The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Three generations of one family — a grandfather, father and grandson — have been killed by Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine, police say.
“Russian troops shelled the Ukrainsk residential sector with artillery. A four-year-old boy, his father and grandfather were killed,” the police say on social media, adding that four more children aged between three and 13 and an adult have been injured.
The heads of the Knesset’s parliamentary Ukraine friendship group send a letter to President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing “shock and dismay” at the June 6 attack on the Kakhovka dam.
“This deliberate act of Russian aggression, flooding towns and forcing thousands to flee, should be condemned by the international community in the strongest terms,” write Likud MK Yuli Edelstein and National Union MK Ze’ev Elkin.
The lawmakers, both Ukraine-born, visited Zelensky in Kyiv in February.
“The State of Israel is prepared to provide whatever support is necessary to assist with the recovery and restoration efforts,” they write. “The State of Israel and the Knesset stand with you and the people of Ukraine at this difficult time.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly preparing a potential plan aimed at preserving his current coalition in case National Security Minister ends up bolting the government, as he regularly threatens to do.
According to Army Radio, Netanyahu’s associates have contacted various lawmakers in Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and asked them about the theoretical option of splitting the far-right party and staying with the coalition if Ben Gvir leaves.
The report says that none of the MKs would agree to that, but adds that Netanyahu’s Likud party is mapping each Otzma Yehudit lawmaker’s priorities and “weak spots” and trying to determined from their initial refusal what it would take for them to agree to a future offer.
Netanyahu currently has a 64-strong coalition in the 120-member Knesset. Ben Gvir’s party has six MKs, which means at least three of them would be needed to keep the coalition’s parliamentary majority.
One is reportedly seen as relatively easy to get — Almog Cohen, who has openly defied Ben Gvir and been punished for it.
Army Radio adds that Netanyahu’s office is also aiming to pull in opposition MKs Gadi Eisenkot and Matan Kahana from the National Unity party to vote with the coalition on some of the judicial overhaul bills. They have thus far refused, but the way in which they refused and other remarks made during these talks reportedly raised Likud’s hopes that everything could be possible if the coalition nears a collapse.
Eisenkot and Kahana insist that they will never support the overhaul legislation “under any conditions.”
Likud says the report is incorrect, and such a plan “never happened and won’t happen.”
Do you rely on The Times of Israel for accurate and insightful news on Israel and the Jewish world? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Netanyahu said devising plan to split Otzma Yehudit if Ben Gvir bolts coalition
33
5
08.06.2023
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Three generations of one family — a grandfather, father and grandson — have been killed by Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine, police say.
“Russian troops shelled the Ukrainsk residential sector with artillery. A four-year-old boy, his father and grandfather were killed,” the police say on social media, adding that four more children aged between three and 13 and an adult have been injured.
The heads of the Knesset’s parliamentary Ukraine friendship group send a letter to President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing “shock and dismay” at the June 6 attack on the Kakhovka dam.
“This deliberate act of Russian aggression, flooding towns and forcing thousands to flee, should be condemned by the international community in the strongest terms,” write Likud MK Yuli Edelstein and National Union MK Ze’ev Elkin.
The lawmakers, both Ukraine-born, visited Zelensky in Kyiv in February.
“The........
© The Times of Israel
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Andrew Mitrovica
Belen Fernandez
Tafi Mhaka
Marwan Bishara
Timotej Milanov
Ahmadi Ali
