Latest news with #UK-sanctioned
Civil.ge
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
Georgian Dream Resignation Streak: Who Left and Why
A string of high-level resignations in the Georgian Dream government since spring has raised questions and fueled speculation. Nearly ten senior officials have left their posts, including key ministers, the head of the State Security Service, the leaders of the Adjara and Abkhazia governments, the prosecutor general, and the ruling party chairman. Some exited the GD government or politics altogether, while others were reassigned to less prominent roles. Some of the officials who left their posts came from the personal or business circles of Georgian Dream's billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Part of those who resigned or were dismissed had also been sanctioned by Western governments. Some have linked the resignations to existing or anticipated Western sanctions, while others have speculated that the reshuffle comes as part of autocratic consolidation under GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. However, recent scandals , including arrests and even shooting incidents involving former GD officials and business figures close to the party, suggest that the ruling party may be grappling with a deeper, more dramatic wave of internal conflict and retribution. Below, we compiled key resignations from the past months, along with the context surrounding each case: Resigned on: April 2, 2025 Replaced by: Anri Okhanashvili, ex-Justice Minister Context: Liluashvili, who had held the position since 2019, was initially removed by the GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to lead the new Ministry of Regional Development, saying Liluashvili's term as head of the SSSG would be expiring in October. In a controversial move two days later , however, Kobakhidze dropped Liluashvili as a minister pick, citing disagreements about staffing and priorities. Before joining the Georgian Dream government, Liluashvili held senior positions in several businesses, including Bidzina Ivanishvili's Cartu Group, leading many to view him as part of Ivanishvili's inner circle. Sanctions: Ukraine , Lithuania , Latvia Resigned on: April 2, 2025 Replaced by: Sulkhan Tamazashvili, UK-sanctioned ex-head of Tbilisi Police Context: Rizhvadze, who had held the position since 2018, announced his resignation via Facebook post, saying that after seven years in office, 'it was time for something new.' In July, months after his resignation, he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his chest in what prosecutors described as a 'suicide attempt,' while pro-GD media circulated a note where he allegedly said he was accused of corruption and asked Irakli Kobakhidze and Bidzina Ivanishvili to protect his family. The incident followed rumors that Ivanishvili expected him to repay hundreds of millions in USD allegedly gained through corruption. Rizhvadze was later transferred to Turkey for treatment. Western Sanctions: Rizhvadze was on the list of Georgian officials whom European Parliament suggested sanctioning In a February 2025 resolution. Resigned on: April 24 Replaced by: Revaz Sokhadze Context: GD PM Irakli Kobakhidze announced in a briefing that Karseladze, who had held the post since 2021, resigned at his own request. Prior to entering government, Karseladze worked in business and international organizations, including a stint at Bidzina Ivanishvili's Cartu Group, placing him among the group of (former) officials associated with the billionaire's personal and business circles. Sanctions: Lithuania , Ukraine Resigned on: April 25 Replaced by: Irakli Kobakhidze, GD PM Context: Irakli Gharibashvili, a dominant figure in Georgian Dream's leadership for over a decade, announced on April 25 that he was stepping away from both party and politics entirely. In a press briefing, Gharibashvili said he had 'accomplished' his goals and planned to transition to the private sector to 'test' his abilities in other fields. He added that he wants to 'devote more time' to his family and no longer sees the need to remain in political life. Gharibashvili, who served as Bidzina Ivanishvili's close aide before Georgian Dream came to power, has held several high-ranking positions since 2012, including two terms as prime minister (2013–2015 and 2021–2024). He stepped down in 2024 to become the ruling party's chair but gradually retreated from the public eye. His exit from politics was preceded by rumors of internal tensions within Georgian Dream, including reports that he had been hospitalized with an injury. The party later claimed he had hurt his arm while exercising. Sanctions: Gharibashvili's name has not appeared on any public sanctions list, despite speculation that he may be among the officials subjected to U.S. visa restrictions , where the list remains anonymous. Resigned on: May 28 Replaced by: Gela (Geka) Geladze, ex-Deputy Minister of Justice during Anri Okhanashvili's tenure. Context: Gomelauri, who had served as interior minister since 2019, cited the toll of years in high-ranking positions among the reasons for his resignation . 'Being in high-ranking state positions for so many years is a very labor-intensive task and requires a lot of energy,' he said, noting that the country's current 'calm situation' made it an appropriate moment to step aside, allowing him more time with his family, including his newborn grandchild. Gomelauri was also among those who entered politics from the close personal circle of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, having spent years managing his personal security. He was the only GD minister who landed on the U.S. Global Magnitsky list over his role in the crackdown on 2024 demonstrations. Sanctions: U.S .(Global Magnitsky Act) , U.K. , Ukraine , Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia . Gomelauri's resignation was followed by a major reshuffle in the ministry, which eventually saw the departure of three other notorious officials. That included Zviad (Khareba) Kharazishvili , former Head of Special Tasks Department responsible for violent rally dispersal in spring and winter of 2024, as well as two of his deputies – Mirza Kezevadze and Mileri Lagazauri , all three also sanctioned by the UK as well as the U.S. under Global Magnitsky Act. Resigned on: June 2 Replaced by: Giorgi Jincharadze, ex-GD Deputy Education Minister of Georgia Context: Levan Mgaloblishvili announced his resignation in a Facebook post on June 2, stating the decision came after 'consultations with the team and the prime minister.' Mgaloblishvili had held the post since September 2024. Prior to that, he served as a member of Parliament during the 9th and 10th convocations (2019–2024). Further resignations: The resignation of Lasha Kardava, who served as health minister in the government-in-exile, followed in July. Resigned on: June 11 Replaced by: Giorgi Gvarakidze Context: The resignation occurred as part of a reshuffle in which Gabitashvili, who had held the post since 2024, was appointed as the country's new Chief Auditor, replacing Tsotne Kavlashvili, who took on the role of Deputy Finance Minister. When presenting Gabitashvili's nomination, Speaker Papuashvili emphasized the State Audit Office's crucial role in preventing the misuse of public funds. However, the move was widely perceived as a demotion for Gabitashvili, who had been subject to heavy sanctions by the United Kingdom. Sanctions: UK (Economic sanctions, Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulation), Estonia . Resigned on: June 24 Replaced by: Mariam Kvrivishvili, ex-deputy Minister of Economy Context: Davitashvili, who had held the position since 2022, was removed by Georgian Dream MP Irakli Kobakhidze and reassigned as Kobakhidze's chief adviser on economic affairs and Secretary of the Economic Council, a move widely viewed as a demotion. His reassignment came shortly after the arrest of former First Deputy Economy Minister Romeo Mikautadze, who served under Davitashvili, among others, on corruption-related charges Davitashvili had emerged as a key Georgian Dream official amid Tbilisi's growing international isolation, gaining attention for his perceived role in attempting to ease strained ties with Western partners. That included his May official U.S. visit , where he met with representatives of the U.S. State Department. Some critics viewed Davitashvili's removal as Georgian Dream's final abandonment of efforts to improve relations with the West, including the United States. Sanctions: None reported Weeks after Davitashvili's resignation, several Economy Ministry officials also left their posts, including Levan Gamkrelidze, head of the Land Transport Agency; Giorgi Chikovani, head of the Oil and Gas Corporation ; and Aleksi Akhvlediani, head of the Maritime Transport Agency . Akhvlediani resigned after being charged with negligent storage of the firearm in Tornike Rizhvadze's gunshot incident. Resigned on: June 30 Replaced by: Givi Mikanadze Context: Tsuladze, who had served as Minister of Education since October 2024, said resignation was a 'personal decision.' He was replaced by controversial GD lawmaker Givi Mikanadze, who had held offices under United National Movement administration, including serving as deputy justice minister in 2005-2008. Tsuladze's resignation occurred amid Georgian Dream's announced higher education reform, which critics fear is aimed at purging academia of personnel critical of the party. The details of the reform are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks. Nino Baindurashvili/
Irish Examiner
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Trump, Netanyahu and Khamenei — three angry old men who could get us all killed
This was not inevitable. This is a war Israel chose. It could have been prevented. Diplomatic talks were ongoing when the bombers took off for Iran. Israel's continuing, illegal, unjustified airstrikes are unlikely to achieve their stated aim — permanently ending Tehran's presumed efforts to build nuclear weapons — and may accelerate it. They must stop now. Likewise, Iran must halt its retaliation immediately and drop its escalatory threats to attack US and UK bases. This conflict is not limited, as was the case last year, to tit-for-tat exchanges and 'precision strikes' on a narrow range of military targets. It's reached a wholly different level. Potentially nothing is off the table. Civilians are being killed on both sides. Leaders are targets. The rhetoric is out of control. With Israel fighting on several fronts, and Iran's battered regime backed against a wall, the Middle East is closer than ever to a disastrous conflagration. Reasons can always be found to go to war. The roots of major conflicts often reach back decades — and this is true of the Israel-Iran vendetta, which dates to the 1979 Islamic revolution. The so-called 'shadow war' between the two intensified in recent years. Yet all-out conflict had been avoided, until now. Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: War is Netanyahu's choice. It's what gets him out of bed in the morning. It's what keeps him and his UK-sanctioned far-right cronies in office and out of jail. Picture: AP /Ohad Zwigenberg So who is principally to blame for this sudden, unprecedented explosion? Answer: three angry old men whose behaviour raises serious doubts about their judgment, common sense, motives and even their sanity. The fact that one of them — Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister — has actively sought a showdown with Iran for years does not mean it had to happen. The fact the Tehran regime is unusually vulnerable after Israel's attacks last year and the defeat of its Hezbollah ally does not somehow legitimise a surprise assault on its sovereign soil. It's true that UN nuclear inspectors say Iran is breaking treaty obligations. But that doesn't amount to a green light for war. Netanyahu attacked Iran to avert an 'existential threat'. He may have made it worse. Netanyahu, 75, is unfit to lead Israel, let alone make life-or-death decisions on its behalf. He failed to protect Israelis from the 2023 terror attacks, then dodged responsibility. He has failed to fulfil his vow to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, yet his soldiers have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the process. He invaded Lebanon and Syria. Now it's Iran. Where will he stop? Will he fight Turkey next? It's not out of the question. War is Netanyahu's choice. It's what gets him out of bed in the morning. It's what keeps him and his UK-sanctioned far-right cronies in office and out of jail. His actions have inflicted extraordinary damage on his country's reputation, fuelling antisemitism globally. He claims Israel is fighting for its existence — but his own political survival is a prime consideration, too. Netanyahu has been indicted for alleged war crimes in Gaza. He should be arrested, not defended and enabled, before any more crimes are committed. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's bellicose supreme leader, is the second leading culprit. He should have been put out to grass in Qom years ago. The 86-year-old squats atop a repressive, corrupt theocratic regime that has lost touch with the society and people it ostensibly serves. Elections are fixed, judges are bent, media censorship is pervasive. The regime's military incompetence, economic mismanagement and brutal persecution of young women, gay men and human rights defenders such as Nasrin Sotoudeh are notorious. Like Netanyahu, Khamenei is backed by hardline conservatives and opposed by reformers, but it's him who calls the shots. His suspicious insistence on stepping up uranium enrichment, even though civil applications are lacking, ultimately gave Netanyahu an opening. Although he is said to be unwell, Khamenei is a key reason why Iran will not abandon its nuclear programme. Even without him, Netanyahu's idea that it can be totally eliminated is fantasy. This blindspot may be the regime's final undoing. Israel's strikes have killed senior military leaders and damaged nuclear facilities and ballistic missile and drone forces. Khamenei himself, and Iran's vital energy exports, may be next. In a patronising video, Netanyahu urged Iranians to rise up and seize their 'freedom'. Many would like to. The difficulty with such advice, coming from a tainted source, is that it could have the opposite effect of rallying the public, and Arab leaders, around the regime. US president Donald Trump: Whether he is selling out to Vladimir Putin, weaponising tariffs, botching a Gaza ceasefire or bullying neighbours, Trump is a total menace. Iran's threats to attack US, British and French bases and ships if they help defend Israel, and to close the strait of Hormuz, heighten the risk of full-scale war and a global energy shock that could hurt the west and benefit Russia. These are some of the direct consequences of Donald Trump's weak, vacillating stance. Trump, 79, is the third man in this avoidable tragedy. He previously said he preferred to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran, having idiotically trashed the previous one. But he couldn't decide on terms, and his amateurish negotiators kept changing their position. That was partly because Trump, as with Palestine and Ukraine, is too idle to study the details. He wings it instead, trusting to instincts that are invariably bad. That makes him easy prey for wily operators such as Netanyahu. Trump's feeble ineptitude meant that when Israel's leader insisted last week that the time was right for an all-out attack on Iran, he folded. Typically, once the attack began, he switched, trying to claim credit and issuing flatulent threats of his own. Each time he opens his mouth, Trump inadvertently confirms Iran's suspicions that the US and Israel are acting in close concert. Anyone who still thinks Trump has even the remotest idea what he's doing when confronting the big international questions of the day should study the alarming events of the past week. Whether he is selling out to Vladimir Putin, weaponising tariffs, botching a Gaza ceasefire or bullying neighbours, Trump is a total menace. Far better, and safer, for Britain to bypass him and try as much as possible to act independently of the US from now on. These angry old men could get us all killed. Read More Maria Walsh: Polish election result shows we cannot take trust in Europe for granted
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Israeli settlers force about 150 Palestinians to leave their West Bank village
Violent Israeli settlers including two under UK sanctions have forced about 150 Palestinians to leave their village in the occupied West Bank, through a five-day intimidation campaign carried out under the watch of the Israeli police and army. On Sunday morning, settlers established an illegal outpost, consisting of a basic shelter and a sheep pen, 100 metres from a Palestinian home in Mughayyir al-Deir, east of Ramallah. By Friday, dozens of villagers had already moved their flocks away, packed up their belongings and were dismantling the wooden and metal frames of their houses. Settlers stalked between Palestinian men who worked fast and largely in silence, grappling with the grim reality of leaving the place where most were born and grew up. A child cried as he was driven away on a truck loaded with the family's red sofas. Related: Violent Israeli settlers under UK sanctions join illegal West Bank outpost 'We are all leaving,' said one villager, who asked not to be named. Settlers threw stones at some trucks as they left, and celebrated on social media. Elisha Yered, an unofficial spokesperson for the extremist group Hilltop Youth, wrote: 'This is what redemption looks like! This is a relatively large outpost that contained about 150 people from the enemy population, but it was broken.' Yered is subject to sanctions from the UK and the EU, which said he was 'part of a group of armed settlers' involved in an attack in 2023 that led to the death of a 19-year-old Palestinian, Qusai Jammal Mi'tan. Two other settlers under UK sanctions, Neria Ben Pazi and Zohar Sabah, spent time at the illegal outpost this week, and Ben Pazi also worked on building a fence around Palestinian land. Other Bedouin came to help villagers pack up and leave, including some who understood their fear and pain intimately because violent Israeli settlers had also driven them off the land. The tactics used by the settlers this week were not new. The nearby hills are dotted with the ruins of abandoned villages, at least one, Wadi as-Seeq, also targeted by the UK-sanctioned Ben Pazi. Settlers had never before built an outpost so close to Palestinian homes and the speed and intensity of the campaign in Mughayyir al-Deir was a sign of their growing confidence, activists said. Police patrolled through the village on Friday and Israeli soldiers stood nearby. None intervened, although a 'stop work' order had been issued for the illegal outpost after it was thrown up, and several settlers who spent time at it were also known to Israeli authorities for extreme violence. A previous Israeli commander for the central region, Maj Gen Yehuda Fuchs, tried in 2023 to bar Ben Pazi from the West Bank over violent attacks on Palestinians. The only other official Israeli visitor during the week was a far-right member of the Knesset, Zvi Sukkot, who came to back the settlers. Last week, Sukkot said in a TV debate that Israel 'can kill 100 Gazans in one night during a war and nobody in the world cares'. One Palestinian family filed a petition with Israel's supreme court on Thursday demanding an injunction and urgent hearing into why the military, police and local authorities did not act to prevent the forced evictions and protect Palestinians. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said troops operated 'to ensure the security of the state of Israel and Judea and Samaria [Israel's name for the occupied West Bank]', and the government directs how the military should enforce orders about illegal construction. The military would respond to the legal petition in court, the spokesperson said. A hearing is scheduled for next week, although by the time judges hear it the village will be empty. For many of the families forced out, their move on Friday was a second displacement at the hands of Israelis, as their parents and grandparents had been forced from land near the Israeli city of Be'er Sheva when the state was formed in 1948.
