Israeli Knesset targets Palestinian rights NGOs
At the end of March, activists from the far-right Zionist group Im Tirtzu gathered outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem to confront human rights attorney Nadia Daqqa. "Who funds you?" they asked her, filming the scene. "Germany, the European Union, the Palestinian Authority?" Through such tactics, Im Tirtzu activists sought to discredit Israeli organizations that condemn human rights abuses against Palestinians. They have joined forces with Ariel Kallner, a member of the Likud party (the right-wing party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), to draft a bill that would impose an 80% tax on foreign government funding received by Israeli NGOs.
The bill would also strip these organizations of their right to petition the Supreme Court. This legal recourse is one of the few tools available to human rights NGOs to slow violations of Palestinian rights – even though, as the Israeli daily Haaretz wrote on May 23, the country's highest court "has denied all requests to protect Gazans." The bill targets Israeli NGOs whose budgets are mostly funded by foreign governments or by international NGOs, themselves financed by foreign governments.
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LeMonde
7 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israeli Knesset targets Palestinian rights NGOs
At the end of March, activists from the far-right Zionist group Im Tirtzu gathered outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem to confront human rights attorney Nadia Daqqa. "Who funds you?" they asked her, filming the scene. "Germany, the European Union, the Palestinian Authority?" Through such tactics, Im Tirtzu activists sought to discredit Israeli organizations that condemn human rights abuses against Palestinians. They have joined forces with Ariel Kallner, a member of the Likud party (the right-wing party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), to draft a bill that would impose an 80% tax on foreign government funding received by Israeli NGOs. The bill would also strip these organizations of their right to petition the Supreme Court. This legal recourse is one of the few tools available to human rights NGOs to slow violations of Palestinian rights – even though, as the Israeli daily Haaretz wrote on May 23, the country's highest court "has denied all requests to protect Gazans." The bill targets Israeli NGOs whose budgets are mostly funded by foreign governments or by international NGOs, themselves financed by foreign governments.
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
NATO's Rutte warns: 'Invest in defence now or start learning Russian'
The Polish elections, held on the first of June, resulted in conservative Karol Nawrocki beating liberal Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski by a very close margin. Nawrocki won 50.89% of the vote against Trzaskowki's 49.11%. Polish politicians, namely from Trzaskowski's camp, have been asking for the results to be investigated. Chief among these those expressing concerns is Rafał Trzaskowski's chief of staff Wiola Paprocka, who wrote about the surprising reversal of support in the second round of the presidential election in some commissions. 'We will contact the PKW [National Electoral Comission] to clarify each of these cases,' Paprocka announced on Twitter. Her statement included four polling stations at which reports of irregularities have come to light. Due to suspected irregularities, Paprocka appealed for electoral protests to be filed with the Supreme Court. In one station in the city of Kraków, Trzaskowski won in the first round of elections, winning with 550 votes. Nawrocki, on the other hand, came in third place, after the Warsaw major and hard right candidate Sławomir Mentzen. In the run-off, however, Nawrocki received the most votes, according to the official count, prompting questions about the results of the count. An investigation into the case is being carried out by the district electoral commission in Krakow. Krakow City Council chairman Jakub Kosek wrote in a post on social media that the votes had been incorrectly entered into the minutes. "From what we know today, a mistake was made in the minutes - and the results of the candidates were swapped," - Kosek emphasised. Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski expressed that he was surprised by such "mistakes". "I am counting on this to be clarified, because as I myself looked at the results," he said. "We have never had such cases in the past," he added. The National Electoral Commission (PKW) seperately addressed the matter. Responding to a request for comment from Euronews, PKW representatives stated that any irregularities must be reported to Poland's Supreme Court by the 16th of June. "Currently, the results of the district voting can only be verified by the Supreme Court in connection with the consideration of election protests," they told Euronews. A spokesman for the Polish Peasants' Party (which is currently part of Donald Tusk's ruling coalition) and long-time member of the electoral commissions Miłosz Motyka emphasized in an interview with Euronews that the issues of irregularities in the vote count should be carefully checked. "There should not be a situation where, having several members of the electoral commission from different political formations, from municipalities, from city halls, we have a situation where a result that affects the final result [of the election - ed.] is wrongly recorded in the minutes", he said. "This is too serious a matter to simply brush aside. That is why any of this information should be verified and always the PKW should also conduct appropriate proceedings with the committee chairman. The aim here is really to verify irregularities", he added. Law and Justice MP Radosław Fogiel, pointed out in an interview with Euronews that it is standard procedure to investigate irregularities. However, he emphasized that he is critical of the actions of some members of the ruling coalition. "Here, unfortunately, we are starting to deal with an organised action and the creation of a whole narrative of alleged falsification" he said, adding that "the Civic Platform milieu" is "formulating these kinds of theses and this is a serious and dangerous matter". "If I had to guess why someone would do this, assuming that there is a method in this madness and that it is not just the result of political paranoia, I would say that it is to serve the purpose of creating a myth about the victory that was to be claimed", Fogiel told Euronews. Observers representing the joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said in a statement that the elections were conducted "professionally and efficiently". In their view, freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly were respected in both rounds. However, they drew attention to media bias as well as irregularities in campaign financing. Karol Nawrocki won the second round of the presidential election by a difference of 369,451 votes, or by 1.19 percentage points. This is the smallest vote difference between the candidates since 1990. The US administration has appointed Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich as both the next top US general in Europe as well as the SACEUR. The appointment by Trump will be especially welcomed following media reports in recent months that the US was considering relinquishing the role of SACUER which has always been appointed by a US president to NATO. "It's a very important decision and there is relief from NATO's point of view as it's a positive sign of American engagement and staffing," a US-based source familiar with the issue told Euronews. US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower was NATO's first SACEUR in 1951, and the role has remained with the US ever since. 'Upon completion of national confirmation processes, Grynkewich will take up his appointment as the successor to General Christopher G. Cavoli, United States Army, at a change of command ceremony at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, expected in the summer of 2025,' a statement from NATO read. Meanwhile, NATO defence ministers agreed to a significant surge in defence capability targets for each country, as well as moving to spending 5% of GDP on defence. They've agreed that 3.5% of GDP would be used for 'core defence spending' - such as heavy weapons, tanks, air defence. Meanwhile 1.5% of GDP per year will be spent on defence- and security-related areas such as infrastructure, surveillance, and cyber. However, the full list of flexibility has not yet been negotiated. 'These targets describe exactly what capabilities Allies need to invest in over the coming years,' NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told journalists. The US has been pushing NATO allies to dramatically increase spending, and expects to see 'credible progress' immediately, according to US Ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker. 'The threats facing NATO are growing and our adversaries are certainly not waiting for us to re-arm or be ready for them to make the first move," 'We would prefer our Allies move out urgently on reaching the 5%,' he told journalists in a briefing on the margins of the meetings. Ambassador Whitaker also said the US is 'counting on Europe' to the lead in providing Ukraine with the 'resources necessary to reach a durable peace' on the continent. Mark Rutte reiterated NATO's recent warnings that Russia could strike NATO territory within the next couple of years. 'If we don't act now, the next three years, we are fine, but we have to start now, because otherwise, from three, four or five years from now, we are really under threat," he said, adding: "I really mean this. Then you have to get your Russian language course out, or go to New Zealand.' 'It's good to have continuity about the US in NATO, but with Ukraine it's a different story. I just don't think Trump really cares about Ukraine," the US-based source told Euronews. 'Trump just doesn't care about Europe – it doesn't make him richer or help him politically,' the source said. Referring to the forthcoming NATO summit taking place next month in The Hague, the source said the presence of Ukraine at the summit "will likely be scaled back", since the US will say, "they're not members' so they don't need to be there". A large Russian attack with drones and missiles has hit Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near daily widescale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year-war . The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military air bases deep inside Russia. According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles. Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Kharkiv's regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half year old baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added. The attack on Kharkiv comes one day after Russia launched one of the fiercest missile and drone barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least killing at least six people and injuring about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on the Kursk front inside Russia, the Ukrainian daily Ukrainskaia Pravda reported. No more details were given immediately. U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday with "Operation Spiderweb" In a new statement bound to cause offense in Kyiv and amongst its allies, Trump told journalists on board Air Force One on Friday evening local time when asked about "Operation Spiderweb": "They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That's the thing I didn't like about it. When I saw it I said 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike'."
France 24
13 hours ago
- France 24
Gaza rescuers say Israel fire kills 36, six of them near aid centre
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