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‘Mind your own business,’ Israel’s Diaspora minister tells US ambassador about judicial reform urging
(JTA) — The Israeli minister responsible for relations with Jews in the Diaspora has a message for the government of the country where most of them live: “Mind your own business.”
Amichai Chikli made the comment Sunday in a radio interview in Israel, where he was asked to address recent comments by U.S. ambassador Tom Nides, who said he was urging Israeli leaders to “pump the brakes” on their controversial effort to change the country’s judiciary.
Nides was echoing sentiments expressed by U.S. President Joe Biden about the judicial reform proposal, which would give the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions. Biden said last week that both that checks and balances are part of the “genius” of democracy and that “building consensus for fundamental changes is really important.”
Nides said on a politics podcast that the Biden administration was pressing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek agreement rather than push the reforms through quickly. “We’re telling the prime minister, as I tell my kids, pump the brakes. Slow down, try to get a consensus, bring the parties together,” he said.
Chikli had a retort: “I say to the American ambassador, put on the brakes yourself and mind your own business,” he said. “You aren’t sovereign here, to get involved in the matter of judicial reform. We will be happy to discuss foreign and security matters with you. But respect our democracy.”
The message was in line with one that Chikli issued during his first public comments as Diaspora minister on American soil last month. And Netanyahu, too, appeared to reject the urging by Biden and Nides in a speech Sunday in Jerusalem to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella that includes a broad range of groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Feb. 19, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
“All democracies should respect the will of other free peoples, just like we respect their democratic decisions,” Netanyahu said. (His speech focused largely on the threat posed by Iran.)
Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who is trying to broker a compromise that would tone down the proposals that have drawn dire warnings from business leaders, army commanders and democracy watchdogs, said Sunday that he believes a deal could be reached in a matter of days. But it is unclear how seriously Netanyahu and his allies in the government are taking the possibility of compromise, with a top minister, Bezalel Smotrich, vowing on Sunday to press forward with the legislative process.
In Israel, opposition to the proposed reforms appears only to have grown, with protests this weekend swelling to more than 220,000 people across several cities, according to their organizers. That would be equivalent to nearly than 2.5% of the country’s population.
Israelis protest against the government and its planned judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Feb. 18, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
In the United States, the proposed reforms have caused angst among some American Jews who fear that Israel increasingly does not reflect their values.
The moment is also exposing Israel to renewed criticism. “Do you think that democracy is in peril in Israel right now?” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, was asked on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday morning. “I do,” Sanders said, saying as he has before that the United States should “put some strings attached” to the aid it delivers to Israel. “You cannot run a racist government, you cannot turn your back on the two-state solution, you cannot demean the Palestinian people there, you just can’t do and come to America and ask for money.”
Host Margaret Brennan asked whether he had spoken to the Biden administration about his feelings. “They’ve been very careful giving criticism of the Netanyahu government,” she noted.
“I am not careful about it,” Sanders responded. “I am embarrassed that in Israel you have a government of that nature right now.”
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Netanyahu Applauds Eurovision Runner-Up Noam Bettan: ‘Everyone Is Very Proud of You’
Noam Bettan, representing Israel, performs “Michelle” during the dress rehearsal 2 of the Grand Final of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, May 15, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Lisa Leutner
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Israeli singer Noam Bettan on finishing in second place in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, despite boos and anti-Israel protests in the audience and boycotts from several countries due to Israel’s participation.
“Noam, what an amazing victory, what an achievement, and how much pride, strength, confidence, and artistry,” Netanyahu told the 28-year-old singer during a phone call. “You are on a path to greatness. In any case, you have the gratitude of the entire nation. Everyone is very, very proud of you.”
The prime minister also applauded the singer for standing “tall against those hollow verbal potshots.”
“You did it exactly as it should be done,” Netanyahu told Bettan. “You did a wonderful job. And I saw that the audience, as usual, was more supportive than the judges. Well done to you. Keep moving forward, rise and succeed, and many blessings.”
During their call, Bettan thanked Netanyahu for his kind words and said it was “a great privilege” to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, “to bring honor, to represent us in a positive light, and to bring some light and goodness into this world.”
“And I have a certain hope, because I felt there was a very great unity tonight, and I hope so much that it stays with us and continues in two days, in a year, and in 50 years,” Bettan noted. “I want unity so much, and I truly hope it continues.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with singer Noam Bettan, who represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest and won an impressive second place in the competition > >https://t.co/dxTAe2NiRQ pic.twitter.com/lVMZYl2JlQ
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 17, 2026
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.
Bulgaria won with the upbeat dance track “Bangaranga,” performed by Dara. The victory marked the first ever Eurovision win for the Balkan nation, which will host next year’s competition. Bettan finished second with “Michelle,” a trilingual song in Hebrew, French, and English that is about putting oneself first when in a toxic relationship.
Anti-Israel protesters who disrupted Bettan’s performance during the semifinals last week were removed from the audience inside Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle after chanting “stop, stop the genocide” and “Free, free Palestine.”
“One audience member, close to a microphone, loudly expressed their views as the Israeli artist began his performance, and during the song, which was heard on the live broadcast,” Austrian national broadcaster ORF and the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision, said in a joint statement about the incident. “They were later removed for continuing to disturb the audience. Three other people were also removed from the arena by security for disruptive behavior.”
Bettan told Reuters he also heard boos from a few pro-Palestinian protesters in the audience when he first went on stage for the semifinals.
Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland refused to participate in this year’s Eurovision because of Israel’s inclusion, in protest of the country’s military operation in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas terrorists who orchestrated the deadly attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel also finished second in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.
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Harry Styles Responds ‘Correct’ to Fan Shouting ‘Long Live Palestine’ at Amsterdam Concert
Harry Styles poses on the red carpet during for the BRIT Awards at the Co-op Live Arena, in Manchester, Britain, Feb. 28, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
British pop star Harry Styles on Saturday night interacted with a fan who shouted a slogan in support of Palestinians during the kickoff of his “Together, Together” world tour in Amsterdam.
The “Aperture” singer was performing in Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena on the opening night of his tour and stopped to adjust his earpiece on stage when an audience member shouted, “Viva, Viva Palestina!” which means “Long Live, Long Live Palestine” in Spanish. The former One Direction singer replied to the comment saying, “Correct.” A clip of the interaction was posted on social media.
One of the charity partners for the “Together, Together” tour is Choose Love, which provides humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including food and medical treatment.
The tour will include more than 60 performances around the world, including in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil. Styles’ only shows in the United States will be 30 consecutive nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The singer’s fourth solo album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” was released in March.
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Israel Warns of Escalating Terror Threat in West Bank as Iran, Turkey, Hamas Seek to Stoke Extremism
Israeli soldiers walk during an operation in Tubas, in the West Bank, Nov. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Israeli security officials have warned of a rapidly deteriorating security situation in the West Bank, citing deepening Iranian and Turkish involvement alongside Hamas efforts to expand terrorist infrastructure and orchestrate attacks across the territory.
According to the Israeli news outlet Walla, defense officials point to a growing role by Iran, Turkey, and Hamas in financing, directing, and sustaining terrorism, while also leveraging Gaza-linked networks to expand coordination, incitement, and operational activity across the West Bank.
With Israeli communities in the West Bank steadily expanding, the local military command is under significant strain, operating with 22 battalions while confronting a wide range of security challenges, including dismantling terrorist infrastructure, disrupting terrorist financing channels, locating weapons caches, protecting settlements, and stopping arms smuggling from Jordan.
Israeli officials have previously warned that large-scale terrorist attacks targeting local communities could serve as a destabilizing flashpoint amid the wars in Gaza and Iran.
Last year, Israeli forces uncovered documents suggesting Hamas is actively preparing plans for raids on settlements in the area.
Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, arrested six Arab Israeli citizens last month suspected of transferring millions of shekels from Hamas’s Turkish branch into the West Bank as part of an underground terrorist financing network believed to have smuggled more than three million shekels to fund attacks against Israel.
Experts also point to a growing threat from the Jenin Brigades in the northern West Bank — an alliance of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas operatives that has transformed refugee camps into bases for shootings, bombings, and ambushes.
The group’s operations are reportedly sustained by a complex financing system that moves Iranian funds through Palestinian banking channels, siphons off Israeli-collected tax revenues, and makes use of international facilitators.
“By sustaining this West Bank front through Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad networks, Tehran forces Israel to fight simultaneously across multiple fronts, drains resources that could otherwise consolidate gains in Gaza, and keeps the Palestinian issue politically radioactive enough to sabotage broader Arab-Israeli alignment,” Jose Lev Alvarez, a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum think tank, explained in a recent article.
“Tehran [then] advances its axis-of-resistance doctrine at minimal cost — no Iranian boots, no direct missile exchanges, just calibrated chaos designed to obstruct any credible day-after plan for Gaza and derail normalization agreements with Saudi Arabia or Gulf states demanding Palestinian stability,” he continued.
Last year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned that Iran was driving a growing terrorist threat in the West Bank, with concerns that Iranian-backed arms smuggling could enable an Oct. 7-style attack.
Israeli intelligence and security forces have since intensified operations across the territory amid fears that Iranian-supplied weapons are increasingly reaching Palestinian terrorists and escalating the risk of a large-scale assault.
Israeli intelligence assessments have also warned that terrorists operating in the West Bank are believed to possess weapons capable of breaching Israeli defenses, including what officials described as “standard Iranian weapons.”
According to Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based think tank, Israeli officials should be closely monitoring the West Bank as Hamas regroups and rearms in the Gaza Strip after more than two years of war.
“Hamas and its allied factions understand that igniting violence in the territory would divert Israel’s attention during a critical time of rebuilding the group’s infrastructure in Gaza,” Truzman told The Algemeiner last year.
“The release of convicted terrorists to the West Bank under the [Israel-Hamas] ceasefire agreement may be a factor in the resurgence of organized violence in the territory,” he continued.
As of last February, Israeli security forces foiled nearly 1,000 terrorist plots over the past year, with senior military officials increasingly worried that the volatile situation in the West Bank could lead to a large-scale attack similar to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught against Israeli settlements and communities near the security barrier.
According to a survey released last year by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, 70 percent of all respondents — and 81 percent of Jewish respondents — expressed fear of an Oct. 7-style attack coming from the West Bank. In contrast, 53 percent of Arab respondents said they were not worried about such an attack.
In response to these concerns, the IDF has established a special command to address potential threats in the West Bank and launched a nearly unprecedented counterterror operation in the northern part of the territory.