Israel News for 11-7-2022
News Update
Security forces arrested 11 terror suspects in overnight raids in several villages in the West Bank.
According to Syrian reports, 4 Hezbollah members were killed in an explosion near Quneitra, not far from the Israeli border.
Hamas reportedly arrested two people suspected of firing rockets at Israel last week. Hamas claims that it, or any other militant group in Gaza, took part in the rocket firing. It also claims that the rockets were not loaded with explosives.
With a clear majority of 64 seats, former, and soon to be again, Prime Minister Netanyahu should have an easy job setting up a new government. First he has to appoint his ministers, and that isn’t proving to be so simple.
The main ministerial portfolios are the foreign, defense, finance and justice. Netanyahu’s own Likud party leaders would like all, or at least most of those, as well as other important posts. But Religious Zionism leader Smotrich has his eye on the Finance Ministry or Defense, and he feels that given his party’s 14 seats, he should get what he wants. Netanyahu isn’t very keen on giving Smotrich finance or defense, and he usually ends up figuring out how to get his way. In the past Netanyahu has even held the main ministerial portfolios himself.
Itamar Ben Gvir, who joined his Otzmah party with Religious Zionism for election and who brought in a significant amount of new votes for the right wing block, is demanding the Internal Security Ministry, which oversees the security services and police. Netanayhu is meeting with him today and will most likely give him the portfolio, which no one else really wants anyway.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a phone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in the wake of the right-wing victory in last week’s election.
Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are due to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today to accelerate implementation of a project involving water in exchange for electricity that was agreed to a year ago. For more, click here.
