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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 376

Sam Sokol

Sam Sokol

Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, right, arriving for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 15, 2024, 4:41 pm
UTJ threatens to bolt coalition if law keeping haredim out of IDF not passed before budget
Party head Goldknopf claims he’s not against military service by ultra-Orthodox who aren’t in yeshiva; complains his constituents are ‘suffering’ from government subsidy cuts
By Sam Sokol
Fainance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance in Jerusalem, September 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 15, 2024, 4:49 am
Treasury proposes to cut benefits, hike taxes for lowest earners to fund war
Arrangements Law also includes measures taxing advanced study fund and pension contributions; the ‘government is going to hit you in the savings,’ warns Liberman
By Sharon Wrobel and Sam Sokol
Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid leads a meeting of his Yesh Atid faction at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 14, 2024, 2:22 pm
Lapid warns civil servants they must oppose ‘laundering’ of state funds for Haredim
Opposition leader announces team to spearhead opposition to 2025 budget and to moves to pay benefits to ultra-Orthodox despite legal restrictions imposed by High Court ruling
By Sam Sokol
Illustrative: Cars destroyed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, are displayed at the civilian October 7 memorial ceremony at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, marking one year since the massacre, October 7, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
October 14, 2024, 1:17 pm
No representative of Oct. 7 bereaved families asked to speak at 2nd government ceremony
Victims of Hostilities Organization chair says he was asked to give speech as ‘they didn’t want screaming’ or protests at event where PM, Herzog will speak too
By ToI Staff and Sam Sokol
Shas party leader MK Aryeh Deri in the Knesset, Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 13, 2024, 10:25 pm
Shas chief Deri was aware state funds were going to party newspaper — report
AG probing Shas Minister Haim Biton after money meant for party-linked educational network allegedly used to pay salaries at Shas mouthpiece HaDerech
By Sam Sokol
An Israeli man lights a memorial candle to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attack at a cultural center in the northern city of Katzrin, October 7, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
October 13, 2024, 6:29 pm
Government sets second national day of mourning for October 7
Flags to be lowered, entertainment venues to be closed, with two additional memorial ceremonies planned under auspices of Transportation Minister Regev
By Sam Sokol
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting in the Knesset, May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 11, 2024, 11:18 am
‘He has no strategy’: Liberman says PM placing ego above national interest
Former defense minister claims Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot and Herzi Halevi dismissed his warning of Hamas invasion in 2016 because they were ‘overconfident’ and ‘arrogant’
By Sam Sokol
Illustrative: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a plenum session and vote on reviving the ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill at the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 9, 2024, 1:44 pm
Netanyahu promises Haredi draft bill by month’s end, as ultra-Orthodox threaten budget
Legislation meant to renew sweeping exemptions from military service, after fierce Haredi opposition to High Court ruling ordering government to end decades-long practice
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Election envelopes at the elections for Israel's new chief rabbis in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
October 8, 2024, 6:00 pm
Following inconclusive vote, AG demands second round in chief rabbi election
Call for runoff comes after a single miscast ballot left rabbis Micha Halevi and Kalman Bar with 40 votes apiece in last Sunday’s Chief Rabbinical election
By Sam Sokol
Israelis in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv watch a screening of the National Memorial Ceremony for Bereaved Families in nearby Yarkon Park on October 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
October 8, 2024, 1:39 am
At separate memorials, families demand accountability as PM touts Israeli ‘strength’
‘The legacy of the fallen demands national soul-searching,’ says father of soldier killed battling Hamas on Oct. 7; Netanyahu: ‘We were not defeated; we will continue to fight’
By Sam Sokol and Jessica Steinberg
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a cabinet meeting on October 7, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
October 7, 2024, 6:15 pm
Netanyahu suggests changing name of Gaza war to ‘War of Revival’
Unsatisfied with existing moniker ‘Swords of Iron,’ PM tells cabinet official name of conflict should reflect nature of battle; Lapid pans proposal
By ToI Staff, Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol
Transportation Minister Miri Regev holds a press conference ahead of the state ceremony commemorating the October 7 Hamas attack, at the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety in Jerusalem, August 22, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 7, 2024, 12:18 am
‘I’m only human’: Regev faces growing criticism over wartime transit, travel snafus
From allegedly failing to arrange buses for reservists to mistakenly claiming to be at a cabinet meeting but on a trip to Budapest, Israel’s transport minister is in the crosshairs
By Sam Sokol
Left to right: Benny Gantz (Miriam Alster/Flash90), Yair Lapid (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90), Bezalel Smotrich. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 28, 2024, 11:07 pm
Politicians across spectrum praise assassination of Hezbollah chief Nasrallah
Opposition leaders join ministers to laud ‘important achievement’ of killing Lebanese terror leader, though left-wing MK Merav Michaeli says government still broadly unfit
By Sam Sokol
Memorial candles line the charred desks in the destroyed command center of the Nahal Oz base, February 23, 2024. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
September 27, 2024, 1:59 am
IDF to give parents recordings of surveillance troops murdered at army base on Oct. 7
Military approves measure after families petitioned High Court for documentation from Nahal Oz; attorney praises army for sparing families from litigation against commanders
By Michael Horovitz and Sam Sokol
MK Gideon Sa'ar arrives for a meeting of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee at the Knesset on October 9, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
September 24, 2024, 7:30 pm
Sa’ar’s pursuit of cabinet role drives wedge between him and opposition leaders
Confidence in right-wing MK ‘greatly eroded’ by his talks with Netanyahu and the fact he has still left the option to join the government ‘on the table,’ opposition sources say
By Sam Sokol
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