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First Post
11-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Conscription row: Israel's Knesset to vote on dissolution, in first step towards early election
The vote marks the first step toward a potential early election, one that current polls suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely lose read more A drone view of Jerusalem with the Knesset, the Israeli parliament and the Israel Museum, in Jerusalem February 4, 2025. Reuters File Israel's parliament is scheduled to hold a preliminary vote on Wednesday to dissolve itself, triggered by a dispute over military conscription. The vote marks the first step toward a potential early election, one that current polls suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely lose. However, the vote could be canceled at the last minute. Even if it proceeds and passes, it would be just the first of four required approvals to advance new elections. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The process would still leave Netanyahu's ruling coalition with time to address its most severe political crisis yet and possibly avert an election, which would be the first since the war with Hamas in Gaza began. Boaz Bismuth, a lawmaker with Netanyahu's Likud party, told Reuters dissolving the Knesset would only be a victory for Israel's enemies. 'During war this is the last thing Israel needs,' he was quoted as saying. Netanyahu has been pushing hard to resolve a coalition deadlock over a military conscription bill at the heart of the current crisis. Religious parties in his coalition want to maintain exemptions from mandatory military service for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students, while other lawmakers are demanding an end to those exemptions. Though long controversial, the issue has become especially charged during the Gaza war, as Israel faces its heaviest battlefield losses in decades and a strained military in urgent need of more troops. Frustrated by the impasse, ultra-Orthodox factions have threatened to back opposition efforts to dissolve the Knesset and trigger early elections, currently scheduled for late 2026. 'It's more than ever urgent to replace Netanyahu's government and specifically this toxic and harmful government,' Reuters quoted Labour's opposition lawmaker Merav Michaeli as saying. 'It's urgent to end the war in Gaza and to bring back all the hostages. It's urgent to start rebuilding and healing the state of Israel,' Michaeli added. More time If Netanyahu resolves the coalition crisis before Wednesday's vote, opposition parties may withdraw the bill to dissolve parliament. Even if the bill passes its first reading, it still needs three more votes, buying Netanyahu time to strike a deal on the conscription issue with his ultra-Orthodox allies. Between readings, the bill goes to committee, a process that could take days or even months. During this period, Netanyahu can still negotiate and block the bill. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD To pass, the bill needs 61 of 120 Knesset votes. If approved, an election must be held within five months. Polls suggest Netanyahu's coalition would likely lose, with public anger still high over the security failure of Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, which killed 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages. Since then, Israel's war in Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, devastated the territory, and displaced most of its population. Over 400 Israeli soldiers have died, further fueling opposition to exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. While many Israelis demand equal conscription, ultra-Orthodox leaders insist religious study is sacred and military service incompatible with their way of life. With inputs from agencies
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israel Knesset set to vote on disbanding in first step to possible election
FILE PHOTO: A drone view of Jerusalem with the Knesset, the Israeli parliament and the Israel Museum, in Jerusalem February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg/File photo Israel Knesset set to vote on disbanding in first step to possible election JERUSALEM - Israel's parliament is set to hold a preliminary vote on Wednesday to dissolve itself following a dispute over conscription, a first step that could lead to an early election, which polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose. The vote could still be pulled at the last minute, and even if it goes against Netanyahu, it would only be the first of four needed to bring forward elections. This would give Netanyahu's ruling coalition further time to resolve its worst political crisis yet and avoid a ballot, which would be Israel's first since the eruption of the war with Hamas in Gaza. Dissolving the Knesset would only be a victory for Israel's enemies, said Boaz Bismuth, a lawmaker with Netanyahu's Likud party. "During war this is the last thing Israel needs," he told Reuters. Netanyahu has been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis. Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether. The exemptions have been a hot-button issue in Israel for years but have become particularly contentious during the war in Gaza, as Israel has suffered its highest battlefield casualties in decades and its stretched military is in need of more troops. Growing increasingly impatient with the political deadlock, ultra-Orthodox coalition factions have said they will vote with opposition parties in favour of dissolving the Knesset and bringing forward an election that is not due until late 2026. "It's more than ever urgent to replace Netanyahu's government and specifically this toxic and harmful government," said Labour's opposition lawmaker Merav Michaeli. "It's urgent to end the war in Gaza and to bring back all the hostages. It's urgent to start rebuilding and healing the state of Israel." MORE TIME Opposition parties are likely to withdraw the dissolution bill if Netanyahu's coalition resolves the crisis before the vote is held much later on Wednesday. But even if it passes Wednesday's reading, the bill's final approval requires three more votes, giving Netanyahu's coalition more time to come to agreements over conscription. If passed, the dissolution bill will next go to parliament committee discussions in between readings, a legislation process which could take days, weeks or months. In this time, Netanyahu could still reach agreements with the ultra-Orthodox parties, his key political allies, and shoot the bill down. To pass the final reading, the bill would need an absolute majority of at least 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament, called the Knesset in Hebrew, and an election will have to be held within five months. Successive polls have predicted that Netanyahu's coalition would lose in an election, with Israelis still reeling over the security failure of Palestinian militant group Hamas' October 7 2023 attack and hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas' surprise attack led to Israel's deadliest single day and shattered Netanyahu's security credentials, with 1,200 people killed and 251 hostages taken into Gaza. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza has since killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave, left much of the territory in ruins, and its more than two million population largely displaced and gripped by a humanitarian crisis. Twenty months into the fighting, public support for the Gaza war has waned. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat there, adding to anger many Israelis feel over the ultra-Orthodox exemption demands even as the war drags on. Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders, however, see full-time devotion to religious studies as sacrosanct and military service as a threat to the students' strict religious lifestyle. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Rarely Seen Angel With a Lesson From History
The angel is kept in a state of darkness, because it is delicate and vulnerable to light. The subject of a century of philosophical debate, and the inspiration for works of poetry, theater, music and film, the angel, called 'Angelus Novus,' is a powerfully enigmatic figure. When this artwork by Paul Klee is presented it in public, it is considered an event. Klee's 1920 watercolor print will have a rare appearance starting on May 8, as part of the exhibition, 'The Angel of History: Walter Benjamin, Paul Klee and the Berlin Angels 80 Years After World War II,' at the Bode-Museum in Berlin. On loan from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Klee's work — which is about the size of a standard notebook page — will be on show through July 13, a shorter-than-typical exhibition run, to protect it from too much exposure. The German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin, who owned 'Angelus Novus' for nearly two decades, wrote one of his final texts about the angel, just before he died by suicide in 1940. He saw the angel as a witness to an imminent cataclysm. 'This is how one pictures the angel of history,' Benjamin wrote in notes that would later be published as 'Theses on the Philosophy of History.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
3-year-old discovers 3,800-year-old treasure on family outing in Israel
A toddler unearthed an ancient treasure during a family outing in southern Israel earlier this month, officials said. While visiting the archaeological site Tel Azekah, some 50 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan found a scarab amulet believed to belong to Canaanite communities dating back as far as 3,800 years, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, a national conservation agency. A site with biblical significance, Tel Azekah is a hill created from the debris of settlements built on top of one another over time. The discovery happened in early March, the child's sister, Omer Nitzan, told the Antiquities Authority. "We were walking along the path, and then Ziv bent down – and out of all the stones around her, she picked up this particular stone," said Omer Nitzan, according to the agency. "When she rubbed it and removed the sand from it, we saw something was different about it." The family then brought the find to the attention of the antiquities authority. Daphna Ben-Tor, a curator for Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem whose expertise involves ancient amulets and seals, determined that the small treasure originated in the Middle Bronze Age, a period spanning from around 2100 to 1600 B.C.E. That era saw the rise of a flourishing Canaanite culture in the Levant, a region believed to be comprised of parts of contemporary Syria and Lebanon, bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Canaanites were an early Semitic population living in this area who appear in biblical texts. Scarab-shaped amulets like the one Nitzan came across are small, ornate objects designed to emulate a dung beetle, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The agency notes these tiny treasures can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where the dung beetle was "considered sacred" and seen as "a symbol of new life" or even of God. "Scarabs were used in this period as seals and as amulets," said Ben-Tor in a statement. "They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes. Sometimes they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status." Nitzan uncovered the amulet in a section of Tel Azekah where historical artifacts have previously been found, archaeologists said. Other artifacts identified included city walls and agricultural structures from the Judahite Kingdom, which existed during the Iron Age in the last millennium before the common era. "We have been excavating here for almost 15 years, and the excavation findings show that during the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages, here in Tel Azekah, thrived one of the most important cities in the Judean Lowlands," said Oded Lipschits, a professor at Tel Aviv University who led an archaeological dig at the site. "The scarab found by Ziv joins a long list of Egyptian and Canaanite finds discovered here, which attest to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period." The amulet will appear on display at a special exhibit by the Israel Antiquities Authority for Passover in mid-April. Freed Israeli hostages call for end to war, to bring remaining Gaza hostages home Poll finds most American think Trump not focusing enough on loweirng prices Dow slips slightly ahead of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
3-year-old discovers 3,800-year-old treasure on family outing in Israel
A toddler unearthed an ancient treasure during a family outing in southern Israel earlier this month, officials said. While visiting the archaeological site Tel Azekah, some 50 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan found a scarab amulet believed to belong to Canaanite communities dating back as far as 3,800 years, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, a national conservation agency. A site with biblical significance, Tel Azekah is a hill created from the debris of settlements built on top of one another over time. The discovery happened in early March, the child's sister, Omer Nitzan, told the Antiquities Authority. "We were walking along the path, and then Ziv bent down – and out of all the stones around her, she picked up this particular stone," said Omer Nitzan, according to the agency. "When she rubbed it and removed the sand from it, we saw something was different about it." The family then brought the find to the attention of the antiquities authority. Daphna Ben-Tor, a curator for Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem whose expertise involves ancient amulets and seals, determined that the small treasure originated in the Middle Bronze Age, a period spanning from around 2100 to 1600 B.C.E. That era saw the rise of a flourishing Canaanite culture in the Levant, a region believed to be comprised of parts of contemporary Syria and Lebanon, bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Canaanites were an early Semitic population living in this area who appear in biblical texts. Scarab-shaped amulets like the one Nitzan came across are small, ornate objects designed to emulate a dung beetle, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The agency notes these tiny treasures can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where the dung beetle was "considered sacred" and seen as "a symbol of new life" or even of God. "Scarabs were used in this period as seals and as amulets," said Ben-Tor in a statement. "They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes. Sometimes they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status." Nitzan uncovered the amulet in a section of Tel Azekah where historical artifacts have previously been found, archaeologists said. Other artifacts identified included city walls and agricultural structures from the Judahite Kingdom, which existed during the Iron Age in the last millennium before the common era. "We have been excavating here for almost 15 years, and the excavation findings show that during the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages, here in Tel Azekah, thrived one of the most important cities in the Judean Lowlands," said Oded Lipschits, a professor at Tel Aviv University who led an archaeological dig at the site. "The scarab found by Ziv joins a long list of Egyptian and Canaanite finds discovered here, which attest to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period." The amulet will appear on display at a special exhibit by the Israel Antiquities Authority for Passover in mid-April. Freed Israeli hostages call for end to war, to bring remaining Gaza hostages home Poll finds most American think Trump not focusing enough on loweirng prices White House shares few details on Trump's tariffs announcement
