Israel News for 10-20-2021
News Update
Security forces clashed with Palestinian rioters near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. The rioters threw rocks at passing vehicles. Police arrested 22 rioters. The riots erupted shortly after thousands marched through East Jerusalem in honor of the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed according to Muslim tradition, led by local activists of the Fatah movement. To view video, click here.
Israel is in talks to normalize relations with the Comoros, a Muslim-majority island nation off the coast of eastern Africa. Also, in an interview with Emirati website Erem News published Monday, Israel’s Minister of Regional Cooperation Issawi Frej said that Qatar, Tunisia, Oman and Malaysia may join the Abraham Accords.
The government has approved a budget of $1.5 billion (NIS 5 billion) to prepare a plan for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear program. The funds will be used to purchase various types of aircrafts, intelligence-gathering drones and unique armaments needed for such an attack, which includes heavily fortified underground sites.
A scuffle broke out between the leader of the Arab Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh and Religious Zionist party member MK Itamar Ben Gvir when Odeh came to visit and support a Hamas security who is on a hunger strike at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot. Ben Gvir was there to complain that the prisoner was being treated in an Israeli hospital. Ben Gvir said that he will press charges against Odeh for pushing him. To view a video, click here.
Justice Minister Gideon Saar has drafted a proposed law that would prevent a Knesset member who is indicted for an offense punishable by three years or more in prison from forming a government. The law would therefore prevent Netanyahu from ever forming a new government. The law is opposed by the right-wing faction of the government, including Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, but the law can still be passed with the support of the Joint List.
The Health Ministry reported that there were 1,130 new daily COVID-19 on Tuesday. The infection rate now stands at 1.28%.
The first case of the highly contagious AY.4.2 Delta sub-variant of coronavirus has been identified in Israel, in an 11 year old boy returning from Moldova. It is not clear yet whether the new strain is more contagious or dangerous than the Delta variant.
Israel’s State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman found that Israelis overpay billions of shekels in taxes annually because they are ill-informed about their tax entitlements.
