Latest news with #Knesset
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Netanyahu's ruling party gets popularity boost in wake of Iran conflict
The popularity of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu 's Likud party has improved since Israel began its conflict with Iran last week. A poll published on Friday by the Ma'ariv newspaper found that if an election were to be held, Mr Netanyahu's ruling Likud party would register 27 seats in the Israeli Knesset, up from 24 in a similar poll last week. This is the party's highest showing since the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7th 2023. Likud holds 32 seats in the current parliament . Yisrael Beiteinu, a rival right-wing party headed by former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, is the second most popular party with 19 seats. The poll predicts the right-wing and religious parties that make up Mr Netanyahu's coalition would fail to clinch a majority, winning 51 of the 120 seats in the Knesset parliament. READ MORE However, in the event that former prime minister Naftali Bennett runs as the head of a new right-wing party in the next election – which must be held by October 2026 – the poll shows Likud dropping to 24 seats, one more than Mr Bennett's party. Under such a scenario, the current coalition parties would drop to 46 members in the next Knesset. [ Israel-Iran war: Gulf states scramble to secure diplomatic solution Opens in new window ] A small majority for the opposition parties at the next election might not be so bad for Mr Netanyahu. Most of the mainstream Zionist parties have indicated that they will not sit in a future coalition with two Arab parties, which together consistently poll 10 seats. If no bloc formed a working majority, Mr Netanyahu would continue as transitional prime minister. Friday's poll also showed that 46 per cent of Israelis believe that removing the threat of nuclear weapons and/or ballistic missiles should be the main aim of the week-old war against Iran. Some 43 per cent cited regime change. Other polls indicate that 77-83 per cent of Israelis support the war against Iran.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Fact Check: Fire in Chinese parking lot falsely described as Iranian strikes on Israel
A video of a parking lot fire in the Chinese city of Chongqing on June 11 has been falsely described on social media as showing one of the recent Iranian strikes on Tel Aviv. Israel launched its biggest ever military attack against Iran on June 13 after saying it had concluded that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran, which denies planning to acquire nuclear weapons, responded by firing at least 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones towards Israel, Israeli officials said. "An Iranian attack like Tel Aviv has never seen before," reads a June 17 X post, opens new tab on the 16-second clip. However, the video shows a large fire burning at a temporary parking lot for motorcycles in Chongqing's Jiulongpo District two days before the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran began on June 13. The scene in the video corresponds, opens new tab with Baidu Maps imagery, opens new tab of the area from 2019 and visually matches, opens new tab eyewitness footage verified by Reuters on June 12 to show the incident. Jiulongpo District's fire department said on Weibo, opens new tab that the fire had broken out at a motorbike parking facility on June 11. Local fire services said no casualties were reported. Iranian missiles have repeatedly struck Tel Aviv and its outskirts, killing residents and levelling homes, opens new tab. "What happened to us is a catastrophe," Tzvika Brot, mayor of Bat Yam in the Tel Aviv municipal area, told a Knesset committee, the Times of Israel reported, opens new tab. "Twenty buildings out of all the buildings that were damaged are designated for immediate demolition." Miscaptioned. The video was filmed in Chongqing, China, and shows a fire at a temporary parking lot for motorcycles on June 11. It is unrelated to Iranian military strikes on Israel, which began on June 13 in retaliation for Israeli strikes on the same day. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
The National
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Benjamin Netanyahu bemoans postponement of son's wedding due to Iran war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war with Iran has reached into his own household, disclosing that his son's wedding had to be postponed. 'This war has not spared my family either,' he said in a televised address at the location of a missile attack that devastated the area. 'This is the second time my son, Avner, has been sent away, due to a threat from the sea and missile warnings. His wedding had to be postponed – clearly, a very personal cost.' Mr Netanyahu's comments came as Israel grapples with rising casualties and mounting pressure on the home front. Around him were hundreds of Israelis whose homes had been damaged, while dozens were injured. Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran last Friday, killing hundreds of Iranians. In response, Tehran fired missiles at Israeli targets and residential areas, killing at least 24 people, injuring dozens more and causing widespread destruction. Mr Netanyahu, who has long cast himself as a wartime leader, appeared to be appealing to a sense of collective sacrifice. Though some Israelis saw Mr Netanyahu's remarks as an attempt to personalise the national struggle, many others derided them as misplaced and self-serving. 'I know many families who were not forced to postpone a wedding, but who will now never celebrate the weddings that were once meant to take place,' said Gilad Kariv, a Knesset member.
Mint
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Mint
Iran-Israel Conflict: Benjamin Netanyahu's decades-long nuke bomb alarm – 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf'
Iran-Israel Conflict: The Israel-Iran war entered its seventh day on June 20. Israeli strikes on Iran, which began on June 14, have so far killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group was quoted as saying by the news agency AP on Thursday. Iran has also retaliated with its missile striking hospitals and near Microsoft office in Israel's Beer Sheva. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming that a nuclear threat from Iran is imminent. 'If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time,' he said, suggesting the timeline could be months, even weeks. Israel called the operation "Rising Lion," stating it aimed at Iranian commanders and missile factories. "We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history," Netanyahu said, adding that Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, ballistic missile programme and Natanz uranium enrichment facility were targeted in the operation. This is not the first time that Ntanyayu has warned of a nuclear bomb threat from Iran. In fact, he has been talking about this threat for more than three decades. So much so that Iran's former foreign minister Javad Zarif had in 2018 likened Netanyahu to 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf' for his constant public warnings about Tehran's nuclear programme, according to a Reuters report. It was in 1992, when Netanyahu, while addressing Israel's Knesset as an MP, claimed for the first time that Tehran is only years away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. 'Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb,' Netanyayu had said. Here is a timeline of Netanyahu's three-decade long warnings about Iran's nuclear programme. 1992: Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Israel's legislature, the Knesset, as an MP, where he first claimed that Tehran was only years away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. 1995: Netanyahu comes up with a book 'Fighting Terrorism' in which he mentions the nuclear bomb threat from Iran. 1996: Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the joint session of US Congress on July 10. In his address, Netanyahu called on Europe and Asia to join efforts to isolate Iran and Iraq and prevent them from developing nuclear capabilities that he warned would bring catastrophe. 1999: Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon discussed the issue of the transfer of Russian nuclear technology to Iran on March 22, 1999, during a trip to Moscow, Russia. 2009: A US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed him telling members of Congress that Iran was just one or two years away from nuclear capability. 2012: Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu brandished a cartoon drawing of a bomb to illustrate his claims that Iran was closer than ever to the nuclear threshold. 'By next spring, at most by next summer … they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage,' he said. 2014: Netanyahu addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2014 where he urged world powers not to allow Iran to retain the ability to enrich uranium. Netanyahu said in his address that Iran must be stripped of all nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential. 2015: Netanyahu spoke about Iran and the nuclear threat during a joint meeting of the US Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol on March 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. 2018: Netanyahu presented material on Iran's purported nuclear programme in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2018. You can only fool some of the people so many times. Iran's then foreign minister Javad Zarif, had likened Netanyahu with 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf' for his constant public warnings about Tehran's nuclear programme, and his repeated threats to shut it down, one way or another.
Mint
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Mint
Iran-Israel Conflict: Benjamin Netanyahu's 3-decade-long nuke bomb alarm – 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf'
Iran-Israel War: The Israel-Iran war entered its seventh day on June 20. Israeli strikes on Iran, which began on June 14, have so far killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group was quoted as saying by the news agency AP on Thursday. Iran has also retaliated with its missile striking hospitals and near Microsoft office in Israel's Beer Sheva. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming that a nuclear threat from Iran is imminent. 'If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time,' he said, suggesting the timeline could be months, even weeks. Israel called the operation "Rising Lion," stating it aimed at Iranian commanders and missile factories. "We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history," Netanyahu said, adding that Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, ballistic missile programme and Natanz uranium enrichment facility were targeted in the operation. This is not the first time that Ntanyayu has warned of a nuclear bomb threat from Iran. In fact, he has been talking about this threat for more than three decades. So much so that Iran's former foreign minister Javad Zarif had in 2018 likened Netanyahu to 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf' for his constant public warnings about Tehran's nuclear programme, according to a Reuters report. It was in 1992, when Netanyahu, while addressing Israel's Knesset as an MP, claimed for the first time that Tehran is only years away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. 'Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb,' Netanyayu had said. Here is a timeline of Netanyahu's three-decade long warnings about Iran's nuclear programme. 1992: Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Israel's legislature, the Knesset, as an MP, where he first claimed that Tehran was only years away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. 1995: Netanyahu comes up with a book 'Fighting Terrorism' in which he mentions the nuclear bomb threat from Iran. 1996: Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the joint session of US Congress on July 10. In his address, Netanyahu called on Europe and Asia to join efforts to isolate Iran and Iraq and prevent them from developing nuclear capabilities that he warned would bring catastrophe. 1999: Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon discussed the issue of the transfer of Russian nuclear technology to Iran on March 22, 1999, during a trip to Moscow, Russia. 2009: A US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed him telling members of Congress that Iran was just one or two years away from nuclear capability. 2012: Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu brandished a cartoon drawing of a bomb to illustrate his claims that Iran was closer than ever to the nuclear threshold. 'By next spring, at most by next summer … they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage,' he said. 2014: Netanyahu addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2014 where he urged world powers not to allow Iran to retain the ability to enrich uranium. Netanyahu said in his address that Iran must be stripped of all nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential. 2015: Netanyahu spoke about Iran and the nuclear threat during a joint meeting of the US Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol on March 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. 2018: Netanyahu presented material on Iran's purported nuclear programme in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2018. You can only fool some of the people so many times. Iran's then foreign minister Javad Zarif, had likened Netanyahu with 'the boy who can't stop crying wolf' for his constant public warnings about Tehran's nuclear programme, and his repeated threats to shut it down, one way or another. "You can only fool some of the people so many times," Iran's then-foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said in 2018 after Netanyahu had once again accused Iran of planning to build nuclear weapons.
