Israel's government wobbles as Netanyahu allies threaten exit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition faces the possibility of collapse and early elections after his ultra-Orthodox partners threatened to bring down the government.
The United Torah Judaism party has indicated it would support the dissolution of parliament unless agreements are reached on the longstanding exemption of its men from enlisting in the military, with the Shas party expected to follow.
The issue is contentious in Israel, particularly as the 20-month war in Gaza takes a toll on the tens of thousands of citizens who are called up to the reserves.
Netanyahu has until June 11 to smooth out the differences with his partners, otherwise a vote will take place on a bill to dissolve Knesset - the Israeli parliament - with the opposition on track to win a majority with Ultra-Orthodox support. That could lead to elections as early as this fall, a year ahead of schedule, depending on the outcome of further votes.
In a statement from his office Wednesday, Netanyahu acknowledged the growing divide within the government and said a meeting will be held on Thursday to try to reach a compromise.
While the situation is fluid and could quickly change, Netanyahu and his ruling coalition have lost ground in polls since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and subsequent war in Gaza, and are not projected to win a majority in the next election. A new government would be expected to bring about an earlier end to the Hamas conflict - if it's ongoing -- and shelve moves to weaken institutions, both perceived as positive developments by investors.
The shekel rose on the prospects of an early election and traded at 3.48 per dollar as of 9:31 am local time, its strongest since February 2023, and is up almost 1% this week.
Israel has pledged to continue the war until Hamas frees its remaining hostages and disarms, but the country has come under increasing international pressure over the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in the territory. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and many other countries.
"Any government, the existing one or a different one, will face the same issues of dangerous Iranian armament, of a Hamas which still exists in certain parts of the Gaza Strip," Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, said on Army Radio Thursday. "Whether or not there will be an election, we are still committed, of course, to returning the hostages and defeating Hamas."
Political acumen
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-ever ruling prime minister, is renowned for his political acumen, but on this occasion his options are limited. It's thought by political analysts the Israeli leader may be able to buy more time, possibly by replacing Yuli Edelstein, the lawmaker responsible for advancing the ultra-Orthodox law, but his government won't be able to serve its full term.
Last year, Israel's top court ordered the government to pass an enlistment law for the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, who have been exempt from military service for decades so they can focus on religious study. The issue has long divided Israelis - most of whom are subject to mandatory service - and has worsened since Oct. 7 as citizens are repeatedly called up, taking a large toll on their families and working lives.
The drafting of Jewish Orthodox men would relieve some of these pressures and smooth out social tensions arising from a sense of injustice about the war burden.
With a solid majority of the public behind drafting Haredi men, Jewish Orthodox parties are isolated in their objection to any such move.
These parties, however, answer to religious authorities who see this matter as existential, and insist their men be allowed to keep studying in religious seminaries, which they say is as important to winning Israel's wars as taking part in combat. Their solid voter base grants them enough seats in parliament to make them crucial to the formation of any government, whether by Netanyahu or another leader.
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-With assistance from Dan Williams.
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
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New executive chairman of US-backed aid for Gaza hits back at criticism
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According to Moore, "some" deaths in one of the incidents did "come from the IDF" although he also blamed "some" of the deaths on Hamas. At least 57 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, health officials said, between Sunday and Tuesday's shootings, leading GHF to pause its distribution for 24 hours. When asked if GHF's aid plan was part of the problem, given that desperate, hungry people had been killed on their way to pick up food, Moore answered, "No, I think that's a quite cynical point of view." "I fundamentally disagree with the premise that our operation is somehow disproportionately imperiling people," he said. According to Moore, GHF -- since it was set up 10 days ago -- had distributed "10 million meals to Gazans, to thousands and thousands and thousands of people." The population of Gaza is around 2.2 million. Addressing the two incidents, Moore said, "Somehow people veered off the secure corridor," and referred to the deaths as "a tragedy." In the wake of such deadly incidents, GHF has since closed its distribution centers. Moore said his organization was "working with others" to make such incidents "less likely to happen" in the future. "I'm not doing this for anybody to die," GHF's executive chairman said. Moore pushed back on the implication that the new aid plan, which was set up at the behest of Israel to counter the alleged looting of aid by Hamas, had been mismanaged. Moore confirmed that Gazans arriving at the aid distribution points didn't need to show any form of ID to get access to aid. When asked by ABC News how he could be sure that Hamas would not profit from aid distributed under his plan, he said there was "no evidence" any of their aid had been seized. The GHF executive said his organization was "very much solving the problem" and, over time, GHF would "put more energy on verification." International aid agencies have refused to participate in GHF's aid distribution operation, stating that it breaches fundamental humanitarian principles, such as the notion that aid should always be distributed at the point of need. The GHF operation has been accused by multiple U.N. organizations of forcing people to have to travel long distances through a perilous war zone to reach the distribution points, which are located in tightly restricted areas. The most vulnerable people in Gaza would appear to be the least likely to be able to access the aid. Moore rejected that premise and said, "over time" he believed they would be able to get aid to the most vulnerable people. International aid agencies have also accused GHF's aid distribution operation of being part of Israel's military strategy, which Moore said was "simply not true." "Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday. "This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned," Turk's statement continued. Moore said GHF was communicating with the IDF to "manage" the "secure corridors," but he described GHF as an "American organization" with "American contractors." When asked if Israel was funding the organization, at least to some extent, he refused to comment. "There's certain things that we're not gonna talk about or focus on now," Moore told ABC News. 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USA Today
11 minutes ago
- USA Today
Divisions deepen in wealthy, liberal Boulder after antisemitic attack
Divisions deepen in wealthy, liberal Boulder after antisemitic attack instead of bringing the community together, the attack appears to have further exacerbated existing fault lines across the wealthy, liberal city of Boulder Show Caption Hide Caption Boulder community honors attack victims, condemns antisemitism The Boulder Jewish Community Center hosted a vigil for community members to come and support victims of a fire-bomb attack. BOULDER ― In sandals and winter boots, in rain and snow and sun, their feet tread the red bricks with a silent request: Bring them home. They push strollers and wheelchairs, carrying flags and signs with that same message: Bring them home. They ignore the taunts and epithets flung by college students and counter-protesters, focusing on their goal: Bring them home. These moments, these footsteps, they weren't political. It wasn't about their personal views on Israel's war against Hamas. "We just want them home," said longtime marcher Lisa Turnquist, 66. "That's why we do this," she said. The small group of "Run for their Lives" marchers in this college town were sharing their message on June 1 − 603 days since Hamas snatched concertgoers and ordinary people from southern Israel and vanished them into Gaza's tunnels. But halfway through the Sunday afternoon march, a suicidal Muslim immigrant attacked them with a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails, injuring 12, including an elderly Holocaust survivor. Many regular marchers of the group are Jewish. Six of the injured in what federal officials have described as a terror attack were from the same synagogue, Bonai Shalom. But instead of bringing the community together, the attack appears to have further exacerbated existing fault lines across this wealthy, liberal city where pro-Palestinian protests verging on outright antisemitism have become a way of life for elected leaders and college students. After the attack, someone posted "Wanted" signs on the Pearl Street Mall just steps from the scene, naming the majority of city council members as guilty of "complicity in genocide" for refusing to pass a ceasefire resolution and not divesting from businesses that are helping Israel wage its war against Hamas. "Not only has the rhetoric become increasingly centered around violence and division but we have an increasing amount of cowardice, from cowardly administrators, cowardly government officials," said Adam Rovner, who directs the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver. "We're seeing it much more clearly now. And unfortunately Jewish communities are paying the cost." Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces more than 118 state and federal charges in connection with the attack, including hate-crime accusations. Investigators say he confessed and remains unrepentant, telling them he deliberately targeted the marchers because he considered them a "Zionist Group." Divisions continue after Pearl Street attack Amid the extreme positions on the Israel-Hamas war, Run for their Lives believed most people could get behind their message. The national Run for their Lives organization has sponsored walks or runs in hundreds of cities and towns since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust in which over 1,000 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage. As of June 5, 56 hostages are still being held by Hamas, although that number includes both the living and presumed dead. On June 1, as she had dozens of times in the past, Turnquist was pushing her Australian shepherd Jake in a stroller as the group made its way past the historic Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street pedestrian mall. She saw a man dressed like a landscaper ‒ odd, she thought, since it was a Sunday ‒ and thought it would be best to just keep walking, as she had done so many times before when counter-protesters screamed and yelled. There had never been physical violence against the group, but there were insults, jeers, accusations that the marchers themselves support genocide. Turnquist and others who have marched said they often felt unsafe. "We ignore the people who are against us," said Turnquist, who is Jewish. "We can't let Boulder tell us what to do. We can't let university students tell us we can't do stuff like this, because that's what they do. Week after week, people are yelling at us all the time, saying we are causing genocide. We're not causing genocide. We were attacked and we are fighting to get our hostages back." The conflict between the marchers and counter-protesters is a microcosm of the vicious disputes that have long been on display in Boulder, where Palestinian students disrupted classes earlier this year. Turnquist, the protest marcher, said knowing the group lacked the full support of local elected officials made it harder to feel comfortable during those Sunday protests. She said she went into a Boulder shop at the start of the Gaza war while wearing a necklace with a Jewish symbol on it. The shopkeeper suggested she hide it, so she didn't become a target, she said. "One of the things I remember saying was ... the masks are going to come off and we're going to see who the antisemites are. We're going to see them for who they are. And sure enough it started happening all over," Turnquist said. "It was people that I didn't even think would be antisemites ‒ it was some friends." Nationally, polls have shown that younger Americans are more likely to side with Palestinians than with Israel, including young Jews. And an April 2024 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 31% of Jews younger than 35 felt Hamas' reasons for fighting were valid, compared to just 10% for Jews aged 35 and older. Turnquist said the Sunday marches were deliberately non-political: They didn't call for attacks on Hamas or for more retaliation by Israel. Instead, they focused on the one thing they thought everyone would agree with. To Soliman, that apparently didn't matter. According to investigators, he researched the protest group online, took concealed-weapons classes and planned his attack for a year. Video recordings of the attack captured Soliman shouting "Free Palestine" as he threw Molotov cocktails into the crowd of marchers, setting fire to several victims, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. "Mohamed said it was revenge as the Zionist group did not care about thousands of hostages from Palestine," Boulder police wrote in an arrest affidavit. "Mohamed said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)." Soliman's motivation, as reported by police, mirrored similar language used by the sole member of the Boulder City Council who declined to sign onto a group statement from city leaders condemning the attack. Councilmember Taishya Adams condemned the attack but said she declined to sign the group statement, which identified Soliman's actions as antisemitic, because it didn't specifically note that he was also motivated by what she considers anti-Zionism. "If we are to prevent future violence and additional attacks in our community, I believe we need to be real about the possible motivations for this heinous act," Adams wrote in a statement explaining her decision. "Denying our community the full truth about the attack denies us the ability to fully protect ourselves and each other." Responded Councilmember Mark Wallach: "Your efforts to make what I think is a pedantic distinction as to whether a man who attempted to burn peaceful elderly demonstrators alive − to burn them alive, Taishya − was acting as an antisemite or an anti-Zionist is simply grotesque." Jewish groups in Boulder have previously tangled with Adams over what they say are her own antisemitic remarks regarding Palestine, and pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly disrupted city council meetings. Adams did not return a request for comment from USA TODAY. On June 5, the first meeting after the attack, the mayor announced that in-person public comment would be prohibited because pro-Palestinian protesters have so often disrupted meetings. Among those who have watched protesters disrupt council meetings was Barbara Steinmetz, a Holocaust survivor burned in the June 1 attack. In a video interview last year, Steinmetz recounted what it was like to attend council meetings alongside pro-Palestinian protesters, including one interaction with a woman carrying a sign referencing "from the river to the sea," the rallying cry of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which called for erasing Israel. "I turned to her and said, 'Do you realize that that means you want to kill me? You want me destroyed?' But she just turned away," Steinmetz said. "Jews in Boulder and maybe Denver and probably in cities all around the world, are afraid of wearing their Jewish stars. They're taking down their mezuzahs so that no one will know that it's a Jewish house. They're not identifying themselves because they're frightened." Soliman's attack didn't happen in a vacuum Rovner, from the University of Denver, said pro-Palestinian college protests helped lay the groundwork for increased violence, in part because many students don't truly appreciate what it means to repeat and thus desensitize the meaning of chants like "globalize the intifada" and declarations that Palestine should run "from the river to the sea." Says the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs: "Calls to 'globalize the intifada' are not calls for civil disobedience, general strikes, or negotiations. They are calls for the murder of Israelis and Jews around the world and must be taken seriously by governments and law enforcement agencies." Like CU-Boulder, the University of Denver was home to an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters last year, and Rovner said there were repeated confrontations between the protesters and Jewish students walking to class. Rovner has a close friend who often participated in the Boulder walks. "These are precisely the kinds of things that cause terrorist groups to pick up weapons to attack people," Rovner said. "When you heighten the rhetoric of hatred and demonize one country and claim to only be opposing an ideology, you are almost inevitably going to see action based on that rhetoric." Jewish scholars and community leaders say the attack on Boulder was frustratingly predictable given the sharp rise in antisemitism sparked by the war in Gaza, with escalating rhetoric, protests and demonstrations nationwide, particularly on college campus and college towns. In response to those warnings, President Donald Trump specifically targeted pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, launching investigations into 40 campuses that his administration has accused of not doing enough to protect the Jewish community from participants. Security and extremism experts say a significant factor in driving violence is that many protesters draw no distinction between someone who is Jewish and someone who supports Israel's attacks on Hamas in Gaza, which is home to about 2.1 million Palestinians. In April, a man firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's house hours after a Passover celebration, telling police he targeted Shapiro over "what he wants to do to the Palestinian people." And on May 22, a man shot and killed a young couple outside the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. "Free Palestine," the man shouted. "I did it for Gaza," he later told investigators. "These attacks and many more in recent months ‒ on campus, at Jewish institutions and this time at a peaceful gathering here in Boulder ‒ have targeted people whose only 'offense' is that they are Jewish. Or someone thought they were Jewish. Or they were standing as allies alongside Jews," the Rocky Mountain Anti-Defamation League said in a statement to USA TODAY. A report released last month found that antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2024 hit a record high for the fourth consecutive year. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security on June 5 issued a security alert warning that more antisemitic violence could be coming. "The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters," the security agencies said in the warning. "Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States." Survivor returns to site of the attack Run for their Lives organizers say they remain undeterred as they gear up for this weekend's march. "This didn't happen in a vacuum. It is the result of increasingly normalized hate, dehumanizing rhetoric, and silence in the face of rising antisemitism. But we will not be deterred," Rachel Amaru, the founder of Boulder Run For Their Lives said at a June 4 rally for the victims. "We invite everyone to join us, not just with your feet, but with open hearts and minds. Choose humanity over hate, curiosity over judgment, and learning over condemnation." The day after the attack, Turnquist returned to the scene of the attack to lay flowers and display a small Israeli flag on behalf of her injured friends. Still shaken by the attack just 24 hours earlier, she visibly shook as she recounted her efforts to help the victims. "I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get out of bed and didn't want to talk to my friends who were calling me. But this is when we have to get up and stand up, and we have to push back," Turnquist said. And she promised to be back walking every Sunday until all the hostages are home.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel says its military has retrieved body of Thai hostage from Gaza
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped and taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023. The country's prime minister's office said on Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation. The announcement comes as Israel continues its military offensive across the strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to health officials. Mr Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the Israeli government. This comes two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead. Israel's defence minister said on Saturday that Mr Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture. A statement from the hostage forum, which supports the hostages, said it stands with Mr Pinta's family and shares in their grief. It called on the country's decision makers to bring home the remaining hostages and give those who have died a proper burial. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first. A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The retrieval of Mr Pinta's body comes as Israel continues its military campaign across Gaza. Hospital officials said they received the bodies of nearly two dozen people on Saturday. One strike hit a flat killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital. Israel said on Saturday that it is responding to Hamas's 'barbaric attacks' and is dismantling its capabilities. It said it follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.
