Benjamin Netanyahu - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

Israel protests flare over Netanyahu’s new Supreme Court bill

THOUSANDS of protesters blockaded Israel's main airport and major highways as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right coalition pressed ahead with a justice bill that has opened the deepest splits seen in the country in decades. A day after parliament passed a key element in the bill, which aims to curb the power of the Supreme Court, crowds of flag-waving protesters stopped morning traffic in major intersections and on highways nationwide. Some lay down on roads, while others threw flares. Police on horseback deployed among hundreds of demonstrators in Israel's business hub, Tel Aviv. At the entrance to Jerusalem, officers used…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Israel demands Egypt help in full probe of deadly attack at border

WORLD

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called the killing of three soldiers by a member of the Egyptian security services a terrorist attack and demanded a full joint investigation with Cairo. Egypt says it is working with Israel to investigate the incident which occurred on Saturday. "Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government. We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough," Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks. "We will refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like…

May

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and RAMI AMICHAY

Israel kills senior Gaza commanders as rockets cause first death in Israel

WORLD

ISRAEL killed two senior Islamic Jihad commanders, pressing an operation that has cost 28 lives in the Gaza Strip including women and children, while Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes inflicted a first fatality in Israel. Signalling no imminent let-up after three days of strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said operations were proceeding at full pace. "Whoever comes to harm us - his blood is forfeit," he said in a videotaped statement issued during a visit to an air base. As the firing continued, Egypt hosted senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammad al-Hindi in Cairo to try to mediate an end to…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Thousands of Israelis march to illegal West Bank outpost as tensions mount

WORLD

THOUSANDS of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law. As tensions mounted between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis from across the country travelled to the outpost of Evyatar while waving Israeli flags and chanting religious songs and slogans during the holiday week of Passover. Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in nearby Beita, injuring 17 people with rubber bullets and two with gas canisters to the head, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Israel blames Hamas for multiple rockets launched from Lebanon

WORLD

HENRIETTE CHACAR and MAYA GEBEILY ISRAEL blamed the Islamist group Hamas for a volley of more than 30 rockets fired from Lebanon, following escalating tensions after Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to hold a meeting of the security cabinet to decide a response to the attack, the biggest rocket attack from Lebanon since 2006, when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Hezbollah movement. "No one should test us, we will take all necessary measures to defend our country and people," Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Israeli protests over judicial overhaul continue despite Netanyahu’s pause

WORLD

MAYTAAL ANGEL Protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul showed no sign of abating, despite its suspension by the embattled premier this week, as tens of thousands took to the streets to demand it be scrapped entirely. Beset by the domestic upheaval and expressions of concern and disapproval in Washington, Netanyahu on Monday paused the overhaul to allow negotiations on a compromise between his religious-nationalist coalition and opposition parties. "We don’t believe anything that comes out of Bibi's (Netanyahu) mouth. We believe it’s just a political stunt aimed at stopping the protest," said Emanuel Keller, 30, at a protest outside…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Israel’s ‘fired’ defence chief hangs on as Netanyahu hits pause

WORLD

DAN WILLIAMS THE Israeli defence chief whose dismissal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought the country's constitutional crisis to a boil is staying in office until further notice, aides said, suggesting government indecision on how to proceed. Beset by three months of unprecedented protests against his nationalist-religious coalition's signature plan to overhaul the judiciary, Netanyahu on Monday hit the pause button and called for compromise negotiations with the centre-left opposition. "Our goal is to reach agreements," he said in a pre-Passover toast to his staff, likening the crisis to a squabble among family gathered for the Jewish festival that begins…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Israel government to delay disputed judiciary bill amid mass protests

WORLD

MAAYAN LUBELL PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul amid fears that Israel's worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence. It was unclear how far the bill's delay to next month's new parliamentary session, after mass protests and growing labour strikes, will satisfy either side or cool a crisis the army chief said on Monday made "this hour different to any before". "From a will to prevent the rift in the nation, I have decided to delay the second and third reading in order to reach a broad…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Hundreds of elite Israeli reservists say they are joining judicial protests

WORLD

DAN WILLIAMS A group of Israelis describing themselves as reservists in elite military and intelligence units said they would not turn up for some duties from Sunday, escalating protests at the hard-right government's planned judicial overhaul. Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, which wields a Knesset majority, say they want bills that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court to be written into law by April 2. The plan has stirred concern for Israel's democratic health at home and abroad. As ratification nears, demonstrations have spiralled, the shekel has slipped and fears have been voiced by national security…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Israelis rally again against government’s judicial overhaul

WORLD

EMILY ROSE TENS of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week to fight a government plan to overhaul the country's court system. Saturday night's demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other locations began peacefully. However, footage released by police later showed protesters breaking down barriers in Tel Aviv and igniting fires as they blocked roads. Police sprayed water cannons at the protesters. "I came to demonstrate against the regime revolution, which the Israeli government forced upon us," 53-year-old history teacher Ronen Cohen told Reuters. "I hope that this huge demonstration will effect and…