Report: Trump left Turkey last month on smaller plane, not old Air Force One, due to Iranian threat
Times of Israel · LC · trust 47/100
NEW DELHI, India — Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to six yesterday, compared with a 10-day average of about 11 vessels, shipping data showed, amid fading hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran.
Four commodity vessels, including two empty oil product tankers, entered the waterway, data from Kpler shows as of 0420 GMT. Two vessels — a small tanker laden with liquefied petroleum gas and another carrying residual fuels — exited the Strait, the data showed.
In pre-war days, about 130 to 140 ships typically transited the strait.
Yesterday, 25 vessels transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea, broadly unchanged when compared with the 10-day average of nearly 24 ships, Kpler data shows.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Just two months after nominating pro-Israel stalwart Lindsey Graham to return to the US Senate, South Carolina Republicans are casting ballots today in a special primary to pick a replacement following the sudden death of the president’s close ally.
Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, a political unknown tapped to serve out the final months of her brother’s term, is trying to overcome skepticism about her lack of experience in her campaign to replace him. She picked up US President Donald Trump’s swift endorsement, though the rare open Senate seat has attracted a broad field, including some of the state’s top Republicans.
For decades, South Carolina voters have reliably returned Lindsey Graham to Washington despite periodic primary challengers who accused the dealmaker and foreign policy hawk of being insufficiently conservative.
Tuesday’s contest features one of Lindsey Graham’s foes from earlier this year, as well as two US House members, as well as Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman who is seeking a political comeback in a field crowded with familiar faces.
Three Israeli settlement activists illegally crossed the border into Syria overnight, before being returned to Israel by the IDF, the latest in a series of such incidents.
The military says the trio arrived in the Mount Hermon area and crossed the border.
IDF troops who were dispatched to the scene located the civilians, returned them to Israeli territory, and detained them, the military says, adding that they were handed over to the police for further handling.
The activists, who call themselves the Bashan Pioneers, call for the establishment of settlements in the southern Syria area.
There has been an increase in attempts by the activists to cross the border into Syria in recent months.
“The IDF strongly condemns the incident, which constitutes another serious disruption of operational activity and poses a danger to the safety of IDF troops operating in the area,” the military says.
The IDF adds that “law enforcement authorities are required to bring those involved to justice and to prevent those individuals from repeatedly engaging in this incident, which constitutes a criminal offense.”
There have been no charges filed against the Bashan Pioneers members, and despite their illegal actions, they have also received support from coalition lawmakers.
WASHINGTON — The next round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place in early September, an official familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
The official acknowledges that last week’s round of talks in Rome did not go very smoothly, as Beirut is pushing for additional Israeli withdrawals from southern Lebanon while Jerusalem argues that verification of Hezbollah disarmament must be completed first.
In the weeks leading up to the next round, the US is pushing the sides to agree on a list of countries that will take part in the verification mechanism, with Israel rejecting the inclusion of countries that have sought to act against it in international forums, the official says.
The sides are also holding side negotiations on the identification and return of remains of Lebanese and Israeli Jews in exchange for Lebanese detainees, the official adds.
US President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, the Washington Post reports.
According to an anonymous US official speaking to the Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane.
The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to believe Trump was still on the bigger jet.
The Iranian threat had previously been reported by US media as the reason that Trump did not fly out of Turkey aboard the new Boeing 747-8, gifted to the United States by Qatar, which he had used to fly into the country.
Trump, who was in Ankara for a NATO summit, said at the time he would be taking the older Boeing 747 so that members of the US military at an airbase in Britain could tour the new plane.
However, several US media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that a threat from Iranian proxy forces had prompted the switch.
Queried by AFP about the Washington Post report, the White House sends a statement defending the new plane’s safety.
“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” Communications Director Steven Cheung says in the statement.
“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”
The same statement had been used by the White House last month when questions about the aircraft’s safety first surfaced.
Video in the Washington Post’s report shows a catering truck lowering from the older Air Force One jet, minutes after Trump walked up stairs into the plane.
The catering vehicle can then be seen transiting in the distance to the smaller C-32A aircraft.
After…
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