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Bonfires burn on the highway as Israelis protest removal of Tel Aviv police commander
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Thousands of people blocked Tel Aviv’s central highway and other major roads in Israel on Wednesday night, as protests surrounding Israel’s proposed judicial overhaul continue to heat up. Some lit bonfires on the road and clashed with police
Dozens of people were arrested in the protests, and police dispersed the demonstrations using mounted officers and water cannons. One man was injured when he was hit by a car that drove through the crowd on the highway. Protests continued Thursday as demonstrators blocked a highway in the coastal city of Binyamina.
The impetus for Wednesday’s protests, which coalesced beginning around 9 p.m. in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and other locations, was the resignation of Amichai Eshed, the Tel Aviv district police commander. Eshed had clashed with Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, who wanted him to crack down more harshly on the antigovernment protests that have amassed weekly this year in Tel Aviv’s streets. Ben-Gvir had attempted to fire Eshed in March, a decision that was frozen by Israel’s attorney general.
Facing a demotion, Eshed instead quit his post on Wednesday, saying in an address that he was “paying a heavy personal price for my choice to prevent civil war.”
The protests are the latest in six months of demonstrations against the Israeli government’s efforts to strip the Supreme Court of its power and independence. Tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered in the streets to oppose the plan every Saturday night, and this week, the protests have intensified as Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has advanced a piece of the overhaul effort that would restrict the court’s ability to strike down decisions made by nationally elected officials.
On Monday, thousands of Israelis gathered in the main terminal of Ben-Gurion International Airport, filling the arrivals hall and clogging the roads around the airport. More than 50 people were detained at that demonstration, which had been planned days in advance and took place despite opposition from the Israel Police.
Protesters in Tel Aviv on July 5, 2023. (Ben Sales)
Wednesday’s protest was more spontaneous, with smaller groups of people gathering at night on the thoroughfare that serves as the protests’ usual spot. Larger crowds had come together on ramps that led to the Ayalon Highway, standing atop medians and climbing into the lanes themselves. The crowds were still there around midnight, though they were cleared out soon afterward. Some protesters were sitting in rows on the asphalt and others gathered around a bonfire that crackled into an already hot night. People cheered them on from bridges and balconies surrounding the city’s Azrieli Mall.
Many attendees waved the Israeli flags that have become a symbol of the protests, and wore T-shirts with pro-democracy or antigovernment slogans. One man waved a large flag with the red-and-black logo of anti-fascist groups. It was a smaller version of the protests that erupted in March after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister for criticizing the judicial reform – a decision Netanyahu later reversed.
“This is a celebration of democracy,” said a woman from Tel Aviv waving an Israeli flag who gave her name as Efrat. The protesters, she said, “care about the state. We want to live, we want a future here.”
In Jerusalem, protesters clashed with police officers in the center of the city as tense, sometimes physical, encounters between protesters and advocates of the reforms dotted the streets in the surrounding neighborhood. One man carrying a handwritten sign reading “End the Tyranny of the Supreme Court” in Hebrew distributed stickers with the same message and received both angry criticism and support from passersby.
A supporter of proposed judicial reforms in Israel debates an opponent on the streets of Jerusalem, July 5, 2023. (Philissa Cramer)
Senior Israeli government officials, meanwhile, condemned the protesters as well as Eshed. Amichai Eliyahu, a cabinet minister from the far-right Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, party, referred to the Tel Aviv commander as “pus” in an interview with Israeli media. And Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, liked a tweet that showed a video of the car driving through the crowd of protesters, and described it as someone “who insists on his fundamental right to freedom of movement.”
“Responsibility for the chaos on the Ayalon Highway rests with law enforcement and the police, who have lost control against the anarchists who are blocking the Ayalon again and again and again,” Smotrich wrote in a separate tweet, also accusing the police of “selective enforcement” that favors left-wing demonstrators.
Philissa Cramer contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
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The post Bonfires burn on the highway as Israelis protest removal of Tel Aviv police commander appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran, US Resume Oman-Mediated Nuclear Talks in Rome
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – A new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States kicked off in Rome on Saturday, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as “constructive.”
Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former US President Barack Obama.
Araqchi called on “all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal.”
Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Meanwhile, Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers during his first term in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country since returning to the White House in January.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what is necessary for a civilian energy program.
The post Iran, US Resume Oman-Mediated Nuclear Talks in Rome first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) holds a rally in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential election campaign in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Smith (D-NJ) issued a statement condemning the recent arson attack against Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) as a form of “textbook antisemitism.”
“Governor Shapiro is the Governor of Pennsylvania and has nothing to do with Israel’s foreign policy, yet he was targeted as an American Jew by a radicalized extremist who blames the Governor for Israel’s actions. That is textbook antisemitism,” the statement read.
Shapiro’s residence, the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, was set ablaze on Sunday morning, hours after the governor hosted a gathering to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Shapiro said that he, his wife, and his children were awakened by state troopers knocking on their door at 2 am. The governor and his family immediately evacuated the premises and were unscathed.
Goldman and Smith added that the arson attack against Shapiro serves as “a bitter reminder that persecution of Jews continues.” The duo claimed that they “strongly condemn this antisemitic violence” and called on the suspect to “be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pennsylvania State Police said that the suspect, Cody Balmer set fire to Shapiro’s residence over the alleged ongoing “injustices to the people of Palestine” and Shapiro’s Jewish faith.
According to an arrest warrant, Balmer called 911 prior to the attack and told emergency operators that he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” and demanded that the governor “stop having my friends killed.”
The suspect continued, telling operators, “Our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
Balmer later revealed to police that he planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer if he encountered him after gaining access into his residence, according to authorities.
He was subsequently charged with eight crimes by authorities, including serious felonies such as attempted homicide, terrorism, and arson. The suspect faces potentially 100 years in jail. He has been denied bail.
Shapiro, a practicing Jew, has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. In the days following Hamas’s brutal slaughter of roughly 1,200 people across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Shapiro issued statements condemning the Palestinian terrorist group and gave a speech at a local synagogue. The governor also ordered the US and Pennsylvania Commonwealth flags to fly at half-mast outside the state capitol to honor the victims.
Shapiro’s strident support of the Jewish state in the wake of Oct. 7 also incensed many pro-Palestinian activists, resulting in the governor being dubbed “Genocide Josh” by far-left demonstrators.
US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) chimed in on the arson attack Thursday, urging the Justice Department to launch a federal investigation, claiming that the incident could be motivated by antisemitism.
Schumer argued that the arson attack targeting Shapiro, who is Jewish, left the Pennsylvania governor’s family in “anguish” and warned that it could serve as an example of “rising antisemitic violence” within the United States. He stressed that a federal investigation and hate crime charges may be necessary to uphold the “fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety.”
Thus far, Shapiro has refused to blame the attack on antisemitism, despite the suspect’s alleged comments repudiating the governor over his support for Israel. The governor has stressed the importance of allowing prosecutors to determine whether the attack constitutes a hate crime.
The post Reps. Dan Goldman and Chris Smith Issue Statement Condemning Shapiro Arson Attack As ‘Textbook Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal could be reached during Saturday’s second round of nuclear negotiations in Rome if the United States does not make “unrealistic demands.”
In a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Araghchi said that Washington showed “partial seriousness” during the first round of nuclear talks in Oman last week.
The Iranian top diplomat traveled to Moscow on Thursday to deliver a letter from Iran’s so-called Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, briefing Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ongoing nuclear talks with the White House.
“Their willingness to enter serious negotiations that address the nuclear issue only, without entering into other issues, can lead us towards constructive negotiations,” Araghchi said during the joint press conference in Moscow on Friday.
“As I have said before, if unreasonable, unrealistic and impractical demands are not made, an agreement is possible,” he continued.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military actions, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb the country’s nuclear activities.
On Tuesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program” — reversing his earlier comments, in which he indicated that the White House would allow Tehran to enrich uranium to a 3.67 percent threshold for a “civil nuclear program.”
During the press conference, Araghchi also announced he would attend Saturday’s talks in Rome, explaining that negotiations with the US are being held indirectly due to recent threats and US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Indirect negotiations are not something weird and an agreement is within reach through this method,” Araghchi said.
He also indicated that Iran expects Russia to play a role in any potential agreement with Washington, noting that the two countries have held frequent and close consultations on Tehran’s nuclear program in the past.
“We hope Russia will play a role in a possible deal,” Araghchi said during the press conference.
As an increasingly close ally of Iran, Moscow could play a crucial role in Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, leveraging its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018.
Since then, even though Tehran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon, the UN’s nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – has warned that Iran has “dramatically” accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level and enough to build six nuclear bombs.
During the press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that “Russia is ready to facilitate the negotiation process between Iran and the US regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.”
Moscow has previously said that any military strike against Iran would be “illegal and unacceptable.”
Russia’s diplomatic role in the ongoing negotiations could also be important, as the country has recently solidified its growing partnership with the Iranian regime.
On Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Iran, strengthening military ties between the two countries.
Despite Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The post US, Iran Set for Second Round of Nuclear Talks as Iranian FM Warns Against ‘Unrealistic Demands’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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