A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament
The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents.
A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.
Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn't work to undermine the coalition once outside it and could vote with it on some laws. It also wouldn't support its collapse.
The political turmoil comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating on a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza.
While the shakeup in Netanyahu's government won't necessarily derail the talks, the Israeli leader will be more susceptible to the demands of his far-right coalition partners, who oppose ending the 21-month war while Hamas remains intact.
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Arab News
22 minutes ago
- Arab News
French army leaves Senegal, ending military presence in west Africa
DAKAR: France on Thursday formally handed back its last two military bases in Senegal, leaving Paris with no permanent army camps in either west or central Africa. Ending the French army's 65 years in independent Senegal, the pull-out comes after similar withdrawals across the continent, with former colonies increasingly turning their backs on their former ruler. The move comes as the Sahel region faces a growing jihadist conflict across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that is threatening the wider west African region. A recent string of attacks this month in Mali included an assault on a town on the border with Senegal. France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in the west African country, and its airfield at Dakar airport, in a ceremony attended by top French and Senegalese officials. They included Senegalese chief of staff General Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa. Cisse said the handover marked 'an important turning point in the rich and long military journey of our two countries.' He said the 'new objectives' were aimed at 'giving new content to the security partnership.' Senegalese troops were working 'to consolidate the numerous skills gained it its quest for strategic autonomy,' he added. The general ended his speech with a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French author of 'The Little Prince,' who spent several months in Dakar: 'For each ending there is always a new departure.' Ianni said Paris was 'reinventing partnerships in a dynamic Africa.' 'We have to do things differently, and we don't need permanent bases to do so,' he said. The French general however insisted that the pull-out 'takes nothing away from the sacrifices made yesterday by our brothers-in-arms in Africa for our respective interests.' Around 350 French soldiers, primarily tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving, marking the end of a three-month departure process that began in March. After storming to victory in 2024 elections promising radical change, Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw troops from the country by 2025. Unlike the leaders of other former colonies such as junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, however, Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris. Reinventing partnerships Senegal was one of France's first colonies in Africa. After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France's staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its modern history. Faye's predecessor, Macky Sall, continued that tradition. However Faye, who ran on a ticket promising a clean break with the Sall era, has said that Senegal will treat France like any other foreign partner. Pledging to make his country more self-sufficient, the president gave a deadline of the end of 2025 for all foreign armies to withdraw. 'Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,' Faye said at the end of 2024. He maintained nonetheless that France remained 'an important partner for Senegal.' Faye has also urged Paris to apologize for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African soldiers who had fought for France in World War II. A lawmaker from the president's ruling Pastef party, Guy Marius Sagna, hailed Thursday's 'end to the presence of the French occupying army.' 'Bravo to President Diomaye Faye!... Bravo to the patriots! Decolonization continues,' he told the press. French former empire With governments across Africa increasingly questioning the presence of French soldiers, Paris has closed or reduced numbers at bases across its former empire. In February, Paris handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence at the site. The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the unrest-hit Sahel region. Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali between 2020 and 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. All have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel's decade-long jihadist insurgency. The Central African Republic, also a former French colony to which the Kremlin has sent mercenaries, has likewise demanded a French pull-out. Meanwhile, the army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with the central African nation focused on training. Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will play host to a permanent French army base following Thursday's withdrawal. France intends to make its base in Djibouti, home to some 1,500 people, its military headquarters for Africa.
Asharq Al-Awsat
44 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Ukraine to Boost Domestic Arms Production to Counter Russia's Invasion, Says Zelensky
A new Ukrainian government approved Thursday will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country's weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Meanwhile, Switzerland said Thursday that the US Defense Department had informed it that Washington is diverting a Swiss order for Patriot air defense systems to help Ukraine, which badly needs to improve its response to increasingly heavy Russian aerial attacks. Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said Thursday it has been informed by the US Defense Department that it will 'reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine.' It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv, The AP news reported. Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028. But the Swiss government said Washington informed it of the delay on Wednesday, adding that it was unclear how many systems would be affected. The need to adequately arm Ukraine's military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive after three years of war and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles. It remains unclear when the promised US-made weapons, especially the Patriot systems, might reach Ukraine. Trump has agreed to send the weaponry, but it will be paid for by European countries. No timeframe for foreign weapons in Ukraine The US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said he couldn't give a timeframe for when Ukraine might get extra foreign weapons. 'We are all moving with haste to facilitate this and get this done. Things are actually moving very quickly, but I can't verify a date that this will all be completed. I think it's going to be an ongoing movement,' he told reporters in Brussels. 'The plan is that there will be American-made defense equipment, capabilities, that will be sold to our European allies, that they will provide to Ukraine,' he said. British Defense Secretary John Healey said Thursday he and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of Ukraine's allies on Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump's weapons plans. Healey said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, told The Associated Press Thursday that 'preparations are underway' for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working 'very closely' with Germany to transfer Patriot systems. Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden, Germany, that he had been ordered to 'move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible.' He said the number of weapons being transferred is classified. German Defense Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday he couldn't confirm that anything is currently on its way to Ukraine. Rutte, the NATO chief, said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada. He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, 'with more expected to follow.' Ukraine now makes 40% of its own weapons Ukraine's domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelensky. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil. 'What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia's territory — back to where the war was brought from," Zelensky said late Wednesday in his nightly video address. 'We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government's work by expanding our domestic production.' Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia . Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, the country's defense ministry said Thursday. The wave of drones caused flights to be grounded at airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg, although most of the drones were reportedly destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Kursk. Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 64 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, killing at least one person, the Ukrainian air force reported. The assault centered on the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said. In other developments: Russia on Thursday sent to Ukraine 1,000 bodies, including some of the country's fallen soldiers, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. At the same time, Russia received the bodies of 19 soldiers, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said. The exchange was part of a deal reached at direct peace talks last May and June that produced few other agreements between the sides.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Saudi Arabia condemns deadly Israeli strike on Gaza church
Saudi Arabia on Thursday condemned an Israeli strike on a church in Gaza, denouncing Israel's attacks on civilians and places of worship. 'These repeated assaults in the region require a serious international stance to end the crimes of the Israeli occupation, which threaten regional security and stability,' the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. The Kingdom called on the international community – particularly the UN Security Council – to hold Israel accountable and to 'activate international accountability mechanisms for these violations.' An Israeli strike on Gaza's sole Catholic Church killed three people and injured several others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees the small parish, said on Thursday. The Patriarchate condemned 'this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place,' saying two women and one man had died in the attack on the Holy Family Church. 'This horrific war must come to a complete end,' it said, adding that the victims had turned to the church compound as a safe haven 'after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away.' The Holy Family Church spoke in a separate statement of 'a number of injured, some in critical condition.' In a telegram for the victims, Pope Leo said he was 'deeply saddened' and called for 'an immediate ceasefire.' The pope expressed his 'profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region,' according to the telegram which was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and made no mention of Israel. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement on X that the results of the investigation would be published. It also said the country did not target churches or religious sites and regretted harm to them or civilians. The Patriarchate earlier said the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was among those injured, and his church had sustained damage. Father Romanelli, an Argentine, used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via calls and messages. TV footage showed him sitting receiving treatment at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, with a bandage around his lower right leg. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the religious compound. 'The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude,' she said in a statement.
