Israeli Defense Minister, Ganz, Declared 6 Palestinian Organizations As Supporting Terrorism And Therefore Turned Them into Illegal Organizations. This ministerial decision generated a lot of criticism. Biden Administration officials said that they were not informed about the move beforehand. Key leaders from the European Union said that the process was problematic. The Palestinians resent the declaration. Knesset Members in Israel criticized the decision and even ministers in the Israeli Government complained that they were not informed in advance and were not exposed to the evidence that was behind the decision. Human rights organizations in Israel and in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) also expressed support for the named organizations.
The six organizations are affiliated with the Palestinian Popular Front, a left-wing faction of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). Israeli intelligence claim that these organizations were used as a cut out to transfer donor money to terrorist operations against Israel.
Israeli officials had to travel to Washington DC to share with the American administration the evidence against those six Palestinian organizations.
Cabinet Approves 30 billion NIS ($9.375 Billion) Five Year Plan to Narrow Gaps Between the Arab and Jewish Communities, Which Will Enable the Needed Majority to Pass the State Budget for 2021-2022 : the plan, which will be implemented in 2022-2026, involves 21 ministries, and is designed to make major investments to improve employment opportunities, high-tech and innovation, housing, and health services in the Arab community, which comprises 21% of Israel’s population. The plan reflects the agreements and understandings reached between the government parties and the United Arab List headed by Mansour Abbas. Arab political and civil society leaders were divided in their reactions to the new plan. Its critics claim that the new plan does not represent a major leap in narrowing historical gaps between the Arab and Jewish communities. MK Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab Joint List, and member of the opposition criticized the plan and said that it fails to make major investments in economic growth, nor does it include the establishment of a new hospital in a major Arab town, a university, or a new Arab city. Mansour Abbas, on the other hand, claimed that the plan is “unprecedented” in its scope and represents a turning point in the relationship between the state of Israel and its Arab citizens.
Israel Is Not Ready To Meet International Standards To Fight Climate Change, This Was the Bottom Line Of The State Comptroller’s Special Report That Was Published Earlier This Week.
The report found that none of the Israeli ministries is ready to meet the International objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions within a given timetable.
PM Bennett and Environmental Minister Zandberg are due to participate in the International Climate Change Summit COP26 in Glasgow UK next month.
Israeli Vulture Community Was Reduced By 6% Last Week When Nine Individual Birds Were Intentionally Poisoned. Bodies of those big birds were found in the Negev, southern Israel,. When rangers of the Nature Authorities checked they found that the vultures were intentionally poisoned. No suspects have been arrested as yet and the investigation continues. The Nature Authorities are making major efforts to preserve the community of local vultures and to help them reproduce safely.
Israeli Court Rules: The six Year-Old Sole Survivor of a Cable Car Crash to Return to His Family in Italy: the Tel Aviv Family Court ruled earlier this week that Eitan Biran, who lost his parents, little brother, and great grandparents in a cable car crash in northern Italy in May 2021, is to return to his paternal aunt in Italy. Eitan, who lived with his aunt in Italy following the tragic accident, was unlawfully taken to Israel by his maternal grandfather last month, following a bitter custody dispute between his maternal relatives residing in Israel, and his paternal relatives, residing in Italy. The court rejected the grandfather’s claim that Israel was the child’s “regular place of living”, since Eitan has lived with his parents in Italy since he was one month old. The court also ordered the grandfather to pay court fees. The court also stipulated that the execution of the ruling will be suspended for one week, to allow the grandfather to appeal. Following the ruling of the Israeli family court, the custody hearings will be conducted by a court in Italy, but the grandfather’s family’s chances of obtaining legal custody of Eitan are slim, given the way that he took the child out of Italy, in violation of international law.
For further reading:
Palestinian Organizations: Here, here, here, here
Five year plan: Here, here, here, here