Israel News for 5-7-18
Gaza Border
IDF soldiers killed 3 terrorists who were attempting to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza. A fourth terrorist was wounded. The incident took place at Khan Younis when troops from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion opened fire on the four suspects. An IDF investigation subsequently revealed that the group was planning to carry out terror attacks against Israelis. The group was under military surveillance and was spotted while “moving suspiciously and hitting the perimeter fence and crossing while crossing it,” the IDF said.
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Hezbollah Victory
According to preliminary results from Lebanon’s elections, Hezbollah and its allies have won at least 67 out of the country’s 128 parliamentary seats, giving it effective control over the governing body. Hezbollah’s allies include the Shiite Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the Christian Free Patriotic Movement established by President Michel Aoun and other groups and individuals that view its weapons as an asset to Lebanon. On the bright side, Hezbollah and its allies are not on course to win the two-thirds majority that would allow them to pass big decisions such as changing the constitution. But having an Iranian backed terror group with that much power over a country on Israel’s border is clearly problematic, to say the least.
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Russian Invite
Russian President Putin has invited PM Netanyahu to join him in an annual march in Moscow on Wednesday marking Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in WWII. After the march the two will meet in the Kremlin to “discuss regional developments,” including the Israeli airstrikes against Iranian bases in Syria and the possible sale of the Russian-made S-300 aerial defense system to Syria. This will mark the two leaders’ eighth meeting in the past two years.
On Tuesday Netanyahu will be in Cyprus for a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
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Override Law
The ministerial legislation committee today approved a bill introduced by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) giving a majority of 61 MKs the power to ratify a law struck down by the Supreme Court. The bill is an amendment to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett and Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked said, “The government today began building a wall separating the three branches of government. The High Court’s interference in legislation and the government’s decisions long ago deviated from the accepted norm. The override clause will restore the public’s confidence in the High Court and restore the original functions to the three branches: the Knesset legislates, the government executes, and the court interprets. No branch should interfere with another one. As the representative of the people, the Knesset is sovereign, as in any proper democracy.”
The bill was opposed by members of the Kulanu party and the Attorney General. The Supreme Court judges as well as members of the opposition have strongly criticized the bill as a threat to democracy.
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