The Knesset passed legislation on Wednesday night, December 27, which prevents police from recommending the indictment of high-profile targets of criminal investigations. The legislation passed in its third reading, with 59 Knesset members voting for and 54 against the bill, following a lengthy filibuster by members of opposition parties. The newly-enacted law was brought by…
Israel’s Minister of Public Security, MK Gilad Erdan, has admitted that during 2017 only a single indictment has been filed among the 184 investigations opened for 381 shootings in the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. Erdan’s written reply was in response to a parliamentary query submitted by Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen (Joint List). Jabareen, himself…
The Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality met with protests as it toured the city of Bet Shemesh on Sunday, December 24. The committee members expressed their opposition to the “modesty signs” posted at the entrances of some of the city’s predominantly Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) neighborhoods. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that…
Nariman Tamimi, 43, and her niece Nur Naji Tamimi, 21 appeared in an Israeli military court on Thursday, December 21, after a viral video was posted showing Nur and her 16 year old cousin, Ahed, Nariman’s daughter, kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied territories. The Tamimi…
Special departments to deal with domestic violence will be established at 16 police stations throughout Israel in 2018, Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced on Wednesday, December 20. During a meeting of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality last month that dealt with the implementation of the recommendations of the inter-ministerial…
Following a stormy debate, the Knesset plenum approved on Wednesday, December 20, the first of three readings of an amendment to the state’s Civil Service Law. The amendment, which was submitted by far-right MK Mordechai Yogev (Habayit Hayehudi) and included complementary proposals initiated by MKs Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Anat Berko (Likud), passed by…
The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) welcomed on Thursday, December 21, the United Nations General Assembly resolution rejecting the US government’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying it was “a victory for the struggle for peace.” Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, agreed that the passing of the resolution constituted…
There is only one possible explanation for Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s insanity in the past two weeks: elections. The smell of approaching elections is driving everyone crazy, especially Lieberman, who for a long time tried to project an image of a responsible adult. His unbridled attacks on the Arab public and its elected officials put…
A plan to deport more than 40,000 asylum seekers and refugees from Israel passed the Knesset last week, paving the way for the implementation of program previously blocked by the Supreme Court. The legislation will also close the Holot detention camp in the Negev, where thousands of African refugees have been detained since it was…
US Vice President Mike Pence has postponed his visit to the Middle East to mid-January, the White House announced on Monday, December 18. Pence was expected to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, December 20, for a visit anticipated to be marked by growing protests following the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Haaretz has…
Large swaths of Israel’s capitalist economy were shut down on Sunday morning, December 17, as result of a general solidarity strike declared by the Histadrut Labor Federation over plans by the pharmaceutical giant Teva to lay off some 1,750 employees in Israel. On Sunday morning, Teva employees gathered outside the pharmaceutical company’s offices in Jerusalem,…
Several thousand Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv again last Saturday night, December 16, in yet another anti-corruption demonstration, the third in three consecutive weeks, against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is being investigated in a pair of graft probes. This latest “March of Shame” in Tel Aviv came a day after fraud…
Thousands of Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrated on Friday, December 15, in the northern city of Sakhnin against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Speakers at the rally which followed the protest march stressed that there will be no peace unless East Jerusalem becomes the capital of an independent Palestine state.…
Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest generic-drug company in the world, announced on Thursday, December 14, that it will lay off nearly 25% of its global workforce, or some 14,000 people, within the next two years. 1,750 of the employees to be fired will come from the company’s workforce in Israel. Two of the company’s Israeli facilities…
The Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) and the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) severely condemn US President Donald Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a decision which is both a blatant attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and a significant blow to the requirements for a just peace…
