• Israelis shut down British consulate in East Jerusalem

Democratic Senate candidate vows to vote against sending weapons to Israel

The Democratic Senate candidate for Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, has said he would not vote to send defensive weapons to Israel if it came under attack from Iran or other countries.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, said during a debate against the Republican candidate Mike Rogers on Thursday that “Israel has pushed us to go to war in Iran”.

“I do not want our tax dollars buying weapons for other countries,” El-Sayed said.

“I do not consider an ally a country that takes us to wars we do not need to fight,” he added.

Rogers, a former congressman, spoke in support of Israel, saying he supports “Israel’s right to defend itself in a difficult neighborhood”.

Israel violated armed conflict, humanitarian laws in Gaza, US senator says

Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff has said that Israeli forces in Gaza violated the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.

Ossoff, running for re-election in the state of Georgia, said in a debate on Thursday that the question of whether Israel committed a genocide in Gaza is “a question for the International Criminal Court”.

The Georgia senator followed his statement by attacking his Republican opponent, Representative Mike Collins, for supporting the sanctioning and defunding of the ICC.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, which has killed at least 74,000 Palestinians.

Israeli rabbi criticizes Zionism

One of Israel’s top ultra-Orthodox rabbis, Dov Lando, has become the center of controversy in Israel after comments emerged in which he denigrated Zionism.

In a recently released video recording, the 96-year-old rabbi is heard saying the ideology of Zionism has caused the Jewish people to suffer “disasters” and Jewish Israelis may have been better off without a state.

The remarks have drawn rebukes from Israeli politicians, weeks before legislative elections, in which the role of the country’s growing ultra-Orthodox community, particularly over military service, is a major issue. The political alignment of ultra-Orthodox parties could also prove crucial to the formation of the next government.