Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Israel’s parliament adopted legislation limiting the powers of the top court despite protests and President Isaac Herzog saying that his nation is in “a state of national emergency.”

After 29 weeks of protests and mass public opposition that have roiled the country and divided its citizens, the Knesset gave its final approval Monday to a law that prevents the courts from reviewing the “reasonableness” of government and ministerial decisions, the first major bill of the government’s judicial overhaul to pass into law.

Speculation grew Sunday evening that the Histadrut, Israel’s largest labor federation, could announce a general strike after a compromise it had floated in an attempt to end a bitter, divisive national standoff over the government’s planned drastic overhaul of the judiciary was quickly dismissed by the ruling Likud party, anti-government protesters and parts of the opposition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent successful surgery to implant a pacemaker Saturday night. He was sedated for the operation, and turned over duties to Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, chief architect of the judicial reform legislation making its way through the Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that there were talks underway to reach a broad agreement on the final wording of the first bill in his judicial overhaul that is scheduled for a final vote on Monday and would prevent judicial oversight over the executive branch.

The Palestinian Authority announced Wednesday that it has no intention of disarming the Jenin Battalion terrorist associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), or other terrorist groups operating in the West Bank city of Jenin, i24News reports. The announcement came after recent high-profile major IDF counter-terrorism operations in Jenin.

A new report from the Jewish Agency for Israel shows there has been a substantial decrease in Jewish immigration to Israel from Western countries in the first half of this year while there has been a significant rise in immigration from Russia in the same, the Jerusalem Post reported exclusively.

Israel announced Wednesday that it would be allowing all American citizens, including dual-nationality Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to enter the country through its international airport as part of an agreement to qualify for a visa waiver program with the U.S.

Two Syrian soldiers were injured after alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted sites in the Damascus area on Tuesday night, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

Within approximately 18 months, Israel is expected to deploy the world’s first laser defense systems, on borders that have Iranian-backed terrorist armies on the other side.

Israeli protesters blocked highways and gathered outside Tel Aviv’s stock exchange and military headquarters on Tuesday in the latest countrywide demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s planned judicial overhaul.

US President Joe Biden spoke Monday evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in four months. During the conversation, Biden invited Netanyahu to meet with him in the United States, according to a readout of the meeting from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to crack down on Monday against threatened no-shows for military reserve duty by opponents of his judicial overhaul plan, saying such actions were anti-democratic and risked emboldening the country’s foes.

Leaders in the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they were “shocked” that a judge on Israel’s High Court of Justice decided Thursday that the court will hear a petition from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to have the prime minister disqualified from office.

Hundreds of visitors flocked to Shiloh in Samaria’s Binyamin region on Thursday to welcome a biblically pure red heifer.

The N7 Initiative is pushing for a regional free agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors, starting with a trilateral one with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Bringing to mind longstanding, harmful antisemitic narratives, an “alarming” new study has found that Israel has been criticized on the Twitter social media platform around 10 times more than any other country in the world in regard to human rights violations, the Jerusalem Post reports. Posts against Israel included typical antisemitic tropes about Jewish bloodlust, dominance, covert control, and replacement.

An explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel slightly wounded at least three members of the militant Hezbollah group, a Lebanese security official said.

Senior Cabinet Ministers decried a ruling made by Israel’s Supreme Court Wednesday morning that nullified a clause in a law about foreign workers residing in Israel. The clause required than any government financial or social benefits earned by a foreign worker in accordance with the law become forfeit should the worker illegally remain in Israel after his visa expired.

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday visited Jenin.