Israel

23 Feb 2023; MEMO: The Israeli Supreme Court ordered, on Thursday, to appoint a session "as soon as possible" to consider a petition filed against the appointment of the far- right Otzma Yehudit Party leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, as Minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed the submission of a response to the petition.

The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan 11, said Netanyahu has delayed for weeks the submission of his response to the petition against Ben- Gvir's appointment.

24 Feb 2023; MEMO: The head of Israel's National Unity Party, Benny Gantz, yesterday criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for agreeing to transfer some powers over the occupied West Bank from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Palestinian militants fired six rockets from the Gaza Strip toward the country’s south early Thursday, hours after an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank triggered a fierce gunbattle in which 11 Palestinians were killed.

The rocket attacks, which were not immediately claimed by Palestinian militant groups, appear to be triggered by the Wednesday morning raid in Nablus.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Palestinian militants in Gaza launched rockets at southern Israel and Israeli aircraft struck targets in the coastal enclave early Thursday after a deadly gun battle with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank killed 10 Palestinians.

The bloodshed extends one of the deadliest periods in years between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, where dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year. Palestinian attacks on Israelis in 2023 have killed 11 people.

22 Feb 2023; MEMO: Israel and Saudi Arabia normalising relations with each other would end the conflict with Palestinians and the wider Arab world, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has claimed.

Speaking at the Hartog National Security Conference in Tel Aviv yesterday evening, Netanyahu stated that "If we have the upper hand, I think we can expand the circle of peace, and if we expand the circle of peace to Saudi Arabia, I think we will actually end the Arab-Israeli conflict".

22 Feb 2023; MEMO: Special Israeli police units are monitoring Israeli protestors and activists organising demonstrations against the government's attempted reform of the judiciary, sparking criticism of an assault on democracy.

JERUSALEM, Feb 22 (NNN-MA’AN) – The UN human rights chief, urged yesterday, Israel’s far-right ruling coalition to halt a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, saying, it might undermine the rule of law, human rights and judicial independence.

“These changes risk weakening human rights protections for all, but especially the most vulnerable communities and groups, less able to vindicate their rights,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, said in a statement.

21 Feb 2023; MEMO: Israel's parliament, the Knesset, approved earlier today the first phase of the Netanyahu government's plan to weaken the powers of the judiciary. In a first reading, 63 MKs voted in favour and 47 voted against.

21 Feb 2023; MEMO: An Israeli team who had gone to Turkiye to help with search and rescue efforts after the 6 February deadly earthquakes returned centuries-old Jewish scrolls they had taken from the country.

According to the Turkish Haber7 website, the Israeli search and rescue team, known as ZAKA, had secretly taken the historical scrolls of the Book of Esther from Antakya Synagogue, which was damaged in the earthquake.

21 Feb 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called on Tuesday for a dialogue with opponents of his proposals to overhaul the judiciary which have drawn mass protests and criticism from around the world, Reuters reports.