Legal officials hit back after PM, in controversial TV appeal, demands to face his accusers * A flower that can hear bees * Jewish teen murder s uspects’ radical yeshiva

[Visit timesofisrael.com for 24/7 updates]( The Daily Edition Tuesday, January 8, 2019 [Legal official said to accuse PM of trying to ‘deceive public’ over graft probes]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Source in State Prosecutor’s Office reportedly says Netanyahu seeking to intimidate state witnesses into changing their police statements]( [In ‘dramatic statement,’ PM demands he be allowed to face his accusers]( By [TOI staff]( [Justice officials reject Netanyahu claims that probes were mishandled]( By [TOI staff]( [Analysis / Trusting his persuasive powers, Netanyahu takes a gamble by crying wolf]( By [Raphael Ahren]( Op-ed [David Horovitz]( [Netanyahu’s TV broadcast: Rather desperate, and ultimately irrelevant]( [His complaints over the timing of an indictment announcement, and being denied a confrontation with his accusers, won’t have moved the only person who matters: Avichai Mandelblit]( [Israel media review / Drama king: 7 things to know for January 8]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( [Netanyahu lambasted as promised TV ‘drama’ fizzles into ‘lame election show’]( By [Michael Bachner]( [True story / Netanyahu mocked after taking legal battle to Instagram]( By [TOI staff]( Live updates [Thousands attend funeral of former defense minister Moshe Arens]( By [TOI staff]( [US-educated aeronautics engineer credited with leading huge advances in Israel’s defense industry, mentoring a young Benjamin Netanyahu]( science [TOI staff]( [Israeli scientists find a flower they say can hear approaching bees]( [Using petals as ears, the evening primrose sweetens its nectar in minutes when it hears sounds at the frequency of bees’ wing-beats]( [Israel nabs suspected Givat Assaf terrorist]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Asem Barghouti, believed to have carried out deadly shooting attack at outpost bus stop, is arrested in alleged accomplice’s home]( [Netanyahu hails arrest of suspected terrorist]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( Analysis [Jacob Magid]( [Murder suspects’ yeshiva seen as a radical bastion in a more moderate settlement]( [With 5 students arrested on suspicion of involvement in murder of Palestinian woman, residents and those familiar with Rehelim indicate patience with Pri Haaretz may be fading]( [‘Death to Arabs’ painted, Palestinian olive trees chopped down in West Bank]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Netanyahu defends Shin Bet amid right-wing criticism over Jewish terror probe]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Justice minister meets with parents of Jewish murder suspects, drawing flak]( By [Jacob Magid]( Elections 2019 [New Right announces deaf rights activist as first-ever deaf Knesset candidate]( By [Raoul Wootliff]( [Bennett says Shirley Pinto joined party so Israel can ‘return to being victorious in the fight for the rights of people with disabilities’]( [Despite possible indictments, ex-IDF general Gal Hirsch launches political party]( By [TOI staff]( [Kahlon appoints MK Yifat Shasha-Biton to replace Gallant as housing minister]( By [TOI staff]( Top Ops [Shira Pasternak Be'eri]( [The night the shul burned down]( [Two synagogues were destroyed by fire; neither was arson, but that didn’t change how much I felt the need to help]( [Jacob B. Ukeles]( [Is it time to revisit the Law of Return?]( [The great nation-building strategy of the early years of the Jewish state may not be the best plan for 2018]( [Michael Starr]( [Covering Pink Floyd]( [Where Roger Waters and his followers took to bullying, Israelis embraced the band and the transcendent connecting power of its music]( [Sheldon Kirshner]( [One state, two states, annexation]( [How will questions of security and the West Bank settlements affect Israel’s 2019 election? A primer]( Analysis [Avi Issacharoff]( [When Hamas and Fatah fight, the ricochets are likely to end up hitting Israel]( [Relations between Palestinian factions are again threatening to explode, after the PA abandoned the Rafah crossing, leading to its closure]( [Fatah official vows more extreme measures to end Hamas’s rule in Gaza]( By [Adam Rasgon]( [Egypt bars entry from Gaza after PA troops leave crossing, Hamas takes over]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Hamas reclaims Egypt-Gaza border crossing as PA withdraws]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [US pullout from Syria to be done in ‘prudent’ way, Trump says]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [After previously declaring IS defeated, president now says American troops ‘will be leaving at a proper pace, while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS’]( [Pompeo lands in Jordan, kicking off Mideast tour ramping up pressure on Iran]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [European Union puts Iranian intel agency on blacklist over foiled plots]( By [AP]( [32 said killed in Islamic State counterattack in east Syria]( By [AFP]( [Progressive groups rage against Rubio’s anti-BDS bill]( By [Eric Cortellessa]( [As US senator tries to push through legislation during shutdown, J Street and ACLU cast bill as ‘outrageous’ and unconstitutional]( [Senate Republicans’ 1st bill on Israel boycotts divides Democrats]( By [LISA MASCARO]( [Senator derides Rubio’s claim Democrats back Israel boycott]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Marco Rubio calls Rashida Tlaib’s jibe on anti-BDS bill ‘anti-Semitic’]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Labor chief Avi Gabbay visited Abu Dhabi, met senior Emirati leaders — report]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Opposition politician said to discuss Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump peace plan, Iranian threat during secret three-day visit last month]( [Iraqi lawmaker demands probe into officials’ visits to Israel]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Omani FM: If Palestinians and Israelis want peace, they should not discuss past]( By [Adam Rasgon]( [A seasoned journalist brings her Israel reportage to fiction]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( More Headlines [Troubling spell / Melissa Joan Hart tells son only people who believe in Jesus are good]( By [Marcy Oster]( [Germany returns Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish French resistance leader]( By [AFP]( [Bar Refaeli could be dropped by Eurovision over legal woes — report]( By [Michael Bachner and TOI staff]( [Canadian Jewish man who anonymously donated 1,700 bikes to kids dies at 93]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Jewish cafe owner in San Francisco hounded over his ‘Zionist ideals’]( By [JTA]( [Zarif jeers at ‘blind’ Bolton visiting Western Wall; Bahraini FM fires back]( By [TOI staff]( [British MP taunted as ‘Nazi’ by pro-Brexit demonstrators]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [Into the wild / Foraging is a way of life for this Ein Kerem family]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Military recovers F-15 canopy that fell off during training flight]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [‘Miriam Adelson far wealthier than Sheldon, drives their politics, philanthropy’]( By [TOI staff]( [Troubled Teva’s CEO sees prices in generic drug market stabilizing]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Amazon said to buy Israeli cloud computing firm for $250 million]( By [Shoshanna Solomon](