President Reuven Rivlin met on Monday with heads of public hospitals in light of their warning that they face collapse because of a lack of government support amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rivlin called on the government to intervene in the hospitals' funding crisis, as the medical centers warned they would go on reduced footing from Wednesday.
KAN reporter Naomi Segal spoke with Prof. Avi Weiss, President of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and a professor of economics at Bar-Ilan University, who explained how the current crisis underscores the problems in the structure of the Israeli hospital system.
Donald Trump has become the first president in US history to be impeached twice, after being charged with "incitement of insurrection" over last week's deadly storming of Congress.
The House of Representatives accused Trump of encouraging violence with his false claims of election fraud.
He now faces trial in the upper chamber, the Senate, but not before he leaves office next Wednesday.
Senators can vote to bar him from ever holding public office again.
KAN's Mark Weiss asked Dr Yael Sternhell, an expert on US politics from Tel Aviv university, about the significance of the House impeachment vote.
Jonathan Spyer, director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, said that the latest Israeli air strike in Syria was particularly deadly and revealed a strategy to hit hard at Iran in the 11th hour before the new Washington administration takes over. Spyer told reporter Arieh O’Sullivan that the current maximum pressure strategy against Iran of the out-going Trump administration was an attempt to cement their tough line. But he didn’t expect it to make much difference to the new policies of the incoming Biden administration.
Israel's Health Ministry announced Tuesday that citizens aged 50 and up are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine, expanding the country's world-leading inoculation drive as nationwide COVID-19 infections continued to climb. KAN reporter Naomi Segal asked Prof. Manfred Green, of the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa, if the fast-moving vaccination campaign brings Israel closer to getting a handle on the pandemic.
Israelis' trust in most public institutions has fallen sharply amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the annual Israeli Democracy Index released on Monday. The comprehensive survey by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) found that public confidence fell even for those state institutions consistently viewed most favorably – the IDF, the president and the Supreme Court. The public expressed the least confidence in the Knesset and political parties. The poll, which was taken twice, in June and October, also showed a major erosion of the public's sense of social solidarity.
KAN reporter Naomi Segal heard more about some of the findings from Prof. Tamar Hermann, Director of the IDI's Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research.
Marc Zell , Chair of Republicans Overseas, Israel has condemned the Capitol riot but says President Trump cannot be held responsible.
Speaking with KAN's Mark Weiss, he also said the Republican party going ahead needs the continuing support of supporters of Donald Trump.
House Democrats are expected to bring up a resolution asking Vice-President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unfit for office.
They will seek unanimous consent for the measure. But that is unlikely to happen as most Republicans oppose it.
A full vote will then be held on Tuesday, with the measure likely to pass given the Democratic control of the House.
KAN's Mark Weiss asked Heather Stone, Chair of Democrats Abroad, Israel why start the impeachment process when it can't be completed before Trump leaves office?
As the election campaign gets underway, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has made noticeable overtures to the Arab sector. KAN reporter Naomi Segal asked Dr. Gadi Hitman, a lecturer in the Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science Department at Ariel University and an expert on Israel's Arab minority population, about Netanyahu's new tone, and what it could mean for the Arab vote in the upcoming March election.
Human rights groups have petitioned the High Court of Justice over Public Security Minister Amir Ohana's refusal to vaccinate prisoners against coronavirus, this in contravention to Health Ministry guidelines that define the prisoner population as a priority group.
KAN reporter Naomi Segal heard more about the petition from Hadas Ziv, Director of Ethics and Projects at Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
In the United States, Democrats will launch a second attempt to remove Donald Trump from office on Monday when they introduce articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives over the rampage on Capitol Hill by the president’s supporters. The intensifying effort to oust Trump has drawn scattered support from Republicans, whose party has been divided by the president's actions.
KAN reporter Naomi Segal asked Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on American government and foreign policy at Bar-Ilan University, if the impeachment effort against President Trump is feasible.