The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Ministers approve steps to alleviate Gaza humanitarian crisis ahead of US deadline
The security cabinet at a Sunday meeting approved a series of steps aimed at boosting the humanitarian situation in Gaza, ahead of the Wednesday deadline set by the US for Israel to address the crisis or risk a partial embargo on weapons from Washington, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
The US sent Israel a letter on October 13, warning that it had 30 days to take a list of steps or risk being out of compliance with US law, which bars the transfer of offensive weapons to countries that block access to humanitarian aid.
Among the steps demanded by the US was for Israel to increase the amount of aid going into Gaza to 350 trucks per day. That number has been well under 100 on average for the past several months.
Among the list of measures approved by the security cabinet on Sunday is an unspecified increase to the amount of aid entering the Strip, but an Israeli official tells Axios that Israel won’t be able to meet the 350 truck benchmark set by the US.
Another measure approved by the cabinet is the inland expansion of the Muwasi coastal humanitarian zone, which the IDF already started widening in recent weeks.
The ministers also agreed that Israel will send a written commitment that it is not seeking to forcibly deport Gazans from combat zones, Channel 13 reports. This appears to be in response to a US demand in its letter that Israel clarify that it is not seeking to “isolate northern Gaza,” through the implementation of the so-called General’s Plan.
The plan envisions the IDF laying siege to northern Gaza in order to prevent the resurgence of Hamas, and the IDF has insisted it is not carrying it out. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly do the same, but the premier declined to do so amid pressure from his far-right coalition partners, a US official told The Times of Israel last month.
It is unclear if the written commitment described by Channel 13 will suffice what the US was seeking from Israel.
The US letter made a separate, seemingly lower-tier request for Israel to allow the Red Cross to visit Palestinian security prisoners amid mounting reports of abuse in Israeli prisons.
Channel 13 reports that this request was denied by the security cabinet. Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross to visit the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza.
Ministers during the security cabinet meeting pressed Netanyahu on why these measures were necessary, given that US President Joe Biden is on his way out and that Trump is unlikely to implement any sort of arms embargo against Israel, especially on his first days in office.
Netanyahu responded that Biden still can take steps against Israel in his final two-plus months in office and that boosting the Gaza humanitarian situation would be important in mitigating such moves, Channel 13 says.
A US official tells The Times of Israel that Israel has met some of the demands that the administration made in its letter but has fallen well short of others thus far.
Report: Trump slated to pick Marco Rubio to be next US secretary of state
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Republican Senator Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, The New York Times reports, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Rubio is a foreign policy hawk and staunch supporter of Israel.
Dermer meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago before sit-downs with top Biden aides in Washington
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US President-elect Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday, Axios reports, saying the aim of the meeting was for the Netanyahu confidant to pass along messages regarding Israel’s plans for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran over the next two months.
“One of the things the Israelis wanted to sort out with Trump is what are the issues he prefers to see solved before January 20 and what are the issues he prefers the Israelis to wait for him,” a US official tells Axios, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a heads up to the Biden administration about the Mar-a-Lago meeting.
Dermer also met with Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is not slated to play a role in the next administration.
Dermer then traveled to Washington where he met on Monday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk and special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein.
In those meetings, the top US and Israeli officials discussed the Wednesday deadline the Biden administration gave Israel to dramatically improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza at the risk of a partial arms embargo.
They also discussed efforts to secure ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, Axios reports.
US officials tell the news site that Netanyahu has conveyed to Washington that he wants the war in Lebanon to end within weeks.
However, Israel is demanding a side letter from the US that includes guarantees from Washington that Israel will be allowed to take military action in Lebanon against Hezbollah if the terror group manages to re-establish its military presence along the border.
The sides have made progress in drafting the letter, a US official says, but it risks opposition from Hezbollah, which has asserted that it won’t accept any deal that allows Israel to resume its military actions in Lebanon.
Trump selects Mike Waltz as national security adviser, source says
US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Republican Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, a source familiar with the matter tells Reuters, tapping a retired Army Green Beret who has been a leading critic of China.
Waltz, a Trump loyalist who also served in the National Guard as a colonel, has criticized Chinese activity in the Asia-Pacific and has voiced the need for the United States to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.
‘Cancer Jews’: Several arrested after tram set ablaze in week’s second Amsterdam riot
Police in Amsterdam have arrested several suspects after dozens of rioters clashed with officers and set a tram car on fire.
Footage from the scene caught at least one of the participants shouting, “Cancer Jews,” indicating that the violence was an extension of attacks perpetrated by Muslim and Arab rioters against Israeli soccer fans over the weekend.
The clip was posted on X by Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch lawmaker who leads the largest party in parliament.
Another video shows a Palestinian flag hung near one of the main points of friction during the clashes.
Amsterdam vanavond.
Ze roepen “Kankerjoden!”. pic.twitter.com/YlO1lV65DB
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) November 11, 2024
A police spokesman says a tram at the ’40-’45 Square in the west part of Amsterdam had caught fire, likely caused by fireworks thrown at it. The windows of the tram were also shattered.
No one was injured in the incident, as the tram had been empty, the spokesman says.
Footage on local TV station AT5 showed many people on the square throwing fireworks, poles and wooden pallets.
Police urged people to stay away from the square and said riot squads would remain present to restore peace.
דיווחים על מהומות באמסטרדם: קבוצה גדולה של מתפרעים הציתה תחנת טראם וירתה זיקוקים. לפי סרטון שפורסם ברשתות החברתיות, דגל פלסטין הוצב בסמוך לאחד ממוקדי החיכוך @AmichaiStein1 @itamargalit pic.twitter.com/BediytQ7ea
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 11, 2024
Police said it was not clear who started tonight’s unrest and whether it was related to what happened last week. But they noted the tense atmosphere since five people were treated in the hospital and dozens detained Thursday following a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match. Youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing to evade police, according to Amsterdam’s mayor.
Herzog thanks Biden, calls Trump ‘champion of peace’ in speech at DC Jewish confab
In an address to the Jewish Federations’ General Assembly, President Isaac Herzog congratulates Donald Trump on his victory in last week’s US presidential elections. The Israeli head of state’s appearance at the three-day DC confab is part of his first visit to the US since October 7.
Herzog calls the president-elect a “champion of peace and cooperation” and tells the crowd that he wished him “every success in leading Israel and the Middle East towards a future of security and prosperity” in a conversation following the elections.
“We spoke of the urgent need to bring our hostages back home, President Trump reiterated his love for Israel,” he continues.
Herzog also pays thanks to US President Joe Biden, whom he dubs his “dear friend,” for his “steadfast support from the very beginning of the war.”
Herzog plans meet with Biden tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m, to bid the outgoing president farewell.
Invoking last week’s attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, Herzog voices concern about the “startling wave of antisemitism,” which is “flooding the United States and the Jewish world.”
“The civilized world cannot tolerate a mob seeking out Jews, and we will not allow this to be normalized,” Herzog says.
He voices his concern for Diaspora Jewry as the president of the Jewish nation-state, calling antisemitism a “struggle which we share and a challenge we face together.”
Herzog goes on to blame Iran and its allies for contributing to the spread of anti-Jewish sentiment. Israeli authorities ruled out Iranian involvement in last week’s Amsterdam riots, though.
“For many years now we have seen the engine behind the modern-day antisemitism: the Iranian regime and its allies,” he continues. “It is truly an empire of evil, spreading hatred through its numerous proxies, social networks and agents all over the globe.”
Trailer for ‘The Bibi Files’ documentary featuring Netanyahu’s interrogation tapes drops
The Jolt independent film platform releases a trailer of “The Bibi Files,” an American documentary on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that features never-before-seen footage of the Israeli premier being questioned by police between 2016 and 2018.
Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in the cases against him and claims that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution, and facilitated by a weak attorney general.
“This is preposterous and insane,” the prime minister says during an investigation seen in the trailer. “You’re trying to incriminate the prime minister on nonsense.”
In another scene, he can be seen slamming his hand emphatically on the table as he denies what he calls “shameful” allegations.
The documentary is due for release on Jolt on December 11.
The recordings of Netanyahu’s corruption investigation featured in the documentary, leaked to renowned director Alex Gibney last year, include interviews with Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and his son Yair, along with friends, associates and household staff.
The film also contains interviews with former high-ranking Israeli officials, including convicted former prime minister Ehud Olmert, veteran Channel 13 journalist Raviv Drucker, and a survivor of the October 7 terrorist massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri.
Gibney has declined to comment on who gave him the interrogation recordings.