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Raoul Wootliff
Raoul Wootliff
Raoul Wootliff is the The Times of Israel's political correspondent.
The power plant at the Isle of Peace. (Shmuel Bar-Am)
October 21, 2018, 10:53 pm
Dismantling ‘Isle of Peace,’ Jordan chooses hardliners over Israel ties
King Abdullah’s announcement that he won’t renew clauses in 1994 peace deal that lease border lands to Israel comes amid rising domestic pressure and economic woes
By Raoul Wootliff and Adam Rasgon
Activists and members of the Druze community protest against the nation-state law, outside the Knesset, on October 15, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 21, 2018, 9:18 pm
Ministers delay debate on equal rights bill aimed at reassuring Druze
Opposition Druze MK’s proposal seeks to make amends for controversial Jewish nation-state law; he warns community’s voters won’t remain loyal if government doesn’t keep promises
By Stuart Winer and Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's granddaughter, Noa Rothman, at the state memorial service, marking 23 years since the assassination of Rabin, October 21, 2018. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
October 21, 2018, 7:29 pm
PM rebuts claim by Rabin’s granddaughter that his aide cast ex-PM as ‘traitor’
Netanyahu says allegation an example of ‘baseless defamation’ leveled against him; Noa Rothman had apparently confused journalist for PMO official
By Raoul Wootliff
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev speaks at an event marking the Jewish new year in the northern Israeli city of Safed on September 3, 2018. (David Cohen/Flash90)
October 21, 2018, 5:38 pm
Ministers advance bill conditioning arts funding on ‘loyalty’
Proposed law would withhold state funding from works that deny Israel is Jewish-democratic country, promote racism, incite violence, destroy state symbols
By Raoul Wootliff
A partial view of the train platform at the new high-speed train station between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, at the Yitzhak Navon Railway Station in Jerusalem on September 20, 2018. (AFP / THOMAS COEX)
October 16, 2018, 9:04 pm
Knesset panel to hold emergency discussion on high-speed train woes
Economic Affairs Committee to review series of mishaps on new multi-billion shekel line from Jerusalem that have seen trains delayed or halted mid-journey
By Raoul Wootliff
Zouheir Bahloul (R) handing his resignation letter from the Knesset to Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, October 16, 2018. (Knesset)
October 16, 2018, 6:24 pm
Arab lawmaker from Zionist Union quits Knesset over nation-state law
Zouheir Bahloul hands in resignation 3 months after saying he could not sit in a parliament that passed discriminatory laws; he earned over NIS 100,000 during Knesset recess
By Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the inauguration of a new emergency room in Kiryat Shmona on October 16, 2018. (Screen capture: Twitter)
October 16, 2018, 4:25 pm
Netanyahu pushes back after being slammed for telling heckler she’s ‘boring’
Opposition MKs attack PM after he berates northern resident for decrying lack of medical facilities; sources close to him say she crossed ‘all moral and human lines’
By Raoul Wootliff and Michael Bachner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opens the winter session of the Knesset on October 15, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
October 15, 2018, 7:45 pm
Opening Knesset, Netanyahu rips opposition for ignoring ‘fantastic progress’
PM accuses ‘negative and bitter’ political rivals of spreading falsehoods; says media is censoring itself; hails ties with Russia and US
By Raoul Wootliff
President Reuven Rivlin (L) and Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein at the opening of the Knesset winter sitting, October 15, 2018. (Knesset)
October 15, 2018, 6:59 pm
Rivlin warns infighting is greater threat to Israel than nukes or terrorism
At Knesset, president says internal divisions in which people are tied to rigid political camps could ‘tear flag’
By TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff
Labor leader Avi Gabbay, left, attending a news conference in Tel Aviv, July 11, 2017; Yair Lapid attending a conference in Herzliya, June 22, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90; Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images via JTA)
October 15, 2018, 5:19 pm
Zionist Union head attacks Yesh Atid over support for Haredi army draft bill
Gabbay accuses Lapid of keeping coalition afloat; Lapid rejects joining with parties on right or left
By Raoul Wootliff
MK David Bitan speaks with supporters at a Likud party event in Tel Aviv, September 6, 2018. (Gili Yaari/FLASH90)
October 15, 2018, 5:00 pm
PM, Liberman back IDF chief after ex-coalition whip blames him for Gaza unrest
Defense minister blasts ‘intolerable’ comments by David Bitan that Eisenkot holding back on operations; Netanyahu: ‘The chief of staff is doing an excellent job’
By Stuart Winer and Raoul Wootliff
A Knesset worker preparing the parliament for the opening of the winter sitting, October 14, 2018. (Knesset)
October 15, 2018, 2:45 pm
Thorny legislation foreshadows early elections as Knesset winter session begins
3 contentious religion-and-state hot potatoes threaten to break up the government and spur a national poll. That might be just what Netanyahu wants
By Raoul Wootliff
A general view of the Prime Minister's Office building in Jerusalem (Orel Cohen/Flash90)
October 15, 2018, 12:37 am
PMO said to boot official who blocked state renovation of Netanyahu private home
Accountant Eli Fisher passed request to Finance Ministry, which ruled plans went beyond maintenance and constituted home improvements that are forbidden by law
By Raoul Wootliff
Factions of the ultra-Orthodox community -- Shas Council of Torah Sages, Hassidic Agudat Yisrael and Lithuanian Degel Hatorah -- meet in Bnei Brak ahead of a mass rally against the military draft bill, February 24, 2014. (FLASH90)
October 14, 2018, 9:40 pm
Ultra-Orthodox faction signals it won’t topple coalition over enlistment bill
The Council of Torah Sages says UTJ leaders will hold talks with Netanyahu over contentious legislation, will back law if ‘a few changes are made’
By Raoul Wootliff
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid leads a party faction meeting at the Knesset on December 26, 2016. (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 14, 2018, 6:56 pm
Lapid slams harsh rap of TV stars’ interfaith marriage, but says he opposes it
Citing the loss of Jews during the Holocaust, self-styled leader of Israel’s secular mainstream says he would ‘rather the Jewish people grow and not decrease’
By Raoul Wootliff
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