Israel’s most senior Health Minister has tested positive for coronavirus, government officials confirmed Thursday. Yaakov Litzman has entered isolation together with his wife, who also tested positive. Litzman is part of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community which, according to unofficial figures cited by Israeli TV channels Sunday, make up half the country’s hospitalized coronavirus patients.
Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz were said in some reports to be inching closer to forming a unity coalition, with claims that the government could be sworn in as early as next Monday, but other sources said squabbles within the premier’s bloc were complicating the negotiations.
Israel’s High Court of Justice Thursday ordered a vote on the future of Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein which saw him step down, as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz filled his shoes and signaled the formation of a “national emergency government” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that a full closure of the country could be introduced within days to curb the coronavirus pandemic, hours after further restrictions on Israelis’ movement were put into effect.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz discussed the possibility of setting up an emergency government to tackle the coronavirus Wednesday, taking a rare step toward a much-touted unity coalition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz on Tuesday both expressed willingness to continue efforts to form a unity government that would include both their parties, even as Likud and Blue and White kept hurling accusations at each other.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday tightened the national stay-at-home policy aimed at containing the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, announcing the guidelines he had introduced earlier this week would now be enforced by police under emergency orders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced that Israel would begin using advanced digital monitoring tools to track carriers of the coronavirus, raising major privacy concerns and prompting accusations of mass surveillance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting at his office in Jerusalem late on Saturday afternoon to discuss further, more stringent measures Israel may take to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will task Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White rival Benny Gantz with forming the next government Sunday, as lawmakers across the political spectrum are calling for an emergency government to deal with the novel coronavirus.
Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to delay his corruption trial on the grounds that his defense team has not received all of the relevant material from the prosecution.
Israel has imposed quarantine conditions on all incoming flights in a move that the Finance Ministry predicts will cost the country $1.4 billion.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the coronavirus was a pandemic more severe than any disease outbreak in the past century, as a senior official said Israel was likely hours away from placing restrictions on flights arriving from some parts of the United States.
A full 68 hours after the polling stations closed and exit polls predicted a surge for Likud and its right-wing bloc, the Central Elections Committee on Thursday confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party as the largest after Monday’s general election, with final results giving it 36 seats to rival Blue and White’s 33.
As votes cast in so-called double envelopes in the Knesset elections were being tallied, the Central Election Committee updated the count Wednesday morning, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the centrist rival Blue and White led by Benny Gantz an extra seat apiece, leaving the premier’s bloc of right-wing supporters at 58 seats.
With 92% of the vote counted Tuesday from unprecedented third elections in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing bloc were slated to beat rival Benny Gantz and the Blue and White party with 59 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
President Reuven Rivlin is set to task a candidate with forming a government on or before March 17, the same day Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial begins.
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in the Israel’s elections on Monday night, despite exit polls pointing to his right-wing bloc being below the 61-MK target he needs to form a government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Sunday that his party’s internal polling showed he was a stone’s throw away from a Knesset majority that would allow the formation of a right-wing government.
Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett virtually announced a new war with Hamas in Gaza Tuesday, a day after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group launched 80 rockets and mortars into Israel.