Israel National Holocaust Memorial Day: At 10am on Tuesday morning Israel stood still, while a two minute siren was played through loud speakers all over the country, as part of the ritual of Holocaust Memorial Day. According to the law, all places are closed on Holocaust Memorial Day evening: entertainment places, theaters, cinemas, coffee places, restaurants and other events. All media outlets dedicate their broadcasts and websites to the Holocaust. The main event to open the Memorial Day, takes place at Yad Vashem, the National Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, with the participation of the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and other state representatives, symbols and institutions.
The March of the Living was renewed after the COVID years. Thousands of people from all over the world, march every year from Auschwitz to Birkenau as a symbol and proof that the Jewish nation prevailed. The Italian President attended the event at the end of the march.
Auschwitz is a symbol of the Holocaust and the attempted extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis. Holocaust survivors join this march, but there are not many that are still alive. In Israel there are 140,000 left, at least a third of them live in poverty.
In the last few months Israel reached an agreement with Poland that enabled the renewal of youth study tours to Poland. Thousands of Israeli high school students travel to Poland to experience and learn about the huge Jewish community that was perished and exterminated, to visit the Warsaw Ghetto, the concentration camps and other memorial sites in the country. Poland demanded that the children visit at least one site that marks the hardship that the Polish people went though during World War 2 when it was occupied by German Nazis. This resulted in much criticism in Israel since the Poles have a reputation of collaboration with the Nazis, and many of them expressed deep antisemitism.
Coalition and Opposition Resume Negotiations Over Judicial Overhaul Under Auspices of President Herzog: the teams met earlier this week at the President’s residence, to resume the discussions around the proposed judicial overhaul. The discussions focused on the composition of the judicial appointment committee subsequent to the coalition having already submitted an amendment to change the committee’s composition to reflect a majority vote for government representatives. Opponents of the judicial overhaul fiercely object to this proposal since it will lead to political appointments of judges aligning with government policies. Other topics on the agenda were amendments to the Basic Law of the Judiciary and the Basic Law of Legislation, particularly issues concerning the status of basic laws and the coalition’s attempts to overhaul judicial review of legislation that could undermine human rights and the rights of political minorities.
The opposition was represented at the negotiations by the parties Yesh Atid and the state camp. This, after the Labor Party's negotiating team announced that it is withdrawing from the negotiations with the coalition. In their statement, Labor Party representatives said they decided to withdraw due to a lack of transparency and shady deals taking place behind the scenes.
Moody’s Downgrades Israel’s credit Forecast, Voices Concerns Over Weakening of Judiciary: The International ratings agency has left Israel’s credit rating at A1 but downgraded its credit outlook from “positive” to ”stable”. In its report, the agency said that the change reflects a deterioration of Israel's governance, as manifested by the proposal for overhauling the judiciary.
According to Israeli media, this is the first time since the Covid crisis that Israel's credit outlook has been cut, only a year after Moody's praised Israel's economy and raised the credit outlook from stable to positive.
In their report, quoted extensively by Israeli analysts, Moody’s specialists wrote: "Moody's does not anticipate that the reforms (coup laws) will be approved in the manner initially proposed, but it is not at all clear whether it will be possible to find a compromise." Analysts also commented that in its report, Moody’s fully adopted the perspective of those opposing the judicial overhaul and its impact on Israel’s democratic character, institutions and mechanisms of checks and balances.
PM Netanyahu and President Herzog attempted until the last minute to influence Moody’s decision and convince them that Israel’s economy was resilient and will not be negatively affected by the judicial overhaul. After Moody’s published their decision, PM Netanyahu, and Minister of Finance Smotritch stated that Moody’s do not fully understand Israel’s economy.
Last Week of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr: the holy month of Ramadan concluded on Thursday evening this week, and marked the start of Eid al Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the month long dawn-to-sunset fast.
After a severe escalation in violence at the Al Aqsa Mosque at the beginning of Ramadan, the past week, including the mass Lailat al-Qadr prayers, passed mostly without any special events or violence. Tens of thousands of worshipers gathered for the mass night prayers at Al Aqsa; 280,000 according to the Muslim Waqf, and at least 130,000, according to police sources. Hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank also participated in the mass prayers.
The night of al-Qadr, which is usually observed on the 27th day of the month of Ramadan, is, according to Muslim belief, the night when the Prophet Muhammad began to receive the verses of the Quran, the Muslim holy book. It is also the biggest annual event held at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.Eli Cohen, Foreign Minister of Israel Opened the First Permanent Israeli Embassy in Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan is one of the most closed countries in the world, almost like North Korea and has long diplomatic relations with Israel. Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea and has a long border with Iran to its South. The new embassy building is actually located only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Iran, and is considered a statement towards Iran: if Iranians come close to Israel’s region and borders, Israel can do the same by strengthening Israeli strategic ties near Iran’s borders.
For Further Reading:
Holocaust Memorial Day: Here, here, here, here
Turkmenistan: Here, here, here
Negotiations: Here, here, here, here, here
Moody’s: Here, here, here, here
Ramadan: Here, here, here, Here
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