The Knesset was set to vote Monday on a bill to end the Supreme Court's use of the standard of "reasonableness" to cancel government decisions.

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The amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary is head to the full Knesset for the first of three readings necessary for it to become law, with the Coalition hoping to finalize the process by the end of the current summer session that ends on July 30. The bill is part of the Coalition's legislative push led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reform the judicial branch.

Video: Protesters against the judicial reform outside the home of Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Credit: Moshe Ben Simhon)

The Opposition is firmly opposed to the changes, taking to the streets in past months for massive demonstrations and engaging in heated debates in the Knesset. Protesters threatened to converge on Ben-Gurion International Airport and major retailers, such as Big Shopping Centers, said they would shut all stores if the controversial legislation is passed as part of nationwide disruptive demonstrations on Tuesday.

Big later walked back the threats following rebellion from stores and political pressure, saying it will not force its stores to go on strike.

Under the proposed reforms, the Supreme Court will still hear appeals and even retain the power to strike down laws by super-majority, but they will no longer be afforded the "reasonableness" concept that has been criticized as too abstract. In turn, the Knesset will be empowered to override by an absolute majority Supreme Court opinions that are not handed down by super-majority.

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President Isaac Herzog spoke on Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed sorrow over the previous day's twin bombings in Jerusalem.

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Zelenskyy called on the Israeli people to remain strong in the face of the terror attacks that resulted in the killing of 16-year-old yeshiva student Aryeh Shechopek. More than 20 other persons were wounded in the two explosions that targeted bus stops near entrances to the capital during the morning rush hour.

Herzog thanked Zelenskyy for his kind words and added that the Israeli public is concerned for the well-being of the Ukrainian people and is working in various ways to alleviate its suffering. In March, shortly after the outbreak of the war, Israel was the first to set up a field hospital on Ukrainian territory and supplied other humanitarian aid as well.

Zelenskyy underscored the deep connection between Israel and Ukraine, which he said exists not only between leaders but also between people, including many Jewish immigrants to Israel from Ukraine. He welcomed the conclusion of elections in Israel and expressed hope for cooperation with the next government.

Herzog described the process of government formation and noted a desire to maintain dialogue with Kyiv on a number of humanitarian issues, especially concerning the approaching winter, immediately upon the establishment of the next government. Ukraine is in the midst of an energy grisis after a recent missile onslaught robbed cities of power and some of water and public transport, too, compounding the hardship of winter for millions.

Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession and cascading outages. Ukraine's Energy Ministry said supplies were cut to "the vast majority of electricity consumers." Lviv's trams and trolleybuses stopped running as the city in western Ukraine lost both power and water, the mayor said. All of Kyiv lost water, the capital's mayor said. Power also went out and public transport stopped in Kharkiv, the mayor of that northeastern city, Ukraine's second largest, said.

Tweeting after his conversation with Herzog, Zelenskyy said he had invited Israel to join the Grain from Ukraine initiative, in which countries buy crops from Ukraine to send to Africa to alleviate hunger.

 JNS.org contributed to this report.

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Israel's incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with the leaders of his allied right-wing and religious bloc in Jerusalem on Sunday to hold talks on forming the country's next government.

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Netanyahu is expected to form a cabinet that will include the heads of ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties as well as the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength") – currently a part of the Religious Zionist Party – whose leader Itamar Ben-Gvir is currently in Eilat and will meet the future prime minister later on Monday.

According to a statement issued by Netanyahu's office on Saturday, the meetings will be aimed at an "alignment of interests" as the official coalition negotiations can only be held after President Isaac Herzog officially asks Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, to form a government, which should happen within a week. Prior to that, Herzog has to consult with all elected parties.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu's bloc won a total of 64 seats out of 120 in the Knesset. According to media reports, the incoming prime minister promised Shas leader Aryeh Deri a ministerial position of his choice while offering Betzalel Smotrich, head of Religious Zionist Party, the role of education or justice minister. Meanwhile, other sources suggest that Likud members are eyeing justice and finance ministry positions.

Earlier on Thursday, sources told i24NEWS that Ben-Gvir would not become public security minister, despite Netanyahu repeatedly having said that it was possible that the right-wing leader could become a minister in his cabinet. Throughout his election campaign Ben-Gvir pledged that he would "restore security" to Israel.

i24NEWS and JNS.org contributed to this report.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday criticized Israel's neutrality in the war, saying the decision by Israeli leaders not to support Ukraine encouraged Russia's military partnership with Iran.

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Speaking by video at a conference organized by Haaretz, Zelensky urged that cooperation between Moscow and Tehran would not have happened if Israel had agreed to supply Ukraine with military aid.

"This alliance of theirs simply would not have happened if your politicians had made only one decision at the time... it seems that it was adopted a long time ago – in 2014, when Russia began its aggression against Ukraine," he said, referring to Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea.

"The decision 'not to annoy' the Kremlin, not to help Ukraine for real" enabled the alliance between Moscow and Tehran.

Israel has maintained a strict policy of not providing Ukraine with military aid since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, including systems that could help Kyiv intercept missile and drone strikes.

Jerusalem's position has however evolved over recent weeks, from near neutrality to more forceful condemnations of Russia. Jerusalem has also offered to provide Ukraine with airstrike alerts for civilians and a private Israeli firm is said to provide the military with the positions of Russian troops.

Still, Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday told his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Reznikov, that "Israel will not provide weapon systems to Ukraine."

Zelensky called on Israel to make a choice in the conflict: "Isn't it time for your state to choose who you are with?"

"Is it with the democratic world, which is fighting side by side against the existential threat to its existence? Or with those who turn a blind eye to Russian terror, even when the cost of continued terror is the complete destruction of global security?"

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities tried to dampen public fears over Russia's use of Iranian drones by claiming increasing success Monday in shooting them down, while the Kremlin's talk of a possible "dirty bomb" attack added another worrying dimension as the war enters its ninth month.

Ukrainians are bracing for less electric power this winter following a sustained Russian barrage on their infrastructure in recent weeks. Citizens in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv lined up for water and essential supplies Monday as Ukrainian forces advanced on the nearby Russian-occupied city of Kherson.

Ukraine's forces have shot down more than two-thirds of the approximately 330 Shahed drones that Russia has fired through Saturday, the head of Ukraine's intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, said Monday. Budanov said Russia's military had ordered about 1,700 drones of different types and is rolling out a second batch of about 300 Shaheds.

"Terror with the use of 'Shaheds' can actually last for a long time," he was quoted as saying in the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, adding: "Air defense is basically coping, 70% are shot down."

Both Russia and Iran deny that Iranian-built drones have been used but the triangle-shaped Shahed-136s have rained down on civilians in Kyiv and elsewhere.

"First of all, we have to be able to counter the drones," US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday at a press conference in Zagreb with Croatia's leader. "It is a dangerous technology and it must be stopped."

Britain's Ministry of Defense said Russia was likely to use a large number of drones to try to penetrate the "increasingly effective Ukrainian air defenses" – to substitute for Russian-made long-range precision weapons "which are becoming increasingly scarce."

That assessment came on top of a stark warning by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to his British, French, Turkish and US counterparts over the weekend that Ukrainian forces were preparing a "provocation" involving a radioactive device – a so-called dirty bomb. Britain, France, and the United States rejected that claim as "transparently false."

A dirty bomb uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror. Such weapons don't have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.

Russian authorities on Monday doubled down on Shoigu's warning.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian military's radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, said Russian military assets were on high readiness for possible radioactive contamination. He told reporters a dirty bomb blast could contaminate thousands of square kilometers.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday: "It's not an unfounded suspicion, we have serious reasons to believe that such things could be planned."

Ukraine has rejected Moscow's claims as an attempt to distract attention from its own plans to detonate a dirty bomb. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday dismissed as "outrageous" the Russian claim that Ukraine could use a dirty bomb.

The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.

"It's just not true. We know it's not true," John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. "In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do."

Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.

The country's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Monday he has urged the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to immediately send an inspection team to the country to dispel Moscow's claims. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in response that it was preparing "safeguards visits" in the coming days.

The UN Security Council scheduled closed consultations Tuesday at Russia's request on what it claimed was Ukraine's plans for a "dirty bomb."

On the battlefield Monday, his office said at least six civilians were killed and another five were wounded by Russian shelling of several Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours, including Mykolaiv – where energy facilities were targeted – and the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.

Later in the day, the Ukrainian military reported they had "pushed the enemy out of" three villages in the eastern Luhansk region and one in Donetsk. Moscow has not immediately commented on the claim.

Russian authorities said Ukrainian troops fired rockets at the Kakhovka major hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region. Vladimir Rogov, a senior member of the Russian-installed administration in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, said the plant hadn't sustained serious damage and continued to operate.

Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of plotting to blow up the plant's dam to flood the area as Ukrainian forces pressed an offensive on Kherson, which was captured by Russian troops early in the war.

Russian officials also accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a car with three civilians in the Kherson region, killing one.

Ukraine's relentless artillery strikes on Kherson have cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects southern Ukraine, and have left Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement. The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law last week.

Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, played down speculation that Russian forces were preparing an immediate exit from Kherson.

While Russian forces were helping tens of thousands of residents evacuate, "at the same time, they are bringing new military units in and preparing the streets of the city for defense," he said.

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In related news, Russian authorities removed monuments of 18th-century Russian military chiefs Alexander Suvorov and Fyodor Ushakov from Kherson to save them from Ukrainian shelling.

On Saturday, Russian-installed authorities told all residents of Kherson to leave "immediately" ahead of an expected advance by Ukrainian troops seeking to recapture the city, which sits on a key route to the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

A poll released Monday from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed 86% of Ukrainian respondents agreed that Ukraine's armed struggle with Russia should continue. Some 10% believed it was necessary to start negotiations with Russia even if Ukraine has to make concessions. The telephone poll of 1,000 adults from across Ukraine was conducted Friday through Sunday, it said.

Residents in Mykolaiv, northwest of Kherson, echoed the determination to fight on – even as their city endures shelling almost every night and residents must line up during the day for food and water.

"Ukraine is doing the right thing. Russians attacked us, and they must be beaten for that," said Mykolaiv resident Mykola Kovalenko, 76.

With an eye on the coming winter, Kyiv and seven other Ukrainian regions on Monday planned rolling blackouts as authorities worked to fix the damage to energy facilities caused by targeted Russian shelling. Zelenskyy appealed to local authorities to make sure Ukrainians heed a call to conserve energy.

"Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs," he said.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Prime Minister Yair Lapid met with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama on Sunday to work together on countering Iranian cyber threats, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

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Rama had touched down in Israel earlier on Sunday for a three-day visit at Lapid's invitation just weeks after Tirana cut off diplomatic ties with Iran over cyberattacks in the summer.

Lapid pledged to offer assistance to the Balkan country against such attacks.

"Israel will assist as much as possible in the effort against Iran," he said at the beginning of their meeting. "Iran is a common threat to Israel and Albania. We see this as a national interest and a historical duty."

The two leaders also agreed to enhance bilateral relations, including in the fields of tourism and trade. Rama is also slated to meet with President Isaac Herzog and the head of Israel's National Cyber Directorate, Gaby Portnoy.

In September, Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll met with Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka, and offered "to share our knowledge and experience in cyber defense." He also "expressed Israel's appreciation" for Tirana's decision to expel Iranian diplomats.

"We will continue to tighten cooperation between Israel and Albania," Roll said.

Following the cyberattacks on Tirana, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions against Tehran's Intelligence and Security Ministry and Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

The attacks disrupted state computer systems, forcing Albania to suspend online services, and leaked supposed government documents and residents' personal information.

JNS.org and i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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A terrorist wanted for the deadly Oct. 9 attack at a Jerusalem checkpoint was killed Wednesday while carrying out another shooting outside a Jewish settlement outside Jerusalem, authorities said.

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Guards at the entrance to Maale Adumim, one of whom was wounded in the incident, fired back, killing 22-year-old Uday Tamimi, police said. Police commander Uzi Levy told reporters that Tamimi was armed with a pistol and was carrying an explosive device.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid identified him as responsible for killing a soldier – Stg. Noa Lazar – and wounding three others in the earlier attack at a checkpoint near Shuafat, a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Following the Oct. 8 attack, police blockaded Shuafat for days as they searched for Tamimi, which led to violent protests against the measures.

Tensions have deepened since the IDF launched Operation Breakwater, an extensive counterterrorism campaign in Judea and Samaria, following a series of terror attacks by Palestinians in Israel that killed 19 people.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel "will act with a heavy hand and not hesitate against terror."

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Clashes broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian gunmen during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp on Friday, leading to a flurry of conflicting reports.

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An initial report by the Palestinian Health Ministry claimed two Palestinians died in the incident.

"Two martyrs arrived at the Jenin government hospital," it said.

An Israeli security source said a third Palestinian, a doctor, was killed in the incident by Palestinian fire.

Video: Palestinian media

Footage from Jenin circulated on Friday morning showed armed Palestinians and Israel Defense Forces soldiers exchange fire. One video showed a Palestinian gunman firing from behind a Red Crescent ambulance, as shouts of "Allahu Akbar" are heard.

Palestinian sources named the doctor as Dr. Abdullah Abu A-Tin. A subsequent statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry said he was not killed but rather "critically injured and in a state of clinical death."

The Israeli military said they arrested three wanted terrorists in the raid, including 24-year-old Mohammad Yosef Salama, believed to be involved in several recent shooting attacks against Israelis.

The IDF has been carrying out almost nightly raids in Jenin – a frequent flash point for confrontations – after launching Operation Breakwater in response to a series of deadly attacks in the summer in the hopes of dismantling terror infrastructure and preventing future attacks.

Violence has increased further as the military continues to search for the suspected killer of Sgt. Noa Lazar, who was shot at a checkpoint last week.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Israel announced Thursday it would not recognize the annexation votes in the Russian referendums held in occupied Ukrainian regions this week.

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"Israel recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, in a move that could heighten tensions with Moscow as until now Jerusalem has sought to maintain ties despite the invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow and pro-Russian authorities of the four occupied regions in eastern Ukraine said on Tuesday that the majority of the population voted in favor of annexation, according to the first results of the "referendums," denounced in advance as a "sham" by Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Russian Electoral Commission also said that between 97-98% of the eligible voters backed the annexation after the partial counting of votes in polling stations in Russia, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees were called to vote.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the West will never recognize Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.

"We and many other countries have already been crystal clear. We will not – indeed, we will never – recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia," he told reporters.

Blinken repeated President Joe Biden's threat that the United States "will impose additional swift and severe costs on Russia" should it go ahead with the referendums.

"It's important to remember what's going on here. Russia invaded Ukraine, seized territory and is engaged in a diabolical scheme on some of the territory it seized where it has moved the local populace out," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council by video from Kyiv that Russia's "sham referendums" and attempts to annex Ukrainian territory rule out any talks with Moscow as long as Putin remained president, and called for Russia's "complete isolation" and tough new global sanctions.

He added that "any annexation in the modern world is a crime, a crime against all states that consider the inviolability of border to be vital for themselves."

The preordained outcome sets the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia's seven-month war, with the Kremlin threatening to throw more troops into the battle and potentially use nuclear weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address Russia's parliament about the referendums on Friday, and Valentina Matviyenko, who chairs the body's upper house, said lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on Oct. 4.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Nine European nations have published a joint condemnation of Israeli security forces raiding the offices of seven Palestinian organizations in Ramallah.

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Early Thursday morning, Israel raided the offices of several Palestinian advocacy groups it had blacklisted as terrorist organizations, sealing entrances and declaring them closed.

Israel says the groups are linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist movement. The UN identified the groups as the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; Al Haq; Bisan Center for Research and Development; Defense for Children International – Palestine; Health Work Committees (HWC); Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC); and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC).

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the organizations had operated undercover to serve the PFLP, which has carried out deadly attacks on Israelis and which the United States and the EU regard as a terrorist organization.

"They also assist in raising funds for the terrorist organization via a variety of methods that include forgery and fraud," Gantz said.

Shawan Jabarin, director of al-Haq, one of the targeted groups, said he and his staffers are still examining whether any documents were confiscated.

Israeli troops "came, blew up the door, got inside, and messed with the files," he told The Associated Press. They then sealed the entrance to the office, he said.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees, circulated video showing soldiers in full battle gear searching their office and moving equipment.

The European countries that have endorsed the condemnation include Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, and Belgium. Some of these governments funds some of the groups raided Thursday.

In the condemnation, the nine nations expressed "deep concern" about the raids, calling them a "continuation of the worrying trend of restriction of civil society activities in the occupied Palestinian territories" and "unacceptable."

The Defense Ministry, however, said that the groups "are operating under the guise of carrying out humanitarian activity to promote the goals of the PFLP terrorist organization, to help build up the group and recruit members, and also help raise money for the terrorist group through a variety of fraudulent ways.

"The five groups are controlled by the PFLP, employ PFLP operatives in management and field roles, and take care to hide their affiliation for fear of security forces in Israel and the countries where they raise funds," the ministry said.

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After months of meetings and with a European deadline looming, the Islamic Republic of Iran has submitted its response to a final draft for a new nuclear deal between Tehran and western powers.

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A signal that Iran appears to be treating the matter seriously came when Iran's Supreme National Security Council met to formulate its response to the EU proposal. According to a report by Noor News, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attened the meeting, as did Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bakri Kani, who has been representing Iran at the nuclear talks.

Bakri Kani reportedly told the council that "The main focus of the Iranian team's negotiations was to put an end to political claims of prohibited [nuclear] activity – investigations by the IAEA into the military nuclear case – and to secure assurances about the economic benefits of the deal."

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency offered no details on the substance of it response, but suggested that Tehran still wouldn't take the European Union-mediated proposal, despite warnings there would be no more negotiations.

"The differences are on three issues, in which the United States has expressed its verbal flexibility in two cases, but it should be included in the text," the IRNA report said. "The third issue is related to guaranteeing the continuation of (the deal), which depends on the realism of the United States."

"There are three issues that if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said earlier on Monday, suggesting Tehran's response would not be a final acceptance or rejection.

"We have told them that our red lines should be respected ... We have shown enough flexibility ... We do not want to reach a deal that after 40 days, two months or three months fails to be materialized on the ground."

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US would share its own response to the EU.

"We do agree, however, with (the EU's) fundamental point, and that is that what could be negotiated has been negotiated," Price said.

He added that Iran had been making "unacceptable demands" going beyond the text of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

"If Iran wants these sanctions lifted, they will need to alter their underlying conduct," Price said. "They will need to change the dangerous activities that gave rise to these sanctions in the first place."

There was no immediate acknowledgment from the EU that Iran submitted its response. The EU has been the go-between in the indirect talks.

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