June 19: Ben Gvir said threatening vote boycott unless given more influence over Gaza war

FM rebuffs UN official who warns Israel may have to deal alone with Gaza humanitarian crisis

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has held a tense meeting with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag, Katz’s office tells The Times of Israel.

Kaag warned Katz that chaos and crime are spreading in Gaza, and soon the UN won’t be able to continue operating in the Strip if the situation doesn’t change, according to Channel 12.

The Foreign Ministry pointed to the fact that over 1,000 truckloads of aid are waiting to be distributed on the Gazan side of border crossings, but the UN has not done so. Kaag responded that the UN is afraid of Gazan gangs and looting, and that the anger of the residents could turn on the UN workers. She warned Israel that it could be left alone dealing with the humanitarian mess in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

Kaag also asked for dual-use items to be allowed in, but Katz insisted that Israel will continue checking carefully to make sure no aid that could be used by Hamas in producing weapons is allowed into Gaza.

Holocaust memorial stones in Germany vandalized with antisemitic messages

At least seven memorial stones for Jews who died in the Holocaust have been vandalized with antisemitic messages in the German city of Weimar, according to local reports.

“Jews are criminals,” say the messages on the stones, which are ingrained in local sidewalks to mark the houses that once belonged to the local Jews.

#Stolpersteine in #Weimar
2024
Ich weiß nicht mehr was ich noch sagen soll. pic.twitter.com/GOrhxbuUqO

— KattaTheLemur????️ ✡️ (@KattaTheLemur) June 19, 2024

IDF says rocket siren in Gaza border area was a false alarm

Rocket sirens that sounded in the southern community of Kerem Shalom, near the Gaza border, a short while ago were determined to be false alarms, the military says.

Threatened by Hezbollah, Cyprus says it’s not involved in military operations in Mideast

Cyprus's President Nikos Christodoulides speaks at the EPP Congress in Bucharest, Romania, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

The president of Cyprus says the east Mediterranean island nation “is in no way involved” in any military operations in the region or elsewhere.

President Nikos Christodoulides makes the statement in response to remarks by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who warned today that Cyprus could be implicated in a wider conflict if the island nation allows Israel to use its ports and airports to target Lebanon.

Christodoulides says Nasrallah’s remarks “don’t in any way reflect what’s being attempted, which is to present a picture that Cyprus is involved in military operations.”

The Cypriot president says his country is “part of the solution, not part of the problem” and is recognized throughout the Arab world and internationally through such initiatives, such as the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor delivering humanitarian aid by ship to the Strip.

He says there are avenues of communication with both Lebanon and Iran “through diplomatic means.”

Ben Gvir said threatening vote boycott unless given more influence over Gaza war

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)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has reportedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his party will not vote in favor of legislation pushed by the premier’s other coalition allies until the far-right minister is granted more power to steer policy on the war in Gaza.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Ben Gvir told Netanyahu last night that until he, Ben Gvir, is included in the small group making the key decisions in the war, his Otzma Yehudit party doesn’t view itself as committed to coalition discipline.

This pertains only to bills sought by the ruling Likud’s other coalition partners, the report says. It comes after Otzma Yehudit’s objections played a key part in causing Netanyahu to remove the so-called “Rabbis Bill,” pushed by the Shas party, from the Knesset’s agenda.

Officials close to Netanyahu are now afraid Otzma Yehudit and Shas will launch a plenum boycott of each other’s bills, the report says, adding that neither party is denying it plans to do so. Netanyahu is reportedly taking next week as a test in this regard.

Meanwhile, Kan reports that the ruling Likud party is taking a hard stance against dissent among its ranks.

The first step to this effect, according to the network, has been to permanently oust Likud MKs Tally Gotliv and Moshe Saada from the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee due to their refusal to support the “Rabbis Bill.”

The coalition yesterday announced the replacement of the two lawmakers in the panel as part of efforts to pass the legislation, but the move hasn’t been reversed after the bill’s removal from the agenda, as a form of punishment to Gotliv and Saada and as deterrence to other MKs, Kan says.

British PM Sunak’s Conservatives set for heavy election defeat, 3 polls forecast

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech to announce the date of the UK's next general election, to be held on July 4, at 10 Downing Street in central London, on May 22, 2024. (BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)

Three opinion polls predict a record defeat for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives in the July 4 election, forecasting the Labour Party will comfortably win a large majority after 14 years in opposition.

Polling by YouGov showed Keir Starmer’s Labour is on track to win 425 parliamentary seats in Britain’s 650-strong House of Commons, the most in its history. Savanta predicts 516 seats for Labour and More in Common gives it 406.

YouGov has the Conservatives on 108 and the Liberal Democrats on 67, while Savanta predicts the Conservatives will take 53 parliamentary seats and the Liberal Democrats 50. More in Common forecasts 155 and 49 seats, respectively.

French far-right party disowns candidate for ostensibly antisemitic comment

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) withdraws support for one of its candidates in a looming legislative election over an allegedly antisemitic social media message posted in 2018.

Joseph Martin was supposed to be an RN candidate for the National Assembly for the northwestern department of Morbihan.

According to France’s Liberation newspaper, Martin wrote on social media in October 2018 that “gas did justice for the victims of the Holocaust.”

The tweet was deleted around midday today.

“He no longer has the support of the National Rally. He is suspended and will be summoned with a view to his exclusion,” an RN spokesperson tells AFP, adding that it is too late to withdraw Martin’s candidacy.

However, some commentators have noted that Martin’s 2018 post came a day after the death of noted Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson, and asserted he was in fact celebrating Faurisson’s death (though it is not clear from reporting that Faurisson died of gas inhalation).

Martin himself has yet to comment on the matter.

Canada declares Revolutionary Guards a terror group, urges citizens to leave Iran

Ottawa lists Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity, while calling on Canadians in the Islamic country to leave.

“Our government has made the decision to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc tells a news conference.

Israeli official reportedly says Nasrallah’s speech shows he’s ‘distressed’

An unnamed senior Israeli official is quoted by the Ynet news site as saying today’s speech by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah shows he is “distressed.”

“Nasrallah is distressed by the strident messages conveyed to him by [US envoy] Amos Hochstein, and by the Israeli remarks that indicate a change of direction,” the source says.

Report: Netanyahu ignored warnings from ministers, advisers not to openly criticize US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi at a press conference after the US allowed Israel into its visa-waiver program, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on September 28, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision yesterday to publicly criticize US President Joe Biden’s administration even though ministers and advisers had recommended him against it, according to a report by Channel 13 news.

The report says a clandestine meeting held before the video statement — which accused Washington of withholding arms shipments to Israel, calling it “inconceivable” — included National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and other officials, all of whom unequivocally objected to Netanyahu’s intention.

Dermer asked the premier to wait with the public criticism until he and Hanegbi meet US officials at the White House tomorrow, the report says.

The network quotes an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that “Netanyahu made the decision against the opinion of the advisers and ministers with whom he consulted.”

The official adds that the prime minister’s remarks caused “great outrage in the Biden administration.”

Report: Non-final IDF probe finds various misjudgments by troops on Oct. 7

A report claims to detail some non-final findings from the IDF’s probe into operational failures during the response to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

According to Channel 12 news, which doesn’t cite a source, the military has found that in some cases forces didn’t seek contact with terrorists, and that commanders erred by deciding to wait for more forces and intelligence rather than entering targeted towns as quickly as possible.

There were many cases on October 7-9 in which Israeli troops hit fellow Israeli forces by mistake, according to the reported preliminary findings.

The military is reportedly considering appointing a new temporary commander for the Gaza Division instead of Barak Hiram, who was tapped before the war to fill that role but was embroiled in several controversies over his decision-making on October 7 and during the war.

IDF spokesman says Hamas can’t be destroyed, drawing response from Netanyahu

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivers an English-language address, June 16, 2024. (Screenshot)

IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari has cast the goal of eradicating the Hamas terror group as unattainable, drawing a response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Hamas is an idea. Those who think it can be made to disappear are wrong,” Hagari tells Channel 13 news in an interview, adding that anyone promising this is “misleading the public.”

“If the government doesn’t find an alternative — it will remain” in Gaza, he argues.

In response, Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that his security cabinet “has defined as one of the war goals the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.”

“The IDF is of course committed to this,” the statement adds.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit subsequently issues a statement saying the military is committed to the government’s stated war goals, including destroying Hamas’s governing and military abilities, adding that Hagari talked in the interview about “eradicating Hamas as an ideology and an idea.”

“Any claim otherwise is taking the remarks out of context,” it adds.

Canada preparing to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group — report

Canada is preparing to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and could make an announcement as early as this week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp says.

The CBC, citing multiple sources, says the details of the measure have not been finalized.

Opposition legislators have long demanded the IRGC be listed but the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far declined, saying doing so risks unintended consequences.

In October 2022, Ottawa said such a move might unfairly capture Iranians in Canada who fled the country but had been conscripted into the force when still in Iran.

The office of Foreign Minister Melanie Joly is not immediately available for comment on the CBC report.

Canada already lists the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force, as a terrorist group. Ottawa broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2012.

Once a group is placed on the terror list, police can charge anyone who financially or materially supports the group and banks can freeze assets, the CBC says.

In October 2022, Canada said it would ban the IRGC’s top leadership from entering the country and promised more targeted sanctions. At the time, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland stated that “the IRGC is a terrorist organization.”

Gallant huddles with IDF generals, reiterating heightened war preparedness

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (2nd from R) holds an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (2nd from L), the head of the Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin (L), and the head of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar (R) at the Northern Command HQ in Safed, June 19, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Minisry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an assessment this evening on Lebanon with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, head of the Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and head of the Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.

Also participating in the meeting at the Northern Command headquarters in Safed was the head of the Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, and head of the General Staff Corps, Maj. Gen. David Zini, among other officers.

Gallant was briefed on “the latest developments in the fight against Hezbollah,” his office says.

The Defense Ministry says Gallant “gave a special emphasis” to the Hezbollah drone threat and to ways Israel can improve in countering it. He also told the generals to “be fully prepared for all possibilities.”

“We are completing the ground and air readiness, strengthening the intelligence systems, and preparing for any possibility,” Gallant is quoted as saying in a ministry statement.

“We have an obligation to change the situation in the north and return the citizens safely to their homes, and we will find the way to do this action,” he says, referring to the tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks.

Halevi tells Gallant in the meeting that the military is “very determined, ready today at a very high level of readiness,” and prepared “to make the right decisions.”

Competition watchdog intends to indict supermarket execs for coordinating prices

File: A security guard sits outside a Victory supermarket in Tel Aviv, November 19, 2019. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Israel’s competition watchdog summons CEOs and senior executives of supermarket chains Victory and Yochananof for a hearing before filing an indictment for allegedly engaging in cartel behavior and in attempts to coordinate prices.

The Israel Competition Authority announces that it has notified Victory owner and CEO Eyal Ravid, Yochananof owner and CEO Eitan Yochananof, and Super Bareket CEO Ephraim Tshuva, along with other managers of the chains, to appear for a hearing before filing charges.

The announcement regarding the hearing follows a complex investigation that goes back to 2021, on suspicions that the managers of the supermarket chains were engaged in cartel behavior and price fixing in violation of the Competition Law, as well as in breach of the Food Law.

The competition watchdog cites a phone conversation conducted at the end of October 2021, during which Victory CEO Ravid and Elad Harazi, deputy CEO of Yochananof, allegedly agreed not to offer promotions to consumers that are done together with suppliers due to stagnating market conditions that prevailed at the time and to protect their market positions.

In addition, Ravid allegedly attempted to coordinate consumer prices with suppliers of other retailers. The watchdog cites three cases in which Ravid contacted different suppliers and asked them to raise consumer prices of their products at other retailers, including the Rami Levy supermarket and Yochananof chains.

Since the start of the investigation, Ravid has been probed a number of times by the competition watchdog for making public statements about prices to signal to major food retailers that the chain was considering raising prices in an attempt to reach a restrictive arrangement with them on price hikes.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah launcher, sites in southern Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launching position in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab earlier today, the military says.

Jets also struck a building used by the terror group and infrastructure in Odaisseh and Ayta ash-Shab, the IDF adds.

מטוסי קרב תקפו מוקדם יותר היום עמדת שיגור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון, לצד מבנה צבאי ותשתית טרור של הארגון במרחבים אל עדייסא ועייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, צה"ל תקף בירי ארטילרי בחמישה מרחבים בדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/Ge9S1pSBD9

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2024

Nasrallah says ‘no place’ in Israel would be safe in war, threatens Cyprus for 1st time

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks at a ceremony commemorating a slain Hezbollah senior commander, June 19, 2024. (Screenshot)

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens that if Israel opens a “total war” against the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon, the Jewish state must prepare for attacks from the ground, the air and the sea, and the “situation in the Mediterranean will change completely.”

“No place” in Israel would be spared from the group’s weapons in case of a full-blown war, Nasrallah warns, saying Hezbollah will fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings” and adding: “The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst… and that no place… will be spared our rockets.”

Nasrallah also threatens Cyprus for the first time, saying Hezbollah could consider it “a part of the war” and hit targets there if it allows the IDF to use logistical infrastructure in the country in case of a war.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” he says.

Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate slain Hezbollah senior commander Taleb Abdullah, killed last week in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, Nasrallah threatens: “The enemy wants to intimidate us, but they are the ones who should be afraid.”

“We will continue to support Gaza and we are ready for anything. We are not afraid. Our demand is clear: A complete and permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” Nasrallah continues, arguing that the ceasefire agreement recently presented by US President Joe Biden to Hamas does not stipulate that the halt in fighting should be permanent.

“However, every day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes out and says that a ceasefire is impossible,” Nasrallah claims. He takes a swipe at Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich, predicting that they will “drag the enemy [Israel] into the abyss.”

After his speech, he addresses the families of fallen Hezbollah operatives and Lebanese citizens displaced from the country’s south, saying that the terror group has been conducting the “largest battle since 1948.”

Downplaying drone footage, IDF chief says Hezbollah unaware of ‘powerful’ Israeli capabilities

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks with troops at an Iron Dome battery in northern Israel, June 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

After Hezbollah aired drone footage over northern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military “possess powerful capabilities that the enemy knows only a little about.”

“Yesterday, Hezbollah released a video with a capability that we are familiar with, and we are preparing and building solutions to deal with such capabilities and other capabilities,” Halevi tells troops at an Iron Dome air defense battery in northern Israel.

“We of course possess infinitely more powerful capabilities, which I think the enemy knows only a little about, and it will meet them when necessary at the right time,” he adds.

Invoking drone footage, Nasrallah claims Hezbollah has detailed info on sensitive targets in Israel

Following Hezbollah’s publication yesterday of footage allegedly filmed from one of its reconnaissance drones flying over northern Israel, its leader Hassan Nasrallah claims that the terror group has hours of such footage and of information about sensitive military targets inside Israel, including some that are located far from the northern border.

Among such targets are military bases and headquarters located deep inside Israeli territory, some of which have been camouflaged but were uncovered by Hezbollah’s Hudhud (Hoopoe) drones, Nasrallah claims.

The terror leader claims that Israeli military leaders have known since October 8 that some of these locations would be targeted, and yet not all of them have been evacuated.

Among such targets, Nasrallah mentions the Mount Meron air traffic control base, which in his words represented an “aspirational target” in the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and today is fully within reach of Hezbollah’s projectiles.

He further claims that the terror group has developed and keeps manufacturing new missiles and drones, and that its human and military resources are larger than they have ever been.

Home Front Command eases restrictions on gatherings in some Gaza border towns

The IDF Home Front Command has lifted some restrictions on residents of Gaza Strip border communities, following a new situational assessment.

Home Front Command restrictions issued June 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Since October 7, gatherings in all Gaza border communities had been restricted to 100 people outdoors, and educational activities were prohibited. The IDF later lifted some of those restrictions in select communities.

As part of the latest changes, the military has decided that in several communities near the border, there will be no restrictions on education activities and gatherings will now be allowed to be attended by up to 1,000 people.

“However, in a number of communities, restrictions will remain in place for educational activities, gatherings, workplaces and essential economic activities,” the army says, providing a list of the towns.

It adds that “the changes in the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines are intended to ease restrictions on the home front in accordance with the operational situational assessment and will allow the reinforcement of agriculture, economy and education, alongside the preservation of human life.”

Further instructions and guidelines can be found on the Home Front Command’s website or mobile application.

Nasrallah claims Hezbollah doesn’t want total war, and Israel is unable to conduct it

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks at a ceremony commemorating a slain Hezbollah senior commander, June 19, 2024. (Screenshot)

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says that the Shiite terror group does not want “total war” but only operates in support of Hamas, claiming that Israel can only talk about waging such a war but is not capable of conducting it.

At a ceremony commemorating slain Hezbollah senior commander Taleb Abdullah, also known as Abu Taleb, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon last week alongside three other operatives, Nasrallah delivers a long eulogy for the dead commander, praising him for his military and human qualities.

Commenting on the escalating conflict with the Jewish state, Nasrallah says that thanks to Hezbollah’s continuous attacks, the Israeli army had been forced to divert resources from Gaza. He claims that Israel has suffered huge economic losses as a result of the evacuation of towns on the northern border and the halt of agricultural and industrial activities in the area.

Despite the military and economic damage, Israeli leaders are not willing to admit the magnitude of the damage, Nasrallah alleges, in order not to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose priority remains the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The terror leader also mocks Israel for claiming to possess the strongest army in the region, noting that the IDF has not yet been able to completely dismantle Hamas forces in Rafah despite a ground operation lasting several weeks.

After spurning UPenn, donor gives $1 million to Jerusalem College of Technology

The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) — Lev Academic Center has received a $1 million donation from US philanthropists Debra and David Magerman to expand their international programming for English speakers, the college announces.

The grant comes after David Magerman, a prolific donor to Jewish and Zionist causes, halted donations to the University of Pennsylvania in December over the administration’s handling of antisemitism issues on campus.

“I had originally had a multimillion-dollar gift that was supposed to go to Penn, and I’ve decided to halt that gift. So instead of just saving the money, I decided to reinvest it in Israeli colleges… We’re doing $1 million grants over five years to JCT, and we’re looking to do similar programs with four other universities,” Magerman told the eJewishphilanthropy site in an article this week.

The gift to JCT, made in partnership with the Magerman’s Tzemach David Foundation, is to develop a new program where international students will take classes in English during the first years while simultaneously learning Hebrew, and then finish their degree learning in Hebrew, equipping the students “with the ability to integrate into the Hebrew-speaking workforce if they opt to remain in Israel,” the statement says.

The Jerusalem College of Technology, which has some 5,000 students, “combines high-level academic degrees and rigorous Torah study” and focuses on teaching “high-tech engineering, industrial management, business administration and life and health sciences.” The college’s Selma Jelenek Nursing School has graduated half of Israel’s working nurse practitioners, the college notes.

Eugene Vindman, whose Jewish immigrant story was featured in Trump’s first impeachment trial, wins Virginia primary

Eugene Vindman, Democratic candidate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District, attends a news conference to urge the US House to pass the Senate National Security Aid Package, which includes aid to Ukraine, on March 13, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images via JTA)

A former White House official whose Jewish Ukrainian origins played a prominent role in former US president Donald Trump’s first impeachment hearings has won a Democratic congressional primary in Virginia.

Eugene Vindman has won the Democratic nomination in the US state’s 7th District, which stretches south from Washington’s Virginia exurbs to the state’s center. Vindman came to prominence in 2020 when Trump forced him and his twin brother Alexander out of their jobs as National Security Council staffers.

Both men were officers, and on loan to the White House from the military. Trump had them in his sights after Alexander Vindman in 2019 testified to Congress about the contents of a phone call from Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump sought to leverage aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden, who was gearing up to face Trump in the 2020 election.

The phone call led to Trump’s first impeachment; he was acquitted in the Senate. The Vindman twins had arrived as children from Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union. Vindman’s role in the impeachment drama helped elevate his candidacy to being by far the best funded.

Vindman hopes to replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor. The 7th district is a swing district and he now faces Derrick Anderson, a former Green Beret who had the backing of the Republican party establishment.

Knesset guards remove anti-government protesters from plenum, file police complaints

Guards physically expel anti-government demonstrators from the Knesset plenum’s visitors gallery after they display protest signs and bang on the glass to disrupt the legislative session below.

המחאה במליאת הכנסת – כך זה נראה מבפנים:
המוחים דפקו על החלונות והניפו שלטים ״אתם גמורים״.
מאבטחי המשמר מרחיקים את המפגינים pic.twitter.com/yOCr7FCvGW

— רוני גרין שאולוב – Roni Green Shaulov (@Ronigreensha) June 19, 2024

Videos from the scene show Knesset guards ripping signs out of the demonstrators’ hands, struggling with them and physically removing them from the gallery as they attempt to remain and continue their protest.

“In view of the serious incident that took place this evening in the public gallery, which was intended to harm public order in the Knesset plenum, Knesset Sergeant-at-Arms Yuval Chen will file a police complaint against the rioters,” the Knesset spokesman says in a statement.

Those involved in the disturbance will also be barred from entering the Knesset and entry to the gallery will be restricted, the spokesman continues, adding that “the Ethics Committee will be asked to make a decision in principle regarding sanctions to be imposed on Knesset members whose invitees to the [Knesset] violate public order.”

אלימות קשה במליאת הכנסת.
בזיון. בושה.
ההיסטוריה לא תסלח לממשלת המנותקים על החרפה שאתם מביאים על עם ישראל. pic.twitter.com/CBnfXA8BBT

— ????Boaz Toporovsky- בועז טופורובסקי (@BToporovsky) June 19, 2024

This is not the first time that the gallery has been the scene of such a scuffle. In early April, chaos erupted as activists and relatives of hostages in Gaza splattered yellow paint on viewing windows above the plenum to protest a lack of government action to free their loved ones.

Security personnel immediately confronted those protesters, pushed them away from the windows and escorted them out of the gallery. In the Knesset plenum below, where legislators were voting on a climate-related bill, a number of opposition lawmakers had raised their hands in solidarity with the protesters.

Earlier this month, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir moved his Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting from its regular location after relatives of hostages held in Gaza entered the room, carrying signs, minutes before it was set to begin.

The families came to an agreement with party officials that they could remain if they stayed silent but only minutes later, the MKs suddenly left the room and gathered in a conference room down the hall.

Knesset security prevented the families from entering the new meeting location, prompting angry yelling that could be heard through the door of the conference room.

Amid multiple spats, Netanyahu calls on coalition partners to ‘get a grip’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message issued June 19, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)

Following high-profile spats involving members of his coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for his political partners to “get a grip” and abandon “petty politics.”

“We are at war on several fronts, and we face great challenges and difficult decisions,” Netanyahu declares in a video message posted online. “Therefore, I strongly demand that all coalition partners get a grip and rise to the occasion.

“This is not the time for petty politics, this is not the time for legislation that endangers the coalition that is fighting for victory over our enemies,” he continues, even though the premier himself until last night appeared to be aggressively pushing for such a law to be passed for several days.

“We must all focus solely on the tasks before us: defeating Hamas, returning all our hostages and returning our residents safely to their homes, both in the north and in the south. And so I demand from everyone — put aside any other consideration. Put aside any partisan interest. Stand as one, together, behind our troops.”

Netanyahu’s appeal comes after his Likud party engaged in a high-profile spat with Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir, whom it accused of leaking “state secrets,” and amid intense ultra-Orthodox anger at his decision to drop his backing for the controversial “Rabbis Bill” supported by Shas.

Barkat says he and other Likud MKs will oppose Haredi draft bill without major changes

Economy Minister Nir Barkat attends a vote on the state budget at the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Economy Minister Nir Barkat becomes the second senior member of the ruling Likud party to publicly say he will vote against the ultra-Orthodox enlistment law if it doesn’t undergo “fundamental changes” before it is brought for further votes in the Knesset plenum.

Barkat says he will oppose the current text of the controversial bill, which deals with the military service of Haredi yeshiva students, and that he will do so “together with additional Likud MKs” — without naming them.

He is thus joining Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who unlike the other 63 coalition lawmakers already voted against the bill in last week’s vote, which revived the bill from the previous Knesset, allowing the legislative process to continue from the stage it was abandoned.

The legislation would 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.

The High Court has demanded that a new, egalitarian policy be legislated or else the state immediately start recruiting tens of thousands of yeshiva students, a move that the ultra-Orthodox parties are vehemently opposed to.

In his statement, Barkat says his previous vote in favor of the bill was “technical,” and lays out his conditions for supporting it from now on.

Sharing a letter he sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other coalition officials, Barkat says the future law must impose mandatory service “for all residents of the state, including the Haredi and Arab communities”; meet the security establishment’s needs; recognize the “importance and value of Torah studies”; have the army adapt service options to the needs of soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox and “other” communities; and introduce a series of incentives — focusing on combat fighters — and differential sanctions for draft evasion.

Likud issues a reponse, quipping that it “expects Nir Barkat to deal with the cost of living and not look for pretexts to topple a right-wing government during wartime.”

French boys charged with antisemitic rape of 12-year-old girl, calling her ‘dirty Jew’

French authorities have charged two 13-year-old boys with the gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb.

The attack, suspected to have been motivated by antisemitism, has sent shockwaves through the Jewish community and added to tensions ahead of a snap election that could bring the far-right National Rally party to power for the first time.

The girl has told police she was approached by three boys aged between 12 and 13 while she was in a park near her home with a friend and dragged into a shed on Saturday evening in the northwestern suburb of Courbevoie.

The suspects beat her and “forced her to have anal and vaginal penetration, fellatio, while uttering death threats and antisemitic remarks,” a police source tells AFP.

Her friend managed to identify two of the attackers.

The girl said she had been called a “dirty Jew,” another police source says.

One of the boys asked her questions about “her Jewish religion” and Israel, the source adds, citing the child’s statement to investigators.

The three boys were arrested Monday.

Last night, two of them, both aged 13, were charged with gang rape, antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, and were remanded in custody.

The third boy, 12, has also been charged with antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, but not with rape. He has been allowed to return home after being charged.

Macron denounces ‘scourge of antisemitism’ after Jewish girl’s rape

French President Emmanuel Macron has told ministers that a “scourge of antisemitism” threatens French schools, a member of his entourage says, after a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in a suspected hate crime.

Macron “spoke solemnly and seriously about the scourge of antisemitism” in a cabinet meeting, the source says, calling for “dialogue” about racism and hatred of Jews in schools to prevent “hateful speech with serious consequences” from “infiltrating” classrooms.

‘Please help me hug my daughter again’: Hamas hostage’s mom makes impassioned plea to UN

Her voice shaking with emotion, Meirav Leshem Gonen describes to the UN Human Rights Council the agony of listening over the phone as Hamas terrorists kidnapped her daughter on October 7.

Her daughter, 23-year-old Romi Gonen, “was terrified, and I felt utterly helpless as I listened to her suffering,” she says. “Please help me hug my daughter again.”

Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of 23-y/o hostage Romi Gonen at the UN HRC:

“I stand before you today not just as a mother, but also as a voice for women who have endured unimaginable suffering, whose pain is not acknowledged.”

Hear her voice, feel her pain. pic.twitter.com/jaRT369tct

— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) June 19, 2024

Her appeal comes as the top UN rights body in Geneva convenes to debate a scathing report holding Israel and Hamas responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in its offensive in Gaza, launched in response to the Palestinian terror group’s mass onslaught.

The report by the independent Commission of Inquiry has highlighted in particular the plight of women caught up in the attack, decrying that “women and women’s bodies were used as victory trophies by male perpetrators.”

Israel has been vehemently critical of the report, and Leshem Gonen herself charged that it “trivializes the severity of sexual violence experienced by women in captivity.

“I stand before you today not just as a mother, but also as a voice for women who have endured unimaginable suffering, whose pain is not acknowledged,” she says. “When women’s bodies are used as political tools, when their dignity is set aside because they are not on the ‘right side,’ it is a badge of shame for us all.”

Leshem Gonen describes the agony that she and other hostages’ families feel.

Her daughter was fleeing by car from the Supernova music festival on October 7 when it was ambushed by Hamas gunmen.

During the attack she phoned her mother, who tried to comfort her above the din of explosions.

“She was brutally dragged by her long, beautiful hair from the car, along the road,” Leshem Gonen says, describing “hearing her helplessness and frustration without being able to help my baby. That was 257 days ago.”

“We owe all hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza to do all in our power to release them immediately,” she says. “I owe it to Romi, and so does the international community.”

Gazans, Hamas claim IDF tanks have pushed deeper into Rafah, forcing people to flee again

Israeli tanks backed by warplanes and drones have allegedly advanced deeper into the western part of Rafah today, killing eight people, according to local residents and Hamas authorities.

Residents say the tanks moved into five neighborhoods after midnight. Heavy shelling and gunfire hit the tents of displaced families in the Al-Mawasi area, further to the west of the coastal enclave, they say.

Medics and Hamas media say eight Palestinians were killed in Al-Mawasi and many families fled north in panic. They do not identify the fatalities.

The Israeli military says it is looking into the report.

‘Nothing has been canceled’: US denies report it nixed meeting over Netanyahu’s criticism

The White House denies a report that it canceled a high-level meeting with Israeli officials in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that Washington has been withholding weapons shipments from Israel.

“As we said in the briefing yesterday, we have no idea what the prime minister is talking about, but that’s not a reason for rescheduling a meeting,” a White House official tells The Times of Israel.

“We have been working to find a time to schedule the next SDG that accounts for the travel and availability of principals, but have not yet fully finalized the details so nothing has been canceled,” the official continues.

“In the meantime, meetings with Israeli officials are being held throughout the week at expert and senior levels on a range of topics,” the official adds.

IDF: 15 rockets fired to Kiryat Shmona, Israel strikes Hezbollah launchers, sites

Some 15 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area earlier today, the military says.

Hezbollah has taken responsibility for the attack.

The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and it shelled the launch sites with artillery.

Some of the rockets caused damage to property and sparked fires in Kiryat Shmona, authorities have said.

Meanwhile, the IDF confirms carrying out a strike against a building in the Tyre area earlier today.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah used the building in the coastal town of Borgholiyeh.

The IDF publishes footage of the strike.

Some 15 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area earlier today, the military says.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack.

The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and it shelled the launch sites with artillery.

Some of the… pic.twitter.com/DIorStbqQB

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 19, 2024

Another site belonging to the terror group was struck in Khiam, the military says.

Separately, a suspected drone heading toward Israel was shot down by air defenses over southern Lebanon, the IDF adds.

Egyptian source pushes back at ‘completely untrue’ report that Cairo could deploy troops to Gaza

A “high-ranking” Egyptian source pushes back on an earlier report that Cairo is willing to send troops to the Gaza Strip for a limited period of time after a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. The source tells the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet that the reports are “totally and completely untrue.”

Egypt’s position is to not send any troops to Gaza in any form, stresses the high-ranking source, and will remain so in the future.

The previous report in the newspaper had indicated that Egyptian Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Osama Askar told his Israeli counterpart and the US Central Command head that Egyptian troops operating under the UN would secure the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing as well as the other crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel and some points along the Gazan coast, but would not be present inside cities and residential areas.

IDF publishes footage of strike on gunmen outside purported aid warehouse in Rafah

The IDF publishes footage showing a strike on a group of gunmen gathered outside what it says is a humanitarian aid warehouse in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

The gunmen were spotted by troops operating under the Negev Brigade, who then called in an airstrike, the army says.

The IDF publishes footage showing a strike on a group of gunmen gathered outside what it says is a humanitarian aid warehouse in southern Gaza's Rafah.

The gunmen were spotted by troops operating under the Negev Brigade, who then called in an airstrike, the army says. pic.twitter.com/HDA7H3Cb9Y

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 19, 2024

PMO: US ambassador said weapon shipments are in the process of being delivered

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew informed Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the weapons the prime minister claimed were being held up by the White House are actually “in the process of being delivered to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office says in a statement.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu said he expects this to happen and instructed Israeli teams to work with their American counterparts to that end,” continues the Prime Minister’s Office statement.

The message appears to be an attempt by Netanyahu to move beyond a fight he picked yesterday in a video statement that berated the Biden administration for supposed holdups in the supply of arms to Israel. The White House reportedly canceled high-level talks between American and Israeli security officials in Washington, DC in response.

But Washington also looks to be working to put the spat behind them.

A White House official tells The Times of Israel that the details of the meeting were not finalized, “therefore nothing was canceled.”

Meanwhile, says the official, meetings will indeed be held with Israeli officials this week “on a range of issues.”

“As we said in yesterday’s briefing, we have no idea what the prime minister is talking about, but that is no reason to postpone a meeting.”

IDF says rocket sirens in Kerem Shalom were false alarm

Rocket sirens that sounded in the southern community of Kerem Shalom an hour ago were determined to be false alarms, the military says.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for rocket fire on Kiryat Shmona area

Hezbollah takes responsibility for rocket fire against the Kiryat Shmona area a short while ago.

In a statement, the terror group says it launched dozens of rockets at an army base near the northern Israeli city.

Police say officers are handling several sites of rocket impacts in Kiryat Shmona, with damage caused to property.

There are no reports of injuries in the attack.

Rocket sirens activated simultaneously in communities close to Lebanon, Gaza borders

Rocket sirens are activated in communities close to the Lebanon border, and in southern Israel close to the Gaza border.

In the north, sirens are activated in Margaliot, Kiryat Shmona and Tel Hai, while in the south, they can be heard in Kerem Shalom.

Nasrallah to deliver speech at memorial ceremony for assassinated Hezbollah commander

Amid spiraling tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shia terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is slated to give an address in Beirut today at 5 p.m.

The televised address headlines the memorial ceremony for senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Abdullah, whom Israel assassinated last week.

Yesterday, Hezbollah published footage from what it said was one of its reconnaissance drones flying over northern Israel, including the Haifa port.

In recent months, the group has increasingly launched drones, including explosive-laden ones, at northern Israel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that Hezbollah would be destroyed in the event of a “total war.”

In Beirut yesterday, US envoy Amos Hochstein called for the “urgent” de-escalation of cross-border exchanges as alarm grows in the US that a full-blown war could erupt in Lebanon.

Herzog thanks US for wartime support after PM accused White House of withholding weapons

President Isaac Herzog meets with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, June 19, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu releases a video panning the Biden administration for ostensibly holding up weapons shipments to Israel – a move that spurred the White House to cancel a high-level Israeli delegation to Washington – President Isaac Herzog tells a bipartisan group of US lawmakers that “if we have anything to discuss, it should be discussed quietly.”

“We are utterly grateful to the United States of America for standing with us in this war,” says Herzog, sitting next to Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer. “And I’m very grateful to the president of the United States for being here at the beginning of the war and sending a clear message on behalf of the American people.”

He also says that Israelis “respect tremendously the bipartisan support that crosses all divides and conflicts within American society.”

Patient admitted to Ichilov Hospital with West Nile fever, bringing number of infected individuals to 7

Another person is admitted within the last 24 hours to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv with West Nile fever, a potentially fatal illness spread by mosquitos.

There is now a total of seven cases in the current wave of infection in the Tel Aviv area. Another person was infected more than a month ago and was treated at Ichilov and is not counted in the current outbreak.

Three patients remain hospitalized at Ichilov, the hospital says. One is in serious condition, one is in moderate-to-serious condition, and the third is in moderate condition.

Two patients were hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan but have since been discharged.

Egypt ready to temporarily secure Gaza crossings after Israeli withdrawal – report

Egyptian army soldiers man an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) deployed near the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 23, 2024 (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

Cairo reportedly announced its willingness to deploy its forces in the Gaza Strip for a limited period of time after a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces at the end of Israel’s war with Hamas, according to Egyptian sources quoted by the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper.

Egyptian troops operating under the UN would secure the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing as well as the other crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel and some points along the Gazan coast, but would not be present inside cities and residential areas, the report specifies.

Their deployment would cover the transitional phase between the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and the establishment of a Palestinian administration in the Strip.

Cairo’s military presence in postwar Gaza is said to have been discussed on the sidelines of a meeting that was reportedly convened in Bahrain last week between IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and senior generals from several Arab countries under the auspices of US CENTCOM.

According to a Western diplomatic source quoted by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a tripartite meeting was held between Halevi, Egyptian Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Osama Askar, and the commander of the US Central Command, Michael Kurilla.

The three main topics of discussion at the wider meeting, according to the Qatari outlet, were the need for a speedy halt to the war in Gaza; the activation of an early warning system against drones and ballistic missiles fired by Iran and its regional proxies; and securing maritime trade in the Red Sea from the Houthis.

Regarding the first point, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed quotes an Egyptian source saying that the Israeli army and the US administration have expressed a common goal to wrap up the war as soon as possible, even if political decision-makers in Israel do not agree.

As for the Iranian threat, Cairo has reportedly decided to stay out of a regional military alliance to counter Tehran, in light of ongoing consultations for a possible diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries.

Netanyahu accuses Ben Gvir of leaking state secrets; Otzma leader retorts with demand for polygraph tests

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of Otzma Yehudit in the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 6, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The ruling Likud party appears to accuse Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir of leaking private conversations after Hebrew media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to include the far-right national security minister in a limited group of cabinet members receiving security reviews in exchange for his support of a controversial bill regulating the appointment of municipal rabbis.

The articles are “full of inaccuracies,” Likud says. “Prime Minister Netanyahu told Minister Ben Gvir one simple thing: whoever wants to be a partner in a limited security consultation team must prove that he is not leaking state secrets or private conversations.”

In response, Otzma Yehudit declares that it supports a law requiring cabinet members to undergo polygraph tests. The party “calls on the prime minister to promote it quickly, provided that it also applies to owners of a pacemaker.” Netanyahu had a pacemaker fitted last year.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu announced that the war cabinet — the small forum created on October 11 to manage the military campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah — had been officially disbanded following National Unity leader Benny Gantz’s exit from the coalition.

Ben Gvir, a member of the security cabinet but not the smaller war cabinet, has grumbled throughout the war about being left out of decision-making forums by the prime minister.

Responding to Likud’s statement, National Unity slams Netanyahu, declaring that “someone who believes that there is a minister leaking state secrets should not give him control over the Israel Police and membership in the cabinet.”

Brussels says ‘impossible’ to host upcoming Belgium-Israel soccer game due to security risk

Police patrol outside the King Baudouin Stadium, after a match between Belgium and Sweden was suspended, after a shooting in the center of Brussels, October 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)

Staging an upcoming UEFA soccer match between Belgium and Israel in Brussels would be impossible due to insecurity and likely protests, the municipal government of the Belgian capital says.

“The city of Brussels considers it impossible to organize a Belgium-Israel match in the King Baudouin Stadium,” it says in a statement.

“After a careful and in-depth analysis, we must conclude today that the announcement of such a match in our capital in these particularly troubled times will undoubtedly lead to large demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, jeopardizing the safety of spectators, players, Brussels residents and our police forces.”

The UEFA Nations League match is scheduled for September 6, 2024; tickets initially went on sale but were paused in May.

Last year, a soccer game between Belgium and Sweden at the King Baudouin Stadium was suspended at halftime after a gunman shot and killed two people in the capital city.

Shabtai accuses Ben Gvir of ‘blatantly violating’ boundaries between police and politicians

Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, left, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, outside of Jerusalem, August 1, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai criticizes National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at a conference hosted by Tel Aviv University, and warns that the Israel Police “must remain autonomous and free of political bias of any kind,” as otherwise it will no longer be an independent body.

Referring to a law passed in December 2022 that granted broad powers over police policy to the ultranationalist Ben Gvir, Shabtai says that “the boundaries between [the police] and the political echelon have been cracked.”

“During my tenure as police commissioner, I worked under three ministers,” says Shabtai, whose tenure ends next month. “Unfortunately, over the last year, the current minister’s attempts to blatantly violate the necessary balance between ranks are increasing.”

Earlier this week, Shabtai attested in a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that Ben Gvir has repeatedly sought to interfere in operational police matters, including by telling senior police officials behind Shabtai’s back that the minister did not want police to protect humanitarian aid convoys from extremist attackers as they crossed through Israel to Gaza.

Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrikes in coastal town of Borgholiyeh

Lebanese media outlets report several Israeli airstrikes in the coastal town of Borgholiyeh, just north of Tyre.

Footage posted to social media shows the strikes.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

لحظة إستهداف بلدة #البرغلية#ملحق pic.twitter.com/M9faKgn5tj

— Mulhak – ملحق (@Mulhak) June 19, 2024

White House delaying sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel – Wall Street Journal

Israeli F-15 fighter jets escort an American B-52 bomber through Israeli airspace en route to the Persian Gulf on September 4, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

Amid accusations from Jerusalem that the Biden administration was holding up weapons shipments to Israel, the Wall Street Journal reports that the White House has not moved ahead with the sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets despite Congressional support for such a move.

The State Department was expected to formally notify Congress of the $18 billion sale after two top Democrats removed their objections last month but hasn’t yet done so.

The State Department tells WSJ that there is no policy of slowing down weapons transfers.

“We are looking tactically at the timing. It is not a question of whether,” says the official. “It is a question of when.”

Democrats Sen. Ben Cardin (Maryland), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Gregory Meeks (New York), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, removed their objections almost a month ago under heavy pressure from the Biden administration.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video on social media berating the Biden administration for supposed holdups in the supply of arms to Israel. Reportedly in response, the White House canceled high-level talks between American and Israeli security officials in Washington, DC.

Head of PTSD clinic calls on IDF to exempt soldiers from returning to duty while in trauma therapy

Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, head of the Clinic for National Center for Post Trauma & Resilience at Tel Aviv University. (Courtesy, TAU)

The Clinic of the National Center for Post Trauma & Resilience at Tel Aviv University (TAU) warns that many IDF reservists diagnosed with PTSD after serving in Gaza have been called up again before completing therapy necessitated by their first round of fighting.

Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, head of the clinic, calls for the army to exempt reservists from additional military service until their treatment for PTSD has been completed, according to a TAU press release.

The reservists “risk aggravating their psychological condition,” Bar-Haim says. “Since they might not be fully fit for active service, they also endanger their comrades.”

He presented his findings at TAU’s Annual Convention, “Israel’s Future” on June 16.

Commanders or squad members who return to the battlefield before they have been fully treated for PTSD might have trouble making decisions, Bar-Haim says, and “reduced ability to function.”

The national clinic, launched in December, serves both soldiers and civilians affected by the Israel-Hamas war. It is the largest of its kind in the country.

“We must raise the awareness of soldiers, commanders, and civilians regarding the symptoms of PTSD,” Bar-Haim says.

He calls upon authorities to develop long-term solutions that will upgrade and accelerate training for future therapists and establish strong regional clinics specializing in trauma and PTSD.

Earlier this month, IDF reserves member Eliran Mizrahi took his own life after developing PTSD during the course of the war.

Mizrahi was called into the reserves shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack, when he was assigned to help clear the bodies of those murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Supernova music festival. He was then sent into Gaza, where he served as a combat engineer until he was injured in April.

Despite being recognized as a disabled veteran and being diagnosed with PTSD, Mizrahi received an order to report for duty in Rafah in early June, and took his life two days later.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Herzog to Olympians: Think of the hostages as you compete in Paris

President Isaac Herzog speaks to Olympians and Paralympians at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on June 19, 2024 (Oded Karni/Olympic Committee of Israel)

President Isaac Herzog wishes the Israeli Olympians and Paralympians taking part in this summer’s games in Paris the best of luck and asks them to always think of the hostages in Gaza as they compete.

“You will be our ambassadors, all of you, in France and the whole world,” he says at an event organized at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem for the athletes and the delegation ahead of their departure for the Olympics, which kick off next month.

“You are representing us not just on the field, the course, in the gymnasium — but also before and after the competitions,” Herzog adds. “It’s no secret that not everyone loves us in the world or in Europe, and it’s likely that you will also absorb some of the criticism that the State of Israel absorbs.”

Turning to the hostages, Herzog suggests that it’s possible some of those being held captive might see or hear of the Israeli athletes’ successes, “somewhere over in Gaza. So think of that when you go to the court, to the race, to the competition — think of them, we will all think of them and hope to see them home soon.”

More than 80 Israelis will compete at the Paris Olympics in 15 sports, followed several weeks later by the Paralympics, in which more than 20 Israeli athletes will take part.

Families of slain surveillance soldiers band together to campaign for commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 failures

File - The torched command center of the Nahal Oz IDF base, overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during a visit by relatives of slain lookout soldiers on December 19, 2023. (Courtesy/Eyal Eshel)

Families of IDF surveillance soldiers killed on the Nahal Oz military base during the October 7 Hamas terror assault announce that they have established a joint forum to expose the military failures that led to their children’s deaths.

In a statement to the press, the forum, which has named itself “Their Voice – the surveillance soldier families forum,” pledges to fight for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into October 7, insisting that those behind the failures that led to the largest terror attack in Israel’s history to be brought to justice.

Sixty-six soldiers were killed in the Nahal Oz base, of whom 15 were surveillance soldiers — a position held almost exclusively by women. Five surveillance soldiers are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

The forum says it is demanding “that the neglect at the Nahal Oz outpost, which led to their deaths, be specifically investigated by the commission of inquiry that will be established,” and warns that the families “will not agree that resigning absolves those responsible.”

Olive groves set alight on outskirts of Palestinian town in alleged settler attack

Video footage of fires allegedly set by extremist settlers in the Palestinian town of Burin is published by the anti-settlement group Yesh Din.

The footage shows smoke rising from olive groves on the outskirts of Burin as well as a car gutted by a still-burning fire inside the village.

According to Yesh Din, 20 settlers left the Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, entered Burin and set fire to the agricultural land and the car, and wounded several Palestinian residents while carrying out their attack.

A police spokesperson for the northern West Bank region said she was unaware of the incident.

20 settlers came today from the direction of the Yitzhar settlement and invaded the village of Burin. They burned agricultural land and olive trees, set fire to a car, and wounded several Palestinians. Soldiers who were nearby stood idly by and did not attempt to stop the crimes. pic.twitter.com/jlnYySrXTV

— Yesh Din English (@Yesh_Din) June 18, 2024

IDF says it struck Hezbollah weapons depot overnight, cell of operatives identified on site

Overnight, a drone strike was carried out against a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun, where the military says it identified a cell of operatives.

At the same time, another strike was carried out against infrastructure belonging to the terror group in Baraachit, the IDF adds.

Meanwhile, the military says an explosive-laden drone launched from Lebanon struck the Metula area this morning, causing no injuries.

The IDF says another suspected drone was shot down by air defenses over the northern town of Sde Eliezer. No sirens sounded “according to protocol,” the military says.

במהלך הלילה זוהו מספר מחבלי חיזבאללה נכנסים למבנה צבאי במרחב יארון המשמש כמחסן אמל"ח.
זמן קצר לאחר מכן כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף את המבנה ובו החולייה. במקביל, הותקפה תשתית טרור של הארגון במרחב ברעשית>> pic.twitter.com/ih6fXCQvOp

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2024

Syrian officer said killed in alleged Israeli airstrike in southern Syria

A Syrian officer was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike this morning in southern Syria, the state-run SANA news agency reports.

Citing a military source, SANA says two Syrian military sites in Quneitra and Daraa were targeted by Israeli drones.

The strikes also caused “material losses,” the report adds.

There is no comment from the IDF on the alleged strike.

Deri accuses Netanyahu of losing control of government after he nixed ‘rabbis bill’ vote

Shas leader MK Aryeh Deri (right) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen during a Shas party meeting at the Knesset, on January 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Shas party leader Aryeh Deri accuses Netanyahu of having lost control of the government after he canceled a vote overnight on the contentious “Rabbis Bill” that had been scheduled for today.

In what Channel 12 says is a leaked snippet of the conversation between Deri and Netanyahu following the decision to axe the vote, Deri asks what he’s supposed to tell Shas’s voter base and rabbis.

“Do you think it’s reasonable for me to tell them that the prime minister has lost control?” he asks.

Critics of the bill, which could cost taxpayers tens of millions of shekels annually in salaries for hundreds of new neighborhood rabbis, have charged that it would benefit Shas by providing jobs for its apparatchiks.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Netanyahu did not inform Deri in advance of his plans to pull the legislation off the agenda.

Medical professionals protest against police brutality outside Sheba Medical Center

Dr Tal Weissbach (R) who was injured by a police water cannon while volunteering as a medical professional at a protest in Jerusalem attends a demonstration against police brutality organized by medical professionals outside Sheba Medical Center, June 19, 2024. (Courtesy, Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Dozens of medical professionals are protesting against police brutality outside Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer after a doctor was hit in the face by a police water cannon while volunteering at an anti-government protest in Jerusalem on Monday night.

Dr. Tal Weissbach, who is at risk of losing her vision in one eye as a result of the high-powered spray, attends the demonstration wearing a shirt from the pro-democracy protest group Hofshi B’Artzenu.

Shas official warns collapse of Netanyahu’s government is ‘only a matter of time’

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri speaks during an event of the Shas party ahead of the municipal elections in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Officials from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party warn that the government’s collapse is inevitable after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the contentious “Rabbis Bill” from the Knesset agenda hours before a vote on the legislation was scheduled to begin.

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, an unnamed Shas official say that “there is no coalition, there is no discipline, and the most frustrating thing is that the Likud is a party made up of 35 separate factions.”

“Everyone does as they please,” the official adds, quoting a verse from the Biblical Book of Judges. “The complete dissolution of the coalition is only a matter of time.”

Channel 12 on Tuesday claimed that Shas party leader Aryeh Deri was threatening to bring down the government if the bill, which aims to dramatically alter how municipal rabbis are chosen, was not brought to a vote.

Drone warning sirens sound in northern Israel for second time in under an hour

Sirens warning of a potential drone attack sound in areas close to the border with Lebanon for the second time this morning after two days of relative quiet.

Following the first round of sirens earlier today, the Home Front Command said that the “incident had ended” but did not provide further details.

PM realizing Likud lawmakers unwilling to ‘bear the shame,’ Lapid says after ‘Rabbis Bill’ vote scrapped

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled a vote on the controversial “Rabbis Bill” from the Knesset agenda overnight, hours before it was due to take place, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the prime minister is “starting to understand that there are people in Likud who are no longer willing to bear the shame.”

“The next test will be the conscription law,” Lapid says, referring to a vote on a bill to lower the age at which yeshiva students are exempted from military service. “What is more important, political survival or the survival of the troops?”

Netanyahu’s last-minute cancellation of the vote on the jobs-for-rabbis legislation came after Coalition whip Ofir Ktz decided to unilaterally substitute two new lawmakers for members of his Likud party on the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee after their vocal objections stalled the legislation’s advance.

Cigarette smuggling trade in Gaza poses risk to aid deliveries – Wall Street Journal

A truck carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip is loaded at the Kerem Shalom Border Crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, on June 17, 2024. (Ahikam Seri/AFP)

Amid a breakdown of order in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian smugglers have turned their attention to contraband cigarettes as a result of the sky-high tobacco prices in the enclave, the Wall Street Journal reports, resulting in thousands of aid trucks being unable to deliver essential humanitarian supplies for fear of being attacked.

According to the report, cigarettes are smuggled into war-torn Gaza via humanitarian aid trucks, having been placed there by accomplices in Israel and the United Nations. Once passed inspection and inside Gaza, the aid trucks are then targeted both by smugglers retrieving their goods and other criminals hoping to get to them first.

A single cigarette can sell for as much as $25 in Gaza, the WSJ reports, making the smuggling trade hugely profitable.

Prior to the start of Israel’s offensive in Rafah in early May, the cigarettes were largely smuggled in via the Rafah Crossing on Gaza’s shared border with Egypt, the report adds, but after the crossing was closed indefinitely, criminals have turned to the Kerem Shalom Crossing, on the border with Israel.

As a result of the violent attacks, more than 1,000 truckloads of aid have reportedly remained stuck on the Gazan side of the crossing, and even the goods that reach their destination risk being looted by criminals attacking warehouses.

“This is threatening to undermine everything we’re trying to do,” a UN official tells the WSJ.

IDF: ‘suspicious aerial target’ impacted near Gaza border community

A “suspicious aerial target” that entered Israeli airspace from the Gaza Strip earlier impacted near a southern border community, the military says.

There are no injuries in the incident.

Suspected drone infiltration sirens had sounded in the Gaza border communities of Holit, Sufa, and Nir Yitzhak.

It was the first time since November that suspected drone sirens sounded in southern towns.

White House axes meeting with Israeli officials after Netanyahu claimed US withheld weapons – report

The White House has canceled a meeting with high-level Israeli officials that was scheduled to take place Thursday, Axios reports, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the US was withholding weapons shipments from Israel.

According to the report, the meeting was set to be a strategic dialogue on Iran, and would have been attended by officials from the Pentagon, the US State Department and intelligence agencies, along with their Israeli counterparts.

Following Netanyahu’s accusation that the US was “withholding weapons and ammunition” amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and the border skirmishes with Hezbollah in the north, however, the White House canceled the meeting.

Speaking to Axios, an unnamed US official said “This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts.”

The report adds that a planned meeting between Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan will go ahead unchanged, as will a visit to the US by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant next week.

In first since November, suspected drone sets off air raid sirens in Gaza border towns

For the first time since November, air raid sirens are activated in several communities near the Gaza border due to what the IDF Home Front Command says is a suspected hostile aircraft.

Ship sinks in Red Sea after being struck by Houthis in deadly attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities say, the second-such ship to be sunk in the rebel campaign.

The sinking of the Tutor in the Red Sea marks what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign targeting shipping through the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The attack comes despite a months-long US-led campaign in the region that has seen the Navy face its most-intense maritime fighting since World War II, with near-daily attacks targeting commercial vessels and warship.

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned-and-operated Tutor sank in the Red Sea, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center says in a warning to sailors in the region.

“Military authorities report maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location,” the UKMTO says. “The vessel is believed to have sunk.”

The Houthis do not immediately acknowledge the sinking. The US military as well does not immediately acknowledge the sinking.

The Tutor came under attack a week ago by a bomb-carrying Houthi drone boat in the Red Sea. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Monday that the attack killed “a crew member who hailed from the Philippines.” The Philippines has yet to acknowledge the death, but the man who had been aboard the Tutor has been missing for over a week in the Red Sea, which faces intense summertime heat.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, killing four sailors. They’ve seized one vessel and sunk two since November, according to the US Maritime Administration. A US-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

In March, the Belize-flagged Rubymar carried a load of fertilizer sank in the Red Sea after taking on water for days following a rebel attack.

Elizabeth Warren announces she will boycott Netanyahu’s speech to Congress

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Nov. 24, 2014 (Haim Zach/GPO/Flash90)

US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joins the growing list of Democratic lawmakers boycotting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress.

Explaining her decision not to attend, Warren tells reporters that Netanyahu “has created a humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

“He has also made clear that he does not support US policy for a two-state solution that will let the people of Israel and Palestinians develop their own nation self-determination, live with dignity,” she adds, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Representative Ro Khanna, Representative Jim Clyburn and Senator Bernie Sanders have said in recent days that they would not be attending Netanyahu’s speech and they are expected to be joined by dozens of other progressive lawmakers.

US military says it destroyed 8 Houthi drones in past day

The US military says it has destroyed eight Houthi drones in Yemen and one over the Gulf of Aden in the past 24 hours.

US Central Command says on the social media site X that there were no injuries or damage reported to US, coalition or merchant vessels in the incident.

Netanyahu pulls ‘Rabbis Bill’ from Knesset agenda hours before scheduled vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister attends a Knesset plenum vote in Jerusalem on June 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ahead of Wednesday morning’s scheduled vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to drop the “Rabbis Bill” from the agenda of the Knesset plenum and the parliamentary committee that’s deliberating the highly contentious legislation, according to a statement from the coalition cited by Hebrew media outlets.

The statement released overnight says Netanyahu ordered the move after consulting with coalition whip Ofir Katz, who was set to remove two fellow Likud lawmakers from the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee over their opposition to the bill.

Noam Chomsky’s wife denies reports of his death in wake of stroke

FILE - In this file photo from October 20, 2012, Noam Chomsky stands during a press conference to support the Gaza-bound flotilla in the port of Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)

NEW YORK— Noam Chomsky’s wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, says reports that the famed linguist and activist had died are untrue.

“No, it is false,” she writes in response to an emailed query from The Associated Press. Noam Chomsky, 95, has been hospitalized in Brazil while recovering from a stroke suffered a year ago, Valeria Chomsky told the AP last week.

On Tuesday, Chomsky was trending on X as false reports of his death abounded. Jacobin and The New Statesman published obituaries for Chomsky, though the former changed its headline from “We remember Noam Chomsky” to “Let’s Celebrate Noam Chomsky.” The New Statesman took its essay by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis down altogether.

The Chomskys have had a residence in Brazil since 2015. Noam Chomsky, known to millions for his criticisms of US foreign policy, taught for decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2017, he joined the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson.