JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament speaker abruptly resigned Wednesday, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and deepening the country’s political turmoil as the embattled Israeli leader tries to cling to power amid a fast-spreading outbreak of the coronavirus and a looming corruption trial. The resignation of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein clears the way for the opposition to move … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel appeared on the verge of a constitutional crisis Tuesday as top members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud urged their party colleague and parliament speaker to defy a Supreme Court order to let lawmakers hold a vote for his successor. After suspending parliamentary activities last week, citing procedural issues and restrictions on large gatherings due to the spread … Read More
JERUSALEM _ With the Israeli government enacting a series of emergency measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing accusations that he is exploiting the crisis to entrench himself in power and undermining the country’s democratic foundations. Amid a wave of sweeping restrictions that have put Israel in near shutdown mode, Netanyahu … Read More
JERUSALEM _ Israel braced for its first fatalities as the number of coronavirus cases spiked by 25% on Wednesday while Iraqis in Baghdad hunkered down as a week-long government-imposed curfew took effect and Iran pressed on with its struggle to control the Mideast’s worst outbreak. Israel’s health ministry said 90 more people had tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of Israel’s shadowy Shin Bet internal security service said Tuesday that his agency received Cabinet approval overnight to start deploying the agency’s phone surveillance technology to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Israel, a move that sparked widespread criticism from lawmakers and civil rights groups. While Nadav Argaman acknowledged that using the … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel swore in its newly elected parliament on Monday under stringent restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak, in a surreal ceremony reflecting the country’s unprecedented dual crisis in politics and public health. Instead of the typical festive gathering of parliament’s 120, the new lawmakers took the oath of office in groups of three over 40 staggered rounds, … Read More
JERUSALEM _ Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz will be given the first opportunity to form a new government, the country’s president said Sunday, raising questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future following an inconclusive national election earlier this month. The decision by President Reuven Rivlin was announced by his office after he consulted with leaders of all of the … Read More
TIRA, Israel (AP) — A surge in Arab voter turnout was key to depriving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist allies of a parliamentary majority in this week’s Israeli election. Undercutting Netanyahu’s ambitions was celebrated as sweet payback in the nearly 2 million-strong minority that the hard-line leader had relentlessly tried to tarnish as disloyal to the state. An … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future remained up in the air Tuesday as preliminary results and exit polls from Israel’s third election in under a year indicated the embattled leader would fall short of securing the parliamentary majority needed to form a new government. Netanyahu, set to go on trial on corruption charges in two weeks, claimed … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel heads into its unprecedented third election in less than a year Monday after a tumultuous campaign that saw the prime minister indicted on corruption charges, President Donald Trump release his much-anticipated Mideast plan and various mergers and machinations that reshuffled Israel’s fragmented political world. Yet, despite the flurry of activity, public opinion polls are predicting a … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — A former housekeeper at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence is suing the leader’s wife Sara for pain and suffering allegedly caused during her employment there, the housekeeper’s attorney said Thursday. Opheer Shimson says his client is demanding $190,000 in damages for the abuse from Sara Netanyahu. He said the woman, an immigrant from France in … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister denounced Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders on Wednesday for what he called his “horrifying comment” about Jerusalem, saying that those who support Israel would not back Sanders’ presidential candidacy after such remarks. At a contentious Democratic debate on Tuesday night in South Carolina, Sanders labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist” and said … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel finds itself in a familiar place after a tumultuous election campaign — with maverick politician Avigdor Lieberman still seemingly in control of the country’s fate. The run-up to Israel’s third election in less than a year saw criminal charges filed against the prime minister, an American Mideast plan unveiled and various party mergers and machinations. Yet … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — A leading Israeli opposition figure said Monday that embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned a U.S. initiative for ending conflict with the Palestinians into a campaign “stunt” by pushing for the immediate annexation of West Bank settlements. Co-leader of the Blue and White party Yair Lapid insisted he was against unilateral steps endangering what he … Read More
MOSCOW (AP) — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the White House after the unveiling of President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan, which hugely favors Israel, he and his entourage could barely contain their glee as they boasted of realizing their dream of swiftly annexing large swaths of the West Bank. But by the time his plane had flown across … Read More