The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they happen.
Trump says US in transition period, downplays impact of short-term recession
US President Donald Trump says the US is in a “transition period” and is going to do “fantastically” while downplaying the impact any short-term recession may have.
When asked during an interview with NBC News whether it would be OK to have a recession in the short term, Trump says: “Look, yeah, it’s — everything’s okay. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
Trump’s comment on the US economy being in a transition period echo comments he made earlier on Friday in a social media post, in which he also cited strong employment and reiterated his call for the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
“We’re only in a transition stage, just getting started!” he said in a Truth Social post. The post followed the release of US data that showed job growth slowed marginally for April.
Trump, who just passed his 100th day in office, has faced growing public discontent over his handling of the economy, with many economists predicting a wide range of tariffs imposed in recent months will drive up inflation and slow growth.
Russian drones hit apartment block in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, 46 hurt
Russia launched a mass drone attack late at night on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a high-rise apartment block, triggering fires and injuring 46 people, officials say.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, says there were strikes in 12 locations in four central districts of the city, a repeated target of Russian air attacks lying 30 km (19 miles) from the country’s northeastern border.
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounces the drone strikes, which hit Ukrainian cities several times a week. He says dozens of drones were launched and Ukraine’s allies are moving too slowly in helping beef up its air defense capability.
“There were no military targets, nor could there be any. Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes, when they are putting their children to bed,” Zelensky writes on Telegram. “As the world delays decisions, almost every night in Ukraine turns into a horror that results in the loss of lives. Ukraine needs stronger air defenses. Stronger and real decisions from our partners: the United States, Europe, all our partners who seek peace.”
US, Israel near agreement on Gaza aid mechanism, Axios reports
The United States, Israel and representatives of a new international foundation are close to an agreement on how to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza without it being controlled by Hamas, Axios reports, citing two Israeli officials and one US source.
One State Department official tells the outlet: “We understand that the mechanism will deliver aid to the people who need it in line with our principals: we support the flow of humanitarian aid with safeguards to ensure assistance is not diverted, looted, or misused by terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
The Times of Israel previously reported on the planned mechanism.
White House quarrels with Germany after move against far-right AfD
The decision by Germany’s domestic intelligence service to designate the far-right AfD party as an extremist group has set off a diplomatic spat with the United States.
The BfV intelligence agency, which had already designated several local branches of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) as right-wing extremists, said earlier it moved against the entire party due to its attempts to “undermine the free, democratic” order in Germany. The classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the party by lowering the barriers for such steps as intercepting telephone calls and deploying undercover agents.
The conservative US administration has quickly condemned the move.
US Vice President JD Vance is accusing Germany of rebuilding a “Berlin Wall.”
“The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt — not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,” Vance, who in February defiantly met the AfD leader in Munich, writes on X. He says the AfD is “the most popular party in Germany.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it “tyranny in disguise” and says “Germany should reverse course.” President Donald Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk has also previously defended the AfD.
The German foreign ministry takes the unusual step of replying directly to Rubio on X to say: “This is democracy.”
This is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law. It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) May 2, 2025
The ministry says that the “decision is the result of a thorough and independent investigation to protect our constitution” and can be appealed.
“We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped,” the ministry says.
IDF confirms carrying out wave of airstrikes in Syria
The IDF confirms carrying out a wave of airstrikes in Syria this evening.
According to the military, the strikes carried out by fighter jets targeted “a military site, anti-aircraft artillery, and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria.”
“The IDF will continue to act as required to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the military adds.