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The gunman who on Saturday took four people hostage inside the Congregation Beth-Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, was probed by the UK’s domestic intelligence service MI5 in 2020 as a potential “terrorist threat.” The investigation was closed after it was deemed he posed no danger, according to reports.
British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was pronounced dead following a dramatic 11-hour siege in which he demanded the release of notorious Pakistani jihadi Aafia Siddiqui, who was jailed in 2010 for attempting to murder US military personnel in Afghanistan.
The hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, escaped unharmed.
Two teenagers were arrested in the UK on Sunday evening as part of the large-scale investigation; however, Manchester police have released the duo without charge.
Investigators are still trying to understand how Akram, who had a criminal record, was able to travel to the United States two weeks ago without raising any red flags.
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In a remote address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett branded Iran “an octopus of terror and instability” in the Middle East, and called on the international community to not financially support the regime in Tehran.
Discussing the nuclear talks in Vienna, Bennett warned that “investing in Iran is not a safe investment whether there is a deal or not” and reiterated his position that the only acceptable deal to Israel is one in which the Islamic Republic abandons its nuclear weapons program.
Pointing to Iran’s activities in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, Bennett said lifting sanctions on the regime would provoke “terror on steroids.”
World powers have engaged in numerous rounds of negotiations to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which former US president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
However, the talks are currently teetering on the brink of collapse after the US, UK, France and Germany questioned Iran’s commitment to striking an agreement, in addition to criticizing the pace at which the diplomatic process is moving.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday revealed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog could make an official visit to the country.
Speaking about a potential Turkey-Israel energy deal, Erdogan also said he was open to improving the strained relationship between the two nations.
“We are now holding talks with President Herzog. He could visit us in Turkey. Prime Minister [Naftali] Bennett also has a positive approach,” Erdogan said, adding: “As Turkey, we will do our best to cooperate on a win-win basis. As politicians, we should not be there to fight but to live in peace.”
Erdogan and Herzog spoke on the phone in November following negotiations that saw Ankara release an Israeli couple who were accused of spying after they were reported to authorities for taking photos of the Turkish president’s palace.
Erdogan is said to have stressed during that call that he views ties with Israel as important to Ankara and “of key importance to the peace, stability, and security of the Middle East.”
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More than 125,000 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Israel in just 48 hours while the number of people hospitalized with the virus rose to 498, according to figures the Health Ministry released on Tuesday.
The data show that on Sunday there were 62,210 confirmed new COVID-19 cases while an additional 65,259 infections were registered on Monday — both figures marking new daily records.
Of the 498 new serious cases, 135 patients are in critical condition, including 100 on ventilators and 13 connected to ECMO machines, which act as artificial lungs.
The Health Ministry has confirmed it will carry on offering a fourth vaccine dose to citizens aged over 60 and those considered at-risk, despite a study claiming that the fourth jab does confer sufficient protection against the Omicron variant.
However, officials contend the additional dose can still protect from serious illness by increasing antibodies in the blood.
Recommended Reading
- Hamas’ Istanbul Headquarters Has Directed Hundreds of Terror Attacks Against Israelis and Laundered Millions of Dollars (Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
- ‘Not Small, Not a Victim’: Self-Defense Program Trains Us Jews to Fight It Out (Luke Tress, Times of Israel)
- Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Awarded Genesis Prize for Work Developing Coronavirus Vaccine (Shira Hanau, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Battle Over ‘Beautiful Painting’ Looted by Nazis Reaches Us Supreme Court (Associated Press and Israel Hayom)
- Did the Exodus Happen? Israeli Scholar Tours Egypt to Show It Did (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post)
