Tag: Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel will defend itself, Benjamin Netanyahu says, as West calls for restraint

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in responding to a volley of attacks from Iran.

The United States, European Union and G7 group of industrialised nations all announced plans to consider tighter sanctions on Iran, seen as aimed at mollifying Israel and persuading it to rein in its retaliation for the first ever direct Iranian strikes after decades of confrontation by proxy.

Iran attacked in retaliation for a suspected Israeli airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1. Israel and its allies mostly shot down all missiles and drones and there were no deaths, but Israel says it must retaliate to preserve the credibility of its deterrents. Iran says it views the matter as closed but will retaliate again if Israel does.

Israel’s Air Force said late on Wednesday its fighter jets had struck the “terrorist infrastructure” of Iran-backed Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon, stoking concerns about a further escalation in clashes across Israel’s northern border.

Earlier, Netanyahu met the German and British foreign ministers, who both travelled to Israel as part of a coordinated push to keep confrontation between Israel and Iran from escalating into a regional conflict fueled by the Gaza war.

Netanyahu’s office said he thanked Annalena Baerbock and David Cameron for their support, while telling them: “I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”

Earlier, Cameron said it was now apparent Israel planned to retaliate for the Iranian missile and drone strikes.

Baerbock said escalation “would serve no one, not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime…”

More than six months into the Gaza war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas that has seen flare-ups across the Middle East, diplomats are searching for a way to avert direct battle between Israel and Iran.

Jordan added to the calls for restraint, warning of a war that could be “devastating” for the region.

“The risks are enormous. That could drag the whole region into war, which would be devastating to us in the region and we’ll have very, very serious implications for the rest of the world including the U.S,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. “The situation is too dangerous. The chances of regional explosion are real, and that has got to stop. We’ve got to make sure there’s no further escalation.”

Washington says it is planning to impose new sanctions targeting Iran’s missile and drone programme in coming days and expects its allies will follow suit.

EU leaders were due to discuss sanctions at summit in Brussels, as were G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.

‘Stop the war! Stop the war!’

Since Hamas fighters triggered the war in Gaza by attacking southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies, clashes have erupted between Israel and Iran-aligned groups based in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Inside Gaza, Israel has launched a massive air and ground assault, with nearly 34,000 people confirmed killed, according to Palestinian medics, and thousands of others feared dead, still lost among the ruins.

This month, Israel abruptly pulled most of its troops out of southern Gaza, site of most of the heaviest fighting since the start of the year.

Fighting in recent days has been focused in central Gaza, in the Nuseirat refugee camp north of Deir al-Balah, one of the few areas that Israeli troops have yet to storm. Israeli forces retreated from the camp late on Wednesday, residents and some Israeli media said.

At a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, members of the al-Nouri family bellowed in sorrow and anger over bodies in body bags, several the size of small children, in video obtained by Reuters. Authorities said 11 people had been killed in an Israeli strike on the family home on Tuesday.

“Oh people of the world, what is happening is wrong! Have mercy on us! Stop the war!… Children are dying in the streets!” a man cried inside the crowded hospital.

In the southern city of Rafah, an Israeli airstrike on a house killed seven Palestinians, including a woman and three children, medics said.

Elsewhere, Hamas media reported Israeli forces had withdrawn from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza after a 36-hour raid there.

On Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where cross-border battles between Israeli forces and the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement pose an escalation risk, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles and drones at a military facility in northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah members.

Israel said 14 of its soldiers were hurt in the incident, six of them seriously.

Israel says it will discuss a pause to free hostages but will not stop fighting until Hamas is wiped out; Hamas says it will not release hostages without a truce leading to an end to the war.

Qatar, which has served as mediator, said negotiations were at a delicate phase. It later said it was re-evaluating its own role as mediator, citing concerns that its efforts were being undermined by those pursuing “narrow political interests”.

With the prospect of famine looming, the United States and Israel say access for aid has improved this month. But aid agencies say supplies of food and medicine are still too paltry to stave off disaster.

“Across Gaza, a man-made famine is tightening its grip,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA told the 15-member UN Security Council. “In the north, infants and young children have begun to die of malnutrition and dehydration. Across the border, food and clean water wait.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US president Joe Biden criticises Israeli PM Netanyahu’s approach to Gaza conflict, calls for ceasefire

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza is a “mistake,” US President Joe Biden said in an interview published on Tuesday, offering further criticism of Israel’s handling of the conflict.

“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden said in comments to Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network.

Biden has also previously called Israel’s bombing in Gaza “indiscriminate” and its military actions “over the top.”

The White House said last week that the president, in a call with Netanyahu, threatened to make conditional US support for Israel’s offensive on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians. That call followed an Israeli airstrike that killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen.

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said in Tuesday’s interview.

Israel’s military assault on Gaza has been the subject of mounting international criticism. Domestically, Biden has also faced months of protests from anti-war activists, Muslims and Arab Americans across the country, who have demanded a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and restrictions on US military assistance for Israel.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has killed over 33,000, according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million population and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies. The coastal enclave also suffers widespread hunger.

Israel has received more US foreign aid than any other country since World War Two, although annual assistance has been dwarfed for two years by funding and military equipment sent to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The United States has traditionally shielded Israel in the UN Security Council and vetoed three draft resolutions on the war in Gaza. It abstained last month when the Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Israel buying 40,000 tents for Rafah evacuees, sets date for invasion of Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israel is buying 40,000 tents in anticipation of the evacuation of Rafah following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a scheduled invasion of the southern Gaza city, which has drawn global condemnation, according to a media report.

According to Israeli officials, including reports from the Jerusalem Post, these tents will provide shelter for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are expected to be evacuated from Rafah, a USA Today report said. More than 1 million people have sought refuge in the city after fleeing the devastating attacks in northern and central Gaza, it added.

The Israeli military has stated that multiple Hamas battalions are still present in Rafah and need to be eliminated to weaken Hamas, the USA Today report said. Global leaders, including US President Joe Biden and many others, have urged Israel to refrain from invading Rafah due to concerns about a potentially high civilian death toll.

Meanwhile, Turkey announced on Tuesday that it would restrict exports of various products, including jet fuel, to Israel until there is a ceasefire. Israel said it would respond with its own curbs.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people. Since then, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

Israel’s military has also lost around 600 soldiers since October 7, according to the government.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Joe Biden tells Benjamin Netanyahu US support hinges on protecting civilians

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for his war in Gaza depends on new steps to protect civilians, a shift in position for the American leader who has faced increased pressure to take a harder line against Israel amid mounting deaths.

The warning, delivered in a Thursday phone call between the two leaders, signaled that Biden is toughening his stance after an Israeli strike that killed seven people delivering food to displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Biden called the incident “unacceptable,” according to a White House description of the conversation.

Hours later, the prime minister’s office announced that the country’s security cabinet had authorized action to bolster assistance and “prevent a humanitarian crisis.”

Israel will allow the temporary delivery of aid to Gaza through the Ashdod and Erez checkpoints in Israel, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, which added that more Jordanian aid could flow through a crossing at Kerem Shalom. The decision, according to the statement, would also “ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.”

Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said “We welcome the steps announced by the Israeli government tonight at the president’s request following his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

The prime minister’s office has not released an account of the Biden-Netanyahu call, which came amid heightened tensions between the two men.

Biden said Israel must “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement earlier Thursday. Biden said an “immediate” cease-fire is necessary to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged Netanyahu to secure a deal in long-running, indirect negotiations with Hamas.

“He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” according to the statement. “President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.”

Biden did not specify when and how he might shift his approach to the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its sixth month and has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. But his statement is the closest he has come to placing new requirements on US support for Israel’s military operations.

Earlier Thursday, Netanyahu vowed to press on with its war effort.

White House spokesman John Kirby declined to elaborate on what steps the US would take if Israel does not do more to protect civilians, including if Biden would withhold military assistance.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed during a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels that “if we don’t see the changes we need to see, there’ll be changes in our policy.” He did not detail the nature of those potential changes.

The US for weeks has urged Netanyahu to curb civilian deaths and has objected to a plan to invade the southern enclave of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians fled during Israel’s war with Hamas.

This week’s air strike on a convoy of workers from World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief group founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, signaled a breaking point for the White House.

Kirby said Thursday’s call, which he said lasted around 30 minutes and described as “direct” and “businesslike,” was scheduled in response to the bombing. Biden was “shaken by the attack” that killed the aid workers and “felt strongly” it was time to talk to Netanyahu, the spokesman said. It was their first call since mid-March.

Israel has said the strike inadvertently hit the aid workers and is conducting an investigation to determine how the strike occurred. Kirby said that probe is “close to complete.”

The president is facing mounting political pressure from progressives, as well as Arab- and Muslim-Americans, who object to his support for Israel’s war effort. The aid-worker attack prompted Democrats to issue fresh calls for placing conditions on American military backing for Israel.

Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, has also drawn criticism from Republican Donald Trump, who vocally supported Netanyahu during his presidency.

Trump in a Thursday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Israel had to finish the war quickly and that it is “losing the PR war,” while declining to answer whether he still remains 100% behind Israel.

“You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And I’m not sure that I’m loving the way they’re doing it, because you’ve got to have victory,” he said. “They shouldn’t be releasing tapes like that. They’re doing, that’s why they’re losing the PR war.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Netanyahu ”hurting Israel” by not preventing more civilian deaths in Gaza: US President Biden

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Joe Biden said Saturday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The US leader expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the October 7 attack, but said of Netanyahu that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.” Biden has for months warned that Israel risks losing international support over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, and the latest remarks in an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart pointed to the increasingly strained relationship between the two leaders.

Biden said of the death toll in Gaza, “it’s contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it’s a big mistake.” Biden said a potential Israeli invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering, is “a red line” for him, but said he would not cut off weapons like the Iron Dome missile interceptors which protect the Israeli civilian populace from rocket attacks in the region.

“It is a red line,” he said, when asked about Rafah, “but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.” Biden said he was willing to make his case directly to the Israeli Knesset, its parliament, including by making another trip to the country. He travelled to Israel weeks after the October 7 attack. He declined to elaborate on how or whether such a trip might materialize.

The US leader had hoped to secure a temporary ceasefire before Ramadan begins this week, though that appears increasingly unlikely as Hamas has balked at a deal pushed by the US and its allies that would have seen fighting pause for about six weeks, the release of additional hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza. Biden noted CIA Director Bill Burns is in the region currently trying to resurrect the deal.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Benjamin Netanyahu says he’ll soon have plan for Rafah civilians

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’ll have a “plan for action” in hand for moving the civilian population out of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip ahead of an offensive to “dismantle” remaining Hamas battalions.

“There is no disagreement with me and the US about the need to evacuate the population,” Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast Sunday with CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Israel doesn’t need “prodding” by the US to shield Gaza civilians, he added. The plan will include how to “dismantle” remaining Hamas battalions, Netanyahu said. His office said in a social media post the country’s military “presented the War Cabinet with a plan for evacuating the population from the areas of fighting in the Gaza Strip, and with the upcoming operational plan.”

The Israeli leader said people now in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, would be directed north. “There’s room for them to go north of Rafah to the place that we’ve already finished fighting in,” Netanyahu said.

Much of Gaza has been devastated by Israeli air and ground bombardments since October, and most of the million or more civilians now sheltering in Rafah were moved from areas in the north.

Separately, Netanyahu said he couldn’t predict a timeline for a deal with Hamas on swapping Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Israeli media reported that talks on Friday involving the Israeli delegation and representatives from the US, Egypt and Qatar had yielded a breakthrough.

Netanyahu told CBS that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, first needs to back off “delusional claims” which he didn’t specify.

An intense Israeli military operation in Rafah could take “a matter of weeks,” and Israel will proceed with it whether there’s a hostage/temporary cease-fire deal or not, Netanyahu said.

Separately, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration had made it clear that all parties need to make every effort toward a temporary cease-fire.

“We are telling everyone, including the Israeli government, that it is our firm position that every effort be exercised to get to this agreement, and then we can move forward from there,” Sullivan said.

Israel has been attacking Hamas in Gaza for nearly five months, killing almost 30,000 there, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry. Meantime, conditions on the ground in Gaza are increasingly desperate.

Eighteen of 24 Hamas battalions have been destroyed since Israel’s campaign started after the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas operatives, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped.

Separately, US Central Command said Houthis launched a single anti-ship ballistic missile Saturday that likely targeted a tanker in the Gulf of Aden, which resulted in no damage or injuries after the missile impacted on the water. The US and its allies struck multiple targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, responding to increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea region by the Iran-backed militant group.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Experts weigh in as US shifts stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza, refuses support for Rafah offensive

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The White House has warned Israel against mounting its offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where millions of Palestinians have taken refuge. The US says military operations in Rafah without proper planning would be a ‘disaster’.

US President Joe Biden has said that the US would not support Israel’s plans in the area without considering the refugees there, calling Israel’s military conduct in the region “over the top”.

Meanwhile, reports suggest Israeli attacks have killed around nine people in Rafah. Another air strike carried out by Israel has killed five people in Al-Shifa Hospital in Khan Yunis. These attacks have raised the death toll in the Gaza region to 28,000.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, KP Fabian, former India Envoy to Qatar, highlighted the changing stance of the United States towards Israel’s actions.

Fabian noted that while the US initially advised Israel privately and publicly against ground actions in Gaza, the language regarding Rafah is now different, indicating that the US will not support it. However, there remains ambiguity about what this lack of support entails, whether it pertains to diplomatic support or cease the arms supply.

Fabian further explained the political dynamics at play for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting that his reluctance to agree to a long pause or permanent ceasefire is driven by self-interest.

He said, “Benjamin Netanyahu will not agree to a long pause or a permanent cease-fire for the reason that if either happens, then his political career will be in peril. And he might even go to jail pretty soon. So it is in his interest to prolong the war and even to expand the war. But he is caught between, two fires on the one hand pressure from the United States and the rest of the international community, especially Western Europe, which has been supporting him.”

Read Here | Hamas proposes 135-day Gaza truce proposal, calls for total Israeli withdrawal

Harsh V Pant from the Observer Research Foundation echoed the sentiment of growing impatience from the United States towards Netanyahu’s actions.

Pant stated that the Biden administration is likely to take a tougher stance than in the past, especially considering the domestic political challenges Biden faces.

The possibility of former President Trump intervening in support of Israel adds to the complexity of the situation, potentially impacting Biden’s already delicate polling numbers.

Also Read | Joe Biden assails counsel for questioning his mental acuity, calling him ‘elderly man with a poor memory’

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Israeli PM Netanyahu urges Qatar to use leverage in Gaza hostage release talks

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up public pressure on Qatar to bring about the release of Gaza hostages on Saturday, saying the Gulf emirate should apply the leverage it has as a host and funder of the Hamas militants holding them.

The unusually blunt remarks came on the eve of what Reuters sources have described as a meeting among the Qatari prime minister and intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt to discuss a potential new deal to free hostages.

Those talks were expected to take place in an undisclosed location in Europe on Sunday, the sources said. Officials from the four countries have not formally confirmed the meeting, however.

“Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas. It also funds Hamas. It has leverage over Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a televised news conference. “So they should be so good as to apply their pressure. They positioned themselves as mediators – so please go right ahead, let them be so good as to bring back our hostages.”

Qatar and Egypt have open channels to Israel and Hamas, and brokered a November truce in which Hamas freed some of the 253 people it seized in an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that triggered the Gaza war. In return, Israel approved increased aid for the devastated enclave and released scores of Palestinian prisoners.

Efforts to get a follow-up deal to return at least some of the 132 remaining hostages appear to be flagging, and protests in Israel demanding that the government do more are spreading.

There was no immediate Qatari response to Netanyahu’s comments. On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Doha said it was “appalled” by remarks by Netanyahu, leaked to Israeli TV, in which he described himself as refraining from thanking Qatar for its mediation and deemed the gas-rich emirate “problematic”.

Asked in his Saturday briefing about that exchange, Netanyahu said: “I don’t take back a single word.”

Israel has long had fraught relations with Qatar, which does not formally recognise it and is close to its arch-enemy Iran.

After the last Gaza war, in 2014, Israel agreed to Qatar pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into Palestinian reconstruction in what both countries described as a means of staving off further conflict.

Doha cited the cooperation as a testament to its distance from Hamas militancy, and sought to parlay its Gaza relief efforts into better relations with Israel’s ally Washington.

The four-way meeting follows public criticism by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday of Israel, which he accused of holding up aid deliveries to Gaza in order to generate pressure for the release of hostages.

Israel says it places no limits on aid brought into Gaza, as long as it undergoes security inspection, and Netanyahu appeared to cast Sisi’s remarks as designed for domestic consumption.

“Relations with Egypt are managed in an ongoing and proper manner, between the governments, all the time,” he said. “Each of us of course has its interests. Egypt has the need to say certain things. I will not elaborate on this matter.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Israel’s Supreme Court overturns a key component of Netanyahu’s polarising judicial overhaul

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul, a decision that threatens to reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country’s ongoing war against Hamas.

Those divisions were largely been put aside while the country focused on the war, which was triggered by a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas.

Monday’s court decision could reignite those tensions, which sparked months of mass protests against the government and had rattled the cohesion of the powerful military.

Also Read: Israel delivers first rate cut since pandemic as war rages

There was no immediate reaction from Netanyahu. In Monday’s 8-7 majority decision, the court narrowly voted to overturn a law passed in July that prevents judges from overturning government decisions they deem unreasonable.

Opponents had argued that Netanyahu’s efforts to remove the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions. The law was the first in the planned overhaul of the justice system.

The overhaul was put on hold after Hamas militants carried out their October 7 attack, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others. Israel immediately declared war and is pressing forward with an offensive that Palestinian health officials say has killed nearly 22,000 people in Gaza.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM Narendra Modi discusses Israel-Hamas conflict with Benjamin Netanyahu

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a ‘productive’ conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. He has shared concerns regarding the safety of maritime traffic.

“Had a productive exchange of views with PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, including shared concerns on the safety of maritime traffic. Highlighted India’s consistent stand in favour of an early restoration of peace & stability in the region with continued humanitarian assistance for the affected,” PM Modi tweeted.

Had a productive exchange of views with PM @netanyahu on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, including shared concerns on the safety of maritime traffic. Highlighted India’s consistent stand in favour of early restoration of peace & stability in the region with continued…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 19, 2023

Prime Minister Modi emphasised an early and peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including the release of all hostages, through “dialogue and diplomacy” as well as continued humanitarian assistance to the affected people, read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

As per the PMO, PM Modi received a phone call from the Israeli prime minister.

Over the past few months, there have been growing concerns over the safety of maritime traffic in the region.

Last week, Yemen’s Houthi militants fired a missile hitting a commercial tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen triggering concerns.

In its statement, the PMO said Netanyahu briefed PM Modi on the recent developments in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

The PMO further said that PM Modi and the Israeli Prime Minister have agreed to remain in touch.

On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing around 1,200 people in the country. The militant group kidnapped more than 220 people, some of whom were later released during a brief ceasefire in the region.

The Israeli military retaliated by bombarding multiple targets in Gaza, followed by a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza.

Hamas-run authorities in Gaza have claimed that around 17,000 people have been killed in the region in the Israeli attacks.

According to PTI, India has strongly condemned the terror attack by Hamas and called for de-escalation of the situation and creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations towards a two-state solution to the Palestine issue.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow