14 Days: Terror attacks

As the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee convened on March 1 to pass the second part of Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s judicial reform package, protesters held a “Day of Disruption” across the country. When demonstrators tried to block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, police used stun grenades and water cannons to disperse them, and 11 protesters were injured in ensuing clashes. Police were also summoned to evacuate the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, who was trapped inside a Tel Aviv hair salon while protesters sought to prevent her from leaving. The incident occurred as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on television, saying: “A sovereign country cannot tolerate anarchy.... We won’t accept rioters in Huwara, and we won’t accept rioters in Tel Aviv.” 

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry announced that Israeli and Palestinian representatives at an Aqaba summit on February 26 agreed to work toward a “just and lasting peace” and affirmed the need to “commit to de-escalation on the ground.” The Jordanian statement also said that the two sides had agreed to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount, and that Israel had agreed to halt new settlement approvals in the West Bank for four to six months. The Palestinian Authority agreed to resume security cooperation with Israel, and both sides supported “confidence-building steps” before their next meeting in Egypt in April. The summit took place – with Egyptian and United States participation – in an attempt to halt escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence ahead of the month of Ramadan that begins on March 22.

Israel’s cabinet approved Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s proposal for the state budget for 2023-2024 on February 24. The state budget for 2023 is almost NIS 484 billion and in 2024 will increase to approximately NIS 514 billion, according to a statement issued by Smotrich. “The two-year budget is focused toward growth and infrastructures, and with God’s aid this will help to maintain the development of the State of Israel and the stability of the Israeli economy,” Smotrich said. Former finance minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) slammed the government. “The budget as it was approved is a classic ‘Israbluff.’ There is no official budget book; and in the whole session, the high cost of living was not mentioned at all.”