Politics and Knesset
In a troubling documentary, eight former Labour Party officials told the BBC that Corbyn’s team “interfered in the complaints process for incidents of alleged anti-Semitism, on some occasions processing them from his Westminster office.”
Human Rights Watch Israel director Omar Shakir must now leave the country within 20 days, after justices uphold earlier ruling finding him guilty of promoting BDS.
The ruling follows petitions by Aleksey Burkov, who has been in Israeli custody since 2015, and the family of Israeli-American woman Naama Issachar, who has been held by Russia since April.
“I release [Benjamin] Netanyahu from any commitment to me and to the New Right, and am ready to sit in the opposition. The main thing is to get a government established,” says the New Right leader.
Benny Gantz is eyeing a possible minority government with the Joint Arab List, though Knesset members insist that won’t happen—and neither would a third round of elections, if they can help it.
With 2,500 members, the movement has blamed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for enabling a “culture of anti-Semitism to emerge and fester” within the party.
Family of American-Israeli woman serving a more than seven-year sentence in Russia for drug-trafficking calls decision “immoral and inhumane” • Israeli justice minister: Extradition order was signed “after many in-depth deliberations.”
Israel’s “prosecution within a prosecution” is “making itself a political player—a player that is not elected by the public,” says Justice Minister Amir Ohana • Mandelblit: “The law-enforcement system will not be dragged into politics.”
“I would keep the embassy in Jerusalem, although I think the terms of that should have been part of the negotiated two-state solution even though Jerusalem has always been the capital of Israel,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).
As the quest for an Israeli government continues, mixed messaging within Blue and White centers on the possibility of a minority government with the support of the Joint Arab List.
“Once Blue and White realize that all these fantasies about breaking up the right wing are not feasible, then there will be a genuine opening for substantial, serious talks,” says Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Blue and White head Benny Gantz on Sunday, with Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Lieberman following a day later.
