"Borrowing more money to solve the debt crisis is like drinking a bottle of scotch to solve inebriation." --
Michael Rivero

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For all their careers as diplomats, Alon Liel and Ilan Baruch advocated Israel’s case. Both served as Israeli ambassadors in South Africa, and Liel rose to be director-general of the foreign service.

Today, they are using all their diplomatic skills to destroy their government’s case before the international community, and last week were in London ahead of an expected visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

Israel’s parliament on Thursday passed the first of several laws that make up its contentious judicial overhaul as protesters opposing the changes staged another day of demonstrations aimed at ringing an alarm over what they see as the country’s 

Israel is currently undergoing one of the biggest domestic crises in its 75-year history as a result of new legislation being pushed through its parliament aimed at limiting the power of the country's judiciary.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a judicial overhaul a priority since it came into office earlier this year.

A far-right Israeli minister threatened on Wednesday to re-occupy the besieged coastal enclave and re-colonise settlements that were evacuated in the territory before 2005.

Speaking to the Israeli Channel 7, Israeli Minister of National Missions Orit Strock said, "We have to return our settlements once again. I believe that we have provided many sacrifices to restore Gaza."

IDF (Jewish Internet Defense Force): READ FULL DESCRIPTION: As many of you may have suspected, Israel is paying and training internet bloggers to delete, rewrite, and revise internet content to shape public opinion to Israel's benefit. Video of the Israeli-sponsored training programs have been leaked to the web (like the video here).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday on Twitter that Israel "will not advance any law against the Christian community," an apparent reference to Knesset members Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher's bill to ban preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ with jail time.

The US State Department's annual human rights report has deferred to the Israeli government's version of events on the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and did not mention the death of a US citizen who died after being arrested by Israeli forces last year.

The report, released on Monday, did not label the journalist's death as an extrajudicial or arbitrary killing, only noting it under its section on freedom of expression.

Britain and Israel will sign an agreement aimed at deepening technology, trade, and security ties over the next seven years when UK foreign minister James Cleverly meets his Israeli counterpart in London on Tuesday, The New Arab reported.

The decision comes despite a political crisis engulfing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul, and the continued persecution and oppression of Palestinians in occupied territories.

Israel’s Eli Cohen is visiting London to sign the new roadmap for relations with Britain.

When Daniel Schleider and his wife, Lior, leave Israel next month, it will be for good — and with a heavy heart.

“I have no doubt I will have tears in my eyes the whole flight.” said Schleider, who was born in Mexico and lived in Israel for a time as a child before returning on his own at 18. Describing himself as “deeply Zionist,” he served in a combat unit in the Israeli army, married an Israeli woman and built a career in an Israeli company.