Category Archives: Israel

Israel’s Naftali Bennett loses majority after MP quits coalition

Posted on by

Idit Silman’s departure amid row over Passover bread leaves PM with same number of seats as opposition

A key member of Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party has quit the Israeli coalition government after a row about unleavened bread during Passover, in a surprise move that leaves the prime minister without a parliamentary majority.

Idit Silman’s announcement left Bennett’s coalition, an alliance of parties ranging from the Jewish right and Israeli doves to an Arab Muslim party, with 60 seats – the same as the opposition.

Continue reading...

Victim’s iPhone hacked by Pegasus spyware weeks after Apple sued NSO

Posted on by

Quartet targeted by clients – thought to be Jordanian government agencies – of Israeli company even after Apple sued in November

New evidence has revealed that an Apple iPhone was successfully hacked by a government user of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in December, weeks after the technology giant sued the Israeli company in a US court and called for it to be banned from “harming individuals” using Apple products.

A report published on Tuesday by security researchers at Front Line Defenders (FLD) and Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto found that phones belonging to four Jordanian human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists were hacked by government clients of NSO – which appear to be Jordanian government agencies – from August 2019 to December 2021.

Continue reading...

Israel security forces kill three Palestinians in West Bank

Posted on by

Israeli police say the men were armed and were ‘killed in a shootout’ after tensions rise in the past week

Israeli security forces have killed three Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The Israeli police said the men were armed and were “killed in a shootout,” in the pre-dawn incident on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Palestinian baby dies after treatment delayed by Israeli blockade of Gaza

Posted on by

Fatima al-Masri, a 19-month-old with a hole in her heart, waited five months for Israel to issue a permit allowing her to travel for treatment

A 19-month-old child has died in Gaza after waiting for five months for Israel to grant her permission to leave the blockaded enclave for treatment.

Human right groups said Israel’s blockade of Gaza was responsible for the death of Fatima al-Masri, who was diagnosed last year with a hole in the heart and who died on Friday.

Continue reading...

Two Palestinians die in gun battle as Israel raids Jenin refugee camp

Posted on by

West bank raid comes two days after a Palestinian shot and killed five people in central Israel

Israeli forces have raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, setting off a gun battle in which two Palestinians were killed and more than a dozen were wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian stabbed a 28-year-old Israeli man on a bus in the West Bank before being killed by a bystander, the Israeli military said. The Magen David Adom emergency service said the stabbing victim was treated and taken to hospital.

Continue reading...

Israel’s PM urges citizens to arm themselves after Tel Aviv attack

Posted on by

Security cabinet in emergency talks ahead of Ramadan, Passover and Easter celebrations

Israel’s prime minister has called on citizens with gun licences to arm themselves after the bloodiest attack in years in greater Tel Aviv, which marked the third such killings spree in the Jewish state in a week.

“What is expected of you, Israeli citizens? Vigilance and responsibility,” the country’s far-right leader, Naftali Bennett, said in a video statement on Wednesday evening. “Whoever has a gun licence, this is the time to carry it.”

Continue reading...

Israel: at least five dead in Tel Aviv shooting

Posted on by

Reports say suspected Arab gunman killed at least five people in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, before he was fatally shot

Israeli paramedics have said at least five people were killed in a shooting attack in a Tel Aviv suburb, in the third such incident in less than a week.

Amateur video broadcast on Israeli television stations showed a man dressed in black and pointing an assault rifle walking down a street in Bnei Brak, a Jewish ultra-Orthodox city east of Israel’s commercial capital.

Continue reading...

Islamic State claims responsibility for killing of two Israeli police officers

Posted on by

Police say two terrorists were shot dead after they began firing at police in city of Hadera, as Israel hosts envoys from four Arab states

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in which two Israeli police were killed in the northern city of Hadera on Sunday. The claim was made in a statement posted on its Telegram account.

Police said that “two terrorists arrived at Herbert Samuel Street in Hadera, and began shooting at a police force there,” resulting in two deaths.

Continue reading...

Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons, US promises Israel

Posted on by

Antony Blnken seeks to reassure Israel and Gulf allies ahead of possible renewal of nuclear deal

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has sought to reassure Israel and its Gulf allies that Iran will never acquire atomic weapons, ahead of the possible renewal of the nuclear deal with Tehran.

“When it comes to the most important element, we see eye to eye,” Blinken said at a news conference on Sunday with Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid. “We are both committed, both determined, that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Continue reading...

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying Pegasus spyware, fearing Russia’s anger

Posted on by

Revelation of denial offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Moscow has undermined Ukrainian objectives

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware for fear that Russian officials would be angered by the sale of the sophisticated hacking tool to a regional foe, according to people familiar with the matter.

The revelation, following a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine’s offensive capabilities – and contradicted US priorities.

Continue reading...

ADL leaders debated ending police delegations to Israel, memo reveals

Posted on by

Two executives questioned whether trips to Israel could make US officers ‘more likely to use force’

Senior leaders of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the US-based non-profit organization known for combatting antisemitism and tracking extremism, debated whether to end a controversial program that connects American law enforcement officers with police leaders and members of the military in Israel, a 2020 internal document reveals.

The ADL, which works closely with US police on trainings related to bias and hate crimes, has for years run a program that sends delegations from US law enforcement departments to Israel to “study first-hand Israel’s tactics and strategies to combat terrorism”. The trips have long faced criticism from US civil rights groups, who argue that the trainings could encourage US police to further militarize their forces and exacerbate police violence.

Continue reading...

Roman Abramovich spotted at Israeli airport following UK sanctions

Posted on by

Photograph shows Chelsea FC owner in VIP lounge shortly before jet linked to him took off for Istanbul

Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea FC who was subjected to sanctions by the UK government last week, has been spotted at a VIP lounge at an airport in Israel.

One of seven Russians who had their assets frozen last Thursday in an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich was seen in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Monday shortly before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul.

Continue reading...

‘No one really believed it would happen’: first Jewish Ukrainian refugees arrive in Israel

Posted on by

Influx of 100,000 refugees from the war zone expected as members of the diaspora exercise the country’s law of return

A red carpet, applause and dozens of blue and white flags were waiting for the first Jewish Ukrainian refugees to arrive in Israel as part of a huge rescue operation triggered by Moscow’s invasion.

About 400 people on four flights from Poland, Moldova and Romania landed in Tel Aviv on Sunday, among them 100 children who had been living in a Jewish orphanage in the northern city of Zhytomyr. Most of the new arrivals were visibly relieved to have reached safety; as is tradition, several people touched and kissed the ground after disembarking.

Continue reading...

The world leaders pushing for peace in Ukraine, and their motives

Posted on by

They claim to be honest brokers, but is that just a fig leaf to cover their moral bankruptcy?

How blessed are the peacemakers? After the first wave of intermediaries led by Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, a new group have beaten their way to Vladimir Putin’s long table since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or at least sought to intervene by phone.

The current crop includes Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president of Turkey, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed of the UAE and now the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Continue reading...

US accused of hypocrisy for supporting sanctions against Russia but not Israel

Posted on by

Critics compare Israeli military actions of Palestinian territories with Russian invasion of Ukraine but pro-Israel groups dismiss allegations as false parallels

The US and some of its European allies are facing accusations of double standards for supporting sanctions and international war crimes investigations against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine while blocking them over Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

But pro-Israel groups in the US have dismissed the allegations by accusing critics of exploiting Ukrainian suffering to draw false parallels.

Continue reading...

Feud over ‘antisemitic’ Wailing Wall painting closes Israel museum

Posted on by

Exhibited artists cover up their work in protest after piece portraying ultra-Orthodox Jewish man is removed

Four overlapping black and white rectangles make up Israeli artist David Reeb’s painting Jerusalem. On two, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man is portrayed praying at the Western Wall – known also as the Wailing Wall – from two different angles, his hands pressed against the stone. Opposite the images, thick brushstrokes spell out phrases in Hebrew: “Jerusalem of gold”, the title of a nationalistic song – and “Jerusalem of shit”.

The work was among several explicitly political, daring pieces featured in an exhibition that opened in December at the newly renovated Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art near Tel Aviv.

Continue reading...

Israel tries to balance backing for Ukrainians and not offending Russia

Posted on by

Analysis: Criticism of invasion has been muted and officials yet to condemn Moscow for attack on Holocaust memorial

A week ago the sight was unthinkable: a memorial at the site of one of the worst massacres of the Holocaust, engulfed in smoke and flame from an airstrike.

Yet on Tuesday a Russian attack near the Babyn Yar memorial complex in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, achieved exactly that. Five people died in the strike targeting the television broadcast tower next door, while firefighters battled to extinguish a fire caused by the explosion in a building inside the Jewish cemetery.

Continue reading...

Israel under pressure to conclude flawed case against aid worker

Posted on by

Latest court order raises hopes of verdict in trial of World Vision’s Mohammed El Halabi

Pressure is mounting on Israel to conclude the trial of a Gazan aid worker accused of funnelling relief money to Hamas in a six-year-old case widely derided by the international community as “not worthy of a democratic state”.

Mohammed El Halabi, the head of the US-based charity World Vision’s Gaza office, was detained in 2016 after being accused by Israel’s Shin Bet security service of transferring $7.2m (£5.4m) a year to the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip.

Continue reading...

Ukraine appeals for foreign volunteers to join fight against Russia

Posted on by

President Zelenskiy issues call to arms to foreign nationals in battle against ‘Russian war criminals’

Ukraine’s embattled president has issued a call to foreign nationals who are “friends of peace and democracy” to travel to the country to fight against the Russian invasion.

The appeal from Volodymyr Zelenskiy, published on the Ukrainian presidency’s website early on Sunday, said the Ukrainian armed forces were in the process of setting up a foreign legion unit for international volunteers.

Continue reading...

Why Israel faces new dangers in shadow war against Iran if nuclear deal is agreed

Posted on by

Analysis: a new pact will be worse for Israel than the old one and Iran’s influence in the region has grown in recent years

The US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was an immense personal achievement for former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a leaked video, he boasted that he had personally convinced Donald Trump to scrap the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.

“I had to stand up against the whole world and come out against this agreement,” Netanyahu told members of his Likud party in the clip from 2018. “And we didn’t give up.”

Continue reading...