‘No reason to. It’s entombed’: Trump insists US could get Iran’s uranium without a deal

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.

IDF says troops shot dead a Palestinian throwing firebombs at Israeli cars in West Bank

The IDF says troops shot dead a Palestinian who was hurling firebombs on a major highway in the West Bank.

Troops of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit operating near the village of Baytin spotted several Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails on Israeli motorists driving on the nearby Route 60 Highway, the military says.

The soldiers opened fire “on the terrorists, eliminating one of them,” the IDF says, adding that troops are searching for the other suspects.

The slain Palestinian is named by the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry as Haitham Ezzedine Omar Hmeida, 18.

According to the ministry, his body is being held by Israeli authorities.

NYC Jews protest outside New York Times for second time in weeks

New York City Jews protest outside The New York Times headquarters for the second time in weeks.

The protesters chant, “The New York Times lies,” “Shame on The New York Times,”and, “When you lie, Jews die.”

The activists argue that “libels” published by the newspaper will lead to violence against Jews.

They carry signs that say, “Resist the antizionist hate movement,” and, “Antizionism gets Jews killed.”

The protesters are demanding the retraction of a widely-criticized New York Times column that alleged systematic sexual abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The demands also include disclosing the column’s editorial timeline, retraining staff on anti-Zionism, and the dismissal of the column’s author, Nicholas Kristof.

“Fire Kristof,” the protesters chant.

One passerby shouts “Free Palestine,” another makes mock crying gestures at the activists. others take fliers from the protesters.

The activist groups held a similar rally last month. That event drew several hundred demonstrators, while today’s protest brings in a few dozen activists.

The protest is led by the EndJewHatred advocacy group, alongside several relatively new activist groups — the Movement Against Antizionism, Brooklyn BridgeBuilders, Hineni, Stop Antizionism and IMPACT.

Aside from EndJewHatred, the groups all launched in the wake of the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, to counter the ensuing surge in anti-Jewish discrimination in the US.

Jews in New York City have been increasingly protesting and holding solidarity rallies in recent weeks.

Knesset legal adviser says state comptroller vote should stand

The Knesset’s legal adviser Sagit Afik issues an opinion rejecting a call for a new vote to be held in parliament for the post of state comptroller, after issues arose over Likud members taking pictures of ballots they cast for Wednesday’s eventual winner Michael Rabello.

Afik says in the published opinion that Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s decision to hold a second vote while reminding MKs that the ballot was supposed to be secret, but not banning phones in the voting booth, was not illegal, even if it did not follow her recommendation to ban phones and continue the original vote.

She notes that Ohana’s decision appeared to be the result of a compromise between the coalition and opposition, which has legal weight.

“When the decision was presented to MKs upon his return from consultations in his office, from the plenum’s appearance, it seemed that it was acceptable to MKs from the opposition as well, who were in the plenum (and also the appeals to me from MKs stopped at that point),” she writes.

Add ToI as a preferred source on Google

Trump says US can get uranium from Iran without a deal

US President Donald Trump tells reporters that Washington does not need a deal with Iran to get enriched uranium from the country.

“We could get it right now. I don’t think they could stop us if we wanted, but there’s no reason to. It’s entombed,” he says.

Trump also says that he did not want to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, but adds that “I’d be honored to meet him.”

He says if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and adds, “If it happened… I’d be respectful.”

“In some circles he has a very good reputation actually,” he says of Khamenei.