Iceland hits back at Netanyahu’s ‘moral cowards’ remarks
Iceland’s Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir has responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denunciation of Israel’s critics as “moral cowards”.
Addressing the UNGA, she said the world must not let “the suffering of Palestinian civilians” become “background noise”, noting that children are still being killed, families are still losing their homes and parents are still trying to keep their children alive – “again and again and again”.
“We have heard the words ‘moral cowards’ from this podium,” Gunnarsdottir said. “To me, moral cowards are those leaders who refuse to sit down and negotiate a just and lasting peace. Moral cowards are those who deny access to humanitarian aid for people in desperate need, and those who repeatedly disrespect international law.”
She said the world cannot accept Gaza being “repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt” while the underlying cause remains unresolved.
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Smotrich says Israel must ‘go to war’ in occupied West Bank
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on Israel to “go to war” in the occupied West Bank and “do there what we did in Gaza”, according to Israeli media reports.
The chair of the far-right Religious Zionism party reportedly made the remarks on a podcast for the Ynet outlet.
Smotrich repeated his call to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which has limited control in parts of the West Bank. He also urged Israel to annex southern Lebanon and the territory the army holds in Gaza.
Israel is holding a general election on October 27.
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Israel’s Bennett ‘confident’ united opposition will win upcoming vote
Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett predicts the opposition can win 63 seats and form a new government after agreeing with other parties to act together in the October 27 elections.
In a statement on X, Bennett said the opposition’s decision to join forces would lead it to victory in the vote for 120 seats in parliament.
Referring to a meeting of opposition leaders, Bennett wrote: “I am filled with new hope again this evening. I am confident that we can win 63 seats and work together to fix Israel.”
“We have agreed to cooperate fully leading up to the election, on election day, and afterwards.”
Opposition leaders Bennett, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan and Gadi Eisenkot signed an agreement yesterday as part of a coordinated effort to replace Netanyahu’s government, reports said.
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