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Netanyahu accuses Israeli police of trying to 'topple' his government

Netanyahu accuses Israeli police of trying to 'topple' his government

Yahoo01-04-2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Israeli police of trying to "topple" his government over what he believes is a "political witch hunt." In a video statement released on Monday, Netanyahu claimed the police had no evidence against the two aides who were arrested.
Netanyahu was summoned on Monday to testify as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial ties between his office and Qatar. The prime minister claimed that he was questioned for an hour before he demanded to see evidence. He said there was nothing.
Netanyahu Seeks To Fire Top Security Official Amid Internal Power Struggle
Eli Feldstein and Yonatan Urich, the aides Netanyahu named in the video, were allegedly arrested on Monday in connection with the investigation. According to reports, Feldstein – a former member of Netanyahu's team – is suspected of passing messages to journalists on behalf of Qatar while working in the prime minister's office.
The messages Feldstein is accused of sending to the media allegedly pertained to Qatar's role in negotiating the return of Israeli hostages, among other things, Israel HaYom reported.
However, the case remains under a gag order, so charges against Feldstein and Urich have not been officially released. The Washington Post reported, citing Israeli media, that Urich and Feldstein are accused of contact with a foreign agent, bribery and fraud.
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Netanyahu To Testify In Corruption Trial Amid Multiple Conflicts
The Jerusalem Post confirmed on Tuesday that its editor-in-chief, Zivka Klein, was questioned by police in connection with the Qatar probe. Klein has previously denied having a connection with Feldstein after an Israeli outlet reported that the former Netanyahu aide arranged a trip to Qatar for the journalist.
Netanyahu says the probe, often referred to as "Qatargate," is intended to stop him from firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who heads the Israeli equivalent of the FBI.
Last month, Netanyahu announced that he would seek to oust Bar over alleged "ongoing distrust." However, some suspect that it is related to the Shin Bet's assessment of Oct. 7, which "pointed to a policy led by the government, and the person who has headed it, for years, with emphasis on the year preceding the massacre," the Times of Israel reported.
Bar slammed Netanyahu's "expectation of a duty of personal loyalty, the purpose of which contradicts the public interest, is a fundamentally illegitimate expectation," according to the Times of Israel.
Israel's High Court froze Bar's removal, which was set for April 8, but allowed Netanyahu to interview potential replacements. Netanyahu's office announced on Monday that he had tapped a former Israeli Navy commander, Vice Adm. Eli Sharvit, to replace Bar.
"Sharvit served in the IDF for 36 years, including five years as commander of the Israel Navy. In that position, he led the force building of the maritime defense of the territorial waters and conducted complex operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran," Netanyahu's office tweeted.
Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.Original article source: Netanyahu accuses Israeli police of trying to 'topple' his government

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U.K., Australia, Canada and Others Impose Sanctions on Far-Right Israeli Ministers
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U.K., Australia, Canada and Others Impose Sanctions on Far-Right Israeli Ministers

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UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway sanction 2 far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers
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The Hill

time40 minutes ago

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly 'inciting extremist violence' against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face asset freezes and travel bans from the five countries. The ministers are champions of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence, which has spiked since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. The five countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich 'have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.' Israel's Foreign Ministry said earlier it had been informed of the sanctions. Smotrich, the country's finance minister, wrote on social media that he found out that Britain had decided to sanction him for obstructing the viability of a Palestinian state. 'We are determined to continue building,' he said. 'We overcame Pharoah, we'll overcome Starmer's Wall.' Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, wrote on social media. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the move 'outrageous.' He said he had discussed it with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and they would meet next week to discuss Israel's response. The Biden administration took the rare step of sanctioning radical Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the occupied West Bank — sanctions that were then lifted by President Donald Trump. Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer who spent years campaigning for the sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir — along with violent West Bank settlers — described the move as 'historic.' 'It means the wall of immunity that Israeli politicians had has been broken,' he said. 'It's unbelievable that it took so long for Western governments to sanction Israeli politicians, and the fact that it's being done while Trump is president is quite amazing,' said Mack. 'It is a message to Netanyahu himself that he could be next.' Israel captured the West Bank along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want those territories for their hoped-for future state. Settlement growth and construction have been promoted by successive Israeli governments stretching back decades, but it has exploded under Netanyahu's far-right coalition, which has settlers in key Cabinet posts. There are now well over 100 settlements and 500,000 Israeli settlers sprawling across the territory from north to south — a reality, rights groups say, dimming any hopes for an eventual two-state solution. ___ AP Correspondent Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

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