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Ethiopian-Israelis and supporters demonstrate against police violence and discrimination following the death of 19-year-old Solomon Tekah, who was shot and killed in Haifa by an off-duty police officer; Jerusalem, July 15, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Israel Police on Thursday told an officer charged with causing the shooting death of a teenager of Ethiopian descent in 2019 that he will return to his former position on Sunday.
The decision is likely to cause outrage in Israel’s Ethiopian community, which perceived the death of 19-year-old Solomon Tekah in Haifa as a reflection of racism and discrimination within the police ranks, and held mass protests for several weeks.
Two of Israel’s three major networks broadcast extensive leaked recordings from Thursday night’s tumultuous cabinet meeting on the extension of the lockdown, during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one point accused Defense Minister Benny Gantz that “the blood of many Israelis” would be on his hands and the Blue and White party head charged the premier that he was “throwing dust in the public’s eyes.”
The recordings are aired simultaneously on both Channel 12 news and the Kan public broadcaster with each branding them “exclusive” causing Gantz’s office to complain that Netanyahu’s associates leaked them to benefit the premier in the upcoming elections and to demand that the entire protocol of all cabinet meetings on the coronavirus be made public.
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel s military correspondent.
People protest over the death of Ahuvia Sandak in a car crash during a police chase, near the Police Internal Investigations Department in Jerusalem on January 2, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
A settler attacked the commander of the Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion outside the Kedumim settlement on Saturday night during a protest that turned violent, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The alleged assault occurred while the officer, Lt. Col. Ayoub Kayuf, and his troops were opening up a roadway outside the Kedumim settlement in the northern West Bank that had been blocked by the protesters on Saturday night as part of a demonstration over the death of Ahuvia Sandak, a 16-year-old killed in a car crash last month while fleeing from police after allegedly throwing rocks at Palestinians.
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WASHINGTON A coalition of 11 Republican senators announces it will challenge the outcome of the presidential election by voting to reject electors from some states when Congress meets next week to certify the Electoral College results that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden won.
US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary refusal to accept his election defeat and the effort to subvert the will of the voters has become a defining moment for Republicans and is tearing the party apart. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged Republicans not to try to overturn the election.
The 11 senators, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, say they will vote against certain state electors unless Congress appoints an electoral commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. They acknowledge they are unlikely to change the results of the election.