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SvennoJ 5 days ago
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Poll shows two-thirds of Israelis want Netanyahu to leave politics

A poll conducted by Israel’s Channel 12 shows that about two-thirds of Israelis believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not seek reelection and leave politics.

Only 27 percent of respondents in the poll wanted him to compete in Israel’s next elections, while 66 percent thought he should step down. Even among voters for parties in Netanyahu’s right-wing religious bloc, only 53 percent thought he should run again.

Some 85 percent of respondents also wanted a commission of inquiry to be held to investigate the failures surrounding the October 7 infiltration of Israel by Hamas.

Netanyahu is enduring intense criticism from members of Israel’s opposition, far-right members of his own coalition, and the Israeli public over his handling of Israel’s war on Gaza and captive-for-ceasefire negotiations.


Belgium, Jordan, EU in new call at UN for protection of Palestinian children

The “Call to Action for Palestinian Children in the West Bank and Gaza” was launched by the Belgian, Jordanian and European Union missions at the United Nations on Friday, and calls on all member states to join the initiative.

The call for action involves five points, Belgium and Jordan’s mission to the UN said in posts on social media:

  • Calling on all parties to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
  • Respect for international human rights and humanitarian law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
  • Ending “grave violations” against Palestinian children, including the release of those held in detention and in captivity – in the West Bank and Gaza.
  • “Safe and unrestricted humanitarian access” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
  • The sponsors of the call also pledge to support scaled-up UN responses for the needs of Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank.

EU slams Israeli plans to legalise settlement outposts

The European Union has condemned the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to legalise five outposts in the occupied West Bank as “another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts”.

In a statement, an EU spokesperson noted that bloc’s leaders at a meeting this week had condemned the Israeli government’s decisions to further expand illegal settlements and urged it to reverse them.

“In line with its longstanding common position and UN Security Council Resolutions, the EU will not recognise changes to the 1967 borders unless agreed by the parties,” it said.

The EU said that steps taken by Israel to weaken the Palestinian Authority (PA) must stop and urged it to release withheld tax and customs revenues owed to the PA “and to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place”.

When are you actually going to do something though. Enough with the slamming, denouncing, condemning and so on, sanctions are long past overdue. Stop the weapon shipments. Nothing but cheap talk from the European Union.