Author: Josef Federman

JERUSALEM • Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s teenage son has received a death threat and bullet in the mail, Israeli officials said Thursday, he second such warning against the Israeli leader’s family this week. The threats have come at a time of deep political divisions in Israel. In a major speech on Wednesday night marking Israel’s…

JERUSALEM • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before a midnight deadline and prevented…

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip • A confrontation between Israel and Hamas sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem escalated Tuesday as Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza while militants barraged Israel with hundreds of rockets. The exchange killed a number of militants and civilians in Gaza and at least three people in Israel. The…

JERUSALEM • Exit polls indicate there is no clear winner in Tuesday’s Israeli election, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fate uncertain and signaling continued political deadlock. The polls on Israel’s three main TV stations showed Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, as well as diverse array of opponents, both falling short of a parliamentary…

JERUSALEM • Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may form a new government while under indictment for corruption charges, clearing the way for him and his rival-turned-uneasy ally to join together in a controversial power-sharing deal. The unanimous decision, released just before midnight, ended a 17-month political stalemate and prevented the…

JERUSALEM • Israel’s president on Thursday asked the Knesset to choose a new prime minister, giving parliament three weeks to agree upon a leader or plunge the country into an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year. President Reuven Rivlin made the move after his prime minister-designate, former military chief Benny Gantz, and…

JERUSALEM • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief rival was chosen Thursday as the new speaker of parliament, an unexpected step that could pave the way to a power-sharing deal between the two men as the country grapples with a worsening coronavirus crisis. The sudden turnabout by Benny Gantz, who has spent the past year…

JERUSALEM • Israel’s parliament on Wednesday dissolved after failing to meet a midnight deadline for forming a new government, triggering an unprecedented third election in a 12-month period while giving scandal-plagued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a welcome break as he fights to save his political career. After months of political deadlock following a September election,…

JERUSALEM • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted Thursday in a series of corruption cases, throwing Israel’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening his 10-year grip on power. He rejected calls to resign, angrily accusing prosecutors of staging “an attempted coup.” The first charges against a sitting Israeli prime minister capped a three-year…