Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a coalition government following Israel’s March general election expired on Tuesday night. After 28 days of negotiations, Netanyahu announced that he had failed to persuade enough other parties to join a government led by his Likud party. Netanyahu’s efforts ultimately failed when Bezalel Smotrich, leader Read more…
Israel experienced its worst ever civilian disaster last week, when a stampede at Mount Meron in the northern Galilee led to the deaths of at least 45 people. More than 100,000 people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gathered at the annual Lag B’Omer celebrations, which include visits to the gravesite of the Read more…
Elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council and presidency, respectively scheduled for 22 May and 31 July, have been postponed indefinitely – and effectively cancelled. What happened Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas announced on Thursday that the elections, which would have been the first to take place since 2006, would be Read more…
Israel saw zero coronavirus deaths on 22 April, the first day in 10 months without a single death due to the virus. With a total death toll of over 6,000, Israel’s daily death toll has been decreasing since January, when daily deaths averaged at about 60 per day. The last Read more…
Israeli energy company Delek Drilling has signed an agreement to sell its 22 percent share in the offshore Tamar natural gas field to Abu Dhabi’s Mubdala Petroleum Company for $1.1 billion. The deal represents the largest and most significant commercial agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the Read more…
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has offered a glimpse into Iran’s internal power struggles in a leaked recording, claiming that the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) dominates governmental decision-making. Zarif claimed that IRGC commander Qassim Suleimani, who was killed by the United States in January 2020, had consistently undermined Read more…
Following several nights of rocket fire from Gaza, Israel has warned Hamas that it will face major retaliation should the attacks continue. Gaza-based armed factions launched more than 40 rockets into Israel over the weekend, against a background of continued unrest in Jerusalem and electoral uncertainty in both Israel and the Read more…
Introduction In May 2019, the Israeli Knesset dissolved itself barely one month after voters had been to the polls. That political stalemate marked the first time in the state’s seven-decade history that an election has not resulted in the formation of a government. Few then, however, could have predicted that, after another three elections, Israel Read more…
The Sudanese government voted to annul its so-called Israel boycott law on Monday, in the latest development in the two countries’ diplomatic normalisation process. The decision to scrap the law, dating from 1958, was confirmed earlier this month by the Sudanese prime minister’s office, which also affirmed Sudan’s support for Read more…
Discussions to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal continued this weekend, as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran was enriching uranium to 60 percent fissile purity. The IAEA announced it had “verified that Iran has begun the production of UF6, enriched up to 60% U-235, by feeding Read more…
With two weeks left to form a government, Benjamin Netanyahu suffered a major blow on Monday when his supporters lost a key vote which effectively cost them control of the Knesset. The loss increased speculation that the long-serving prime minister’s days in office are numbered. What happened The anti-Netanyahu bloc Read more…
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, forming part of a two-day visit to Israel. Austin tweeted that the US is committed to working closely with Israel, particularly on security and “threats posed by Iran”. He did not mention Iran or its nuclear programme Read more…