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Volume LXXXIX, Number 26921 JERUSAFOUNDED INL 1932 EM PONIS 13.00S (EILAT NIST 11.00)

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021  26 SHVAT, 5781 Breaking the rules Down to Lapid Standing together Dozens of malls open in The polls show there is an anti- More than 170 US celebrities defiance of restrictions Netanyahu majority in the country join Black-Jewish alliance Page 5 Page 9 Page 16

Netanyahu pretrial Biden: I will not lift hearing sanctions to get Iran today • By YONAH JEREMY BOB back to negotiations The final pretrial hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opens on Mon- We have fulfilled all our obligations day. He will be in attendance for only the second time since under the deal, supreme leader says the court process began and will formally deny the indict- • By OMRI NAHMIAS ment against him. Jerusalem Post Correspondent The Jerusalem District Court is expected to set a schedule WASHINGTON – US President for calling witnesses. Joe Biden said on Sunday that Typically, the court could the US would not lift sanc- PEOPLE WALK along Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road and Strauss Street as the country exited the start calling witnesses as tions on Iran to get the Islam- lockdown yesterday. (Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post) early as late February. But it is ic Republic back to the negoti- unknown if the judges might ations table. postpone the first witness During an interview with until after Election Day on CBS’ Face the Nation ahead of March 23. Educators, gov’t fight over the 55th Super Bowl, he was Throughout the pretrial also asked if Iran must stop process, which started in enriching uranium first, and January 2020 and with a first plan to return to school nodded his head in affirma- hearing in May, the court said tion. It was not clear exactly it would move forward blind Exit from lockdown doesn’t mean increase what he meant, since Iran was to politics. allowed to enrich uranium to However, the court delayed in morbidity is behind us, PM says 3.67% under the deal, known US PRESIDENT Joe Biden departs from St. Joseph on the the first 2020 pretrial hearing as the Joint Comprehensive Brandywine Catholic church with his granddaughter Natalie Biden after mass in Wilmington, Delaware yesterday. for months, seemingly to • By MAAYAN HOFFMAN ing to pre-lockdown restrictions – wearing Plan of Action. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) avoid starting in the middle masks and in capsules for grades three and up. A senior US official later said of the March 2020 election Parents and children once again went to However, the recommendation for orange Biden meant Iran had to stop season. sleep late Sunday night unsure of what the and red areas was different. These same stu- enriching beyond the deal’s be “to ensure that we are con- to return to compliance with The three judges are Rivkah rest of their week would hold, as the govern- dents would return to school, but in smaller limits, not that it had to stop sulting and coordinating very the 2015 nuclear deal only if Friedman-Feldman, Moshe ment debated late into the night about a new capsules beginning even in preschools, hence enriching entirely before the closely with first and foremost Washington lifts sanctions on Bar-Am and Oded Shoham. strategy for allowing some children to return requiring them to learn in-person only every two sides might talk. our allies, but also our partners the Islamic Republic, Iranian Netanyahu on Sunday asked to school on Tuesday. other day. In addition, they will be asked to “They have to stop enrich- – and of course, with members state TV reported. The deal supporters not to come to The plan, which was determined in a late- study in the open air, meaning outside. ing beyond the limits of the of Congress” about Iran. was signed during the admin- the courthouse on Monday night meeting Saturday by Prime Minister “We are concerned about opening education JCPOA,” said the official, who “We want to make sure that istration of former president because of COVID-19 con- Benjamin Netanyahu, Health Minister Yuli in orange and red areas with high morbidity,” spoke on condition of ano- we are working in lockstep Barack Obama. cerns. Edelstein, Education Minister Yoav Gallant said Head of Public Health Services Sharon nymity. “There is nothing with our European partners “Iran has fulfilled all its obli- “Anyway, everyone sees that and Finance Minister Israel Katz, was met by Alroy-Preis. “Before the closure there were out- changed in the US position. and to ensure that they know gations under the deal, not the the witch hunt against me is opposition from parents, teachers and local breaks in schools, one child was ill and dozens The United States wants Iran exactly where we are and we US and the three European crumbling,” he said. “Every- authority leaders alike. got ill with him. to come back into [compliance know exactly where they are, countries... If they want Iran body understands it is anoth- According to their outline, preschoolers, kin- “We do not want to leave the children at with] its JCPOA commitments and we will move forward to return to its commitments, er transparent attempt to top- dergarteners, students in first through fourth home, but the risk in the orange and red cities – and if it does, the United together,” he added. the US must in practice... lift ple a strong prime minister grades and those in 11th and 12th grades who is significant.” States will do the same.” Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s all sanctions,” state TV quot- from the Right and bring in a live in yellow and green areas would go back to State Department spokes- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali ed Khamenei as saying in a school on Tuesday. They would learn accord- See SCHOOL, Page 7 man Ned Price said on Friday Khamenei said Tehran’s “final See PRETRIAL, Page 7 that the US approach would and irreversible” decision was See SANCTIONS, Page 7 Who will be the next ICC Cabinet says int’l court aligned with prosecutor to decide Israel’s fate? antisemites in decision to probe Israel ANALYSIS It is that successor who will of vetting and selection pro- • By LAHAV HARKOV Bank and east Jerusalem com- • By YONAH JEREMY BOB be in power when the key cesses, including narrowing mitted since June 13, 2014, decisions are made about Isra- the candidates to four final- The International Criminal including possible lawsuits Following the Internation- el’s future in the six-year-long ists who all gave major public Court is in line with antise- against Prime Minister Ben- al Criminal Court Pre-Trial war-crimes controversy with interviews last July, there was mitic organizations in its rul- jamin Netanyahu, defense Chamber’s Friday decision the ICC. no consensus. ing that Israel may be inves- ministers and other high-lev- pushing closer to a full crim- There may be an answer It turns out that the ICC’s tigated for war crimes, the el officials, as well as soldiers inal war-crimes probe of Israe- about the successor as soon as member states are having security cabinet said Sunday. and commanders. The inves- lis, the punch line is that they Monday, with key court offi- trouble deciding what they tigation includes Operation will not ultimately decide cials meeting about the issue want most. Protective Edge and settle- whether to issue arrest war- in New York. The first ICC prosecutor, 8 points on ICC’s ment activity. rants or indictments for Israe- But then again, it could drag Luis Moreno-Ocampo, was war crimes suits, The ICC decision “exposes lis some years down the line. out until much closer to June a major figure and prosecu- Page 3 the court as a political body Rather, it will be someone 15 since the whole process to tor in Argentina. He was also aligned with international whose identity we still do not date has been messy. selected as being both accept- SMOKE RISES following what witnesses said were Israeli air strikes organizations that are moti- in the east of Gaza City in 2014. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters) know: the next chief prosecu- Bensouda’s successor was able to countries like the US, In a rare public statement, vated by antisemitism,” the tor of the ICC. supposed to be selected in but not actually a citizen of the security cabinet rejected security cabinet said. Current ICC Prosecutor December by a special com- those dominant world pow- the ICC’s “outrageous” deci- does not meet the interna- Israel, it said. “The international court Fatou Bensouda steps down mittee and the ICC’s polit- ers. sion. Israel is not a member of tional standard for statehood, The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber was established to prevent from her nine-year term on ical-legislative body, the Bensouda, his successor and the court, and the Palestinian the security cabinet said. As on Friday ruled it has juris- horrors such as those that June 15, but her successor has Assembly of State Parties. Authority, which joined the such, the ICC does not have diction to probe war-crimes not yet been selected. But despite around a year See ICC, Page 7 Rome Statute establishing it, the jurisdiction to investigate allegations in Gaza, the West See ANTISEMITES, Page 7 Cabinet going for huge US-Israel aircraft deal Do religious Zionists • By UDI SHAHAM the outline proposed by the Defense Ministry over the still need a sectarian party? An arms deal worth billions one suggested by the Finance of dollars between the Defense Ministry. The defense minister ANALYSIS – whose leaders, such as Haim- ing to this outcome have been Ministry and the United States asked to receive a foreign loan • By JEREMY SHARON Moshe Shapira, Yosef Burg and long in the making. for new fighter jets, tankers and for the procurement. Zvulun Hammer, made lasting The old National Religious helicopters received prelim- In October, Finance Ministry Last Thursday night at mid- contributions to the Jewish Party always faithfully served inary approval on Sunday by legal adviser Avi Mesing – who night, a key political entity in state and which has represented its constituents by focusing the security cabinet. opposed this outline – wrote to the State of Israel that has in one the religious-Zionist communi- on religious issues; preserving This decision ends a three- Deputy Attorney-General Meir form or another played a role in ty for decades – will now not be the status quo on religion and year-long dispute between Levin, citing legal issues with every Knesset since 1956 was represented in the next Knesset. state, including personal-status the Defense Ministry and the the advancement of the deal. eliminated from the national issues; and guaranteeing the Finance Ministry over the pay- According to a Walla News political map. Holocaust group: viability of the religious-Zionist ISRAEL WILL receive another F-35I squadron as part of the ment method of the deal. report, Mesing blamed the The Bayit Yehudi Party, the Likud disgraced school system and yeshivas. The security cabinet chose Defense Ministry for trying to procurement deal. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) successor to the National Reli- In the last two decades it establish a “parallel mecha- gious Party, failed to unite with survivors, Page 4 also focused heavily on nism” that would have allowed curement of four Boeing Last March, the US State another political faction and, advancing the cause of the it to receive a loan and bypass KC-46a aerial refueling tank- Department approved a possi- due to disastrous polling num- How did this venerable and settlements, which religious the spending limit that was set ers, that are intended to replace ble sale of up to eight KC-46 bers, decided not to run in the fixture of Israeli politics fall so Zionists pioneered. But its for it by law. Israel’s ageing Re’em fleet, con- upcoming elections. low? The deal includes the pro- verted Boeing 707s. See AIRCRAFT, Page 7 The political heir of the NRP In truth, developments lead- See ZIONISTS, Page 3