Survive and Advance: Israeli March Madness
Israel's coalition government still stands, long after its obituaries were written. Last week it passed a budget, along with the centerpiece of its judicial reform. None of this was supposed to happen, and there's a lesson here for the U.S.
The budget was the time for the Haredi parties, also known as ultra-orthodox, to pull the plug on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition for failing to rescue their voters' exemptions from military service. But an election would either re-elect the government or empower a hostile opposition determined to draft Haredim all at once and punish the hypertraditional community if it resists this radical change.
The Supreme Court ordered an end to the longstanding exemptions, which became socially and militarily untenable during the seven-front war. But change doesn't have to happen all at once, and Mr. Netanyahu has toed the line between the court's demands and Haredi needs. In the end, his partners pushed off their threats. This means the government has survived the Knesset's long winter session and now has a good chance to persist at least until next March. Who predicted this after Oct. 7, 2023?
The first effort to topple the government came even before the war, with mass protests against judicial reform. A moderate version has now passed, but in 2023 the effort failed as tech leaders, business groups, unions and military brass weighed in. Some Israelis also threatened not to report for reserve service, forgetting that Hamas was listening.
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Washington Post
27 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Body of Thai national returned from Gaza, Israeli authorities say
The remains of a Thai citizen who was kidnapped by Hamas-led fighters in the attack of Oct. 7, 2023, has been returned to Israel from Gaza after a military operation, Israeli authorities said Saturday. The status of Nattapong Pinta, an agricultural worker and married father, was previously unknown. His body was recovered from the Rafah area after a joint operation by the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. Nattapong had come to Israel 'hoping to build a better future for himself and his family,' Katz said. He said he was killed in captivity by the Palestinian militant group Mujahedeen Brigades. 'I send my heartfelt condolences to his wife, his young son, and his family,' Katz said. Israeli authorities have also blamed the Mujahedeen Brigades for the deaths of Judi Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai, an Israeli-American couple whose bodies were returned to Israel this week, and of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, returned in February. The bodies of two more Israeli Americans — Omer Neutra and Itay Chen — are believed to still be in Gaza. Nattapong was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 attack, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet said in a joint statement. His remains were identified and Nattapong's family and the Thai government have been notified, they said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar informed his Thai counterpart, Maris Sangiampongsa, of the details of the operation, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. Israel will hold a ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport before the departure of Nattapong's coffin for Thailand, Saar said. The Thai foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in Israel in the surprise attack on Oct. 7 and took another 250 hostage. Israel responded with a military campaign to eradicate the militants that has killed more than 54,000 people, Gaza health officials say. Nattapong was one of five workers kidnapped who were Kibbutz Nir Or in the Negev Desert. He was 35 when he was taken, according to the Israeli foreign ministry and hostage advocacy groups (the kibbutz on Saturday said he was 36). Eleven other workers were killed in the attack. Nattapong's recovery followed 'a long period in which there was a grave concern for his life,' the kibbutz said in a statement. 'His family, wife and son, waited for him in pain and concern, ' it said. 'Kibbutz Nir Oz shares the grief of the family and will accompany them at any time.' The field crops team remembered him as a 'diligent and loved person' who was always willing to help. 'He left a mark on everyone who knew him and, of course, on all the field crops workers, who will always remember and honor him,' the team said in a statement. Many Thai nationals work in agriculture in Israel, some of them in military zones that are closed to other civilians. Forty-one Thai citizens were killed on Oct. 7, The Washington Post has reported. Five Thai nationals were released in January as part of a ceasefire exchange in which Israel freed 110 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the return of Nattapong's body would bring a sense of closure to his family after '20 terrible and agonizing months of devastating uncertainty.' 'Every family deserves such certainty to begin their personal healing journey,' the forum said in a statement. Families of the hostages have repeatedly urged Israeli officials to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza as the safest and quickest way to bring their loved ones home. Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the war until the remaining hostages are handed over and Hamas is destroyed. Saturday was the second day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, a time of prayer, visiting with family and feasting. In Gaza, already gripped by hunger, the celebration this year has been limited by shortages of meat, sugar, flour and vegetables. What food can be found in the market is prohibitively expensive for most Gazans, Palestinians say. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, the new aid system backed by Israel and the United States, said it would close temporarily on Saturday after its rollout last month was marred by chaos and violence. The organization, launched after an Israeli blockade on aid from March to May, distributes aid from remote sites guarded by armed security contractors in areas controlled by the Israeli military. But it has struggled to manage crowds. More than 50 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid between Sunday and Tuesday, the deadliest period since it started operating, according to Nasser Hospital, the Gaza health ministry and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Palestinians say Israeli forces are deployed around distribution points and have fired at Palestinians trying to reach them. The IDF has said it has fired 'warning shots' toward people approaching Israeli forces but denies targeting civilians. On Wednesday, the IDF said the areas were 'closed military zones' outside of operational hours. Israel continues to launch airstrikes on Gaza. The IDF in recent days has reiterated evacuation orders for areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where much of the population has been squeezed. The last two hospitals operating in the area, Nasser and al-Amal, have not been ordered to evacuate, though they fall in or close to the evacuation zone, according to the World Health Organization. The U.N. health agency warned Thursday that the overstretched facilities 'are at high risk of becoming nonfunctional' due to potential 'movement restrictions, insecurity, and the inability of WHO and partners to resupply or transfer patients.' There are no functioning hospitals left in North Gaza governorate, according to the WHO.
New York Post
44 minutes ago
- New York Post
Colorado pol who refused to condemn Boulder firebombing shows true colors at council meeting: critics
An anti-Israel official in Boulder, CO, refused to condemn as antisemitic the horrific firebombing of Jews at a peaceful demonstration — then 'doubled down' by wrapping herself in the colors of the Palestinian flag, critics said. Taishya Adams took office shortly after Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 Israelis. Adams, 50, was seen as 'egging on antisemitism,' an insider told The Post, long before Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman unleashed a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails last week on unsuspecting members of the group Run 4 Our Lives. 3 Taishya Adams was the sole member of the Boulder City Council who would not sign a letter condemning the June 1 attack. Boulder City Council The group holds a weekly walk calling for Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages. Soliman, 45, faces 118 criminal counts for the June 1 incident which left 15 people, as well as a dog, seriously hurt. When city officials offered a 'letter of solidarity' this week condemning the hate crime — Adams was the sole councilmember who refused to sign. She then turned up at the live-streamed Thursday council meeting in a bright red blazer with a large green scarf wrapped around her neck. 'She's doubling down,' seethed the insider. 3 Adams has long been seen as 'egging on antisemitism,' an insider told The Post. LinkedIn/Taishya Adams 'It's disgusting,' seethed Run for Our Lives member Aaron Brooks of the pro-Palestinian fashion statment. 'It's grossly insensitive.' Local Rabbi Marc Soloway slammed Adams in a withering speech Wednesday in front of Gov. Jared Polis. 'In this moment when we're reeling, just days after someone tried to burn Jews to death, that the city council could not unanimously denounce this as an act of antisemitism is horrifying,' he told The Post. City council member Mark Wallach ripped Adams — who is liaison to Boulder's Palestinian 'sister city' of Nablus and returned from a self-funded official trip last month – during the meeting. 'You may find that act courageous — but I find it inexplicable and virtually inexcusable,' blasted Wallach, addressing Adams directly. 'Where is your sense of grace and mercy?' The flummoxed Adams stumbled through a word salad response, pointing to her statement about yanking her support for the solidarity letter, and claimed she looked forward to 'continued dialogue,' noting this is 'not time for the head, but for the heart.' 3 Adams wrapped herself in the colors of the Palestinian flag just days after the antisemitic firebombing in Boulder, Colorado. erika8213 – Adams' ongoing 'anti-Israel propaganda' has included posting about anti-Israel demonstrations on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack and ripping the City Council last year for having 'blood on our hands' for failing to pass a ceasefire resolution against Israel. Omer Shachar, co-leader of the walk, called the attack 'pure antisemitism' and recalled seeing an octogenarian friend aflame. 'When I think about Sunday, I see her,' he said, noting she was 'on fire — top to bottom, from legs to the hair.' He can't shake the imagery of friends with 'skin just peeled off.' 'It's beyond words.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Dawn French apologises for ‘Oct 7 attacks' video
Dawn French has apologised 'unreservedly' after she posted a 'one-sided' video in which she appeared to dismiss the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 2023. The 67-year-old comedian and actress was accused of belittling the attacks in a clip she posted on social media in which she said the murder of 1,200 people was 'a bad thing'. In the video, posted on X on May 5, she mimicked apparent defences of Israel's huge military campaign in Gaza and was accused of appearing to belittle the Hamas-led murders of 1,200 people and adopting a 'mocking' tone. On Saturday, she removed that video and issued an apology, adding that she was 'sorry' her 'disgust at Hamas didn't figure'. The message, also on X, said: 'Ok, it's important to address this. I posted a video in the style I've been using for social media in an effort to convey an important point. I clumsily used a mocking tone. 'My intention was NEVER to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on Oct 7 2023 and what continues to unfold from that brutal, unthinkable, unforgivable, savage attack.' She said her 'heart broke' for the innocent people 'killed, tortured, r@aped [sic] and kidnapped', adding that it was 'appalling' that hostages were still being held. She insisted that her 'intention was to mock and point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leaders on ALL sides of this attricious [sic] war, who have continued to behave like the worst, dangerous, sickening bullies and seem to relish the tyrannical and childish one-upmanship of violence.' She added she was 'feeling increasingly helpless and hopeless as we witness the carnage and destruction worsen', adding that she was 'haunted … day and night ' by 'images of starving children.' The Vicar of Dibley actress wrote: 'History has taught us never to stand by and allow this kind of inhumane violence to be wrought on anyone, especially innocent children. 'I have felt my silence is complicit or even somehow sanctioning. So in my small way, I wanted to voice my desire to say NO – to both sides – to any further violence. 'I hope you will understand my intention was not to offend, but clearly I have. For which I am sorry and I have removed the video.' She was accused of adopting a baby-like face in the original 40-second video, in which she filmed herself saying: 'Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no.' She went on, imitating someone defending Israel's actions in Gaza, then replying to them: ''Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us...' Yeah, but no. 'But we want that land and there's a lot of history…' No. 'These people are not even people, are they really?' No.' The video was viewed more than half a million times in the 24 hours after it was posted. Credit: X/@Dawn_French Tracy-Ann Oberman, an actress who has appeared in numerous West End shows, accused the comedian of adopting a 'mocking' tone. Lee Kern, a comedy writer and self-described 'champion of Jewish rights', wrote: 'What you sneeringly mock as a 'bad thing' included the grieving children I met in hospital whose friends and family had been murdered, kidnapped and raped and who themselves were coming to terms with their own life-altering injuries. 'It also includes the 1,200 people murdered and tortured on October 7… You proactively broadcast – with misplaced pride – a wicked glee in your mockery and dismissal of Jewish suffering, pain and death.' Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's terrorist attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. There are 56 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel was criticised by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, for its recent 'appalling' military action. He described the conduct of Benjamin Netanyahu's government as 'intolerable' following claims that more than 50,000 people, including many women and children, had been killed by Israeli forces. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
