J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.
Israeli Coalition Deal Gives Far Right’s Itamar Ben-Gvir Control Over the Police, Including in the West Bank, JTA
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the right-wing Israeli politician called a “pyromaniac” by his critics because of his penchant for inflaming his country’s deep tensions, will head Israel’s police forces, under the terms of a deal inked with Benjamin Netanyahu early Friday. The deal would expand the ministry of internal security, the old name of the cabinet position in charge of the police, into the ministry of national security and would also give Ben-Gvir authority over border police in Palestinian territories.
Trump’s Latest Dinner Guest: Nick Fuentes, White Supremacist, The New York Times
Former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday night had dinner with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and racist who is one of the country’s most prominent young white supremacists, at Mr. Trump’s private club in Florida, advisers to Mr. Trump conceded on Friday.
Israel’s Likud Signs Coalition Deal With Anti-LGBTQ Radical, AP
Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with a small ultranationalist faction leader known for homophobic rhetoric and disparaging remarks about non-Orthodox Jews, a sign of the prospective government’s hardline makeup. Netanyahu’s Likud party announced Sunday that the agreement names Noam faction leader Avi Maoz as a deputy minister whose portfolio includes an office bolstering Jewish identity among Israelis.
Far-right MK Ben-Gvir: Police Must Check if Soldiers Who Beat Activists in Hebron Were ‘Provoked’, Haaretz
Far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Saturday for police to investigate whether left-wing activists who were beaten by soldiers in Hebron on Friday had “provoked the soldiers.”
IDF Troops Held for Allegedly Throwing Explosive at West Bank Home in Revenge Attack, The Times of Israel
A number of Israel Defense Forces soldiers were arrested Monday on suspicion that they hurled an explosive device at a Palestinian home near Bethlehem in the West Bank overnight, the army said in a statement.
Israeli Army Employs Closed Military Zones to Rein in Palestinians and Left-wing Activists, Haaretz
The police were allowed to gather information from cellphones belonging to three left-wing activists after they were arrested for entering a closed military zone declared by the army. A Palestinian shortly afterward was detained for three days because the army had issued a similar order for land he owns.
4 Suspects Arrested in Tira Murders Case, The Jerusalem Post
Four residents of Tira suspected of being involved in the murder of two people were arrested on Saturday, according to an Israel Police spokesperson. A resident of Taybeh and a resident of Tira were killed when the suspects fired at a cafe where three people were present on Saturday evening.
An Israeli Schoolboy Died in the West Bank. To Find His Body, Foes Joined Forces., The New York Times
Patrick Kingsley reports, “After Palestinian gunmen refused to hand over a dead Israeli teenager on Tuesday, officials on both sides of the conflict worked together to recover his abducted body.”
Herzl Halevi’s Big Challenge, Haaretz
Haaretz’s Editorial Board writes, “Given that Israel is embarking on a new chapter in its history in which the distinction between the army and the police (as well as the distinction between external and internal enemies) is being undermined, the response by senior army officers to the incident in Hebron – a city where the relationship between the army and the settlers is warped in any case – is of great importance…This difficult challenge will soon land on the doorstep of the next chief of staff, Herzl Halevi, who is slated to begin his term in January 2023. Halevi will have to maneuver in extremely complex conditions to prevent a dangerous politicization of the IDF and its division into separate militias, each of them obeying the orders of a different commander.
