Israel

13 Jan 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, defended on Friday a proposed shake-up of the Judiciary, but also indicated changes could be made to draft legislation that critics say would damage democracy and the independence of courts, Reuters reports.

The 73-year-old political veteran, who is on trial for corruption charges that he denies, returned to power in December at the head of a nationalist, religious government.

Former Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz revealed yesterday that he intends to participate in the protest planned against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Saturday.

Gantz accused Netanyahu of seeking to overthrow the rule of the police, adding that the prime minister allegedly intends to violate the most basic rights and refuse to negotiate broad agreements, which he considered dangerous for Israel.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot and killed two Palestinians during separate arrest raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said, the latest bloodshed in months of rising violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

11 Jan 2023; MEMO: An Israeli parliamentarian from the extreme far-right Otzma Yehudit party called on Tuesday for the arrest of opposition leaders and two former MKs, accusing them of "treason against the state," Israeli media have reported.

09 Jan 2023; MEMO: Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, on Monday, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "eliminating democracy" in Israel amid a row over a proposed judicial reform, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"This is not judicial reform, this is extreme regime change […] this is cutting Israel off from the family of liberal countries," Lapid said on Twitter.

10 Jan 2023; MEMO: The Egyptian government deals with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as two separate governments rather than being members of the same coalition, an anonymous Egyptian source has said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Sunday revoked the Palestinian foreign minister’s travel permit, part of a series of punitive steps against the Palestinians that Israel’s new hard-line government announced days ago.

Riad Malki said in a statement that he was returning from the Brazilian president’s inauguration when he was informed that Israel rescinded his travel permit, which allows top Palestinian officials to travel easily in and out of the occupied West Bank, unlike ordinary Palestinians. It was not clear whether the permits of other officials had been revoked as well.

08 Jan 2023; MEMO: Thousands of demonstrators protested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government Saturday in Tel Aviv, reports Anadolu Agency.

Protesters gathered in Habima Square in central Tel Aviv to demonstrate against the government's plan to reduce the powers of the judiciary and policies of far-right and ultra-religious government partners.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prominent U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz, long a staunch defender of Israel’s policies on the international stage, said Sunday he cannot defend sweeping judicial reforms planned by Israel’s new government.

The proposals call for an overhaul aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, including by allowing lawmakers to pass laws that the Supreme Court has struck down. The reforms would give politicians more power over how judges are chosen and limit the independence of government legal advisers, among other steps.

07 Jan 2023; MEMO: Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Aviv Kochavi has warned of having two heads of the Israeli military in light of having a junior minister in the defence minister's office, Israeli media has reported.