A Kuwaiti minister issued a decision on Saturday banning the entry of commercial ships loaded with goods to and from Israel into Kuwaiti territorial waters, according to local media reports.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter 

"The ban includes all ships coming from other ports to unload part of their cargo in Kuwaiti ports whenever they are carrying any of the goods stipulated in the ban, with the intention of shipping them to and from... Israel," said Kuwaiti paper Al-Anba on Sunday.

The directive came from Minister of Works and of State for Communications and Information Technology Dr. Rana al-Fares.

The Hamas terrorist organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, issued a statement welcoming the decision, urging other countries to "follow the same approach."

Kuwait passed a law in May prohibiting any form of contact with Israel, and banned Kuwaiti nationals and expats from visiting the Jewish state. The bill also outlawed "expressions of sympathy" with Israel.

Kuwait boycotted a renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi January 2014 because it was attended by Israel.

After former US President Donald Trump said he believed Kuwait would be the next to normalize ties with Israel following the signing of the Abraham Accords, Kuwait said it would be the "last to normalize" ties.

"Our stance on Israel has not changed, following the UAE normalization agreement, and we will be the last to normalize relations," the Al Qabas newspaper reported in August 2020, citing an unnamed senior official.

Dr. Michael Barak, a Middle East researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, told Israel Hayom that "the Muslim Brotherhood movement is very strong in Kuwait, and the state has very strong ties with the Palestinians."

"The Kuwaitis don't want to go back on their traditional support of the Palestinians, especially from the royal family, and the Arab national view that is still prominent in Kuwait. Those ties saw a major crisis because of the Palestinians' support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, but by 2015 relations were gradually restored."

As for the Kuwaiti parliament, Barak noted that "the Muslim Brotherhood is a strong force there, and they are very close to the royal family, which tries to present itself as the defender of the Palestinians.

"In Kuwait, there are Salafi associations that transfer donations to Hamas, which shows us that their ties [to the Palestinians] aren't only with the PA leadership in Ramallah.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

"These issues influence the royal family, which does not want a direct conflict with the many members of parliament from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafi parties, or the parties that hold a pan-Arab worldview," Barak explained.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

The post Kuwait bans entry of ships holding goods to and from Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Jewish communities across six Arab Gulf states announced the establishment of a new association they hope will reinvigorate Jewish life in the region, Monday

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities will include representatives of the largest Gulf Jewish community, located in the United Arab Emirates, as well as much smaller communities in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Rabbi Elie Abadi of Dubai will serve as a spiritual leader, and Bahrain's Ibrahim David Nunu will serve as president.

The association's founders say their goal is to assist one another in bolstering Jewish life in the Arab Gulf. Preparations for the establishment of a regional kashrut organization to provide kosher food to anyone interested throughout the region have already commenced. At the same time, a rabbinical court will be established to answer any halachic questions that may arise.

While the Jewish community in UAE and Dubai in particular, is quickly growing, with rabbis, hundreds of members, synagogues, and a school, the situation in the other Gulf States is very different. These communities are each comprised of at most a few dozen Jews, as is the case in Bahrain. Under these conditions, they keep their identity secret and will continue to do so despite the establishment of the AGJC.

According to Rafael, a Jewish engineer from London who arrived in Kuwait City six months ago and will serve as one of the association's representatives, "You can count the number of Jews who live in Kuwait on one hand.

He said he had moved to Kuwait for work, "and the truth is that society here is conservative, much like Saudi Arabia, but it's tolerant and moral."

AGJC Rabbi Abadi said, "We must take care of the educational, cultural, spiritual, and religious needs through the establishment of programs and institutions to serve these increasing demands."

"Each one of our communities has so much to offer the other while maintaining its independence. This new association allows us to merge our resources for the betterment of all Jews in the Gulf," AGJC President Nunu said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Gulf Jewish communities establish first regional organization appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In a video she posted on Twitter, Hamid said that her decision stemmed from the fact that Islam violates women's rights and does not treat them with dignity. 

كل واحد ما يعطونه جنسيه ... يكفر بالإسلام وبالاسره الحاكمه!!

غير حاله هذي بعد!! pic.twitter.com/sDzjyYZPcY

— بن بودي (@hiii2021) February 9, 2021

The singer also spoke out against the ruling family of Kuwait, saying "I want to declare my opposition to the Al Sabah family, who reject normalization with Israel, stands against religious freedom in the country and against freedom of speech."

The media immediately deemed her words as "heresy." Some, however, found justifications for her words. 

"This is a sad day for Islam, and it is not her fault," one person commented. 

"When one does know true Islam, but judges it based on the behavior of some Muslims, it is easy to reject it and leave it. May Allah help people see the true Islam," another follower wrote. 

Hamid's announcement comes less than a month after Kuwaiti presenter Mohammad Al-Momen announced that he would be leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, also drawing criticism, even death threats, from the public. 

 Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories! 

The post Kuwaiti singer announces she plans to convert to Judaism appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In a formal announcement issued Sunday, Kuwait said, "Our position toward Israel has not changed as a result of the deal to normalize relations with the UAE, and we will be the last to normalize ties," senior Kuwaiti officials told the Al-Qabas newspaper.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Dr. Michael Barak, a Middle East researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, told Israel Hayom that "the Muslim Brotherhood movement is very strong in Kuwait, and the state has very strong ties with the Palestinians."

"The Kuwaitis don't want to go back on their traditional support of the Palestinians, especially from the royal family, and the Arab national view that is still prominent in Kuwait. Those ties saw a major crisis because of the Palestinians' support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, but by 2015 relations were gradually restored."

As for the Kuwaiti parliament, Barak noted that "the Muslim Brotherhood is a strong force there, and they are very close to the royal family, which tries to present itself as the defender of the Palestinians.

"In Kuwait, there are Salafi associations that transfer donations to Hamas, which shows us that their ties [to the Palestinians] aren't only with the PA leadership in Ramallah.

"These issues influence the royal family, which does not want a direct conflict with the many members of parliament from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafi parties, or the parties that hold a pan-Arab worldview," Barak explained.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Aoun had a surprising reaction to the announcement of Israeli-Emirati normalization. Aoun, who has ties to Hezbollah, told the French BFMTV on Sunday that "the United Arab Emirates are an independent state," and when asked if he would be willing to normalize relations with Israel, said, "It depends."

"We have problems with Israel that would have to be solved first," Aoun said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Kuwait: We will be the last to normalize relations with Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

According to the Kuwaiti paper Al-Qabas, the two sides have broken the impasse in the negotiations aimed at repatriating the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war and two missing Israelis who crossed into the Gaza strip.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Under the reported plan, the agreement would include the release of Palestinian prisoners who were released in 2011, as part of a prisoner swap to return abducted soldier Gilad Schalit, but were later recaptured because they had engaged in terrorist activity, and because Israel wanted new bargaining chips to help secure another deal.

Switzerland and Germany are reportedly mediating between the two sides.

The Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization is holding the remains of two Israeli ‎soldiers, Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar ‎Goldin, killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014. Ethiopian ‎Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham ‎al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, ‎crossed into Gaza in 2014 and 2015.‎ It is unclear if the talks are aimed at returning all four Israelis.

Meanwhile, Hamas said on Monday that it was not going to engage in talks over a long-term truce with Israel

"We reject the very premise of holding such talks," the group said. "The siege and the sanctions are still in place, and Israel has not lived up to the agreement struck through Egyptian mediation."

The post Report: Israel and Hamas closer to deal on prisoner swap appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

U.S. President Donald Trump's special adviser Jared Kushner visited several Persian Gulf Arab states last month - but not Kuwait - to seek support from Arab leaders on the economic portion of the proposal that Trump is expected to unveil in the coming months.

Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, has given a broad outline of the plan, saying it would address final-status issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including borders.

"We hope the plan will take into account the situation in the region and all the relevant parties," Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah told a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"We believe the strong relationship between the United States and several countries will lead to an acceptable resolution to all parties and to reaching a political solution that has been long waited for."

Kuwait currently holds a non-permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council, where it has championed the Palestinian cause.

Pompeo is on a regional tour that will also take him to Israel and Lebanon.

The foreign minister of Kuwait said he had also discussed with Pompeo a Gulf dispute that has fractured the Gulf Arab bloc, as well as Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

The U.S. and Kuwait have been trying to mediate in the bitter row that has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt impose a political and economic boycott on Qatar since June 2017 over allegations it supports terrorism. Doha denies the charges.

"We are all working to find a solution. It's not in the best interest of the region, not in the best interest of the world. We need Gulf countries all working together on the complex set of challenges that face each of them," Pompeo said.

Sabah said "there is no option" other than for the dispute to be resolved.

The United States, an ally of the six-nation Gulf bloc, has said that regional unity is essential for a planned Middle East Strategic Alliance that would serve as a bulwark against Iran.

Qatar is home to a major U.S. airbase and Kuwait also hosts U.S. troops. Pompeo said his talks on Wednesday also focused on enhancing defense and cybersecurity cooperation with Kuwait.

The post Kuwait says US peace plan should weigh regional considerations appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman opened the gathering, ‎urging fellow member states Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, ‎the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to maintain a united front against ‎Iran.‎

"This requires all of us to maintain our countries' gains and to work with our partners to preserve security and stability in the region and the world," he said.

Bahrain and Qatar traded barbs over the ‎Qatari emir's decision not to attend the summit, an ‎absence that suggests that the rift between Qatar and three ‎Gulf states is unlikely to be resolved soon.‎

Instead, Qatar sent its foreign minister to ‎the annual one-day summit, which is overshadowed by ‎the economic and diplomatic boycott Saudi Arabia, the UAE, ‎Bahrain and Egypt have maintained against Qatar since ‎mid-2017 over allegations that the emirate supports ‎terrorism – charges it denies –as well as over Qatar's ties with Iran.‎

"Qatar's emir should have accepted the fair demands [of the boycotting states] and attended the summit," Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa tweeted.

Ahmed bin Said Al-Rumaihi, director of the information office at Qatar's Foreign Ministry, responded, "Qatar can make its own decisions and attended [last year's] Kuwait summit while the leaders of the boycotting countries did not."

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-‎Jaber Al-Sabah, said, ‎"We call for an end to media campaigns [in the ‎region] that have crossed the lines that encroached ‎on our values and principles, planting the seeds of ‎sedition amongst our sons, seeking to destroy every ‎building we have built."‎

The post Saudi king urges united front against Iran at ‎Riyadh summit appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The higher court in Frankfurt said a Kuwaiti ban on Israeli citizens was "unacceptable and irrelevant" in Germany. But it was impossible in practice for the airline to carry the man, because Kuwaiti law would have prevented him from changing planes in Kuwait.

"As Israelis in practice are not allowed to enter the transit areas of Kuwait's airport, the plaintiff cannot demand transportation by the Kuwaiti airline from Frankfurt to Bangkok with a stopover in Kuwait."

The plaintiff in the case, an Israeli man who was denied boarding on a flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok via Kuwait, had argued that the lower court's decision accepted a racist Kuwaiti law and allowed the airline to override German laws.

Anti-Semitism remains a sensitive issue in Germany, one of Israel's closest allies, more than 70 years after the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed.

Kuwait Airways said it believed the lawsuit was a politically motivated campaign against it and that it had great respect for Germany's laws.

"In both proceedings, the judges came to the same conclusion in their judgments, which were comprehensible to all sides, well balanced, well-founded and well-derived: Kuwait Airways acted in accordance with the laws of Germany and its home country," the airline said in a statement.

The Lawfare Project, which had filed the appeal, said it was exploring its options for further legal action and called on politicians to intervene.

"Now that justice so far has proven unable to solve this matter, politics immediately need to make clear decisions and tell the Kuwaitis: Carry everyone or no one," Nathan Gelbart, the group's German counsel, who represented the Israeli plaintiff, said in a statement.

The post German court says Kuwait Airways cannot be forced to carry Israeli passenger appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.