Israel News

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Israel as part of a day of “escalating resistance to dictatorship,” blocking roads and protesting the government’s continued advance of controversial legislation to radically overhaul the judiciary and restrict the powers of the High Court of Justice.

President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday unveiled his “People’s Framework” proposal to replace the government’s plans to radically overhaul the judicial system, in a primetime address to the nation in which he urged both sides of the debate “not to destroy the country” in a power struggle over the judiciary, but rather seize the opportunity for “a formative constitutional moment.”

With tensions already running extremely high amid increased Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis and counter-terrorist offensives by the Israel Defense Forces, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has called on Israeli Arabs to launch a third “intifada” – deadly armed uprising – against Israel, i24 News reports. The First Intifada took place between 1987-1991, while the Second Intifada began in 2000 and lasted until 2005.

Despite massive widespread protests by Israeli citizens, and ignoring the strong opposition of the country’s President Isaac Herzog, Israel’s parliament on Tuesday approved the first reading of a highly controversial bill that would restrict judicial review of legislation and consolidate power in the hands of the new far-right government, i24 News reports.

The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Law Committee on Monday approved a bill aimed at preventing the prime minister’s ouster, which now passes to the plenum for the first reading later today.

Israeli fighter jets and refueler aircraft on Sunday began a two-week air drill with the US Air Force at an airbase in Nevada, a joint activity thought to be focused on Iran, with officials saying the exercises would include long-range flights and simulate strikes in unfamiliar enemy territory.

A tense calm returned Sunday after at least 200,000 people protested against judicial reforms backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in one of the biggest protests in Israel’s history.

China has effectively denied anti-Israeli sentiments in brokering Friday’s peace talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia after Israel expressed concern about the developments.

Israel’s military hit targets in western Syrian on Sunday, wounding three Syrian soldiers, Syrian state media reported.

Israelis packed city streets on Saturday in nationwide demonstrations now in their 10th week against plans by the hard-right government to curb the Supreme Court’s powers, which critics see as a threat to judicial independence.

The airforces will include different types of training: “strategic attack in depth, achieving aerial superiority in space, joint attack aircraft, defense of field cells, interception of enemy aircraft, low-altitude flight and attack in unfamiliar terrain rich in anti-aircraft defenses,” the army spokesperson said in a statement.

A “horrible nuclear war” will break out if the world does not stop Tehran from obtaining atomic weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his first ever address to the Iranian people on Thursday night.

The protest movement against the government’s judicial reform plan is waging a “day of resistance against the dictatorship” on Thursday, blocking roads and even maritime routes.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly asked the United States to help develop its civilian nuclear program in exchange for a peace deal with Israel.

The United States expressed support on Tuesday for an Israeli counter-terror operation in Jenin earlier in the day. During the daylight raid, Israeli forces eliminated the terrorist responsible for the murder of two Israelis on Feb. 26, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Is Israel about to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities? It sure looks that way. The Jewish state has been preparing for years for such an eventuality, and now it appears the time has arrived.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Interior Ministry is obligated to register as married couples who wed in online civil ceremonies through the American state of Utah, in a ruling which is certain to further increase the government’s ire toward the court.

Syria and Iran accused Israel of criminal behavior after Israeli Air Force jets allegedly carried out an airstrike at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday chided the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog after he said – while visiting Iran – that military attacks on nuclear facilities anywhere are “outlawed.”

President Isaac Herzog on Monday convened 100 mayors and local council leaders in order to formulate an outline for dialogue over the government’s judicial overhaul, claiming an agreement is closer than ever.