Government Coalition Lost Another Key Vote and Became More Fragile: The Bennett-Lapid coalition lost the vote on the settler’s law and exposed its’ weakest points. Three MKs from Meretz, United Arab List - Ra’Am, and one from Bennett’s party Yamina, decided not to vote with the coalition resulting in another political crisis. The law is part of a package that applies Israeli civil law to all Israelis even if they live in the occupied territories that are not considered part of Israel and Israeli law is not valid there according to international law. To enable Israeli citizens to be sentenced in Israeli courts, according to Israeli law, to enable settlers who live outside Israel, in the occupied territories to have the same rights as Israelis who live in sovereign Israel, The Knesset approves a special order every five years which is valid for five years only. The validity of the current order will end on June 30th. The opposition, which basically supports the law and of course the settlers, decided strategically to oppose any law that the coalition introduces, regardless of whether it complies with their ideology, because their main goal is to replace the government by demonstrating its inability to govern. Since the balance is 60-60, the coalition needs every vote to rule.
It is important to say in this context that the settlers law differentiates between Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are subject to Israeli civil law, and the Palestinians in the same occupied territories who are subject to military law and military orders. This week, Israel marked 55 years since the 1967 (Six Day War) and the resulting occupation.
Meanwhile public opinion polls show that Netanyahu gains more power, although he doesn’t have the needed majority to establish a coalition. Political analysts predicts that general elections are close and may be held in the coming fall.
Senior Health Officials Concerned by a Spike in COVID-19 Morbidity: a spike in the numbers of those tested positive for COVID-19, as well as severe and critical cases of morbidity are a cause for concern among senior health officials. Public health specialists said that the current wave is caused by an Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa in recent weeks. Although the R value, which indicated the speed and extent of the spread of the virus has increased by 0.19 points since last week, the Ministry of Health did not issue any restrictions. The Corona taskforce did however recommended reinstating the requirement to wear masks in closed spaces and resume vaccination drives for children 5 years and older.
Daughter of Deputy Mayor of Shefar’am Killed in Car Explosion: Johara Khanifs, 28, was a vocal activist on gender-based violence and firearm violence in the Arab community. She was killed earlier this week by an explosive device attached to her car. Her father served as deputy mayor of an Arab town in the Galilee region in the north of Israel, responsible for the city’s tenders’ department. Her mothers also worked for city hall as head of the status of women division. Johara is the 35th victim of firearm violence in the Arab community since the beginning of 2022. Initial police investigation ruled out the possibility that her assassination was connected to her father’s position, but several media outlets suggested that it was connected to her “lifestyle”, since the police did follow a line of investigation that implicated a member of the extended family. Feminist activists, both Arab and Jewish, responded on social media, stating the women are not killed because of their lifestyle, but because of some men’s patriarchal and conservative views.
The Whole Country Is Following Closely an Intensive Search After A Young Mother of Two is Mysteriously Missing: Police and volunteers are searching for 24 year old Sapir Nahum, a mother of two, who is missing since the beginning of the week, and left no discernible traces. Her ex-partner was detained as a suspect, but he denies any connection to her disappearance. He is a TikTok blogger, with thousands of followers who posts mainly derogatory clips in which he mocks people and their values. He also denies being the father of the younger son, but he refused to have a paternity test. Police suspect that he is responsible for her disappearance and maybe for her death.
New Documentary Film Reveals Adolf Eichmann’s Secret Recordings: the film, 'The Devil's Confessions: The Lost Eichmann Tapes,' first featured at the Tel Aviv documentary film festival Docaviv and is now being aired on Israel’s public broadcast channel. It is based on long-lost recordings of a lengthy interview given by Eichmann to Dutch Nazi journalist Willem Sassen. The interviews were conducted three years before he was apprehended by the Israeli Mossad and brought to trial in Jerusalem. The trial opened on April 1961 in Jerusalem. The film sheds a new light on Eichmann’s active role in executing the Final Solution and his ideological commitment to the genocide of the Jews. This, in contrast to his line of defense in his trial that he was merely a low-ranking clerk executing orders. The film director, Yariv Mozer, said in an interview: 'Eichmann said several times during the trial that he didn’t know about the extermination of the Jews, but the recordings show that he most definitely did.' The film also raises difficult questions about Israel’s reluctance to use the recordings in the trial, although they were considered a “golden piece of evidence” and suggests that then PM Ben Gurion was against using the evidence, to avoid a diplomatic crisis with Germany, for political and economic reasons.
For further reading:
Coalition: Here, here, here, here