Raoul Wootliff

Raoul Wootliff is the The Times of Israel's political correspondent.

Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern sits in the Knesset during a meeting of the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 14, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 12, 2021, 5:23 pm

Elazar Stern drops Jewish Agency candidacy amid burgeoning controversy

Intelligence minister withdraws candidacy, apologizes as outcry snowballs over his remarks about trashing anonymous harassment complaints

By Raoul Wootliff

Knesset Member Elazar Stern. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

October 11, 2021, 5:58 pm

Coalition members assail minister Stern over sexual harassment comments

Intelligence minister sparked outcry when saying he trashed anonymous complaints; Labor chief expresses doubt he can head Jewish Agency; Meretz head calls remarks ‘unacceptable’

By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid (R) with MK Elazar Stern at a press conference in Tel Aviv, on January 18, 2015. (Ben Kelmer/FLASH90)

October 11, 2021, 1:10 pm

Lapid backs ally Stern amid outcry over sexual assault comments

Intelligence minister sparked outcry by implying he’d trashed anonymous complaints; party leader says: ‘If Stern had said he’d shredded assault claims, we would say goodbye to him’

By Raoul Wootliff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (L) hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a private dinner in Jerusalem on October 10, 2021. (Koby Gideon/GPO)

October 11, 2021, 10:42 am

Bennett said to tell Merkel Israel wants to advance controversial submarine deal

PM says he ordered review of deal after taking office; Merkel says countries agree that ‘there must always be a vision of a lasting democratic Jewish State of Israel’

By Raoul Wootliff

Knesset Member Elazar Stern speaks during an Interior Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset on February 20, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 11, 2021, 1:53 am

Ex-soldier says Elazar Stern threatened her for claiming sex assault by officer

Minister, would-be Jewish Agency head sparks outcry by saying he shredded anonymous complaints when IDF manpower chief; later insists this didn’t include sexual assault allegations

By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff

Elazar Stern of the Yesh Atid party attends a plenum session in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 6, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 10, 2021, 4:21 pm

Ex-IDF manpower chief says he shredded many anonymous harassment complaints

Minister Elazar Stern, a leading candidate to head the Jewish Agency, sparks furor with comments made in relation to recent anonymous complaints against nominee for Shin Bet head

By Raoul Wootliff

Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at a press conference in Jerusalem, on July 6, 2021. (Amit Shabi/Pool)

October 5, 2021, 8:44 pm

Justice minister moves ahead with bill setting term limits for prime minister

Legislation proposed by Gideon Sa’ar would only be applied for future PMs, meaning Israel’s longest-serving premier Netanyahu could run for office again

By Raoul Wootliff

Opposition leader and ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the opening of the Knesset's winter session, in Jerusalem on October 4, 2021. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

October 4, 2021, 8:09 pm

Failed leadership: Bennett, Netanyahu trade blame on COVID, Iran in Knesset

At opening of winter session, opposition chief accuses current coalition of ‘abandoning people to their deaths’; PM claims previous government led ‘2 years of stagnation’

By Raoul Wootliff

Avi Alkalay, former editor at Walla news, arrives for a hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court, on March 10, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

September 26, 2021, 2:09 pm

Netanyahu trial: Judges say police can re-question key witness over new evidence

Ruling comes after Shaul and Iris Elovitch asked Jerusalem District Court to prevent examination of former Walla news editor Avi Alkalay, in Bezeq-Walla bribery trial

By Raoul Wootliff

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu imitating a sleeping US President Joe Biden, in a Facebook Live video, September 19, 2021. (Screen capture: Facebook)

September 19, 2021, 11:10 pm

Repeating debunked claim, Netanyahu mocks Biden for sleeping during Bennett meet

‘I heard that Biden was very attentive,’ former premier chuckles, as he drops his head and closes his eyes in an apparent imitation of the US president broadcast live on Facebook

By Raoul Wootliff

Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, on June 28, 2020. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP)

August 31, 2021, 7:10 pm

Decision-making on COVID was ‘defective’ under Netanyahu, ombudsman charges

In scathing report, State Comptroller cites lack of preparation, sidelining of experts, incoherent decision-making, failure to learn from mistakes, vast enforcement discrepancies

By Raoul Wootliff

One thousand chairs are placed at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to symbolize the deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday, September 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

August 11, 2021, 1:43 am

‘People die in a pandemic’: Shaked rapped for seeming to brush off COVID deaths

Following criticism of remark defending government’s decision to find ways to live with the virus, interior minister says her comments ‘should have been worded differently’

By Raoul Wootliff

An aerial photo taken on August 15, 2019 shows icebergs as they float along the eastern cost of Greenland near Kulusuk (Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

August 10, 2021, 6:51 am

After UN warning, Israel sees diplomatic opening in combating climate cataclysm

Jewish state can share tech on water use, agriculture, reforestation and more to advance ‘climate diplomacy’ with international community, Foreign Ministry head says

By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff

Likud MK Israel Katz speaks during a Conference of Heads of Local Authorities, in Ramat Negev, southern Israel, July 22, 2021. (Flash90)

August 9, 2021, 3:35 pm

Katz slams own party leader Netanyahu, Gantz for last coalition’s lack of budget

Ex-Treasury chief faults ‘insane clause’ in the ill-fated deal that said former PM didn’t have to hand over premiership if elections were called due to failure to pass budget

By Raoul Wootliff

Newly appointed Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg at a handover ceremony at the Environmental Protection Ministry in Jerusalem on June 15, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

August 9, 2021, 1:21 pm

Environment minister: UN report shows Israel must declare climate emergency

Zandberg says global warming findings must act as ‘wake-up call’ for the world and the Jewish state: ‘The intensity and urgency of the climate crisis can no longer be denied’

By Raoul Wootliff