Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that the High Court of Justice should not interfere with his efforts to form a government between his Likud party and Blue and White, and warned that if it did so it would increase the chances of a fourth election.

The High Court on Sunday heard petitions against the tasking of Netanyahu with forming a government, due to his indictment on graft charges, and on Monday considered petitions against the Likud-Blue and White coalition deal, which stipulates profound changes to Israel’s constitutional order.

Israel’s largest bank admitted to its role in a massive US tax evasion scandal and money laundering conspiracy that will cost it more than $904 million.

Syria accused Israeli helicopters of carrying out airstrikes in the Syrian Golan Heights in the early hours of Friday morning.

Syria accused Israeli helicopters of carrying out airstrikes in the Syrian-held Golan heights in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Arab League said Thursday that Israel’s controversial proposal to annex part of the West Bank constituted a ‘new war crime’ against the Palestinians, during a virtual conference chaired in Cairo.

A nationwide curfew ended Wednesday evening as Israel’s 72nd Independence Day came to a close, with further restrictions aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus set to be eased in the coming days.

The Independence Day celebrations, characterized by barbecues in local parks, have been banned by the Health Ministry. Most local municipalities also canceled the traditional firework shows, deeming it ‘inappropriate’ at the time of the epidemic.

The US State Department said Monday it was prepared to recognize actions taken by Israel to extend Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. However, this recognition would be ‘in the context of the Government of Israel agreeing to negotiate with the Palestinians along the lines set forth in President Trump’s [peace plan],’ a State Department spokesperson told The Times of Israel.

The Arab League said Monday it will convene an urgent virtual meeting this week to discuss how to galvanize opposition to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

Syria has accused Israel of conducting a pre-dawn airstrike on a military airfield near Damascus on Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least four Iranian militants and three civilians were killed, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he was ‘confident’ US President Donald Trump would let him fulfill his election promise to apply Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank “a couple of months from now.”

The High Court of Justice ruled Sunday that the Shin Bet security service’s cellphone tracking of confirmed coronavirus carriers cannot continue unless the government anchors the highly controversial practice in law.

Israel and the Islamic militant Hezbollah group have reportedly agreed on informal rules of engagement as they prepare for possible war while trying to avoid setting it off. The New York Times newspaper reports that Israel has mostly refrained from killing members of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and committed to destroying the Jewish state.

Constitutional scholars in Israel are crying foul about the new unity agreement signed by alternating Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, saying it destroys the separation of powers necessary to democratic governance.

Concerning Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said: ‘The Israelis will ultimately make those decisions. That’s an Israeli decision,’ the Times of Israel reports. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Pompeo added that the US would share its views on the issue in a private setting.

Prophecies from rabbis about the coming of the Messiah and a third World War are coalescing with the timing of the implementation of the ‘Deal of the Century’ peace plan this summer under a new Israeli unity government.

Tens of thousands of Christians joined an online ceremony marking Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, amid concerns that antisemitism will spread as fast as the coronavirus. While a memorial siren sounded across Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) had viewers stand to honor 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, also known as Shoah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the country to go into lockdown for the country’s Independence Day scheduled for April 28, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to a study released Monday, there was an 18% increase in violent anti-Semitic incidents worldwide last year, Israel Hayom reports. Conducted by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, the study found there were 456 such incidents in 2019, compared to 387 in 2018.

The unity government agreement inked on Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz will allow Israel to initiate legislation to annex large parts of the West Bank starting in the beginning of July.