Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman labeled on Monday The Iliya Institute, a community center operating in east Jerusalem, a terror establishment following recommendations by the Shin Bet security agency.



According to a statement from Liberman’s office, the defense minister signed a special order under section 3 (a) of the Anti-Terrorism Law after it was found that the Institute, which operates as a youth center, was acting on behalf of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).The recommendation was made after months of surveillance by the Shin Bet which found that the Institute carried out activities aimed at promoting the activities of DFLP in Jerusalem such as recruiting and training activists to spread the group’s ideology through incitement videos.



"The security establishment, led by the Shin Bet security service, acts decisively and will uproot any attempt to establish terror elements in east Jerusalem. We take all measures. We will not accept an institution that acts as an outpost of terror in the capital of Israel.” Liberman stated.





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`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> Baku. 30 May. REPORT.AZ/ The cabinet unanimously approved Avigdor Lieberman's appointment as defense minister, as part of a deal between Yisrael Beiteinu and the Likud to expand the governing coalition.

Report informs the approval comes after a week-long conflict between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Naftali Bennett, who threatened to veto Lieberman's appointment if his demands for reform of the security cabinet were not addressed.

A proposal on security cabinet reform by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman was accepted by both Netanyahu and Bennett late Sunday night, effectively ending the crisis and paving the way for paving the way the cabinet's approval of Lieberman as defense minister.

"Starting tomorrow morning, the security cabinet in Israel will no longer be without an officer to brief the minister," Education Minister Naftali Bennett said after the crisis was resolved. "It was possible to reach an agreement a week ago, but it’s good that it happened now."

In addition to the appointment of Lieberman, Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beiteinu) took the post of immigrant absorption minister and Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) was appointed minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister's Office.

The ministerial appointments will go before the Knesset for final approval Monday afternoon. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was doing "serious damage to national security in the long term"

Israel's defence minister has resigned over the cabinet's decision to accept a ceasefire ending two days of fighting with Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Avigdor Lieberman denounced the move as "surrendering to terror".

He said his right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party would leave the ruling coalition, which could lead to an early election.

Eight people were killed on Monday and Tuesday as militants fired 460 rockets towards Israel and Israeli forces bombed 160 targets in Gaza.

The ceasefire was largely holding on Wednesday and schools and businesses in southern Israel reopened after no rocket attacks were reported overnight.

However, Israel's military said it had shot at and captured a Palestinian man who tried to breach the Israel-Gaza border fence while hurling grenades.

Palestinian health officials later said a fisherman had been killed by Israeli fire in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said soldiers had shot the man because he was advancing towards the border fence.

What happened in the latest flare-up?

The fighting - the most intense since the 50-day war in 2014 - began after an Israeli special forces undercover operation in Gaza was exposed on Sunday, triggering clashes that left seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli soldier dead.

Late on Monday, militants launched a barrage of rockets and mortars at Israel.

Image copyright AFP Image caption A Palestinian man working in Israel was killed in a rocket attack on a southern Israeli town

One of the rockets hit a block of flats in the town of Ashkelon, killing a Palestinian man who was working in Israel.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out what it called a wide-scale attack against targets belonging to the militant groups Hamas, which dominates Gaza, and Islamic Jihad.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said seven people were killed in the strikes. Five of the dead were said to be militants and the other two farmers.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Israel targeted a building that housed Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV channel

Hamas and other Palestinian factions announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had accepted an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire and would abide by it if Israel did.

Israel's security cabinet initially said only that it was ordering the military to continue its operations as required, but Mr Lieberman and another minister appeared to confirm it had agreed to accept a ceasefire when they denied supporting it.

Why did Mr Lieberman resign?

At a news conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the defence minister said the military response to the rocket fire had been "insufficient and inappropriate".

Image copyright AFP Image caption About 100 of the 460 rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by Israel's air defence system

He added that the government was making a serious mistake by accepting a ceasefire with Hamas and other militant groups that Israel, the US, EU and UK have designated as terrorist organisations.

"We are buying quiet for the short term at the price of serious damage to national security in the long term" he warned.

Mr Lieberman revealed he had similarly opposed recent decisions to allow into Gaza fuel for the territory's power plant and $15m (£12m) in cash from Qatar intended to fund the salaries of unpaid civil servants in the Hamas-run government.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Sderot residents protested against the ceasefire agreement on Tuesday night

"I could not remain [in office] and still be able to look residents of the south in the eyes," he added.

Dozens of residents of Israeli border communities protested after the ceasefire announcement at what they called the "lack of action by the Israeli government" to deal with the threat of Palestinian rocket attacks.

Mr Lieberman also announced that Yisrael Beiteinu would leave the ruling coalition and called on other parties to agree on an early date for a general election, which is not due until November 2019.

How significant is the resignation?

By Yolande Knell, BBC News, Jerusalem

This announcement by Mr Lieberman was expected.

He has been calling for tough Israeli military action against Hamas and has opposed ongoing efforts by Egypt and the UN to secure a long-term ceasefire deal that would quieten the Israel-Gaza border.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces criticism in Israel for accepting a ceasefire

His hawkish stance as defence minister has often left him at odds with the military top brass.

But it plays out well with the voter base of his political party.

The decision to withdraw Yisrael Beiteinu from the coalition government weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who now controls just 61 of 120 parliamentary seats.

However, an official close to Mr Netanyahu told the BBC it was "not necessary to go to elections in this sensitive security period". He added that the prime minister would now take over the defence ministry.

What has been the reaction?

Mr Netanyahu's office said he was holding consultations with ministers from his right-wing Likud party and other party leaders in effort to stabilise his coalition.

Earlier, the prime minister defended the ceasefire decision, saying that "in times of emergency, when making decisions crucial to security, the public can't always be privy to the considerations that must be hidden from the enemy".

"Our enemies begged for a ceasefire and they knew very well why," he added.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni of the centre-left Zionist Union alliance demanded an early general election.

"The government of failure in security must go," she said. "No peace, no security - elections now that will lead to an emergency coalition headed by the Zionist Union. We will restore security and act for peace."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Mr Lieberman's resignation was "recognition of the defeat before the growing force of Palestinian resistance". </s> Israeli Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, announced on Wednesday that he was resigning from the conservative coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The resignation was in protest at the ceasefire agreement the government endorsed with Gaza.

Mr Lieberman said his decision, takes effect 48 hours after he puts it in writing.

He described Tuesday’s Egyptian-mediated cease-fire deal with the Palestinian group Hamas as “a capitulation to terror”.

Israel had launched a series of blistering air strikes against targets in Gaza after Hamas militants persisted in launching rockets at targets in Israel.

The minister had earlier on Wednesday hinted at his impending resignation from the coalition government of Mr Netanyahu. </s> Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman prevented the entrance of 110 Palestinians to Israel, who were planning to attend the joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv next week, on the national Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism.



In a statement issued on Tuesday, Liberman said: “I will not allow the desecration of memorial day. This ceremony is not a memorial event but a display of bad taste and insensitivity that harms our dear bereaved families.”





In response to the decision, Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle – Families Forum - the organizations who organize the ceremony - said that the defense minister is the one who is desecrating the memorial with his actions.“He is harming Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families who ask to promote a discourse of reconciliation,” a statement said.“This is a political and cynical use of a tool that is meant to be for security purposes. His goal is to harm Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families that have asked to commemorate memorial day together, out of the mutual respect and understating that pain and sorrow are not reserved for only one side.”Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg said that by barring the Palestinians, Liberman is trying to score political points “on the back of the families who paid the price of this conflict with blood.”“Liberman wants to make memorial day a controversial issue and use his security authority to prevent these families from commemorating it as they wish,” she said.“They want to do it in peaceful ways, with a true will to stop the bloodshed. The Netanyahu-Liberman government wants to use bereavement to create division among Israeli citizens,” she added.This would be the 13th consecutive year that the joint ceremony would be held.It was recently announced that Man Booker International Prize laureate David Grossman, who lost his son Uri in the second Lebanon war in 2006, would be one of the main speakers at the ceremony. Grossman will receive the Israel Prize two days later, on the 70th independence day.Last year, far-right activist gathered near the entrance of the event hall, shouted at the attendees and called them “traitors,” and “Nazis.” Some protesters spat at the attendees entering the hall and threw water bottles at them.After the event, Education Minister Naftali Bennett appeared to have tweeted on his official account, “If the report is true, I expect people who grieve for baby murderers and people who blew up buses would be a bit less sensitive about spitting, pushing and water.”Bennett then deleted the tweet, denied that he was the one writing it, and said that a student working for him tweeted it from his account.“So when I was visiting the family of Emmanuel Moreno, one of my students tweeted a pointless tweet, and there was a commotion. Relax, this is memorial day,” he tweeted. </s> Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman prevented the entrance of 110 Palestinians to Israel, who were planning to attend the joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv next week, on Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars.



In a statement issued on Tuesday, Liberman said: “I will not allow the desecration of Remembrance Day. This ceremony is not a memorial event but a display of bad taste and insensitivity that harms our dear bereaved families.”

In response to the decision, Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum – the organizations that organize the ceremony – said that the defense minister is the one who is desecrating the memorial with his actions.“He is harming Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families who seek to promote a discourse of reconciliation,” a statement said.“This is a political and cynical use of a tool that is meant to be for security purposes, a use whose whole goal is to deal a blow to Israeli and Palestinians bereaved families that seek to commemorate Remembrance Day together, out of the mutual respect and recognition that pain and sorrow are not the exclusive legacy of any side.”Meretz chairwoman Tamar Zandberg said that Liberman is trying to score political points “on the backs of the families who paid the price of this conflict with blood.“Liberman wants to make Remembrance Day into a controversial issue, and use his security authorities to prevent the families from commemorating it as they wish,” she said.“They want to do it in peaceful ways, with a true will to stop the bloodshed. The Netanyahu-Liberman government wants to use the bereavement to create division among Israeli citizens,” she added.This would be the 13th consecutive year that the joint ceremony would be held.It was recently announced that Man Booker International Prize laureate David Grossman, who lost his son Uri in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, would be one of the main speakers at the ceremony. Grossman will receive the Israel Prize on Independence Day.Last year, far-right activists gathered near the entrance to the hall where the event was held, shouted at the attendees and called them “traitors” and “Nazis.” Some protesters spat at the attendees entering the hall and threw water bottles at them.A tweet that appeared on the Twitter account of Education Minister Naftali Bennett after the event said that “if the report is true, I expect from people who grieve over the murderers of babies and people who blew up buses that they be a bit less sensitive about spitting, pushing and water.”Bennett then deleted the tweet, denied that he was the one who wrote it, and said that a student working for him tweeted it from his account.“So when I was visiting the family of Emmanuel Moreno, one of my students tweeted a pointless tweet, and there is a commotion. Relax, this is Remembrance Day,” he tweeted.

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`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> The Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has announced he is resigning from the conservative coalition government of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in protest at a Gaza truce.

Announcing his decision, which takes effect 48 hours after he puts it in writing, Lieberman called Tuesday’s Egyptian-mediated deal with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas “a capitulation to terror”.

“What happened yesterday – the truce combined with the process with Hamas – is capitulating to terror. It has no other meaning,” Lieberman told journalists.

“What we’re doing now as a state is buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security.”

He added later: “We should agree on a date for elections as early as possible.”

Lieberman also said his party was leaving Netanyahu’s coalition, which leaves the premier with only a one-seat majority in parliament.

Elections are not due until November 2019, but Lieberman’s resignation increases the likelihood of an earlier vote.

Lieberman, a security hardliner, heads the rightwing Yisrael Beitenu party, which holds five seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

Netanyahu has defended Tuesday’s ceasefire deal, which ended the most serious escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since a 2014 war. </s> TEL AVIV — Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction, condemned on Wednesday the decision by the U.S. State Department to designate Hamas’s politburo leader, Ismail Haniyeh, as a specially designated global terrorist.

A statement released by the State Department said that Haniyeh maintains connections with Hamas’s so-called military wing and is involved in attacks on civilians. Hamas’s “military wing” is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks.

“Ismail Haniyeh has been involved in Hamas’ campaign of terrorism against Israel for years and even decades,” Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, stated. “The United States is not fooled by any attempt by Hamas to rebrand itself. We know it for what it is, a terror organization committed to the destruction of the State of Israel.”

In response, Hamas released a statement saying that Haniyeh is a prime minister elected by a majority of the Palestinian people and that his inclusion on the list of terrorists is a dangerous development “and a violation of international law, which gives the Palestinian people the right to defend themselves, to fight the occupation and elect its leadership.”

Hamas failed to mention its deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians.

It was also written in the statement that the American decision is a “cover” for Israel to continue its “crimes” against the Palestinian people “and a green light to harm their leader.”

Hamas apologists on social media also responded to the American inclusion of Haniyeh on the terrorism list.

“Crusaders and Zionists full of hate: American State Department decides Haniyeh and other figures are terrorists threatening the stability of the Middle East,” tweeted Hamed al-Ali, a Kuwaiti cleric.

The Twitter account Palestine Post criticized the decision, writing at the end of their post, “We swear to Allah, the decision should be a source of pride.”

“When the Americans include Haniyeh on the terror list, we have nothing to say but that we are proud of terror,” wrote Palestinian Layla Kilani. “Is it possible to earn a greater achievement than this? Because the respectable man only fights the enemies of Allah.”

Majed al-Raiisi, a media figure in the United Arab Emirates, wrote about the meeting between Qatar and America that was held yesterday in the U.S., tweeting, “Yesterday Qatar paid billions for declarations of American support. Today, the U.S. puts Ismail Haniyeh, who is close to the Qatari regime, on the terror list. As usual, your money went to nothing.”

“Stand proudly and wave the flag of victory,” wrote Adaham Abu Salmiyeh, a Palestinian journalist and activist close to Hamas, alongside a photo of Haniyeh making the V-for-victory sign.

“Hamas leaders are between the oppression of the Israeli occupation inside and the American siege outside,” wrote Amro Abdulhadi, an Islamist politician in Egypt. “The people who are happier about Haniyeh’s place on the terror list are Muhamad Dahlan (a Fatah official), Muhamad bin Zayed (Emirati crown prince) and Sissi (Egyptian president).”

“The American inclusion of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on the terror list proves for the millionth time that the current president of the U.S. is a criminal called a president because of his job,” wrote Egyptian journalist Ahmad Abdeljawad. “It also proves that Hamas continues to worry the Zionists.”

The Twitter account of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, a girl who became famous for slapping an Israeli soldier and whose account is being run by her father since she was arrested by Israeli authorities, tweeted, “Congratulations to the leader and national symbol Ismail Haniyeh. We say to the enemies of our people that the threats of the occupation and the terror lists of the American government don’t scare us.”

Abdullah Sharif, an Egyptian Islamist poet wrote, “Ismail Haniyeh, if you are a terrorist as they’ve catalogued you, then I’m following in your footsteps.” </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Jerusalem truck attacker who killed four Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers on Sunday (8 January) was a supporter of the Islamic State (Isis) terror group.

During a visit to the scene of the incident, the PM said that there could be a connection between the attacks that took place in Berlin and Nice – responsibility for which were claimed by IS .

The man, allegedly responsible for the Jerusalem attack, was killed by police. He was identified as Fadi al-Qanbar from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Mukabar. According to reports, he rammed his truck into a crowd gathered near the Armon Hanatziv Promenade overlooking the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

A dozen people were injured, while three female and a male solider were killed in the incident. The IDF identified the four soldiers who died in the attack as Yael Yekutiel (20), Shir Hajaj (22), Erez Orbach (20) and Shira Tzur (20).

The IDF also tweeted that Hamas had lauded the truck attacker, calling the carnage "heroic".

Hazaem Qassem, spokesman for the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades — Hamas' military wing – wrote on Facebook that "the continuous operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem prove that the Jerusalem Intifada is not an isolated event, but rather a decision by the Palestinian people to revolt until they attain their freedom and liberation from the Israeli occupation", according to The Times of Israel.

Meanwhile, the prime minister and Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman visited the crime scene and watched the footage of the attack that was captured on CCTV cameras.

Terming the incident a "vicious and tragic terror attack", Netanyahu said: "We know the identity of the attacker and according to all the signs he is a supporter of the Islamic State.

"I have just come from a meeting with the defence minister, the chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet and others about steps we need to take. We know that these are a series of attacks and there definitely could be a link between them, from France to Berlin, and now Jerusalem."

The attack on a Christmas market in Berlin took place last month, killing 12 people and leaving dozens more injured. A similar attack was carried out in Nice, France in July 2016 during Bastille Day celebrations, which claimed the lives of 84 people.

Talking about the Berlin, Nice and Jerusalem attacks being inspired by the Islamist group, the defence minister said that the only reason for the attack on Jerusalem was because "we are Jews living here in the State of Israel" and it was "not because of Jewish settlements and not because of the peace talks", The Times of Israel reported.

Netanyahu said that authorities had imposed a closure on the Jabel Mukabar neighborhood of East Jerusalem, where the attacker came from. He added that other steps were being taken to deal with the situation, but did not elaborate on the attacker being linked to Isis militants.

"We will overcome this terror, just as we overcame other attacks. There are a number of actions that we will not specify at this time, which we will have to take to ensure that incidents such as these do not recur," the Jerusalem Post quoted the prime minister as saying.

According to local media reports, al-Qanbar was in his late 20s, married with four children, and had served time in Israeli prison. He is believed to have purchased the truck recently.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman declares the Iliya Institute, a Jerusalem community centre, to be a terror organisation operating on behalf of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.