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23rd Knesset
Left to right: Members of the Joint List party MKs Osama Saadi, Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas arrive for a consultation with President Reuven Rivlin on who he should task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
Haviv Rettig Gur
Analysis
Haviv Rettig Gur
When Israel’s Arabs began to demand their own ‘normalization’ deal
Mansour Abbas, who drew fire from his opposition colleagues for helping Likud overturn a Knesset vote last week, is a conservative Muslim urging ‘pragmatic’ Arab Israeli politics
Left to right: Members of the Joint List party MKs Osama Saadi, Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas arrive for a consultation with President Reuven Rivlin on who he should task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
October 30, 2020, 7:13 am
When Israel’s Arabs began to demand their own ‘normalization’ deal
Mansour Abbas, who drew fire from his opposition colleagues for helping Likud overturn a Knesset vote last week, is a conservative Muslim urging ‘pragmatic’ Arab Israeli politics
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum on August 24, 2020. (Knesset Spokesperson's Office)
October 21, 2020, 12:55 am
In rare unity display, Likud, Blue and White said to agree to torpedo inquiries
Partners in dysfunctional coalition to shoot down proposal to investigate justice system, call for commission into so-called submarine affair at Wednesday Knesset plenum
By TOI staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on March 26, 2020. (Knesset)
October 16, 2020, 6:09 am
The Knesset winter session is off to a running start. On a treadmill
While politicians tussle and pontificate, their failure to pass a budget and appoint top officials leaves government agencies unable to tackle the worst fallout of the pandemic
By Haviv Rettig Gur
US President Donald Trump, center, with from left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, September 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
October 15, 2020, 9:04 pm
Knesset approves UAE normalization 80-13; mainly Arab party is sole opposition
Overwhelming support for historic peace agreement, which now heads to cabinet for final ratification
By Raphael Ahren
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset on October 15 ahead of a vote on ratifying Israel's normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates (Gideon Sharon/Knesset Spokesperson)
October 15, 2020, 12:43 pm
Netanyahu hails ‘warm peace’ with UAE as Knesset debates normalization deal
PM says no hidden annexes or secret additions to accord signed in DC; opposition leader Lapid calls agreement ‘excellent’ but ex-defense minister Ya’alon to boycott vote
By Raphael Ahren
Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen during a vote at the Knesset on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)
October 14, 2020, 3:08 pm
LISTEN: Top Israeli politicians are breaking the law — and nobody cares
ToI’s senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur explains why a key government transparency measure is being ignored by a third of the cabinet — including Netanyahu and Gantz
By TOI staff
Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, left appoints MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh as the Knesset's special coordinator for issues pertaining to the International Criminal Court, September 23, 2020 (courtesy)
September 23, 2020, 5:10 pm
Ahead of decision on war crimes probe, Knesset taps point-woman for The Hague
MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, daughter of Canada’s ex-justice minister, vows to use the ‘language of rights and international law so that Israel can rise from the docket of the accused’
By Raphael Ahren
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a school in Jerusalem ahead of the opening of the school year, August 25, 2020. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)
August 27, 2020, 3:24 pm
Using state budget as a cudgel, Netanyahu puts his political future in the red
PM charged head-first into a wall of public resentment over the budget deadlock; it’s doing him more damage than all the years of corruption probes and intemperate politicking
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Defense Minister Benny Gantz (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen during a vote to stave off a budget deadline and thus avert elections, at the Knesset on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)
August 26, 2020, 5:29 pm
After staving off elections, Blue and White, Likud continue to trade barbs
Gantz says Netanyahu sowing societal rifts, hints he’s pushing elections due to corruption trial; Likud accuses rivals of sabotaging government from within
By TOI staff
Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid speaks in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)
August 25, 2020, 9:26 am
Opposition head Lapid: Deal averting election means another 120 days of failure
Netanyahu ‘playing politics’ amid ‘extreme health and economic crisis,’ Yair Lapid charges, as coalition parties continue sniping
By TOI staff
Supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protest outside the District Court in Jerusalem in his support, during a court hearing of his trial on criminal allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, on July 19, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 23, 2020, 1:58 pm
Netanyahu wants elections — and fears them
Something has cracked in the prime minister’s longstanding base of support. Likud’s MKs and rank-and-file members are no longer sure Netanyahu is putting the country first
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Blue and White MK Tehila Friedman delivers her maiden speech at the Knesset, August 11, 2020 (Video screen capture)
August 14, 2020, 9:39 am
Israel is ‘fragile, flammable,’ freshman MK warns in speech watched by millions
Blue and White MK Tehila Friedman’s searing maiden speech in the Knesset touches a cord with admonition that a Jewish state ‘is not a given’ and ‘our differences are not temporary’
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits an IDF Home Front Command base in Ramle on August 4, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
August 10, 2020, 9:25 am
Netanyahu’s election threat is an elaborate, calculated game of ‘chicken’
With the economy faltering and his right-wing bloc fraying, the PM doesn’t want to risk a vote. But to get his way, the threat must be credible – so let the campaign begin
By Haviv Rettig Gur
Then-Blue and White MK Gadeer Mreeh (left) in the Knesset on May 20, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
July 29, 2020, 3:28 pm
Knesset votes down opposition call to add ‘equality’ to nation-state law
Gantz absent from vote as Blue and White criticizes amendment, saying it supports – and is preparing – standalone legislation to ensure equality
By TOI staff
Shas party chairman and Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, at the Knesset on November 4, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
July 23, 2020, 7:31 am
Don’t believe the hype about a new election (unless it happens)
With his approval ratings dropping and the economic crisis deepening, Netanyahu would be foolish to risk a national vote
By Haviv Rettig Gur
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