A bureaucratic loophole has left Kafr Aqab as a district where Palestinians can keep a foot in both Jerusalem and the West Bank – and be with their loved ones
For some Palestinian sweethearts, there’s only one place to live.
It’s an unremarkable suburb, crisscrossed by thin muddy streets and dotted with high-rise apartment blocks that cling to the steep hills on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Continue reading...The Israeli army said the raids were in response to at least 10 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza on Friday
A Palestinian was killed by Israeli air strikes on Saturday, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said, in an attack launched in response to rocket fire.
Dozens of strikes hit the Palestinian enclave in the early hours, targeting bases of the strip’s Islamist rulers and allied groups, a security source in Gaza said.
Continue reading...Activists speak out after being warned of alleged cyber-attack to infiltrate mobile phones
More than a dozen pro-democracy activists, journalists and academics have spoken out after WhatsApp privately warned them they had allegedly been the victims of cyber-attacks designed to secretly infiltrate their mobile phones.
The individuals received alerts saying they were among more than 100 human rights campaigners whose phones were believed to have been hacked using malware sold by NSO Group, an Israeli cyberweapons company.
Continue reading...NSO Group’s spyware allegedly used in cyber-attacks on lawyers and journalists
WhatsApp has launched an unprecedented lawsuit against a cyber weapons firm which it has accused of being behind secret attacks on more than 100 human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, and academics in just two weeks earlier this year.
The social media firm is suing NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance company, saying it is responsible for a series of highly sophisticated cyber-attacks which it claims violated American law in an “unmistakeable pattern of abuse”.
Continue reading...Ex-military chief expected to have 28 days to forge coalition and avoid third election in year
Israel’s president is expected to task the former military chief Benny Gantz with forming a government after Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so following an inconclusive election last month.
Neither Gantz’s Blue and White coalition nor the incumbent prime minister’s Likud party came out with a clear win, and few expect the opposition leader to form a coalition through deals with disparate political parties with ease.
Continue reading...Opposition leader Benny Gantz will have 28 days to build coalition or risk fresh election
Benjamin Netanyahu has informed Israel’s president he has been unable to form a coalition government after talks with his political rival Benny Gantz broke down.
In a video statement published on Monday evening – the day of his 70th birthday – Netanyahu said he and his Likud party had worked “incessantly” to forge a “broad national unity government” with Gantz’s Blue and White party, but ultimately failed.
Continue reading...With a dire shortage of land for graves, the holy city is reviving an ancient custom of underground burial – with lift access, LED lighting and golf buggies
Cool air from deep inside the mountain lightly wafts through cavernous arched tunnels. Along the walls of the subterranean passages, rows of human-sized chambers have been dug into the rock. It is unmistakably a catacomb.
Yet this mass tomb is not a relic of the Roman empire. It was made with huge electric diggers, and the walls are lined with concrete. People will enter by lift, and those with limited mobility will be able to use a golf buggy to traverse the necropolis.
Continue reading...Woman, 19, to go on trial after revoking claim she was raped by 12 Israeli tourists
Human rights and feminist groups are calling for Cypriot authorities to drop the case against a British teenager accused of falsely claiming she was raped by 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room.
The 19-year-old, who reported the alleged assault almost three months ago but was then arrested after revoking her criminal complaint, is due to go on trial on Tuesday on a charge of public mischief. She has pleaded not guilty to fabricating the accusation of rape, but could be imprisoned for up to a year if found guilty.
Continue reading...Leader also fighting to save political career after failing to secure election wins this year
Defence lawyers representing Benjamin Netanyahu have presented their arguments against looming bribery, fraud and breach of trust indictments as a long-awaited pre-trial hearing begins.
Wednesday’s closed-door hearing, the culmination of three years of investigations, arrives at an especially fraught time for Israel’s longest-serving leader. Netanyahu is also fighting for his political life after failing to secure a clear win in two elections this year.
Continue reading...Prime minister had potentially up to six weeks to form coalition but negotiations with the opposition stalled just days in
Benjamin Netanyahu could inform Israel’s president that he is unable to form a government as early as this week after unity talks with rival politicians broke down at the weekend, his Likud party said.
Israel has entered a period of political paralysis after an inconclusive election on 17 September. Neither Likud nor the opposition Blue and White party, led by ex-military general Benny Gantz, won a clear lead.
Continue reading...Reuven Rivlin frustrated after talks between ruling party and opposition stall
Israel’s president has tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a coalition government, throwing a lifeline to the incumbent prime minister after an inconclusive election threatened to end his political career.
Reuven Rivlin’s offer does not guarantee Netanyahu will lead Israel’s next administration. Before that can happen, Netanyahu has up to six weeks to forge a majority coalition in Israel’s parliament.
Continue reading...Joint List alliance endorse ex-military chief although say they don’t support his policies
Israeli Arab political parties have broken with longstanding precedent and endorsed the ex-military chief Benny Gantz for prime minister, in a bid to prevent the incumbent, Benjamin Netanyahu, from forming the next government.
The dramatic move came after the mainly Arab Joint List alliance won 13 seats in Tuesday’s polls, making the bloc the third-largest force in the 120-seat parliament.
Continue reading...Israel’s president is set to begin two days of consultations with political parties after a deadlocked election last week plunged the country into uncertainty over who will lead the next government.
Near-final results from Tuesday’s poll showed the opposition chief, Benny Gantz, marginally ahead of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with his Blue and White party taking 33 seats out of parliament’s 120. The ruling Likud party has 31.
Continue reading...Blue and White leader rejects offer to serve under Likud after close-run Israeli election
Benjamin Netanyahu is furiously manoeuvring to cling to office after his rival Benny Gantz refused to serve under him in a government of national unity following an inconclusive election.
Gantz’s Blue and White alliance is two seats ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s Likud party, according to results published by Israeli media with 97% of the vote counted.
Continue reading...The Israeli prime minister has called on his main rival, the former general Benny Gantz, to join him in a broad, governing coalition after Israel's election ended with no clear winner. The change of strategy reflected the weakened position of Benjamin Netanyahu after he failed again in Tuesday's election, which followed an inconclusive ballot in April, to secure a parliamentary majority. Gantz is yet to respond
Continue reading...Prime minister cancels trip to UN general assembly to deal with political crisis
Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition leader, Benny Gantz, have begun what could be a prolonged period of high-stakes political bartering after an inconclusive election in Israel showed neither had a clear path to form a coalition.
Many Israelis hoped the poll, the second in five months, would provide clarity and pull the nation out of a political crisis. But the muddy results that trickled in on Wednesday appeared to deadlock the country instead.
Continue reading...Five possible scenarios for rivals Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu
Israelis have voted in a second election that has left the country in a political stalemate.
In the coming days, the president will consult party leaders before choosing the person he believes has the best chance of putting together a coalition.
Continue reading...Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings that Arab parties would topple him may have backfired
It’s become a tired trope of Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaigns: as the country draws closer to election day the leader ramps up his racist scaremongering suggesting Israel’s Arab minority are preparing to vote en masse.
Infamously in 2015 he said Arabs were “voting in droves”. This year the prime minister almost lost his voice on Tuesday as he shouted through a megaphone to his base. His political rivals in the Arab parties, he screamed, would gather enough parliamentary seats to topple him. “So go and vote!”
Continue reading...Rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz both pledge to form coalition as counting continues
Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Benny Gantz, have both vowed to lead Israel’s next government, despite early results and exit polls appearing to show neither had a clear path to form a coalition.
An inconclusive result from the country’s second election this year could plunge Israel further into political mayhem, with the prospect of weeks of tense political deal-making or even a third vote.
Continue reading...
Election day is always a national holiday in Israel and today it bright and sunny. Lots of people out on the beach in Tel Aviv and the streets were packed.
Just after midnight here and Blue and White are holding their election party in large hanger on the waterfront that appears to be a music venue. They are even playing trance music. But still pretty empty here, and reports suggest it’s the same at Likud. The exit polls have clearly concerned both parties.
Here’s a little more detail on the comments from the Israeli president, who has indicated a willingness to press party leaders to quickly form a new government.
Rivlin’s office said his nomination of a candidate would be guided in part by the need to avoid a third election after two votes in five months. It said he would meet with party leaders “after he receives a clear picture of the results, and as soon as possible”.
Continue reading...