QASR AL-YAHUD, West Bank, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Abandoned Israeli army bunkers along the Jordan River are providing a lifeline for bats on the endangered species list, researchers say.

Soldiers left Israel’s underground forts along the frontier with Jordan after a 1994 peace treaty between the two countries. With much of the former front line, some of it dotted by mine fields, still designated by the military as off-limits to civilians, bats swooped into the secluded and dark steel caverns.

Several years ago, researchers from Tel Aviv University were granted access to the ghost bunkers. Now, they say, they have identified 12 indigenous bat species in the 100-kilometre- (60 mile)-long tract between the Sea of Galilee in Israel and the Dead Sea’s northern edge in the occupied West Bank.

Two of the species commonly known as the Mediterranean horseshoe bat and Geoffroy’s bat are on the critical list and three others are designated as endangered.

“There is no doubt that by being in a closed military zone that has prevented human interference, the bat habitat will allow these delicate creatures to thrive,” said one of the researchers, Eran Levin.

But he said it was too early to quantify the growth of the local bat population, estimated to be in the thousands, because the research project was not yet complete.

One former bunker — overlooking the spot along the Jordan River where some Christian faithful believe Jesus was baptised by John — has been turned into a more accommodating home for the webbed-wing mammals.

PETAH TIKVA, Israel, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Runaway Israeli league leaders Hapoel Kiryat Shmona retained the Toto Cup on Tuesday by beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the sides ended 120 minutes of a dull final level at 1-1.

Each side missed once in the shootout before Hapoel striker Toto Tamuz blasted his spot kick wide to allow Kiryat Shmona to retain the trophy they first won last year.

The first 90 minutes ended goalless as neither team was able to create many openings in a slow-paced tactical match. Wael Marisat scored for Kiryat Shmona in the third minute of extra time and Mahmoud Abbas equalised for Hapoel five minutes later.

With the league almost two-thirds completed, Kiryat Shmona have an 11-point lead over nearest rivals Ashdod SC and are 13 ahead of Tel Aviv in third place.

They have been the most consistent side in the league losing once in 22 outings, while none of their rivals have been able to mount a sustained challenge with the league’s traditional powers, Hapoel and Maccabi Haifa displaying lacklustre form.

Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northern-most urban centre with a population of 23,000 and is the smallest town with a team in the Premier League. It was founded in 2000 following the merger of two smaller clubs and was promoted to the top flight in 2007.

The town is situated close to Israel’s border with Lebanon and for decades was the target of Katyusha rockets and cross-border raids mainly by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.

TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An ally of Iran’s supreme leader called on Friday for Israel to be “punished” for killing a nuclear scientist and the top U.S. general urged his Israeli ally to coordinate with Washington as crisis builds in the Middle East.

Alarmed Arab neighbors in the Gulf made a plea to scale back confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program. France, calling on China and Russia to back Western sanctions, said time was running out for diplomacy to deflect Tehran from a course that Washington and Israel have threatened to stop by war.

One diplomat told Reuters that the major powers seeking to negotiate an end to Iran’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons would probably issue a statement later on Friday laying out what Tehran would need to do to resume talks. The group was expected to provide details of an offer it made to Iran in October in an effort to bring Iranians back to the negotiating table.

An Iranian lawmaker, however, had said earlier there was no chance of resuming negotiations with the group – the five U.N. Security Council permanent members plus Germany – unless they agreed in advance to exclude the nuclear issue from the agenda.

After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei paid his respects to the families of two scientists assassinated on what Tehran believes were Israel’s orders, one of them just last week, a close ally who is a former nuclear negotiator and currently speaker of parliament demanded retribution.

“Terrorism has a long history in some countries like the Zionist regime,” Ali Larijani said of Israel, which views an atomic bomb in the hands of the Islamic Republic as a threat to the survival of the Jewish state.

“The Zionist regime should be punished in a way that it can not play such games with our country again.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Lawyers for Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman faced a hearing on Tuesday where they argued against his being indicted on graft charges that would force his resignation and could trigger early Israeli elections.

Justice officials announced last April that Lieberman, an outspoken rightwinger who heads the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) coalition party, faced possible charges of fraud, money laundering and witness tampering.

Prosecutors suspect Lieberman of using shell companies and third-party accounts to receive more than $1.2 million illicitly while in public office, including from foreign businessmen with interests in Israel.

Lieberman, who denies wrongdoing, is on an overseas trip and will not attend the hearing headed by Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein that could last two days.

Israeli media said his attorneys denied at Tuesday’s session that Lieberman had any links to shell companies during his time in public office.

The attorney-general could take several more months before deciding whether to put the minister on trial.

If Lieberman is charged, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be required to dismiss him from his government.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that harsh international economic sanctions against Iran, which Israel fears is developing a nuclear weapon to threaten it, have started to have an effect.

In an interview in Saturday’s “The Australian” newspaper, Netanyahu said: “For the first time I see Iran wobble … under the sanctions that have been adopted and especially under the threat of strong sanctions on their central bank.”

An official in Netanyahu’s office confirmed to Reuters the accuracy of the quotes in the interview that was conducted on Tuesday.

Iran has come under increased pressure since the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported in November that Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon and that secret research to that end may be continuing.

Iran says it wants only nuclear power and some other civilian types of radioactive material.

A high-level team from the IAEA is expected to visit this month, seeking explanations on long-standing concerns that Iran may be trying to develop nuclear weapons capability.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA has said the Islamic Republic is ready to answer the agency’s questions in order to remove “any ambiguities” about its nuclear work and clear up the issue once and for all.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel Thursday called on computer hackers not to take the law into their own hands to avenge attacks on Israeli credit card companies, and said the authorities were capable of countering all cyber threats.

“We call on Israeli citizens to abide by (the law). Just as the Israeli government has found answers for terrorism, we will find answers to this challenge … we call on Israeli citizens not to … act as vigilantes,” Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a statement.

Last week a computer hacker who said he was based in Saudi Arabia, published thousands of personal and credit card details of people apparently gleaned from commercial websites. It was one of the worst cases of hacking Israel has said it has faced.

In response, at least one Israeli hacker declared he had carried out a reprisal cyber-attack on Saudi credit card holders, although the scope of his action could not be verified.

Although the hacked details had apparently come from what analysts said were poorly secured internet shopping websites, the fact that the attack was aimed at Israel has led to fears that it was politically motivated.

Ayalon described the hacking as “a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such.”

He said Israel would act and would prevail against hackers in a new form of warfare.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s government broke all its settlement-building records in 2011, diminishing prospects for establishing a viable Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s anti-settlement activist group “Peace Now” said Tuesday.

The group’s annual report on building in Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank – land the Palestinians want for a future state along with the Gaza Strip – showed that despite international calls to halt construction, thousands of new homes were being built.

“In 2011 (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu broke his government’s building records and turned it into a very fruitful year for the settlers and a very sad one for the citizens of Israel,” Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer said.

“At the current rate of building we will lose the chance for a two-state solution.”

A government spokesman said Israel was exercising restraint in settlement building and pointed to a 10-month building freeze in 2010.

“The current Israeli government has been attacked by the political leadership of the settler movement for being the worst … when it comes to building in the settlements … we have shown great restraint,” spokesman Mark Regev said.

Direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians broke down over a year ago after Israel refused to bow to demands that it cease all settlement building and extend the freeze which it imposed on building in the West Bank.

JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Israeli soccer is free from match-fixing, national football association (IFA) chairman Avi Luzon said on Monday, a day after being questioned as part of a police investigation into corruption.

“At the end of this investigation, I can promise…that Israeli soccer is clean, as is the chairman of the IFA,” Luzon said in an interview on Israeli Army Radio.

“I can say with all certainty that no referee fixed any match.”

On Sunday, police said Luzon had been questioned for eight hours in connection with an investigation into alleged match-fixing and interfering in the placement of officials.

The interrogation came several months after police opened a broad match-fixing inquiry that has included the questioning of a number of club and match officials.

Luzon, 56, who is an executive committee member of European soccer governing body UEFA, was questioned in the previous round as a witness.

Luzon, who denies any wrongdoing, said he had no intention of resigning from the IFA.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon was questioned by police under caution on Sunday on possible involvement in an alleged match fixing probe, police said.

“Luzon was questioned under caution for eight hours by the fraud unit in connection with an ongoing investigation into alleged match fixing and interfering in the placement of officials,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The interrogation came several months after police opened a broad match-fixing inquiry that has included the questioning of a number of club functionaries, mainly from Premier League Hapoel Petah Tikva, and match officials.

Luzon, 56, who serves as an executive committee member of European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, was also one of those questioned in the previous round but as a witness.

Rosenfeld added that the suspicions against Luzon related to issues of fraud and breach of trust.

The Israeli FA issued a statement saying Luzon had “cooperated fully with the police so that it could complete its task in the best possible way and finish it’s investigation swiftly.”

But it requested that police carry out inquiries “with consideration in order to prevent public harm … which can be very difficult to repair.”

JERUSALEM, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon faced police questioning under caution on Sunday on possible involvement in an alleged match fixing probe, police said.

“Luzon was questioned under caution for eight hours by the fraud unit in connection with an ongoing investigation into alleged match fixing and interfering in the placement of officials,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The interrogation came several months after police opened a broad match-fixing inquiry that has included the questioning of a number of club functionaries, mainly from Premier League Hapoel Petah Tikva, and match officials.

Luzon was also one of those questioned in the previous round but as a witness.

Rosenfeld added that the suspicions against Luzon related to issues of fraud and breach of trust.

The Israeli FA issued a statement saying Luzon had “cooperated fully with the police so that it could complete its task in the best possible way and finish it’s investigation swiftly.”

But it requested that police carry out inquiries “with consideration in order to prevent public harm … which can be very difficult to repair.”