The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s news as it broke.
Netanyahu is planning to visit the United Arab Emirates for the first time, according to several Hebrew media reports.
Ynet says such a visit could take place as early as next week.
The Prime Minister’s Office has no comment on the reports.
Netanyahu was scheduled to visit the UAE before the end of his previous stint as prime minister in March 2021, but was forced to cancel when Jordan delayed approving his flight path over the Hashemite kingdom.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes office for a third term as president of Brazil, capping a remarkable comeback for the veteran leftist, after he defeated far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro in October elections.
The 77-year-old ex-metalworker, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, takes the oath of office before Congress, vowing to “maintain, defend and obey the constitution” as he returns to lead Latin America’s biggest economy after a bitterly divisive election.
Incoming Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf seeks to allay concerns that he will focus his policies on helping voters of his United Torah Judaism party.
Goldknopf, during a handover ceremony with his predecessor Ze’ev Elkin, promises to advance solutions for all segments of society as real estate prices remain high.
“We owe a special debt to military veterans,” says Goldknopf, whose ultra-Orthodox constituents are generally exempted from serving in the military. “It is unacceptable that those who devote their best years to the security of the citizens of Israel are like beggars at the door when they wish to start a home, and require handouts in order to cover the rent.”
He adds, “We [also] owe a debt to yeshiva students who make do with very little and also wish to put a roof over their heads. We owe a debt to all young people from all segments of society — regardless of religion, race or creed.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects comments by leading rabbis disparaging LGBTQ people; the openly gay Knesset speaker, Amir Ohana; and ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who voted for him.
“I strongly condemn comments against the LGBT community and Knesset Speaker Ohana,” he says in a brief statement.
“Beloved is man for he was created in the image [of God],” Netanyahu continues, quoting from the Mishna, a foundational rabbinic text.
“Every person is created in the image of God,” he says. “That is the principle that was introduced to humanity by our people thousands of years ago, and that is the principle guiding us today as well.”
Ben Gvir affirms that he intends to visit the Temple Mount as national security minister, but stops short of confirming that he wishes to do so this week.
“I thank the media for taking an interest in the issue of visits to the Temple Mount,” Ben Gvir tweets in response to the Kan report.
“Indeed, the Temple Mount is an important topic, and, as I said, I intend to visit the Temple Mount,” he adds.
“As for the timetable — I promise to let you know when I do visit. I would be delighted if every evening’s newscasts would begin with reports dealing with the question of when I intend to visit the Temple Mount,” Ben Gvir says.
In a potentially incendiary move, Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right police minister, has reportedly informed police that he intends to visit Jerusalem’s Temple Mount this week.
Ben Gvir, a longtime advocate of Jewish prayer at the flashpoint holy site, told police that he wishes to visit on Tuesday, the Jewish fast of the Tenth of Tevet, or Wednesday, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The highest echelons of police will deliberate the request tomorrow, including the commissioner, Yaakov Shabtai, according to the report.
Kan notes that the very fact that news of the request has leaked could mean the visit will be pushed off in order to avert Palestinian unrest.
Meta could follow Twitter’s lead and let former US president Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram, according to the Financial Times.
The decision is expected later this month, the report says.
In his congratulatory call with Netanyahu earlier today, Egyptian President Sissi urged Israel’s new hardline government to refrain from “any measures” that could inflame regional tensions.
According to a statement from the Egyptian leader’s office, Sissi cautioned Netanyahu to avoid “any measures that could lead to a tense situation and complicate the regional scene.”
Sissi also said his government would continue its efforts to “maintain calm” between Israel and the Palestinians, the statement adds.
Netanyahu meets with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara against a backdrop of strained relations, with the prime minister’s incoming government vowing to enact far-reaching judicial reforms — among them planned changes to her position.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the meeting lasts an hour, “was substantive and dealt with current issues on the agenda.” The Justice Ministry declines to say what was discussed.
Baharav-Miara met earlier today with new Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is an ardent proponent of passing radical reforms to the legal and judicial system, among them a law to dramatically curtail the authority of the High Court of Justice.
During the election campaign, several Likud MKs called on Netanyahu to fire Baharav-Miara should he become prime minister again, while the attorney general has publicly criticized the legislative plans of the new government, particular its plans for the High Court.
In an apparent snub, the attorney general was not invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the new cabinet on Thursday night.
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extends the arrest of David Malka, a senior official in the Jerusalem Rabbinate, on suspicion of sexually assaulting an underage girl.
Police suspect that Malka committed the assaults repeatedly over a period of several years.
Jerusalem chief rabbi Shlomo Amar assails Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, the first openly gay man to hold that role, calling LGBTQ people a “disgrace” and criticizing Orthodox members of the coalition who voted for him.
“This whole thing with the abominations — today they’re glorified. For shame. Such a disgrace,” says Amar, a former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, in a recording obtained by Channel 12.
“Woe to the ears that hear of such things. It is unbearable. They appoint them to roles that are considered lofty. They have lost all of their shame,” he adds, without mentioning Ohana by name.
“They make this something to be publicly proud of with parades, and now they’ve appointed… God have mercy,” Amar says.
“I’m going to refrain from naming names because, unfortunately, it seems that even people who are considered God-fearing supported [the appointment]. This is a massive disgrace — [that people who] represent the Torah and Judaism… God have mercy.”
Amar’s comments echoed those of another prominent Sephardic ultra-Orthodox rabbi.
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, who has close ties to several senior members of the new government, said Saturday that Ohana was “infected with a disease,” and insinuated that the deadly 2021 Meron disaster happened due to Ohana’s sexual orientation.
The Knesset elected Ohana as its speaker on Thursday, shortly before the confidence vote to inaugurate Israel’s 37th government. A former minister in past governments, Ohana is the Knesset’s first openly gay person to hold the role.
The outcome of the plenum vote was 63-5, with all coalition lawmakers voting in favor except for United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Tesler, who was overseas.
Despite voting for Ohana, several of Likud’s far-right and ultra-Orthodox partners have expressed homophobic positions, including returning now-banned conversion therapy, changing governmental forms to say “mother” and “father” instead of the gender-neutral “parent,” and running on the platform of a “normal family.”
The openly anti-LGBTQ Noam party’s sole MK, incoming deputy minister Avi Maoz, looked away as Ohama made his inaugural speech Thursday, as did members of the United Torah Judaism party.
One member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, despite voting for Ohana, expressed reservations in light of the Likud MK’s sexual orientation.
“We aren’t happy with the path he’s taking but we look at the person and not his tendencies,” MK Yoav Ben-Tzur, who is a minister in the Welfare Ministry in the new government, told the Ynet news site.
— with Carrie Keller-Lynn
In his first decision as finance minister, Smotrich reportedly instructs officials to roll back the tax hikes on single-use plasticware and sweetened drinks that were put in place by the previous government.
The decision is announced following Smotrich’s first meeting with top officials in his ministry.
Ultra-Orthodox Israelis perceived the tax hike as targeting them in particular, due to their reliance on such products.
Netanyahu holds a first working meeting as prime minister with Mossad chief David Barnea, at Mossad headquarters.
According to a statement from his office, Netanyahu is “updated on the full range of Mossad operational and intelligence issues in general, and on the Iranian issue in particular.”
BEIRUT — Stray bullets from gunfire celebrations for the new year hit two Middle East Airlines jets parked at Beirut’s international airport, causing minor damage to the planes without hurting anyone, an airline official says.
Intense shooting in the air occurred around midnight Saturday in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon to celebrate the new year despite repeated warnings by officials for residents not to do so.
The two jets are now being fixed at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to the official, who speaks on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official says the bullets hit the jets after midnight Saturday.
On November 10, a stray bullet hit an MEA jet while landing in Beirut, causing some material damage. No one among the passengers or crew was hurt, the head of the Lebanese airline company said at the time.
MEA chief said Mohamad El-Hout told reporters earlier this year that the airport often faces such incidents, in addition to birds that fly in the area, endangering aviation.
Shooting in the air is common in Lebanon, where people often open fire to celebrate passing school or university exams, as well as during weddings and funerals. Groups firing into the air also tends to follow when the country’s political leaders give speeches.
Many Lebanese have pistols and automatic rifles at home, many of them left over from the country’s 1975-90 civil war.
During a handover ceremony, incoming Education Minister Yoav Kisch announces that he will reverse a matriculation reform that his predecessor Yifat Shasha-Biton had tried to implement.
“It is no secret that we are not on the same path and the Education Ministry will change direction,” he says.
“I intend to act to cancel the outgoing government’s decision regarding the removal of humanities studies, including Bible and history, from the high school curriculum,” Kisch adds. “We will restore these subjects to the teaching programs in high schools and high school matriculation.”
During her own speech, Shasha-Biton reprimands Kisch for not listening to what she has to say.
“You should listen,” she says. “It will save you a lot of time moving forward.”
Kisch, in response, fires, “We’ve been listening to you for a year and a half.”
Church bells tolled for the death of ex-pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem’s Old City, where Catholics revere their “great” former pontiff.
Standing before the ancient stones of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried, seminarian Matteo Sassano says he has been praying for the retired pope, who died on Saturday.
“Pope Benedict was a great pope… also, a great companion of Pope Francis,” says Sassano, 33, from Italy.
The death of Benedict, nearly a decade after his shock resignation, ends a remarkable era in which he and his successor lived alongside one another within the Vatican walls.
Veronica Orzelek, 23, says people in her home country of Poland will “absolutely” be in mourning.
The German-born pontiff was seen as “a signature kind of character” in Poland, Orzelek says on the cobbled Saint Francis Street.
Don Faller, an American visitor, says he “more or less” agreed with Benedict’s traditionalist approach, which drew criticism from some within the church.
“It’s a continuation of old-style Catholicism which is very conservative,” says the 65-year-old, praising the late pope as “a peaceful man.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who congratulates him on retaking the premiership.
The two affirm their mutual desire to continue strengthening bilateral ties, according to an Israeli readout.
They also discuss “international and regional developments,” says the Prime Minister’s Office, often understood to be a reference for the war in Ukraine and the Iran threat.
In August, Sissi spoke to Netanyahu’s predecessor Yair Lapid, who thanked him for Egypt’s role in negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, after three days of fighting in and around the Gaza Strip.
The last official visit by Netanyahu to Egypt was in January 2011, when he met then-president Hosni Mubarak, though he reportedly paid a secret, unofficial visit in 2018.
In his own speech, newly minted National Security Minister Ben Gvir vows to take a harsh stand against Palestinian terrorism.
“It should be clear to anyone who wants to cause harm that they will find our security services to be powerful, focused, and capable of defending themselves, and it should be clear that security forces personnel who are defending their own lives will receive full support,” he says at the handover ceremony with Barlev.
Ben Gvir is seeking to reduce criminal liability for security forces for actions taken while on active duty, and relax open-fire regulations to enable greater leeway for law enforcement when dealing with riots and other violent situations. Barlev has insisted that security personnel already have as much freedom of operation as they need.
“Any terrorist who seeks to harm you is forfeiting his life, and I will give you full backing in this war,” continues Ben Gvir, addressing the assembled police and security personnel directly.
The new minister also hits back against comments by Barlev, who noted in his speech that he had been subjected to threats by extremist Jewish elements for criticizing violent settler activists and required security protection as a result.
“Come speak with my wife Ayala and with my children and you will find that almost every week we receive pictures of bloody knives and calls to murder us, time after time, not just from the enemies of Israel but also from anarchist Jews, and the time has come to deal with them,” says Ben Gvir.
Outgoing public security minister Barlev fires several barbs at the incoming minister, far-right leader Ben Gvir, at their official handover ceremony, calling on the police and security forces under the command of the ministry to stand up for their professional position.
“Keep a strong backbone, be a rock in the face of the headwinds, stand by your professional opinion — that is your duty,” says Barlev, alluding to the broadened powers Ben Gvir has received as minister through Knesset legislation — which critics, including Barlev, have said will politicize police operations.
Barlev notes the police, prisoner service and fire service, which all come under what has been renamed the National Security Ministry, feature Israelis of all kinds. “Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Circassians serve together, all Israelis, all working for one purpose — the internal security of the citizens of the state,” he says.
He adds, “There is no supremacy of one faith or sex over another; everyone is a partner, everyone is equal,” in a jibe against the nationalist, ultraconservative ideology of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.
Barlev begins his address with a lengthy account of his military service — an apparent attempt to diss Ben Gvir, who was barred from serving because of his extremist activities — and said that he had never needed security protection from the Shin Bet until he denounced extremist settlers for carrying out nationalist crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Outgoing defense minister Gantz wishes Gallant success in his role, while cautioning him not to permit political interference in the army.
“Erect a high and solid protective wall between the IDF and political involvement in operational decisions, and do not allow the disintegration of the defense establishment into subunits that are subject to political interference and disconnected from the chain of command,” Gantz says.
“I take upon myself the role of defense minister out of a longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and out of a deep recognition of the importance of the mission,” Gallant says during the ceremony.
Gallant in his remarks vows to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and to take harsh actions against rocket fire on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
“We will fight terror with no compromises,” he says.
Gallant adds that he will work to “strengthen” the military, amid recent worries by IDF chief Aviv Kohavi over increasing political control over the army.
“The IDF is above all controversy,” he says.
A handover ceremony for the defense minister is being held at the military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Incoming minister Gallant, a former top general who began his military career in the elite Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, is a highly regarded military strategist.
Though once in the running to be IDF chief of staff, he had to pull out after becoming embroiled in a scandal regarding the encroachment of his house and garden onto public lands.
After he was disqualified, the position went to Benny Gantz, who is now the outgoing defense minister.
Incoming Tourism Minister Haim Katz vows to increase investments in parts of the country that he says have been underserved, including the occupied West Bank, the site of an ongoing terror wave, which he compares to the pastoral Italian countryside.
“We will invest in areas that perhaps did not receive enough attention thus far, including our local Tuscany in Judea and Samaria,” he says during a handover ceremony with his predecessor Yoel Razvozov.
Handover ceremonies are also taking place or about to take place in the Defense Ministry, where Yoav Gallant is replacing Benny Gantz, and the newly renamed National Security Ministry, where Itamar Ben Gvir is taking over from Omer Barlev.
Ben Gvir, ahead of the ceremony, meets with Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai.
A photograph of the meeting shows that Ben Gvir, a longtime advocate of Jewish prayer rights at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount, has redecorated the office, adding a picture of the Western Wall.
In the Finance Ministry, where former minister Avigdor Liberman hands over to his successor, Bezalel Smotrich, a ceremony is held with family members of the incoming minister on hand.
During the ceremony, Smotrich congratulates Liberman on some of his policies and calls himself a “free market man.”
He pledges to work for all of Israel’s citizens and adds, “I’m not sure that all of our steps will be popular but hopefully they will prove to be correct over time.”
Liberman, in turn, alludes to coalition deals signed by the incoming government that — despite fears of a looming recession — would increase welfare payouts for the ultra-Orthodox, many of whom don’t work.
“Without flour there can be no Torah, which is why you will need to produce a lot of flour in light of the demands of your partners [ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and UTJ],” he cautions.
Several ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new cabinet participate in handover ceremonies with their predecessors, while others conduct meetings with their predecessors in lieu of an official ceremony.
One of the new ministers to forgo a ceremony is incoming Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who instead has a sit-down with the former minister Gideon Sa’ar. Levin, a Netanyahu loyalist, is also set to meet Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara amid tensions over the latter’s opposition to the incoming minister’s intention to enact radical judicial reforms.
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