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Israel’s Ben-Gvir insists country is not a protectorate
Israel’s right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has insisted that Israel is not a protectorate amid reports of the pressure US President Donald Trump brought to bear on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring about a ceasefire and maintain compliance.
“I appreciate President Trump, but we are not a protectorate. We need to be the masters of our own house and those who manage things; the prime minister promised to dismantle Hamas. I hope he will keep his promises,” Israel’s public broadcaster reported Ben-Gvir as saying.
Smotrich urges Israelis to campaign for West Bank annexation to sway Trump
Last night, Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called on the Israelis who support a complete annexation of the occupied West Bank to organise a campaign similar to that of the families of the Israelis held captive in Gaza, which he believes would change Trump’s mind on the issue.
In recent weeks, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance have both opposed the annexation of the West Bank.
“Why is what is permitted to them forbidden to the right and the settlers?!” Smotrich said in a post on X. “There is nothing more natural than to repeatedly present the demand and importance that the Israeli public sees in applying sovereignty over parts of the homeland in Judea and Samaria and eliminating the dangerous idea of a Palestinian state.”
Bill aimed to shield Israeli ministers from legal action ‘unconstitutional’, says attorney general
A bill has been initiated by Limor Son Har-Melech, Knesset member from Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party, which aims at giving the Israeli parliament power to postpone or block legal proceedings against ministers.
The bill comes as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a long-running corruption trial.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation was mulling over allowing the bill to pass to the Knesset today, but it has been criticised by the Israeli attorney general’s office, which called it “unconstitutional” and said it would allow “political considerations to gain a foothold in the criminal processes”.
“Giving a political body the licence to stop a trial is the path to a country with one law for the ‘masters’ and another for the ‘subjects’,” said Netanyahu’s critic Benny Gantz as he slammed the proposed law.
