The Israeli military carried out airstrikes in the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza on Wednesday, saying that it was hitting the rocket-launching infrastructure of the militant group Islamic Jihad. Shortly afterward, militants in Gaza began firing salvos of rockets toward Israel, reaching as far north as the skies above the suburbs of Tel Aviv. The […]
Tag: Israel
Biden’s Ambassador to Israel, at the Center of the Storm
WASHINGTON — Thomas R. Nides, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, was speaking in typically colorful fashion on the subject of the Israeli government’s divisive plan to reduce the power of the judiciary. U.S. officials had addressed the subject with cautious diplomatic language, using phrases like shared values and consensus building, in hopes of avoiding a […]
Israel Judicial Overhaul: Live Updates
As political protests over efforts by the far-right coalition to assert greater control over the Supreme Court have roiled Israel for months, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets, the country’s Palestinian citizens have largely stayed on the sidelines. That appears to be largely because of a widespread feeling among Palestinians that demonstrations have ignored […]
Israel Judicial Overhaul: What Led to Protests of Netanyahu’s Plan
When Israeli lawmakers passed a law in 1992 that would give judges the power to block future legislation, an argument broke out on the floor of Parliament that foreshadowed the fight over the judiciary that is engulfing Israel today. “You are subjecting Parliament to the Supreme Court,” declared Michael Eitan, a lawmaker and a critic […]
Thousands in Israel Protest Netanyahu’s Plans to Limit Courts
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday night protested in Tel Aviv against the new right-wing government’s plans to fundamentally overhaul the judicial system, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to weaken the country’s democratic institutions just weeks after returning to power. The protest was organized by grass-roots activists and backed by […]
Netanyahu’s Judicial Overhaul Proposal Sets Off Fury in Israel
The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said he feared the government’s plan could lead to the collapse of Israel’s democracy. A former defense minister, Benny Gantz, warned of civil war. A former army general, Yair Golan, called for widespread civil disobedience. In response, a government lawmaker, Zvika Fogel, called for all three to be […]
Far Right’s Rise in Israel Driven by Anxiety and Fear
LOD, Israel — The sectarian unrest between Arabs and Jews that swept across Israeli cities in May 2021 helped end Benjamin Netanyahu’s last term in office. Seventeen months later, fallout from that same unrest has helped put him back in power — at the head of one of the most right-wing coalitions Israel has ever […]
5 Palestinians, 2 Accused of Spying for Israel, Are Executed in Gaza, Officials Say
The Gaza Interior Ministry said that three of the executions were carried out by hanging and the other two by firing squad.