Israeli Defense Minister Resigns

Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon resigned citing his lack of trust in Netanyahu. Ya'alon said "extremist and dangerous forces have taken over Israel and the Likud movement".

“I notified the prime minister this morning that in the wake of his behavior during the latest developments, and in light of my lack of faith in him, I am resigning from the government and the Knesset and taking a break from political life,” Ya’alon said in a statement released to the media. (Source.)

“I worked with the prime minister harmoniously and respectfully, seriously and substantively, for a long time, and certainly during Operation Protective Edge, and for that I want to thank him,” Ya’alon said Friday.

“But to my great regret, I have found myself lately in deep disagreement over professional and ethical issues with the prime minister, a number of ministers and a few members of Knesset.

“I have fought with all my strength against radicalization, violence and racism in Israeli society, which threatens its resilience and percolates also into the IDF, already causing it harm,” he said.

“I have fought with all my strength against attempts to harm the Supreme Court and Israel’s judges, processes whose result will cause grave damage to the rule of law and could be disastrous for our country.” ...

“But to my great regret, extremist and dangerous forces have taken over Israel and the Likud movement and are destabilizing our home and threatening to harm its inhabitants.

“This is not the Likud I joined — the Likud of Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin — and it is appropriate that the decisive majority of Likud voters, a sane, respectable and responsible public, understands the depth of the crisis and the recklessness of this spirit that is taking over the movement. I hope that the general public, too, on right and left, understands the serious consequences of the takeover of the center by an extremist minority, and will fight these phenomena. This is existential; the state’s existence depends on it.” (Source.)

Because of Ya'alon's resignation his place in the Likud Party is replaced by Yehuda Glick, an advocate for Third Temple Extremism. He was once stabbed over this issue in 2014. Calls for the status quo to be changed and to insert some kind of Jewish religious presence in the Temple Mount that have been made by national religious Israeli Jews have contributed to inflaming tensions in Jerusalem and helped spark the recent wave of violence that began in October 2015.

Ya'alon has been replaced as Defense Minister by a man who once suggested beheading Palestinian citizens of Israel, namely Avigdor Lieberman. More information about Lieberman may be found in the 2013 book, Goliath by Max Blumenthal. 

And in other news remains of EgyptAir Flight MS804 have been found.

Also the Turkish parliament abolished parliamentary immunity for MPs. This has made many worried that relations with the Kurds may be hampered with this change of law.