Israel

Jerusalem, Dec 23 (AP-PTI) Israel's divided government collapsed early Wednesday, triggering the country's fourth election in under two years and bringing an unprecedented threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lengthy grip on power.

Netanyahu, who is used to labeling his opponents as weak leftists, finds himself confronted by a trio of disgruntled former aides who share his hard-line ideology, led by a popular lawmaker who recently broke away from the prime minister's Likud party.

22 Dec 2020; MEMO: Talks between Israel's Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) with Likud parties broke down yesterday evening after the former backtracked from agreements related to putting off passing the budget bill and avoiding a fourth election in two years, Israeli media reported.

22 Dec 2020; MEMO: The first direct commercial flight from Israel to Morocco took off from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport this morning  with outgoing US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner on board.

The El Al flight was decorated with Moroccan and Israeli flags and the word "peace" in Hebrew, Arabic and English, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.

Israeli Chief of Staff for National Security Meir Ben Shabbat was also aboard the flight.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel sent envoys to Morocco on Tuesday to meet its king and hammer out an upgrade of ties that was forged by the White House in a parting foreign-policy push by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, the delegates were accompanied to Rabat by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and architect of pan-Arab rapprochements with Israel.

20 Dec 2020; MEMO: Israel's top Jewish rabbi inaugurated a Jewish nursery school in Dubai on Sunday and made a special Jewish ritual for the safety of the ruling family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Israeli media, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef arrived in the Gulf state on Thursday, marking his first visit to an Arab country.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Facebook has taken down content that spread lies in Israel against coronavirus vaccinations as the government seeks to drum up support for the programme, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday became the first person to be vaccinated in Israel. Opinion polls show some two-thirds of the public want to follow suit.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus on a live television broadcast Saturday evening.

Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein received the shot at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu was the first Israeli to receive the vaccine, hours before a major roll-out of the vaccinations was to begin in the country.

"This is a great day," Netanyahu told reporters at Sheba, "I believe in this vaccine and I am doing this to serve as a role model and encourage people to get vaccinated."

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Sunday began its coronavirus inoculation drive, aiming to vaccinate some 60,000 people a day in a bid to stamp out the illness that is once again surging among its population.

The country will first immunize health workers, followed by the elderly, high-risk Israelis and those over 60 years old. Israel says it has secured sufficient doses for much of the country’s 9 million people from both Pfizer and Moderna, whose vaccine U.S. authorities approved this week for emergency use.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Israeli officials are reported to have expressed concerns that Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland has been appointed as UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process, local media have reported. The appointment was announced on Monday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he had chosen deputy head of Mossad to be the next chief of the Israeli spy agency without the knowledge of his coalition partner Defence Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, local media reported.

Following the announcement, Gantz hailed the Mossad official's experience, he voiced his fury at not being consulted ahead of the decision.