(2 September 2024)
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were scheduled to hold a meeting Monday with hostage negotiators, …
Archiv: Times of Israel (media)
Palestinians want UN General Assembly to seek reconsideration of full membership
General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding — as Security Council resolutions are — but they are a reflection of global opinion.
The United States is scheduled to defend its veto of the widely backed Security Council resolution Wednesday morning in the General Assembly. It would have paved the way for Palestine to become the 194th member of the United Nations.
With its aerial attack, Iran could break Israel’s isolation and reframe the Gaza war
It’s hard to imagine Iran’s much-anticipated attack on Israel going any worse for the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has been displaying weakness for months. On January 3, Islamic State terrorists killed at least 84 people in two explosions near the grave of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, as they marked the fourth anniversary of his death in a US drone strike in Iraq four years earlier.
Of course Netanyahu should go – in an orderly process that gives our enemies cause for fear
(today)
And therefore, as was the case when he insisted on continuing to run the country while in the midst of a corruption trial, and as was the case when he pressed on with his assault on Israeli democracy and briefly fired that defense minister, so too, now, it falls to a potential few good men and women within his own coalition base to tell him that his presence is harming Israel, that his policies empowered and emboldened Hamas, and that far from being uniquely capable of ensuring Israel has the practical and diplomatic room to destroy Hamas, he is almost uniquely incapable of doing so.
‘We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case
Although a final ruling will likely take years, South Africa has requested the court issue provisional orders against Israel that could range from demanding a total and immediate ceasefire — which Israel and the US firmly oppose because Hamas has yet to dismantled — to more moderate orders such as insisting that more humanitarian aid be allowed in.
But it would be the interim ruling itself, that there is even plausibility to South Africa’s allegations, that would be the most damaging to Israel’s standing.
Israel at War: Moral Red Lines
As we enter into week two of this horrifying war, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi struggle with the question of if there are moral red lines when responding to absolute evil and if there are, how do we define them. Noting that Israelis are entering this discussion wounded, grieving, enraged, and scared, they acknowledge our need to fight the war fully while grappling with who we want to be not just who we are at this moment.
For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces
Most of the time, Israeli policy was to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset. Far-right MK Bezalel Smotrich, now the finance minister in the hardline government and leader of the Religious Zionism party, said so himself in 2015.
According to various reports, Netanyahu made a similar point at a Likud faction meeting in early 2018, when he was quoted as saying that those who oppose a Palestinian state should support the transfer of funds to Gaza, because maintaining the separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
With Israel’s ethos at stake, 13-hour court hearing proves riveting, fateful TV drama
In addition to the precedent of having the entire 15-strong Supreme Court bench convened for the first time in the nation’s history, the extensive, live coverage was itself somewhat historic: TV channels are in the ratings business, and evidently recognized that the sight of a room full of largely drearily dressed middle-aged people discussing complex principles of law, without even the prospect of a definitive conclusion in the near future, would nonetheless prove a more riveting must-watch for a substantial proportion of the Israeli public than the usual non-primetime daily fare of singing, dancing and dating shows, cooking contests and sitcoms.
Judiciary vs executive: Israel’s branches of government set for unprecedented clash
Although the High Court has heard petitions against Basic Laws before, it has never heard a case against a law specifically designed to limit the High Court’s own powers, and the powers of the judiciary more broadly, nor has it done so amid such internal political turmoil over the balance of power between the branches of government.
Because of the extremely sensitive nature of the case and the highly explosive impact the court’s ruling may have, the entire bench of 15 High Court justices will hear the petitions, a judicial panel unprecedented in size in Israel’s history.
Gallant and two other ministers say government must respect High Court rulings
That sentiment was echoed by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, also of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party: “Of course.”
Interior and Health Minister Moshe Arbel of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party took a similar tone. “Yes, unequivocally,” he responded when asked if High Court rulings need to be followed.
Masses expected at 36th week of anti-overhaul protests ahead of key court showdown
An unprecedented full 15-justice panel of the High Court is slated to hear the petitions against the law on September 12. A variety of government ministers and other figures have warned of the potential for chaos if the court strikes down the law passed by the Knesset to curb the court’s authority, setting up a potential constitutional crisis.
Demonstrations are to be held at dozens of locations across the country. The Tel Aviv protest begins with a march from Habima Square to the central rally at Kaplan Street at 8 p.m.
Don’t leave me to bear this alone
A few weeks ago, I was among the organizers of the March of the Dead in Tel Aviv. 147 coffins signifying all the Arabs killed this year were carried by young Arab men and women. Many Jews marched with us and along with great sadness we had hope that we were not alone. But for the members of the families – the orphans – this is not enough. In many of these murder cases, the victim’s family live next to the murderer who is not charged by the police because there is a lack of evidence or proof. Imagine a situation where a despicable murderer walks free alongside relatives of the murdered. What human society could allow this to occur?
In sign of increased tensions with Iran, US forces build up presence in Persian Gulf
Washington has sent ships, planes and marines to boost security around Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has resumed harassing and seizing ships trying to pass through vital waterway
Protester hurt outside Knesset after being struck in head by police water cannon
A protester near the Knesset is injured after being struck in the head by a police water cannon.
There is no immediate word on the demonstrator’s condition as an ambulance is called to the scene.
Police deploy water cannon against anti-overhaul protesters blocking access to Knesset
Police deploy water cannons in Jerusalem to clear protesters blocking roads leading to the Knesset, where lawmakers are deliberating the coalition’s contentious “reasonableness” bill ahead of the final votes.
‘Unprecedented civil resistance’: Mass rallies Saturday open 28th week of protests
(15 July 2023)
On Friday they were joined by the Israel Medical Association, which warned that hospitals and doctors could strike in opposition to the bill.
The association held emergency discussions Thursday to discuss the ramifications of the law and members agreed that “it will devastate the healthcare system and is not just a theoretical concern,” said IMA Chairman Prof. Zion Hagay.
Public health staff plan strike if overhaul not halted – report
(13 July 2023)
Over a thousand doctors on Thursday penned a letter to the union’s chair, Zion Hagay, urging him to declare a strike until the “complete trashing of the overhaul,” charging that the plans will harm “the quality of medicine in Israel, will harm patients, and undermine the great achievements of Israeli medicine.”
“We are not ready to turn into the intellectuals, scientists, and educated of Germany in 1933,” the letter read, likening potential consequences of the overhaul to the Nazis’ purge of intellectuals during their rise to power.
Material on foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
(September 6, 2022)
A document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property.
Indictment says Trump took nuclear docs and revealed a Pentagon attack plan
(9 June 2023)
“The classified documents Trump stored in the boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries,” the indictment said.
To okay overhaul delay, Ben Gvir gets promise for ‘national guard’ under his control
(28.03.2023)
Deal cut after national security minister reportedly threatened to quit coalition over decision to halt judicial legislation; critics slam move as handing Ben Gvir private militia
A last, desperate, long-shot plea: Prime Minister Netanyahu, stop this madness
Some say you’ve unleashed this revolution to evade your trial. That makes no sense. You could drag it on for years or subvert it with less drastic legislative initiatives.
Others posit that you are intimidated by the extremists — those you have empowered politically, and the toxic commentators on TV, radio and social media, including some very close to home.
I hear that some people who know you well think you have convinced yourself that you are truly King Bibi, a great, historic national figure, wiser and more capable than all.
Knesset committee okays bill sharply limiting judicial review; opposition: ‘Putsch’
Opposition lawmakers boycotted the final votes in committee approving the bill for its first reading in the Knesset plenum, after Rothman granted only one MK from each Knesset faction the right to speak for five minutes.
“This is a dictatorship and the silencing of people’s opinions, we won’t be part of it. Vote among yourselves” shouted Hadash MK Ofer Cassif at Rothman.
“This is a regime putsch!” Yisrael Beytenu Yulia Malinovsky fumed before leaving the committee room.
Coalition advances bill that would return Deri to cabinet, defying High Court ruling
(22 February 2023)
In addition to his January 2022 conviction for tax fraud, Deri served prison time for a 1999 bribery conviction related to his conduct while a minister. In its explosive January ruling, the High Court of Justice said Netanyahu’s decision to appoint a convicted financial criminal as minister in charge of the large Health Ministry and Interior Ministry budgets was “unreasonable in the extreme.”
Court gives Netanyahu 1 month to respond to petition to declare him unfit for office
(10 February 2023)
The High Court of Justice on Friday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one month to respond to a petition to declare him unfit for office and force him to take a leave of absence.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel petitioned the court on Thursday, arguing that Netanyahu is in violation of a conflict of interest arrangement that bars him from involvement in matters that could impact his ongoing trial on graft charges.
Mass protests against judicial overhaul start, thousands flock to Jerusalem
Mass rallies began Monday morning across the country as thousands headed to Jerusalem amid a large-scale strike to protest the government’s plans to impose radical, sweeping changes on the judiciary.
Thousands of parents and students were marching in Tel Aviv, while protesters blockaded the main entrance to the airport as others demonstrated outside the home of a far-right lawmaker.
Lapid backs call for general strike on Monday in anti-government protest
(08.02.2023)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid comes out in support of a worker’s strike on Monday in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul plan.
Top Bank of Israel official quits, says he can’t remain ‘while democracy in danger’
(23 January 2023)
Hazan, a senior lecturer and an expert on macroeconomics and growth at Tel Aviv University, was a member of the bank’s six-person monetary committee which is tasked with setting the interest rate every six weeks. A replacement for him will be sought.
In Hazan’s letter of resignation, he cited his intent to “become involved in the sociopolitical sphere.”
University chiefs warn judicial reform will spark global academic boycott
(23 January 2023)
“This is liable to manifest itself as a brain drain, and in the fact that faculty members will hesitate to join our ranks; that students, research students, post-doctoral students, and international colleagues will not come to Israel; that our access to international research funds will be limited; that foreign industries will withdraw themselves from cooperating with Israeli academia; and we will be excluded from the international research and educational community,” the Committee of University Heads wrote.
‘Night is descending upon Israel’: Masses rally against Netanyahu’s government
Moshe Ya’alon, former defense minister and protest leader, addresses the estimated 100,000 Israelis gathered on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government a “dictatorship of criminals.”
“A state in which the PM will appoint all of the judges, there’s a name for it: dictatorship,” he says.
OPINION: To end the violence, we must end the occupation
We reject the suggestion that it is only certain kinds of Jews of certain nationalities who abhor the violence of the occupation. Our members include rabbis, youth movement leaders, Jewish professionals and others who are deeply committed to Jewish communal life.
We come from every mainstream denomination and our conviction for justice is informed by our commitment to Judaism.
We care profoundly about our community and feel compelled to actualise the Jewish values by which we have been taught to live; values such as chesed (loving-kindness), tzedek (justice) and pikuach nefesh (the sanctity of each human life).
Poll finds narrow majority oppose Knesset immunity for Netanyahu in graft cases
Netanyahu has said he will announce this week whether he will seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution. The survey found that just 33 percent supporting such a move and 51% oppose it — indicating that there is significant objection even within the right.
From The Gambia to The Hague: Meet Israel’s new public enemy number one
Israel has many detractors, real and imagined, but since Friday the country has a brand new public enemy number one: Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Since announcing her intention to open an investigation into the “situation in Palestine” because she believes war crimes “have been or are being committed” there, the 58-year-old Gambia native has endured a massive wave of criticism.