Israel

18 July 2020; MEMO: The chairman of the Association of University Heads in Israel stepped down on Tuesday due to recent alleged attempts by the government to politically control universities, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Ron Robin’s resignation came after several decisions by Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

18 July 2020; MEMO: Cyber-attacks were carried out recently against Israeli water infrastructure, however no significant damages were caused, the Israeli Water Authority has said.

According to officials, the two attacks were aimed at agricultural water pumps in the Upper Galilee and infrastructure in the centre of the country. No mention was given as to who carried out the attacks.

17 July 2020; MEMO: The Haifa District Court yesterday rejected an appeal filed by Sheikh Raed Salah against the 28-month sentence issued against him on charges of “incitement to violence” and joining a banned group.

16 July 2020; MEMO: Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Wednesday that Israel needs a miracle to avoid full lockdown to deal with COVID-19, Arab48.com reported.

JERUSALEM, July 13 (NNN-MA’AN) – Bank of Israel Governor, Amir Yaron, warned that, the state’s annual budget deficit may reach 13 percent of GDP by the end of the year.

Israel’s annual budget deficit recently reached a record 88.4 billion new shekels (25.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to a report issued by the Ministry of Finance earlier in July.

The deficit figure, between July, 2019 and June, 2020, accounted for 6.4 percent of Israel’s GDP, way above the government target of three percent.

13 July 2020; MEMO: A top Israeli health official has condemned Tel Aviv economic protests on Saturday evening as a “health terror attack”, i24 News reports.

12 July 2020; MEMO: Israel’s relationship with Arab states does not depend on peace with the Palestinians, Israel’s Minister of Intelligence Eli Cohen told i24NEWS on Thursday.

12 July 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced his anger several times as Nadav Argaman, head of Shin Bet, concealed information about Iran’s hacking of Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s mobile phone, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed on Friday.

Netanyahu was angry with Argaman because the latter had not briefed him nor told the public about the hacking.

11 July 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been prevented from appointing police and judicial officials due to his corruption trial, Anadolu Agency reported.

On Thursday, the Israeli government’s legal adviser, Avichai Mandelblit, informed Netanyahu of the ban on appointing senior officials in the judiciary and police.

JERUSALEM (AP) — With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel’s economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. Instead, he dismissed expressions of some of the public’s economic pain as “BS.”

The flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi is symptomatic of what critics see as a bloated, out-of-touch government. It also has become a rallying cry for anti-Netanyahu protests spreading, like the virus, across the country.