The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
State Department to review online activity of US visa applicants who’ve been to Gaza
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has ordered a social media vetting for all US visa applicants who have been to the Gaza Strip on or after January 1, 2007, an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters shows, in the latest push to tighten screening of foreign travelers.
The order to conduct a social media vetting for all immigrant and non-immigrant visas should include non-governmental organization workers as well as individuals who have been in the Palestinian enclave for any length of time in an official or diplomatic capacity, the cable says.
“If the review of social media results uncovers potential derogatory information relating to security issues, then a SAO must be submitted,” the cable says, referring to a security advisory opinion, which is an interagency investigation to determine if a visa applicant poses a national security risk to the United States.
The cable was sent to all US diplomatic and consular posts.
The cable dated April 17 was signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in late March that he may have revoked more than 300 visas already.
A State Department spokesperson declines to comment on internal communications when asked about the cable, but says every prospective traveler to the US undergoes extensive interagency security vetting.
“The Trump Administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the spokesperson says, adding that all visa applicants are continuously vetted.
“Security vetting runs from the time of each application, through adjudication of the visa, and afterwards during the validity period of every issued visa, to ensure the individual remains eligible to travel to the United States,” the spokesperson adds.
‘Angry, humiliated’ hostage parents fume at top negotiator: He offered no action plan
The father of hostage Eitan Mor and mother of captive Avinatan Or send a letter to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a top confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks with Hamas, saying they feel “angry, humiliated, confused and exhausted” after meeting with him to discuss the efforts to return their loved ones from Gaza.
According to Tzvika Mor and Ditza Or, who are both affiliated with the hawkish Tikva Forum, Dermer did not ask why they sought the meeting, a request they say they made some time ago.
“You opened with an uncontrolled attack of talking, which none of us got nearly anything out of. The three of us are not stupid. The few words we managed to get in were by an impolite outburst, in your words. If we were not impolite, we would not have even gotten to express that little,” Mor and Or write to Dermer.
“The choice of this strategy (and you are not the first to take it) expresses deep disrespect toward us as people, as heartbroken parents.”
They continue: “For nearly two hours, you told us in great and irritating detail about the stages of the fighting and the agreements since the start of the war. Occasionally we asked you that we focus on the current time period and how we are dealing with the challenges before us now, but it did not help. You insisted on continuing the historical summary. Ultimately, after two irrelevant hours, there was little time left to discuss possible current courses of action, and we were already completely worn out.”
Mor and Or say that in the hours after the meeting, “we understood the enormity of the disaster.”
“Whoever does not come out [of Gaza] in the current small group is abandoned to their fate in the depths of hell. We did not understand from you any operative proposal that will succeed in returning [the hostages] home, or when. At our request, you gave an estimated time frame of 3-6 months, but without a plan of action.”
“Our loved ones are abandoned in hell and will patiently and politely wait until their bitter end. We again warn you not to dare discriminate between blood, to prioritize the lives of selected hostages at the price of others’ lives. You have no right to surrender or give up on our loved ones’ lives. Only everyone [all the captives] together.”
Israeli woman said among the 4 killed in southern Italy cable car accident
MILAN — A cable car carrying tourists south of Naples crashed to the ground after a cable snapped, killing at least four people and critically injuring one, officials say.
According to Italian newspaper la Repubblica, one of the four fatalities is an Israeli woman. The report says another Israeli tourist wounded in the incident is an intensive care.
The snapped cable brought both the upward and downward-going cable cars to a halt as they traversed Monte Faito in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The upward cable car eventually crashed, causing the fatalities and injury, while eight tourists and an operator were evacuated from the downward cable car, Naples Prefect Michele de Bari says.
“The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station,” says Castellammare Mayor Luigi Vicinanza.
Italy’s alpine rescue, along with firefighters, police and civil protection services responded to the accident.
The accident occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni expresses her condolences for the victims and their families and says she was in touch with rescuers. She is in Washington, where she met with US President Donald Trump.
US National Security Council: Hamas ‘not interested in peace but perpetual violence’
The White House comments on Hamas’s rejection of an Israeli proposal for an interim truce in Gaza.
“Hamas’s comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence. The terms made by the Trump Administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell,” says US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt.
Trump accuses Harvard of abusing its tax-exempt status as an educational institution
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says that Harvard University is abusing its tax-exempt status as he escalates his fight with the institution.
“I think Harvard is a disgrace,” Trump tells reporters.