Whether Netanyahu or Gantz wins Israel's election this week, more legislation will be drafted to advance institutional discrimination against the country's Palestinian minority, and the abusive treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories will intensify.
Israel benefits from a strong military and even stronger allies, but analysts warn the state faces major challenges Al Jazeera – 17 April 2018 It appears Israelis have every reason to be in festive mood this week as they celebrate the 70th anniversary of their state’s founding. This “Independence Day”, which Israel marks according to […]
The legal noose has tightened sharply around the neck of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as dramatic developments on two fronts last week left him more exposed than ever. He is due to be questioned by police in two new corruption probes before he leaves for the United States on Thursday.
The recommendation by police to charge Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with two counts of bribery – there are more cases looming – marks a dangerous moment for Israel and the region. To bolster his position, Netanyahu is already provoking a damaging confrontation at home with legal authorities and might yet engineer a regional crisis.
Benjamin Netanyahu is in danger of being brought down, possibly soon, over what initially appears to be little more than an imprudent taste for Cuban cigars and pink champagne. But the allegations reveal far more than his personal flaws. They shine a rare light on the corrupt nexus between Israel’s business, political and media worlds, compounded by the perverse influence of overseas Jewish money.
The smell of scandal has swirled around Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for years. Now the smell is starting to turn to a stench, say analysts. One commentator suggested Netanyahu's conduct risked being compared to the behaviour of a head of a "banana republic". In one of the police investigations, recordings reportedly show Netanyahu promising to help a newspaper editor damage his rival in return for favourable coverage.
Netanyahu was among the first to congratulate Trump by phone. The US president-elect reciprocated by inviting him for talks "at the first opportunity". And yet Netanyahu is reported to be anxious about a Trump White House. Why? It is certainly not because of Trump’s stated policies on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In a surprise move, Benjamin Netanyahu forced out his long-serving defence minister, Moshe Yaalon. As he stepped down, Yaalon warned: “Extremist and dangerous elements have taken over Israel." He was referring partly to his expected successor: Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose trademark outbursts have included demands to bomb Egypt and behead disloyal Palestinian citizens. But Yaalon was also condemning extremism closer to home, in Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
There is no bigger taboo in Israel than comparing the state of Israel to Nazi Germany. And yet that is precisely what Yair Golan, the deputy head of the Israeli military, did during a speech to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. There is now a palpable fear among army commanders like Golan that they are losing control over their soldiers - and with it any hope of holding on to their much-cherished claim to be the "most moral army in the world".
In Israel’s evermore tribal politics, there is no such thing as a “good" Arab – and the worst failing in a Jew is to be unmasked as an “Arab lover". Or so was the message last week from Isaac Herzog, head of Israel’s so-called peace camp. In the current climate, Herzog and his opposition party Zionist Union have found themselves highly uncomfortable at having in their midst a single non-Jewish legislator.
