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) – Following the upgrading of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, two Israeli carriers on Sunday launched nonstop commercial flights to Marrakesh from Tel Aviv. Israel and Morocco agreed last December to upgrade diplomatic ties and relaunch direct flights – part of a deal brokered by the United States that also included

Middle East

Israel’s National Security Council probing NSO spyware allegations -source

Editorial Bureau July 21, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) -Israel has established a senior inter-ministerial team to probe growing allegations that spyware sold by an Israeli cyber firm has been abused on a global scale, according to an Israeli source on Wednesday, while adding that an export review was unlikely. The team is headed by Israel’s National Security Council, which answers to […]

Middle East

Israel switches strategy as Delta variant rears its head

Editorial Bureau July 13, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) – Four weeks ago, Israel was celebrating a return to normal life in its battle with COVID-19. After a rapid vaccination drive that had driven down coronavirus infections and deaths, Israelis had stopped wearing face masks and abandoned all social-distancing rules. Then came the more infectious Delta variant, and a surge in cases […]

Middle East

Israel destroys family home of suspected Palestinian attacker

Editorial Bureau July 8, 2021

TURMUS AYYA (ISRAEL) – Israel faced US criticism on Thursday when it destroyed the family home of a Palestinian-American accused of involvement in a shooting that killed an Israeli and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank. Muntasir Shalabi was indicted in an Israeli military court over the attack in May near the city […]

Middle East

Israel permits some Gaza exports, a month after truce

Editorial Bureau June 21, 2021

GAZA/TEL AVIV (ISRAEL) – Israel allowed a limited resumption of commercial exports from the Gaza Strip on Monday in what it called a “conditional” measure one month after a truce halted 11 days of fighting with the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers. Gaza border officials said the easing of Israeli restrictions would last two to three […]

Middle East

Israel eager to cement ties with SE Asia’s Muslim nations – envoy

Editorial Bureau June 17, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Israel is willing to work towards establishing ties with Southeast Asia’s Muslim majority nations, its ambassador to Singapore said on Thursday, despite their condemnation in May of Israeli air strikes on Gaza. The region’s three Muslim-majority states – Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei – sharply criticised the Israeli

Middle East

Industrial zone in Israel to be shut and converted to residential hub

Editorial Bureau June 8, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) – A major industrial zone in the coastal city of Haifa in Israel that has been hazardous for years will be shut. The area will then be turned into an ecofriendly commercial and residential hub. The plan is to phase out within a decade a number of factories, including the country’s largest oil […]

Middle East

Israel says no timespan set for halting Gaza hostilities

Editorial Bureau May 19, 2021

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL) -Israel said on Wednesday it was not setting a timespan for an end to hostilities with Gaza as its military struck the Palestinian enclave with air strikes and Hamas militants let loose new cross-border rocket attacks. In a sign of diplomatic movement, however, an Egyptian security source said the two sides had agreed […]

Business

Israel eyes to back-up airport as flight cancellations increase

Editorial Bureau May 13, 2021

LONDON/JERUSALEM (UK/ISRAEL) -British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia all cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined hands with US airlines in prevent flying to Israel. It has activated a back-up airport in the far south as a precautionary measure against rockets from Gaza. Palestinian militants have repeatedly shelled the Tel Aviv area […]