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Comments (0)The United States and Israel are close to agreement on a deal for a new warplane.
Israel’s purchase of 19 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter jets would mark the first foreign military sale of the new military jet, Reuters reported Tuesday. The deal is reportedly worth $3 billion.
Eight international partners that helped develop the plane already have signed purchase agreements. The eight countries are Canada, Turkey, Britain, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands.
The deal between Israel and the United States has been in the works since September 2008, when the Pentagon approved the sale of 25 of the fighter jets with an option for 50 more.
Israel had been concerned initially that it would not be permitted access to some technologies of the aircraft.
Israeli Court: Rape Charge for Arab Posing as a Jew
An Israeli court ruled that consensual sex between a Jewish woman and an Arab posing as a Jew constituted rape.
On Monday, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Sabbar Kashur, 30, an Arab from Jerusalem, to 18 months in prison as part of a plea bargain for rape by deception.
Kashur met a Jewish woman in downtown Jerusalem in 2008 and introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship, the indictment said, according to media reports. The couple then went to a nearby building and had consensual sexual intercourse; Kashur then left.
The woman filed a complaint after realizing that Kashur was not Jewish.
The court ruled that the consent for sex was obtained under false pretenses.
“If she hadn’t thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated,” the judges wrote.
Lieberman, Netanyahu Meet to Iron Out Differences
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met to hash out their differences.
“The meeting was conducted in a positive spirit, in an effort to strengthen cooperation on all matters,” read a statement issued from the Prime Minister’s Office following the two-hour meeting, which ended late Monday evening.
The leaders reportedly discussed disagreements about allocations to Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu ministers’ departments as part of the biennial budget and the controversial conversion bill sponsored by Lieberman’s party.
No details about the meeting were released.
During a news conference Monday prior to the meeting, Lieberman said Yisrael Beiteinu will not leave the government, despite several disagreements.
Lieberman criticized Netanyahu for not having more consideration for a major coalition partner. With 15 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu is the second largest party in Netanyahu’s coalition.
The downward spiral in relations between the two leaders began with Netanyahu’s decision to send Minister of Trade, Industry and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer to Turkey for a meeting with its foreign minister, and continued in recent days with the state budget, the appointment of an interim United Nations envoy and the conversion measure proposed by Lieberman’s party to fulfill an election promise to its supporters.
“We won’t quit the government, but we also have no intention of surrendering,” Lieberman told reporters.
“The party that most supports the government should not be the last considered in regards to the budget,” he said, referring to cuts in the departments headed by Yisrael Beiteinu ministers.