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
Ukraine, Russia Swap 193 Prisoners of War Each in US, UAE-Facilitated Exchange
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react after a swap, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location in Ukraine, April 24, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
Ukraine and Russia conducted a prisoner of war swap on Friday, sending back 193 captured personnel each in an exchange both sides said was facilitated by the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
“It is important that there are exchanges and that our people are returning home,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a post on Telegram.
His chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, and Russia‘s defence ministry said the US and the UAE had assisted with the exchange.
Russia and Ukraine have conducted many prisoner swaps over four years of war, exchanging thousands of captives in total.
Zelenskiy said some of the returned captives, who included soldiers, border guards, and police, had injuries, while others had faced criminal charges in Russia.
In Ukraine, returning captives streamed off buses, many draped in their country’s flag and overwhelmed with emotion.
“It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m home, I was in captivity for three years … our Ukrainian sky, our trees — this is happiness,” said Serhiy, a soldier, who gave only his first name.
Uncategorized
Main Suspect in Syria’s Tadamon Massacre Arrested, Ministry Says
Residents gather in a street after Friday prayers to celebrate the arrest of Amjad Yousef, a key suspect in the 2013 Tadamon massacre, in Tadamon, Syria, April 24, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had arrested the main suspect in the 2013 Tadamon massacre, one of the worst acts of violence attributed to the former government of Bashar al-Assad, in which 288 civilians were killed.
The ministry released footage of Amjad Yousef’s arrest in the Al-Ghab Plain area of Hama province in western Syria, near his hometown. Yousef had been hiding there since the overthrow of Assad at the end of 2024, a security source told Reuters.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack welcomed the arrest in a post on X, calling it an important step towards accountability for atrocities committed during Syria’s war.
DOCUMENTING THE MASSACRE
Yousef, 40, a former member of military intelligence under Assad, was thrust into the spotlight in April 2022 when the UK’s Guardian newspaper published videos provided by two academics that they said showed him forcing blindfolded civilians to run towards a pit in the Tadamon neighborhood of southern Damascus before shooting them.
Annsar Shahoud, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam Holocaust and Genocide Center and one of the academics, spent four years documenting the massacre.
Posing as an online fangirl, Shahoud gained Yousef’s trust and ultimately obtained his confessions both on video and audio recording.
Reuters was unable to reach Yousef for comment as he has been taken into custody.
The massacre is one of the most egregious documented incidents of violence attributed to the Assad government during the 14-year bloody war that began in 2011.
After Assad’s fall at the end of 2024, civilians, media outlets and international organizations went to the site of the massacre to inspect it and interview witnesses. Locals refer to the site as “Amjad Yousef’s Pit.” It has been marked on Google Maps as “The Site of the Tadamon Massacre.”
Ahmed Adra, a Tadamon resident and a member of the neighborhood committee, said victims’ families had been celebrating in the streets since morning.
“We will take white roses and plant them at the site of the massacre and tell the victims that their memory is alive and that justice is being served,” he told Reuters.
Shahoud said she now felt safe with Yousef in custody, but added the path to justice in Syria was unclear and did not include all perpetrators.
“I feel safe now, despite the distance, because I always felt for years that this person was after me,” she told Reuters.
Uncategorized
Merz Floats Sanctions Relief for Iran Peace Deal, Other EU Leaders Cautious
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 4, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Friday that the European Union could ease sanctions on Tehran as part of a comprehensive deal that would end the Iran war, but other EU leaders struck a more cautious note.
The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iran for years, including travel bans and asset freezes for senior officials and entities, in response to human rights violations, nuclear activities, and military support for Russia.
US officials have suggested a comprehensive deal covering Iran‘s nuclear and missile programs and the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz could bring a lasting end to the US-Israeli war with Tehran, beyond the current ceasefire.
After an EU summit in Cyprus, Merz said the bloc could gradually ease sanctions on Iran in the event that a comprehensive agreement was reached.
European leaders have been largely sidelined in the current Middle East conflict but some European officials see the bloc’s sanctions as a possible way for the EU to be involved in a diplomatic solution.
“The easing of sanctions can be part of a process,” Merz told reporters after the Nicosia summit.
“No one has objected to that,” he said of the summit deliberations. “It is, so to speak, part of the contribution we can make to advance this process and, hopefully, lead to a permanent ceasefire.”
But European Council President Antonio Costa, the chair of the summit, told a press conference after the end of the meeting: “It is too early to talk about relieving any kind of sanctions.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said sanctions relief could only come after clear evidence of fundamental changes of course from Iran.
“We believe that sanctions relief should be conditional on verification of de-escalation, particularly on progress on the international effort to contain its nuclear threat, and on a change to the repression of its own people,” she told the same press conference.