Israel

16 August 2023; MEMO: Benjamin Netanyahu is afraid that a bill confirming military service exemption for Ultra-Orthodox men might expand anti-government protests within the Israel Defence Forces, local media reported on Tuesday.

15 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his vacation in the Golan Heights yesterday and met with Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu summoned Halevi to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv for issues described as urgent, and postponed his vacation until today. They discussed the army’s readiness for any emergency and how it was affected by the wave of discontent over the judicial overhaul.

15 August 2023; MEMO: Former Israeli army general and ex-senior Mossad agent, Amiram Levin, yesterday said that the Israeli occupation army is a “partner in war crimes”, adding that the situation in the occupied West Bank is “total apartheid”, Kan radio reported.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said troops came under fire and shot back.

JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Israel ruled out on Sunday any eventual physical mission in Jerusalem for the first Saudi envoy to the Palestinians, even as they cast his appointment as endorsement of their goal of a state that would include part of the city as its capital.

Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairi on Saturday expanded his credentials to include non-resident envoy to the Palestinians. A social media post by his embassy said "consul-general in Jerusalem" was also now among Al-Sudairi's duties.

11 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli police downgraded a homicide charge, on Friday, against an illegal Jewish settler suspected of killing a Palestinian in what the United States has described as a "terror attack", Reuters reports.

11 August 2023; MEMO: Israel's intelligence agency, Shin Bet, said it thwarted an Iranian espionage attempt on Friday when it detained and then deported a Jewish-Iranian who flew into the country with a tissue box it said was meant to hide surveillance equipment, Reuters reports.

12 August 2023; MEMO: The Israeli Air Force chief, on Friday, warned that reservist pilots protesting controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary are hurting the Force's readiness, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking to dozens of reservist pilots who say they will not show up for volunteer duty to protest the government's plans to overhaul the judiciary, Major- General Tomer Bar told them the readiness of the Force is "worsening", The Times of Israel daily reported.

TEL AVIV, Aug 10 (Reuters) - El Al Israel Airlines (ELAL.TA) is in "serious" talks with planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) to buy as many as 30 A321neo jets, El Al's CEO said on Thursday, in what would be an historic change of supplier as it looks to replace its short-haul fleet.

Israel's flag carrier is also in talks with traditional supplier Boeing (BA.N) to buy 737 MAX aircraft, Dina Ben Tal Ganancia told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference after El Al issued quarterly results and as it celebrated 20 years of being traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange after privatisation.

10 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli universities have been preparing to hold strikes in protest against the ongoing judicial overhaul, Israeli Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported organisers of anti-judicial reform protests saying.

"Academia stands at the forefront of the struggle to preserve democracy," the protest movement said yesterday.