YAIR LAPID

Chaim Topol, who charmed generations with his film and theater portrayals of Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” has died.

JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s justice minister on Wednesday unveiled the new government’s long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country's Supreme Court. Levin laid out a law that would empower the country’s 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of 61 votes. Levin also proposed that politicians play a greater role in the appointment of Supreme Court judges. “That’s not democracy.”The planned overhaul has already drawn fierce criticism from Israel’s attorney general and the Israeli opposition, underscoring the difficulties that Netanyahu’s new hard-right government will face. Baharav-Miara made her standing clear in a note to the Supreme Court, which is set to soon discuss appeals against Deri's appointment.

News channel Al Jazeera is formally asking the International Criminal Court to investigate the fatal shooting of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was reporting from a Palestinian refugee camp in May.

Two blasts have gone off near bus stops in Jerusalem at the height of rush hour, killing a Canadian-Israeli teenager and injuring at least 18, in what Israeli police said were suspected attacks by Palestinians

Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s conference Saturday amounts to a display of support for one American political party ahead of a presidential election that is rare for a foreign ally.

JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel's departing Prime Minister Yair Lapid doubled down Tuesday on his government's harsh condemnation of a reported investigation by the United States Department of Justice into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, in the occupied West Bank. There were no details about when an investigation might begin and what it would involve, nor what the ramifications might be. “(Their investigations) are no more than attempts to cover up the criminals.”Palestinian officials, Abu Akleh's family and Al Jazeera have accused Israel of intentionally killing Abu Akleh. Several independent investigations, including by The Associated Press, have concluded that Abu Akleh was most probably killed by Israeli fire. “We will not abandon our soldiers to foreign investigations,” Lapid told the new lawmakers.

Israel’s departing prime minister says Israel will not participate in an American investigation into the fatal shooting of a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent in the occupied West Bank

Israel’s departing prime minister says Israel will not participate in an American investigation into the fatal shooting of a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent in the occupied West Bank.

Reports in Israel claim that the FBI is going to investigate the killing of a Palestinian-American journalist. Israel's defense minister said the investigation was a 'grave mistake.'

Israel has sworn in its most religious and right-wing parliament after nearly four years of political deadlock and five elections.

Officials say a Palestinian killed three Israelis and wounded three others in a settlement in the occupied West Bank before he was shot and killed by Israeli security personnel.

An Israel man who was stabbed by a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank last month has died from his injuries

Israel’s prime minister on Sunday issued a plea for national unity, days after he was defeated in national elections by the former premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, with the backing of a far-right ultranationalist party. In a memorial ceremony for the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned of the deep divisions plaguing the country after the bitter campaign, Israel's fifth election since 2019. Religious Zionism emerged as the third-largest party in Parliament and is expected to play a key role in in Netanyahu’s government.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has yet to call Netanyahu but spoke Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reaffirm a commitment to a two-state solution.

A statement said Lapid congratulated Netanyahu and has instructed his office to prepare an organized transition of power.

TEL AVIV, Israel — (AP) —Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office says he has conceded defeat to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this week's election. A statement said Lapid congratulated Netanyahu and has instructed his office to prepare an organized transition of power. TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli election officials were tallying the final votes from national elections on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking likely to reclaim the premiership with a comfortable majority backed by far-right allies. But the likelihood was small, and members of Netanyahu's expected coalition were already jockeying for portfolios in what will be Israel's most right-wing government. His opponents in the current coalition, led by caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, were expected to win 50 seats.

Under his leadership, Israel vastly expanded its population of West Bank settlers — now some 500,000 — and retroactively legalized settler outposts built on private Palestinian land. Palestinians see successive Israeli governments as seeking to solidify a bleak status quo in the West Bank: Palestinian enclaves divided by growing Israeli settlements and surrounded by Israeli forces. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. Even as final ballots were still being counted from the election, violence flared up with two Palestinians killed on Thursday. Hamas and Fatah, the Palestinian party that controls the West Bank, have remained bitterly divided for 15 years.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears set to return to power as head of Israel’s most right-wing government ever after winning this week’s national election.

Under his leadership, Israel vastly expanded its population of West Bank settlers — now some 500,000 — and retroactively legalized settler outposts built on private Palestinian land. The measures have entrenched Israel's occupation, now in its 56th year since Israel captured the territory during the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians see successive Israeli governments as seeking to solidify a bleak status quo in the West Bank: Palestinian enclaves divided by growing Israeli settlements and surrounded by Israeli forces. Hamas and Fatah, the Palestinian party that controls the West Bank, have remained bitterly divided for 15 years. A mere 37% of Palestinians support the two-state solution, according to the most recent report from Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki.

The apparent comeback of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the dramatic rise of his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies in Israel’s general election this week have prompted little more than shrugs from many Palestinians.

"We are on the cusp of a very big victory," Benjamin Netanyahu told supporters. He has partnered with the far-right and vowed to impose tougher law enforcement on Palestinians.

Amid high turnout, Netanyahu's bloc of parties looks set to take at least 65 seats, more than enough to build a ruling coalition.

After four inconclusive elections, it looks like the fifth time finally worked for Benjamin Netanyahu.

For the fifth time in four years, Israelis went to the polls, and once again, no clear victor immediately emerged.

But the polls showed a small Arab party close to crossing the threshold required to enter parliament – a development that could erase his slim majority. Arabs make up some 20% of Israel's population and have been a key factor in blocking Netanyahu in recent elections. Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, governing for 12 consecutive years – and 15 years altogether – before he was ousted last year by a diverse coalition led by the centrist Yair Lapid. The pair have also said they will seek legal reforms aimed at weakening the independence of the judiciary and giving parliament power to override court decisions they don’t like. He said Netanyahu, if asked to form the next government, might try to seek other potential coalition partners instead.

In a decisive election, long-serving former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu could return to power if exit polls remain the same.

The polls are preliminary, however, and final results could change as votes are tallied in the coming hours. The polls by three major Israeli TV stations indicated that Netanyahu and his allies would capture the 61-seat majority in parliament required to form a new government. Again, the vote centers around former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fitness to lead while he faces corruption charges. And while polls predict another stalemate, Netanyahu is looking to the surging power of far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir to propel him back to power. Netanyahu was ousted last year after 12 years in power by the diverse coalition forged by Lapid, Netanyahu’s main challenger.

Again, the vote centers around former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fitness to lead while he faces corruption charges. After he cast his vote in the West Bank settlement where he lives, Ben-Gvir promised that a vote for his party would bring about a “fully right-wing government” with Netanyahu as prime minister. Netanyahu was ousted last year after 12 years in power by the diverse coalition forged by Lapid, Netanyahu’s main challenger. Their turnout is predicted to reach historic lows, but if they unexpectedly do come out to vote, that could slash the Netanyahu camp's numbers. “We must vote," said Jiwad Abu Sharekh, 66, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod.

Israel's fifth election in three years has mired the country in an unprecedented political crisis that has eroded faith in democratic institutions.

In the fifth election in 3 1/2 years, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has partnered with fringe elements of Israel's far right to try to unseat centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel's election on Tuesday, the country's fifth since 2019, largely pits familiar faces against one another in a tight race. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now the opposition leader, is hoping to return to power and replace his main rival, interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Here’s a look at the main players:BENJAMIN NETANYAHUAfter more than a year in the opposition, Israel's longest-serving prime minister seeks a return to power while on trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. Election polls project that his Likud party and its presumed allies are hovering close to the 61-seat parliamentary majority required to form a governing coalition. YAIR LAPIDIsrael's caretaker prime minister took office in June after the ruling coalition he cobbled together disintegrated.

Israel's fifth election since 2019 largely presents familiar faces to voters.

Polls show that Benjamin Netanyahu might be able to form a government with a conglomeration of far-right-wing, religious parties, but will he take the risk?

The foremost issue once again was former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his fitness to serve amid corruption charges. His main rival is caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist who cobbled together the short-lived coalition that sent Netanyahu into the opposition last year. Israelis vote for parties, not individual candidates. To become prime minister, Netanyahu, Lapid or some other politician will have to cobble together a coalition controlling a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. The lengthy impasse has mired Israel in an unprecedented political crisis that has eroded Israelis’ faith in their leaders and democratic institutions.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be edging toward victory in national elections, with nearly two-thirds of ballots showing that he and his ultranationalist and religious allies are poised to achieve a stable majority in the country’s parliament.

No party is likely to win enough votes to govern on its own, and that could hand a lot of power to smaller parties, including Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Jewish Power."

Israeli voters appear to be hopelessly deadlocked as the country heads to elections once again.

Long regarded as a disenfranchised minority, they can break the deadlock that has afflicted the country’s democracy.

Either side could win. But to govern, the centrist bloc may be pushed right, and the rightist bloc to the extreme right.

BEIRUT — (AP) — Lebanon signed and delivered its copy of a U.S.-mediated sea border deal with Israel on Thursday to a U.S. mediator, hoping to soon start exploring gas in its southern maritime blocs to bring economic stability to the crisis-ridden country. Lebanon and Israel both claim around 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields. Israel hopes that the deal will reduce the risk of war with Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon will then deliver their finalized coordinates to the U.N. before Hochstein meets with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. President Aoun earlier this month in a televised address announced Lebanon's approval of the sea border deal.

Lebanon has signed and delivered its copy of a U.S.-mediated sea border deal with Israel to an American mediator, and Israel was expected to sign off

Lebanon and Israel signed and delivered copies of a U.S.-mediated sea border deal following months of indirect talks.

Israel is holding its fifth national election in under four years, and once again the race is shaping up as a referendum on former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to rule.

The voices of Israel’s Palestinian citizens are often drowned out or delegitimized in the country’s noisy politics.

The military says Israeli forces have raided a stronghold of an armed group in the occupied West Bank’s second largest city, blowing up an explosives lab and engaging in a firefight

The military says Israeli forces have raided a stronghold of an armed group in the occupied West Bank’s second largest city, blowing up a bomb lab and engaging in a firefight.

JERUSALEM — (AP) — The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent slamming into central Kyiv this week have complicated Israel's balancing act between Russia and the West. The debate burst into the open on Monday, as an Israeli Cabinet minister called on the government to take Ukraine’s side. The Iranian government has denied providing Moscow with the drones, but American officials say it has been doing so since August. “There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict,” Nachman Shai, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs, wrote on Twitter. “I think Israel can help even more,” said Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence.

The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent slamming into central Kyiv this week are complicating Israel’s balancing act between Russia and the West

The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent slamming into central Kyiv this week are complicating Israel's balancing act between Russia and the West.

The Iranian-made drones that Russia sent slamming into central Kyiv this week have complicated Israel's balancing act between Russia and the West. Israel has stayed largely on the sidelines since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February so as not to damage its strategic relationship with the Kremlin. Although Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has refused Kyiv's frequent requests to send air defense systems and other military equipment and refrained from enforcing strict economic sanctions on Russia and the many Russian-Jewish oligarchs who have second homes in Israel.

The curious incident of the Iranian poodle in the nighttime.

Israel’s Security Cabinet has voted in favor of the U.S.-brokered maritime border deal with Lebanon, the first of several procedural hurdles before the agreement is formally adopted

Israel and Lebanon brokered a historic agreement to resolve a long-running maritime border dispute, following months of negotiations guided by the United States.

The deal is necessary for the two countries to exploit natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israel’s prime minister said Tuesday that the country has reached an “historic agreement” with neighboring Lebanon over their shared maritime border after months of U.S.-brokered negotiations. At stake are rights over exploiting undersea natural gas reserves in areas of the eastern Mediterranean that the two countries — which do not have diplomatic relations — claim. Premier Yair Lapid called the deal an “historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border.”The agreement is expected to enable additional natural gas production in the Mediterranean. Lebanon hopes gas exploration will help lift its country out of its spiraling economic crisis. Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948 and both countries claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel’s prime minister says the country has reached an “historic agreement” with neighboring Lebanon over their shared maritime border after months of U.S.-brokered negotiations

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the U.S. has brokered a “historic breakthrough” between Israel and Lebanon that would end a dispute over their shared maritime border.

Israel’s prime minister said Tuesday that the country has reached a “historic agreement” with neighboring Lebanon over their shared maritime border after months of U.S.-brokered negotiations. The agreement would mark a major breakthrough in relations with the two countries, which formally have been at war since Israel's establishment in 1948. There was no immediate confirmation by Lebanon that a deal had been reached.

Israeli authorities are searching for a gunman after a deadly shooting at an Israeli security checkpoint. Police have made three arrests and mobilized a large search party.

Israeli police have arrested at least three Palestinian suspects in connection with a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem checkpoint, and security forces were searching for the suspected gunman

JERUSALEM — (AP) — Israeli police arrested at least three Palestinian suspects Sunday in connection with a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem checkpoint, as security forces searched for the suspected gunman. The shooter opened fire on a military checkpoint in east Jerusalem late Saturday, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding three other soldiers, one of them seriously. The attack came hours after two Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. It considers the entire city, including east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, to be its capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem for the capital of a future state with the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli police have arrested at least three Palestinian suspects in connection with a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem checkpoint, and security forces were searching for the suspected gunman.

BRUSSELS — (AP) — The European Union and Israel on Monday held high-level talks for the first time in a decade, with the Europeans keen to press Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on how to put a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians into place. We want the resumption of a political process that can lead to a two-state solution and a comprehensive regional peace,” Borrell said. Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank is now in its 55th year. The last real peace talks ended in 2009, and critics say growing Israeli settlements in the West Bank and elsewhere undermine any hopes for a two-state solution. The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank along with Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, for a future state.

The European Union and Israel have held high-level talks for the first time in a decade.

Israel’s prime minister has welcomed a U.S. proposal for setting the maritime border with Lebanon, saying the American plan for resolving a long-running dispute between the neighboring countries would lift Israel’s economy and boost regional security

Israel’s prime minister says that two Ukrainians wounded in the war with Russia will receive specialized medical care in a new program in Israel, which has stayed neutral during the conflict

Talks between Israel and Lebanon on a prized swath of Mediterranean Sea appear to be making progress as the Biden administration urges the two countries to expedite a resolution.

On Monday, a JetBlue flight reportedly traveled above Hurricane Fiona in an unusual flight path. The plane flew at 30,000 to 34,000 feet, as storm clouds reached 45,000 feet.

A former police officer in a small Texas town was found not guilty of murder Thursday in the slaying of a Black man who offered a handshake as the officer arrived to respond to a call about a fight at a convenience store.

UNITED NATIONS — (AP) — After three days in which the war in Ukraine consumed world leaders at the United Nations, other conflicts and concerns are beginning to emerge. Israel’s prime minister called for the establishment of a Palestinian state in a speech Thursday that focused on that conflict. Armenia's prime minister warned that "the risk of new aggression by Azerbaijan remains very high" after the largest outbreak of hostilities between the two adversaries in nearly two years. The annual gathering of leaders at the U.N. General Assembly provides an opportunity for each country to air its concerns and express its hopes. Meanwhile, over in the assembly hall, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid delivered a speech focused on the Palestinians.

Two of the world’s most persistent conflicts have punctuated debate at the United Nations.

A coalition of lawyers and advocacy groups has referred the fatal shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the International Criminal Court on behalf of her family.

Israeli police say an 84-year-old woman has been beaten to death in central Israel, and they are searching for a young Palestinian man wanted in the killing.

The Iranian president’s comment that “there are some signs” that the Holocaust happened but that the issue required more research has sparked an outcry from Israel, a country home to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made clear that he doesn’t expect an agreement with Iran in the immediate future to restore Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers, though he said there’s no reason for Iran not to sign up and European countries would remain “patient.”.

Russia has obtained hundreds of Iranian drones capable of being used in its war against Ukraine despite U.S. warnings to Tehran not to ship them.

The Biden administration says it has responded to Iran’s latest offer to resume its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, but neither side is offering a definitive path to revive the agreement, which has been on life-support since former President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018.

Israel's prime minister says the West is letting Iran manipulate talks over an emerging “bad deal” to curb Tehran's nuclear capabilities.

The Biden administration is expected to weigh in this week on Iran’s latest offer to resume its compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but neither side is offering a definitive path to revive the agreement, which has been on life-support since former President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018.

Germany’s chancellor says that he was “disgusted by the outrageous remarks” made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin, accusing Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians over the years.

Israel’s caretaker prime minister appears to have taken a gamble with his preemptive strike against Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza, less than three months before he is to compete in general elections to retain his job.

With a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants holding after nearly three days of violence, Gaza’s sole power plant resumed operations.

A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians.

Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip are exchanging fire in the worst bout of cross-border violence since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year.

Israeli airstrikes have flattened homes in Gaza and Palestinian rocket barrages into southern Israel are persisting for a second day, raising fears of another major escalation in the Mideast conflict.

Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes on Gaza, killing at least 10 people, including a senior militant.

Israeli police say troops and special forces on an arrest mission exchanged fire with armed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday.

President Joe Biden has called for “two states for two peoples” — the Israelis and Palestinians — while visiting the West Bank.

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, is describing Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia as “heartbreaking,” accusing the U.S. president of backing down from his pledge of prioritizing human rights.

The U_S_ oil and gas industry is welcoming President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia but says he should be meeting with producers at home “to bring real and lasting solutions instead of looking to governments overseas.”.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid stood side-by-side and declared they would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.

The White House says President Joe Biden will try to limit physical contact during his Middle East trip because of concern about rising COVID-19 cases.

The widow of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S.-based writer killed by Saudi government agents four years ago, says she received a commitment that President Joe Biden will bring up the murder when he meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

President Joe Biden has opened a Mideast visit by offering anxious Israeli leaders strong reassurances of his determination to stop Iran’s nuclear program.

President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East comes as the region is experiencing dramatic changes and struggling to address deep problems.

The Polish president says Poland and Israel have taken a step toward normalizing diplomatic ties as the Israeli ambassador officially presented his credentials in Warsaw.

President Joe Biden is heading to the Middle East for the first time since taking office last year.

Israel’s prime minister has expressed hope that his country will establish formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.

Joe Biden took office looking to reshape U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Iran says it has begun enriching uranium up to 20% using sophisticated centrifuges at its underground Fordo nuclear plant, state TV reported, an escalation that comes amid a standoff with the West over its tattered atomic deal.