Category Archives: Israel

Will we need a Covid pass to get into the pub?

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The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has announced plans for a domestic Covid-status certificate. We look to Israel, where a similar scheme has been introduced, and discuss how it might work here

Last week, Boris Johnson set out plans for a domestic vaccine passport system to help the country emerge from lockdown.

To see how it might work, Anushka Asthana talks to the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, about life in Israel, where the government introduced a similar scheme in February.

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Iran to boost uranium enrichment levels in wake of Israeli attack

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Tehran responds as foreign minister accuses Israel of ‘bad gamble’ in targeting Natanz nuclear plant

Iran is to boost its levels of uranium enrichment to 60%, just short of weapons grade purity, in response to Israel’s attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, the country’s deputy foreign minister has announced.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi broke the news as he arrived in Vienna for the start of talks this week on how to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and bring back both the US and Iran into compliance.

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Natanz nuclear plant attack ‘will set back Iran’s programme by nine months’

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US intelligence sources believe Israel was behind Saturday’s cyber-attack on heavily guarded facility

The cyber-attack on the heavily guarded Natanz plant in Iran will set back Tehran’s nuclear programme by nine months, US intelligence sources have claimed.

Iran’s foreign ministry has blamed Israel for sabotaging Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility, and although Israel has not formally confirmed responsibility its officials have done little to dispel the notion.

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Covid vaccine passports: what can we learn from Israel? – video explainer

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Israel became the first country in the world to test vaccine passports when it announced the 'green pass' scheme in February. The passes allow people who have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine to return to restaurants, theatres and sport events.  With many countries planning to reopen after their vaccination campaigns, the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, examines the lessons that could be learned from Israel's rollout

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Israel appears to confirm it carried out cyberattack on Iran nuclear facility

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Shutdown happened hours after Natanz reactor’s new centrifuges were started

Israel appeared to confirm claims that it was behind a cyber-attack on Iran’s main nuclear facility on Sunday, which Tehran’s nuclear energy chief described as an act of terrorism that warranted a response against its perpetrators.

The apparent attack took place hours after officials at the Natanz reactor restarted spinning advanced centrifuges that could speed up the production of enriched uranium, in what had been billed as a pivotal moment in the country’s nuclear programme.

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Is vaccinating against Covid enough? What we can learn from Chile and Israel

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Contrasting lessons from the two countries, both with high rates of inoculation against the virus, show the danger is not past

A trio of countries stand out for the effectiveness of their Covid-19 vaccination programmes: Israel, Chile and the UK. All have managed to inoculate an impressively high percentage of their people but each has fared very differently in controlling the disease.

Israel has done so well it is resuming university lectures, concerts and other mass gatherings and has opened up its restaurants and bars. By contrast, Chile is experiencing soaring levels of Covid cases and faces new lockdown restrictions.

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Iranian ship thought to be used as military base attacked, says Tehran

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Israel suspected of planting explosives on MV Saviz anchored in Red Sea

The Iranian foreign ministry has confirmed that an Iranian cargo ship believed to be covertly deployed for military use off the coast of Yemen has been attacked, in an incident that threatens to inflame a proxy war between Iran and Israel.

Officials in Tehran said on Wednesday that the MV Saviz had been targeted in the Red Sea, a day after media reports said the ship had suffered damage after being hit by limpet mines. Images broadcast by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency showed parts of the ship on fire. Tasnim said an explosion had targeted the hull.

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‘Film-making? Bring it on!’: ex-stockbroker Farah Nabulsi on her Oscar nomination

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The British Palestinian is up for an Oscar with her debut, filmed at a notorious Israeli flashpoint called Checkpoint 300. The London-based director talks about her shocking visits to the Middle East

Farah Nabulsi was at home in west London when she found out her film The Present had been nominated for the Oscar for best live action short. She’d persuaded her teenage sons to stay home and watch the announcement. When she heard her name, she jumped up on the table. Her eldest looked at her as if she’d gone mad. He’d got it into his head that this was the actual ceremony and she had lost. “He was like, ‘Why are you so happy? They didn’t pick you.’ He killed the moment.”

The film is Nabulsi’s directing debut, a powerful 20-minute piece of humanist cinema about a Palestinian man, Yusef (Saleh Bakri), who wants to surprise his wife with a fridge as an anniversary gift. He takes the couple’s young daughter, Yasmine (Mariam Kanj), shopping. But their big day out is ruined by two encounters with Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. Yasmine is a witness to her dad’s humiliation – she tugs on his sleeve, reminding him to bite his tongue, to swallow the soldiers’ insults. It is a study of injustice that – like the best shorts – doesn’t try to cram too much in.

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Israel and Chile both led on Covid jabs, so why is one back in lockdown?

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Analysis: contrasting national outcomes highlight how easily UK could blow its chances

As mass vaccination programmes take hold around the world, some countries have begun to get on top of the virus while others have continued to struggle. Two countries that have streaked ahead with immunisations are Israel and Chile, but as Israel edges back to a new normal, Chile has been plunged back into lockdown. Can the UK and other countries repeat Israel’s success and avoid the setbacks of Chile?

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Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumes as political future remains unclear – video

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The Israeli prime minister’s efforts to remain in power face a double-pronged challenge, as he attends a Jerusalem courtroom for his corruption trial. Meanwhile critical talks on his political future were held after last month’s inconclusive election.

The witness testimony and evidence stage of a case assessing whether the 71-year-old leader is guilty of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – repeatedly delayed because of the pandemic - began on Monday morning

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Jordan’s former crown prince under house arrest over alleged coup

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Authorities also arrested two aides after raiding King Abdullah’s half-brother’s palace in capital Amman

Jordanian authorities raided the palace of the kingdom’s former crown prince on Saturday and arrested two senior aides after uncovering what intelligence officials believe was an attempted coup against the ruling monarch, King Abdullah.

The arrests focused on a network allegedly connected to Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, a half-brother of King Abdullah, who was removed from his post 16 years ago.

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‘We’re in a really good place’: is Israel nearing the Covid endgame?

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Vaccination centres are winding down and infections continue to fall as country reopens

At the peak of Israel’s Covid vaccination drive, the halls of a huge basketball arena in Jerusalem were filled with people, each anxiously waiting up to two hours until their number was called. More than 3,000 people a day were being vaccinated here in January.

On Monday, no more than 15 people lingered around long rows of empty chairs. Some barely had time to sit down before they were called to receive a jab. “They wait about 10 seconds,” said Shani Luvaton, the head nurse at the vaccination centre. She only uses half her booths for just a few hundred people a day.

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‘Suez 2’? Ever Given grounding prompts plan for canal along Egypt-Israel border

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UK prepared to play leading role in project given new impetus by Ever Given blockage, say sources

The blockage of the Suez canal by the beached Ever Given container ship has prompted fresh international efforts to find an alternative to the world’s most important shipping corridor.

UN officials are understood to be reviewing plans to construct a new canal along the Egypt-Israel border, having previously dismissed ideas for a much longer route through Iraq and Syria as too hazardous.

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Gaza’s Covid vaccine doctors: ‘If there is a power outage, what can we do?’ – video

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The Covid vaccination programme has begun in the Gaza Strip amid daily power cuts, and supply and capacity problems in the health system. Dr Ayman Rahma is part of the team responsible for the distribution of vaccines. The territory has only received 62,000 doses so far for a population of more than 2 million. With Israel disputing that it bears responsibility for vaccinating Gazans or for letting vaccines enter Gaza, Rahma explains how the political situation is impacting the health sector

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Israel election: near-complete results suggest extended deadlock

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With close to 90% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party leads but will struggle to form government

Near-complete results from Israel’s fourth snap election suggested yet another stalemate, with Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to cobble together a coalition by partnering with extreme nationalist, hardline religious and far-right parties.

With close to 90% of votes counted by Wednesday evening, the prime minister’s Likud party was clearly leading with about 30 seats. The opposition head, Yair Lapid, had roughly 18.

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A small Islamist party could decide Benjamin Netanyahu’s fate

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Analysis: Israel’s election is pushing the PM towards a historic and incongruous political move

He built a hugely successful career scaremongering among Israelis about politicians from the country’s Arab minority presenting a threat from the inside. Now, Benjamin Netanyahu’s rhetoric might have come back to haunt him: election results suggest the leader’s fate may have fallen into the hands of a small party of Islamists.

With most votes tallied, the latest national election – Israel’s fourth within the span of two years – looks on course for further deadlock. Neither Netanyahu nor the opposition leader, Yair Lapid, have a clear majority to form a coalition government.

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Israel election results: Netanyahu ahead in exit polls

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Ruling Likud party leading but short of decisive parliamentary majority to end political deadlock

Exit polls from Israel’s fourth election within two years suggested Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party was ahead but still short of a clear parliamentary majority needed to form a government and end the political deadlock.

Unofficial figures from three major television channels released late on Tuesday evening showed the Likud party with around 31-33 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. That was far more than the opposition head, Yair Lapid, predicted to take about 16-18 seats.

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Israelis vote in fourth national election in two years

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Netanyahu’s Likud party is ahead in polls, but predictions are unreliable as many voters remain undecided

Israelis are voting in their fourth national election in two years, the result of an unprecedented political deadlock that has seen the country’s longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, face off against multiple rivals.

This time round, the prime minister is hoping that voters will credit him for a world-beating coronavirus vaccination campaign that has seen Israel reopen shops, bar and restaurants while simultaneously pushing down infection rates.

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Can the UK avoid a third wave of Covid?

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Analysis: as lockdown restrictions ease, the country now faces a race between vaccination and infection

Britain’s latest lockdown has dramatically reduced cases of coronavirus, and the number of people being admitted to hospital and dying from the disease. What the country faces now is essentially a race between vaccination and infection: can we protect people faster than the virus spreads as restrictions are eased?

This was always going to be a balancing act. The UK vaccination strategy of prioritising the most vulnerable people and moving down the age groups is intended to save lives first and slow transmission second. This means that as the country unlocks, infections are likely to rise, primarily in younger people who have more social contacts and have not yet been vaccinated. Hospitalisations and deaths are expected to rise too, though not as sharply: even though vaccine coverage has been high in vulnerable groups and older people, not everyone has the vaccine and it will not protect all those who do.

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Uncertainty hangs over Israel PM’s bid to break political impasse

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Hardline former allies hold key in new effort by Benjamin Netanyahu to end the country’s two-year stalemate

Israel is due to hold its fourth round of elections on Tuesday, although the result could simply extend a two-year-long political stalemate and possibly lead to a dreaded fifth vote.

Multiple failed attempts to form stable governments after largely inconclusive previous elections have left the country in a protracted crisis. Once the results come in on Wednesday morning, Israel is expected to enter days or weeks of intense political negotiations.

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