Israel

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hadas Gold and Amir Tal report for CNN that the tenth major weekend of protest against the plans of the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to gut the judiciary grew to half a million people, with about 250,000 massing in the streets of Tel Aviv and a similar number […]

Featured

US Sec’ry of Defense Austin intervenes in Israeli Crisis: Condemns Settler attacks on Palestinians, Netanyahu Assault on Courts

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Israel on Thursday was overshadowed by the massive protests in the streets, which demonstrators termed the “Day of Resistance to Dictatorship.” Austin had planned to visit the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, but instead was trapped at Ben Gurion Airport, where he […]

Haredim

Israelis protest Netanyahu Government’s Brutality and plans to undermine Rule of Law

The Conversation

By John Strawson, University of East London | It’s a week since hundreds of Israeli settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Hawara to terrorise civilians and burn cars and buildings. The killing of two young settlers sparked the violence that led Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli finance minister, and now also head of civilian affairs in […]

Featured

Elite Israeli Reserve Military Units Pass around Petitions calling Religious Parties Corrupt Parasites, threatening to go AWOL if Netanyahu guts Judiciary

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that protests against the government of Binyamin Netanyahu’s plans to gut the Israeli judiciary are now spreading in elite military reserve units. A petition circulated in their ranks saying, “As long as these dictatorial and methodical pieces of legislation continue, with the aim of […]

Corruption

37 Israeli ‘Top Guns’ Boycott Training to Protest Gutting of Courts; Most El Al Pilots decline to fly PM to Italy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli Air Force, like its other armed forces, heavily depends on reservists. That was why Egypt was able to surprise Israel in the 1973 War, which they launched on the holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when reservists were with their families. The reservists are required […]

Featured

250,000 Israelis Rally against Netanyahu, Warn of Dictatorship and ‘No Liberty in an Occupation State’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – WAFA reports that on Saturday evening some 250,000 Israelis are estimated to have come out in numerous cities to protest plans of the government of Binyamin Netanyahu to gut the judiciary. It is the ninth week in a row that rallies have been held, and they appear to be growing […]

Far Right

You’re all Palestinians Now: How Harsh Apartheid Policing is being Turned on Israeli Protesters

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel’s Apartheid state, having honed its instruments of repression against its occupied Palestinians, whom it keeps stateless and without rights, is now turning those tools on the Israeli public itself. Yesterday, Friday, buses full of Israeli protesters attempted to head to Huwwara near Nablus in the Palestinian West Bank to […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency: Extreme Heat Waves will increase 600% in Israel, Middle East, over 80 years, as 70% of Youth consider Emigrating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ruth Schuster at Haaretz reports on a new study led by Assaf Hochmann at Hebrew University, finding that extreme heat waves in Israel will increase 600% over the next 80 years. Not only will this change strike Israel but also Egypt, Syria, Jordan and southern Turkiye, with the potential for […]

Haredim

Israel enters a dangerous period – public protests swell over Netanyahu’s plan to limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court

The Conversation

By Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles | – (The Conversation) – Proposals by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to radically diminish the power and independence of Israel’s judiciary sparked demonstrations across the country starting in January 2023. An estimated 200,000 Israelis took part in protests on Feb. 11 and another 100,000 in […]