Israel’s Knesset (parliament) officially began its spring recess today (Sunday) and will reconvene on May 19 following Israel’s Independence Day. While it is not uncommon for parliaments to hold monthslong recesses, Members of the Knesset from the opposition criticized the coalition for its refusal to cancel the recess during wartime, and also considering the … Read more
According to Abby Lee, Taiwan’s representative in Israel, Taiwan has provided humanitarian relief and help to non-governmental organisations on the ground in Israel since the beginning of the war. This has included offering food and clothes to evacuees and psychological help to those who were impacted by the October 7 attack. Lee said that in … Read more
Israel’s political system should agree to hold a national election in September as it approaches a year since the war against Hamas broke out on October 7, National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz said in a press conference on Wednesday evening. The statement marks the first time Gantz mentioned a specific month as a … Read more
Israel should put forward its own ceasefire plan calling for the exile of Hamas leadership and military wing in exchange for the release of the hostages, United Right Party leader Gideon Sa’ar told The Jerusalem Post as he laid out three mistakes Israel has made in conducting the Gaza war. “We always return to … Read more
The Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee approved on Wednesday a first reading of the proposed changes to the Youth Law 2023, which MK Yitzhak Kreuzer initiated with the help of a group of MKs, according to a Knesset press statement. The committee approved the proposed changes in the wording order that came into … Read more
Knesset member Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) was interviewed on Monday on 103FM and said that the haredi draft law as currently written won’t be able to pass a vote in the Knesset. “I do not believe that the government’s current [version of the law] as published is the law that will ultimately pass. I didn’t … Read more
MK Meir Cohen from Yesh Atid, former welfare and social services minister, was interviewed recently by Anat Davidov and Udi Segal on 103FM radio about the war in Gaza, about the departure of New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar from the coalition with Benny Gantz Gantz, and on whether Yesh Atid would join the current … Read more
Three political parties called on Wednesday on leaders of Israel’s coalition to cancel a planned spring recess, which is scheduled to run between April 8 and May 19. Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman was the first to raise the matter a few weeks ago. On Wednesday, both Yesh Atid, led by MK Yair … Read more
For the first time in 50 years, Israel no longer enjoys the status of a “liberal democracy” due to “substantial declines in the indicators measuring the transparency and predictability of the law, and government attacks on the judiciary,” according to the V-Dem Institute’s 2024 Democracy Report. V-Dem, short for Varieties of Democracy, is a … Read more
What will happen in Gaza “the day after?” Yisrael Beiteinu chairman and MK Avigdor Liberman posed this question during budget debates in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. He claimed he “heard from an old friend in Washington” that war cabinet member and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had made a commitment to Saudi Arabia … Read more
