Although Iraqi parties celebrated their representatives obtaining the vacant and newly created positions in the government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, which Parliament approved last Thursday, the controversy and widespread popular criticism against them are still continuing, especially with any stumble that may face the disbursement of salaries of public sector employees.
In addition, during the past two days, many questions were raised about the issue of restricting weapons to the state and the future of the armed factions that obtained important positions in the government in the new formation.
Although successive Iraqi governments adopted consensus and quotas in distributing positions, the Zaidi government is receiving an unprecedented torrent of criticism due to the creation of new positions and the appointment of controversial figures, in a difficult financial situation, and amid fears of renewed war between the United States and Iran.
The expansion of government positions and the creation of new ministries sparked popular discontent, especially with the financial distress that the country is suffering from.
The general popular trend was towards the government adopting austerity measures and severely compressing expenditures to confront the financial crisis that is on the country’s doorstep, but the political forces created four deputy prime ministers, in addition to splitting the Ministry of Culture and Antiquities into two ministries, and creating a new ministry called “Digital Economy and Governance,” and another for the state concerned with minorities.
Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s statements regarding his four deputies not receiving any salaries or financial allocations were not enough to absorb popular anger. This is because the number is exaggerated and is not in line with the constitutional text, which refers to only two deputy prime ministers.
The selection of representatives of the armed factions to occupy ministerial positions came as a surprise to public opinion, and instead of continuing the measures to restrict weapons in the hands of the state, which the government has been talking about for months, representatives of these parties now occupy high-ranking positions.
US Representative Joe Wilson launched an attack on the inclusion of figures from the factions under US sanctions in the new government, and described the matter as “infuriating.”
Laith Khazali, a leader in Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the brother of its Secretary-General Qais Khazali, is among the most controversial figures after he obtained the position of Deputy Prime Minister. The Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, which still refuses to surrender its weapons, also obtained a ministerial position after the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the new government.
Even with reports of a “green light” granted by Washington to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi allowing the assignment of ministerial positions to factional figures, many still express fear of subsequent fluctuations in the American position that may have security and economic repercussions.
Assigning positions to the circle of relatives also aroused the anger and ire of a wide segment of those interested in political affairs. The position of Ministry of Interior in the new government was assigned to Yasser al-Maliki, the son-in-law and nephew of the head of the “State of Law” coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, just as the position of Deputy Prime Minister was assigned to Qais al-Khazali’s brother.
Observers likened the distribution of positions among political families to the approach of the late Iraqi president in granting members of his family or clan high positions in the state. Journalist Falah Al-Mishaal said, in a blog post on “X”, that “the failed state is moving towards a deeper failure.” Whoever expects the best for Iraq is delusional!”
The Syrian governor of As-Suwayda, Mustafa Al-Bakour, renewed his call to the people of the governorate for dialogue in order to resolve the ongoing crisis since the bloody events of July 2025, stressing that the government “opens its doors to resolve disputes in accordance with the law, and in a way that guarantees rights, preserves dignity, and puts people’s interests above all else.”
He also called on “the governorate’s notables and wise men, those who speak and take a position, to bear responsibility in bringing viewpoints closer together, and to create the conditions for a serious dialogue with the state, based on clarity, guarantees, and justice.”
In his call, which he posted on his account on the Telegram platform, Al-Bakour reaffirmed that the people of the Druze-majority governorate “are an integral part of Syria’s history and its fabric, and what brings you together with the people of your country is greater than every disagreement, and deeper than every wound,” pointing out that nations are not built by estrangement, nor protected by fear, but by understanding, cooperation, and mutual recognition of rights and duties.
Al-Bakour wondered: “How long will displacement, poverty, and fear remain present in the lives of families, while hope awaits a serious step towards a solution?”, explaining that “people’s suffering cannot tolerate further postponement, and our children, elders, and youth deserve a safe life and a clear future.”
After Al-Bakour considered in his call that “the time has come for serious solutions, as every day of delay means more suffering,” he explained that sitting at the dialogue table “does not mean giving up rights, reconciliation does not mean forgetting grievances, and understanding does not mean giving up dignity.”
According to several sources in Suwayda, the reason for this is “the existing policy of oppression and treason in the areas of influence of Sheikh Al-Aql Hikmat Al-Hijri, and what is known as his National Guard, which rejects dialogue with the government,” demands the right to “self-determination, and seeks, with the support of the Israeli government, to secede the governorate from Syria and establish what is called the state of Bashan there.”
Israeli settlers in the West Bank received political and religious support in their open war against the Palestinians, which has intensified these days during the olive season, which has turned into an economic war with religious dimensions as well.
The ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi, Dov Lior, the former chief rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement, near Hebron, issued a religious fatwa allowing Jews to harvest olives from the Palestinian territories.
Lior said in his fatwa, “The Jewish people have never abandoned the Land of Israel, as we express in our prayers every day. The Arabs did not buy the land from the Jewish people or from any Jewish individual, so it is stolen land in their hands.”
The fatwa affirmed that Jews could take olives from “areas far from Jewish communities to publicly demonstrate their ownership of the land.”
Lior's religious fatwa, which would further fuel the attacks, came in light of an unprecedented war waged by settlers against Palestinian farmers on the occasion of the olive harvest season.
Since the beginning of this month, settlers in the West Bank have begun their annual war against the olive season, killing Palestinians and wounding others in a series of attacks in large areas of the West Bank. This included stealing olive crops and burning others, which threatens the season that the Palestinians are eagerly awaiting.
Before Lior’s fatwa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to “demonize” the settlers after they beat and abused the American photojournalist, Heidi Levin, who was stopping the suffering of Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah.
On the same day, Netanyahu said in another statement that “the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers in the land of their fathers and grandfathers.” Our history is not a colonial project, and our land is not stolen land. This is our homeland.”
Settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in several areas north of Salfit and in the village of Salem and the village of Beit Furik, east of Nablus. And in the villages of Osrin, Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, Asira Al-Qibliya, and Burin, south of Nablus.
The mayor of Beit Furik, Youssef Hanani, reported that a number of Palestinians suffered fractures and bruises during the attacks.
Settlers also attacked olive pickers and those in solidarity with them in the town of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, and in nearby villages, in Turmus Aya, Abu Falah, Barqa, Deir Jarir, Abwein, and the surroundings of Birzeit and Barham, in addition to Taybeh, Rammoun, and Kafr Ni’ma.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, Chairman of the Supreme Fatwa Council, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, was forced to issue a legal fatwa a few days ago, in which he affirmed the prohibition of buying olive oil sold by settlers, as well as the olive fruits that they steal from Palestinian trees, and linked the matter to “great evils, including that this is an empowerment for the usurper and occupier of our land.”
