Israel Approves Record Defense Budget During Iran War
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved a record $45.8 billion defense budget Monday as the war in Iran entered its second month.

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved a record $45.8 billion defense budget Monday as the war in Iran entered its second month.

World leaders, lawmakers, and public figures are calling on the Nobel Committee to honor President Donald Trump after he brokered what Israeli officials hailed as a “miraculous” deal set to free all remaining hostages and bring an end to the Gaza war — an achievement hailed as historic and unprecedented, with allies calling him the “President of Peace” and “the peacemaker the world needed.”

Early responses to President Donald Trump’s peace deal in Gaza have been strongly positive, even from adversarial nations like Russia, which grudgingly admitted the ceasefire would be a positive diplomatic achievement — if it holds up.

Israeli opposition parties said Wednesday and Thursday that they would join, or at least vote with, a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enable him to pass a potential hostage and ceasefire deal.

Israel’s bitter political divisions have subsided over the past several days, as the country has united behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his successful surprise attack against the Iranian regime.

Israel’s opposition leaders attacked the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday for its decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war against Hamas.

President Joe Biden is backing an internal revolt within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the fate of postwar Gaza, after defense minister Yoav Gallant publicly declared his opposition to long-term Israeli rule there.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) managed to unite many Israelis — against him, and behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at least when it comes to the right of Israelis to choose their own leaders democratically.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has ruled out any possibility of joining a national unity government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is allowed to remain in office, highlighting the personal nature of Lapid’s motives.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid traveled to the U.S. this week in the midst of the Passover holiday to deliver an extraordinary message: American Jews had a duty to oppose the democratically-elected Israeli government.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has led protests against judicial reform in his country, flew to the U.S. Monday to meet with Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who has proposed the most radical reforms in U.S. history.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, on Thursday slammed thousands of anti-government protesters who staged a siege in front of a Tel Aviv hair salon she was in a day prior during nationwide protests, saying the confrontation “could have ended in murder.”

Israel’s Netanyahu-led government passed the first of three readings of a bill in the contentious judicial reform plan overnight on Tuesday, granting the ruling coalition more control over the appointment of judges.

More than 100,000 protesters gathered in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel on Monday to demonstrate against a controversial plan to overhaul Israel’s left-leaning judiciary.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday fired Shas party leader and key ally Aryeh Deri, ending his tenure both as Health Minister and Interior Minister, after the Supreme Court ruling deemed his appointment “unreasonable to the extreme” in light of his convictions over tax offenses.

Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in on Thursday for the sixth time as Israel’s prime minister, while his predecessor Yair Lapid flouted the traditional handshake that occurs at the change of power and exited the Knesset plenum early.

Israeli education officials as well as several municipal heads on Tuesday sounded alarm bells at what they said amounted to the effective collapse of the education system by the incoming government, days after Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu gave ultra-conservative, anti-LGBT MK Avi Maoz control over a key branch in the education ministry as part of a coalition agreement.

An Israeli teenager who died after a car crash in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday morning was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen from a hospital, the Israeli military said.

Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday received the official mandate to form a government from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, after holding a marathon of consultations with representatives of all political parties.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seems to have won a resounding election victory as most of the votes were tallied on Wednesday, vowed he would “return Israel to its place as a rising power among the nations” when he takes office.

Outgoing interim Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid borrowed a line from U.S. President Joe Biden last month when he said a win for the opposition would mean the “end of democracy.” That tactic turned out to be a failure, as Lapid’s party lost Tuesday’s election.

Israel and Lebanon on Thursday signed a controversial U.S.-mediated maritime deal, which Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed as the first time an enemy state had formally declared recognition of the State of Israel.

British-Greek gas producer Energean has begun production at the Karish offshore natural field, a day before the controversial U.S.-brokered maritime deal will be signed between Israel and Lebanon.

The Israeli High Court of Justice on Sunday unanimously rejected all petitions filed against the controversial maritime border deal with Lebanon, paving the way for the signing of U.S.-mediated agreement, which has been deemed “extremely dangerous” by its opponents.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed the current Israeli premier Yair Lapid for agreeing to a U.S.-drafted maritime border agreement with Lebanon that was a “surrender to Hezbollah.”

President Joe Biden on Tuesday congratulated Prime Minister Yair Lapid for reaching a maritime border agreement with Lebanon, telling the Israeli premier he was “making history.”

Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday said Israel and Lebanon had reached a “historic” agreement to resolve a decades-long maritime border dispute, saying it would prove a boon to the Israeli economy.

The Biden administration has been accused of pressuring Israel to concede to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group’s demands in resolving a maritime border dispute between Israel and its neighboring state Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid lauded the moribund two-state solution for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his speech at the United Nations on Thursday, prompting political rivals including former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse him of “endangering” Israel.

Britain’s newly minted Prime Minister Liz Truss is now officially considering moving the location of the UK’s Israeli embassy in a move mirroring a similar decision made by President Donald Trump.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss told her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid that she is reviewing moving the British embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

An Israeli soldier was killed in a shootout in the West Bank when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire overnight Wednesday.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he revealed “sensitive and relevant intelligence information” on Iran’s nuclear program to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he was meeting in Berlin on Monday.

A Palestinian terrorist armed with an improvised submachine gun and two bombs was arrested by police officers in the central city of Jaffa on Thursday, on his way to carrying out a “massacre” in Tel Aviv, police said.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday forcefully rejected the U.S.’ call for Israel to change its rules of engagement after the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during a firefight between the IDF and Palestinian terrorists, saying “no one would dictate” Israel’s open fire policy.

A renewed nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is “off the table” for the foreseeable future, President Joe Biden told Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid, according to a report in Hebrew media.

Palestinian terrorists opened fire on an Israeli bus on Sunday, injuring seven people. The attack took place on a major highway along Israel’s border neighboring Jordan targeting a bus transporting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops.

Israel had carried out “countless operations” in Iran’s heartland, former Mossad head Yossi Cohen said on Monday.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency has called the nascent nuclear deal with Iran a “strategic disaster” that is “based on lies.”

Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s request to hold an emergency telephone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the nascent nuclear deal with Iran has been rebuffed with the excuse that the American president “is on vacation,” Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
