Milchan: Netanyahu told me he got AG’s approval to receive gifts with ‘no limit’

Germany’s far-right AfD wins county leadership for first time, as it rises in polls

BERLIN, Germany — The far-right Alternative for Germany party sees its first head of a county administration elected today in a rural eastern region, a win that comes as national polls show its support at record levels.

A runoff election in Sonneberg county pitted Robert Sesselmann, the candidate from Alternative for Germany, against center-right rival Jürgen Köpper. Official figures show Sesselmann, who had been well ahead in the first round two weeks ago, winning by 52.8% to 47.2%.

Sonneberg has a relatively small population of 56,800, but the win is a symbolic milestone for Alternative for Germany, or AfD. The 10-year-old party has been polling between 18% and 20% in national surveys lately.

It has been riding high as center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition, with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, faces strong headwind over high immigration, a plan to replace millions of home heating systems, and a reputation for infighting, while inflation remains high.

Köpper’s center-right opposition Union bloc leads national polls, with lackluster support ratings of just under 30%.

AfD first entered the national parliament in 2017 after campaigning strongly against migration following an influx of refugees to Europe during the preceding years. Lately, it has come out against German support for Ukraine.

Despite being largely shunned by mainstream parties, it has established itself as a durable force, particularly in the formerly communist and less prosperous east. An AfD candidate made it into last week’s runoff mayoral election in Schwerin, the capital of the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, but was easily defeated.

Sonneberg is located in Thuringia, one of three eastern regions that holds state elections next year.

AfD has drifted to the right over the years and faces increasing scrutiny from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.

Its regional branch in Thuringia is headed by a prominent figure on the party’s hard right, Björn Höcke, who recently was charged by prosecutors over his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by the Nazis’ SA stormtroopers.

FM slams US decision to end scientific, tech cooperation with Israeli entities over Green Line

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen at a ceremony in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, January 2, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen condemns a decision by the Biden administration to cease scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities over the so-called Green Line.

“I am against this decision and think it’s mistaken,” Cohen says in a briefing with reporters. “In similar cases, in the past, the Israeli government has always made sure to give full damages to those hurt by these decisions.”

IDF chief denounces ‘incitement’ against brigade commander by settler activists

Col. Eliav Elbaz, commander of the Binyamin Territorial Brigade in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)

Military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi condemns “incitement” by settler activists against the commander of the Binyamin Territorial Brigade, part of the Israel Defense Forces’ West Bank division.

Activists have called for Col. Eliav Elbaz to resign. “You failed, go home,” an image circulating on social media reads.

A video shared by settler activists on Friday showed Elbaz pursuing an Israeli man near the settlement of Ateret, telling him to leave the area.

The calls come amid a string of settler attacks on Palestinians in recent days.

“This is an unacceptable and unethical discourse,” Halevi says in a statement.

PM’s office thanks Cyprus for foiling alleged Iranian attack plot

Illustrative: Police officers in Paralimni, Cyprus, August 19, 2019. (AP/ Philippos Christou)

The Prime Minister’s Office praises Cyprus for foiling an alleged Iranian attack plot against Israeli and Jewish targets.

“The State of Israel operates with wide variety of methods in all places to protect Jews and Israelis, and will continue to act to destroy Iranian terror wherever it raises its head, including on the soil of Iran,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says, without elaborating further.

Gantz: Netanyahu must not let ‘irresponsible’ Ben Gvir appoint next police chief

National Unity Party leader MK Benny Gantz speaks during a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition National Unity leader Benny Gantz calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not allow National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to appoint the next police chief, after incumbent Commissioner Kobi Shabtai indicated he would not remain in the post another year.

“If Netanyahu has any integrity and concern for the security of Israeli citizens, he must ensure that an irresponsible person like Ben Gvir does not appoint the next police commissioner,” Gantz tweets. “This will be a blow to public security and [cause] serious damage to the police for years ahead.”

He also praises Shabtai, noting the two worked together when he was defense minister, and that opposition leader Yair Lapid has worked together with Shabtai as well.

Palestinian said held as suspect in planned rocket fire during Jerusalem Flag March

Israelis wave flags ahead of a march marking Jerusalem Day, in front of the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City, May 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli security forces arrested a Palestinian man on suspicion of preparing a rocket to fire toward Jerusalem during the nationalist Flag March in the city last month, according to Hebrew media reports.

The suspect, a resident of the West Bank village of Ajul, assembled two projectiles on his own, the Kan public broadcaster says.

Greek exit polls forecast landslide win for PM’s conservative party

Kyriakos Mitsotakis leader of center-right New Democracy arrives at the headquarters of the party in Athens, Greece, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

ATHENS, Greece — An exit poll from Greece’s second election in five weeks indicates the conservative New Democracy party has won by a landslide, gaining enough parliamentary seats to form a government for a second four-year term.

The poll projects Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party gaining 40-44% of the vote, with his main rival, the left-wing Syriza party suffering a crushing defeat with just 16-19% projected support, even worse than his 20% in the last elections in May.

Today’s vote comes just over a week after a migrant ship capsized and sank off the western coast of Greece, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing, and calling into question the actions of Greek authorities and the country’s strict migration policy. But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean Sea in recent years, did not affect the election, with domestic economic issues at the forefront of voters’ minds.

The exit poll projects Mitsotakis’ party will win a comfortable majority of Parliament’s 300 seats, allowing him to form a stable government, thanks to a change in the electoral law that grants the winning party bonus seats. The previous election in May, conducted under a proportional representation system, left him five seats short of a majority despite winning 41% of the vote.

IDF to send 2 more battalions to West Bank after series of settler attacks

Israeli soldiers at the entrance to Turmus Ayya, as smoke rises over the West Bank town after settlers set fire to cars and homes, June 21, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The Israel Defense Forces says it will be bolstering the West Bank with two additional battalions, following a recent string of settler attacks against Palestinian villages and towns.

The IDF says the decision was made following a fresh assessment.

Last week, following a deadly terror attack at a gas station near the settlement of Eli, the army deployed four more battalions to the area.

Typically, the IDF’s West Bank division has 13 battalions. Over the past year and a half, that number has fluctuated because of an anti-terror offensive, following a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks, reaching a height of 26 battalions in October 2022, before dropping back down by several battalions.

Ben Gvir on Shabtai: Our disagreements were no secret; I thank him for his service

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds a meeting at his ministry offices in Jerusalem, June 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responds to Police Chief Kobi Shabtai’s remarks that he does not see himself remaining in the post.

“It’s no secret that there were disagreements — essential disagreements — between us, but the police commissioner was a fighter for many years, a good fighter, a strong fighter for the country. I thank him for his years of service,” Ben Gvir says in a video statement.

Ben Gvir was widely reported to have decided against extending Shabtai’s term for another year, as the two clashed over the far-right leader’s efforts to expand his control over the force.

Police chief says ‘no secret’ he won’t stay on another year ‘under these conditions’

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai (left) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Israel Police Independence Day ceremony at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem, April 20, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai acknowledges he’s unlikely to have his term extended for another year, amid continued disputes with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

“It’s no secret that I don’t intend to continue for a fourth year under these conditions,” Shabtai says during an event at the national police college.

“I have given dozens of years for the State of Israel and Israeli society,” he adds. “I won’t let this complex situation we’re in influence either my or any of my officers’ ethical, moral, and professional conduct.”

Reports earlier this month said that Ben Gvir, who has pushed for greater control over police, had already decided not to extend Shabtai’s tenure by a year.

Police arrest 3 UN workers at Jordan border crossing for smuggling ‘liquid cocaine’

This handout photo from police shows bottles of "liquid cocaine" that three UN workers are accused of trying to smuggle through a border crossing between Israel and Jordan, June 25, 2023. (Israel Police)

Police announce the arrest of three United Nations employees for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Israel.

According to police, the three raised the suspicion of border inspectors at the Jordan River Crossing between the northern Israeli city of Beit She’an and Jordan’s Irbid, where during a routine search they were caught with cocaine in liquid form that was disguised as perfume.

The three, who police say serve along the Syrian border, are taken for questioning.

Massive crowds circle Kaaba as hajj kicks off in Saudi heat

Muslim worshipers and pilgrims gather around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on June 24, 2023, as they arrive for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP)

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Vast crowds of robed Muslim faithful walk solemn circles around the Kaaba, the black cube at Mecca’s Grand Mosque to begin the biggest hajj pilgrimage in several years, in the heat of the Saudi summer.

Islam’s holiest site is expected to host more than two million worshipers from 160 countries during the annual rites that could break attendance records, with 1.6 million foreigners already arrived by late Friday.

The hajj began early today with the tawaf — the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the large cubic structure draped in black cloth with gold trimmings that Muslims around the world pray toward every day.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken at least once by all Muslims with the means.

A series of rites are completed over four days in Mecca and its surroundings in the west of oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

This afternoon, pilgrims start moving to Mina, about five kilometers (three miles) from the Grand Mosque, ahead of the hajj’s climax at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

Mina, the world’s largest tent city, readied to receive the influx of pilgrims, with food supplies brought in and security forces deployed around the area.

More worshipers are expected to head to Mina tomorrow, as a vibrant atmosphere takes hold of the tented city with the arrival of pilgrims by foot or via air-conditioned buses.

US to reportedly halt science and tech research with Israeli entities over Green Line

Students are seen walking at the Ariel University campus in the West Bank settlement of Ariel on January 25, 2017. (Sebi Berens/Flash90)

The United States has reportedly told Israel that it will cease scientific and technological cooperation with entities in the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, reverting to a long-running policy that was reversed under then-US president Donald Trump.

The move is a return to the previous directive barring scientific and technological cooperation in the areas that a US State Department official defined to the Kan public broadcaster as beyond the 1967 Green Line and “which remain subject to negotiations on their permanent status.”

The official tells the broadcaster that the updated directive “simply reflects the position of the United States over the years.”

“We are working toward negotiations for a two-state solution, where Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,” the unnamed official says.

With law set to expire, cabinet approves decision to exempt Haredi youth from draft

Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox Jews walk outside the army recruitment office in Jerusalem, December 5, 2019. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The government approves a decision that would enable the military to exempt ultra-Orthodox Israeli youth from the draft, five days before the current exemption framework expires.

Approved by the cabinet, the decision allows Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to order the Israel Defense Forces to not enforce conscription within the community.

In 2017, the High Court of Justice invalidated the current conscription law, which gives sweeping exemptions to full-time religious scholars. The 15th extension that the court has granted to legislate a solution is due to expire at the end of July. However, the underlying law — upon which the Defense Ministry was permitted to rely until a new solution was found — expires on June 30.

Pressed on by ultra-Orthodox parties, the coalition is planning to advance a new draft bill in the winter session. This bill is expected to lower the exemption age for religious scholars from 26 to 23, in order to let ultra-Orthodox youth enter the workforce earlier.

It is expected to be passed alongside bills that improve conditions for soldiers and reservists.

Milchan testifies he refused Sara Netanyahu’s jewelry request until PM said it was okay

Arnon Milchan (Flash90)

Arnon Milchan describes in court an incident from 2011 when he bought jewelry for Sara after initially refusing, but ultimately purchased the item after Netanyahu assured him it was legal to do so.

Milchan says he thinks either Sara Netanyahu or Hadas Klein initiated the request for the jewelry, but is hazy on the details so State Attorney Liat Ben Ari reads from the transcript of his testimony to the police how he had told Klein to reject the request until Netanyahu himself approved Sarah’s request.

“I asked Bibi if it wasn’t dangerous… I said to Bibi get an opinion from the attorney general [if it was legal to accept such gifts] and he got back to me and said he got approval from the attorney general and the answer was that friends can get gifts from friends, apart from a house, and there is no limit [to how much you can get],” says Milchan.

“I asked Sara to ask her husband to be sure he wouldn’t get into trouble, because it [the jewelry request] seemed to me a bit exaggerated,” he continues, affirming that the jewelry in the end was purchased for Netanyahu’s wife since the prime minister had said there was no legal problem.

“I thought there could be a complication for the prime minister and his wife,” Milchan repeats.

Prosecutors slam ‘biased and inaccurate’ leak, ask to accelerate Netanyahu graft trial

Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari (left) with colleagues at the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the District Court in Jerusalem, February 8, 2021. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)

Prosecutors file a request with the Jerusalem District Court to accelerate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s graft trial, asking the judges to add additional days of hearings next month.

In the request, prosecutors say they want to speed up the evidentiary stage in the trial, which began in May 2020. They urge the judges to also lengthen the hearings on days when testimony is currently scheduled.

They also complain about the leak of a conversation the judges and the opposing legal teams held last week, during which the former reportedly said prosecutors would have a hard time proving the bribery charge against Netanyahu.

“The conversation was leaked in a biased and inaccurate manner and in a way meant to harm the proper conduct of the trial,” the prosecutors charge.

They therefore ask any further such talks only take place in the courtroom and that minutes be taken, “as long as there is not a legal justification for closed doors.”

Prosecutor complains about Sara Netanyahu’s conduct as Milchan quips ‘this could be a movie’

Sara Netanyahu, in the United Kingdom for the testimony of Arnon Milchan in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial, is seen on a screen at the Jerusalem District Court on June 25, 2023 (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL )

During Arnon Milchan’s testimony in Brighton, UK, State Attorney Liat Ben Ari suddenly complains about the behavior of Sara Netanyahu, who is the room with the witness as his testimony is being broadcast to the Jerusalem District Court.

“Sara Netanyahu is here in the room. She is making eye contact with the witness the whole time. I want to make clear that it is forbidden to make faces to the witness, and it is forbidden to hint to him anything,” insists Ben Ari angrily.

Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad objects vehemently to Ben Ari’s complaint and insists there is no prohibition against making eye contact with a witness.

The two attorneys engage in a hostile verbal exchange during which movie mogul Milchan chuckles, “This could be movie, maybe a TV show,” promising jovially to look at the ceiling instead of toward Sara Netanyahu.

Rabbi who lost wife, daughters in shooting attack says settler violence ‘desecrates God’s name’

ֿRabbi Leo Dee holds a press conference in Efrat, on April 10, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)

Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and two daughters were recently killed in a terror shooting, condemns acts of settler violence in apparent retaliation for an attack last week in which four Israelis were shot dead by Palestinian terrorists.

In a Facebook post, Dee expresses his condolences to the bereaved families. He also praises a civilian who shot one of the attackers and the IDF for tracking down and killing the other.

“Now that the majority of the world’s Jewish population is living in our ancestral homeland and the state is 75 years old, 3 generations, we are here FOREVER,” writes Dee, a resident of the Efrat settlement. “And our purpose? To be a light unto the Nations.”

“Jewish violence against innocent Arabs is a Chilul Hashem which only creates darkness in the world,” he adds, using a Hebrew term that means a “desecration of God’s name.”

“Killing terrorists is humane and a Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of God’s name. Terrorising innocent Arabs is a crime against humanity, a Chilul Hashem and cannot be atoned for in a lifetime.”

Blinken says Wagner rebellion exposed ‘real cracks’ in Putin’s authority

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Beijing, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

WASHINGTON — Russia’s crisis involving an attempted mercenary revolt against the Kremlin exposed “real cracks” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority after he was forced into an amnesty deal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.

The uprising by the Wagner private mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin over the weekend marked “a direct challenge to Putin’s authority. So this raises profound questions, it shows real cracks,” Blinken tells CBS News talk show “Face the Nation.”

Israel to launch inquiry into 1982 bombing at Israeli military HQ in Tyre that killed over 90

Rescue workers search for survivors after an explosion at Israeli military headquarters in the Lebanese city of Tyre in 1982. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Archive)

Israeli authorities say they will open a commission of inquiry into a deadly explosion at Israel’s military headquarters in Tyre during the first Lebanon war in 1982, widely believed to have been a suicide bombing.

Officially, Israel has said the explosion, known as the first Tyre bombing, was caused by a gas leak, although multiple reports have suggested it was a Hezbollah suicide bombing attack.

The explosion killed at least 91 people according to Israeli officials, including 75 Israelis and several more Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

In a joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet security agency, and Israel Police, officials say that a team established in November to examine materials related to the incident found that there is reason to believe the bombing was a deliberate attack.

A commission of inquiry headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Abulafia, the former commander of the military’s Planning Directorate, will “examine the findings of the probe team and other materials, in order to form a final position on the matter,” the statement says.

Officials have said the case is being reopened “out of respect for the fallen and the search for the truth.”

Ukraine embassy slams ‘neutrality’ of Netanyahu government: ‘A clear pro-Russian position’

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk speaks during a conference in Jaffa, June 7, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni‎‏/Flash90)

After an ostensible warming of ties under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Kyiv blasts Jerusalem’s recent policies toward Moscow, saying the “so called ‘neutrality’ of Israel government is considered as a clear pro-Russian position.”

In a post to its Facebook page, Ukraine’s embassy in Israel points at “a series of rather controversial events that took place in the first half of 2023.”

The embassy calls Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s February trip to Kyiv “fruitless” and accused Netanyahu of making “entirely fictional and speculative assumptions” in a recent interview, in which he said advanced weaponry was reaching Iranian and Syrian hands.

The embassy statement further lambastes Israel for conducting “two rounds of high-level political negotiations with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

It also decries the deal reached by Israel and Russia earlier this month in which the latter agreed to open an embassy branch office in Jerusalem, while simultaneously settling a land dispute.

Kyiv accuses senior Israeli officials who attended the Russia Day reception in Jerusalem earlier this month of “a blatant disregard for moral boundaries.”

“Furthermore,” says the statement, “the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been dead silent regarding the regular antisemitic statements made by Putin and his minions.”

“While the people of Ukraine, including its substantial Jewish community, are bleeding under the onslaught of Russian missiles and Iranian drones, the Israeli leadership, hiding behind verbal demagoguery about their neutrality (albeit no longer concealing it) actively forges relations with the Russian federation,” reads the embassy statement.

“We urge Israel government to change its position and to support Ukraine with defensive means, to support freedom and democratic world order,” it concludes. “We expect Israel to be on a right side of a history!”

Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk will be summoned for a reprimand.

Russia says China expressed backing amid Wagner mutiny

MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign ministry says that Beijing had backed Moscow’s efforts to counter a short-lived armed uprising led by the head of the Wager mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“The Chinese side expressed support for the efforts of the leadership of the Russian Federation to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24, and reaffirmed its interest in strengthening the unity and further prosperity of Russia,” the Russian foreign ministry says in a statement following a meeting in Beijing between China’s deputy foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu and Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko.

Netanyahu shares post by Likud minister suggesting Ehud Barak should be imprisoned

Former prime minister Ehud Barak speaks at a protest in Tel Aviv against the government's planned judicial overhaul, February 25, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promotes a social media post by a minister in his Likud party suggesting former premier Ehud Barak should be imprisoned.

In the post shared by Netanyahu, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi rails at Barak’s calls for “non-violent civil disobedience” and a “revolt” against the government’s push to overhaul the judicial system.

“Where is Attorney General Baharav-Miara? Shin Bet chief Bar? Police Commissioner Shabtai?” Karhi writes in the post. “The time has come to take the law seriously, open an investigation and stop the campaign of sedition by Ehud Barak and his friends.”

Karhi then notes that those convicted of “acts of sedition” can get five years in the slammer.

File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi at the plenum hall of the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on May 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Government backs Likud bill to strip bar association of power, hand it to new body

Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky attends a Knesset Constitution Committee meeting, March 13, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

A government panel decides to back a Likud bill to siphon off power from the Israel Bar Association and transfer it to a new, government-headed authority.

Approved just days after the country’s lawyers elected Amit Becher — who has been critical of the coalition’s judicial overhaul push — to head the bar association, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation votes to support a bill that will strip away the bar’s licensing authority and its representation on the committee that selects judges.

The bill’s sponsor, Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, has said he plans to pull the section touching on the bar’s Judicial Selection Committee seats, though it still remains in the legislation.

Milchan says he gave cigars and bubbly to Netanyahus, requests for gifts ‘became routine’

Arnon Milchan poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Widows,' showing as part of the opening gala of the BFI London Film Festival in London, on October 10, 2018. (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Arnon Milchan acknowledges that he gave champagne, cigars, and jewelry to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, adding that he had initiated the gifts, specifically champagne.

Millchan says that after the first few times he gave them gifts, the Netanyahus began making the requests themselves and the three would use code words: Cigars were “leaves,” champagne was “pink” and shirts for the prime minister were “dwarves.”

“I gave Hadas Klein a free hand and said whatever the prime minister — [you have] carte blanche,” Milchan says, referring to his assistant. “I was doing this not as friend but as a citizen. I didn’t want the prime minister to have problems not connected to his job.”

“It became routine,” he adds.

“The relationship was very comfortable so there was no bad feeling about it [giving the presents]. The amounts got more and more, at the request of the recipients,” Milchan continues.

He also says that he asked Netanyahu if it was okay to give the premier gifts. “Bibi said he checked and that you can give gifts to friends, except for a house,” adds Milchan, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

Milchan requests a second recess and leaves the hall in Brighton where he is testifying. Earlier, Milchan requested that his testimony today be shortened by an hour, alluding to medical issues.

Knesset panel’s legal adviser says anti-‘reasonableness’ bill is ‘too broad’

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meets on June 25, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The legal adviser to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee tells the panel that the coalition’s proposal to block judicial review over the reasonableness of politicians’ decisions is “too broad.”

Gur Bligh advises that “if the committee decides” to legislatively limit the use of the “reasonableness” test, the bill should be limited to focus only on specified areas of decision-making.

“It’s not just who makes the decisions, but what kind of decision,” Bligh says.

In his legal opinion released before the committee’s discussion today, Bligh encouraged lawmakers to limit the ban to certain fields, such as government policy on the economy.

Bligh also suggested that, parallel to reducing oversight over politicians, lawmakers create mechanisms that would improve transparency of government decisions, in place of court hearings.

Milchan says he considered Netanyahu ‘a close friend’ and that PM was ‘very accessible’ to him

Arnon Milchan (left) and Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in the Knesset, on March 28, 2005. (Flash90/ File)

Arnon Milchan describes during his testimony how he felt personally close to Netanyahu and says they were good friends.

“I saw him as a close friend, between friends and comrades,” says Milchan, noting that Netanyahu sent him a letter after he was elected to office and told him it was the first letter he was writing anyone as prime minister.

“Brother, that was a very emotional letter,” says Milchan.

He says that meetings he had in his various homes with Netanyahu were in the majority social meetups, although sometimes they dealt with other issues like the media and then Netanyahu would invite his adviser Shlomo Filber.

Asked how accessible Netanyahu was to him, Milchan responds that he was “very accessible” and that if he would call, the prime minister would answer.

Netanyahu condemns ‘calls to take land illegally’ in veiled rebuke of Ben Gvir

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem, on June 25, 2023. (ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounces the establishment of wildcat outposts as response to terrorism, after settler activists set up a number of illegal structures across the West Bank following a deadly shooting attack.

“I’ve said for years that the proper response to terror is to fight terrorists and simultaneously deepen our roots in our land,” Netanyahu says at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to settlement construction. “And we are taking out terrorists in record number and also building in our land on a broad scale according to approved building plans. I emphasize — approved.”

“Calls to take land illegally and the activity of taking land illegally are unacceptable to me. They undermine law and order in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and they must stop immediately,” he continues in a veiled rebuke of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who urged settlers to “run for the hilltops.”

“Not only do we not support acts like these, our government will act decisively against them.”

Netanyahu doesn’t mention the numerous settler rampages in Palestinian towns that have also occurred since four Israelis were killed in the Palestinian terror shooting next to the settlement of Eli last week. Following another such attack yesterday, security chiefs released a joint statement condemning the settler extremists’ violence as “nationalist terror in the full sense of the term,” drawing a rebuttal from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.

Gantz: Canceling court oversight on reasonableness sets stage for corruption

National Unity head Benny Gantz seen during a discussion on the planned judicial reform at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on June 25, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition party head Benny Gantz says that canceling court oversight over the “reasonableness” of decisions made by minister and other elected officials sets the stage for corruption.

“This is a law for whitewashing corruption. It’s a law that removes limits from the government,” the National Unity head tells the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee.

Gantz says that his party “will absolutely not accept” the bill, saying it’s part of a piecemeal strategy leading to a judicial overhaul.

“We can’t negotiate on a judicial revolution in installments. Today it’s this law, tomorrow it’s that bill,” he tells the committee.

Despite withdrawing from judicial reform negotiations two weeks ago, Gantz calls on the coalition to “stop it all” and meet his conditions for returning to dialogue: electing and seating the Judicial Selection Committee, and not pursuing unilateral overhaul legislation.

‘Hello, Bibi’: PM is greeted by Milchan as film mogul begins video link testimony in corruption trial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the District Court in Jerusalem to listen to the testimony of businessman Arnon Milchan in his corruption trial on June 25, 2023 (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)

Testifying in the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday, movie mogul Arnon Milchan says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one stage was concerned about how much knowledge his personal assistant Hadas Klein had about their affairs.

The film producer is a witness in Case 1000 — one of three in which Netanyahu faces charges — involving suspicions that the premier illicitly accepted gifts including cigars and champagne from Milchan and another billionaire, James Packer.

Netanyahu is suspected of helping Milchan obtain a long-term residency visa in the US and seeking to advance legislation that would have benefited Milchan’s tax liability if it had been passed.

“Bibi thought Hadas knew too much. He worried that it was not a good idea to continue our employment of her because she knew too much,” says Milchan.

As Milchan is speaking, Netanyahu walks into the court room in Jerusalem and is greeted by Milchan, from Brighton, who calls out “Hello, Bibi.”

Rothman: Overhaul negotiations failed from start, used by opposition to ‘create chaos’

MK Simcha Rothman leads a Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee discussion, June 25, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chair Simcha Rothman says that now-stalled judicial negotiation talks were failed from the start, accusing opposition politicians of using the dialogue to “create chaos.”

“The public was exposed to the fact that the your whole goal in talks was to create chaos, that you left the talks,” says Rothman, to shouts from opposition politicians.

“The public understands very well that the purpose of talks was not to come to agreements but to create a trigger for explosion. You made a mistake in that you revealed this,” he adds.

Man shot dead in Nahf, the 105th killing in Arab community this year

A man in shot dead in the northern town of Nahf, the 105th member of the Arab community to have been killed so far this year in a spiraling crime wave.

Police say the man was shot while in a vehicle and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he was declared dead.

According to the Abraham Initiatives, an anti-violence monitoring group, there have been 105 killings in the Arab community so far this year, compared to 46 killings at this point in the year in 2022.

Critics and protesters have pointed the finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Police, politicians and community leaders have struggled over the past several years to rein in criminal activity driving the spiking violence, which has appeared to ramp up in recent months.

Many Arab community leaders blame authorities and the police for the crime wave, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars, and violence against women. The communities have also suffered from years of neglect by state authorities.

Coalition officially restarts overhaul with panel discussion on ‘reasonableness’ bill

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman (C), head of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on June 25, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Deliberations begin on the coalition’s bill to outlaw judicial review of the “reasonableness” of political decisions and appointments, officially restarting its judicial shakeup three months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu froze the controversial legislative package.

Speaking in the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, opposition lawmakers slam the reasonableness bill as the first step in a collective vision to curtail judicial checks on political power.

“This is part of a full plan to hurt democratic institutions,” says National Unity’s Orit Farkash HaCohen, who charges that at the root of the overhaul is “corruption.”

Yesh Atid lawmaker Karine Elharrar adds that eliminating the reasonableness test over decisions by ministers and other elected official “is the first thing in the Poland protocol.”

“They do it bit by bit, in moderate steps, and in the end they control the system,” she adds.

Coalition lawmakers defend the move, saying that elected officials are more suited to making policy than the court is.

“It’s not reasonableness, it’s policy,” says Likud MK Amit Halevi. The court “swaps” its position for that of elected officials, he says.

Ahead of the bill’s introduction into the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the forum’s legal adviser issued an opinion encouraging lawmakers to limit the ban to certain fields, such as government policy on the economy.

He also encouraged lawmakers to create, in parallel, mechanisms that would improve transparency of government decisions, in place of court hearings.

Film mogul Milchan begins testimony at Netanyahu corruption trial

Arnon Milchan (left) and Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in the Knesset, on March 28, 2005. (Flash90/ File)

Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan, a key witness in one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption cases, begins to testify at the premier’s corruption trial via video link from Brighton, England.

The film producer is a witness in Case 1000 — one of three in which Netanyahu faces charges — involving suspicions that the premier illicitly accepted gifts including cigars and champagne from Milchan and another billionaire, James Packer.

Milchan will testify from Sunday to Thursday for two weeks, between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. A day or two will be dedicated to the prosecution’s examination, while the rest of the time will be granted for cross-examination by Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad.

The prime minister’s wife, Sara, is present in the room with Milchan.

Channel 13 news aired footage of Milchan and Netanyahu arriving separately at the Brighton venue.

מילצ'ן הגיע לאולם בברייטון על מנת למסור את עדותו בתיק 1000: "נוכחות שרה נתניהו לא תשפיע, אין מה לחשוש כשאומרים את האמת"

לכל העדכונים – https://t.co/5PhLTp02VG@aviadglickman pic.twitter.com/nwASD4QuiP

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) June 25, 2023

Netanyahu is himself expected to arrive at the Jerusalem District Court to listen to the proceedings.