Israel News for 4-29-2022
News Update
On this final Friday of Ramadan, hundreds of Palestinians rioted on the Temple Mount, waving Hamas flags and throwing rocks and fireworks. Some threw rocks down at Jews worshipping at the Western Wall. Police entered the Temple Mount to stop the rioting. At least 12 rioters were reported injured and several arrested. The violence ended around an hour later, after other Palestinians in the compound intervened, convincing the stone throwers and the police to pull back. Today is one of the busiest days at the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount. The police presence in and around the Old City has been significantly increased.
Security forces arrested Nazir Nassar, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative, in a raid in the West Bank early this morning.
The IDF will deploy six battalions of reservist forces at the West Bank security barrier to prevent terrorist attacks and illegal crossings.
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal against the establishment of a new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron’s old city. Called the Hezekiah Quarter, the new neighborhood is expected to include 31 residential units, including a six-story apartment building. Construction began last year. To read more, click here.
Ra’am, the Arab party that has been part of PM Bennett’s coalition, has agreed to end its boycott and vote with the government when the Knesset returns to session on May 9th. Ra’am had refused to vote with the government earlier this month as pressure mounted on it over the ongoing tensions and violence between police and Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. After Ra’am returns to the government, the coalition will accelerate several moves important to the party, including the immediate recognition of illegal Bedouin villages in southern Israel. Ra’am draws much of its voter support from Bedouin in the Negev region.
In his address at Yad Vashem (the holocaust museum in Jerusalem) at the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday, PM Bennett called on the world to stop comparing the Holocaust to other events in history. He also warned Jews against letting internal divisions tear society apart.
With the Ministry of Interior’s Immigration and Population Authority struggling to keep up with demand for renewing passports, the order allowing dual citizens to travel abroad on foreign passports has been extended until January 1, 2023.
The shekel is at its weakest against the dollar since early April 2021.
Believe it or not, the estate of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the great Torah sage who passed away recently, is in dispute. To read about this, click here.
