#Knesset Website

[thejewishlink]

Knesset website targeted by Russian hackers with alleged Kremlin ties

Knesset website targeted by Russian hackers with alleged Kremlin ties

The “XakNet Team” claimed responsibility for the cyber attack, saying it was revenge for Israeli intel sent to Kyiv regarding Iranian-made drones.   (October 27, 2022 / JNS) The Knesset website was targeted earlier this week by a Russian hacker group with alleged ties to the Kremlin, Channel 12 reported on Wednesday. Staff at the Israeli legislature reportedly identified the breach overnight…

[glazecake]

Palestine فلسطين

x / x / x | x / x / x | x / x / x

My goal with making this post is to use my platform to raise awareness and encourage solidarity and action for the people of Palestine. Over the past few weeks, I have felt powerless to watch the destruction of Gaza before the world's eyes. However, I realized that I still have a large platform despite this blog's inactivity. With this, I would like to share information about Palestine and what you can do to help.

In the above post, I have sought out videos of Palestinian food, culture, art, architecture, and nature to share. Israeli propaganda is trying adamantly to dehumanize the population of Palestine in order to further justify their genocide. Regardless, no matter where you are in the world, humans recognize and understand what it is to be human. What it is to make art, to share food with your loved ones, to travel, and laugh, and sing. To experience heartbreak and hardship, and to experience joy. To dream about the future. To stand up for what we believe in, to fight in the face of injustice.

If you are an American citizen, use your voice to stand up for what's right. Contact your representatives. Demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Boycott companies and celebrities who voice their support of the Israeli settler state. Protest. Donate. Organize. Fight. We are strongest when in community with each other. Our US tax dollars directly fund the murder of Gazan civilians. Make it known that we will not stand idly by while news outlets and propagandists lie to our faces about the atrocities enacted by the IDF and the Knesset.

Here are some links for information on Palestine, as well as places to donate:

decolonizepalestine - A website aiming to educate and dispel myths about the Palestinian people, ran by two Ramallah residents.

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights - You can use this website to find groups organizing near you.

Palestine Action US - The US branch of a directive aiming to dismantle the Israeli military regime, directly funded by the US.

Hirbawi Kufiya - The last and only Kufiya factory in Palestine, as featured in the gif above. You can pre-order a kufiya which will be shipped once the blockade has been lifted.

Let Gaza Live: Ceasefire NOW - An easy way to send letters to your representatives to demand ceasefire in Gaza.

The Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries by Rosemary Sayigh - A good introduction to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Click to Help - One click a day can help raise donations for the UNRWA.

baitulmaal - Donate to fund relief.

anera - Donate to provide hygiene kits for displaced Gazans.

As of October 27th, 2023, Gazans are losing access to the internet. It is imperative for us to share their stories, to continue to remain active and aware of their martyrdom. The IDF will utilize this information blackout to their advantage. We must do all we can. Do not forget the plight of the Palestinian people. Do not allow their voices to go unheard.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. 🇵🇸

[hassanatforusmk]

"On the first day or two we should have killed 100K Gazans,"

Former Israeli Knesset member and well-known sports commentator, formerly a soccer player and team manager Danny Neumann made disturbing remarks implying that "there is no such thing as uninvolved (innocent)" in Gaza and all Gazans are terrorists during an interview on Israeli Channel 14.

It is important to mention that this interview was aired on Holocaust Memorial Day weeks ago, and the channel has since deleted it from its website.

[koheletgirl]

israel as a state has no reason to exist and there is no resolution except one where settlers return every single iota of land and power to the people they stole it from.

this being said, the idea that mass Israeli death will happen if the above comes to pass is literally just pathetic settler anxiety and projection.

israel as a state has no right to exist – i agree. i wish it had never been founded.

you need to define what you're talking about when you say "settlers". if you mean settlers from the west bank, those who are stealing palestinian land right now as we're speaking, those who are currently represented in the knesset by smotrich and ben gvir and their friends – you're absolutely right. this is a black and white situation, there is no nuance here. they need to be stopped and they need to get the fuck out of palestine and those among them who came from the us for the sole purpose of stealing palestinian land need to get the fuck back to the us (this is a phenomenon that does very much exist. it doesn't mean every settler is american).

if you're referring to every single jew in what's currently known as israel as a settler, it's more complicated than that and i encourage you to read about it. it doesn't mean we're not still on stolen palestinian land, that is absolutely the case. but a lot of jews came to israel as refugees, because they didn't feel like they had another choice (and sometimes they really didn't). no, me or my family can't go back to iraq. i dont think that's what you were suggesting, but a lot of other people seem to think that's the case.

again, this doesn't mean we're not living on stolen land. the right of return to palestinians is a necessity. reparations are a necessity. the land should be given back. you're absolutely right. i don't know what that would look like in practicality, i don't think you do either. but we agree on this.

i agree with everything you said. i am not going to ask you where you think all israelis should go in that case, because that would be a bad faith question. i dont know if you meant to argue with me, but there's not much for us to argue about.

israel shouldn't exist. the fact is, though, that it does. the right of return is a necessity, and there has to be a solution here that doesn't include the notion of israeli jews going "back to where they came from". when people say "from the river to the sea", that is what i choose to hear. i choose to believe no one wants me to disappear. this is what i believe, this is what i actively work for. the situation is what it is. the only way forward is to live together.

i do know, however, that on tumblr.com this isn't always true. people on here do want me to disappear. they do want me to die. and those people aren't palestinians, they're usually americans with a fandomized perception of justice. and i'm allowed to call it out. i'm allowed to say that i don't feel safe on this website as a jew. and this is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it's still happening. and i will not talk about the rise in antisemitism in the diaspora because i'm not there. but when i ask you, the people of tumblr.com, to look at yourselves in the mirror, i fucking mean it with my whole heart. i don't need to hear "there are no civilians" and "they all have dual citizenship" and "they're all from new jersey". and i absolutely don't need to hear it from people who actually are from new jersey.

hope i managed to make myself clear.

[eretzyisrael]

Israel launches website on Jews from Arab and Muslim countries

By bataween on 12 December 2023

The Israeli Ministry of Social Equality, in association with the Yad Ben Zvi Institute, has launched a website to coincide with the annual commemoration of the departure and expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran.

The site is divided into several sections. Some are yet to be completed. Experts have been asked to contribute a potted history of each community. A section called ‘issues’ will ask ‘Why did Jews leave?’ and ‘Were Jews neighbours or strangers?’

Here is an extract from the website’s ‘About’ page:

On the 25th day of Sivan 2014, June 23, 2014, the Knesset passed the law “A Day to Commemorate the Departure and Expulsion of the Jews from Arab Countries and Iran, 2014: The law set the date for November 30 – one day after the historic decision of the United Nations on the establishment of a Jewish and Arab state in the territories of the Land of Israel – as a date to mark this day every year. The purpose of the law is to “set a day to mark the rights of the many Jewish refugees who were displaced, expelled or fled from Arab countries during and after the establishment of the State of Israel” and to instill in the national and international consciousness the process of the exodus and expulsion of Jews from the Islamic countries where they lived for hundreds of years.

The immigration of the Jews in the middle of the 20th century from Islamic countries is a process that changed the face of the Middle East and North Africa beyond recognition. This process took place in several separate waves of migration in a relatively short period of time of about three decades – from the end of World War II to the mid-1970s. The result of the immigration of the Jews and their actual expulsion from some of the countries, was the emptying of those countries of Jews: in one of them the presence of Jews was greatly reduced, while in others, it disappeared completely.”

The gallery contains photographs that have to-date not been widely circulated.

Clockwise from top: celebrating Israel independence day in a Tehran transit camp for Kurdish Jews. Jewish family in a transit camp run by the Joint refugee agency in Algeria. Mass grave for the victims of the Tripoli 1945 pogrom

The post Israel launches website on Jews from Arab and Muslim countries appeared first on Point of No Return.

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Sun morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

❗️BLOOD NEEDED!  MDA's blood services are warning of a significant need for blood for the wounded.  Give blood!  Visit the MDA website at http://www.mdais.org/dam  or call 03-5300400.

🔻AIR ATTACKS..

Inbound suicide drone from Syria, shot down by jet.  Possible source: Iranian Militias of Iraq, they claimed responsibility for launching a drone attack at “the Golan”.

▪️TERRORIST - CAPTURED.. The terrorist who attacked in the Jordan valley turned himself in, to avoid being killed.

▪️TERROR - BE’ER SHEVA.. Stabbing attack reported at Beer Sheva's central bus station.  MDA reports a man in his 20s hurt. Terrorist reportedly shot, the man injured in the attack was the one who neutralized the terrorist.  The terrorist apparently a resident of the Bedouin town of Rahat.

▪️DISTRAUGHT HOSTAGE FAMILIES SAY.. A dramatic statement at the Tel Aviv abductee rally: "We've reached the end, we're going to burn the country down”.  

Mother of hostage: "Citizens of Israel, I am asking you now with a loud cry - go out with us to the streets to bring our children home”.

Father of hostage: "I call on the chairman of the Histadrut to shut down the economy tomorrow. We will not let them go back to normal"

The headquarters of the families for the return of the abductees: "The families of the abductees and the citizens of Israel are taking to the streets. Next week we will move ourselves to Jerusalem, in front of the Knesset, where the struggle for the release of the abductees will take place.”

Protestors blocked the Ayalon (Tel Aviv highway), eventually being cleared by police water cannon.  16 protestors were arrested.

(( OPINION - We feel so much for these families, but their actions are misplaced and hurting their family members. The struggle for the hostages is NOT in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem but in GAZA. They should be protesting the delay in attacking Rafah while their loved ones stay trapped.  And by making Israel seem weakened they EMPOWER Hamas to stick to impossible terms. ))

▪️CONVERSELY… "Forum Tikva" of families of abductees: a significant number of families of abductees shocked by the political activity that some of the families of abductees chose to start.

▪️LEBANESE SAY.. The Lebanese politician Fars Said (a Maronite Christian) from the Lebanese "March 14 Coalition" attacks Hezbollah: “The residents of southern Lebanon are terrified of terror and fear. Hezbollah is a paper tiger and its end will come.”

▪️BEWARE THESE “FRIENDS”.. Part of the two-state solution: Arab countries proposed deploying forces - not only in Gaza, but also in Judea and Samaria. 

▪️ECONOMY.. French grocery chain CarreFour has extended their contracts until at least 2040, making a long term commitment to Israel after entering the market about a year ago.

[fiercynn]

On the night of Monday, October 16, a popular Palestinian singer and neuroscientist, Dalal Abu Amneh, was arrested by Israeli police from her home in the Palestinian city of Nazareth, in northern occupied Palestine.  Amneh’s lawyer confirmed to the news website Arab 48 that she was arrested and subject to interrogation and investigation by police. Abu Amneh was later released after spending two days in jail.  Abu Amneh’s crime? A Facebook post.  According to the singer’s lawyer, she was arrested over a Facebook post in which she wrote “There is no victor but God,”  and “Lord grant me relief,” along with links to charities working in Gaza.  The police “had the intention to arrest her” even before an interrogation, her lawyer told Arab 48, adding that in the lead-up to her arrest, Abu Amneh herself had been receiving violent threats and online harassment from Israelis, which she and her team had reported to the police.  The arbitrary arrest of Abu Amneh over her Facebook post is the latest in a campaign of targeted harassment by Israeli authorities, institutions, individuals, and right-wing groups against Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of occupied Jerusalem, who, due to the nature of where they live, are more entrenched in Israeli society, public spaces, and workplaces than Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.  The censorship and suppression have even extended to Israeli politicians. On Thursday, October 19, Ofer Cassif, an Israeli member of parliament, was suspended by the Knesset Ethics Committee for 45 days, and his salary was stopped for two weeks over his public criticisms of the Israeli government’s handling of its war on Gaza.  According to rights groups and firsthand accounts, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and Jerusalem residents are being increasingly targeted in both professional and public environments over their Palestinian identity and any expressions of support or sympathy for Gaza and for Palestine in general, in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7 and the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza. [x]

- yumna patel writing for mondoweiss on october 21, 2023

[thoughtlessarse]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be moving ahead with his pledge to ban Al Jazeera following the recent passage of a new law in the Israeli Knesset. The law, approved in a landslide 71–10 vote, grants officials the authority to shut down foreign news networks suspected of causing “harm to the state’s security.” “Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers,” Netanyahu claimed last week, which Al Jazeera vehemently denied. The move has raised concerns among advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, and from the White House. But what will this change mean within Israel, where media and nightly television depict a very different reality than the rest of the world is seeing? Ido David Cohen, a writer and journalist covering Israeli media for Haaretz, views this law as part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation and censorship by Netanyahu that began long before the current war. (His own outlet has been threatened as well.) He spoke to me from Tel Aviv about the state of journalistic independence in Israel, the potential impact of this new law on domestic Israeli media outlets, and how Netanyahu’s erosion of press freedom could have significant long-term implications for Israel’s standing as a democracy, even if the disappearance of Al Jazeera may not change much at first. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Aymann Ismail: It’s jarring to see the Israeli government make lateral moves to ban an international news outlet. Could something like this have happened before the war? Ido David Cohen: It’s funny, it’s almost hard to remember what life was like before the war. Since this government first came to power in January 2023, there were big concerns about what they were going to do regarding freedom of speech. Generally, free speech is allowed as far as journalists can do their work and criticize the government. But over 15 years with Benjamin Netanyahu, since 2009, things have gotten worse. Netanyahu put a lot of effort into making Israeli media loyal or flattering. He made himself the minister of communications and media—what we call in Hebrew Tikshoret. Some of his corruption charges are connected to his behavior in that role. He tried to give orders to media outlets. For example, he and his wife told Walla to remove articles. He planted people who are not journalists in the army radio station, which is actually one of the two mainstream Israeli radio stations. Netanyahu encouraged billionaire Sheldon Adelson to establish a newspaper to explicitly help the right wing. This newspaper, Israel Hayom, was handed out for free in public places like squares and train stations, and is widely considered to be one of the largest factors in Netanyahu’s return to power. It’s why in Israel, we call it “Bibiton,” or “Bibi newspaper,” though it has also been critical of him at times recently. Newspapers, television channels, and some websites have shifted right. We also have media outlets, like Haaretz, that try to do the work and believe in journalism, but we still have to keep our eyes open and be on the lookout for what Netanyahu is trying to do.

continue reading

[tieflingkisser]

The Israeli political movement to expel UNRWA from Jerusalem

In-depth: Israel is using its allegations against UNRWA as ammunition to push the UN agency out of Jerusalem, placing thousands of Palestinian refugees at risk.

Earlier this year, several Western countries froze their funding to UNRWA after Israel accused 12 of its employees of participating in the 7 October attacks.  The accusations sparked international uproar and reignited a longstanding campaign within Israel to expel UNRWA from Jerusalem. While attempts to “evict” UNRWA’s Jerusalem offices are not new, the campaign is now bolstered at both the governmental and grassroots levels.  Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is currently debating a bill to ban UNRWA from operating in occupied East Jerusalem. It passed its first preliminary reading in February and requires three more readings before becoming law. Israeli politicians are also joining protests demanding UNRWA’s eviction from its West Bank field office, which is located in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

'Evicting' UNRWA: An election slogan

The ongoing campaign to expel UNRWA from East Jerusalem seems to be the brainchild of Jerusalem deputy mayor, Arieh King. On 14 January, Mr King posted on his X account a letter dated 11 January, claiming to provide evidence that UNRWA’s headquarters were “built on property owned by the State of Israel”. The letter was intended for Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.

A second letter, posted by King on his social media on 26 January but dated 11 January, was sent to the Israel Land Authority (ILA), with the same allegations.

On 15 January, Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that the ILA had sent a letter to UNRWA demanding it vacate the premises of its vocational training center in Qalandia, and pay a NIS 17 million (USD 4.6 million) usage fee. The ILA is the governmental body responsible for managing all land in Israel owned by the state or public bodies. More than 93% of all land in Israel is managed by the ILA. The New Arab (TNA) contacted the ILA regarding its involvement in this campaign. No reply was received at the time of publication. The timing of Mr King’s call to expel UNRWA from East Jerusalem coincided with the final stages of his campaign for re-election as deputy mayor for Jerusalem. King headed the United List, represented on the ballot by the letter ק (Hebrew for K), and affiliated with Jewish Power, the party of Minister Ben-Gvir. King went on to win his re-election bid. TNA asked King whether his re-election campaign had any bearing on the timing of his call to evict UNRWA. “If this was right, then why should I have a demonstration next week?” King asked. “I have been fighting against UNRWA since 2001. […] My campaign was easier because people knew this is not just for an election campaign, because they knew I have been fighting against [UNRWA] for a few years already,” he added. As part of his drive to get re-elected, King organised multiple demonstrations in front of UNRWA’s compound in East Jerusalem, calling in some instances to put UNRWA’s office under siege. These protests have continued, even after the election, and have been led by Tsav 9 (Order 9) and Im Tirtzu. Tsav 9 is an Israeli movement formed in December 2023 to block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Im Tirtzu is the “largest Zionist movement in Israel”, according to its website. Protesters have threatened UNRWA staff during their demonstrations and repeated chants equating UNRWA with Hamas. They have also vandalised the premises - affixing posters demanding UNRWA’s expulsion and smearing red paint outside the entrance, insinuating UNRWA has blood on its hands.  Several Israeli politicians have participated in the protests including King, Boaz Bismuth, a Knesset member with Netanyahu’s Likud party and one of the promoters of the bill to ban UNRWA, and former Foreign Ministry official Noga Arbell. “UNRWA was proven to be a terrorist-supporting organisation. At least 12 of the workers were active in the massacre of the 7th of October,” Matan, a protester with Im Tirtzu who did not want his full name used, told TNA. On 22 April, a report commissioned by the UN found that Israeli authorities failed to provide any supporting evidence to back the claim that UNRWA’s employees had ties with Hamas. “We believe that eventually, the government will understand that there is no possibility [to stay]. That after what happened on 7th of October, [UNRWA] can work from Ramallah, they can work from Gaza, no problem, but they do not work from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” Matan added.  Israel claims the entire city of Jerusalem (including the eastern portion it occupied in 1967) as its capital. International law considers East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory and nearly all countries - barring four - that have diplomatic relations with Israel maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv to reflect this status. Similar to their protests blocking aid to Gaza, Tsav 9 and Im Tirtzu are using the demonstrations at UNRWA’s compound as a platform to fundraise for their activities.

[keep reading]

[fairobserver]

War Against Hamas Will Create New Israeli Republic | FO° Live

The biggest terrorist assault in Israel's history, carried out by Hamas, occurred in the country's south on October 7. Almost 200 people were taken hostage and over 1,400 people died. The problem was examined by Professor Josef Olmert, the brother of former PM Ehud Olmert and son of former Knesset member Mordechai Olmert. He compared Hamas to the Nazis, highlighting the need for Israel to oppose their plans for genocide. The reaction from Prime Minister Netanyahu consists of airstrikes and maybe a ground invasion in Gaza.

For more details, kindly visit:

Website: Fair Observer

Facebook: Fair Observer

Twitter: Fair Observer

LinkedIn: Fair Observer

Instagram: Fair Observer

YouTube: Fair Observer

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 2.14 (after 1930)

1939 – World War II: German battleship Bismarck is launched. 1942 – World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore. 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated. 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a counter-attack against Allied positions in Tunisia. 1944 – World War II: In the action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian Regia Marina submarine in the Strait of Malacca. 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden. 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by a United States Army Air Forces squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet Red Army's Vistula–Oder Offensive. 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations. 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalized. 1947 – The act abolishing all noble ranks and related styles comes into force in Hungary. 1949 – The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time. 1949 – The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. 1954 – First Indochina war - small French garrison at Đắk Đoa is overrun by the Viet Minh after a week's siege. 1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California. 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized. 1979 – In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police. 1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud. 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster. 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. 1990 – Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India. 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later becomes famous as Pale Blue Dot. 1998 – An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120. 2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. 2003 – Iraq disarmament crisis: UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix reports to the United Nations Security Council that disarmament inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction in Ba'athist Iraq. 2004 – In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 28 people, and wounding 193 others. 2005 – In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri's motorcade drives through the city. 2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos, all in the Philippines. 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos. 2008 – Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opens fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb County, Illinois, resulting in six fatalities (including the gunman) and 21 injuries. 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'. 2018 – A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 17 injuries.

[salad-juice-enjoyer]

Geektime is a privately owned Israel website. Original pub. date is 19th November 2023. Translation below the cut.

Because of a tweet: Twitter-X blocked Knesset Vice Chairman

[Plain text: Because of a tweet: Twitter-X blocked Knesset vice chairman. End plain text]

Twitter-X suspended the account of Knesset Vice Chairman Nissim Vaturi after he called to "burn Gaza"

[Plain text: Twitter-X suspended the account of Knesset Vice Chairman Nissim Vaturi after he called to "burn Gaza". End plain text]

Twitter-X blocked the account of Knesset Vice Chairman, KM Nissim Vaturi of the Likud party. X did that after the tweet that Vaturi wrote on the social media site where he wrote "Burn Gaza now no less!". Vaturi's tweet was published last Friday, 17.11 [Israel uses "day-month-year" date ordering], and included among other things, "The matter of whether Gaza has or doesn't have an internet connection shows we've learned nothing. We are too humanist" after which appeared the sentence that got Vaturi suspended.

Probably what led to the suspension was actually an Elon Musk tweet, that was published yesterday (Saturday) where he wrote: "As I said earlier this week, “decolonization”, “from the river to the sea” and similar euphemisms necessarily imply genocide". Musk added: "Clear calls for extreme violence are against our terms of service and will result in suspension".

However, as is often the case with social media, the responses to the tweet were mostly anti-Israel and Hamas-supporting. A user named "Khalissee" with 70 thousand followers, in response to Musk's tweet, uploaded a screenshot of Vaturi's tweet attached with a Google translation of it, and asked "Genocidal statements like this?". The tweet probably didn't evade X's content moderators, or maybe even Musk himself which led to the block.

As of now, it's not a removal or deletion of the account, but a suspension, and the rest of Vaturi's tweets are still available. However, the tweet that called to burn Gaza is currently unavailable after it was deleted by Vaturi himself and the Knesset Member can't post new tweets or respond to other people. In most cases, the duration of account suspension is one week.

[mariacallous]

Wix and Wiz are quintessential Israeli success stories. Founded in 2010, website builder Wix is one of the country’s best-known tech companies, and among the sector’s most highly valued on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange. Wiz, a much-hyped cybersecurity company launched a decade later, reached a $10 billion valuation in two years, almost half the time it took the likes of Uber and Snapchat.

But the companies’ paths are forking. Wix is doubling down on Israel; Wiz is cutting ties.

For the past seven months, Israel has been locked in a political crisis. In January, Benjamin Netanyahu—in his sixth term as prime minister and backed by a coalition that includes far-right parties—introduced a bill designed to weaken the powers of the country’s supreme court. Supporters of the plan say it’s needed to prevent the court from intervening in politics. Critics say weakening the reform will erode democracy and hand unchecked power to the government. Despite huge protests, Israel’s lawmakers backed the first part of the judicial overhaul this week.

This conflict has been felt sharply in the “Startup Nation”—a name conferred by Israel’s influential tech sector. Many tech workers have been involved in protests against the judicial reform bill, and executives have openly expressed fears about the effect it could have on economic and social stability. Before the vote, around 200 tech companies pledged to join the protests. Yesterday, the day after the vote, a group called the Hi-Tech Protest movement paid for ads to black out the front pages of at least four different newspapers, declaring a “black day for democracy.”

“The Israeli high-tech industry is very involved, very engaged in what’s going on,” says Merav Bahat, CEO of the cyber security company Dazz. She says she supports employees who have taken time off work to strike or attend protests.

Data, published on the weekend by Start-Up Nation Central, a nonprofit that promotes Israeli tech abroad, shows that almost 70 percent of Israeli startups are taking measures to distance themselves from their home country, withdrawing cash or moving their legal headquarters overseas.

Wix says it’s staying. “We'll stay here and fight for what's right,” Nir Zohar, co-founder and chief operations officer, told WIRED in an interview in May. The company confirmed in July that was still its position. In October, Wix moved into a new Tel Aviv campus. The company’s headquarters, as well as the vast majority of its employees, are still based in Israel.

The politics that are pushing other companies to move their headquarters overseas are doing “massive damage” to Israel, Zohar says. “If this continues as a trend, we’re basically trading away the future of our industry,” he says. “Eventually these companies are going to drive revenues that's going to be counted in the US GDP, not in the Israeli GDP.”

The judicial reform has introduced uncertainty not just for business but also for people who want to live a liberal life in Israel, he adds. “[That’s] scary and it has a massive impact on the kind of talent that at the end of the day populates the tech industry.” This week, Wix employees joined a general strike to protest the outcome of Monday’s vote.

Wix’s position is increasingly rare, especially among startups. . More than 50 percent of new companies established in March 2023—the same month the bill advanced through Israel’s parliament the Knesset—were incorporated as foreign companies, rather than Israeli ones, according to a May report by the Israel Innovation Authority.

Tech is responsible for more than half of all exports, and the country collects 50 billion shekels ($13.5 billion) a year from the sector.

Wiz is among those distancing itself from its home country. Israeli companies have long operated with one foot in Israel, and the other in bigger markets like the US, where they can get more access to funding and customers. Wiz’s cybersecurity business has always technically been US-based but the company is deeply ingrained in the Israeli tech ecosystem, says Yinon Costica, co-founder and VP of product.

But Wiz withdrew tens of millions of dollars from Israel in February, according to Reuters, and when the company raised $300 million that same month, its CEO said that none of the cash would be invested in Israel. “Given the uncertainty about the independence of institutions in Israel and following an acute risk assessment of the situation, we will keep funds in US banks,” the company’s cofounder, Assaf Rappaport, told the Times of Israel.

Some founders have been very outspoken in their criticism of the bill and the Netanyahu government. When Eynat Guez, CEO of the payroll business Papaya Global, launched the business back in 2016, she was proud to be a cofounder of an Israeli incorporated company. Would she make the same decision today? “100 percent no,” Guez says. “If I had the ability to change this decision, I would do that.”

In an open letter sent to investors on Monday, Guez wrote that Israel had been “hijacked by a group of fanatics” and that Netanyahu was willing to “sacrifice Israeli democracy” to secure his own political survival. “Following this political overhaul, Israeli entrepreneurs will set up entities abroad,” she added in the letter. “It’s simply too risky to expose investors to a shady judicial system, with no real oversight, in which they have no protection and no legal remedy.”

The company announced in January that it would move all of its money out of Israel, and Guez told WIRED that Papaya was no longer managing any investment funds in the country.

For Guez, the problem is that being incorporated in Israel leaves her intellectual property exposed to a government that now cannot be reined in by the courts. And she believes investors are already spooked. “We went from a place where investors and multinational VCs would arrive in Israel on a weekly basis,” she says. That has dramatically changed since January, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled his reforms. “I can count on less than 10 fingers the amount of investors that arrived in Israel this year,” Guez says.

The day after the vote, Israel’s credit rating was lowered by Morgan Stanley and risk assessment firm Moody’s warned of a “significant risk” linked to political tensions. 

Thousands took part in demonstrations the night before, as police fired water cannons into the crowd. Military reservists threatened to not report for duty. The law is expected to face challenges, including from the very supreme court whose powers it is designed to curb—although the bill was passed as a “basic law,” a type of legislation that justices have never previously struck down.

While Israel waits for whatever happens next, protestors have pledged to fight on—with many tech workers among them. “All of us never believed that this moment would really arrive,” says Guez. “We need to adapt to the changing economy and changing facts.” For some that means helping lobby the government, for others it means making contingency plans. This is an existential battle for Israeli tech, with democracy—but also the sector’s talent and investor support—at stake.

“We must remain a liberal democracy in order to remain one of the most attractive places for young, talented individuals that have other options,” says Nadav Zafrir, cofounder and CEO of cybersecurity venture capital firm Team8. “We also need to be a part of the league of nations that are liberal democracies because those are our investors, predominantly Europe and the US.”

[eretzyisrael]

by Alex Safian PhD

David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker magazine, once remarked “It’s one thing to be ignorant, it’s another to parade it as sophistication,” which has to rate as one of the greatest self-owns in history. For it’s hard to imagine a more apt description of Remnick himself, whose fatuous ignorance and faux sophistication are nowhere more evident than when he writes about Israel.

The latest example is Remnick’s Is This the End of Bibi?, the usual rehash of anti-Netanayahu propaganda, relying on the usual hack reporters like Haaretz’s Anshel Pfeffer, whom Remnick would have his readers believe is “a leading Israeli journalist.”

One paragraph in particular stands out in this latest Remnick effort, because it exemplifies his astounding ignorance, and it’s not even directly about Netanyahu.

Commenting on judicial reform in Israel, Remnick asserts:

Next week, the Knesset is poised to get rid of the so-called reasonableness clause, a stricture borrowed from British tradition which allows the Supreme Court to strike down actions of the legislature. Such a move, in a state with no constitution, would undermine what modest balance of powers exists in Israeli political life.

It’s amazing – even for Remnick – to make so many errors in just two sentences.

(1) What “reasonableness clause?” Such a “clause” exists nowhere in Israeli law – as applied to legislation passed by the Knesset (parliament) the notion was simply invented by Israel’s activist Supreme Court.

(2) What British tradition “allows the Supreme Court to strike down actions of the legislature?” It must be an exceedingly recent “British tradition,” since Britain didn’t even have a Supreme Court until 2009.

And, in any event, the British parliament isn’t subject to the British Supreme Court – it is sovereign (ie supreme). Indeed, as the website of the UK’s parliament states:

Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution. (emphasis added)

In accord with this principle of “parliamentary sovereignty” the web site of the UK’s Supreme Court explains:

Unlike some Supreme Courts in other parts of the world, the UK Supreme Court does not have the power to ‘strike down’ legislation passed by the UK Parliament. It is the Court’s role to interpret the law and develop it where necessary, rather than formulate public policy.

Israel’s planned judicial reforms would move it back towards the British system, with a Knesset once more sovereign, as it was for Israel’s first 44 years. (For more details on Israel’s judicial reforms see Is Judicial Reform a Threat to Israeli Democracy?)

Ignorant of all this, Remnick approvingly quotes a former Israeli general who claims that with the reforms Israel would become an illegitimate dictatorship.

An illegitimate dictatorship like it was in the days of Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Shimon Peres, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Teddy Kollek and Menachem Begin?

An illegitimate dictatorship like Great Britain, or New Zealand, whose Parliament is also sovereign?

What’s illegitimate is Remnick’s self-proclaimed expertise about Israel, when in reality his ignorance on the subject is vast and unbounded.

[theyoungturks]

President Joe Biden wrote a letter to Israeli lawmakers after they voted to strip their Supreme Court's of their power, urging them to find a consensus to avoid the radical far-right move. Cenk Uygur and Michael Shure discuss on The Young Turks. https://shoptyt.com/collections/justice-is-coming Watch TYT LIVE on weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live Read more HERE: https://www.commondreams.org/news/protests-judicial-coup "Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved part of a proposed judicial overhaul that would limit the Supreme Court's power to check government action, a key priority of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government. The vote took place as protests raged outside the Israeli Knesset and across the country. Polling has shown that a majority of Israelis oppose the sweeping overhaul, which has sparked mass outrage across Israel in recent months." *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt Unbossed with Nina Turner https://www.youtube.com/unbossedtyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews 230724__TA01Israeli by The Young Turks

[daloy-politsey]

The southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva is offering scholarships to students who volunteer with an armed civilian militia, according to the armed group's website, which posted applications for 10,000 shekel scholarships for students who volunteer with the group.

The Sayeret Barel (Hebrew for Barel commandos) militia, established last year as an anti-crime patrol unit, was founded by soon-to-be Otzma Yehudit party Knesset member Almog Cohen, who is seventh on the Religious Zionism list.

Mifal HaPais, Israel's national lottery, provides 15 of the largest cities in Israel around 600 scholarships a year with several conditions: The city will add 5,000 shekels from its own sources to the 5,000 shekels Mifal HaPais provides, and the money will be paid directly into the bank accounts of students who completed at least 140 hours of volunteering with local organizations.

Mifal HaPais said it had first gotten wind about the Sayeret Barel milita's involvement from Haaretz, and that local governments do not provide details about the volunteer organizations participating in the program. An official in the municipality said on Tuesday that the display of the city's logo by the militia was not done with its permission, but did confirm that the municipal youth center is the body that bestows the scholarships.

Mifal Hapais said it “was an undertaking of the local governments in Israel, and acts for their benefit and on behalf of the welfare of their residents. Every local government is free to decide how it allocates the scholarships it is entitled to, and this is according to the priorities, its unique needs and out of a deep understanding of the needs of residents.”

Almog Cohen, a former police officer, deleted his social media accounts after he was placed on the Religious Zionism list due to numerous offensive comments. In one, he called Justice Ministry officials tasked with investigating police misconduct "attack dogs of post-Nazism." Additionally, he called for soldiers to execute Palestinians and disregard their commanders, and has posted homophobic statements on several occassions.