Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had received an invitation to meet the US president at the White House on 4 February; he would be the first international leader to visit Trump in his second term

Israel's military chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi has resigned, admitting in a letter that the Israel Defense Forces had "failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel" on 7 October 2023, when Hamas carried out the attack that triggered the Gaza war

Israeli historian Ilan Pappe said he believes there are many factors, from the Trump presidency to international isolation, that show that Zionism is entering its 'last phase' before its collapse

Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant resigned from the Knesset, the country's parliament, over his opposition to the law on exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, which has existed since the founding of the state of Israel

Israel has announced the closing its embassy in Dublin, Ireland, in protest against Ireland’s decisions to recognize Palestinian statehood and to accuse the Israelis of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip

Netanyahu, indicted in 2019, is Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime and must testify three times a week; he took the witness stand for the first time on 10 December 2024 in his long-running corruption trial, denying charges

Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Benjamin Netanyahu's government of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian population

The United States stresses at the UN Security Council that “there must be no forcible displacement, nor policy of starvation in Gaza” by Israel, warning that this would have grave implications under US and international law

The IDF denies claims made by the World Health Organization and Hamas that it carried out a strike against a vaccination center in Gaza City on 2 November

On October 27 official Israel marked the Hebrew date to commemorate the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel and the massacre of 1.200 people last 7 October, international calendar, which sparked the ongoing war

The government has turned to the defense industry to bolster the military’s ability to intercept aerial drones; a competition was launched among eight large and small firms including Elbit, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries

The Bank of Israel kept interest rates unchanged for the sixth consecutive meeting, but raised the prospect of future rate hikes if armed conflicts on two fronts push inflation higher than expected