Uncategorized
Netanyahu defends his pending far-right coalition: ‘Two hands firmly on the steering wheel’
(JTA) – On the cusp of forming a new government, incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his inclusion of far-right groups in his coalition amid domestic and global criticism for his alliances with extremist figures.
“They’re joining me, I’m not joining them,” Netanyahu said in an NPR interview Thursday during the final stretch of his coalition talks, which are currently set for a Dec. 21 deadline. “I’ll have two hands firmly on the steering wheel. I won’t let anybody do anything to LGBT [people] or to deny our Arab citizens their rights or anything like that.”
Netanyahu specifically defended his expected decision to bestow Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, with the newly created title of national security minister, a post which would give him control over Israel’s police forces. Ben-Gvir has previously called for the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and has a long history of inciting political violence in the country.
Former ministers and police chiefs have said that Ben-Gvir would turn Israel into a “police state” under such expanded powers; at least one former police chief said he would sooner resign than work for him. But Netanyahu said the lawmaker has changed since his past views.
“He’s modified a lot of his views since then,” Netanyahu said of Ben-Gvir, insisting that “a position of responsibility in governance” would moderate the politician’s stances. “I have to say that with power comes responsibility.”
Netanyahu said he granted Ben-Gvir the role of head of police because “the erosion of internal security in Israel” is “a big, big issue” that Ben-Gvir had run on and noted that the Israeli Supreme Court had previously ruled that Ben-Gvir was eligible to be a lawmaker despite his extremist past.
Ben-Gvir’s party won six seats in the Knesset in November’s elections. Liberal Jewish groups have expressed alarm over the prospect of Netanyahu working with him, arguing that an alliance with such a figure could cause a rift in U.S.-Israel relations, damage Israel’s international standing and alienate American Jews, who are largely liberal.
Netanyahu’s comment on LGBT rights in Israel could refer to his negotiations with another far-right lawmaker, Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich. The Knesset is currently engaged in a legislative blitz to grant expanded powers in the next government that would likely go to Smotrich, who has compared gay marriage to incest. Under the agreement, Smotrich — whose party calls for an increase in the construction and recognition of Israeli settlements — would gain a new role in the defense ministry that would grant him oversight over the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank
Smotrich also backs several religious citizenship proposals opposed by Diaspora Jewry, including ending the Law of Return that grants Israeli citizenship to anyone with demonstrable Jewish ancestry and ending the country’s recognition of non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism. Israeli media has reported that at least some versions of these policies appear to be on the table for Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Israel’s attorney general has called the proposed new laws an attack on the country’s democracy, leading Ben-Gvir to denounce her.
Netanyahu has the option of requesting up to an additional four days for coalition talks from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which would move his deadline to Dec. 25.
In the NPR interview, Netanyahu also continued to assert that a peace deal with Palestinians would only be possible if Israel retains control over the region’s “security” and reiterated his opposition to an Iranian nuclear deal.
—
The post Netanyahu defends his pending far-right coalition: ‘Two hands firmly on the steering wheel’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
UK PM Starmer Says There Could Be New Powers to Ban Pro-Palestinian Marches
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives a media statement at Downing Street in London, Britain, April 30, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor/File photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government could ban pro-Palestinian marches in some circumstances because of the “cumulative effect” the demonstrations had on the Jewish community after two Jewish men were stabbed in London on Wednesday.
Starmer told the BBC that he would always defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, but chants like “Globalize the Intifada” during demonstrations were “completely off limits” and those voicing them should be prosecuted.
Pro-Palestinian marches have become a regular feature in London since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Critics say the demonstrations have generated hostility and become a focus for antisemitism.
Protesters have argued they are exercising their democratic right to spotlight ongoing human rights and political issues related to the situation in Gaza.
Starmer said he was not denying there were “very strong legitimate views about the Middle East, about Gaza,” but many people in the Jewish community had told him they were concerned about the repeat nature of the marches.
Asked if the tougher response should focus on chants and banners, or whether the protests should be stopped altogether, Starmer said: “I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter.”
“I think it’s time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect,” he said, adding that the government needed to look at what further powers it could take.
Britain raised its terrorism threat level to “severe” on Thursday amid mounting security concerns that foreign states were helping fuel violence, including against the Jewish community.
“We are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK,” the head of counter-terrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said in a statement, adding that police were also working “against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors.”
Uncategorized
War Likely to Resume After Trump’s Rejection of Latest Proposal, Says IRGC General
Iranians carry a model of a missile during a celebration following an IRGC attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – A senior Iranian military figure said that fighting with the US was “likely” to resume after President Donald Trump stated he was dissatisfied with Tehran’s latest proposal, regime media reported on Saturday.
The comments of General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, one of the top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, were relayed by the Fars news agency, considered as a mouthpiece of the the powerful paramilitary body.
“Evidence has shown that the Americans do not not adhere to any commitments,” Asadi was quoted as saying.
He further added that Washington’s decision-making was “primarily media-driven aimed first at preventing a drop in oil prices and second at extricating themselves from the mess they have created.”
Iranian armed forces are ready “for any new adventures or foolishness from the Americans,” he said, going to assert that the Iran war would prove for the US a tragedy comparable with what was for Israel the October 7 massacre.
“Just as our martyred Leader said that the Zionist regime will never be the same as before the Al‑Aqsa Storm operation [the name chosen by Hamas leadership for the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel], the United States will also never return to what it was before its attack on Iran,” he said. “The world has understood the true nature of America, and no matter how much malice it shows now, it is no longer the America that many once feared.”
Uncategorized
Trump Says US Navy Acting ‘Like Pirates’ to Carry Out Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports
A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. Photo: CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS
President Donald Trump said on Friday the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in carrying out Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
Trump made the comments while describing the seizure by US forces of a ship a few days ago.
“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said in remarks on Friday evening. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”
Some of Tehran’s vessels have been seized by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.
Iran has blocked nearly all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz apart from its own since the start of the war. Trump has imposed a separate blockade of Iranian ports.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The war has raised oil prices and led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Trump, who has offered shifting timelines and goals for the war that remains unpopular in the US, has faced widespread condemnation over his comments on the conflict, including when he threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilization last month.
Many US experts said last month that American strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes after Trump threatened to target civilian infrastructure.