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Netanyahu Appoints MK of Moroccan Origin as Israel's Minister in Charge of Atomic Commission

Member of Knesset David Amsalem during a parliamentary session (Knesset spokesman)
Member of Knesset David Amsalem during a parliamentary session (Knesset spokesman)
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Netanyahu Appoints MK of Moroccan Origin as Israel's Minister in Charge of Atomic Commission

Member of Knesset David Amsalem during a parliamentary session (Knesset spokesman)
Member of Knesset David Amsalem during a parliamentary session (Knesset spokesman)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed as member of Knesset David Amsalem, of Moroccan origin, as the Minister in Charge of the Atomic Energy Commission.

The Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1952 and is under the Prime Minister's and his office's authority. It was considered another committee of government work.

However, it became more critical when Israel began building the nuclear reactor in Dimona under the then-director general of the Defense Ministry, Shimon Peres.

The committee is responsible for the Israeli Nuclear Research Center in the Soreq Valley and the Dimona reactor. Its chairman status was elevated to the head of Mossad and Shin Bet.

Officially, the Atomic Energy Commission advises the government on nuclear research and development issues and represents Israel in international institutions, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

However, in reality, it leads Israel's nuclear military activity and is reportedly responsible for Israel's alleged stockpile of atomic weapons.

Amsalem is the son of a family of Moroccan immigrants who arrived in Israel in 1958.

He was born in Jerusalem two years later. Since his early youth, he has been active in the Likud party and tried to be elected to the municipality, but failed. He moved to live in the nearby Maale Adumim settlement.

Amsalem is considered a "firebrand" in the Likud party and is known for his harsh criticism of opponents and his comrades in the coalition and the party.

He even criticized Netanyahu for not including him in the government.

Netanyahu's aides held negotiations with Amsalem and discussed appointing him as Speaker of the Knesset or Minister of Justice.

At that time, he told his supporters who had gathered outside his home that Netanyahu was ungrateful.

Amsalem accused Netanyahu of specifically targeting him because he is a Sephardic Jew. "You don't humiliate me. You don't humiliate us, Sephardim."

Netanyahu has urged his advisers to appease Amsalem. It took three months to convince him to join the government last March. He became the regional cooperation minister, a second minister in the Justice Ministry, and the minister in charge of liaising between the government and the Knesset.

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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.