June 17: Anti-gov&#8217;t rally near PM&#8217;s home descends into violent clashes; 9 arrested

Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah “in a precise manner and based on intelligence information,” raiding and destroying several booby-trapped buildings over the past day, the military says in a morning update.

In Rafah’s northwestern neighborhood of Tel Sultan, soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade killed several gunmen in close-quarters combat, the IDF says.

The IDF says that in the same area, a weapons depot from which an anti-tank missile was fired at troops was destroyed.

Meanwhile, troops also continue to operate in the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip.

The IDF says troops killed several armed operatives and demolished buildings used by terror groups in the area.

11:16 am

Netanyahu tells ministers he’s disbanding war cabinet, amid Ben Gvir’s demands to join

Illustrative: Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir at a vote in the Knesset plenum, December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90/File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the security cabinet last night that the war cabinet — the small forum created on October 11 to manage the campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah — has been officially disbanded, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

The establishment of a narrow war cabinet was a core demand of National Unity party chair Benny Gantz to join the coalition.

Gantz, one of the three cabinet members, bolted the coalition last week, taking with him Gadi Eisenkot, one of the three war cabinet observers.

Now that the emergency unity government is no more, the war cabinet that emerged as part of that arrangement is no longer relevant, a PMO official explains.

The dissolution was anticipated, as far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has been lobbying to be added to the forum.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will hold small ad hoc consultations with other relevant officials to make key decisions on the war, while seeking final approval from the wider security cabinet.

According to Ynet, Ben Gvir would be kept out of these consultations as well.

11:45 am

Doctor tells Knesset there’s no rehab program for Noa Argamani: ‘Even after the hostages return, they are abandoned’

Rescued hostage Noa Argamani is reunited with her father Yaakov Argamani at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Prof. Hagai Levine tells a Knesset committee that over eight months since October 7, there is still no plan for the rehabilitation of the freed hostages.

“Yesterday I visited Noa Argamani. I am sorry to tell you that despite all our sympathy, there is no plan for her, or the other freed hostages’ rehabilitation,” says Levine, chair of the Israel Association of Public Health Physicians, and a leading member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“There is no rehabilitation program. None,” Levine says. “Even after their return, they are abandoned.”

State Audit Committee chair Yesh Atid MK Mickey Levy responds: “This is a very grave thing. I will urgently contact the health minister to find out why there is no such plan.”

Argamani, rescued in an Israeli operation last week, was released from hospital a number of days ago after undergoing tests.

12:24 pm

UEFA says it wants to keep Russian flags out of stadium for Ukraine’s opening Euro 2024 game

By AP

England's Jude Bellingham (10) celebrates his goal with Trent Alexander-Arnold during the first half in a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

UEFA wants to keep Russian flags out of the stadium when Ukraine plays its first European Championship game later today after some were displayed in the stands at other games.

UEFA says security staff will try to intercept and remove Russian flags from being displayed at the Munich stadium where Ukraine plays Romania in the Euro 2024 group stage.

Russian teams were banned by UEFA from international competitions within days of the full military invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022.

Still, Russian citizens could try to buy tickets for Euro 2024 games. The national flag of white, red and blue horizontal bands has been displayed at some of the first group-stage matches, including in Munich on Friday next to Scotland flags at the opening game against Germany.

Several Russian flags also were seen among Serbia fans during their team’s game against England yesterday in Gelsenkirchen. Serbia is one of Russia’s strongest traditional allies in Europe.

Many images of Jude Bellingham celebrating scoring the only goal of the game for England had Russian flags that could be clearly seen behind him in the Serbian end of the stadium.

German authorities previously said they only wanted to allow flags of the participating teams to be brought to stadiums and official fan zones broadcasting games on big screens in the 10 host cities. That was seen also as a protective measure to avoid likely confrontations if Israeli and Palestinian flags were displayed.

UEFA also has disciplinary rules against political messages at stadiums and can punish teams if fans display them.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

12:33 pm

Lebanese media reports casualties in Israeli drone strike on vehicle near Salaa

Lebanese media report an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the southern town of Salaa, in the Tyre district.

Casualties are reported in the strike.

12:51 pm

Parents of northern border surveillance soldiers to petition High Court if troops not moved further back – report

Soldiers are seen monitoring surveillance cameras at a command center at the IDF's Re'im camp in southern Israel, November 5, 2023.(Israel Defense Forces)

The parents of a number of surveillance soldiers serving on a base close to the northern border say they will petition the High Court if their demand is not met that the troops be moved to a safer position, further from the frontier, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the outlet, the parents want to know why the soldiers have not been moved further back from the border, and whether there is a plan to ensure their evacuation or protection if there is a more severe outbreak of fighting.

The parents have long expressed concern that the soldiers were not equipped or trained to deal with the potential risks of being so close to the border.

According to the parents, the soldiers are in “daily danger to their lives, with anxieties and fears, burnout and fatigue, which impair their functioning.”

The parents reportedly say that it is unclear why some soldiers have been evacuated from the border, while others were not.

“My daughter asks why they are waiting to evacuate them. If a soldier asks such a question, we must act. They can do the work from anywhere, even from Tel Aviv,” one of the mothers tells Kan.

In response, the IDF spokesperson tells the broadcaster: “We are aware of the feelings of the observers and their parents and are at their disposal in order to provide them with the best ways to carry out their duties professionally while maintaining their safety.”

In February, a number of the parents said they would rather see their children sent to military prison for defying orders than have them placed in unnecessary danger at the base near the border with Lebanon. At the time, some of the parents said their fears were dismissed.

The Hezbollah terror group has launched near-daily attacks on communities and military posts in the north.

The IDF’s treatment of the surveillance soldiers, the vast majority of whom are women, has been heavily criticized since the war began, when Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

When the attack began, surveillance soldiers near the Gaza border were unarmed and did not have sufficient protection from the terrorists who overran the Nahal Oz base, where they killed 52 soldiers, including 15 female surveillance officers, and kidnapped a further seven female surveillance officers.

Following the October 7 onslaught, surveillance soldiers who served along the border with Gaza said they had raised alerts prior to that day of suspicious activity, but were ignored.

1:17 pm

‘Like thieves in the night’: Likud MKs slam revival of bill expanding Chief Rabbinate’s influence

Coalition MK Moshe Saada of Likud attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hearing on a bill to severely limit the courts' use of the reasonableness standard, July 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Likud lawmakers and the umbrella group representing local authorities work to head off the reintroduction of a bill dramatically changing how municipal rabbis are chosen in the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee.

Addressing the committee this morning, Likud MK Moshe Saada accuses the Religious Zionism party of acting “like thieves in the night” by bringing back the controversial bill, which would greatly expand the influence of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Religious Services Ministry in the appointment of municipal rabbis at the expense of local authorities — while at the same time also eroding the role of women in the process.

“This is a law that we opposed in Likud and with the consent of the prime minister, the law was dropped from the agenda,” Saada tells chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), arguing that it is not the time to deal with “jobs or the interests of one or another party.”

If passed into law, the bill could cost taxpayers dozens of millions of shekels annually in salaries for hundreds of new neighborhood rabbis employed by local municipalities.

Critics of the bill charge it would benefit Haredi party Shas by creating jobs for its apparatchiks and increasing the Chief Rabbinate’s say both in appointing rabbis and in how they operate.

“The rabbis law will go before the Constitution Committee tomorrow. This is what Simcha Rothman, the chairman of the committee, decided,” tweets Likud MK Tally Gotliv.

“If my position and the position of other members of the Knesset to remove the law from the agenda will not be accepted, then there is a legal way to force the removal of the law from the agenda,” she says, without giving further details.

Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Eli Dallal also object.

The law “weakens local authorities by appointing rabbis instead of strengthening them,” tweets Illouz, adding that “local authorities should be much stronger, not less” and that “rabbis should be attentive to the public they serve and know their community in depth.”

“There is no place for such a law at this time that causes division in the people,” tweets Dallal, arguing that passing such a law must be done in coordination with Federation of Local Authorities.

Writing to Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli on Sunday, Federation of Local Authorities chief Haim Bibas, a senior figure in Likud, objected to the bill, the Walla news site reports.

Adding more staff requiring additional money “will further burden the coffers of local authorities” struggling to support residents during wartime, he wrote.

1:26 pm

Lapid meets with Yesh Atid MKs to discuss blocking ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during his Yesh Atid party's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, June 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Ahead of a scheduled debate in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid convenes representatives of his Yesh Atid party who sit on the committee to come up with strategies to block its passage.

“I believe that there are decent people in the committee from all factions of the house whose conscience and values will not allow them to pass the law as it is,” Lapid says at the meeting.

If approved, the bill would lower the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students from 26 to 21 and “very slowly” increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription.

It is being promoted by the government at the same time as another bill mandating that IDF reservists will continue to be called up until a higher age.

1:43 pm

US envoy Hochstein to meet with Herzog, Netanyahu, Lapid and Gantz

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, speaks to journalists at Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport after his meeting with Lebanese officials, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 31, 2023. (AP/Bilal Hussein)

US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein is slated to meet President Isaac Herzog, an aide to the president tells The Times of Israel.

He will then meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war leadership, then is scheduled to sit with opposition figures Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz later tonight.

Hochstein is in Israel for meetings as part of attempts to avoid further escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.

2:20 pm

Far-right MKs announce formation of Knesset caucus to advocate for resettlement of Gaza

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on February 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Building on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s calls to establish Jewish communities in Gaza following the war with Hamas, two far-right lawmakers announce the establishment of a “Knesset Caucus for the Renewal of Settlement in the Gaza Strip.”

The move is announced in a joint release by MK Limor Son Har-Melech, of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, and by Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot.

They say that the lobby, whose launch is slated for Tuesday in the Knesset, is necessary because in the wake of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank “and the terrorism that followed… settlement in the Gaza Strip [is] a necessary step to protect Israel’s security and ensure its future.”

“Only by a dense presence of Jewish settlements throughout Gaza will it be possible to prevent the continuation of terrorist threats and deter the enemy,” they state.

“Only settlement will bring security,” says Sukkot, a former prominent radical settler activist who was arrested multiple times and was once suspected of involvement in the arson of a mosque in the northern West Bank. “Only Jewish children playing in the Strip will make the Nova terrorists realize that they have lost.”

MK Zvi Sukkot at the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 12, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“When they realize that they are losing control of Gaza and losing the land of Gaza, they will be ready to release hostages without setting conditions that pose a threat to the existence of the State of Israel,” he adds.

Son Har Melech, who was a resident of the northern West Bank settlement of Homesh before it was evacuated during the Disengagement, argues that “if we do not plant deep Jewish roots in the land of Gaza, the enemy will continue to expand the range of his attacks and continue to threaten us.”

“Without settlement, not only the residents of the Gaza border area, but also the residents of the north and other parts of the country will never feel safe,” she says.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out against the idea of Israel governing Palestinians in Gaza after the war, 11 ministers and 15 coalition lawmakers attended a mass conference in January advocating the rebuilding of Jewish Israeli settlements in the heart of the Gaza Strip.

More than half of Israelis oppose annexing the Gaza Strip and reestablishing settlements uprooted during Israel’s 2005 Disengagement, according to a poll from the Hebrew University published last December.

2:57 pm

MK: Most Haredi men who volunteered for IDF after Oct. 7 rejected as unsuitable, not because they’re unneeded

MK Sharon Nir attends a special conference on women's heroism in the war, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 13, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Rebutting United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf’s claim that the IDF does not need or want Haredi conscripts, Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Nir tweets that most of the ultra-Orthodox men who volunteered for military service following October 7 were rejected due to unsuitability and not because there is no manpower shortage.

Addressing an event in Bnei Brak yesterday evening, Goldknopf claimed that “four thousand Haredim asked to enlist since the beginning of the year — though that’s not good to hear — but you ruled out 3,300 of them. You don’t want us and you don’t need us.”

Despite IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi stating that there is a “definite need” for Haredi soldiers, ultra-Orthodox politicians have long argued that the army does not want them — with one UTJ lawmaker going so far as to tell The Times of Israel earlier this year that he believed there was “a surplus of manpower.”

“Is it true that, as we are being told… that 4,000 Haredim asked to enlist in the IDF, but were not accepted,” Nir asks. She writes that military representatives confirmed part of Goldknopf’s claim to members of the Knesset Subcommittee for Personnel Affairs in the IDF, but Goldknopf’s interpretation was incorrect.

The statistics were provided to lawmakers at a meeting that was closed to the press.

According to Nir, 4,000 Haredim ages 26-50 did attempt to volunteer through the so-called Shlav Bet track, in which older people are put through two weeks of basic training before being sent to serve in noncombat roles.

“The IDF, which is hungry for manpower, seriously examined the numbers and found that only 1,300 of them were relevant for Shlav Bet,” she tweets. “The rest were found to be unsuitable,” with many suffering from physical and psychological issues that prevented their enlistment.

3:08 pm

Poll finds 60% of Israelis back proposed hostage-for-ceasefire deal

Illustrative: Protesters at a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, June 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A poll conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute finds that some 60 percent of Israelis want the country to “accept” the hostage-for-ceasefire deal presented by US President Joe Biden.

That proposal is based on the latest Israeli concessions, which Hamas continues to reject without a guaranteed end to the war.

It also finds that most Israelis want Palestinian civil control of Gaza after the war, with Israel maintaining responsibility for security. However, only 10% want the Palestinian Authority to administer the Strip, while over 60% would like to see it run by local Palestinian entities and Arab states. Notably, over one-fifth of Jewish Israelis want Israel to maintain full control over Gaza after the war.

The monthly poll shows a low level of trust in Netanyahu, and in the government more broadly. Some 56% of Jewish Israelis say they have a “very low” level of trust in the premier, while 74% of Arabs say the same. Almost three-fourths of Israelis said they had a “very low” or “fairly low” level of trust in Netanyahu’s government, a slight decline compared to the May poll.

There has also been a steady decline in public trust in IDF commanders, primarily on the right, while a clear majority of centrist and left-wing Israelis express trust in the army.

Israelis are split on what to do about the ongoing attacks from Lebanon, with 36% urging an all-out attack on the Hezbollah terror group as soon as possible, 26% seeking a war in Lebanon once the Gaza fight is over, and 30% desiring a political settlement.

Notably, over half of Jewish and Arab respondents express the belief that all citizens of Israel share a common future. The percentage of Arab Israelis with that opinion rose over the past year.

4:00 pm

Netanyahu meets US envoy Hochstein to discuss escalation with Hezbollah

By New York Jewish Week via JTA

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets with US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein — US President Joe Biden’s point man on the months-long Israel-Hezbollah tensions — at the premier’s office in Jerusalem to discuss the escalating fight in the north.

A US embassy spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that Hochstein is in Israel as part of the Biden administration’s efforts “to further prevent escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border.”

Netanyahu is joined by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, Military Secretary Roman Gofman, and Political Adviser Ophir Falk. US Deputy Ambassador Stephanie Hallett joins Hochstein.

The Israeli readout does not include any details of the content of the conversation.

Hochstein is slated to meet with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in the evening, and with National Unity party chief Benny Gantz later in the night.

4:02 pm

Israel: UN hasn’t yet taken ‘full advantage’ of new aid route into Gaza

By AP

A truck carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip crosses the Kerem Shalom border crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, May 30, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Israel says the United Nations is yet to “take full advantage” of a new route meant to ease the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip.

The military yesterday announced a “tactical pause” in daytime fighting along roads leading from a main goods crossing to a north-south highway. The route is meant to help address a backlog of aid waiting for pickup on the Gazan side of the crossing.

“We have not seen the UN take full advantage of this step,” says Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT, an Israeli defense body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza. Freedman makes the remarks at a briefing for reporters at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, said workers on the ground were unable to use the route yesterday, blaming a breakdown in law and order in the territory.

At the Israeli briefing, officials do not say how many trucks have made use of the route.

Freedman says the route will have military presence and Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has said Israel will “make sure the road is safe.”

Israeli authorities have continually said the lack of aid reaching desperate Palestinians in Gaza is due to the failure of the UN to distribute supplies within the war-stricken territory. Meanwhile, the UN has claimed Israel is enforcing unnecessary and drawn-out inspection procedures at the crossing, and that fighting in Gaza, along with violence and truck looting, has hampered their distribution efforts.

Freedman says there are more than 1,000 trucks on the Gaza side of the crossing waiting to be picked up for delivery.

4:06 pm

‘Suffs’ creator Shaina Taub cites Jewish text in Tony Awards acceptance speech

Shaina Taub accepts the Best Original Score award for "Suffs" onstage during The 77th Annual Tony Awards at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, June 16, 2024 in New York City. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions via JTA)

Celebrating her second Tony of last night, “Suffs” creator Shaina Taub turned to Jewish tradition.

Taub won awards for best book of a musical and best original score written for theater for the Broadway show about the women who fought to be able to vote in the United States. In her acceptance speech for the second award, she thanked her mentors and gave a shoutout to “all the theater kids out there.”

Then she quoted a Jewish text that she said had a prominent place in her show’s literature.

“The epigraph on my script is a quote from the Talmud: You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it,” said Taub, who also plays suffragist Alice Paul in the show. She added: “This is a hard year in our country, and I just hope that we can remember that when we organize and we come together we are capable of making real change and progress for this country for equality and justice. And so I hope we can all do that together.”

The famous quotation, from Rabbi Tarfon, is found in the canonical text of Jewish ethics, Pirkei Avot. It is part of the Mishna, the code of oral law that is at the core of the Talmud. The saying has animated legions of Jewish activists, from acolytes of the late liberal US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the acting attorney general at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, who have sought to battle against steep odds to make change.

4:27 pm

Lapid urges coalition to work on a new, comprehensive law that will draft Haredim to IDF

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks at the outset of his Yesh Atid party's weekly faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Asserting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “undermining national security,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on coalition lawmakers to work to “pass a real, effective conscription law, so that our fighters will know that the Knesset stands behind them.”

Addressing reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting at the Knesset, Lapid decries the Netanyahu-backed “evasion and refusal law” — which lowers the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students — as “a betrayal of the fighters, a betrayal of the reservists, a betrayal of the Israeli middle class and a betrayal of the IDF.”

Tomorrow, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is set to debate the legislation, which aims to exempt yeshiva students from service at age 21 and “very slowly” increase the rate of their conscription.

“Since we met here last Monday, we are already at 16 dead who gave their lives for the country, and the kollel students are hiding in the tent of Torah,” he says.

Pushing back against those who say the ultra-Orthodox are not ready for military service, Lapid declares that “you don’t need any process of adaptation or adjustment. There is already such a process — it’s called basic training.”

Lapid also takes aim at a slogan used by some Haredim, “We will die and not enlist.” He says that “those who die every day are those who did enlist. Enlisting is what our children do.”

He urges, “This law should be finished in the current [legislative] session. Convene the committee five days a week from morning to evening. If the reservists can serve 150 days in a row, the committee can also.”

Asked about how he would handle Haredim who refuse to enlist, Lapid says there is no need to “send tanks to Bnei Brak,” but there are legal sanctions that can be applied.

4:47 pm

Likud MK: Government has no achievements, elections may be needed, we’re not really at war

Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo attends a Knesset committee meeting on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In a rarity, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party suggests the time may be right to call early elections due to the government’s ineffectiveness.

“We are a government with no achievements, that is the truth,” Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo tells the Knesset Channel in an interview.

Asked if elections are needed — as regular protests nationwide have been urging — Revivo says: “Maybe, it must be weighed. Elections are one of the possibilities.” He says he assumes others in his party share his view, but adds that he doesn’t see the government falling in the coming weeks.

He says that even if Likud loses the country’s leadership, it’s worth it because “Israel comes before the leadership.” He denounces an “epidemic” of refusal to relinquish positions of power, alleging this happens in all political parties.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said elections should not be held while the war in Gaza is still ongoing.

Asked about this, Revivo says: “We aren’t really in the midst of a war, truth be told. What going on right now is not war. It may be fighting or an operation.”

4:56 pm

Lapid cagey when asked about potential renewed collaboration with Bennett

Asked by a reporter ahead of his Yesh Atid faction meeting if he might renew his prior partnership with former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who last week hinted at a political comeback, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid praises the Religious Zionist politician but says little to indicate that their previous close collaboration could resume as before.

As members of his Yesh Atid party chuckle, Lapid welcomes the prospect of a Bennett return, stating: “Naftali and I have been friends for many years. I love him and it is good and important that he will return to political life. I want more moral people in politics.”

He adds: “We speak all the time.”

Last week, Bennett, who led the now-defunct Yamina party, appeared to hint at a return to politics, tweeting that it is possible to rebuild a wide unity coalition similar to the short-lived one he established with Lapid in 2021.

“Today more than ever, the unimaginable reality in which we have been living since October 7 requires a leadership that knows how to unite the people and do the most basic thing that a government should do: to put the interest of the State of Israel before any other consideration, to act wisely in front of the international community, to bring all parts of the people into the circle of service and to conduct the campaign with clear goals until our enemies are defeated,” Bennett said in a post on X. “Friends, we did it then, and you can do it again.”

Retweeting Bennett, Lapid quoted his statement, insisting that “with a professional government, real leadership and unity among us, it is possible. And much faster than you think. We will yet establish a state here that is worthy of this nation.”

5:00 pm

IDF says it has dismantled half of Hamas’s forces in Rafah, killed at least 550 gunmen

Troops of the Commando Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo published June 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces says it has dismantled about half of Hamas’s fighting force in Rafah, killing at least 550 gunmen in the area, as the operation against the terror group in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city continues.

The IDF’s 162nd Division has been fighting in Rafah for more than 40 days, first taking control of the city’s eastern outskirts and the border crossing with Egypt in early May. In the second stage of the operation, about a week and a half later, the division captured the Brazil neighborhood.

The third stage of the Rafah offensive saw the IDF take control of the entire Egypt-Gaza border, known as the Philadelphi Route, as well as pushing into the city’s northwestern Tel Sultan neighborhood.

The IDF says it has killed at least 550 gunmen in the Rafah operation — that is, those it was able to physically identify following battles. Many more terror operatives were killed in strikes against buildings and tunnels, it has assessed. Additionally, an unknown number of terror operatives fled the Rafah area as the military began its offensive there.

Of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade’s four battalions, two — Yabna (South) and East Rafah — are considered to be almost completely dismantled, while the capabilities of the other two — Shaboura (North) and Tel Sultan (West) — are somewhat degraded due to IDF operations.

Along the Philadelphi corridor, the IDF says it has located hundreds of rockets, including dozens of long-range projectiles aimed at central Israel. Also in the border area, more than 200 tunnel shafts have been located, leading to many underground routes.

The IDF says it has located at least 25 “long” tunnels that reach the border with Egypt, some of which likely cross into Sinai and had been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons. The military says it is investigating these tunnels further.

Aside from the Philadelphi Route, the IDF says it has established “complete operational control” over the Brazil neighborhood and so-called NPK neighborhood of Rafah, near the Shaboura and Yabna camps. The latter neighborhood is considered to be a major Hamas stronghold, and the army says troops killed dozens of gunmen inside tunnels there.

The 162nd Division has lost 22 soldiers amid the fighting in Rafah, eight of whom were killed on Saturday in a blast in an armored vehicle that came under attack.

5:19 pm

Report: Hanegbi suggested downgrading ties with states that recognized Palestine; was shot down

Incoming coalition chairman Tzachi Hanegbi (L) and Transportation and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz (R) at a Knesset ceremony swearing in the new government on May 14, 2015 (Knesset Spokesperson)

A dispute broke out last night during the security cabinet meeting between the foreign minister and national security adviser over how to respond to European countries that recently recognized Palestinian statehood, the Ynet news site reports.

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi suggested officially downgrading diplomatic relations with Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia, the report says. Israel recalled its envoys in May after the countries recognized a Palestinian state, but Hanegbi called for the move to be made permanent, and for Israel to close or limit the diplomatic representation of the four countries in Israel.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who according to Ynet had not been consulted on the matter, reacted furiously, telling Hanegbi: “Don’t drop a decision that imposes policy on me. I will decide whether or not to close a consulate or embassy.”

Other ministers reportedly supported Katz.

The foreign minister took off for Hungary after the meeting to meet his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó and President Tamás Sulyok.

5:29 pm

Smotrich pushes for sanctions on Palestinian Authority, files cabinet proposal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attend a vote on the state budget at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hard-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich submits to the security cabinet a proposal to sanction the Palestinian Authority and build four new settlements in the West Bank, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance the move.

“The decision, which was brought in coordination with the prime minister, comes against the backdrop of the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to gain support in the world to act against the State of Israel in the legal arenas and to bring about the recognition of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich says in a statement.

Smotrich says that “for technical reasons,” the proposal was not voted upon last night, and states that he “expects the prime minister, as agreed, to advance the proposals this week.”

Arguing that “settlement was and will remain the best way to ensure the security of the country,” Smotrich says that “every country that cooperates with anti-Israeli activity and recognizes the Palestinian Authority as a country should know that it is helping the Zionist enterprise and the strengthening of Jewish settlement in the country.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declines to comment on Smotrich’s proposal.

Following Ireland, Spain and Norway’s announcements that they will recognize a Palestinian state, Smotrich last month demanded that Netanyahu impose “harsh punitive measures” against the Palestinian Authority, including cutting off the transfer of tax revenue Israel collects on its behalf.

Last Thursday, Smotrich announced that he had signed an order to transfer some NIS 130 million ($35 million) of tax funds Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to victims of terror.

5:30 pm

Israeli drone crashes in Syria’s Quneitra

This undated handout photo published by Elbit Systems on September 12, 2023, shows the new Skylark 1 eVTOL drone. (Elbit Systems)

A small Israeli military drone crashed in southern Syria’s Quneitra earlier today, the military says.

The drone, a Skylark model, was on a reconnaissance mission when it fell out of the sky. The IDF does not detail the circumstances of the crash.

According to the IDF, there is no fear of information leaking from the aircraft.

The “sky rider,” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps.

The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.

Many such comparatively inexpensive UAVs have crashed, often in hostile territory, over the years.

5:30 pm

Hezbollah announces operative’s death following Israeli strike in Lebanon

The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.

He is named as Muhammad Ayoub, from the town of Salaa.

The announcement comes following reports of an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Salaa, in the Tyre district, killing at least one person.

His death brings the terror group’s death toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to 343.

5:49 pm

In conference, ex-hostages recount beatings, fears during Hamas captivity

By Charlie Summers

Survivors of Hamas captivity and family members of hostages speak at a conference organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Sderot on June 17, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Former hostages open up about their experiences in Hamas captivity to a crowd of journalists and social media influencers in Sderot, at a conference organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Danielle Aloni, 44, who was released during a weeklong truce in November, recalls that Hamas terrorists brought her and other residents of Nir Oz down to Gaza’s subterranean tunnels on the morning of October 7, when invading terrorists killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped 251.

“I wasn’t injured, though I was beaten on the way,” she adds.

“That definitely qualifies as an injury,” panel host Reshef Levi interrupts, prompting Aloni to clarify she had seen “really appalling injuries — exposed flesh, violent injuries.”

Louis Har, who was freed by the IDF in a rescue operation in February after 129 days in captivity, says that he worried each time he heard Israeli planes overhead.

He recalls that “glass broke, the entire floor shook” when bombs fell in Gaza, and he and other hostages “didn’t know when it would fall on us.”

When asked if she experienced any additional fear as a woman in captivity, Aloni explains that she and her 5-year-old daughter, who was abducted with her, were most afraid that their captors would kill them, “that they would lose their patience as the days progressed.”

“We already know the terrorists aren’t a homogeneous group. They don’t get notes on how to treat the hostages,” she says.

6:36 pm

Labor party head: If early elections aren’t called, protesters will force them

File - Labor chief Yair Golan speaks at the Labor party's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Labor party chief Yair Golan calls for “early and quick elections,” insisting that the “reckless government must go home.”

Speaking to reporters during the Labor party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Golan says that “Israel faces dramatic security challenges, led by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran” and that the “government is weak, failed and unable to deal with these threats” and must be replaced.

“The protest will expand, strengthen and grow. Those who do not want to set an early date for the elections will find themselves dragged there by the pressure of the street, the will of the public and the growing sense of disgust,” he says.

6:38 pm

IDF confirms strike on Hezbollah, says it killed ‘prominent’ member of its rocket unit

The IDF confirms carrying out this morning’s drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Salaa, killing a “prominent” member of Hezbollah’s rocket unit.

Muhammad Ayoub served in the rocket unit of Hezbollah’s Nasr regional division, according to the IDF.

In recent months, Ayoub was behind several rocket attacks on Israel, and planned to carry out other attacks.

Fighter jets also struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal, the IDF adds.

6:46 pm

Israel to wait for presidency switch before accepting key EU invite, FM says in Hungary

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, left, meets his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó in Budapest on June 17, 2024. (Foreign Ministry)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz tells his Hungarian counterpart that Israel will accept the recent invitation to participate in the Israel-European Association Council meeting, but only after Budapest assumes the Presidency of the EU Council in July.

Earlier this month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell invited Israel to an ‘ad hoc’ Association Council meeting to discuss the Gaza war, the first since 2022. Some feared the meeting would be used to berate Israel over the conflict.

Belgium currently holds the presidency, and Hungary is seen as far more friendly to Israel.

Meeting in Budapest, Katz tells Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó that Hungary’s presidency is “an unprecedented opportunity to improve Israel’s position in the EU.”

Katz says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is waiting for international bodies to adopt resolutions calling for a ceasefire that is not conditioned on the release of hostages, and “therefore it is important that the world be determined and make clear that there is no chance of that happening.”

Turning to attempts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon, Katz says that Israel wants a diplomatic solution, but Hezbollah is preventing one. “If we must fight, we will fight and defeat Hamas militarily,” he says.

6:55 pm

After vowing to oppose it, Likud MK to be replaced in vote on bill boosting Rabbinate’s influence

Likud MK Tally Gotliv attends a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on September 26, 2023. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

After vowing to oppose a reintroduced bill that would dramatically change how municipal rabbis are chosen, Likud MK Tally Gotliv reportedly agrees to be replaced by another lawmaker in tomorrow’s in the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

The controversial bill would greatly expand the influence of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Religious Services Ministry in the appointment of municipal rabbis at the expense of local authorities — while at the same time also eroding the role of women in the process.

However, even though the replacement lawmaker is expected to support the bill, it still isn’t clear whether the coalition will get the needed majority, as Otzma Yehudit MKs Yitzhak Kroizer and Moshe Saada intend to vote against it.

7:02 pm

Soldier killed in Rafah blast is laid to rest in Pardes Hanna-Karkur

The funeral of Staff Sgt. Orr Blumovitz, killed in a blast in southern Gaza's Rafah, in Pardes Hanna-Karkur, June 17, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Staff Sgt. Orr Blumovitz, 20, killed in Saturday’s blast in southern Gaza’s Rafah, is laid to rest in his hometown of Pardes Hanna-Karkur.

Blumovitz was one of eight soldiers killed in a combat engineering vehicle that came under attack. The other seven soldiers were buried yesterday.

7:19 pm

Thousands gather near Knesset for rally calling for hostage deal, early elections

People attend a rally urging a hostage deal and early elections near the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Thousands of protesters gather in front of the Knesset for a demonstration calling for early elections and for a deal with the Hamas terror group to secure the release of the hostages held in Gaza.

After the demonstration, at which newly elected Labor chief Yair Golan is set to speak, protesters plan to march to the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Today is the second day of what has been branded a “week of disruption” waged by various protest groups.

“No, we won’t agree to a reckless government,” protesters chant.

“No to fascism,” they continue. Getting warmed up, they continue with a chant about Netanyahu’s “guilt” over the failures of October 7 and about a demand for new elections.

A sign calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “Evil devil’ at a rally urging a hostage deal and early elections near the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

7:32 pm

In Knesset, hopeful hostage relatives cite increased willingness for deal with Hamas

By Jessica Steinberg

Hostage family members at a Knesset committee meeting on June 17, 2024, part of the weekly lobbying efforts by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. (Courtesy/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Hostage family members, in a series of committee meetings in the Knesset, say there is a strong sense of disappointment with the government and with its lack of leadership and absence of decision-making, even among members of more right-leaning family groups who have been less vocal about criticizing the leadership.

“We heard from [hostage parent] Tzvika Mor, who is a member of the Tikva Forum and has never wanted a hostage deal — only fighting Hamas in Gaza — and he said, ‘If we can’t fight, then let’s just make a deal,'” says Udi Goren, second cousin of Tal Chaimi, whose body was taken captive to Gaza on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. “That’s a huge ideological concession but it’s the same feeling we have, that there’s no leadership, no courage, no vision. We only hear what they’re not going to do, not what they are going to do.”

Goren is a hostage family member who spends each Monday at the Knesset, lobbying Knesset members and ministers to push for a hostage deal. As Chaimi’s second cousin, he is part of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and describes the other groups present in the Knesset, including the more right-wing Tikva Forum and the hawkish Gvura Forum, made up of bereaved parents of soldiers killed in the line of duty during the current war in Gaza, which have advocated for releasing the hostages via military pressure rather than diplomacy.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Goren describes the various speakers as “a hardcore expression of democracy that represents all the voices of the nation,” and recalls the “very militant” tone voiced by some of the Gvura Forum parents, one of whom yelled at a hostage’s mother.

“We need leadership. The lack of decision-making and the status quo is the worst thing that can happen,” says Goren, a professional photographer and tour organizer who has been working with the Families Forum since his cousin was first established as missing.

Another hostage family member, Yotam Cohen, refers to comments made today by Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo that there have been no accomplishments in Gaza and that maybe it’s time for new elections.

“We’re seeing that voters and maybe the Knesset are starting to understand that the war won’t bring the hostages home,” says Cohen, whose brother, Nimrod Cohen, was taken hostage on October 7 from Nahal Oz.

Cohen and his father plan to remain in Jerusalem and join the mass rally this evening.

“If the government can’t bring the hostages home, then the nation will go out to the streets,” says Cohen. “Everyone’s just done with this crappy situation. If they don’t do their jobs as Knesset members and as public servants, then we’ll be there to get them out.”

7:44 pm

At rally near Knesset, opposition MK says toppling the government is possible

Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz attends a rally urging a hostage deal and early elections near the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

At the anti-government demonstration outside the Knesset, opposition MK Moshe Tur-Paz of Yesh Atid tells The Times of Israel that he came out to support the protesters and that “we have to go to elections and change the government.”

Asked if he believes it is possible to bring down the government, the centrist lawmaker answers in the affirmative.

8:15 pm

Herzog speaks with Nepalese hostage’s family, hailing his Oct. 7 bravery

Bipin Joshi, a Nepali farming student, was taken captive from Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists (Courtesy)

President Isaac Herzog speaks with the family of a hostage from Nepal held in Gaza by Hamas.

“I was deeply moved to speak on Zoom with the family of Bipin Joshi, a student of agriculture from Nepal who was studying in Israel when he was brutally taken hostage by Hamas on October 7,” Herzog says, according to a statement by his office.

“Bipin showed great bravery and courage deflecting grenades as the terrorists began their onslaught,” he says. “I told his family that Israel will continue to do everything in its power to bring Bipin and all the hostages home to their families, as a matter of supreme importance and priority.

“The suffering of Bipin’s family and friends — from the other side of the world — is yet another proof of Hamas’s utter disregard for all human life, regardless of faith, nationality, gender or age.”

8:21 pm

Gallant meets US envoy Hochstein to discuss security situation in north

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, meets with US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv, June 17, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with Amos Hochstein, the visiting advisor to US President Joe Biden, for an “extended one-on-one meeting” at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, Gallant’s office says.

After that, the two held a discussion with professional teams, the statement adds.

Gallant briefed Hochstein on the developments in the north, where tensions have escalated recently with the Hezbollah terror group, according to the statement.

They “discussed the security situation at length and its impact on the region.”

8:34 pm

Reports: Blinken promised Netanyahu US will remove limits on arms shipments to Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on June 10, 2024. (Chuck Kennedy/US State Department/AFP)

During their meeting last week in Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington will in the coming days remove all restrictions on weapons transfers to the Jewish state, according to reports by Channel 12 news and Germany’s Bild.

The unsourced reports say that Netanyahu demanded the renewal of the same level of arms shipments as at the start of the war, lamenting that the US has in practice halted its military support for the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu reportedly warned that the slowing of aid plays into the hands of Iran and its proxies in the region, extends the war and increases the risk of it broadening to new fronts.

After Blinken’s pledge, Netanyahu told Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to make sure that the arms transfers have been renewed during upcoming meetings with American officials, the reports say.

8:42 pm

UK government data shows arms exports to Israel plunged at start of Gaza war

By Reuters

Britain’s approval of arms export licenses to Israel dropped sharply after the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, with the value of permits granted for the sale of military equipment to its ally falling by more than 95% to a 13-year low.

The figures are based on information provided by UK government officials to Reuters and data from the Department for Business and Trade’s Export Control unit.

The United States and Germany increased arms sales to Israel after the start of the war.

However, the value of British-approved licenses between October 7 and December 31 last year dropped to 859,381 pounds ($1.09 million), government officials tell Reuters. That is the lowest figure for the period between October 7 and December 31 since 2010.

8:48 pm

At Jerusalem rally, anti-government protest leader claims PM ‘smiles’ at Israeli deaths

By Gianluca Pacchiani

Anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler speaks at a rally urging a hostage deal and early elections near the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

At a demonstration in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem, anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler calls for early elections and for a deal with Hamas that will allow all hostages to return.

“Over the weekend, we heard [former war cabinet observer Gadi] Eisenkot say that the prime minister is controlled by Kahanists and is unable to make decisions,” she says, using a term for followers of the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane.

“After what happened on October 7, and in light of this government’s extremism and denial of its failure, it needs to return the mandate to the people,” she says in front of thousands of protesters.

Accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of taking pleasure in the deaths of Israeli soldiers, Bressler says Israel “has a prime minister who smiles as IDF officers knock on the doors of more families” to notify them of the death of their loved one.

8:54 pm

‘Traitors’: Anti-government protesters decry recent revival of Haredi enlistment bill

People attend a rally urging a hostage deal and early elections near the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 17, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

The crowd at the anti-government protest outside the Knesset boos as they watch a video of coalition lawmakers recently voting for a controversial bill to lower the age at which Haredi yeshiva students are exempted from military service.

The bill’s advancement during wartime, and as the military says it needs thousands of more soldiers as soon as possible, has enraged many secular and religious Zionist Israelis.

A few people in the crowd scream, “Traitors,” while others chant, “Shame.”

9:14 pm

Weeks before Oct. 7, IDF document said to have warned Hamas was planning to invade, take 250 hostages

A document put together by the IDF’s Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel during which hostages would be taken en masse, according to the Kan public broadcaster, citing unnamed security sources.

Chillingly, the September 19 document — which was ignored — estimates the target number of hostages at 200-250. During the actual October 7 attack, 251 hostages were taken as 1,200 others were killed, mostly civilians.

Similar reports are subsequently issued by other Hebrew media outlets.

The detailed document outlined a series of exercises by the Palestinian terror group’s elite forces who drilled raids on Israeli towns and military posts, including on how to hold soldiers and civilians hostage when back inside Gaza, and in what conditions they can be killed.

The document was brought to the attention of senior intelligence officials, at least those within the Gaza Division. The government and top military leaders have contended that they had not been warned about an imminent planned invasion at the time.

The report adds that the most extreme scenario the Gaza Division had prepared for before October 7 was dozens of terrorists breaching the border in three spots — far less than the estimated 3,000 who ended up entering Israel for the onslaught.

9:20 pm

UN welcomes Israel’s daily ‘tactical pause’ for aid deliveries in Gaza

By AP and ToI Staff

The United Nations is welcoming Israel’s announcement of a “tactical pause” in fighting on some roads in Gaza, and is hopeful this will lead to Israeli authorities lifting all alleged obstacles to aid deliveries for all of the territory.

“As we have reiterated, humanitarian operations in Gaza must be fully facilitated, and all impediments must be lifted,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq tells The Associated Press. “We need to be able to deliver aid safely throughout Gaza.”

The Israeli military yesterday announced a “tactical pause” in daytime fighting along roads leading from Kerem Shalom, a main goods crossing, to a north-south highway in Gaza. Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT, an Israeli defense body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said today that the UN has yet to “take full advantage of the new route.”

Israeli authorities have continually said the lack of aid reaching desperate Palestinians in Gaza is due to the failure of the UN to distribute supplies within the war-stricken territory.

In welcoming the announcement, Haq says: “The UN and its humanitarian partners are ready to engage with all parties to ensure critical, lifesaving assistance reaches those in need across Gaza, where catastrophic hunger is widespread.”

“We hope this leads to further concrete measures by Israel to address longstanding issues preventing a meaningful humanitarian response in Gaza,” he says.

With the war between Israel and Hamas in its ninth month, Haq says, displaced Palestinians in Gaza urgently need food, water, sanitation, shelter and healthcare, “with many living near piles of solid waste, heightening health risks.”

He asserts Israel needs to ensure that the movement of aid convoys and staff members through checkpoints is expedited, that all roads are operational, and that fuel — which is in critically short supply — enters Gaza regularly.

“It means providing the necessary communications equipment and logistical materials, which have long been denied by Israeli authorities,” Haq says.

“And most importantly, the rule of law must be addressed immediately,” he says. “Desperation and scarcity of aid have led to a near-total breakdown in law and order.”

9:57 pm

Far-right conference calls for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon, or ‘northern Galilee’

By Tal Schneider

Hagi Ben Artzi speaks at the First Lebanon Conference, advocating the occupying and settling areas of southern Lebanon, June 17, 2024. (Screenshot: YouTube)

A group of fringe far-right Israelis have held an online conference today, advocating the idea of occupying areas of southern Lebanon as a solution for ongoing daily Hezbollah attacks on Israel’s north.

The conference was broadcast live on YouTube, allowing participants to watch but not take part otherwise. A couple of hundred people watched the conference, and around 800 participated in a WhatsApp group in preparation for the event, though some of them were curious journalists.

One of the speakers is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s estranged brother-in-law, Hagi Ben Artzi.

The first part of the presentation focuses on the geopolitical situation in Lebanon, mentioning how it is a “failed state” due to a large number of sectarian groups.

“There is no such thing as the State of Lebanon, just a group of tribes,” says Eliyahu Ben-Asher, an activist.

Another activist, Prof. Yoel Elitzur, a Bible and Hebrew linguistic researcher, explains that there is no other way to win the war with Hezbollah other than Jews settling the “northern part of the Galilee” — i.e. southern Lebanon. He refers to bible inscriptions as proof of the necessity of such an act.

“We have to ask ourselves what is the proper way to assist God in fulfilling its intentions,” he says.

Ben Artzi, an educator and lecturer on Jewish thought, the Bible and the Talmud, suggests a change in the way Israelis refer to the area: “We must stop using the term south Lebanon or the security zone, because from a geographical viewpoint, the Galilee [in northern Israel] extends to the Litani River, it is a single mountainous mass within which no dividing line can be separated. It is an artificial border, it has no natural geographic basis, and terminology is important.”

He says this is similar to the way “we stopped using the term ‘West Bank’ and called it Judea and Samaria” — the territory’s biblical name, which is its default name for most Hebrew speakers.

Ben Artzi also tells the crowd how he was able to convince his brother-in-law, Netanyahu, to oppose the Israeli military’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon back in 1999, during an election campaign.

“Unfortunately, he lost the election to Ehud Barak at the time,” Ben Artzi reminiscences. A year later, Barak oversaw the withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

9:59 pm

French defense minister comes out against court decision to bar Israelis from Paris arms show

File: France's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu in Beirut on November 2, 2023 (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu backs the appeal of the organizers of the Eurosatory 2024 against a court decision banning anyone working for or representing an Israeli defense firm from the defense show.

“The executive branch is not supposed to react to court decisions,” he says, “but it is impossible to ignore the fact that this decision goes far beyond the original government request which never proposed such a ban.

“Therefore, the appeal of the organizers against this judicial decision is the correct step.”

The French Defense Ministry last month ordered Coges Event to ban the Israeli defense industry from setting up a stand at the show, saying that “the conditions are no longer right to host Israeli companies at the Paris show, given that the French president is calling for the cessation of IDF operations in Rafah.”

Seventy-four Israeli firms had been set to be represented at the June 17 to June 21 event at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport, with Coges previously saying around 10 of them were to exhibit weapons.

In a letter dated Saturday, Coges President Charles Beaudoin wrote that the organization thinks the court’s ruling “goes beyond the government’s decision taken two weeks ago,” as the latter prevented Israeli firms from exhibiting at the fair, while the former bans their representatives from entering.

10:01 pm

‘Enough’: Labor chief Golan chastises ‘messianic’ leadership at Jerusalem rally

By Gianluca Pacchiani

Newly elected Labor party leader Yair Golan takes the stage at a mass demonstration outside the Knesset and excoriates Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its policies and its management of the war against Hamas.

“We are in the harshest civilian battle since the founding of the state in 1948,” the opposition member says to a cheering crowd of thousands waving Israeli flags.

“We need to tell this government: Enough. We will return to be a democratic country. We are not mercenaries for this government and we do not finance its messianic goals,” Golan adds.

“We are conducting fierce battles in the north and in the south, and in order to win, we need to be strong at home. Fight corruption, fight the messianism. We are one people united by equality, peace and justice,” he continues, calling for the return of hostages and “refugees” to their homes — a reference to tens of thousands of displaced residents of Gaza-adjacent communities and northern towns.

10:04 pm

US to sanction Houthis: ‘They don’t care a whit about Palestinians — it’s terrorism’

By Jacob Magid

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledges that Houthi attacks on international shipping routes in the Red Sea are having an impact, as he announces a new batch of sanctions against the Iran-backed rebels.

“They don’t grab the headlines that they used to grab, but they’re having an impact,” Kirby says during a press briefing, referring to the Houthi attacks, which the rebel group says are targeting Israel-linked ships in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Kirby points to recent attacks that ended up targeting ships that had no ties to Israel and that led to innocents being injured and killed.

He notes that the Houthi attacks have obstructed humanitarian aid routes to Sudan and Yemen. “They impact commerce for every neighboring country in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.”

“The Houthi claim of supporting Gazans is meritless,” Kirby says, adding that maritime aid routes to Gaza directly from Israel are moving forward regardless.

“We are in the process of moving thousands of pallets from Ashdod [Port] into Gaza as we speak,” the White House spokesperson says, highlighting that the US is the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

Kirby adds that the US Treasury Department will be announcing new sanction designations later today against individuals and entities that are involved in the Houthi weapons procurement network.

“We will continue to target threats to international commerce when necessary, including taking another strike as we did just last night against an unmanned aerial vehicle that posed a direct threat to ships in the area.”

The Houthis “talk a mighty good game, but… They don’t care a whit about Palestinians in Gaza, and this isn’t some principled stand they’re taking. It’s terrorism… and it has to stop,” Kirby says.

10:05 pm

White House reiterates that avoiding Israel-Hezbollah war is possible

By Jacob Magid

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby is asked for the umpteenth time during a press briefing whether the US thinks a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah can still be avoided.

“If we were so sure of that, we probably wouldn’t have Amos traveling over there. We’re concerned about it obviously,” Kirby responds, referring to US President Joe Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein, who is in Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli leaders aimed at preventing a further escalation in the north.

“Our level of concern hasn’t really changed. It continues to be something that we’ve been worried about,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says in a later briefing.

10:09 pm

US says two universities fell short in addressing antisemitic hate

By Reuters and ToI Staff

The University of Michigan and the City University of New York have fallen short in addressing recent incidents of antisemitic or anti-Arab nature, the US Education Department says.

The department also reached resolutions with both universities over complaints of such incidents. The schools agreed to take some steps like reopening some past complaints, reporting their results to the government, training personnel on how to respond to claims of discrimination and conducting more surveys to assess such discriminatory experiences, the Education Department says in a statement.

These mark the first probes to be concluded among the several that have been launched by the department since October 7, when Palestinian terror group Hamas committed its onslaught in Israel, prompting the ongoing war in Gaza. Some probes have involved incidents from before the war began.

The Education Department says the universities have not complied with the requirement to remedy a hostile environment.

The universities confirm the resolution agreement and say they oppose all kinds of discrimination and harassment.

Advocacy groups say that incidents of hate and bias against Jews in the United States have skyrocketed amid the war. Incidents are also said to have increased against Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians.

10:12 pm

IDF says it struck multiple Hezbollah targets in Lebanon today