The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
Hitting back at Trump, Harris campaign says he’ll turn on Israel when it suits his personal interests
US Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign hits back at former president Donald Trump after the Republican nominee claimed Israel will be destroyed if he is not elected in November and repeated his assertion that Jewish Democrats need to “get their heads examined.”
“Donald Trump openly demeans Jewish Americans, proudly dined with a neo-Nazi and reportedly thinks Adolf Hitler ‘did some good things.’ He has said the only people he wants counting his money are ‘short guys wearing yarmulkes,’ and praised neo-Nazis who chanted ‘Jews will not replace us’ as ‘very fine people,’” says Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein.
“Donald Trump has made it obvious he would turn on Israel in a moment if it suited his personal interests; and, in fact, he has done so in the past,” she continues.
“Meanwhile, the vice president has been incredibly clear: she has been a lifelong supporter of the State of Israel as a secure, democratic homeland for the Jewish people. She has an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel and will always stand up for its right to defend itself. She also stands steadfastly against antisemitism both at home and abroad and will do the same as president,” Finkelstein adds.
Blinken: With Gaza ceasefire, Saudi normalization deal possible before Biden’s term ends
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insists that an Israel-Saudi normalization deal is still possible before the end of US President Joe Biden’s time in office.
He acknowledges that a deal will first require a ceasefire in Gaza along with an Israeli agreement to a “credible pathway for a Palestinian state” — something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected. “A lot of work would have to go into that,” Blinken admits during a press conference in Haiti.
However, he stresses that both Israel and Saudi Arabia have made clear that they’re interested in such an agreement.
“I think if we can get the ceasefire in Gaza, there remains an opportunity through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalization,” Blinken says.
A pair of senior Congressional sources from opposing parties told The Times of Israel in July that the window for a deal before the November election had shut, though, a faint chance for securing an agreement during the lame-duck period remains.
Blinken indicates mediators will present updated hostage deal offer to Israel, Hamas ‘in coming days’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hints that the mediators in the ongoing hostage negotiations will present an updated ceasefire proposal to Israel and Hamas in the coming days amid reports that it will be framed as a “take it or leave it” offer.
“In the coming days we will share with Israel, and [Qatar and Egypt] will share with Hamas, our thoughts — the three [mediators] — on exactly how to resolve the remaining outstanding questions, and then it will be time for the parties to decide yes or no, and then we’ll see,” Blinken says during a press conference in Haiti.
He reiterates, on the record, what a senior Biden administration official told reporters yesterday — that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on 90% of the issues, while the main remaining obstacles are Israel’s deployment in the Philadelphi Corridor and the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
Blinken acknowledges that each day that goes by without a day allows for “intervening and event, which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart.”
Court puts kibosh on promoting cop accused of attacking protesters, in loss for Ben Gvir
The Jerusalem District Court has frozen the promotion of a cop accused of throwing a stun grenade into a crowd of protesters last year, in a blow to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The injunction against the decision to appoint Meir Suissa the south Tel Aviv police chief was widely anticipated after the state responded to a petition against his appointment by calling for the court to cancel the promotion.
Ben Gvir promoted Suissa to chief superintendent and appointed him as commander of the South Tel Aviv Police Station at the end of August, despite the Attorney General’s Office instructing the minister that the promotion was impermissible. Suissa is under indictment over an incident in which he allegedly threw a stun grenade into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators in Tel Aviv in March 2023, injuring a woman and traumatizing her.
In its response yesterday, the state argued that the appointment had been rife with procedural issues.
Ben Gvir calls the court’s decision “terrible,” accusing it of judicial overreach and lashing out at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Meira for not allowing him to independently defend the promotion.
“The promotion was completely in line with the law and directives, while the one acting against the law is the attorney general, who intervened in the appointment while clearly outside her mandate, and even tried to stop my position from being heard,” he says on X, adding that he plans to keep fighting for Suissa’s promotion, calling him an “excellent officer.”
Anti-government protest in Tel Aviv ends with minor scuffles
A Tel Aviv anti-government protest centered on calls for a hostage deal ends after some minor clashes with police.
An organization representing people arrested at anti-government demonstrations says six people were detained. There is no comment from police.
As the protest wound down, cops on horseback rebuffed some 100 protesters who attempted to march outside the demonstration area on Begin Street. Central Tel Aviv police chief Micah Gafni is seen pushing one protester out of the crowd and snatching his megaphone.
A column of officers later marched into the crowd and confiscated a protester’s drum, eliciting sarcastic applause.
Thursday night also saw protests in Rehovot, Eilat and outside the Jerusalem home of Shas party leader Aryeh Deri, according to reports.
Police clash with protesters attempting to reach Tel Aviv highway
In Tel Aviv, clashes have broken out between police and protesters attempting to march southward toward the Ayalon freeway.
Mounted officers push the marchers back, stopping them from reaching the major traffic artery and driving them back toward the main rally where thousands are protesting against the government and for a hostage deal in Gaza.
Amid the scuffles, one officer snatches an Israeli flag from a protester who was waving it in his face.
עימותים בין המשטרה למוחים בבגין, מספר מפגינים נפצעו pic.twitter.com/sDVn6UdRle
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 5, 2024
Police have come under scrutiny in recent days amid accusations of officers using excessive force against demonstrators.
The crowd chants against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is largely seen as a driving force behind police violence as well as a prominent proponent of a deal releasing hostages and stopping fighting in Gaza.
“Ben Gvir is a terrorist,” protesters shout.
‘Last chance’: Thousands in Tel Aviv rally for hostage deal for fifth straight night
A protest outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza has swelled to around 2,000 people, who chant slogans against the government and in favor of a ceasefire deal.
“We are all hostages of the government of blood!” protesters yell. “A deal that isn’t signed murders everyone!”
The rally begins in earnest when marching hostage families and others arrive from Habima Square bearing 27 mock coffins, in a symbolic funeral for 27 hostages killed in captivity in Gaza.
Activists hold a mock funeral procession for 27 hostages killed in Gaza, at a demonstration demanding a ceasefire to bring remaining captives home, in front of Tel Aviv's IDF headquarters. pic.twitter.com/4AxD32B1W7
— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) September 5, 2024
A bonfire is lit on Begin Street, but is quickly put out by police.
“If there isn’t a deal, we’ll burn down the country — this is the last chance!” the crowd chants.
The protest marks the fifth night in a row of major demonstrations shutting down Begin Street, a locus of the protest movement, since the remains of the six executed hostages were recovered from Gaza on Sunday.
On one side of the crowd, the road is graffitied with the names of hostages. On the other side, cardboard planks spell out: “Here lie our hostages.”
Inside the crowd, a man in Hasidic garb draws attention and applause as he delivers a philippic against Netanyahu.
“Redeeming the hostages is the entire Torah!” he shouts into a megaphone.