The ball moved to the other side of the political aisle: PM Netanyahu failed to establish a coalition and the mandate to form a government was given to his political rival, Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid party.
Lapid will try, in his turn, to square the circle and establish a coalition based on ideological right-wing parties on the one side and ideological left-wing parties on the other side. This will be a challenging task. There is at least one MK (member of Knesset) that has already announced that he will vote against such a coalition, and others may follow. Lapid needs at least 61 out of 120 votes to establish a coalition. Lapid now has 28 days to try and meet the challenge, if he fails, Israel may go to a fifth round of elections in two years.
A Jewish Yeshiva student died after being shot by a Palestinian shooter in the West Bank. Shortly after his death, and after an extended pursuit that lasted a few days, the shooter was arrested in the Palestinian Authority territory. The shooting raises concerns among the security forces. They are afraid that this may start another round of violence. These are sensitive days, due to Ramadan, the sacred month for Muslims, and the upcoming Jerusalem Day that marks the unity of Jerusalem. Jerusalem Day is highly controversial because the Palestinians and most of the International community do not recognize it as a single united Israeli city and consider East Jerusalem as part of the occupied Palestinian Territories. Meanwhile the situation in Jerusalem is already heated. 15 people were arrested on Thursday night, after long hours of clashes between Jews and Palestinians. The Palestinians are protesting against the intention to evict Palestinian families from their homes in favor of right-wing settlers, all under Israeli law which favors the repossession of properties by Israelis in areas captured during the Six Day War. The properties in question were in Jewish hands during the British mandatory period before the establishment of Israel. In addition MK Ben-Gvir from the extreme right party opened a temporary office in the center of this neighborhood, Sheik Jarrah, which caused a lot of tension and contributed to the developing violence.
Who Will Investigate the Mount Meron Disaster? The tragedy that took the life of 45 people, children, youth, and adults, and left 150 injured, during a pilgrimage event continues to capture public attention. The disaster was widely covered by world press, and letters of condolence from world leaders poured in, alongside expressions of empathy from social media users from countries near and far. The question on everyone’s minds these days is, who will investigate the shortcomings that led to the disaster and who are the responsible political and professional personas. While the State Comptroller announced that he will start a probe into the events, the Police Chief asked the Attorney General to appoint an independent, non-governmental committee of inquiry. Legally there are 4 Jewish Hassidic legal entities that took control of the venue years ago and they refused to align with state regulations and refuse to be held accountable.
PM Netanyahu’s corruption trial re-opened for 3 days this week, with the cross examination of the first prosecution witness, who was the CEO of the highly popular news website Walla. The focus of the cross examination this week was his narration of how they removed photos and reports of bereaved families from the website because they did not want to make Netanyahu and his wife angry, and how he had to change photos that Ms. Sara Netanyahu did not like. The trial will continue next week.
Israel’s First Transgender Soccer Referee Takes to the Field: Sapir Berman - who came out as a transgender woman in a press conference last week, blew the opening whistle in a premier league match earlier this week. Berman is the first worldwide transgender woman soccer referee in a pro league, and her debut appearance as a woman drew media attention globally. Berman received a warm welcome from the captains and players of both teams before the match, as well as mostly supportive reactions on social media.
For further reading:
Shooting: Here, here, here, here
Meron Disaster Investigation: Here, here, here, here, and here