A Deadly Palestinian Terrorist Attack Leaves Three Dead Jews and Three Seriously Wounded: An individual Palestinian man, with a work permit for an Israeli zone in the West Bank, managed to execute a terrorist attack in one of the oldest and biggest Israeli settlements, Ariel. Ariel is located in the center of the West Bank and has a large industrial area. Palestinians who want to work there need a special permit granted by the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service). While a manned Security booth is supposed to check everybody who enters the area, a man with a work permit managed to stab a security guard at the entrance, then ran to a nearby petrol station stabbing two others, take control of a car, run over and kill one other and wound two additional people. He finally crashed into a number of other cars and was shot dead by a soldier when attempting to flee. The situation in the West Bank is already tense. There are voices among the new right-wing Knesset members promoting an extensive military operation in the West Bank to restore deterrence.
The 25th Knesset Was Sworn in on Tuesday, While Netanyahu Is Facing Difficulties Composing the New Government: 120 members of the 25th Knesset were sworn, and here are some facts about them:
Rightwing parties have a solid majority of 64 members - Likud 32, Religious Zionists 14, Shas 11 Yahdut Hatorah 7.
Forty two Knesset members are orthodox Jews: 18 Haredi and 24 national religious, one is a reform Rabbi.
There are three members of the LGBTQ community.
There are 29 Women, only nine in the future proposed coalition.
Ten Knesset members are Arabs, the lowest number in years. All of them are in the opposition.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu who will be the next Prime Minister, faces difficulties trying to compose the new coalition on the basis of the four rightwing parties. The two leaders of the Religious Zionists, Itamar Ben Gvir from Jewish Power (Otsma Yehudit) demands to be appointed minister for homeland security in order implement a strict policy against Arab citizens, and Bezalel Smotritch demands to be appointed minister of defense. The Biden Administration already expressed their concerns at appointing Smotritch to the role of defense minister and hinted that if that happens, the American administration will have the minimum of cooperation with him. Among other demands, Smotritch insists on the retroactive re-legislation of a law that will legalize historical Jewish construction in the West Bank, even if they were illegally built on private Palestinian land. In the past the Supreme Court of Justice cancelled the law by ruling that it was an unlawful law, since it contradicts property rights.
Israel Responds to UN General Assembly’s Vote to Seek Advisory Opinion of ICJ on Occupation: earlier this week, the UN General Assembly voted 98-17 to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The ICJ will be asked to address the illegality of the occupation of Palestinian territories as what can be considered as de facto annexation, according to international law. The UN resolution specifically asked the ICJ for an opinion on the status of Jerusalem, which has been the focus of friction and escalating violence. It should be noted that an ICJ opinion on the matter is non-binding yet may carry some significance if and when the boundaries of a future Palestinian state are negotiated.
Senior Israeli officials responded to the resolution with harsh criticism. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said: "by co-opting the ICJ to impose a political decision the Palestinians are given the perfect excuse to continue boycotting the negotiating table to perpetuate the conflict”. PM Yair Lapid said Israel rejects the resolution and warned that such a unilateral move will undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and may harm any possibility for a future peace process.
It should be noted that Israel has unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem and extended the boundaries of municipal Jerusalem. A move not recognized by almost the whole world who have kept their embassies in Tel Aviv with the exceptions of Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and the United States.
Police Launch Investigation into Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Rabbi Zvi Tau: Rabbi Tau is the spiritual leader of the far-right Noam party, a member of the future government coalition and the head of Har Hamor Yeshiva, affiliated with the rightwing Haredi nationalist stream.
The police decided to launch an investigation after the two women came forward and told the media that Rabbi Tau sexually attacked them. This decision overturned an earlier one to not pursue an investigation, based on the statute of limitation clause, since some of the alleged attacks took place more than 30 years ago. Prominent Rabbis of the National Religious community posted on social media calling for an in-depth and unbiased investigation into the allegations, after speaking in person with the women who came forward. This, after people from Rabbi Tau’s close circle attempted to publicly shame the first woman to openly testify against him.
The second woman who shared her story on camera said that the late wife of Rabbi Tau knew of the attack and they both shared it with a prominent Rabbi, who banned Rabbi Tau from teaching for several years.FBI to Investigate the Killing of Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: Israeli media reported this week that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is launching an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 this year, during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp, apparently by an Israeli soldier.
Israeli analysts claim that the decision to launch an FBI investigation came after pressure from within the Democratic party that intensified after Israel concluded its own probe into the killing of the journalist, yet without taking any steps to identify the shooter or press charges against them.
Senior Israeli officials condemned the decision to launch an FBI investigation and said it was a “grave mistake”. Minister of Defense Gantz announced that Israel will not cooperate with the investigation.
For further reading:
Terrorist Attack: Here, here, here, here
25th Knesset: Here, here, here
Knesset website in English: Here