Anti-Netanyahu protests intensified
Thousands of people gathered outside Israel’s parliament yesterday in one of the biggest protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the start of the war in Gaza.
He has faced mounting pressure, abroad and at home, over Israel’s handling of the war, and many Israelis are calling for him to step down. Close allies such as the US have criticized the war’s high civilian toll and urged Israel to allow more aid to Gaza. And many Israelis have called on Netanyahu to prioritize the release of hostages held by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal. Thousands demonstrated against Netanyahu’s government in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
The protests in Jerusalem, which were expected to continue until Wednesday, came as talks on a possible ceasefire resumed in Cairo.
Context: Protests against Netanyahu over his plan to overhaul the justice system largely subsided after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, but public discontent over the war has now drawn Israelis back into the streets.
Another subject: Netanyahu also faces a dispute over a bill to extend the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from mandatory military service, with his right-wing governing coalition at stake. If the state does not extend the exemption, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers may leave the coalition. If he does, secular members could leave.
The killing of a Russian defector has raised fears of hit squads
The men who killed Maksim Kuzminov wanted to send a message. The killers shot him six times in a parking garage in southern Spain and then ran over his body with their car. Investigators at the scene found ammunition casings commonly used in the former communist bloc.
Kuzminov defected from Russia to Ukraine last summer, flying a military helicopter into Ukrainian territory with classified documents. He committed the one offense that President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he would never forgive: treason.
His assassination in the seaside resort of Villajoyosa in February has raised fears that Russia’s European espionage networks are still operating and targeting enemies of the Kremlin, despite concerted efforts to dismantle them after Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
No evidence of direct Kremlin involvement has emerged. But Russia has made no secret of its desire to see Kuzminov dead, and senior police officers said the attack resembled those carried out by the Kremlin.
Angry farmers are reshaping Europe
Farmers are protesting across Europe, angered by tougher EU environmental regulations, reduced farm subsidies and cheap grain and poultry imports from Ukraine.
Their discontent threatens to do more than change the way Europe produces food. Farmers are softening climate targets, reshaping policy ahead of European Parliament elections in June and shaking European unity against Russia as the war in Ukraine raises costs. The unrest has fueled a far-right that thrives on grievances and shaken a European establishment that has been forced to make concessions.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus wants you to listen to older women
When Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won nearly a dozen Emmys for her roles on “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” hit her 60s, she realized she wanted to hear from older ladies.
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So does age breed honesty? Louis-Dreyfus thinks so. “With these women,” she said, “it’s like, ‘Oh, who cares — here’s the truth.’
