Pressure is mounting on PM Olmert and his Ministers to make a decision regarding the captive soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. After long two years, a swap deal with Hezbollah has finally been drafted, and the only thing that’s required for its immediate execution is the government’s approval. Ehud’s wife, Karnit Goldwasser, made a public appeal over the weekend and urged PM Olmert not to delay this decision any further, and to bring Eldad and her husband back home.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States’ Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a short and unscheduled visit to Jerusalem this Saturday, meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Rav Aluf (that’s the title) Gabi Ashkenazi. This is his second visit to Israel in 6 months. As a result, oil prices crossed the 140$ mark for the first time in history.
Minister of Justice Prof. Daniel Friedmann continues his crusade against the High Court, this time proposing to amend the “Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty” in such a way that it will not apply on immigration and border control issues. In other words, if this amendment is accepted by the Knesset — and that’s an unlikely scenario — Israeli officials will be legally free to deport any and all foreigners, including asylum seekers, without the High Court being able to intervene in the matter. Since Israel does not currently have a Constitution, Basic Laws are the closest thing we have so far, and playing with them is a very big deal.
Photo by AP
August 2, 2008 at 11:45 pm
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