The House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill early Saturday in a win for President Joe Biden, even as top Democrats tried assuring agitated progressives that they’d revive their derailed drive to boost the minimum wage.
The Israel Democracy Institute on Sunday challenged Israel’s coronavirus restrictions on entry to the country that have left thousands of Israelis stranded abroad, saying they constitute an extreme erosion of rights that could infringe on citizens’ rights to vote in the March 23 elections.
Top Israeli defense and political leaders are scheduled to meet on February 28 to discuss a response to what Israel’s defense minister says was likely an attack by Iran against an Israeli-owned cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
Israeli health officials on Thursday approved a measure to electronically tag arrivals from abroad, which will go in effect next week, in order to ensure coronavirus quarantine regulations are observed.
“If Hezbollah crosses a quantitative or qualitative threshold for precision weapons, we will have to act against it. This is a serious decision, but one from which we cannot run away,” said Lt. Col. Eran Niv, the head of the IDF’s Warfare Methods and Innovation Division.
A secretive Israeli nuclear facility at the center of the nation’s undeclared nuclear weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
The United States launched airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition troops.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone Wednesday and discussed, among other issues, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ynet News reports.
Jerusalem and Washington will launch strategic discussions on Iran in the coming days that will focus on the two nations’ intelligence on the Iranian nuclear program, according to a Wednesday report.
Israel’s Health Ministry rolled out its “green passport” program requiring that citizens show their green badge in order to enter places such as registered gyms, swimming pools, hotels, theaters, places of worship and concerts. Restaurants and bars are expected to join the program in March.
The Knesset gave final approval on Wednesday to controversial legislation allowing the Health Ministry to give local authorities personal details of residents who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday said they “deeply regret” Iran’s decision to restrict site inspections by the UN’s nuclear watchdog after a US refusal to lift existing sanctions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to send a message to both Iran and the White House on Tuesday, pledging that Israel will prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons even if Iran concludes a deal with the US.
Israel’s Health Ministry revoked the medical license Tuesday of (now former) Dr. Aryeh Avni, an anti-vaccination doctor and current political candidate running as head of the Rapeh Party, according to Health Ministry statement.
Schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reportedly continue to teach hatred against Israel despite a pledge to end such incitement, according to a new report released by the IMPACT-se research institute last week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Israeli counterpart on Monday that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was best for the future of Israel, the US State Department said.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayotallah Ali Khamenei claimed Monday that his country has no interest in a nuclear weapon, but said that if it wanted one, no one — including Israel — could prevent it.
In a scathing attack on Israel and its supporters, Rev. Frank Chikane, a leader of the World Council of Churches (WCC) told activists on a zoom call this month that “blood will be sought” from people who “support Israel to brutalize Palestinians,” Algemeiner reports. The list of participants to the February 6 call included highly influential activists such as Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel, anti-Zionist authors Gary Burge and Don Wagner, Brian Grieves formerly a staffer with the Episcopal Church and Tom Getman, formerly of World Vision.
The Israel Defense Forces and Nature and Parks Authority on Saturday said the military will assist in cleaning up a major tar spill off of Israel’s coast, which an expert warned could be one of Israel’s worst-ever environmental disasters.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog found uranium particles at two Iranian sites it inspected after months of stonewalling, diplomats say, and it is preparing to rebuke Tehran for failing to explain, possibly complicating U.S. efforts to revive nuclear diplomacy.