The future of the Joint List – an alliance of Israeli-Arab parties which emerged as the third strongest force in the Knesset at last year’s general election – appears to be in increasing jeopardy as talks aimed at preventing its collapse faltered on Sunday. The dispute within the alliance – which includes communists, Islamists and Read more…
Gideon Saar, a former ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, said at the weekend that his new party might consider an alliance with Likud – but that the prime minister couldn’t be part of it. Formed in December, Saar’s New Hope party has soared in the polls and represents the biggest danger Read more…
The outgoing Labor leader Amir Peretz announced today that he won’t stand in the Israeli general election scheduled for 23 March. Peretz announced he was quitting as Labor leader shortly after new Knesset elections were triggered last month following the government’s failure to pass an annual budget. Peretz controversially broke Read more…
The Knesset appears on track to dissolve next Tuesday, triggering the fourth round of Israeli elections in a little under two years. Negotiations between Likud and Blue and White – the two largest parties in the country’s “unity government” – to resolve a long-running budget dispute appear to have collapsed. Read more…
Israel appears to be on the brink of new elections – the fourth round in less than two years – as its centre-left weighs options to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu emerging victorious. Last week, the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill to dissolve itself. Three more votes will be Read more…
Labor is to vote to bring down the government of which it is a member in a no-confidence motion that will be debated in the Knesset tomorrow. The fate of Benjamin Netanyahu’s “unity government” – which Labor joined with its centrist Blue and White allies earlier this year – appears Read more…
Nearly half of Israelis want Joe Biden to restart the stalled Middle East peace process and launch negotiations with the Palestinians when he takes office in January, a poll published this week found. The survey – carried out by the dovish Geneva Initiative – shows that 49 percent of Israelis Read more…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell has written to Middle East minister James Cleverely following last week’s parliamentary debate calling for the UK to back an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Ms McKinnell’s debate is part of a long-running LFI campaign to secure greater support from the British government for peace-building work Read more…
Rifts within Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party appear to be deepening as the crisis over Israel’s budget deepens and new elections loom. If no budget is passed by late December the government will automatically dissolve. Benjamin Netanyahu is widely suspected to be stalling on the budget in order to call Read more…
Reuven Rivlin led the congratulations on Joe Biden’s victory, and invited the president-elect to visit Jerusalem. In an English-language video, the Israeli president wrote: “Mr President-elect, I was pleased to welcome you to Jerusalem as vice president and I look forward to welcoming you to Jerusalem as president of the Read more…
Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party are reportedly considering leaving Israel’s coalition government, a move that would trigger new elections. The centrist party came to an agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year after three inconclusive general elections in which it fought Likud to a virtual draw. Under the terms Read more…
Israel this week began lifting its nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Widely praised for its swift and tough action against the pandemic in the spring, the country last month became the first in the world to order a second shutdown after a sharp rise in cases. But the Jewish state is in Read more…