Latest News And Analysis
Analysis: Gantz throws Bibi a political lifeline
The deadlock which has paralysed Israeli politics for the past year appears to be drawing to a close after a stunning about-face by Benny Gantz last week. After fighting three elections since last April on a pledge to end Benjamin Netanyahu’s decade in office, the opposition leader last week threw him a political lifeline and[…]
Analysis: Israel rocked by constitutional crisis
Israel is engulfed in a constitutional crisis following an effort by the speaker of the Knesset to effectively shutter the country’s parliament and prevent a vote on his replacement. Yuli Edelstein, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has defied a ruling by the Supreme Court which ordered him to hold the vote by 5pm[…]
Analysis: Gantz gets first shot at becoming PM
Opposition leader Benny Gantz was officially charged yesterday with the task of forming Israel’s next government after a roller-coaster weekend of political manoeuvring. It came against the backdrop of the country in a virtual lockdown as dramatic measures to counter the coronavirus were taken by Benjamin Netanyahu’s caretaker government. Gantz, who leads the centrist Blue[…]
LFI chair attacks government in debate on PA curriculum
LFI chair Steve McCabe attacked the government’s handling of the Palestinian Authority’s controversial school curriculum in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday. Independent reports have detailed how the curriculum, which the PA began to roll out in 2016, glorifies terrorists, teaches the virtues of martyrdom and contains a series of antisemitic tropes. UK international development aid pays the[…]
Analysis: Gantz moves to oust Netanyahu
Israel’s opposition leader, Benny Gantz, has seized the political initiative and is attempting to form a minority government within two weeks to oust Benjamin Netanyahu from power and end the country’s year-long political stalemate. The former IDF chief’s move follows a dramatic week in the wake of last Monday’s inconclusive general election. Israelis have voted three times[…]
Analysis: Netanyahu stages a comeback – but will it be enough?
Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have pulled off a spectacular comeback in Israel’s general election, but one that has seemingly left his right-wing and ultra-Orthodox bloc still short of a majority in the Knesset. The results of the election – the third since last April – aimed to break the deadlock which has paralysed Israeli politics[…]
Steve McCabe MP to become chair of LFI
Steve McCabe MP is to become the new parliamentary chair of Labour Friends of Israel. Mr McCabe replaces Dame Louise Ellman who stood down as an MP at December’s general election. Mr McCabe was elected to parliament in 1997 and served as a whip under the last Labour government and as a shadow minister during[…]
Analysis: Israelis prepare for new elections – and another stalemate?
Voters in Israel go to the polls in two week’s time – for an unprecedented third time in less than one year, with many fearing that continued stalemate may even lead to further elections. The general elections held in April and September last year saw both Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz fail to[…]
Analysis: Trump plan’s threat to Arab Israelis
Among the many flaws of Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” – although one which has received little intentional attention – was its seeming proposal that thousands of Arab Israelis should be effectively stripped of their citizenship and transferred to a future Palestinian state. The US plan proposes that Israeli territorial gains in the West[…]
Analysis: Trump’s plan: Palestinians say “No” as Bibi fails to reap political windfall
The release of the US Middle East plan last week was a nakedly political event. As his impeachment trial in the US Senate continued, Donald Trump attempted to bolster his support among pro-Israel evangelical Christians at home, while throwing an electoral lifeline to Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, the Israeli prime minister was formally charged with multiple[…]
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Our weekly update looking at the Middle East peace process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting UK policy on Israel
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