Thousands of Israelis flooded the streets on Saturday night, June 27, to oppose the gas deal approved by the cabinet

Billionaire Adelson to Netanyahu: “Streamline Gas Industry Regulations”; Thousands Protest against Deal in Tel Aviv

Four activists were detained on Saturday night, June 27, after scuffles with police in Tel Aviv during mass protests against the impending gas deal between the government and a US-Israeli energy conglomerate. Thousands of Israelis flooded the streets to oppose a deal approved by the cabinet on Thursday which would see the US company Noble…

Factories At the Dead Sea (Photo: Al Ittihad)

Hadash blasts Sheshinski 2: State committee recommends a pro-capitalist approach to natural resource surtax

Arousing the ire of Hadash and environmentalists alike, the Sheshinski 2 Committee published its final recommendations on policies for taxing natural resources, softening its approach from a previous draft. Finance Minister Yair Lapid tasked the committee, headed by economist Eytan Sheshinski, a professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, last year with examining the…

Arab-Palestinian students protest in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike inside Israeli jails, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, June 10, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Force-feeding bill meeting stiff opposition

The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee launched on Monday two days of marathon debates over the controversial bill allowing the force-feeding of Palestinian hunger-striking prisoners, as the bill advances toward its second and third readings. The bill, which is officially an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance, passed its first reading last week, with 29…

Caricature: Michel Kishka

Netanyahu wants to define Israel as “Jewish state” in law

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, says he will introduce a basic law defining Israel as a Jewish state, giving high-level support to a controversial idea that has long been a demand of the Israeli extreme-right. The state has never before officially defined itself as “Jewish”, though right-wing legislators have introduced bills to that effect…

"There is a very intense attack on the democratic sphere we have in Israel," MK Dov Khenin from Hadash told i24 News during an exclusive interview Sunday

MK Khenin warns against passage of anti-NGO bill

The anti-democratic and fascist NGO bill aimed at curtailing the activities of “anti-Israeli groups” in Israel passed a major hurdle on Sunday after being approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. However, the bill still faces considerable opposition on several fronts. The bill, sponsored by MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) and Robert Ilatov (Likud-Beytenu), would force any…