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New Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahu’s Party Advancing 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
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New Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahu’s Party Advancing 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)

An opinion poll on Friday showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party would form the largest single party in parliament if an election were held now, underlining a gradual recovery since the Oct. 7 attacks last year.

The poll, published in the left-wing Ma'ariv daily, showed Likud winning 24 seats, against 32 at present, its highest score in the Ma'ariv poll since Oct. 7. It put the National Unity Party led by centrist former general Benny Gantz on 21.

Netanyahu's right-wing coalition with a clutch of nationalist-religious and ultra-Orthodox parties would lose any election held now, with 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 58 for the main opposition bloc, according to the poll.

But Likud's advance shows how far Netanyahu has moved since last year when his standing was hit by public fury at the security failures when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Earlier in the war against Hamas in Gaza, opinion polls regularly showed Likud gaining no more than 16-18 seats in parliament.

The survey also showed Netanyahu's personal standing as prime minister recovering, with respondents favoring him over any alternative potential candidate apart from former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is now out of politics.

Despite coalition tensions between Netanyahu and several ministers, and regular protests by Israelis demanding a deal to bring home the Gaza hostages, the government has held together for almost two years. An election is not due until 2026.

Netanyahu has clashed with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, from his own party, and two hardliners - National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

While Likud has climbed steadily, support has not followed for the two nationalist religious parties, Jewish Power, led by Ben-Gvir, and Religious Zionism, under Smotrich, giving both parties an incentive not to leave the government.

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World

Damaged Russian Tanker Days away from Libyan Shores, Italian Official Says

A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS
A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS
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Damaged Russian Tanker Days away from Libyan Shores, Italian Official Says

A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS
A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS

A damaged Russian LNG tanker that has been drifting unmanned in the Mediterranean for more than two weeks, risking a major ecological disaster, is four to six days from Libya’s shores, an Italian official said on Friday.

The Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, has been unmanned since early March, when it was hit by Ukrainian naval drones, according to Russia's Transport Ministry.

Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for any such attack.

The tanker is currently in international waters falling under Libya's search and rescue zone, some 53 nautical miles (98 kilometres) north of the capital Tripoli, Italian Civil Protection agency spokesman Pierfrancesco Demilito said.

Based on prevailing southbound winds and sea currents - assuming they do not change - it could take "four, five or six days, more or less," for the vessel to reach Libyan land, Demilito said.

Italy, France, Spain and six other southern EU members wrote last week to the European Commission warning that the Arctic Metagaz poses "an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster."

Demilito said the vessel is estimated to be carrying 450 metric tons of heavy oil and 250 tons of diesel as fuel supplies, and an "uncertain" quantity of LNG, which may have partly regasified and dispersed.

While it has a "large gash on its side" it does not appear to be at imminent risk of sinking, but the concern is that it may run aground or crash into an offshore oil platform, although none are currently nearby, the spokesman said.

Any intervention on the tanker would fall to Libya, since the vessel is in its search and rescue waters, but Italy would be ready to help if asked, Demilito added, indicating that coast guard and navy units were also monitoring the situation.

World

French FM Calls on Iran to Make 'Major Concessions'

FILE PHOTO: QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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French FM Calls on Iran to Make 'Major Concessions'

FILE PHOTO: QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Friday on a visit to Israel that Iran must make major concessions as part of any long-term political solution following the Middle East war.

"Whatever the outcome of the ongoing military operations, it must be complemented by a political solution that produces lasting results," Barrot told journalists in Tel Aviv, AFP reported.

"In this regard, the Iranian regime must be prepared to make major concessions -- a radical change of stance."

Barrot repeated a European call for a moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure after an Israeli bombardment of Iran's key gasfield pushed up energy prices.

France's top diplomat, who visited Beirut on Thursday, expressed France's "reservations" about Israel's ground operations to fight Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He called on Israel to seize an "historic opportunity" and hold direct talks with the Lebanese authorities, after French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to host negotiations.

"The Lebanese government has signalled its unprecedented openness to direct talks at the highest level with Israel," he said.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had discussed with Barrot the "scope of attacks on Israel from Lebanese territory".

"Unfortunately, the Lebanese government and its army are not taking any meaningful action against Hezbollah, neither militarily nor in other aspects," Saar wrote on X.

He also called on the EU to list Hezbollah "in its entirety as a terrorist organization, not only its military wing, as several European countries already did".

Barrot said that regional stability in the Middle East also depended on the implementation of US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza that halted two years of war in October.

The Trump plan envisions the disarmament of Hamas, the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force, with a transitional Palestinian technocratic committee overseeing day-to-day governance.

World

Swiss Will Not Export War Equipment to US during Mideast Conflict

A member of ground crew moves munitions towards a USAF B1 B bomber at RAF Fairford airbase, used by USAF personnel, amid the US–Israeli conflict with Iran, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Phil Noble
A member of ground crew moves munitions towards a USAF B1 B bomber at RAF Fairford airbase, used by USAF personnel, amid the US–Israeli conflict with Iran, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Phil Noble
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Swiss Will Not Export War Equipment to US during Mideast Conflict

A member of ground crew moves munitions towards a USAF B1 B bomber at RAF Fairford airbase, used by USAF personnel, amid the US–Israeli conflict with Iran, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Phil Noble
A member of ground crew moves munitions towards a USAF B1 B bomber at RAF Fairford airbase, used by USAF personnel, amid the US–Israeli conflict with Iran, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Switzerland decided Friday it will not authorize the export of war materiel to the United States during the Middle East conflict, in line with its long-standing principle of military neutrality.

Switzerland has already refused US requests for flights over its territory since the war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began attacks on Iran.

Following that decision, on Friday the Swiss government looked at applying neutrality to exports to states involved in the war.

"The export of war materiel to countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorized for the duration of the conflict," said a government statement, AFP reported.

"Existing licences and exports of other goods will now be regularly reviewed by an interdepartmental group of experts, particularly with regard to their compatibility with neutrality.

"Exports of war materiel to the USA cannot currently be authorized," and existing US licences will now face regular review, it said, whilst adding that Switzerland has not issued war materiel export licences to Israel or Iran for years.

Since the conflict started, no new licences have been issued for exports of war goods to the United States, Bern said.

Existing US licences "have been determined to be of no relevance to the war at present and can therefore continue to be used", the statement said.

Nevertheless, an expert group drawn from the foreign, defense and economy ministries will regularly review developments in exports of the goods in question to the United States, and assess whether any action is required.

Swiss neutrality traces its roots back to 1516 and has been internationally recognized since 1815.