Merav Michaeli, Israel’s transport minister and leader of the Israeli Labor party, has joined other left-wing MKs in announcing that her party will oppose plans to build new settlements in the West Bank. During the weekly Labor caucus meeting, Michaeli said: “We will oppose any initiative that will prevent a Read more…
After 35 hours of voting, the Knesset last week passed a two-year budget – Israel’s first since 2018. The adoption of the budget – in which 800 opposition objections had to be voted upon – provides the anti-Netanyahu coalition government with a major victory, removing the threat of new elections Read more…
Israel has advanced plans for 1,303 new homes for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank on Monday. This was the first authorisation of its kind under the new coalition government came to power in June, and the first since the Biden administration was inaugurated in January. The Higher Read more…
The approval of some 3,000 housing units for Israeli settlers in the West Bank has drawn criticism from left-wing voices in the Israeli government, as well as the Biden administration. 1,804 housing units received final approval for construction last week, while a further 1,382 units were advanced for final approval. Read more…
As the world gathers in Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference, Israel has featured prominently so far – for both positive and unexpected reasons. A recap COP26 is a UN conference bringing together more than 200 world leaders to move forward global efforts against climate change. This COP – or Conference Read more…
Israel announced this week that it had officially legalised the status of 4,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, ending a decade-long freeze in which almost no requests were authorised under Benjamin Netanyahu. The move was part of the government’s ongoing effort, led by defence minister Benny Gantz, to strengthen the Read more…
Israeli defence officials have expressed concern over a dramatic rise in hate crimes and violence by Jewish nationalists in the past two years. Most of the perpetrators appear to be West Bank settlers. Ynet news found that hate crimes increased significantly in 2020 compared with 2019, with a spike that began Read more…
Two Israeli ministers from the left-wing Meretz party, Nitzan Horowitz and Isawi Frej, met with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday night. Health minister Horowitz said his party was working to “keep the two-state solution alive” within Israel’s new coalition government, which is led by right-wing Naftali Bennett. “There Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel director Michael Rubin has written the below article for ZF Connect. Click here to read the original. If Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet was famously “a team of rivals”, it is difficult to know how to describe that of Naftali Bennett. While Israel’s highly proportional electoral system has on Read more…
The foreign ministers of Israel and Sweden held their first phone call in seven years on Monday, in a move one Israeli diplomat called a “relaunching of relations” after a lengthy period of tension. Yair Lapid spoke with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde, tweeting to thank her for “Sweden’s strong Read more…
Some 56 percent of Palestinians approve of recent “confidence-building measures” by the Israeli government, intended to improve everyday life for Palestinians. Polling by Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Survey and Policy Research, found that 56 percent of Palestinians viewed the moves positively, compared with 35 percent who Read more…
Israeli security forces foiled a major attack this week, as Palestinian terror groups sought to set up violence in solidarity with six escaped prisoners, Hebrew media reported on Monday. The Shin Bet security service and police foiled a number of attacks, Channel 12 and 13 reported, without giving details on Read more…