The Documentary Podcast The Global Jigsaw: Netanyahu's media squeeze
The Israeli government's push to transform the media landscape has been described by critics as a 'hostile takeover' that poses a threat to press freedom. The Global Jigsaw takes a look at what people in Israel see about the war in Gaza on their TV screens. We examine the methods and the motives behind the prime minister's media squeeze, and ask what this means for the country priding itself on being "the only democracy" in the Middle East.
Producer: Kriszta Satori
Presenter: Krassi Ivanova Twigg
Contributor: Shaina Oppenheimer
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Australian engineer freed on bail after four years in Iraqi prison
An Australian engineer has been granted conditional release after spending more than four years in an Iraqi prison in what the UN has described as arbitrary detention. Robert Pether, 50, was arrested in Baghdad in April 2021 along with his colleague, Egyptian national Khalid Radwan, amid a contractual dispute between their employer CME Consulting and the Central Bank of Iraq. The two men had been overseeing the multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the bank's Baghdad headquarters, a project Pether had been involved with since 2015. Following their arrest, both men were held for nearly six months without charge, subjected to what the UN described as 'abusive and coercive' interrogations, and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison and a joint fine of $12m (£8.8m). Pether, who has consistently maintained his innocence, said he was forced to sign a pre-written confession in Arabic. In 2022, a UN working group concluded that the detention of the pair violated international law and due process. The following year, the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration ruled that the Central Bank of Iraq, not CME Consulting, was at fault in the contractual disagreement and ordered it to pay $13m (£9.5m) in compensation to the firm. Although Pether has now been granted bail, he is still prohibited from leaving Iraq and will face ongoing legal proceedings. His family and supporters are urging the authorities to lift the travel ban so he can receive urgent medical treatment. His wife, Desree Pether, told the BBC that he is 'extremely sick' and has been unable to eat properly for months, raising fears of a possible recurrence of skin cancer. 'He's unrecognisable,' Ms Pether said. 'If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person.' She added that the family had begun crowdfunding to afford private hospital care for him in Baghdad. 'Enough is enough. He needs to come home.' In a statement, Australia's foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, welcomed the development, calling it 'a positive step' following years of 'persistent advocacy'. She noted the personal toll the detention has taken on Pether and his family, adding that she hoped 'this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress', reported 9 News. Senator Wong also thanked Australian officials, including the government's special envoy to Iraq, for their efforts, noting that Pether's case had been raised with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Ireland 's deputy prime minister, Tánaiste Simon Harris, also acknowledged the development, revealing that Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein had called him directly to confirm Pether's release. The Pether family had been living in Roscommon, Ireland, before the arrest. 'I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon,' said Mr Harris. "I also spoke this evening with Robert's wife, Desree Pether, about this positive development." Speaking after a phone call with her husband on Thursday night, Ms Pether said he was briefly uplifted by the release but warned he was likely to crash emotionally soon after. 'There's a tiny glimmer of hope,' she said. 'But there's another mountain still to go over.' In a letter written from prison last year, Pether described the pain of missing milestones with his wife and five children during his detention. "I've missed so many milestones," he wrote. "Our oldest son's 30th, our other son's 18th and soon 21st and our youngest son's 16th and 18th. Our youngest two boys have finished school and are now young men. Our daughter was eight when I was arrested and is now 11. "I've missed three Christmases and four Easters, multiple birthdays, three wedding anniversaries, and so much more.' He wrote feeling 'abandoned' by the Anthony Albanese government. 'I have pleaded for three years for Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong to do everything they can to help me and get me home,' he said. 'So far, I just feel abandoned. I am sick, and worried I will not survive this ordeal much longer. 'I want to go home,' he wrote. 'I want to go back to Australia and hear the birds, swim at the beach, sit and watch the harbour while the ferries come and go and feel the sun on my skin.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Netanyahu defends arming Palestinian clans accused of ties with jihadist groups
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has admitted arming clans in Gaza that he says are opposed to Hamas, following accusations that members of these criminal gangs allegedly looted humanitarian aid and have ties to jihadist groups. Netanyahu's comments came after Israeli media reports quoted defence sources as saying Netanyahu had authorised giving weapons to a clan reportedly led by a man known as Yasser Abu Shabab, a Rafah resident from a Bedouin family, known locally for his involvement in criminal activity. Israel allegedly provided Abu Shabab's group, which calls itself the 'Anti-Terror Service', with Kalashnikov assault rifles, including weapons seized from Hamas. 'On the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What's wrong with that?' Netanyahu says in a short video he posted on social media. 'It only saves the lives of Israeli solders,' he continued – 'and publicising his only benefits Hamas.' On Thursday, following the allegations circulating in the media, Netanyahu's office said Israel 'was working to defeat Hamas through various means, based on the recommendations of all the heads of the security establishment'. The former defence minister and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman repeated the allegations and alleged that Abu Shabab's group was affiliated with the Islamic State terror group. 'The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister,' Lieberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party, told Kan Bet public radio. The basis for Lieberman's allegation of ties to IS was unclear. Abu Shabab's group has previously been accused of involvement in smuggling operations linked to Egyptian jihadi groups. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Yasser Abu Shabab's involvement with Israeli troops was confirmed last week through several videos circulating on social media in Gaza, showing him operating alongside Israeli soldiers in IDF-controlled areas. Last week, Abu Shabab's family issued a statement disowning him, accusing him of collaborating with Israeli forces. 'We, like everyone else, were surprised by video footage broadcast by the resistance showing the involvement of Yasser's groups within a dangerous security framework, reaching the point of operating within undercover units and supporting the Zionist occupation forces, who are brutally killing our people,' it said. 'We affirm that we will not accept Yasser's return to the family. We have no objection to those around him liquidating him immediately, and we tell you that his blood is forfeit.' On 28 May, Jonathan Whittall, the head of United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in occupied Palestinian territories, said: 'The real theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces, and they were allowed to operate in proximity to the Kerem Shalom crossing point into Gaza.' When contacted by the Guardian, Whittall confirmed he was 'referring to gangs such as Abu Shabab. On several posts on Facebook, reported by local media, Abu Shabab denied the allegations, saying he was taking the goods only to feed himself and his family. Strong criticism of the initiative has come from opposition parties in Israel. In a social media post on X, Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats in the Knesset, said: 'Netanyahu is a threat to Israel's national security. Instead of bringing about a deal … bringing the hostages home and providing security for Israeli citizens, he is creating a new ticking timebomb in Gaza'. Despite nationwide protests demanding a ceasefire deal and the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza after Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack, Netanyahu's coalition remains solid, buoyed by the steadfast support of far-right parties. That unity, however, may soon be tested, after the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in Netanyahu's coalition announced it would support dissolving the Knesset. The Shas party's decision comes after no significant progress in advancing a law effectively exempting the ultra-Orthodox from the military draft. Israel has mandatory army service but for decades made an exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredi, who are allowed to continue full-time Torah study. But an alternative plan seeks to extend the duration of military service for conscripts and raise the age for reservists, while also urging an end to the customary exemptions granted to yeshiva students. Due to the continuing war in Gaza, the IDF is seeking yeshiva students must be drafted, as it urgently needs an additional 10,000 combat soldiers and about 3,000 soldiers for other roles. Meanwhile, Israeli jets continued to pound Gaza on Thursday and Friday. According to Gaza's health officials, at least 52 Palestinians have been killed in attacks in Gaza across the strip, as the UN says that the number of Gaza children facing acute malnutrition has soared since February, with more than 2,700 suffering from it. The US backed-Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Friday that all of its aid distribution sites in the enclave remained closed and a reopening date would be announced later, urging residents to stay away from these sites 'for their safety'. Work at the sites was halted in response to a series of deadly shootings by Israeli soldiers that on Tuesday killed 27 Palestinians and injured hundreds as they were waiting for food.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Lebanese army warns Israeli airstrikes might force it to freeze cooperation with ceasefire committee
The Lebanese army condemned Friday Israel's airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut, warning that such attacks are weakening the role of Lebanon's armed forces that might eventually suspend cooperation with the committee monitoring the truce that ended the Israel- Hezbollah war. The army statement came hours after the Israeli military struck several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production. The strikes, preceded by an Israeli warning to evacuate several buildings, came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday. The Lebanese army said it started coordinating with the committee observing the ceasefire after Israel's military issued its warning and sent patrols to the areas that were to be struck to search them. It added that Israel rejected the suggestion. The U.S.-led committee that has been supervising the ceasefire that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in November is made up of Lebanon, Israel, France, the U.S. and the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon known as UNIFIL. 'The Israeli enemy violations of the deal and its refusal to respond to the committee is weakening the role of the committee and the army,' the Lebanese army said in its statement. It added such attacks by Israel could lead the army to freeze its cooperation with the committee 'when it comes to searching posts.' Since the Israel-Hezbollah war ended, Israel has carried out nearly daily airstrikes on parts of Lebanon targeting Hezbollah operatives. Beirut's southern suburbs were struck on several occasions since then. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began on Oct. 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began launching rockets across the border in support of its ally, Hamas, in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling and the two were quickly locked in a low-level conflict that continued for nearly a year before escalating into full-scale war in September 2024. It killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, while the Lebanese government said in April that Israeli strikes had killed another 190 people and wounded 485 since the ceasefire agreement. There has been increasing pressure on Hezbollah, both domestic and international, to give up its remaining arsenal, but officials with the group have said they will not do so until Israel stops its airstrikes and withdraws from five points it is still occupying along the border in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah says that it has ended its military presence along the border with Israel south of the Litani River, in accordance with terms of the ceasefire deal.
