Israeli politics & society

Updated March 24, 2025

Israeli cabinet launches procedure to remove the attorney general

What’s happened: The cabinet convened yesterday to discuss and hold a vote of no confidence in the attorney general. This is the first step towards removing her from office.

The cabinet meeting was chaired by Justice Minister Levin, as the prime minister recused himself, due to his ongoing trial and a conflict of interests.
Making the case against Baharav-Miara, Levin said, “The attorney general has almost systematically refused to appear before the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. She ignores ministers’ requests and doesn’t respond to me. She blatantly ignores letters from me, the justice minister, to say nothing of what happens with other ministers. The attorney general operates in complete contradiction to her role, in a way that cannot be described as anything other than political while citing legal impediments in a long list of things. The attorney general is using her technical power to prevent government legislation and has become a sort of veto.”
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara did not attend the meeting but sent a letter outlining her position, “This proposal is not trying to further the cause of confidence, but rather loyalty to the political leadership. It is not about governance, but rather unchecked governmental power as part of a wider programme to weaken the judiciary and to deter all the professional levels. The government wants to be above the law and to act without checks and balances.”
The ministers voted unanimously in favour of the no-confidence motion.
In parallel, thousands demonstrated outside, protesting the government’s decisions to fire both the head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar, and now Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Though unelected, both positions are considered gatekeepers of democratic norms.
Among the speakers at the demonstration outside the government meeting included retired Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia. She told the crowd, “We are in the midst of a deep rift that threatens to bring down the entire democratic institution. For the first time, the unwritten agreement that all governments have respected is being violated. Breaking the independence of central institutions and breaking down oversight institutions will cause the face of this country to go from one extreme to the other. Israel will no longer be a free, democratic country but rather a different type of regime that we cannot recognise.”

Context: The process of firing the head of the Shin Bet and the attorney general will both be discussed by special committees. The decisions could then be appealed in the Supreme Court.

Both committees will focus on procedural issues and the apparent conflicts of interests.
On procedure, the role of director of the Shin Bet will be reviewed by a special advisory committee for senior appointments.
The office of attorney general is covered by a different special advisory committee comprising a mix of legal scholars, civil servants, and politicians. However two appointments have expired and have not been replaced. One is required to be a former attorney general, the other required to be a former Minister of Justice. Every single living former attorney general, including several appointed by Netanyahu, strongly opposes the firing of Baharav-Miara.
On the other side, recent former ministers of justice are known to support her firing. As well as being former justice ministers, both Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar are part of the current administration.
In Saar’s case, he voted with the cabinet last night, despite being the minister that recommended Baharav-Miara’s appointment in the Bennet led government.
To further complicate matters, the person occupying the law professor seat on the committee is Tali Einhorn, a very conservative scholar known to be quite enthusiastic about firing Baharav-Miara, but she too might have to step aside for an obvious conflict of interest, her son, Srulik Einhorn, (an adviser to the prime minister) is one of the three leading suspects in the unfolding “Qatargate” scandal, as well as in the illegal leaks of classified material to the German Bild newspaper last year. He is currently in Serbia, and has refrained from returning to Israel for months in order to avoid police questioning.
In any event, the advisory committee’s recommendation are non-binding. However, given all the procedural difficulties, the Supreme Court might very rule that ignoring both or either violates the now famous “reasonableness clause.” It almost certainly wouldn’t accept a process where the committees have not even been convened.
The larger conflict of interest surrounds the prime minister, as the attorney general is prosecuting his corruption trial. He absented himself from the cabinet discussion on her dismissal, but it’s not clear that the Court will be impressed that this is enough.
In the case of the Shin Bet director, he cannot absent himself. The Shin Bet is an agency inside the Prime Minister’s Office, and he is the one who requested the director’s dismissal. Here is a different conflict of interest, as it was the Shin Bet that launched an investigation into Qatari influence in the Prime Minister’s Bureau. Ronen Bar himself has all but outright accused Netanyahu of seeking to fire him and replace him with a more pliant director in order to quash this investigation, and this is a version of events that much of the Israeli media has broadly accepted. If the Court accepts it too, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which it approves the government’s decision to fire Bar.
Netanyahu and his closest backers see the events in the exact opposite way: they argue that the entire investigation of Qatari influence was concocted as a way to block Bar’s dismissal. This was the central accusation Netanyahu made in a video he posted Saturday night with “bombshell revelations” about the timing of the investigation.
When so much of the investigation classified and under a gag order, it’s not easy to piece together the precise sequence. However, several Israel media reports have suggested that the dates don’t add up in a way that is compatible with Netanyahu’s argument. The Prime Minister’s Bureau was asked to respond to the first Qatargate report in the media one day before it first even suggested dismissing Bar.

Looking ahead: The Court will consider Bar’s case on April 8^th.

The government has given several ambiguous indications that it will ignore a Court ruling it does not like (only one minister, Moshe Arbel of Shas, has explicitly ruled this out). Such a situation would plunge the country into a constitutional crisis and, most likely, a crippling general strike.

March 20, 2025

IDF advances in Gaza amid political turmoil

What’s happened: Operation Strength and Sword entered its third day, with Israeli jets and IDF vessels engaging dozens of terrorists as well as infrastructure and rocket launching sites in Gaza.

Among others, the headquarters of a Hamas battalion in the Darraj Tuffah neighbourhood was struck. This site had been used to plan numerous terror attacks against Israel’s home front and IDF troops.
Significantly, yesterday Israeli ground forces also moved back into the Netzarim Corridor.
Israeli Defence Minister Katz issued a stark warning to Gazans: “What comes next will be much worse, and you will pay the full price. The re-evacuation of the population from the battle zones will commence soon. If all the Israeli hostages are not released and Hamas is not ejected from Gaza, Israel will operate with an intensity that you have yet to see.”
Early Wednesday morning, the Houthis fired another missile at Israel, which was intercepted before entering Israeli territory. Sirens sounded throughout the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis from their beds to shelters.
Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir returned to the cabinet yesterday. The cabinet is due to convene this evening to vote on dismissing the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
Israel’s Attorney General, herself the target of attempted dismissal by the Government, has determined that the Government cannot dismiss Bar without convening the Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments, as stipulated by the Government’s own decisions on appointments. The cabinet is due to vote on a resolution that would supersede this and cancel the need to convene the Appointments Committee.

Context: The Netzarim Corridor is a column of territory from the Israeli-Gaza border to the sea which bisects the Strip and effectively prevents movement from one half to the other. From late October 2023 until the ceasefire went into effect in January 2025, Israel maintained a large military presence on the corridor, but it withdrew all its forces two months ago when the ceasefire deal went into effect.

Several top members of Hamas’s “civilian” wings have been eliminated, including prominent members of its domestic security forces. The most senior was the “shadow prime minister” of Hamas in Gaza, Issam al-Da’alis. Almost none of Hamas’s 18 member political bureau in Gaza, which served as the chief decision-making forum, remains. Eight have been eliminated, including Yahya Sinwar and Rawhi Mushtaha while seven other members left Gaza before the war broke out in October 2023 and were spotted in Qatar, Turkey and other countries. Among those left in Gaza is the 79-year-old Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of Hamas’s founders, and Ismail Barhoum, who is in charge of finances.
Three days into the Israeli offensive, Hamas has been so far unable to respond militarily in any way, an indication of its much depleted strength after nearly eighteen months of combat in a war it initiated. No rockets have been fired at Israeli cities, nor any terrorist attacks carried out from a West Bank cell. Moreover, no Israeli soldiers have been killed or captured in or around Gaza since fighting renewed early Tuesday morning. All this can, of course, change very rapidly. But it is a far cry from the kind of response Hamas would have been able to quickly mount as recently as one year ago.
Both the renewal of combat and the push to dismiss both the Attorney General and the Director of the Shin Bet continue to rile domestic Israeli politics. Tens of thousands of protestors against the decision to fire Bar – as well as to end the ceasefire – led mainly by activists who have campaigned on behalf of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, broke out in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
It is expected that a decision to fire Bar would be challenged in the Supreme Court.
An additional factor complicating the attempt to dismiss Bar is the possible conflict of interest emerging from the Shin Bet’s investigation of the affair the Israeli media have taken to calling “Qatargate.” Last night, police detained two suspects in connection with the ongoing investigation of ties between figures in the Prime Minister’s Bureau and Qatar, though a court injunction blocked the naming of the two suspects.
Ben-Gvir’s return to the cabinet ensures the Government will have a majority to pass the budget by the March 31 deadline. A failure to pass a budget would lead to automatic elections. Ben-Gvir left the Government in January because of his opposition to the ceasefire.

Looking ahead: A delegation of Hamas officials is due to arrive in Cairo today to discuss the terms of renewing a ceasefire. This follows yesterday’s meeting in Cairo between Egyptian mediators and an Israeli military delegation.

There has not yet been a major call-up of reserves like those that preceded previous land operations in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
A letter from President Trump to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calls for rapid negotiation of a new nuclear deal and, notably, contains a two-month deadline for reaching an agreement. The letter was delivered to the Iranians via intermediaries in the UAE. The two-month deadline would seem to imply a threat of possible military action in early summer. The US and UK are already engaged in operations against the Houthis, an Iranian proxy force in Yemen.

March 7, 2025

IDF under new leadership

What’s happened: On his second day as chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Gaza Strip accompanied by the outgoing head of Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman and other high-ranking officers.

Zamir met with troops and local civilian leaders, telling them “We must be always on the alert, always tense, always ready, always suspicious, drill constantly. Look behind you, you can see the houses of Sderot. You are defending the residents of Sderot. You have great responsibility. I have confidence in you.”
His visit followed late night consultations in which he approved a new operational plan if fighting resumes in Gaza as well as the appointments of several senior officers.
Among the new appointments is Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, who will now serve as deputy chief of staff, replacing Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, who in turn will replace Zamir as director general of the Defence Ministry.
Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor will be the new head of the Southern Command while Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen is the new director of the IDF Operations Branch.
Among Zamir’s initial plans are:
- Reestablishing armoured recon platoons that were disbanded a few years ago and consider making one of them an ultra-Orthodox platoon.
- Offering greater financial support for families of regular service members, career soldiers, and reservists.
- Disbanding the Strategy and Iran Division next month – a decision already taken – and redistributing responsibilities to different units.
- Zamir has also said the pictures of the hostages would be on display in his office until they return.

Context: The change in command represent a fresh start for the army as it continues to rehabilitate itself and reconcile with the failures on October 7th following the completion of their internal investigations.

Zamir has acknowledged the IDF failed its mission on October 7th, but noted the army had emerged “from of the abyss and fought back.”
Zamir has said that Gaza and Iran are the two most significant challenges he faces, while also recognising the IDF’s moral duty to bring all the hostages home.
Defence Minister Katz met with the IDF General Staff forum led by Chief of Staff Zamir and presented his objectives for the IDF:
- First of all Israel’s ability to defend itself by itself, against any threat, both on the front lines and on the home front.
- Second is removing Iran’s nuclear threat.
- Third is preserving the strategic alliance with the US.
- Fourth is building the IDF’s strength as a powerful and triumphant military.
With no breakthrough in negotiations, the IDF is prepping for the option of resumption in fighting in Gaza. It is anticipated that the new IDF commander favours a more aggressive approach, using far more troops simultaneously in order to shorten the duration of the war.
However, he will maintain the policy of distinction towards the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and is expected to facilitate the movement of civilians to a safe area for their protected from airstrikes and ground manoeuvres.
In the latest displays of close coordination with the American military, US CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla visited Israel this week to attend Zamir’s appointment ceremony.
In addition, the Israeli Air Force conducted a joint aerial exercise with the US Air Force this week. The drill included Israeli F-35i and F-15i fighter jets flew alongside a US B-52 strategic bomber.

Background: Prior to his appointment Zamir had served as Director General of the Ministry of Defence. As such he was not part of the operational chain of command on October 7th.

Zamir was the consensus candidate of the prime minister and defence minister (having in the past served as Netanyahu’s military secretary).
Zamir will be the first chief of staff in 50 years who began his military service in the Armoured Corps.
There are several substantial issues on Zamir’s agenda:
- The operational challenges across all seven fronts that Israel has faced over the last 15 months.
- Structural issues including manpower, and the potential draft law for ultra-Orthodox men.
- Overseeing the rehabilitation of the IDF’s reputation in relation to the Israeli public.
His appointment is viewed as return to first principles – against the overreliance on technology – and a balance between quality and quantity. For example, Zamir previously objected to cuts that were made to the number of tanks in IDF use.
Zamir also believed that the IDF’s overreliance on the air force was incorrect and was in favour of the establishment of a missile corps. He has also emphasised the needs for the IDF to improve its ground manoeuvring capabilities.

Looking ahead: Next week Southern Command Commander Yaron Finkelman will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor

The new IDF command is expected to build a new multi-year strategy, which is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.

March 4, 2025

IDF releases more reports into October 7ᵗʰ attacks

What’s happened: The IDF have released two more reports of their investigations into what happened in various communities. The latest reports relate to events at kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Nahal Oz military base.

Kfar Aza: 64 members of the Kfar Aza community were murdered and 19 taken hostage, out of a community of around 900 people.

The attack began (as elsewhere) with a massive rocket attack. In total, over 750 rockets were fired at the Kfar Aza area alone.
With no warning having come from the army, at around 06:45 three hang gliders landed in the kibbutz.
Shortly afterwards, around 100 infiltrators entered the community, both Hamas terrorists and other Gazans. It was during this time that the majority of the residents were killed.
An hour later, a second wave entered, leaving the 14 members of the community’s security team to fight around 150 terrorists.
During the second wave, the terrorists began to take hostages.
A small number of IDF forces arrived at this time, but without coordination and with no orderly command. An estimated 250-300 terrorists were able to murder and abduct the kibbutz residents.
Only after 12:00 did the army arrive in more significant numbers, with “fierce combat conducted against hundreds of terrorists entrenched in the kibbutz,” continuing until the early evening.
By late afternoon, the IDF had established numerical supremacy, with around 700 soldiers fighting against 50 Hamas terrorists.
Fighting continued through the night, with the evacuation of the surviving residents carried out in the early hours of the morning.
Throughout the next two days, fighting continued in isolated incidents until, by the afternoon of October 10^th, the kibbutz was finally cleared of terrorists.
In total, around 150 terrorists were killed in the Kfar Aza area.
Eventually, air support arrived, including dozens of drones and helicopters, plus 12 fighter jets, but too late to save most of the residents.
According to the IDF investigation, there were several failures within the military echelon:
- Perhaps the most significant failure was the absence of any warning, which gave Hamas the element of surprise.
- The lack of military coordination and support from the Gaza Division (as it was conquered at the same time).
- The over reliance on tech and monitoring of the border fence, and the lack of forces in and around the kibbutz.
- The lack of knowledge of conditions on the ground on the part of soldiers who did eventually arrive.
- The accessibility of weapons kept in the storage area (the army had previously insisted on the storage to avoid the risk of weapons theft from private homes).

Focal Points in the Battle in Kibbutz Kfar Aza - 7th October 2023 — Source: IDF

Nahal Oz military base: 53 soldiers and officers were killed in combat and 10 soldiers kidnapped to Gaza, including seven female spotters.

On the morning of the attack, there were 162 personnel stationed at the base, but only 81 trained combatants.
Hamas had acquired substantial intelligence pertaining to the base. Based on documents captured from terrorists, they had precise diagrams, including locations of shelters, generators, and security cameras. They knew exactly who occupied which rooms, sleeping arrangements, and command post locations.
Despite the base being located 850 metres from the border fence, no defence protocol to guard against a ground raid.
On the morning of October 7^th, Nahal Oz camp maintained full routine operations without any warnings. At 05:30 the regular patrol left the base.
At 06:29, intense barrage fire targeted the base as female spotters reported enemy approaches to the fence. Soldiers followed their only known procedure: running to shelters, having received no other training for base attacks.
Female spotters followed their protocols, moving to observation positions to identify possible raids.
Following the massive rocket fire directed at the base, most of the soldiers retreated to the shelters. Around 65 Hamas Nukhba terrorists infiltrated the base just after 07:00.
At 07:43, the first Air Force attack drone arrived, but was unable to establish contact with ground forces and therefore unable to identify targets.
By 07:46, terrorists overwhelmed the women’s shelter which housed 31 female soldiers – only six were armed, with one entirely untrained. When the first terrorist entered, they managed to wound him before terrorists threw three grenades inside. Fourteen female soldiers escaped. The terrorists then bound the remaining women and searched for those who had escaped.
At 08:40, two airstrikes targeted areas near the female spotters’ quarters, driving terrorists away and saving eleven female soldiers’ lives.
Over the next four hours, IDF troops continued engaging terrorists, sustaining casualties.
Around 09:00, a second wave of terrorists arrived. Kidnappings from Nahal Oz began at around 10:00, with seven female spotters taken captive from their shelter at around 10:20.
Throughout this period, terrorists attempted to breach the command post but encountered determined resistance from two platoon commanders, including one Bedouin tracker. Six soldiers managed to escape through a bathroom window. Fifteen soldiers and commanders died in the command post.
Among the investigation’s main conclusions are:
- Dealing with a surprise attack compounded the fact that the base did not function as an outpost and was not prepared for defence or combat capability
- They had been prepared for rocket attacks, but not terrorist infiltration.
- The investigation team noted positively the commanders’ decisions to send their forces to fight in the nearby kibbutzim and protect the residents rather than fighting in the camp.
- Also noted positively was the performance of the female spotters and the commander who continued to provide operational reports to forces with composure, despite the many enemies in the camp. The investigation team recommended awarding citations to a number of male and female soldiers and officers.
- The devastating battle at Nahal Oz represents a systemic failure in IDF preparedness for a wide-scale ground attack under rocket fire.
- Retrospective analysis of Hamas’s invasion plans clearly shows they specifically targeted the Nahal Oz base as a key objective within its operational strategy.
- For years, Hamas gathered intelligence on the base through direct observation from Sajayia (which overlooks the site) and information collection from inside the camp via soldiers social media posts.

Enemy Plan - Nahal OZ Base attack - 7th October 2023 — Source: IDF

In the Knesset: The IDF reports are part of the internal military assessments over what went wrong, but many Israelis are continuing to demand a full-scale state commission of enquiry.

Yesterday, the opposition obtained the requisite 40 MK signatures, meaning Prime Minister Netanyahu was obliged to attend the session and to answer questions about why, after 17 months of fighting, no state commission of inquiry has been formed to look into the greatest failure in the history of the State of Israel.
Clashes erupted outside the chamber when the Knesset Guard forcibly blocked bereaved families from entering the observation gallery to watch the session.
One bereaved father, Shimon Buskila, whose son Yarden was murdered at the Nova festival, required medical attention.
It took nearly an hour for them to be permitted to enter the gallery under heavy security from the Knesset Guard.
Knesset Speaker MK Ohana (Likud) said there has been a 15-person limit to visitors observing Knesset activity from the visitors’ gallery since the start of the war because of disturbances that had broken out in the past. The families, however, said they had sent a letter to Ohana the previous day informing him that dozens of bereaved families planned to attend.
Inside the chamber, opposition MKs took turns reading statements given by families who suffered loss on October 7^th. National Unity Party Chairman MK Benny Gantz presented Netanyahu with a file containing all the families’ statements.
One of the letters was written by Yarden Bibas, released from captivity in February and whose wife Shiri and sons Ariel and Kfir were murdered in captivity by Hamas. MK Chili Tropper (National Unity Party) read the letter aloud. “Announce the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that will strengthen Israel’s security,” Bibas wrote. “So very many people have begged forgiveness; so very few politicians have begged forgiveness. I’m not interested in settling scores over the past; I want all of us to act so that things will be better here. I am asking you, Mr. Prime Minister: I haven’t been to Nir Oz. I’m asking you: let’s go together. If we don’t look the truth in the eye, we will not be able to recover.”
In response, Netanyahu lashed out at the opposition and the “deep state,” and described the demand to form a state commission of inquiry as an act of politically-motivated selective action designed to target him unfairly.
Netanyahu said, “It is important and essential to investigate in depth everything that happened to us on October 7^th and what preceded it. I insist on this. But this investigation needs to enjoy the public’s confidence or the confidence of a majority of the public. That is why we are demanding to form an objective, balanced commission of inquiry, and not a politically biased [commission] whose conclusions are a foregone conclusion.”

Looking ahead: Tomorrow, the IDF’s new Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir formally takes command of the army.

With no progress in talks to extend the ceasefire, the IDF is expected to wait another 10 days before it declares a resumption of fighting in Gaza.

February 17, 2025

Israel marks 500 days since October 7th

Hostages: Families of the hostages and their supporters are marking 500 days since their kidnapping, while 73 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Demonstrations are anticipated across the country. In Jerusalem there will be a protest march from the prime minister’s home to the Knesset.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced a ‘day’ of fasting (500 minutes), while noting that “this is nothing compared to the suffering of those still there. It is a day of solidarity that would strengthen the hostages and echo the cry of those who are not heard. There is no more time. Action is needed to return all of them immediately.”
Saturday saw the release of another three hostages – Sasha Trufanov, Sagi Dekel-Chen, and Iair Horn. This leaves 73 hostages in Gaza, six of whom are due to be released as part of the first stage of the deal along with eight bodies. Of the then remaining 59 it is thought around half are still alive.
At a press conference last night Yelena Trufanov, the mother of Sasha said that her son had been shot in both legs on October 7th, adding “it’s a miracle that he is standing and walking. I feel that I have been given back my life, my soul, my heart. Sasha came back alive and well and that is a great joy and relief.”
Sagi Dekel-Chen commented, “It’s nice to say 498 days, but we were there for over 43 million seconds of hell. We don’t count days, we don’t count minutes. We count seconds in this hell.”
In return for those hostages, Israel once more released over 300 Palestinian prisoners, 33 of whom were serving life sentences. In this round, most were from Fatah rather than Hamas, which allowed Hamas to magnanimously claim to be working on behalf of all the terror factions. Among the prominent terrorists – active during the Second Intifada – released this weekend are:
- Ahmed Barghouti (Fatah), serving 13 life sentences, murdered 12 Israelis.
- Muhammad Matzlah (Fatah), serving nine life sentences, was involved in the lynching of two IDF reservists.
- Shadi Abu Shahdam (Fatah), serving six life sentences, murdered six civilians, and wounding of over 100.
- Nael Abid, (Hamas), serving four life sentences, involved in the murder of seven civilians, and wounding of 60.

Diplomacy: On Sunday night the Prime Minister’s Office announced that it was sending a negotiations team to Cairo (today), “in order to discuss the continued implementation of the first stage of the deal.”

One of the unresolved issues of the first stage is the entrance of mobile caravan homes from Egypt into Gaza. Israel may be looking to leverage their entry in order to speed up the release of the remaining six live hostages, who are due for release in the first stage.
The security cabinet is expected to convene later today to establish the guidelines for the negotiators to discuss the second stage of the deal.
US envoy Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday that he was certain that the second stage of the agreement would be carried out. Witkoff said that stage was more “intricate and complicated” than the first, since it would entail an end to the war and Hamas “being gone from Gaza.”
Another issue being considered is the extension of the first stage. This coincides with the sensitive month of Ramadan due to begin at the end of next week. The idea is that such an extension would see the release of more hostages in exchange for more Palestinian security prisoners without either side needing to make the more difficult concessions as part two of the deal.

Israel – US coordination: On Sunday Israeli leaders hosted the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In a three hour meeting between Rubio and PM Netanyahu, they discussed the Iranian threat, the next stages of the ceasefire in Lebanon, the post Assad regime in Syria, Trump’s plan for post war Gaza and the hostages.
Rubio also met with President Herzog, Foreign Minister Saar, and Leader of the Opposition Lapid.
These meetings are the latest example of the close ties between the new US administration and the Israeli government.
In a joint press conference Netanyahu took the opportunity to restate, “President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us. We have a common strategy and we can’t always share in details this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them.”
Rubio said, “The president has been very clear: Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force. And frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern or a force that can administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible. They must be eliminated. It must be eradicated.”
Rubio also related to the Iranian threat saying, “Iran is the single greatest source of instability in the region. Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home, is Iran. And by Iran, I mean the ayatollahs. By Iran, I mean its regime, a regime who by the way, its people don’t support. The people of Iran are victims of that regime.”
Rubio added, “If there were more Israelis in the Middle East, more countries like that, the world would be a safer and a better place. And this is what we hope for the region and for our planet. A nation that has always sought peace but will not allow itself to be intimidated or destroyed by its enemies. And on that front, you can always count on us.”
Also this weekend, Israel received delivery of a shipment of heavy bombs. Despite their hold up, according to the Ministry of Defence, “over 76,000 tonnes of military equipment have arrived in Israel via 678 airlifts and 129 sea shipments. This represents the largest air and sea bridge in Israel’s history.”

Looking ahead: Once the security cabinet has discussed the second phase, senior negotiators are expected to meet later this week in Qatar.

Jordan and Egypt are preparing to present an alternative to President Trump’s plan to remove the residents of Gaza to other countries in the region.

February 14, 2025

New President of Israel’s supreme court sworn in

What’s happened: Yesterday, following his election in January, Justice Isaac Amit was sworn in as President of Israel’s Supreme Court. It is the first time that the position has been filled permanently in seventeen months.

While attended by President Herzog, Amit’s inauguration was notably boycotted by the whole of the Israeli cabinet, including the prime minister and justice minister.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s boycotting of the ceremony underscores how opposed he has been to Amit’s appointment at every possible step in the process.
Speaking at his appointment, Amit stressed the importance of the judiciary’s independence stating that it is “an essential component in the tripartite system of government… It does not stand above the other branches but operates alongside them, as an equal partner in the democratic framework of checks and balances. The role of the judiciary in this framework is to uphold the rule of law and protect individual rights from unlawful harm, whether from other individuals or from the government.”
Amit also asserted his view of Israel’s courts as “a public trustee…[which is] loyal to the public – and to the public alone.” This further underscores the strong divide between the judicial and executive branches of government.
President Herzog called on both sides of the divide to move towards compromise and reconciliation, to reach a “national spirit of goodwill—an era of outreach, moderation, and broad consensus-building.”
This was needed “especially today,” Herzog continued, “as the voices of our captive sisters and brothers cry out to us from beneath the ground in Gaza, and we remain deeply concerned for their fate—the people of Israel look to the leadership of the three branches of government, yearning to see their leaders working shoulder to shoulder despite their differences.”
He also added more criticism of the government boycotting the proceedings, explicitly stating that there was “no place” in a democracy for different branches of a government to shun each other.

Context: The unprecedented boycotting of the ceremony is a stark reminder of the chasm between the governing coalition and the judiciary.

This is the first time the role has been filled since October 2023, when the outgoing Chief Justice, Esther Hayut, retired. Levin refrained from appointing her replacement, and it took almost a year until the High Court ruled that he did not have the authority to postpone the position indefinitely, eventually leading to Amit’s election last month.
While the judiciary sees this is as a strengthening of the rule of law, their independence, and the separation of powers, the coalition view this as a tyranny of unelected minority of elites.
The ceremony is a symbolic victory for the legal establishment, but the appointment could also provoke the coalition to renew their efforts to reform the system.
The only legislation from the package of reforms proposed by Justice Minister Levin to pass parliament was the cancellation of the “reasonableness clause” in July 2023, which the Supreme Court eventually struck down.
The controversial judicial reform package was frozen to accommodate the entry of Benny Gantz’s party into the coalition four days after the 7th October attacks. With Gantz’s departure from the coalition last June, Levin no longer saw himself as being bound by that commitment.
One of the most contentious aspect of Levin’s proposed reforms involved the Judicial Appointments Committee. Levin and his supporters argued that the current makeup gave an outsized influence to serving judges and, in effect, was perpetuating a liberal and activist majority on the Court.
Opponents of Levin’s reforms argued that it would put too much power in the hands of the governing majority, rendering the Court a rubber stamp for the government rather than a vital check on its power. Currently, the Committee is comprised of two Ministers of Government, two Members of Knesset, three judges, and two representatives of the Israeli Bar Association. It requires a supermajority of seven members out of nine to appoint a Supreme Court Justice.
Months after Gantz’s departure from the coalition and war cabinet in June 2024, Gidon Saar broke off from Gantz and rejoined the coalition. He and Levin announced a compromise proposal for reforming the Judicial Appointments Committee in January that would eliminate the two Bar Association representatives and replace them with one MK from the coalition and one from the opposition.
Their reform would also eliminate the supermajority requirement for Supreme Court appointments. While a far cry from the far-reaching reforms that Levin initially sought two years ago, this compromise would still weaken the weight of “professional” (that is, non-political) actors in the Committee and leave the Court more sensitive to the political majority of the day. The compromise proposal has not been advanced to a vote, and has been criticised by the government’s Attorney General.
Over more than a year of this impasse over appointments and reforms to the appointment process, the Court functioned without a Chief Justice. Ultimately, the Committee met, without Levin, and picked a Chief Justice with the method that has been in use until now – namely by seniority.
A result of this disagreement has included the inability to replace two retiring Supreme Court justices leaving their positions vacant. There has also been a knock-on effect with numerous appointments in lower courts remaining unfilled, causing significant delays to legal proceedings across the country.
The constitutional crisis that tore Israel apart in the months before 7th October could now be back on the political agenda, just as the war takes a pause, the Knesset heads toward a possible dissolution, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is forced to make time each week testifying in his criminal trial.

Looking ahead: Regarding the hostage deal, Hamas has confirmed that it intends to release three Israeli hostages tomorrow, with their names expected to be released later today.

January 20, 2025

Mandy Damari releases statement

“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family. As I said over the course of the campaign, you are all Emily’s family.

I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality.

In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back. In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.

As wonderful as it is to see Emily’s resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.”

December 18, 2024

Netanyahu visits Syrian Hermon

18/12/24

What’s happened: Prime Minister Netanyahu has visited the Syrian side of Mount Hermon with the Defence Minister, IDF Chief of Staff and other senior defence officials.

Standing on the mountain, Netanyahu reiterated the importance of staying there “until another arrangement can be found that guarantees Israel’s security,” while invoking his last visit there 53 years earlier as a young special-forces officer.
Defence Minister Katz said that Israel “will remain here for as long as it is needed…Our presence here at the peak of the Hermon strengthens security and adds a dimension of both observation and deterrence to Hezbollah’s strongholds in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon and deterrence against the rebels in Damascus, who pretend to present a moderate image, but belong to the most extreme Islamic sects.”
In an interview with The Times published on Monday, Ahmed al-Sharaa (better known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani) stressed his commitment to the 1974 agreement with Israel that established a demilitarised zone on Syrian territory after the Yom Kippur War, stated that he did not want a conflict with Israel or anyone else, and would not allow Syria to be used as a “launchpad for attacks.”
However, he also called for Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone and criticised its recent airstrikes on former Syrian regime military hardware, suggesting that while it previously had a right to target Iranian backed militias, it no longer had any legitimacy to operate within Syria.
Despite appearing not to directly threaten Israel at this point, the rebels remain a significant cause of concern in Jerusalem given their historic extremism and links to Al Qaeda.

Context: Given the speed of the rebel takeover, it remains unclear how Syria‘s future may evolve and how this will impact on Israel.

The IDF entered the high ground in the 155-square-mile buffer zone in Syria just over a week ago, after the Assad regime collapsed to ensure rebels did not take over the area that offers a commanding view of strategically sensitive territory and is in close proximity to Israeli communities.
That buffer zone was created in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria. Since then, it has been Israel’s quietest border.
While it is almost certainly too early for the post-Assad Syria to formulate a cogent policy towards Israel, early indications suggest a pragmatic and non-confrontational approach is being taken.
Israel’s response to developments in Syria is indicative of a position that views Islamists (both Sunni and Shia) on Israel’s borders as a potential serious security threat.
While the mainstream view in Israel is that the collapse of the Assad regime was precipitated by Israel’s defeat of Hezbollah and the weakening of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, it nevertheless empowered Islamist Turkey which will likely have increased influence in the post-Assad Syria.
Last month Shin Bet Chief, Ronen Bar visited Turkey, Israeli media reports have suggested the visit was prompted by concerns about Turkish weaponry being smuggled into the West Bank, and a significant network of pro-Hamas charities freely able to fundraise for the terrorist group.
Israel is also aware of fears among Syria’s Kurdish and Druze minority populations for their own future in a post-Assad Syria, and is closely monitoring the situation. Shortly before taking office, Israel’s new Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, had indicated that alliances with Middle Eastern minorities including Druze and Kurds should be formed, and that these efforts should be pursued alongside a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia.
One Likud MK has proposed an international conference “to rearrange the international borders in Syria with its neighbours” and requested that Prime Minister Netanyahu considers dividing the country into a number of cantons. Such a proposal does not represent Israeli government policy.
Last week, Israel estimated that they had destroyed 80 per cent of the Syrian military in the largest operation the IDF had even launched. Most of what remains is considered obsolete and not worth wasting munitions in destroying.

Looking ahead: Israel will continue to closely monitor the developing situation in Syria, primarily with a view towards guaranteeing its own security, preventing a build-up of adjacent hostile forces, and ensuring the protection of communities in the Golan Heights and adjoining Galilee.

December 16, 2024

Israel clarifies position on Syria

16/12/24

What’s happened: Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to President-elect Trump on Sunday. Following the call he issued a statement noting, “We have no interest in a conflict with Syria. We will determine Israeli policy regarding Syria according to the reality on the ground.”

IDF Chief of Staff Halevi struck a similar tone when he visited Northern Command saying, “We are here to defend along the border in the Golan Heights, northern Golan Heights, and Mount Hermon. There was a country here that was an enemy state, its army collapsed, and there is a threat that terrorist elements could reach here. We moved forward so that these terrorist elements will not establish themselves… right next to the border. We are not intervening in what is happening in Syria. We have no intention of managing Syria. We are unequivocally intervening in what determines the security of Israeli citizens here, behind us in the communities of the Golan Heights, and we are doing that professionally and correctly, and we are doing it with determination.”
The statement followed comments over the weekend by the Syrian rebel leader, Jolani, who recognised that Israel formerly had the excuse of Iran’s presence in Syria to attack it, but that reason was “now over,” adding: “After the Iranian’s departure, there isn’t any reason for any intervention in Syria. In Syria’s condition, we aren’t about to enter into any conflict, and we are in contact with the international community.”
Jolani added, “There are a lot of things behind the scenes of the war that will be revealed in the future. What happened wasn’t a coincidence; rather, we had planned for that for years. We have a plan for dealing with all the crises in Syria. We are at the information-collecting stage, and we have plans and readiness for Syria’s construction and development.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend Israel continued to destroy what was left of advanced Syrian military hardware. Arab media reported a series of attacks against military targets, including military headquarters, radars, and weapons storage sites.
Syrian media reported that the IDF attacked outside Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. The attack appears to have targeted arms storerooms, and produced a powerful explosion.
According to the Russian news agency, Sputnik, the Israeli Air Force carried out 52 sorties on Saturday night across Syria within the space of four hours.

Context: The sudden fall of Assad’s regime has Syria has dramatically changed the strategic position between Israel and Iran, with significant repercussions felt across the region.

Last week, Israel estimated that they had destroyed 80 per cent of the Syrian military in the largest operation the IDF had even launched. Most of what remains is considered obsolete and not worth wasting munitions in destroying.
With Hezbollah defeated, Assad toppled, the Iranian doctrine of surrounding Israel with a ring of fire has collapsed.
The Iranians now face a choice if they wish to retain a belligerent and aggressive posture. They could choose to ramp up their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Or they could seek to reach an agreement with the US over limiting their enrichment or face further economic sanctions.
Hezbollah leader Qassem also admitted over the weekend that they have now lost their supply line from Iran.
Following the success of the rebels in Syria there is concern that it could spread, both to Jordan and the West Bank.
Over the weekend head of the Shin Bet Bar and head of IDF Intelligence Maj. Gen. Binder visited Jordan and met with senior officials, presumably amid concerns that the unrest in Syria might produce similar developments in Jordan.
Israel is concerned both for Jordan’s stability and the potential for Iran to increase efforts to smuggle weapons via Jordan into the West Bank.
In parallel the Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Forces have stepped up operations against terror infrastructure in Jenin. This is understood at both curbing any moves that could challenge the PA and also position them as potential partners in governing Gaza after the war is over.
Jolani’s comments (above) can be interpreted two ways. They could be a warning to Israel that they will seek to open hostilities in the future or an informal understanding of non-belligerence.
Israel reports suggest the latest call between Netanyahu and Trump was particularly warm and friendly, as Netanyahu hopes they will be closely coordinated on the Iranian threat and a potential hostage deal.
Netanyahu apparently appealed to Trump to increase the pressure so that more hostages will be included in the deal.
The call further highlighted the importance of coordination and continuity. Any potential agreement secured by the Biden team will need to be implemented by Trump’s.
In line with the understandings reached with President Biden, the IDF continues its low intensity campaign to challenge Hezbollah violations in southern Lebanon.

Looking ahead: The losses of Iranian axis has also isolated Hamas making them potentially more susceptible to agree a deal to release the hostages.

While the details have not been revealed, there remains hope that an agreement including a temporary ceasefire can be reached in the weeks ahead.

December 11, 2024

Israel claims 80% of Syrian military’s equipment destroyed

11/12/24

What’s happened: in the past 48 hours, Israeli strikes across Syria have destroyed up to 80% of the country’s strategic military equipment in a bid to prevent it from falling into hostile hands.

In a statement yesterday, the IDF confirmed that it had conducted over 350 strikes in Syria against what it is describing as “strategic targets” in Operation Bashan Arrow.
These targets included two Syrian naval ports at Latakia and Al-Bayda, sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80-190km, anti-aircraft batteries, weapons production sites, Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, electronic warfare systems, intelligence bases and hangars. The Israel Navy also destroyed approximately 15 missile boats and approximately 20 coast guard vessels, minelayers and landing ships that were in Syrian possession.
The Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre in Damascus, which was considered a cover for the development and production of chemical weapons, missiles and rockets – and which more recently helped Hezbollah to improve the precision of its rockets – was also destroyed.
Speaking after the attacks, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that while Israel would seek to establish relations with the post-Assad regime Syria and not interfere in its internal affairs, “we certainly do intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security” in a confirmation that it would not hesitate to defend itself.
The Prime Minister added “if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it…What happened to the previous regime will also happen to this regime.”
While Bashan Arrow was being completed, the Israeli Army continued its takeover of the 1974 Syrian buffer zone and now controls the entirety of Mount Hermon.
The UN has criticised Israel’s actions in the buffer zone, and accused it of violating the 1974 Syria disengagement deal.
Syrian sources have alleged that Israeli forces are operating outside of the buffer zone and approaching Damascus, which the IDF has strenuously denied. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and the Arab League also criticised the Israeli move.
Following the collapse of the Assad regime, Mohammed al-Bashir who previously led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) de facto rebel government in Idlib province, has been appointed as Syria’s caretaker Prime Minister until 1st March 2025.
Speaking to Al Jazeera afterwards, al-Bashir confirmed that efforts were being made include previous government members in any transition arrangements “in order to facilitate all the necessary works for the next two months until we have a constitutional system to be able to serve the Syrian people.”
Prime Minister Starmer has confirmed that no decision has been made yet on whether or not HTS will be removed from the Home Office’s list of banned organisations, and that it was “far too early” to consider a policy change, despite one of his Cabinet members earlier telling the BBC that this was a possibility.
The UN and US are also both reportedly considering delisting HTS as a terrorist group on the condition that it renounces terror, takes meaningful steps towards forming an inclusive government, and protects minorities.

Context: The destruction of the Syrian army’s main capabilities is the largest military operation the IDF has ever undertaken, and one the IDF had not prepared in advance.

It was based on the logic that Syria possessed significant capabilities that could pose a threat were they to fall into irresponsible hands.
Destroying the Syrian army’s capabilities was not previously carried out during the civil war so as to not be seen as Israel declaring war on the Assad regime, as well as due to the fear upsetting the Russians.
Before Assad’s fall, the Syrian military possessed 30 MiG 29 fighter jets, about 150 MiG 21, MiG 23 and Sukhoi 22 fighter jets, as well as 18 mid-range Sukhoi 24 bomber aircraft, half of which were thought to be still usable. The Syrian regime also possessed about 50 Mi-17 troop transportation aircraft, about 30 Mi-24 helicopter gunships and French-made Gazelle helicopters.
Of bigger concern to Israel was Syria’s air defence systems. These included more than 100 SA-5 and S300 long range batteries, mobile BUK-M1/2 and Pantsir missiles and other models. In 2021, one of the SA-5F batteries successfully downed an IAF F-16.
The collapse of the Assad regime is widely understood in Israel as a second order effect of the catastrophic weakening of Iran’s Axis of Resistance following Hezbollah’s recent defeat in southern Lebanon and Russia’s preoccupation with war in Ukraine.
Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria 2011-2015, before the Russian intervention – had acted as a regime survival guarantor. Yet following the recent war with Israel, Hezbollah was in no position to deploy to Syria and hold off the recent rebel offensive in any meaningful way.
Similarly, Russia also lacked the resources to significantly support Assad as it did from 2015 until its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While Yahya Sinwar had hoped that last year’s 7th October attacks would catalyse a regional upheaval against Israel, the opposite has in fact proven true: Hamas has functionally been removed from governing the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has been decimated with much of its leadership assassinated and weaponry destroyed; Iran’s client regime in Syria has been overthrown; and almost the entirety of Iran’s air defence systems has been neutralised.
The 235-square-kilometre demilitarised buffer zone was established as part of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria. Since then it has been by UN peacekeepers, UNDOF. Israel argues that following the fall of the Assad regime, it considers the agreement void.

Hostage negotiations: The IDF and Shin Bet’s leadership have joined discussions in Cairo aimed at securing a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza that would ultimately lead to the release of hostages captured on 7th October 2023.

Ronen Bar and Herzi Halevi met with senior Egyptian officials following an assessment that the chances of reaching an agreement with Hamas had increased.
Although Hamas has not given any publication indication as to its current views on whether or not it is open to a ceasefire and releasing hostages, Israeli officials believe this may be the case and there may be a chance to reach a deal in the month-long run up before President-elect Trump’s inauguration.

LATEST

Key background

Israeli cabinet launches procedure to remove the attorney general

IDF advances in Gaza amid political turmoil

IDF under new leadership

IDF releases more reports into October 7ᵗʰ attacks

Israel marks 500 days since October 7th

New President of Israel’s supreme court sworn in

Mandy Damari releases statement

Netanyahu visits Syrian Hermon

Israel clarifies position on Syria

Israel claims 80% of Syrian military’s equipment destroyed

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