Uncategorized
Left-wing Israelis take to the streets as new government presses right-wing agenda further
(JTA) – As Israel’s new right-wing government continued to signal that it would push through measures to cripple the judiciary and clamp down on public dissent and news operations, thousands of citizens took to the streets in protest and one prominent opposition figure warned of imminent “civil war.”
A reported 10,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday night in Tel Aviv to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing government, which contains several ministers who are openly hostile to Arabs and Palestinians, LGBTQ people and liberal forms of Jewry. Organizers, many of whom hailed from Israeli left-wing groups, advertised the demonstration as “against the coup d’etat carried out by the criminal government which threatens to harm all citizens whoever they are,” according to the Times of Israel.
Many of them directed their ire toward the proposed legislation that would allow the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to overrule decisions by the Supreme Court. Some carried signs comparing Netanyahu and his coalition to Nazis. Others used the rallying cry “Crime Minister,” referring to Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.
Counter-protesters were present as well. At least one anti-Netanyahu lawmaker who attended the protest, the Israeli Arab Knesset head of the Hadash Ta’al party Aymen Odeh, was assaulted, according to video of the event, and police are investigating.
Netanyahu and his allies decried the protests, with the prime minister condemning the Nazi comparisons and displays of the Palestinian flag. “This is wild incitement that went uncondemned by the opposition or the mainstream media,” he tweeted on Sunday. “I demand that everyone stop this immediately.”
Another protest was set for Thursday, this time by attorneys who are planning a walkout to register their disapproval of the proposed judiciary changes. But government ministers have offered no indication that they are considering the views of Israel’s left, instead pressing forward with a raft of right-wing proposals. In recent days:
Public security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered Israeli police to remove Palestinian flags from all public places, apparently incensed by the sight over the weekend of an Arab town waving the flags to celebrate the release from prison of a local who served 40 years in prison for killing a soldier in 1980. Ben-Gvir said the Palestinian flag “is a form of supporting terror.” Displaying the flag is legal but frequently challenged nonetheless.
Israel’s new communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, told an Israeli university that “there is no room in this age for public broadcasting,” and said the country’s publicly funded news organization, Kan, was trying to “police the conversation.” Karhi, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, has previously stated his desire to end public funding to Kan and other Israeli public broadcasters, accusing them of being too left-wing. A crackdown could interfere with Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest, which recently warned Netanyahu against threatening public broadcasting.
The government is also set to fast-track a bill that would revoke the citizenship or residency from people who are convicted of terrorism who receive payments from the Palestinian Authority. The move is seen as a step toward ejecting “disloyal” Arabs from Israel, something that Ben-Gvir has said should happen. When an Arab lawmaker questioned why the legislation does not apply to Jewish terrorists who are supported by extremist groups, one Knesset member from Netanyahu’s party said,“In the Jewish state, I prefer Jews over disloyal Arabs. We’ve stopped apologizing for it.”
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich over the weekend blocked millions in tax revenue from reaching the Palestinian Authority and redirected the funds to families of terror victims instead, a reported punitive measure to punish the Palestinians for pushing the United Nations to deliver a judgment on Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank. The PA’s prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, told Haaretz that such a move could lead to the “collapse” of the authority, an outcome Smotrich seemed to welcome at a press conference: “As long as the Palestinian Authority encourages terror and is an enemy, I have no interest for it to continue to exist.” Most analysts see the Palestinian Authority, for all of its faults, as a bulwark against more extreme groups taking charge in the West Bank.
It is not yet clear whether the moves will turn into policy or whether they represent a flurry of proposals and posturing as parties stake out their positions at the start of a new government. But either way, tensions are flaring. Former defense minister and chief Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz said that Netanyahu was spurring on a “civil war in Israeli society” and called on protestors to keep up their pressure; the prime minister in turn accused Gantz of leading “a call to sedition.”
At least one proposal by members of the new government appears to have already hit a snag. Lawmakers in a haredi Orthodox party said they wanted railway maintenance to cease on Shabbat, and Netanyahu reportedly backed their demand. But on Thursday, the transportation minister, a member of Netanyahu’s party, rebuffed the demand.
—
The post Left-wing Israelis take to the streets as new government presses right-wing agenda further appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Downed Planes Raise New Perils for Trump as Tehran Hunts for Missing US Pilot
Traces of an Iranian missile attack in Tehran’s sky, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 3, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, with two pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran’s forces.
The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.
The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian fire, officials in both countries said.
The second plane, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft, was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, two US officials said.
Two Blackhawk helicopters involved in the search effort for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two US officials told Reuters.
The degree of injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear. The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E crew member was not publicly known.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot’s plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed “forces of the hostile enemy.”
Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the U.S. and Israel’s war had been “downgraded from regime change” to a hunt for their pilots.
Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NO SIGN OF END TO WAR
The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.
Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.
So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command.
Iran has rained down drones and missiles on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.
In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.
TRUMP THREAT TO STRIKE BRIDGES, POWER PLANTS
On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.
On Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as US strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.
“Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote in a subsequent post.
On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.
Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices gained 11% on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war.
Uncategorized
US-Iran: Diplomatic Push Falters as Qatar Steps Back and Pakistan Talks Stall
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks after a meeting with the Lebanese president at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
i24 News – Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran appear to have reached an impasse, as key regional mediators pull back and broader talks stall.
According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Qatar has informed US officials that it does not wish to take a central role in mediating between the two sides. Officials familiar with the matter said Doha has made clear it is “not willing” to lead negotiations or act as the primary broker.
At the same time, Pakistan-led efforts to bring Iranian and American officials together have also stalled. Mediators say Tehran has refused to attend proposed meetings in Islamabad, calling Washington’s conditions “unacceptable,” further underscoring the widening gap between the two sides and the growing difficulty of restarting dialogue.
Despite the deadlock, diplomatic channels have not fully closed. Turkey and Egypt are continuing parallel efforts to revive talks, with discussions underway about potential alternative venues, including Doha and Istanbul.
US President Donald Trump downplayed the impact of recent military developments on diplomacy, including the destruction of a US fighter jet during operations in Iran. Speaking in a brief exchange with an NBC News journalist, he said: “No, not at all. It’s war. We are at war.”
He further fueled speculation with a cryptic social media post on Truth Social, writing: “Keep the oil, anyone?” criticising international allies on Friday over rising fuel prices. Trump appeared to mock allies such as the United Kingdom, writing that they should “keep the oil.”
Uncategorized
Report: Iran Retains Significant Missile Capability Despite Weeks of US-Led Strikes
Iranian missiles are displayed in a park in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Despite weeks of sustained airstrikes by the United States and its allies, Iran has reportedly managed to retain a substantial portion of its military capabilities, particularly its ballistic missile arsenal.
According to a report by The New York Times citing US intelligence assessments, Tehran has developed methods to mitigate the impact of the strikes, allowing it to preserve and restore key parts of its missile infrastructure.
While the Pentagon has claimed responsibility for striking more than 11,000 targets over five weeks and reducing the rate of Iranian missile fire, intelligence officials now caution that the actual damage may be more limited than initially assessed. Iranian forces are reportedly able to rapidly repair or reactivate missile launchers stored in heavily fortified or underground facilities, sometimes within hours of being hit.
Analysts also point to the widespread use of decoy sites, which may have drawn strikes away from operational assets. Many of the targeted locations are believed to have contained dummy installations, complicating efforts to accurately gauge the degradation of Iran’s ballistic capabilities. Combined with deep underground bunkers and dispersed storage networks, this approach is seen as enabling Tehran to maintain a higher level of readiness than publicly estimated.
US intelligence officials assess that this resilience reflects a deliberate strategy: preserving a credible long-range strike capability as both a deterrent and a bargaining tool in any future negotiations, while ensuring regime survival and continued regional influence.
Despite sustained air dominance claimed by Washington and its allies, Iran’s adaptive tactics continue to complicate battlefield assessments, leaving the true balance of power in the conflict uncertain.