Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 8, 2023
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Security cabinet confirms Israel at war, can undertake ‘significant military activities’
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meets with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (C) and military chiefs at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv for a security assessment on October 8, 2023. (GPO)
The security cabinet voted last night to put the country officially at war, and it can carry out “significant military activities,” the Prime Minister’s Office announces.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already said the country was at war after Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, killing hundreds.
The high-level security cabinet decision gives the declaration legal standing in keeping with Basic Law: The Government, which in its Clause 40 says that the country cannot go to war without a government decision.
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