At the end of the week, Benjamin Netanyahu will mark a personal achievement and become the longest-sitting Israeli prime minister after the country’s first leader and founding father David Ben-Gurion.
“We have turned Israel into a rising global power,” Netanyahu said in a special interview with Israeli daily Israel Hayom.
“We’ve discovered that we can leverage the Jewish people’s basic characteristics into extraordinary strengths. This nation has extraordinary abilities in the economy, in defense and security, and in statesmanship. We have proven that Israel could be transformed from a small country in the corner of the Middle East into a major force on the global stage.”

On Thursday, Donald President Trump sought to distance himself from his supporters who yelled “send her back,” referencing a congresswoman born in Somalia whom Trump had earlier targeted with a racist tweet. “I disagree with it,” Trump said of the chant aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The president soon made it clear, though, that he had no intention of backing away from blistering criticism of Omar and three other minority congresswomen.
On Thursday night, Trump retweeted a fiery fire-minute commentary from a Fox News guest who called the women “anti-Semite bigots” and said that “their families really have done nothing for this country.”

Tensions between Iran and the west have deepened after Tehran denied a US warship had brought down one of its drones and a Gibraltar court extended the detention of an Iranian ship seized by Royal Marines following a breakdown in talks.
The drone incident was first revealed by Donald Trump, who said that USS Boxer took defensive action after the unmanned vehicle came within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down.
“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,” Trump said. “The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities and interests, and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.”

Boeing will take a roughly $5 billion hit this quarter because of the 737 Max crisis.
The company said Thursday that it will record a $4.9 billion after-tax charge in the second quarter “in connection with an estimate of potential concessions and other considerations to customers for disruptions related to the 737 Max grounding and associated delivery delays.” The charge amounts to $8.47 a share.
The reduction comes to about $5.6 billion in revenue and earnings before taxes.
Read more at CNN.
{Matzav.com}

Pro-Israel groups denounced U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for comparing the anti-Israel BDS movement to previous boycotts of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
On Thursday, Omar announced a resolution supporting the right to boycott Israel. Her resolution seeks to push back against U.S. laws that ban the boycott of Israel, while affirming the right of Americans to organize boycotts of foreign countries.

When the clock strikes midnight on Saturday, July 20, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make history as the State of Israel’s longest-serving premier, surpassing the previous record-holder, David Ben-Gurion.
Serving from June 18, 1996, to July 6, 1999, and again from March 31, 2009, until the present, Netanyahu will have served 4,876 days as Israel’s leader.
Ben-Gurion, who led from May 14, 1948, until January 26, 1954, and again from Nov. 3, 1955, until June 26, 1963, led for 13-and-a-half years—a total of 4,875 days.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday blasted Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s life sentence as “inhumane” — echoing comments made by the convicted druglord himself.
“A sentence for life in a hostile jail” would be “hard” and not worth living, said López Obrador at a morning press conference, according to Reuters.
But López Obrador also told reporters on Thursday that he hoped Guzman’s sentence — while harsh — would lead to less violence in Mexico.
“We think that bit by bit the number of criminal incidents will decline,” he said. “We will continue to create a better society, supported by values, that is not based on accumulating material wealth, money or luxury.”

The United States sanctioned on Thursday five individuals and seven companies connected to Iran’s nuclear program.
Salim Borji, Mohammad Fakhrzadeh, Afsaneh Karimiadegani, Mehdi Najafi and Sohayl Talebi were sanctioned. The latter four are associated with the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, which is already sanctioned by the United States, while Borji is connected to the Tamin Kalaye Sabz Aras Company, one of the seven entities designated.
The other entities sanctioned were Bakhtar Raad Sepahan Company; Henan Jiayuan Aluminium Industry Co., Ltd.; Sanming Sino-Euro Import And Export Co., Ltd.; Suzhou A-One Special Alloy Co., Ltd.; Suzhou Zhongsheng Magnetic Industry Co., Ltd.; and Tawu Mechanical Engineering and Trading Company.

Adidas executives are in Israel this week to scout for local startups and technologies, meeting with entrepreneurs and tech investors, reported Calcalist, citing Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), which set up the visit.
“JVP, in conjunction with the Jerusalem Development Authority, has paid special attention to Jerusalem’s burgeoning tech ecosystem, organizing a meeting between the Adidas delegation and Jerusalem-based entrepreneurs, JVP said,” according to Calcalist.
The Adidas executives also discussed some of the firm’s causes related to ​​sustainability, such as plastic alternatives, running shoes manufactured from nothing but recycled materials and “reducing water use in dyes,” reported the outlet.
Adidas has more than five-dozen stores in Israel.

A heatwave combined with strong winds sparked fires throughout Israel on Wednesday, with hundreds being evacuated from threatened areas and 15 homes being damaged by the flames. Firefighters were able to get most of the fires under control towards the evening.
Evacuations took place in several locations, including the towns of Aderet, Neve Michael and Roglit near Jerusalem; Or Yehuda near Tel Aviv; near the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa; and in Shavei Shomron in Samaria.
In Or Yehuda, five houses caught fire in the Ramat Pinkas neighborhood, and firefighters had to rescue several residents.