NSO’s Spyware Used for Surveillance on Six Palestinian Human Rights Activists: according to a report by Citizen Lab of Boston University, Amnesty International and Frontline Defenders, NSO’s spyware was used for the first time on mobile phones with an Israeli area code, three of them belonging to Palestinians working in human rights groups that were recently declared by Minister of Defense Benny Gantz as terror organizations. According to the license granted to NSO by the ministry of defense, only the Israeli Central Security Service may track Israeli mobile phones. NSO, who sells its products only to foreign governments and other foreign agencies, said in response that “we cannot confirm nor deny the identity of our clients”. The three organizations that conducted the independent probe said that the spyware was planted on the phones between July 2020 and April 2021.
Tension Between Ethiopian and Israeli Governments Rise Over Airlift of Immigrants to Israel from the Tigray Region: in recent months, Israel has ramped up the efforts to bring Ethiopians of Jewish decent to Israel, as the civil war in the Tigray escalates. This caused some tension between the two countries, as Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed complained in a phone call with PM Bennett earlier this week, that at least four of those airlifted to Israel in recent months were involved in war crimes. PM Bennett assured him that Israel will look into the matter and will ensure the return of those involved in war crimes. However, Israeli immigration officials say that it would be difficult to identify them, since most of the immigrants from Ethiopia that came to Israel in recent months do not carry any means of identification. Israeli media also reported that 61 people were recently brought to Israel in a secret operation, at the request of a former immigrant from Ethiopia, and that a probe into the identities of the new immigrants showed that many of them had no Jewish roots and were connected to the person who requested their Aliya (immigration) to Israel by personal or business ties. These incidents brought to the fore once again the controversy over bringing Ethiopian citizens of Jewish descent to Israel, with the population authority and national security council arguing against it, and leading politicians advocating for the Aliya of those remaining in Ethiopia, especially considering the escalation of the Ethiopian civil war. Minister of Absorption Pnina Tamano-Shata and Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked agreed this week to airlift 2,000 people of Jewish decent from Ethiopia to Israel.
Israel Intensifies its Air Attacks and missiles attacks on Targets in Syrian Territories: according to foreign press reports Israeli fighter jets, drones and missiles attacked targets which are affiliated with Iran, at least 3 times in the last 10 days.
Israel announced time and again that it will not tolerate any Iranian activity or presence close to its’ borders. The foreign press reports were widely published in Israel, although Israeli sources tend to ignore such reports and do not comment on or approve them, in order to keep Israeli policy purposely vague. On the other hand it was also published in Israel that Russia, who has some control over Syria, did not comment on or protest over the Israeli attacks.
A Scandal Erupted When the Coalition Whip Revealed in an Interview that She Was Physically Attacked Recently: MK (member of Knesset) Idit Silman from Yamina Party (the party of PM Bennett) confessed that she was physically attacked while she fuelled her car. Her rivals from the Likud party immediately attacked her claiming that she made it up and that she is staining all right-wing supporters by accusing them of responsibility for her assault. Even ex-Pm Netanyahu ridiculed her in one of his speeches. Journalists demanded that she expose all the details and evidence she has of the alleged attack and wondered why she did not report it to the police. They claimed that if that was true, the man who assaulted her must be put on trial and be punished. Silman is one of the most hated and attacked MKs in the current Knesset, and she often receives threats on her life and on her family. All the six members of Yemina are accused of deceiving the electorate because before the elections they promised not to join the left in order to establish a coalition which is exactly what they did after the elections. Silman in particular drew a lot of fire, and she was violently attacked on social media platforms for months. Later this week the police opened an investigation into the case.
For the First Time The Israeli Olympic Committee Nominated a Woman as Head of the Committee: The new head is Yael Arad who is the first woman to hold this senior position. Arad was the first Israeli athlete to win a judo medal at the olympic games. She won her bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, and also won a Silver medal in the world championship in 1991.
For Further Reading:
Ethiopia: Here, here, here, here