Page 149 - Israel

Israelis, Palestinians clash at UN amid escalating political rhetoric

Israel's new hardline govt responded on Jan 6 by approving steps to penalize Palestinians in retaliation. PM Benjamin said they were aimed at what he called "an extreme anti-Israel" step at UN

Nations express 'deep concern' at Israeli punitive measure on Palestine

More than 90 countries have expressed deep concern at Israel's punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following a UN request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. In a statement released Monday by the Palestinians, the signatories called for a reversal of the Israeli measures, saying regardless of their position on the General Assembly's resolution, we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice. The 193-member General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions on December 30 in favour of the resolution which was promoted by the Palestinians and opposed vehemently by Israel. Even though rulings by the International Court of Justice are not legally binding, they can be influential on world opinion. Israel's new hardline government responded on January 6, approving steps to ..

FTA will act as catalyst to fulfill huge trade potential with India: Israel

Bernstein-Reich, who also holds the position of Chairperson of the Israel-India and Sri Lanka Chambers within the Israel-Asia Chamber, will continue in that role

Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu government in Tel Aviv

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the legal system and weaken the Supreme Court a step that critics say will destroy the country's democratic system of checks and balances. The protest presented an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags. Israeli media, citing police, said the crowd at Tel Aviv's Habima Square swelled to at least 80,000 people, despite cool, rainy weather. Protesters, many covered by umbrellas, held Israeli flags and signs saying Criminal Government," The End of Democracy and other slogans. They are trying to destroy the checks and balances of the Israeli democracy. This will not work, said Asaf Steinberg, a protester from the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya. And we will fight until the ver

PM Modi, Israeli PM Netanyahu discuss bilateral cooperation over phone call

Israeli PM Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation on Wednesday during which they emphasised the importance of continued cooperation between the two countries

US looking forward to engaging new Israeli govt, says White House

The United States is looking forward to working with the new Israeli government, the Biden administration said and asserted that it supports the normalisation of Arab-Israel relations. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its far-right and religious allies secured an emphatic victory in the general elections in the Jewish nation last year defeating Yair Lapid. This is Netanyahu's sixth stint as prime minister. "We really do look forward to engaging the Israeli government. I will be going to Israel, and that will be a substantial topic of conversation when I go," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in New Mexico. The Biden administration, he said, will have the opportunity to engage deeply with the new Israeli government on the threat posed by Iran. "We share the same fundamental objectives. We will work through any differences we have on tactics the same way that we have over the course of the past two years," Sullivan said. "We had Prime Minister Netanyahu fo

US Supreme Court turn away Israeli spyware maker in WhatsApp suit

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an Israeli spyware maker's bid to derail a high-profile lawsuit filed by the WhatsApp messaging service. The justices left in place lower court rulings against the Israeli firm, NSO Group. WhatsApp claims that NSO targeted some 1,400 users of the encrypted messaging service with highly sophisticated spyware. WhatsApp parent Facebook, now called Meta Platforms Inc., is trying to block NSO from Facebook platforms and servers and recover unspecified damages. NSO argued that it should be recognized as a foreign government agent and therefore be entitled to immunity under U.S. law limiting lawsuits against foreign countries. The request appeals a pair of earlier federal court rulings that rejected similar arguments by the Israeli company. The Biden administration recommended that the court turn away the appeal. The Justice Department wrote that NSO plainly is not entitled to immunity here. NSO's flagship product, Pegasus, allows operators to covertl

Thousands of Israelis protest Benjamin Netanyahu government's policies

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets Saturday evening to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government that opponents say threaten democracy and freedoms. The protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv days after the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in the country's 74-year history was sworn in. The settler government is against me, read one placard. Another banner read, Housing, Livelihood, Hope. Some protesters carried rainbow flags. The protest was led by left-wing and Arab members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. They contend that proposed plans by the new Cabinet will hinder judicial system and widen societal gaps. The left-wing protesters slammed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who on Wednesday unveiled the government's long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country's Supreme Court. Critics accused the government of declaring war on the legal system, saying the plan will upend Isra

New Israeli govt takes punitive steps against Palestinian leadership

In some of its first acts since coming to power, Israel's new Security Cabinet approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinian leadership, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday. According to a statement from Netanyahu's office, the move is in retaliation for Palestinians pushing the U.N.'s highest judicial body to give its opinion on the Israeli occupation. The development underscores the hard-line approach to the Palestinians that Israel's new ultranationalist government has promised at a time of rising violence in the occupied territories. It comes a week after the United Nations General Assembly voted to approve a resolution requesting that the International Court of Justice intervene and render an opinion on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel's Security Cabinet described the Palestinian Authority's request to the U.N. as a decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel. "The .

Israel builds 4.6 km wall around Gaza Strip to protect communities

Israel has already built on-ground and underground barriers to prevent Palestinians in Gaza from entering the Jewish state

UN calls for de-escalation following Israeli minister's Al-Aqsa visit

A senior UN official called for de-escalation of tensions following Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem.

Foreign Ministers of India, Israel discuss ways to strengthen ties

Israel's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Thursday in a telephonic call spoke about ways to strengthen bilateral ties, including ways to promote Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and projects in the field of innovation, food and water security. Jaishankar congratulated Cohen on his assumption of office, a press release from the Israeli foreign ministry said. "The ministers discussed the importance of relations between Israel and India, relations that are strategic partnership, and the ways to strengthen them through the promotion of a Free Trade Agreement between the (two) countries and projects in the field of innovation, food and water security," it said. The ministers also discussed the events that were held in 2022 to mark the 30th anniversary of establishment of full diplomatic ties between the two countries and the cooperation between Israel, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. The four countries are collaborati

Any action jeopardizing status quo of Jerusalem holy sites unacceptable: US

"We're deeply concerned by any unilateral actions that have the potential to exacerbate tensions precisely because we want to see the opposite happen," State Department spokesman Ned Price said

Israel's central bank raises interest rate to 3.75%, highest since 2008

This is the seventh consecutive rise in the base interest rate in Israel since April 2022 when the figure then stood at 0.1 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency

Israeli missile strikes put Damascus airport out of service, kills 2

Israel's military fired missiles toward the international airport of Syria's capital early Monday, putting it out of service and killing two soldiers and wounding two others, the Syrian army said. The attack, the second in seven months to put the Damascus International Airport out of service, caused material damage in a nearby area, the army said, without giving further details. Israel has targeted airports and ports in government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon's Hezbollah. An opposition war monitor reported the Israeli strikes hit the airport as well as an arms depot close to the facility south of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed in the strike. There was no comment from Israel. On June 10, Israeli airstrikes that struck Damascus International Airport caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways. It reopened t

Palestinian authorities hail UN vote on Israeli occupation of territory

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Palestinian presidency, on Saturday said, "the vote is evidence of the whole world standing by our people and their inalienable historical rights"

Huge crowds of Palestinians mark Fatah anniversary in Gaza City park

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians thronged a Gaza City park on Saturday to mark the 58th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah party, a rare show of popularity in the heartland of the militant Hamas group, Fatah's main rival. The crowds turned Katiba Park into a sea of yellow flags and pictures of Fatah founders and leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat. Hamas, which took over Gaza after routing pro-Abbas forces in 2007, permitted Fatah to hold the rally. In several past occasions following the 2007 takeover, Hamas had blocked or restricted activities for Fatah. While polls indicate Fatah is not that popular, the huge turnout could be seen as a rare opportunity to protest Hamas' heavy-handed rule in Gaza. The Islamic group has exhausted Gazans with heavy taxes amid record levels of unemployment and poverty. The 2.3 million residents live under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that Israel says is necessary to stop Hamas .

Indian, Israel, US researchers developing drug for GNB1 Encephalopathy

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Tel Aviv University and Columbia University are studying a rare genetic brain disease called "GNB1 Encephalopathy" and trying to develop a drug to treat it effectively. With less than 100 documented cases worldwide, GNB1 Encephalopathy is a kind of brain disease or neurological disorder which affects individuals in the foetus stage. Scientists say delayed physical and mental development, intellectual disabilities, frequent epileptic seizures, are among the early symptoms of the disease and since genome sequencing is an expensive exercise, not many parents opt for it early on. According to Haritha Reddy, a former PhD scholar at IIT Madras, a single nucleotide mutation in the GNB1 gene that makes one of the G-proteins, the "G1 protein," causes this disease. "This mutation affects the patient since they are a foetus.Children born with GNB1 mutation experience mental and physical developmental delay, epilepsy (abnormal

Israel's overnight tourist stays reach 922,300 in Nov, highest in 3 years

The November figure is even more than that of all months combined in 2021, during which only 801,700 tourist stays were registered in Israel

Over 1,000 senior Israeli air force veterans say incoming govt a danger

Over 1,000 senior Israeli air force veterans, including a former Israeli chief of staff, on Monday urged the country's top legal officials to stand tough against the incoming government. In a letter to the chief of Israel's Supreme Court and other top officials, they said the alliance of religious and ultranationalist parties threatens Israel's future. The letter was delivered days before the new government is to take office. We come from all strata of society and from across the political spectrum, the letter said. What we have in common today is the fear that the democratic state of Israel is in danger. It called the legal officials the final line of defence and implored them to do everything in your reach to stop the disaster that is affecting the country. Among the nearly 1,200 signatories were Dan Halutz, who served as military chief from 2005-2007; Avihu Ben-Nun, a former commander of the air force and Amos Yadlin, a former head of military intelligence. All three are form