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Israeli court overhaul: Arrests, strikes and economic troubles follow pivotal vote
(JTA) — A major highway was blocked until 1 a.m., protesters were hosed down and arrested, Israelis woke up to see their newspapers shrouded in black, doctors are on strike and the shekel lost value — all in response to the Knesset’s vote to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court.
The legislation passed by Israel’s right-wing government on Monday barred the court from striking down laws it deems “unreasonable,” and has been characterized by both supporters and opponents as the first piece of a larger plan to sap the Supreme Court’s power and influence. That overhaul sparked an ongoing protest movement that has seen hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets.
Those protests continued Monday night, with large crowds gathering in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In both places, police took forceful measures to disperse the demonstrations, which blocked major highways in both cities. In Jerusalem, police officers sprayed skunk water at the protesters while in Tel Aviv, where the highway was blocked with barricades and bonfires into the early morning, they used water cannons and mounted police to clear the crowd.
Dozens of protesters were arrested and several were injured, including three who were hit by a car that drove through a crowd of protesters in the city of Kfar Saba. Police said 13 officers were injured in the clashes as well.
The headlines of the newspapers in Israel at a shop in Jerusalem, July 25, 2023, a day after the “reasonableness” bill passed in the Knesset. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
On Tuesday morning, a group organized by employees of Israel’s tech sector bought front-page ads in several major Israeli newspapers, covering them with black rectangles in protest of the legislation. Text in the bottom corner of the rectangles read, “A dark day for Israeli democracy.” As the day went on, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and shekel lost value and at least one credit agency downgraded its rating of Israel.
The Israel Medical Association, which had set up a tent to aid protesters in Jerusalem on Monday, announced that doctors and nurses would be going on strike on Tuesday in protest of the recently passed law. In practice, the strike meant that Israel’s health care system worked on weekend hours, with emergency rooms and some other institutions operating normally. But in the afternoon, a labor court ordered the medical professionals to end the strike.
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The post Israeli court overhaul: Arrests, strikes and economic troubles follow pivotal vote appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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