ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 572
The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and prominent journalist Ben Caspit reach an agreement to end a libel suit filed by the premier.
Netanyahu will pull the suit and Caspit will publish a statement saying that he never intended to imply Netanyahu’s actions surrounding the payment of benefits to a Knesset legal adviser were corrupt.
In 2018, Netanyahu filed a lawsuit against Caspit, demanding NIS 200,000 ($53,000) for voicing “false and baseless” claims in his column in the Maariv newspaper.
Caspit wrote in his column that Netanyahu’s “emissary” MK Miki Zohar (Likud) handed a NIS 6 million ($1.6 million) pension benefit to Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon, shortly before he was due to step down from the position.
Caspit also pointed out that Yinon’s romantic partner, Amit Marari, was the deputy attorney general in charge of criminal affairs, and was involved in the various corruption investigations into the prime minister — implying an illicit attempt to influence the outcome of those investigations.
A pair of television polls that aired this evening say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-religious coalition would lose its majority and slump to new 52 seats if new elections were held, the latest sign of discontent over the government’s judicial overhaul plans and handling of various hot-button issues.
The Channel 12 news survey said former defense minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity party would be the largest with 29 seats, followed by Netanyahu’s Likud with 24, opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid with 18, the far-right Religious Zionism alliance with 11, ultra-Orthodox Shas with 10, United Torah Judaism with seven, and the right-wing secularist Yisrael Beytenu with six.
The Islamist Ra’am, Hadash-Ta’al, and left-wing Meretz all received five seats each, while the Labor party fell short of the minimum threshold, the first time it would fail to enter the Knesset since Israel’s founding.
The Channel 13 news poll had near-identical figures, but, unlike its competitor, polled Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit separately, rather than as a joint slate, following their split after the November elections. Between them, they were predicted to get 11 seats, with seven going to Religious Zionism and four to Otzma Yehudit.
Overall, both networks had the parties now in opposition that composed the previous coalition winning 63 seats — enough for a majority — and the current coalition 52. Hadash-Ta’al is not aligned with either bloc.
The Channel 12 poll, conducted by Manu Geva, included 512 respondents and had a 4.4 percent margin of error, while the Channel 13 survey was done by Kamil Fuchs and had 601 respondents with a 3.7% margin of error.
As part of the state budget for the next two years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government is set to approve NIS 5 billion (close to $1.4 billion) in spending promised to ultra-Orthodox parties as part of coalition deals, Channel 13 reports.
According to the network, most of those funds will go to yeshivas and teachers at Haredi educational institutions.
NIS 500 million (near $1.4 million) a piece will reportedly go to the Jerusalem, Tradition and Mount Meron Ministry, headed by United Torah Judaism’s Meir Porush, and to a government body for the socioeconomic advancement of the ultra-Orthodox community. The rest of the money will be allocated for numerous other agencies and causes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed ministers about talks on a possible prisoner swap deal with the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group during today’s cabinet meeting, Channel 12 news reports.
According to the report, Netanyahu — who made the remarks while pushing back against far-right criticism of the return of a Palestinian assailant’s body over the weekend — said that Israel was moving close to a deal, without elaborating further.
He then reportedly complained about the “pressure” from the families of Israeli captives and slain IDF soldiers whose remains Hamas is holding.
The network quoted unnamed officials saying Hamas has shown flexibility during the talks, but there have not been any breakthroughs.
Protesters against the government’s judicial overhaul plans hold a protest outside the Jerusalem home of Economy Minister Nir Barkat.
Barkat, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party who has regularly been targeted by demonstrators, is meeting inside with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, National Missions Minister Orit Strock and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, according to Hebrew media reports.
ירושלים: הפגנה מול ביתו של השר ניר ברקת כשבפנים מתקיימת פגישה בנוכחות השרים שיקלי, סילמן וסטרוק עם משלחת מאוניברסיטת הרווארד. יחידת מגן במשרד רה"מ שלחה תגבור אבטחה לאור כוונת המפגינים לחסום את היציאה של השרים pic.twitter.com/oMXNNXBbF5
— Inbar Twizer ענבר טויזר (@inbartvizer) May 7, 2023
A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claims to have opened fire at the northern Israeli town of Gan Ner.
The Jenin-based group publishes unclear footage, purportedly showing the town from a distance, before gunshots are heard.
There are no reports of damage of injuries.
The alleged shooting comes after a young Arab Israeli man was shot dead near the town yesterday, in an apparent roadside brawl. The suspect who opened fire has been arrested.
Palestinian gunmen in the northern West Bank have targeted Israeli settlements and towns along the security barrier several times in recent months.
#مشاهد… من استهداف سرايا القدس-كتيبة جنين مستوطنة "جانير" بصليات من الرصاص. pic.twitter.com/FxewHPUNmx
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) May 7, 2023
The Israel Defense Forces says it is closing off the Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater) from this evening at 7 p.m. until Wednesday at 10 a.m., due to “activity of the defense establishment.”
Additionally, the Route 40 highway between Mitzpeh Ramon and the town of Shitim, and the nearby Route 13 highway will be shuttered temporarily tomorrow and on Tuesday.
The IDF says the roads will close for up to two hours between 6:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and completely between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., on both days.
The IDF has previously closed roads in southern Israel when it has conducted tests of various weapons in development.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is dispatching an envoy to Israel next week for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, the Walla news site reports.
The report, which cited two Israeli officials, said Gergely Gulyas — who heads the Hungarian prime minister’s office — will also give an address to the Israel Council on Foreign Relations during his stay.
Gulyas will be the first Hungarian official to visit Israel since the swearing-in of the new hardline government, with Netanyahu and Orban long having close ties.
Opponents of the government’s currently frozen plans to overhaul the judicial system have evoked efforts to weaken the judiciary in Hungary, which Orban has spoken of making an “illiberal democracy.”
The High Court of Justice declines to order the government to demolish the illegal West Bank Bedouin encampment of Khan al-Ahmar, saying the timing of such an operation is at the discretion of the government due to security and diplomatic considerations.
The ruling comes as a blow to right-wing organizations that have sought to have Khan al-Ahmar demolished for years, and will increase criticism from the hard-right flank of the current government, which includes several ministers and MKs who have long called for the encampment to be removed.
In the unanimous ruling of the three-judge panel, Justice Alex Stein writes that the government’s position, requesting that the court allow the state to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar at a time of its choosing due to damage that might be caused at present to Israel’s security and its diplomatic standing, is justified.
The basis for the state’s claim was laid out in confidential documents shown to the court which, Stein writes, “put our minds at rest that these reasons, without exception, are tied to the state’s security and foreign affairs,” and says the court’s practice is not to interfere with the priorities of a state authority in enforcing the law.
The court underlines, however, that Khan al-Ahmar is illegal and should be demolished.
The right-wing Regavim organization, which petitioned the court for the demolition of the encampment, says the ruling demonstrates the court’s bias against the settlement movement, claiming that the state has in the past argued that diplomatic considerations were preventing it from demolishing Israeli West Bank settlements which the court nevertheless ordered demolished immediately.
“On the other side, the capitulation of the state to international pressure and the rubber stamp of the High Court to that capitulation is leading the state to anarchy: whenever state policy is disliked by international elements they will pressure the government to retreat… this is a disgrace for the State of Israel and a disgrace to the High Court,” says Regavim in response to the ruling.
KHARTOUM, Sudan — The UN’s top humanitarian official arrives in Saudi Arabia for ceasefire talks between Sudan’s warring generals, as gun battles and airstrikes flare in the Sudanese capital at the start of a fourth week of fighting.
Multiple truce deals have been declared and quickly violated since battles erupted between army and paramilitary forces on April 15 in the poverty-stricken country with a history of political instability.
Fierce combat since then has killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians, wounded thousands and sparked multiple warnings of a potential “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.
More than 100,000 people have already fled the country.
In embattled Khartoum, fighter jets have bombed positions as terrified residents stay barricaded indoors trying to cope with dire shortages of water, food, medicines and other staples.
Across the Red Sea in the Saudi city of Jeddah, talks are underway aiming for a ceasefire that could push efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged population.
The generals leading the warring parties have said little about the talks being held in Jeddah since yesterday.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says his far-right Otzma Yehudit party is boycotting cabinet meetings and Knesset votes because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud isn’t living up to its promises.
“We demand the adoption of right-wing principles,” he says in a video statement.
He also addresses Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was quoted dismissing his complaints over the return of a Palestinian assailant’s body.
“Don’t release bodies, don’t release terrorists — kill them,” Ben Gvir says.
Thousands of people are attending the funeral of Diar Umari, 19, after he was shot dead yesterday in a roadside fight.
“With spirit and blood, we will redeem you, martyr!” mourners chant in his hometown of Sandala in northern Israel.
The funeral is held hours after the man accused of killing Umar appeared in court, which ordered an extension of his remand.
הרצח בגלבוע: משתתפים בהלווייתו של דיאר עומרי קראו קריאות "ברוח ודם נפדה אותך שאהיד" ו"דמך לא ילך לשווא" @CBeyar @GalAharonovich pic.twitter.com/tj4KBHfVkD
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2023
MOSCOW — The head of the Wagner mercenary group says Russia has promised his fighters enough ammunition to stay in Bakhmut, after threatening to pull out in scathing videos.
Rivalries between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the conventional army came to the surface during the battle for the eastern Ukrainian town, where Wagner is leading the assault.
It comes as Russia has reported increasing drone strikes and sabotage, amid speculations of an expected spring counteroffensive from Ukraine.
“Overnight we received a combat order… they promised to give us all the ammunition and armaments we need to continue the operations” in Bakhmut, Prigozhin says.
His group has been assured “that everything necessary will be provided,” he adds.
On Friday, he threatened to pull out of Bakhmut on May 10, in a series of blistering, heavily bleeped-out videos, blaming Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for “tens of thousands” of Russian casualties.
“Their unprofessionalism is destroying tens of thousands of Russian guys and that is unforgivable,” he said at the time.
In one video, Prigozhin was seen showing rows of what he said were dead Wagner fighters.
“They came here as volunteers and they are dying so you can get fat in your wood-paneled offices,” he said.
TEHRAN, Iran — The head of Iran’s athletics federation resigned today over a sporting event featuring women without the mandatory headscarf, state media reports, as the Islamic Republic toughens enforcement of hijab rules.
“Hashem Siami resigned from his post due to the controversies that arose from the endurance (running) race organized in Shiraz” in Iran’s south, official news agency IRNA says.
According to images from Friday’s competition published by Iranian media, some women were running without headscarves, made compulsory shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Local organizers of the public event have also been summoned to provide “explanations,” the provincial prosecutor says in a statement.
Siami told IRNA he was not involved in organizing the competition, and the unveiled athletes were not part of the national federation.
A new police program came into force last month aiming for stricter enforcement of hijab-wearing in public.
The number of women in Iran defying the dress code has increased since a wave of protests following the September 16 death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, 22, after she allegedly breached it.
Members of the ruling Likud party sharply criticize ministers from the far-right Otzma Yehudit for skipping today’s cabinet meeting, as part of a growing spat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Likud MK David Bitan calls on Otzma Yehudit to end its boycott of Knesset votes. “This creates a dynamic of a government’s collapse,” he says in an interview with Army Radio.
Fellow Likud lawmaker Keti Shitrit says Ben Gvir’s party received “critical positions” in the government and Knesset committees, denying it’s “being diminished.”
“It’s a difficult situation managing this entire puzzle called the Israeli government,” she tells Channel 12 news.
According to Hebrew media reports, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during today’s cabinet meeting that holding terrorists’ bodies is not “an asset” vis-a-vis Palestinian terror groups, “expect in very rare cases relating mostly to Hamas.”
“I’m not moved by a minister who attacks me, particularly those who have seen fewer bodies of terrorists than I did,” adds Gallant, a former general, in reference to Ben Gvir’s objection to the return of a Palestinian assailant’s body.
Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes, a fellow defendant in one of the criminal cases Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial for, has told Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that he isn’t interested in non-binding mediation, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
But the report says that if Baharav-Miara were to sign off on such a process, Mozes is expected to go along.
In March, one of the three judges in the trial asked the state prosecution and the defense teams to consider a non-binding “criminal mediation” process, in part because the proceedings are proving so protracted.
Mozes is charged with bribery in so-called Case 2000, in which he and Netanyahu are accused of attempting to reach a quid pro quo in which Yedioth Ahronoth would give flattering coverage of the premier in exchange for legislation weakening a rival daily. Netanyahu was indicted for fraud and breach of trust in the case.
CAIRO — The Arab League welcomes back Syria’s government, which has been shunned since 2011 over President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests that started the civil war.
“Government delegations from the Syrian Arab Republic will resume their participation in Arab League meetings,” says a unanimous decision by the group’s foreign ministers.
The Azrieli Foundation announces a NIS 180 million donation to Darca, a network of high schools in towns in the north and south of the country.
The group says the donation will be spread out over five years and go toward expanding the current number of schools that Darca operates from 47 to 60.
“Along with our partners at Darca, we are building a respectful community that encourages creative thinking, leadership, dialogue, and acceptance of others, in order to strengthen communities in the periphery, empower the future of our students and create an enriched and innovative education system for all students,” the foundation’s chairwoman Danna Azrieli says in a statement.
Darca chairman Jimmy Pinto adds: “The support and faith in the work of the Darca network will make it possible for us to move forward significantly in promoting equal and sustainable opportunity for every child.”
Energy Minister Israel Katz defends plans to set up “kosher electricity” storage sites, arguing they will benefit not only ultra-Orthodox Jews but the entire population.
After the government votes to advance the proposal, Katz says the sites are aimed at storing electricity that can be used during peak consumption hours, and that their use by Haredi communities instead of generators during Shabbat will be a boon for all by cutting pollution.
“What we approved today won’t raise electricity costs by an agora for the public,” he asserts in a video released by the ruling Likud party.
The Israel Defense Forces’ comptroller has begun an inspection of the armories at some 250 military bases, after several incidents of mass theft of ammunition last year.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Sarig, the IDF comptroller, will inspect all of the military’s armories and bunkers, from the level of battalions and upwards, to check their level of security.
Sarig will hold meetings over the next five days with military officials responsible for security on various bases, the IDF says.
The inspection will also focus on the bases’ compliance with instructions made by deputy IDF chief, Maj, Gen. Amir Baram, following break-in incidents.
In October 2022, some 30,000 bullets were stolen from a base in southern Israel; and in November, over 73,000 bullets and dozens of grenades were stolen from a base in the Golan Heights.
For years, the military has struggled with thefts from its bases, both by soldiers and by criminal gangs.
KYIV, Ukraine — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog is expressing growing anxiety about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after the governor of the Russia-occupied area ordered the evacuation of a town where most plant staff live amid ongoing attacks in the area.
The plant is near the front lines of fighting, and Ukrainian authorities say today that a 72-year-old woman was killed and three others were wounded when Russian forces fired more than 30 shells at Nikopol, a Ukrainian-held town neighboring the plant.
“The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said in a warning that came before the latest report of attacks.
“I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant.”
Grossi’s comments were prompted by an announcement Friday by Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of the partially-occupied Zaporizhzhia province, that he had ordered the evacuation of civilians from 18 settlements in the area, including Enerhodar, which is located next to the power plant, which is Europe’s largest.
The settlements affected are about 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 40 miles) from the front line of fighting between Ukraine and Russia, and Balitsky said that Ukraine had intensified attacks on the area in the past several days.
The region is also widely seen as a likely area where Ukraine may focus its anticipated spring counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian General Staff said today that the evacuation of Enerhodar had already begun.
The European Union slams Israel over the demolition of a school in the Palestinian village of Jubbet al-Dhib that was funded by the bloc.
“Demolitions are illegal under international law, and children’s right to education must be respected,” the EU’s delegation to the Palestinians says, adding the move affected 60 kids.
“Israel should halt all demolitions and evictions, which will only increase the suffering of the Palestinian population and further escalate an already tense environment,” it adds.
The demolition is praised by the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council.
“Establishing dilapidated schools are in reality PA land-grab tactics of state lands, which actually put students at risk,” Shlomo Neeman charges in a statement. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Cabinet ministers approve controversial pilot plans to build storage sites for so-called kosher electricity that are aimed to be used by ultra-Orthodox Jews.
