(June 2, 2026)
In a post by the Lebanese presidency on X, Aoun said Lebanon is committed to preserving peace, adding “anyone who fuels [division] provides a service to Israel”.
Aoun highlighted that Lebanon has lost more than 3,000 people during the conflict, with about one million displaced and thousands of homes destroyed.
“There is no horizon for ending this situation,” he said, adding it’s the state’s duty to protect its citizens and “there is no other option but negotiation”.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that negotiations are „safer than war“, adding that the country has „no other choice“.
„We have seen, and continue to see, the devastation and consequences of war. Negotiations will not solve the problem overnight, but they are a process that takes time, and we have no other choice,“ Aoun told reporters.
President Isaac Herzog secretly met with journalist Jacob Bardugo, a confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in late March to discuss the premier’s request for a pardon, Channel 12 news reports.
The nighttime meeting at an apartment in Shoham, which was not revealed to the public, took place shortly before Herzog urged dialogue between the sides on a plea bargain. It also came about after bitter criticism of Herzog by Bardugo on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 for not pardoning the prime minister, who has refused to admit wrongdoing despite High Court precedent indicating he must do so for a pardon.
Mr. Herzog, the officials said, believes that there are many options beyond the binary pardon-or-no-pardon choice, and that the main role of Israel’s president is to foster unity. So he does not plan to say yes or no to Mr. Netanyahu’s request for a pardon at this stage, the officials said, preferring to try to resolve the issue through negotiations.
In the 228-197 final vote, a total of four Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Thomas R. Suozzi of New York—joined with all but 25 Republicans who voted to pass a 10-day extension. Twenty GOP members voted against it, while five did not vote.
Ahead of the votes—including on separate versions asking for a 5-year and then 18-month extensions of Section 702—opponents of any clean extension, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said anyone opposed to warrantless spying on Americans must vote no.
In a statement, the Marine Corps veteran said the U.S. and Iran are currently negotiating „over critical questions of national security and international order“ during a tenuous ceasefire.
„I believe we must maintain a strong negotiation position over Iran’s nuclear program, freedom of movement in the international waters at the Strait of Hormuz, and how to achieve a durable peace between our two nations,“ said Golden, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. „At this moment, a resolution like this would weaken our hand.“
The bill failed in a vote of 213-214, with just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (ME), joining Republicans to kill the legislation. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), voted in favor, while Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who supported a previous War Powers Resolution, voted “present.” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who previously suggested she might support the bill, didn’t vote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s request to delay testifying in his criminal trial was accepted by judges on Sunday due to „security and political“ reasons related to „the dramatic events that have occurred in the State of Israel and throughout the Middle East in recent times,“ according to a letter sent to judges.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Herzog said the pardon request must be examined by professional legal authorities within the Justice Ministry, including assessments of disputed legal questions. He stressed that the prolonged legal process has weighed heavily on Israel and that ways forward must be considered, while underscoring that any decision would be made strictly in accordance with Israeli law.
(October 18, 2020)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Sunday evening rejected the appeal made by the Movement for Quality of Government, which demanded that the investigation into the infamous case 3000 submarine sale scandal be expanded and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be questioned with a warning.
He further noted that there is no reason to intervene in Netanyahu‘s sale of personal stocks before the submarine acquisition, in accordance with his decision not to open a criminal investigation against the prime minister in case 3000.
He references his decision to not formally join the strike, which has enlisted a long roster of companies, organizations and local authorities.
When he decided last week to refrain from striking, Bar-David said the action “has no practical outcome.” Today, he adds that he feared joining in would politicize the issue of freeing the hostages, which he says is “the last thing I want to happen.”
(archive entries)
Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit warned Monday that the government’s plan to oust his successor, Gali Baharav-Miara, could result in the “complete destruction” of Israeli democracy.
“This is a recipe for complete destruction of democracy and the rule of law in the State of Israel,” he told Kan public radio when asked about the possibility that Baharav-Miara’s potential replacement would scrap Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing years-long corruption trial.
(March 19, 2020)
The latest reports are that Gantz has agreed to a unity government, with Netanyahu still temporarily in command. This would be a shameful surrender on Gantz’s part. The illusion of democracy would remain. In reality, Blue and White would be ratifying Netanyahu’s moves in the midst of the pandemic panic.
The announcement’s significance lies in the fact that some public opinion polls have favored Gantz’s number two, fellow former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, over the current party leader.
The announcement came as most polls have shown National Unity shrinking to below 10 seats, after reaching over 30 in polls conducted in the weeks and months following the October 7 Hamas massacre.
(March 30, 2023)
The strike on Monday of Israel‘s largest worker‘s union, the Histadrut Labor Federation, was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s inner circle, a senior member of the coalition confirmed on Thursday.
According to the report, one of Netanyahu‘s spokespersons, Yonatan Urich, contacted senior Histadrut officials on Monday morning urging them to launch a strike, in order to give the prime minister a decisive reason to announce that he was postponing the legislation, against the wishes of Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
Histadrut labor union chief Arnon Bar-David warns that he won’t sit idly if the government doesn’t abide by High Court rulings after ministers dismissed the injunction issued by the top legal body. However, Bar-David doesn’t explicitly say that he’ll launch a labor strike if the government ignores the High Court, but …
Aoun’s election happened only after former Interior Minister Suleiman Frangieh, the main alternative candidate, withdrew and endorsed Aoun.
Electing a president requires a two-thirds majority of parliament, which was met after Frangieh’s endorsement gave Aoun the support of Hezbollah and Amal Movements. Many media reports see Aoun’s election as a sign of Hezbollah’s weakness, despite most Hezbollah MPs supporting him.
Securing 99 of the Lebanese parliament’s 128 votes, Aoun garnered widespread support across Lebanon’s political spectrum, despite initial reservations from Hezbollah and its allies.
While political statements from Aoun are rare, he recently emerged as the US and Saudi Arabia’s favoured candidate for the Lebanese presidency.
The local and international push gathered momentum following Israel’s two-month offensive in Lebanon last year, which killed over 4,000 people and displaced over a million.
After the explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020, countries friendly to Lebanon diverted their aid to the military, claiming that they only rely on the army to distribute it. Therefore, all the aid, estimated at tens of millions of dollars, was directed directly to the army and was at Aoun’s disposal and under his direct management. It appears that the military establishment has effectively managed the funds and has never experienced a shortage due to corruption.
Since mid-September 2024, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 2,267 people and injured 11,022 more, according to a CNN tally.[393] While in Mid-November 2024 Lebanon Ministry of Public Health reported 3,583 killed, including 231 children.[397] UNICEF confirmed that more than 200 children has been killed.[368] The Lebanese Health Ministry has reported that most Lebanese killed by Israel are civilians.[59][92][398]
(archive entries)
The US has told Lebanese officials that Saudi Arabia is prepared to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct their war-torn country if Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is elected president, one senior Arab official and one former senior US official told Middle East Eye.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their willingness to engage with Syria‘s new leadership, following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, under certain conditions, a statement from the German government revealed after a call between the two leaders.
The U.S. government would “recognize and fully support” a future Syrian government that results from an inclusive and transparent transition process, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, outlining a first set of principles regarding the Biden administration’s hopes to influence discussions over Syria’s future after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We do not want escalation to continue in the region,” the Turkish president claimed.
“Idlib, Hama, and Homs are in the hands of the Syrian opposition, and they are continuing towards Damascus. We extended our hand to Bashar al-Assad but he did not respond,” he added.
(October 10, 2024)
Lapid advocated regime change in Lebanon, saying, “the international community will need to appoint a sort of oversight committee for Lebanon to manage its civilian life for a set period until elections can be held and a new government can take control.”
Crucial to this effort would be the establishment of a collaborator Lebanese army loyal to Israel and its Western and Gulf allies.
(…)
Lapid claimed it would be easy to recruit Lebanese by paying soldiers in a new army $500 a month. New recruits would then be trained by French, Emirati, and US military officers.
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was established by Israel in 1976 after the collapse of the Lebanese government due to civil war.