Keir Starmer

Former senior Israeli officials say Netanyahu government ‘hijacked’ country, failed in Iran war

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs meeting as the Israeli Security Cabinet gather to approve a cease-fire agreement and a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, in West Jerusalem on January 17, 2025. [Photo by Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images]

Three former Israeli senior officials sharply criticized the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, saying it has “hijacked” the country and failed in its war against Iran, Anadolu reports.

“On the eve of the 78th anniversary of Israel’s independence (according to the Hebrew calendar), we are forced to say with bitterness: Israel has been hijacked by a regime that views the state’s resources as its own private property,” former army chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe Yaalon wrote in an article in the Haaretz newspaper.

They described the government as “completely detached from the reality of its citizens, acting as if the country were the personal property of Netanyahu, his wife (Sara), and Miri Regev (transport minister).”

Referring to expected general elections in October, they added, “We call on the public to take back control of the country.”

Yaalon, in addition to serving as chief of staff, previously held the post of defense minister.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote in a separate article in Haaretz that “the enemies suffered painful blows, which weakened them all.”

READ: Netanyahu trial hearing postponed over “security reasons,” says Israeli court

He added, however, that “none of the war’s objectives were achieved. Hamas is still in Gaza, and Hezbollah remains in Lebanon.”

“The regime in Tehran survived the joint Israeli-U.S. attack, and the nuclear and ballistic missile threats were not eliminated,” he said.

Barak described it as “a severe strategic and political failure when looking at the balance of power, as Israel and the United States were supposed to win.”

He also said Israel has become “a state subordinate to the United States, which imposed decisive operational and diplomatic decisions on it through harsh — and sometimes humiliating — directives.”

Israel has carried out multiple military campaigns in the region. Since March 2, its attacks on Lebanon have killed 2,294 people, wounded 7,544 and displaced more than 1 million, before US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire last Thursday.

Israel also launched a war on Iran, alongside the United States, on Feb. 28 that killed more than 3,000 people, before Washington and Tehran announced a two-week truce on April 8 with mediation by Pakistan, in hopes of reaching a deal to end that war.

READ: Israeli government applying ‘annexation’ in occupied West Bank, energy minister says

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.

Continue ReadingFormer senior Israeli officials say Netanyahu government ‘hijacked’ country, failed in Iran war

Almost half of Britons are worried about paying their energy bills

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/almost-half-britons-are-worried-about-paying-their-energy-bills

An online energy bill

ALMOST half of Britons are worried they won’t be able to pay their energy bills as inflation is projected to rise following the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to a survey published today.

The research by debt charity StepChange found that 24 million people (45 per cent) said they were concerned about increasing energy costs, up from 29 per cent when they were last asked in January.

A further 14 million (28 per cent) of adults in England and Wales were specifically worried about their ability to afford water bills.

…

StepChange chief executive Vikki Brownridge said: “Making ends meet is getting harder — household essentials like energy and water are becoming increasingly unaffordable and are driving problem debt at alarming rates.

“Where people once commonly came to us after a life shock and emergency borrowing, more often we have clients telling us they simply cannot afford the cost of living as cumulative rises and historic arrears cripple budgets.”

Their report used data from 153,829 clients who completed online or telephone debt advice in 2025, with a further online survey of 257 clients.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/almost-half-britons-are-worried-about-paying-their-energy-bills

Keir Starmer explains that he feels no shame or guilt benefitting personally from gifts from the rich and powerful while insisting on policies of severe austerity causing suffering and death.
Keir Starmer explains that he feels no shame or guilt benefitting personally from gifts from the rich and powerful while insisting on policies of severe austerity causing suffering and death.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves - the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Continue ReadingAlmost half of Britons are worried about paying their energy bills

Of All the War Crimes IDF Carrying Out in Lebanon, Israel Reserves Outrage for Destruction of Jesus Statue

Spread the love

Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

An Israel Defense Forces soldier is seen smashing the head of a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon in April 2026.
(Photo via @ytirawi/X)

“Israeli soldiers have been posting images of their war crimes and cultural desecration for two and a half years straight without interruption,” said one journalist.

The Israel Defense Forces have spent close to two months in Lebanon killing more than 2,100 people, destroying an estimated 1,000 homes—sometimes leveling entire communities—blowing up schools, bombing healthcare infrastructure, and forcibly displacing more than 1 million people, including close to 400,000 children.

But so far, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken out against just one attack on civilian infrastructure—saying on Monday that he condemned “in the strongest terms” an image that went viral over the weekend of an IDF soldier taking a sledgehammer to the head of a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon.

RECOMMENDED…

Dozens killed and hundreds injured in simultaneous attacks on Lebanon

Iran Blocks Strait of Hormuz as ‘Barbaric’ Israeli Bombing Kills Hundreds in Lebanon

A Lebanese woman injured by an Israeli airstrike arrives in a hospital with her head bandaged

‘Nightmare for Civilians’: Israel Inflicts 1,400+ Casualties on Lebanon War’s Deadliest Day

“Of all the shocking war crimes [Palestinian journalist] Younis Tirawi has exposed, it’s the sledgehammer to a Jesus statue… that finally gets Netanyahu to comment,” said Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim, referring to the reporter who posted the image on social media.

Tirawi reported that the statue belonged to the Christian town of Debel, which the Catholic Near East Welfare Association said last week is home to 1,700 people who have been “in total isolation” in recent weeks as the Israeli occupation has forced the Lebanese Army to withdraw from the area. CNEWA said an archbishop in the village has tried to get an aid convoy to Debel, where residents earlier this month had no safe drinking water and enough food to last “no more than two days,” but the IDF’s shelling in the area has forced air trucks to turn back.

“If [Netanyahu] finds this one offensive,” said Grim of the photo of the IDF soldier, “I suggest he not scroll the last few years of posts from Younis Tirawi.”

Tirawi reported extensively on the IDF’s destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. He posted a video on social media on April 11 of the IDF demolishing a United Nations school in the southern part of the exclave, and one on April 10 that showed a double-tap strike that killed 33-year-old Palestinian Man Yousef Mansour in al-Mawasi.

Netanyahu said in an interview with Newsmax last week that Israel “is the only country in the Middle East and one of the few countries in the world who stands up for Christians.”

In a statement Monday, the IDF said that it is “operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols.”

But the destruction of the Jesus statue in Debel came after a double-tap strike that killed Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Manonite Catholic priest, in another southern Lebanese town last month. Historic Christian churches have also been destroyed by IDF attacks in Gaza.

“The smashing of Christ’s statue in Lebanon is latest example of the impunity with which Israeli soldiers have attacked and desecrated religious sites in occupied Palestinian territories,” said TRT World.

War correspondent Steve Sweeney, who is based in Beirut, shared footage of a church the IDF destroyed in southern Lebanon in October 2024, in an attack that killed at least eight people.

Sweeney also noted that a month after that attack, Israeli soldiers “desecrated the St. Mema Church in the Christian village of Deir Mimas, southern Lebanon.”

The IDF “said the conduct was contrary to its values” at the time, said Sweeney.

Despite officials’ expressions of shock on Monday, “Israeli soldiers have been posting images of their war crimes and cultural desecration for two and a half years straight without interruption,” said Grim.

UN experts have warned as Israel has carried out its attacks in Lebanon since early March that “deliberately attacking civilians or civilian objects amounts to a war crime.”

While the destruction of the Jesus statue drew condemnation Monday from Netanyahu, the IDF, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee—who called for “swift, severe, and public consequences”—it was far from the only attack waged by Israel in Lebanon over the weekend.

Despite a ceasefire that was announced Friday and a statement from President Donald Trump that further IDF attacks were “PROHIBITED,” Israel continued demolishing infrastructure and shelling areas in southern Lebanon over the weekend, and three people were injured in an Israeli drone strike near the Litani River on Monday.

Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Continue ReadingOf All the War Crimes IDF Carrying Out in Lebanon, Israel Reserves Outrage for Destruction of Jesus Statue

Jerusalem Latin cleric condemns destruction of Jesus statue by Israeli soldier

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Bishop William Shomali. [Wikipedia]

William Shomali, an auxiliary bishop for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, condemned Monday the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon, calling it a “shameful and disgraceful act,” Anadolu reports.

Speaking to Anadolu, Shomali denounced the incident a day after the Israeli army acknowledged that one of its soldiers had smashed the statue in the town of Debel in Nabatieh province.

The acknowledgement followed a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which said Sunday that a soldier had destroyed a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon.

Shomali said the act is “shameful, disgraceful, and constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and a sign of disrespect for religions.”

“What we saw is contempt for religions. It is absolutely unacceptable and must not be allowed,” he said.

Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s condemnation of the incident, Shomali said that “in my view, the killing of innocent civilians and children in Lebanon is more serious.”

READ: Israeli soldier smashes statue of Christ in southern Lebanon

“The breaking of the cross is not the only tragedy in Lebanon. Innocent people are dying every day as a result of this war, which must stop,” he added.

Netanyahu condemned the incident early Monday, claiming that Israel “respects all religions” at a time when Tel Aviv is attacking several countries in the region, resulting in deaths and injuries among civilians.

Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 2,294 people, wounded 7,544, and displaced more than 1 million, according to official figures.

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon following calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli officials.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Continue ReadingJerusalem Latin cleric condemns destruction of Jesus statue by Israeli soldier

Boos erupt against pro-Israel candidates at Michigan Democratic convention

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

US Congresswoman Haley Stevens [Screengrab/X]

In further signs of Israel becoming politically toxic, the deep divisions between the Democratic base and Democratic leaders were on powerful display yesterday, as party delegates in Michigan jeered, heckled and shouted down pro-Israel candidates at their own state convention.

AIPAC funded US Congresswoman Haley Stevens and University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker, who opposed student protesters demanding divestment from Israel, were both booed from the stage yesterday at the Michigan Democratic Party Convention.

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman from suburban Detroit, has cast herself as a pragmatic centrist and voted consistently with AIPAC’s position on Israel, including its war on Gaza. Her two Democratic primary rivals — state Senator Mallory McMorrow and former Michigan public health director Abdul El-Sayed, who is of Egyptian descent — have both pledged to refuse AIPAC money, mirroring a national trend of Democratic candidates trying to insulate themselves from a base that now views the Isael lobby’s endorsement as politically radioactive.

Read: New pro-Palestine encampments erected at University of North Carolina, Arizona State University

The jeers for Stevens were not the only signal. Delegates also booed Acker, the incumbent University of Michigan regent and a prominent Jewish Democrat who became a lightning rod for pro-Palestine activists in 2024.

Acker publicly opposed student protesters demanding the university divest from Israel over its war on Gaza, pushed for a hard line against the Ann Arbor encampment, and dismissed divestment as unworkable. For activists, he became the face of a university administration that called in police against its own students.

On Sunday, Acker lost his re-nomination to Amir Makled, a civil rights attorney who represented many of the roughly 40 students arrested during the Ann Arbor encampment. Makled secured the nomination even after SEIU Michigan rescinded its endorsement following reports of past social media posts critics labelled anti-Semitic — a charge increasingly wielded against advocates of Palestinian rights.

“Acker was one of the reasons the encampment was persecuted the way it did,” Alex Rodriguez, a 20-year-old co-chair of the Ann Arbor-based Workers Against Oppression coalition, told the Michigan Chronicle. “What happened to Haley, what happened to Acker, was the consequence of ignoring the people who’ve been fighting against the genocide we’re complicit in abroad.”

Read: Nearly 2,500 people arrested at pro-Palestinian rallies at colleges and universities across US

The convention floor descended into further chaos when pro-Palestine delegates tried to force a point of order over the leadership’s year-long refusal to allow an amendment to a resolution on Palestine. “They have been blocking for a year resolutions on Palestine our members want to have a vote on,” longtime activist Liano Sharon told the Chronicle.

The Michigan revolt reflects a deepening national trend. A new Pew Research Center shows American support for Israel plummeting, with the collapse sharpest among Democrats, younger voters and independents. Gallup has similarly found Americans now sympathise more with Palestinians.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Continue ReadingBoos erupt against pro-Israel candidates at Michigan Democratic convention