Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli election officials were tallying the final votes from national elections on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking likely to reclaim the premiership with a comfortable majority backed by far-right allies.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: After disappointing election results, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid yesterday canceled his attendance of the UN climate conference in Egypt next week, the Times of Israel reported.

"President [Isaac] Herzog will be representing Israel at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh," Lapid's office said.

Last month, Lapid agreed to take part in COP27, saying "climate crisis presents us with exceptional opportunities" for the Israeli economy.

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian on Wednesday after he carried out a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Israeli army and Palestinian health ministry said.

The Palestinian man drove to the Maccabim checkpoint, hit an Israeli officer and wounded him seriously, the Israeli army said in a statement.

The man then got out of his car and tried to attack the officer with an axe before he was "neutralized," the army statement added.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared headed toward victory Wednesday, with some 85% of the ballots from national elections counted and showing that voters gave him and his far-right allies what looks like a majority in the country’s parliament.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For the fifth time since 2019, Israelis were voting in national elections on Tuesday, hoping to break the political deadlock that has paralyzed the country for the past three and a half years.

Again, the vote centers around former premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to lead while he faces corruption charges. And while polls predict another stalemate, Netanyahu is looking to the surging power of far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir to propel him back to power.

31 October 2022; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities said yesterday that they would be imposing a comprehensive closure of crossings between Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip during tomorrow's 25th Knesset election.

The occupation forces said in a statement that the closure would begin at 00:00 tomorrow and be in place for 24 hours "pending a situational assessment."

31 October 2022; MEMO: Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Monday he will "neutralise" a recent maritime border deal with Lebanon if he is elected prime minister.

"I will behave as I did with the Oslo Accords," Netanyahu said in an interview with Army Radio.

He said that the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians "were not cancelled, they were neutralised."

The former premier, however, did not detail his specific intentions for the border agreement with Lebanon during his Monday's interview.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli voters appear to be hopelessly deadlocked as the country heads to elections once again on Tuesday, with opinion polls saying the race is too close to predict.

31 October 2022; MEMO: Arab voter turnout is expected to reach 50 per cent in tomorrow's Israeli elections, a new report released by the Israel Democracy Institute has said.

This is higher than the rate of turnout expected by the previous polls carried out two months ago, which reached only 39 per cent.

Haaretz said the turnout rate may help Arab parties pass the electoral threshold and remain in the Knesset.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday visited the Karish gas rig in the Mediterranean for the first time since his country signed a historic maritime demarcation deal with Lebanon.

Standing at the Karish rig, where gas production started on Wednesday, Lapid said the natural gas field "is the energy and economic future" of Israel.