Shalom and good evening, this is TV7 Israel
News broadcast to you from Jerusalem;
And in today’s top stories;
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserts
that Israeli annexation of the West Bank is
ultimately ‘Jerusalem’s decision’.
U.S. President Donald Trump orders the American
Navy to attack any hostile-provocation by
vessels of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
The EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell
has unashamedly condemned the United States
over its refusal to lift its international
sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The Israeli Health Ministry released its latest
accumulated data vis-à-vis the unyielding
spread of the corona contagion, confirming
a surge of another 639 cases, which raises
the number of afflicted individuals throughout
the Jewish state to 14,592, of whom 136 are
diagnosed in critical condition.
I am sad to report that as of nine o’clock
this morning another four individuals succumbed
to the corona disease, raising the total number
of Israeli corona-related victims to 191.
Turning to Jerusalem, where;
The Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee decided not to renew
the government’s mobile-tracking methods
of civilians that have been diagnosed with
the coronavirus.
The Israeli government initially applied the
sophisticated spy-ware as a verification method
for diagnosed patients that are required to
remain in quarantine.
As part of the use of the privacy-invasive
measure, which is usually applied only to
counter-terrorism, the government adopted
regulations to ascertain legal backing to
the application of the sophisticated-tool
against civilians.
Since the Israeli parliament, or Knesset in
Hebrew, once again functions-in-full to oversee
the government’s activities; its Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee decided to grant
several court appeals that are challenging
the measure to attain relevant answers from
the state, before renewing the legally-required
regulations.
Meanwhile;
In light of circulating reports about the
possibility that Israel’s newly-established
national emergency government could ultimately
move on separate election-pledges of both
Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Parliament
Speaker Benny Gantz to annex significant parts
of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley
and the Biblical districts of Judea and Samaria;
the Palestinian Authority has stepped up its
efforts in recent days to combat the conceivable
Israeli measure.
The Authority’s Chairman, President Mahmoud
Abbas, revealed in a televised address to
the Palestinian people that he would regard
all past-agreements with both the United States
and Israel null-and-void, if the latter would
move to assert its sovereignty over territories
the Palestinians demand for their aspired
state.
"In this context, we have informed the relevant
international parties, including the American
and the Israeli governments, that we will
not stand hand-cuffed if Israel announces
the annexation of any part of our land.
We would regard agreements with Israel and
the United States completely cancelled."
It is important to note that Israeli officials
from both camps within Jerusalem’s newly
established emergency government refused – in
response to a TV7 inquiry - to confirmed nor
deny any government plans for asserting Israel’s
sovereignty over the referred-to’ territories.
Furthermore, a Palestinian source explained
to TV7 that President Abbas’s remarks were
made in response to a statement – during
a state department press briefing earlier
last night - regarding Israeli annexation
by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“We’re happy with the – a new government’s
formed.
A fourth election, we think, wouldn’t have
been in Israel’s best interest, but we’ll
leave that to them.
We think it’s not in the world’s best
interest.
We’re glad that there is a now fully formed
government in Israel.
As for the annexation in the West Bank, the
Israelis will ultimately make those decisions.
Those are – that’s an Israeli decision,
and we will work closely with them to share
with them our views of this in a private setting.”
Secretary Pompeo went on to address the latest
developments pertaining to Iran’s malign
activities, including yesterday’s announcement
by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
– commonly known by its acronym IRGC – which
declared the successful launch of a military-grade
satellite into orbit.
While Tehran officials repeatedly insisted
that its aspired space program was solely
for civilian purposes, the IRGC’s top commander
confirmed following the launch that the Iranian-controlled
satellite effectively bolsters “strategic
intelligence and information capability.”
"After this important achievement, we made
a leap in the field of strategic intelligence
and information (gathering) capability."
In response to this brazen admission, in addition
to an official statement on the IRGC website
referring to the satellite as “military-grade;”
Secretary Pompeo highlighted once again Iran’s
continued terror-related activities, all the
while blatantly dancing a campaign of deceptive
propaganda vis-à-vis the international community.
“The Iranians have consistently said that
these missile programs were disconnected from
their military, that these were purely commercial
enterprises.
I think today’s launch proves what we’ve
been saying all along here in the United States:
The IRGC, a designated terrorist organization,
launched a missile today.
And I’ll leave to the Department of Defense
to talk about the details about that.
But when you talk about the UN Security Council
Resolution 2231, I think every nation has
an obligation to go to the United Nations
and evaluate whether this missile launch was
consistent with that Security Council resolution.
I don’t think it remotely is, and I need
– I think Iran needs to be held accountable
for what they’ve done.
They’ve now had a military organization
that the United States has designated terrorists
attempt to launch a satellite.”
The top American diplomat further stressed
that while the people of Iran suffer from
the uncontrollable spread of the corona virus
throughout their country; the latest developments
once again reveal the true nature of the Ayatollah
regime in Tehran.
“The Iranian regime has gone around the
world spreading disinformation in response
to this virus.
One of the things they’ve said is that,
boy, we need resources in order to take care
of the virus at home.
And all the while they are launching satellites,
driving ships around the Arabian Gulf, coming
and harassing U.S. naval vessels.
They continue to underwrite Shia militias,
they’re working to support Hizballah.
Yesterday my Iranian counterpart – or the
day before – was in Syria talking to the
butcher in Damascus.
I hope that the Iranian regime will respond
to the Iranian people’s demands to prioritize
resources, resources that the Iranian regime
clearly has, to the health and security and
safety of the Iranian people, rather than
continuing their global terror campaign.
You can see they’re still hard at it.
You can see they still have resources.
You should note, we, the – at the very first
news that the COVID virus had hit Iran, offered
humanitarian assistance to the people of Iran.
That offer was rejected.
That offer still stands.
We’ve assisted other countries in delivering
humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people.
I only wish that the Iranian regime cared
about its people as much as the rest of the
world has demonstrated that it does.”
Following TV7’s previous report on provocative
maneuvers by the naval vessels belonging to
the IRGC against the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard,
which occurred within international waters
of the Persian Gulf; another such incident
had reportedly occurred a day later, which
once again indicated a rise of tensions between
the Islamic Republic and the United States
in the strategic waterway.
While the first report was blatantly rejected
as ‘baseless’ by Iran’s Defense Minister
Amir Hatami, the second reported incident
was covered by Iranian state television, which
referred to the U.S. battle group as “terror-vessels.”
In response to these latest developments,
U.S. President Donald Trump instructed the
American Navy to destroy any Iranian vessels
that attempt a similar maneuver.
"We don't want their gunboats surrounding
our boats, traveling around our boats and
having a good time.
We don't want them anywhere near our boats.
So, you know the order I gave.
I don't have to say it again, I've given that
order.
Under the Obama administration, it was taking
place all the time.
Under my administration, I gave this order
early on and nothing happened.
They were very nice.
There was no problem.
But, then I noticed yesterday they did that,
in a much lighter form, but they did that
again.
I said, we're not going to stand for it.
So, if they do that, that's putting our ships
in danger and our great crews and sailors
in danger.
I'm not going to let that happen - and we
will.
They'll shoot them out of the water."
Meanwhile in Brussels;
The EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell
has unashamedly condemned the United States
over its refusal to lift its international
sanctions on the Islamic Republic – stopping
short from even referring to the latest military-related
developments vis-à-vis Iran.
"I regret, really, I regret that the Americans,
the United States, are opposing the International
Monetary Fund (from) taking this decision
(to provide Iran with economic aid to help
deal with the coronavirus pandemic).
I think that, from a humanitarian point of
view, this request should have been accepted."
The Top EU Diplomat further claimed that Iran
was in dire need for additional financial
support, because of its seeming lack of capital
to finance its battle against the spreading
corona-disease.
"The problem is the capacity of Iran to have
the capital, to have the resources to buy,
to pay for the resources they need in order
to fight against the coronavirus.
And for that humanitarian fact, they have
needs they cannot fulfil due to the fact they
don't have the capital required for that."
It is important to note that while no accurate
figures have been publicized vis-à-vis the
latest IRGC launch of its military-grade satellite;
intelligence sources told TV7 that the related
costs of such a launch can amount between
a quarter to half a billion U.S. dollars – excluding
the unspecified military hardware.
Thank you for watching us.
As part of TV7’s global prayer initiative,
I would like to encourage you to join myself
and the team here in Jerusalem to pray today
for the peace and salvation of India, alongside
our ongoing prayers for the peace of Jerusalem,
the peace and salvation of Israel, as well
as for all those who are impacted by the corona
contagion world-wide.
I’m Jonathan Hessen, have an Erev Tov, and
we will see you again tomorrow, at the same
time.
For more information on Israel and its region
visit our website at WWW.TV7ISRAELNEWS.COM
