Crypto News: Netanyahu's complicated path to compromise

Israel's parliament reconvened after a month-long break for Passover, Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations, with the government's judicial proposal to weaken courts still polarizing the nation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March suspended action on the proposal to try to find a compromise with opponents who believe the legal changes threaten Israel's democracy.

"With goodwill on both sides, I am convinced that it is possible to reach agreements," he said at the weekly Cabinet meeting on April 30.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

The proposed overhaul has triggered mass protests and led Moody's Investors Service to lower the country's credit outlook to stable from positive. It has also prompted Israel's vital tech community to consider moving money and operations out of the country.

Opposition has also filtered into Israel's military, with thousands of reservists threatening to rethink their volunteer service. Security experts, including some who served under Netanyahu in the past, say the ferment in the military emboldened Israel's enemies to attack last month.

Proponents maintain that the judicial system must be repaired because it's grown too powerful and politicized. Critics say the proposal will give politicians untrammeled powers by eliminating important checks and balances.

The prime minister, whose approval ratings have plummeted since the proposal was first mooted in January, will not find reaching a compromise easy.

Backers of the proposal turned out last week in the thousands to demonstrate support for the revamp. Coalition member Simcha Rothman, a central driver of the plan, told Ynet that the passing of the legal overhaul "is necessary for the coalition's survival."

Meanwhile, protests against the plan haven't subsided. On May 4, opponents plan a "day of disruption," likely to snarl traffic and day-to-day activities.

Saudi Arabia's net foreign assets fell to $419 billion in March, even as oil giant Aramco increased its dividend the same month.

The decline in forex reserves came in parallel to a drop in government deposits at the Saudi central bank, an "indication the government had heightened expenditure needs during the month," said Mohamed Abu Basha, head of macroeconomic research at EFG Hermes.

The war of words between the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is another sign that the long entente between the bodies representing producers and consumers in the oil industry is breaking down, David Fickling writes for Bloomberg Opinion. The two bodies may have a natural antagonism, but they'll need to suffer the decline of crude together.

Default protection: Egypt's debt markets are on edge like never before. The cost of insuring against a sovereign default in the next 12 months has surged to a record, resulting in an anomaly that's brought the premium over five-year contracts to the widest ever.

Tourism push: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy a stake in Flynas, a low-cost carrier that's a key pillar of the kingdom's attempts to bolster its tourism sector.

"Nightmare": The conflict in Sudan could deteriorate into one of the worst civil wars in the world if not stopped early, the North African nation's former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said.

Also Read: The World Backed Two Generals. Then Sudan Went to War

Continued tensions: An oil tanker seized by Iran last week was carrying Kuwaiti crude and had a crew of 24 Indians, according to the operator. The US has demanded the immediate release of the vessel, which was travelling in international waters when the incident happened.

Also Read: UK Navy Downgrades Vessel' Attack' Near Yemen to 'Incident'

"Technical" matters: Iraq said it's working with oil buyers and the Turkish government to resume almost half a million barrels a day of crude exports from a Mediterranean port "as soon as possible."

Escaping the "gray list": The United Arab Emirates needs more time to show it's done enough to be removed from a global financial crimes watchdog's list, the minister of economy said.

Cash smuggling: A network of couriers who smuggled more than £100 million of criminal cash in suitcases from the UK to Dubai was found guilty following a trial of one of the largest money laundering scams ever recorded.

Pyramid scheme: A branch manager of Denizbank, the Turkish unit of Emirates NBD Bank, was arrested after allegations that the official swindled millions of dollars from football celebrities in Turkey.

'Gaming' resort: Wynn Resorts increased the number of rooms in its planned resort off the coast of the UAE by 50%, and said it would spend almost $4 billion on the project.

Turkey April inflation: May 3
Saudi Arabia April PMI: May 3
Egypt April PMI: May 3
Israel March unemployment: May 4
Saudi Arabia first-quarter GDP: May 7

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to the campaign trail after a health scare sidelined him just weeks before Turkey's election.

Erdogan fell ill during a live television broadcast last Tuesday in what he said was a bout of stomach flu. In-person appearances could prove crucial as the absence of a strong earthquake relief response — set against a backdrop of skyrocketing food and rental prices across the country — leaves Erdogan facing the tightest electoral race in his three-decade-long career.

A road trip along a 500-kilometer highway that traverses the quake zone in Turkey's religious and largely rural southeast found contempt brewing among even the president's most faithful followers.

"I will vote neither for Erdogan nor his AK Party," says Yuksel Uzungunder, who has been living in a tent in the province of Kahramanmaras with her five children. "My entire family used to support them. I now want a new government that will respect us."

Billboards of President Erdogan and an earthquake survivor in Kahramanmaras. Photographer: Mehmet Kacmaz/Getty Images

The discontent began even before what Erdogan described as the "disaster of the century" struck Turkey. Inflation has run wild in Turkey since 2018, when Erdogan named his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as economy czar. Albayrak's mostly-futile efforts to control the value of the Turkish lira while avoiding interest rate hikes have resulted in price surges that have steadily eaten into consumer purchasing power and devastated the economy.

Also Read: Turkish Lira Surges in Spot Market After Gold Trading Rule Tweak

Ongoing efforts to muzzle critics and assert control over the country's judicial system have also prompted many voters to reconsider their loyalties.

Yet, the president has a major edge in this region, where dissidents and swing voters still make up a minority of the electorate.