Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel's president on Tuesday handed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the difficult task of trying to form a government from the country's splintered parliament, giving the embattled leader a chance to prolong his lengthy term in office. At the same time, he stands trial on corruption charges.
President Reuven Rivlin acknowledged that no party leader had the necessary support to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. He also stated many believe Netanyahu is unfit to serve as prime minister in light of his legal problems.
Israelis began voting on Tuesday in the country’s fourth parliamentary election in two years — a highly charged referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's divisive rule.
Opinion polls forecast a tight race between those who support Israel’s longest-serving premier and those who want “anyone but Bibi,” as he is widely known.
No one party is expected to win a majority of seats in the Knesset. Instead, Israel's president must choose a candidate to negotiate with other parties to form a majority coalition.
The Israeli Health Minister Juli Edelstein announced that around 1.8 million Israelis had received the first vaccination dose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also received his second vaccination against the coronavirus on Saturday evening. Israel is currently in its third Corona lockdown, as infection numbers had risen significantly again by the end of the year.
A leading Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near the capital Tehran on Friday, Iran's Defense Ministry announced on state television. Iran's state media reports that the scientist died during an attack in the Absard area of the province of Damavand, about 60 kilometres east of Tehran.
Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civilian uranium enrichment programme.
In 2018, Netanyahu gave a presentation in which he unveiled what he described as material stolen by Israel from an Iranian nuclear archive and showed a photograph of Fakhrizadeh.
During protests against the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, several assaults against protestors have been reported at different locations in the country. At his official residence in Jerusalem, around 6,000 people have reportedly protested against him.
On Sunday, thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in central Jerusalem to demand his resignation. Protests have been happening throughout the summer. Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption charges.
People were protesting even though Israel has been under a strict nationwide lockdown since Friday.
The Israeli government agreed to impose a three-week nationwide lockdown that would go into effect on Friday at 11:00 UTC, on the eve of Rosh Hashana holiday. The country will be the first to reimpose restrictions on a national scale.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a press briefing that warnings by health officials led to the government's decision, which would restrict Israelis to a 500-meter radius of their residence.
With the country already hit by a deep, pandemic-induced recession, the decision to reinstate lockdown has divided the government and the nation.
In Israel, thousands of demonstrators again demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening. According to the police, twelve demonstrators were arrested in Jerusalem. Some demonstrators had blocked an intersection and refused to clear it. This was the 11th week in a row that people took part in rallies against the head of government.
On Saturday night and Sunday morning, thousands of protestors have demonstrated and called for the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. He is facing allegations of corruption and criticism for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Demonstrators have protested outside of his residence and all of Israel for the eighth consecutive week.
According to the newspaper Haaretz, an estimated number of 50,000 people across all of Israel have demonstrated against Netanyahu on Saturday. There have been no reports of detained protestors.
Three years after the police have searched Netanyahu's residence for the first time, his trial is scheduled to begin on Sunday. The prime minister of Israel who's been sworn in for his fifth time in the last week is accused on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. The trial had been postponed from March because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and marks the first time that a sitting prime minister will be tried in court. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied all allegations against him.
In Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, today Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz were sworn in as prime minister and alternate prime minister respectively.
The three-year coalition government was formally approved by a 73 to 46 vote and puts to end more than 500 days of a political crisis in the country.
Benjamin Netanyahu belongs to the right-wing Likud party, while Benny Gantz leads the centrist Blue and White alliance.
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may form a new government while under indictment for corruption charges.
The unanimous decision, clears the way for Netanyahu and his rival, Benny Gantz, to proceed with the formation of their emergency government.