Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Thursday, Feb. 28 '19, כ"ג באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. UN PROBE ACCUSES ISRAEL OF POSSIBLE 'CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY'
2. WATCH: DRAMATIC RESCUE IN JERUSALEM'S NAHAL ARAZIM
3. ISRAEL REJECTS UN PROBE ON GAZA RIOTS
4. TODAY IS ARELE'S SURGERY...
5. WATCH: FLOODING IN JUDEAN DESERT
6. 'IF WE ATTACK WITH ONE ATOMIC BOMB, INDIA CAN FINISH US WITH 20'
7. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
8. ANALYSIS: ISRAEL TAKES ON THE WAQF
1. UN PROBE ACCUSES ISRAEL OF POSSIBLE 'CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY'
by AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff
A UN probe said Thursday said that the Israeli response to 2018 Gaza riots "may constitute war crimes."
"Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity," the chair of the "UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," Santiago Canton, said in a statement.
The inquiry, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, investigated possible violations from the start of the riots on March 30, 2018 through to December 31.
"More than 6,000 unarmed demonstrators were shot by military snipers, week after week at the protest sites," it said.
"The Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers shot at journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities, knowing they were clearly recognizable as such," it said.
The investigators specified that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli troops killed and injured Arabs "who were neither directly participating in hostilities, nor posing an imminent threat."
The UN team also dismissed claims by Israel that the protests were aimed to conceal acts of terrorism.
"The demonstrations were civilian in nature, with clearly stated political aims," the statement said.
"Despite some acts of significant violence, the Commission found that the demonstrations did not constitute combat or military campaigns."
The commission said it conducted 325 interviews with victims, witnesses and other sources, while reviewing more than 8,000 documents.
Investigators looked at drone footage and other audiovisual material, the commission said.
"The Israeli authorities did not respond to repeated requests by the Commission for information and access to Israel and to the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the report said.
2. WATCH: DRAMATIC RESCUE IN JERUSALEM'S NAHAL ARAZIM
by Mordechai Sones
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259718
Four search and rescue teams, assisted by the special rescue unit of firefighters and rescuers, were called at noon today to rescue two people trapped in by flood in a river that overflowed the Arazim valley.
One man was trapped by the strong current and at some point was swept into the water. He was transferred to the MDA team summoned to the site for further medical examination.
The fire fighters and special fire and rescue unit Jerusalem are conducting searches along the course of the stream to rule out the presence of additional trapped persons.
Meanwhile police blocked Route Begin north of Betar Sport Association near Teddy Stadium following flooding on Route Begin in this section. Police call on drivers to act responsibly, obey police orders, and follow instructions and publications in the media.
3. ISRAEL REJECTS UN PROBE ON GAZA RIOTS
by AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff
Israel rejected the findings of a UN probe released Thursday into its soldiers' response to Gaza riots that began in March last year, calling it "hostile, deceitful and biased."
"Israel rejects the report outright," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement after the probe alleged soldiers may have committed crimes against humanity.
"No institution can negate Israel's right to self-defense and its duty to defend its residents and borders from violent attacks."
Katz said that those "pushing the residents of Gaza to the fences, including women and children, is Hamas, an organization whose declared goal is destroying the state of Israel, and is the one to bear the responsibility."
The probe was carried out by a UN commission of inquiry set up by the world body's Human Rights Council. It investigated possible violations from the start of the riots on March 30, 2018 through to December 31.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett said in response that "It's hard to imagine the UN could sink any lower."
"Alternating between excusing terror and ignoring terror, it is letting down democracies and backing dictators and tyrants."
4. TODAY IS ARELE'S SURGERY...
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259717
Rabbi YY Jacobson - WATCH: The Story of Arele
The Story About A Young 34 Year Old Man Named Arele
Eleven months ago, Rabbi Aron "Arele" Oster went into Septic Shock, sending his family and the entire Klal Yisroel into shock of our own.
Through endless miracles, he has beat the odds, regaining consciousness, reconnecting with his wife and children and starting on the long road to his new life.
This Thursday, Arele will undergo a lifesaving surgery to amputate both arms below his elbows and both legs below his knees.
Arele is just 34 years old. A father of 2.
He's known as a shining beacon of passionate Torah learning, meticulous Yir'as Shomayim and humble Ahavas Yisroel.
He's a soft-spoken husband, a doting father and a talented Baal Tefilla
Before the events of last Erev Pesach, Arele…
• Devoted hours every Friday to visit Yidden who are not yet observant
• Held numerous chavrusos with people new to Yiddishkeit
• Was a beloved Magid Shiur in the Mesivta in Monsey
• Was an admired teacher of Torah and Chassidus in neighborhood Shtieblach
The doctors gave him a 2% chance, and Boruch Hashem, he beat the odds to survive. After Thursday's 8-hour surgery, Arele will בעזה"י beat the challenges ahead.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR GIVING HIM NEW LIMBS!
NOW, LET'S PUT HIM ON HIS FEET WITH THE TREATMENT, THERAPY, REHAB AND EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH HIS NEW LIFE, INCLUDING RETROFITTING HIS HOME TO BE MOBILITY-FRIENDLY.
Please continue to giving and share the link, and please, please…
Continue to daven for אהרן בן חנה. Your Tefillos work!
DONATE NOW!!
5. WATCH: FLOODING IN JUDEAN DESERT
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259712
6. 'IF WE ATTACK WITH ONE ATOMIC BOMB, INDIA CAN FINISH US WITH 20'
by Mordechai Sones
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has said India could "finish us by attacking with 20 (nuclear) bombs" if Pakistan launched even a single nuclear attack on the neighboring country, according to Karachi-based newspaper Dawn.
The former Pakistan President's comment comes over a week after an attack that killed 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Musharraf also claimed that Israel wanted to establish relations with Pakistan, reports India Today. The All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML) chief, who is leaving in self-exile in the UAE, said he is ready to return to Pakistan once he sees the political environment in his country favorable.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259667
Tensions in the region were highlighted when the Indian Air Force (IAF) shot down a Pakistan Air Force's F-16 jet today in Lam valley of Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector, according to Zee News. Three aircraft had violated and crossed into Indian air space in retaliatory fire at the Line of Control.
According to emerging reports, a parachute was seen dropping from the F-16 aircraft which was going down. The condition of the pilot is unknown, reported news agency ANI.
Three jets violated Indian air space and crossed the Line of Control to enter Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said the jets entered Poonch and Nowshera sectors but were repelled by Indian Air Force aircraft patrolling the area.
The aircraft reportedly entered up to two kilometres inside Indian territory but retreated after being intercepted by IAF fighters.
There are also reports from Baluchistan that Iran has deployed jet fighters on the Pakistani border.
Iran, Pakistan, India
iStock
India's Border Security Force soldiers patrol fenced border with Pakistan
Reuters
Rally after Pakistan shot down two Indian military aircrafts, in Peshawar
Reuters
7. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
by Shimon Cohen
Recent comments by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, this week regarding the upcoming American Middle East peace plan quickly became a hot political topic in Israel, and becoming the focus of the Knesset election campaign now underway.
While many on the Israeli right expressed concern over Kushner's statement that the plan would include provisions "delineating the border", the chairman of the Republican party's Israel branch cautioned against a rush to pre-judge the plan, adding that President Trump would not force Israel into any agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
"I would advise people on the right, and that includes myself, not to panic," said Attorney Marc Zell, a senior member of the Republicans Overseas organization and chief of its Israeli branch.
The Trump administration has refused to release details of its Middle East peace plan, carefully guarding the few copies of the document and limiting the number of people with access to the entire plan to just five in a bid to prevent leaks.
The secrecy surrounding the plan has spawned mass-speculation and false leaks regarding the plan's provisions.
Zell noted that regardless of the plan's contents, Israeli leaders should not be overly concerned with the 'Deal of the Century', as the president has dubbed it, which is expected to be released after Israel's April 9th election.
"The rule by Trump is…Trump and his administration will not force Israel to do something that [Israel] views as being against its security interests. If Israel says, 'No', Washington won't force Jerusalem [to accept it], and that is a very important thing."
But would the mere fact that the Trump administration is putting the proposal on the table not pressure Israel to accept a deal in a way that a more hostile administration, like that of President Obama, would be unable to do?
"I really respect Netanyahu and support him, but when Obama said what he wanted, the Israeli government gave in and accepted the idea of the two-state solution," Zell said, referring to Netanyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan address in which he formally backed the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state.
On the other hand, Zell continued, "If the Israeli government under Netanyahu or someone else will tell Trump that… it cannot accept the provisions on Jerusalem or the right of return, etc., the US won't force Israel to accept it."
8. ANALYSIS: ISRAEL TAKES ON THE WAQF
by ILTV
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259639
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
A7News: 'President Trump: Let my people know!'
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Wednesday, Feb. 27 '19, כ"ב באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'PRESIDENT TRUMP: LET MY PEOPLE KNOW!'
2. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S JERUSALEM DISTRICT GOVERNOR ARRESTED
3. EVANGELICAL LEADER LOOKS TO OUST 'PRO-HAMAS' ILHAN OMAR
4. LONDON: ELDERLY JEWISH MAN ASSAULTED IN APPARENT HATE CRIME
5. INDIA BOMBS PAKISTANI BASE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
6. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
7. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS
8. 'ATTACKED RABBI IS SHOWING RESILIENCE'
1. 'PRESIDENT TRUMP: LET MY PEOPLE KNOW!'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259658
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett (New Right) spoke out on the soon-to-be-released American Middle East peace plan Wednesday, directly addressing President Donald Trump.
During his address Wednesday morning at the Muni-Expo 2019, a conference on local government, Bennett called President Trump a "true friend to Israel," while urging the administration to immediately release its "Deal of the Century" plan for a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
"Israel has no greater friend than the United States of America," Bennett said. "It is a friendship based on trust and shared values. And there is no doubt that you, President Trump, are a true friend to Israel."
Bennett accused the White House of leaving Israel "in the dark" regarding the provisions of the peace plan, and called on the US to release the plan prior to Israel's Knesset elections this April.
"Friends do not keep secrets one from another. We all know that the 'Deal of the Century' will be launched right after the Israeli elections. But we, the Israelis, are in the dark about the plan itself.
"It seems that everybody is in the loop, planning this Palestinian state right over our heads. The Americans. The Saudi [Crown] Prince. The Palestinians. The Jordanian King. Even Erdogan of Turkey, a blatant anti-Semite - Even he's in the loop - everybody's in the picture. Everybody but us, the people of Israel.
"The Israeli public is facing a crucial election, a referendum on the creation of a Palestinian terror state, which will threaten Israel's very existence. This is not a theory, this is about the lives of our children.
"But what is the Deal of the Century? Why is it being hidden from us? It's as if surgeons are planning to take out part of our body, but won't tell us anything about it.
"Don't we, the Israelis, deserve to know what is in store for us before we go to the ballots? Can't we know what we're voting about?
"While we deeply respect the American president, and while nobody doubt's his good intentions, it is us, the Israelis who will pay the ultimate price."
"So today I want to ask of you President Trump: Let my people know! Put the Palestinian [state] plan on the table now, before we make our choices.
"Let my people know what is in the Palestinian plan. Let my people know what is in store for the people of Israel and to the Land of Israel. Let my people know what will happen to Jerusalem. It's our lives, it's our land, it's our future, and it's our right to know and to decide our fate."
Bennett, whose New Right party has positioned itself to the right of the Likud, made similar comments Tuesday night, warning that the US was laying the foundation for a Palestinian state 'over Israel's head'.
2. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S JERUSALEM DISTRICT GOVERNOR ARRESTED
by AFP, Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli police on Wednesday arrested the Palestinian Authority's chief of the Jerusalem governate, following riots on the Temple Mount, officials said.
The Palestinian Authority governor Adnan Gheith was among 22 Arabs residents arrested overnight in raids in east Jerusalem, official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Police confirmed two arrests, including "a senior official from the Palestinian Authority," over suspicions of fraud and forgery.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP they were also arrested in connection with "recent incidents" on the Temple Mount.
The suspects were being questioned, Rosenfeld said, without providing further details.
Over the past week and a half, Arab rioters have clashed with police on the Temple Mount, demanding the reopening of an area closed off since 2003. Israeli authorities closed the Golden Gate and the surrounding space in 2003 after it was discovered that the area was being used for terrorism.
On Sunday, police arrested and later released a top Muslim official responsible for maintaining religious sites in Jerusalem, Abdel Azeem Salhab, and his deputy after the holy site incidents.
Salhab is the head of the council of the Waqf in Jerusalem, the religious authority that governs the Temple Mount and other sites.
The arrest drew condemnation from Jordan.
3. EVANGELICAL LEADER LOOKS TO OUST 'PRO-HAMAS' ILHAN OMAR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
After a campaign to oust Democratic Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the House of Representatives signed up thousands of backers across the US, a pro-Israel Evangelical leader has accused Omar of effectively representing the Hamas terrorist organization.
"Ilhan Omar covertly represents Hamas in the U.S. Congress, we need to act now before this blows up in our faces," said Laurie Cardoza-Moore, head of the Franklin, Tennessee-based group Proclaiming Justice To the Nations (PJTN).
Omar has come under fire for a series of anti-Israel comments critics say echo traditional anti-Semitic canards.
Both Republicans and congressional Democrats hit Omar after she suggested that fellow lawmakers had been bought off by pro-Israeli Jewish groups.
Earlier, Omar was ripped for comparing Israel to the Iranian regime, and suggesting Israel is not a democracy.
In January, the freshly-minted congresswoman tried to justify a 2012 tweet accusing Israel of having "hypnotized the world".
Omar also drew criticism for endorsing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement days after being elected – after having come out against BDS prior to the November election.
Following the multiple controversies surrounding Omar and her comments regarding Israel, PJTN launched a petition calling for Omar's ouster. Since the campaign was launched last week, PJTN says it has signed thousands backing Omar's removal.
On Tuesday, Cardoza-Moore compared Omar's views to those of the Hamas terror organization, citing Omar's support for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group which has been accused of ties with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
"CAIR and Hamas are one in the same. Ilhan Omar openly fundraising for CAIR means she is not just a rabid anti-Semite, but a real threat to our national security. PJTN has already secured thousands of signatures on our petition to have her ousted from Congress and we will continue to wage our national campaign to unite American patriots against this dangerous phenomenon. We the people demand that members of a subversive anti-Semitic organization, with close ties to terrorist groups, not be made welcome in our Congress."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259659
4. LONDON: ELDERLY JEWISH MAN ASSAULTED IN APPARENT HATE CRIME
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
An elderly Jewish man was assaulted by a younger man in the London Borough of Islington in what witnesses said was an anti-Semitic attack.
The assault happened on Tuesday afternoon. The attacker was in his thirties and had a shaved head, according to what witnesses told the Islington Gazette.
The attacker asked the man, who is in his seventies, if he was Jewish before punching him in the face, causing the victim to bleed, one witness was quoted as saying. The attacker fled the scene. Police are investigating the incident, which did not result in life-threatening injuries.
Marian Kennedy, a witness, said the attack against the man, who was wearing a checked shirt and overcoat, was totally unprovoked.
"He was punching him violently and right in the face with a closed fist. The older gentleman was utterly defenseless. He was being hit really hard and my instinct was jump between them but there was so much rage and violence," she told the Gazette.
The victim was not named in the report.
Kennedy also said that she called out for the attacker to stop, at which point he pivoted around and claimed the old man had hit him with the stick.
"Blood was pouring from the old man's mouth and his body must have taken a lot of blows. The attacker ran off very fast. He was manic. The older man said he'd never seen him before. It was a random attack."
5. INDIA BOMBS PAKISTANI BASE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
by David Rosenberg
Tensions between India and Pakistan flared overnight amid the largest escalation on the subcontinent in years.
On Tuesday, Indian air force fighters carried out an airstrike on a facility in Pakistan, which the Indian government claimed was used to house and train terrorists responsible for attacks on Indian targets. The strikes are the first by Indian aircraft inside Pakistani territory since the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
India's foreign affairs secretary Vijay Gokhale said the Indian air force strikes had "eliminated" a "very large number" of Pakistani terrorists in the strike. Indian said the camp was run by the Jaish e-Mohammed terror group, which has been accused of carrying out the February 14th suicide bombing attack in Pulwama in the Indian Kashmir which killed 40. Four Indian soldiers were killed in fighting with Pakistani terrorists days after the bombing.
But Pakistan denied the site bombed by India was used by terrorists, castigating India for the attack.
"This action has been done for domestic consumption being in election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's office said in a statement.
Pakistan vowed to retaliate for the airstrikes "at the time and place of its choosing."
"India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing," the Pakistani premier's office said.
On Wednesday, Pakistan confirmed that it had carried out several air raids on targets in Indian-administered Kashmir in retaliation for the Indian air strikes.
"Today, Pakistan Air Force undertook strikes across Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
Four airports were closed in northern Indian in response to the escalation, Al Jazeera reported.
Pakistan also claimed that it had shot down two Indian air force fighter jets, and that one of the pilots had been captured.
India disputed the claim, saying that all of its pilots were accounted for.
According to a report by The Indian Express citing high-level Indian sources in Jammu and Kashmir, three Pakistani F-16 fighter jets crossed the Line of Control, entering Indian-controlled airspace, but were forced to retreat by Indian Air Force aircraft.
6. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attorney approached Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nd asked her to work to release material that would prove that his relationship with Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch was not inappropriate, News 12 reported.
According to the report, in a letter sent by Netanyahu's attorney Navot Tel Tzur, to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Netanyahu demanded that Mashad ensure that the Justice Ministry release the answers he sent to the State Comptroller from the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. It is alleged that there was nothing illegal about the relationship between Netanyahu and Elovitz.
The document also alleged that Netanyahu, in his capacity as Communications Minister, did not make controversial decisions before a famous conflict of interests arrangement was formulated, and that all of his decisions were made after a proper procedure and coordination with the legal authorities.
According to Netanyahu, the Justice Ministry refuses to give these full answers to the comptroller, despite the fact that they are common knowledge, and therefore he wrote to Shaked, "We see the Ministry of Justice's answers to the State Comptroller as documents of great importance to the defense of the prime minister. In light of the fact that the Attorney General's decision is expected to be received in the near future, our appeal to you is a very urgent one."
7. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS
by Gary Willig
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif announced his resignation Monday.
"I am apologizing you for all the shortcomings ... in the past years during my time as foreign minister ... I thank the Iranian nation and officials," he said.
Zarif has been a vocal critic of Israel and the United States. Last week, he stated that he could not 'rule out' a war with the Jewish State. Yesterday, he warned US President Donald Trump that he would be "surprised" by Iran's response to US sanctions.
8. 'ATTACKED RABBI IS SHOWING RESILIENCE'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259615
Jewish Agency Chairman Yitzhak Herzog spoke Tuesday with Chief Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich of Argentina, who is in the hospital following a violent anti-Semitic attack at his home.
"I spoke with Rabbi Davidovich. I gave him comfort. I hugged him. I said that the Jewish people care for him. He is in [a lot of] pain, but he shows resilience and a good mood. He is in the hospital under post-traumatic circumstances," Herzog said of the Chief Rabbi's condition.
"I did depict clear traits of anti-Semitism in the way he described what happened. I'm sure the authorities in Argentina will take firm steps to find the villains, put them on trial, send them to jail, and also combat anti-Semitism, which has risen in Argentina in recent years," he said.
Anti-Semitism "is a world-wide phenomenon based on the fact that social networks nurture people of hate and I think [the fight against it] has got to do with two things: legal, waging the legal battle with the definition of anti-Semitism as wide as possible. And education, teaching about the Holocaust, the lessons of anti-Semitism, the lessons of what hate brings to humanity and to human beings."
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Wednesday, Feb. 27 '19, כ"ב באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'PRESIDENT TRUMP: LET MY PEOPLE KNOW!'
2. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S JERUSALEM DISTRICT GOVERNOR ARRESTED
3. EVANGELICAL LEADER LOOKS TO OUST 'PRO-HAMAS' ILHAN OMAR
4. LONDON: ELDERLY JEWISH MAN ASSAULTED IN APPARENT HATE CRIME
5. INDIA BOMBS PAKISTANI BASE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
6. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
7. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS
8. 'ATTACKED RABBI IS SHOWING RESILIENCE'
1. 'PRESIDENT TRUMP: LET MY PEOPLE KNOW!'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259658
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett (New Right) spoke out on the soon-to-be-released American Middle East peace plan Wednesday, directly addressing President Donald Trump.
During his address Wednesday morning at the Muni-Expo 2019, a conference on local government, Bennett called President Trump a "true friend to Israel," while urging the administration to immediately release its "Deal of the Century" plan for a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
"Israel has no greater friend than the United States of America," Bennett said. "It is a friendship based on trust and shared values. And there is no doubt that you, President Trump, are a true friend to Israel."
Bennett accused the White House of leaving Israel "in the dark" regarding the provisions of the peace plan, and called on the US to release the plan prior to Israel's Knesset elections this April.
"Friends do not keep secrets one from another. We all know that the 'Deal of the Century' will be launched right after the Israeli elections. But we, the Israelis, are in the dark about the plan itself.
"It seems that everybody is in the loop, planning this Palestinian state right over our heads. The Americans. The Saudi [Crown] Prince. The Palestinians. The Jordanian King. Even Erdogan of Turkey, a blatant anti-Semite - Even he's in the loop - everybody's in the picture. Everybody but us, the people of Israel.
"The Israeli public is facing a crucial election, a referendum on the creation of a Palestinian terror state, which will threaten Israel's very existence. This is not a theory, this is about the lives of our children.
"But what is the Deal of the Century? Why is it being hidden from us? It's as if surgeons are planning to take out part of our body, but won't tell us anything about it.
"Don't we, the Israelis, deserve to know what is in store for us before we go to the ballots? Can't we know what we're voting about?
"While we deeply respect the American president, and while nobody doubt's his good intentions, it is us, the Israelis who will pay the ultimate price."
"So today I want to ask of you President Trump: Let my people know! Put the Palestinian [state] plan on the table now, before we make our choices.
"Let my people know what is in the Palestinian plan. Let my people know what is in store for the people of Israel and to the Land of Israel. Let my people know what will happen to Jerusalem. It's our lives, it's our land, it's our future, and it's our right to know and to decide our fate."
Bennett, whose New Right party has positioned itself to the right of the Likud, made similar comments Tuesday night, warning that the US was laying the foundation for a Palestinian state 'over Israel's head'.
2. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S JERUSALEM DISTRICT GOVERNOR ARRESTED
by AFP, Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli police on Wednesday arrested the Palestinian Authority's chief of the Jerusalem governate, following riots on the Temple Mount, officials said.
The Palestinian Authority governor Adnan Gheith was among 22 Arabs residents arrested overnight in raids in east Jerusalem, official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Police confirmed two arrests, including "a senior official from the Palestinian Authority," over suspicions of fraud and forgery.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP they were also arrested in connection with "recent incidents" on the Temple Mount.
The suspects were being questioned, Rosenfeld said, without providing further details.
Over the past week and a half, Arab rioters have clashed with police on the Temple Mount, demanding the reopening of an area closed off since 2003. Israeli authorities closed the Golden Gate and the surrounding space in 2003 after it was discovered that the area was being used for terrorism.
On Sunday, police arrested and later released a top Muslim official responsible for maintaining religious sites in Jerusalem, Abdel Azeem Salhab, and his deputy after the holy site incidents.
Salhab is the head of the council of the Waqf in Jerusalem, the religious authority that governs the Temple Mount and other sites.
The arrest drew condemnation from Jordan.
3. EVANGELICAL LEADER LOOKS TO OUST 'PRO-HAMAS' ILHAN OMAR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
After a campaign to oust Democratic Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the House of Representatives signed up thousands of backers across the US, a pro-Israel Evangelical leader has accused Omar of effectively representing the Hamas terrorist organization.
"Ilhan Omar covertly represents Hamas in the U.S. Congress, we need to act now before this blows up in our faces," said Laurie Cardoza-Moore, head of the Franklin, Tennessee-based group Proclaiming Justice To the Nations (PJTN).
Omar has come under fire for a series of anti-Israel comments critics say echo traditional anti-Semitic canards.
Both Republicans and congressional Democrats hit Omar after she suggested that fellow lawmakers had been bought off by pro-Israeli Jewish groups.
Earlier, Omar was ripped for comparing Israel to the Iranian regime, and suggesting Israel is not a democracy.
In January, the freshly-minted congresswoman tried to justify a 2012 tweet accusing Israel of having "hypnotized the world".
Omar also drew criticism for endorsing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement days after being elected – after having come out against BDS prior to the November election.
Following the multiple controversies surrounding Omar and her comments regarding Israel, PJTN launched a petition calling for Omar's ouster. Since the campaign was launched last week, PJTN says it has signed thousands backing Omar's removal.
On Tuesday, Cardoza-Moore compared Omar's views to those of the Hamas terror organization, citing Omar's support for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group which has been accused of ties with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
"CAIR and Hamas are one in the same. Ilhan Omar openly fundraising for CAIR means she is not just a rabid anti-Semite, but a real threat to our national security. PJTN has already secured thousands of signatures on our petition to have her ousted from Congress and we will continue to wage our national campaign to unite American patriots against this dangerous phenomenon. We the people demand that members of a subversive anti-Semitic organization, with close ties to terrorist groups, not be made welcome in our Congress."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259659
4. LONDON: ELDERLY JEWISH MAN ASSAULTED IN APPARENT HATE CRIME
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
An elderly Jewish man was assaulted by a younger man in the London Borough of Islington in what witnesses said was an anti-Semitic attack.
The assault happened on Tuesday afternoon. The attacker was in his thirties and had a shaved head, according to what witnesses told the Islington Gazette.
The attacker asked the man, who is in his seventies, if he was Jewish before punching him in the face, causing the victim to bleed, one witness was quoted as saying. The attacker fled the scene. Police are investigating the incident, which did not result in life-threatening injuries.
Marian Kennedy, a witness, said the attack against the man, who was wearing a checked shirt and overcoat, was totally unprovoked.
"He was punching him violently and right in the face with a closed fist. The older gentleman was utterly defenseless. He was being hit really hard and my instinct was jump between them but there was so much rage and violence," she told the Gazette.
The victim was not named in the report.
Kennedy also said that she called out for the attacker to stop, at which point he pivoted around and claimed the old man had hit him with the stick.
"Blood was pouring from the old man's mouth and his body must have taken a lot of blows. The attacker ran off very fast. He was manic. The older man said he'd never seen him before. It was a random attack."
5. INDIA BOMBS PAKISTANI BASE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
by David Rosenberg
Tensions between India and Pakistan flared overnight amid the largest escalation on the subcontinent in years.
On Tuesday, Indian air force fighters carried out an airstrike on a facility in Pakistan, which the Indian government claimed was used to house and train terrorists responsible for attacks on Indian targets. The strikes are the first by Indian aircraft inside Pakistani territory since the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
India's foreign affairs secretary Vijay Gokhale said the Indian air force strikes had "eliminated" a "very large number" of Pakistani terrorists in the strike. Indian said the camp was run by the Jaish e-Mohammed terror group, which has been accused of carrying out the February 14th suicide bombing attack in Pulwama in the Indian Kashmir which killed 40. Four Indian soldiers were killed in fighting with Pakistani terrorists days after the bombing.
But Pakistan denied the site bombed by India was used by terrorists, castigating India for the attack.
"This action has been done for domestic consumption being in election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's office said in a statement.
Pakistan vowed to retaliate for the airstrikes "at the time and place of its choosing."
"India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing," the Pakistani premier's office said.
On Wednesday, Pakistan confirmed that it had carried out several air raids on targets in Indian-administered Kashmir in retaliation for the Indian air strikes.
"Today, Pakistan Air Force undertook strikes across Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
Four airports were closed in northern Indian in response to the escalation, Al Jazeera reported.
Pakistan also claimed that it had shot down two Indian air force fighter jets, and that one of the pilots had been captured.
India disputed the claim, saying that all of its pilots were accounted for.
According to a report by The Indian Express citing high-level Indian sources in Jammu and Kashmir, three Pakistani F-16 fighter jets crossed the Line of Control, entering Indian-controlled airspace, but were forced to retreat by Indian Air Force aircraft.
6. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attorney approached Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nd asked her to work to release material that would prove that his relationship with Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch was not inappropriate, News 12 reported.
According to the report, in a letter sent by Netanyahu's attorney Navot Tel Tzur, to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Netanyahu demanded that Mashad ensure that the Justice Ministry release the answers he sent to the State Comptroller from the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. It is alleged that there was nothing illegal about the relationship between Netanyahu and Elovitz.
The document also alleged that Netanyahu, in his capacity as Communications Minister, did not make controversial decisions before a famous conflict of interests arrangement was formulated, and that all of his decisions were made after a proper procedure and coordination with the legal authorities.
According to Netanyahu, the Justice Ministry refuses to give these full answers to the comptroller, despite the fact that they are common knowledge, and therefore he wrote to Shaked, "We see the Ministry of Justice's answers to the State Comptroller as documents of great importance to the defense of the prime minister. In light of the fact that the Attorney General's decision is expected to be received in the near future, our appeal to you is a very urgent one."
7. IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS
by Gary Willig
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif announced his resignation Monday.
"I am apologizing you for all the shortcomings ... in the past years during my time as foreign minister ... I thank the Iranian nation and officials," he said.
Zarif has been a vocal critic of Israel and the United States. Last week, he stated that he could not 'rule out' a war with the Jewish State. Yesterday, he warned US President Donald Trump that he would be "surprised" by Iran's response to US sanctions.
8. 'ATTACKED RABBI IS SHOWING RESILIENCE'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259615
Jewish Agency Chairman Yitzhak Herzog spoke Tuesday with Chief Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich of Argentina, who is in the hospital following a violent anti-Semitic attack at his home.
"I spoke with Rabbi Davidovich. I gave him comfort. I hugged him. I said that the Jewish people care for him. He is in [a lot of] pain, but he shows resilience and a good mood. He is in the hospital under post-traumatic circumstances," Herzog said of the Chief Rabbi's condition.
"I did depict clear traits of anti-Semitism in the way he described what happened. I'm sure the authorities in Argentina will take firm steps to find the villains, put them on trial, send them to jail, and also combat anti-Semitism, which has risen in Argentina in recent years," he said.
Anti-Semitism "is a world-wide phenomenon based on the fact that social networks nurture people of hate and I think [the fight against it] has got to do with two things: legal, waging the legal battle with the definition of anti-Semitism as wide as possible. And education, teaching about the Holocaust, the lessons of anti-Semitism, the lessons of what hate brings to humanity and to human beings."
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
A7News: 'Trump won't force Mideast peace plan on Israel'
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Tuesday, Feb. 26 '19, כ"א באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
2. ANOTHER RELATIVE INTERROGATED IN KADOURI MURDER
3. EX-ISRAELI MINISTER SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS FOR SPYING FOR IRAN
4. INSIDE MEIR PANIM'S SOUP KITCHEN 'RESTAURANTS'
5. ARGENTINA'S CHIEF RABBI IN SERIOUS CONDITION AFTER ATTACK
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
7. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
8. CRUISING ISRAEL - MAHANE YEHUDA
1. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
by Shimon Cohen
Recent comments by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, this week regarding the upcoming American Middle East peace plan quickly became a hot political topic in Israel, and becoming the focus of the Knesset election campaign now underway.
While many on the Israeli right expressed concern over Kushner's statement that the plan would include provisions "delineating the border", the chairman of the Republican party's Israel branch cautioned against a rush to pre-judge the plan, adding that President Trump would not force Israel into any agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
"I would advise people on the right, and that includes myself, not to panic," said Attorney Marc Zell, a senior member of the Republicans Overseas organization and chief of its Israeli branch.
The Trump administration has refused to release details of its Middle East peace plan, carefully guarding the few copies of the document and limiting the number of people with access to the entire plan to just five in a bid to prevent leaks.
The secrecy surrounding the plan has spawned mass-speculation and false leaks regarding the plan's provisions.
Zell noted that regardless of the plan's contents, Israeli leaders should not be overly concerned with the 'Deal of the Century', as the president has dubbed it, which is expected to be released after Israel's April 9th election.
"The rule by Trump is…Trump and his administration will not force Israel to do something that [Israel] views as being against its security interests. If Israel says, 'No', Washington won't force Jerusalem [to accept it], and that is a very important thing."
But would the mere fact that the Trump administration is putting the proposal on the table not pressure Israel to accept a deal in a way that a more hostile administration, like that of President Obama, would be unable to do?
"I really respect Netanyahu and support him, but when Obama said what he wanted, the Israeli government gave in and accepted the idea of the two-state solution," Zell said, referring to Netanyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan address in which he formally backed the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state.
On the other hand, Zell continued, "If the Israeli government under Netanyahu or someone else will tell Trump that… it cannot accept the provisions on Jerusalem or the right of return, etc., the US won't force Israel to accept it."
2. ANOTHER RELATIVE INTERROGATED IN KADOURI MURDER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday extended the detention of a relative suspected of involvement in the murder of Tamar and Yehuda Kadouri in their apartment in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Another relative was detained today for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the double murder.
Tamar and Yehuda Kadouri, who were both in their 70s, were found dead in their home more than a month ago with signs of severe violence on their bodies.
Last week, it was cleared for publication that two relatives of the Kadouri family are the prime suspects in the murder case.
The details of the suspects and their precise connection to the Kadouri family are under a gag order. Police believe the background to the murder is criminal.
3. EX-ISRAELI MINISTER SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS FOR SPYING FOR IRAN
by David Rosenberg
Former Israeli minister Gonen Segev was sentenced Tuesday morning to 11 years in prison, after he was found guilty of spying on behalf of Iran.
The Jerusalem District Court meted out the 11-year jail term to Segev Tuesday, who once served as Energy and Infrastructure Minister, after breaking away from the secular right-wing Tzomet party to join Yitzhak Rabin's Labor coalition government.
While reporters were not allowed into the court room, given the sensitive nature of the case, prosecutor Geulah Cohen confirmed that Segev had been sentenced to 11 years in prison as part of the plea bargain.
"He admitted having given information to the Iranians over five years," Cohen told reporters.
"The agreement is aimed at protecting security sources and keeping information confidential. A longer trial would not have allowed all the information to be kept secret."
In January, Segev agreed to a plea bargain deal with prosecutors, settling on the 11-year prison sentence.
As part of the deal, Segev agreed to plead guilty to espionage charges, and a charge of transferring information to an enemy power.
In exchange, prosecutors will drop charges of aiding an enemy of the state.
Segev was arrested by Israeli authorities in May 2018, after he sold information to Iranian government agents.
In June, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency revealed that Segev had been arrested on suspicion of committing the offenses of assisting the enemy in a time of war and of spying against the State of Israel.
Israeli investigators said they had found evidence that Segev had been recruited by the Iranian regime, and that Segev had acted as an agent on behalf of Iranian intelligence.
It was further alleged that in 2012, Segev had opened a channel to Iranian intelligence services via the country's embassy in Nigeria. He later came twice to meetings with his operators in Iran.
Segev is said to have met with his Iranian operators around the world, in hotels and apartments which are believed to be used by Iranian intelligence services. Segev also received a secret communications system to encrypt the messages between him and his operators.
Segev was previously convicted of attempted credit card fraud, and plead guilty to drug smuggling
4. INSIDE MEIR PANIM'S SOUP KITCHEN 'RESTAURANTS'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259604
Arutz Sheva visited the Meir Panim restaurant-style soup kitchen in Jerusalem, speaking with staff and volunteering in kitchen operations to get an idea of what Meir Panim is all about.
"Meir Panim is a set of relief centers here in Israel which provides opportunities for Israelis in need. In each different center we have different things we specialize in," said Mimi Rozmaryn, Meir Panim's Director of Global Development. "Here in Jerusalem we have this free restaurant which provides hot lunches to hundreds of people a week who don't have anywhere to be."
Ellen Tilles, a volunteer with Meir Panim, said that her main mission in coming into the Meir Panim restaurant every day is "to actually feed people."
"I see these people around the city eating out of garbage cans. I would rather they come here and we give them something fresh."
Tilles related her history of volunteering with Meir Panim. "When I first started to volunteer here in 2012, I had not yet made aliyah. I was here only for six weeks each winter, and I fell in love with the people who come here. Eventually I made aliyah with the intent to come here, and that's what I do Sunday to Thursday, I come here each day."
Tovi Galili, a volunteer who works for the Hebrew University, says that the university has been sending its students from all over the world to volunteer at Meir Panim "and have a chance to see Jerusalem in a broader sense, not just going to the Kotel or Shuk Mahane Yehuda, but also to see Israelis, to see what Israel looks like. But it also gives them a sense of purpose."
Rozmaryn explained that the food for the restaurant is "donated from local hotels, event halls and individuals that have excess and don't want to see the food go to waste and the environmental impact of the food being thrown away, and want to help provide an opportunity for people who want to eat."
Volunteers say they aim to provide visitors not just with food, but with a smile and a pleasant atmosphere.
"We don't want them to feel like what they deserve is in the garbage. Here they can sit down, and now there is this beautiful dining room, and it makes it much easier and prettier for them to come here," Tilles said.
"We wanted this restaurant to feel like any other one in the city," Rozmaryn noted.
According to Galili, "There's no questions about who you are, why you're here, we don't necessarily know why people need what they need, but we maintain the sense of dignity that you can come into a restaurant and have that feeling of being served and not have to feel that's it's about having to ask for a hand, it's just giving - for its own sake."
Rozmaryn explained that the restaurant is able to continue its daily operations by virtue of "donations we receive from people all over the world who want to support the folks that are here, want to support Israel, and want to support our efforts. So we are endlessly appreciative and grateful and humbled by our ability to continue doing this work every day."
Tilles said that the feeling she gets from volunteering at Meir Panim is one of "absolute joy."
"It's just a pleasure seeing people being able to eat, being able to sit. It's like my mission - to make people feel comfortable."
5. ARGENTINA'S CHIEF RABBI IN SERIOUS CONDITION AFTER ATTACK
by Ben Ariel
The Chief Rabbi of Argentina, Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich, was violently attacked Monday at his home in Buenos Aires, Yediot Aharonot reported, citing local media.
According to the report, Rabbi Davidovich was attacked by unknown assailants who entered his home at around 2:00 a.m. and told him, "We know that you are the rabbi of the Jewish community."
The assailants stole money and personal effects and attacked his wife as well. As a result of the attack, the rabbi was hospitalized in a local hospital and is in serious condition.
The AMIA Jewish community center described the attack as "alarming" and called on local authorities to quickly investigate the assault.
Channel 13 News reported that the attack on Rabbi Davidovich and his wife is the second anti-Semitic incident in Argentina in two days. On Sunday, gravestones were desecrated in a Jewish cemetery in the northern city of San Luis.
The news coming from Argentina follows a string of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and Europe.
On Friday, swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were drawn in a Jewish schoolyard in Queens. The words and drawings, found in the Rego Park Elementary School, have since been erased.
Also on Friday, vandals suspected of being soccer hooligans from The Hague painted graffiti, including swastikas and anti-Semitic texts, on buildings in Amsterdam.
France alone has seen a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks, including the daubing of swastikas on nearly 100 graves in a Jewish cemetery in eastern France last Tuesday.
A week earlier, a memorial in Paris to Ilan Halimi, a French-born Moroccan Jewish man who was murdered in 2006, was desecrated.
In addition, swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were found at multiple locations in Paris, including the window of a bagel shop and mailboxes which featured the portrait of French politician and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil.
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
by David Rosenberg
The new Blue and White alliance of Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid faction would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll shows – but the right-wing – religious bloc would retain a narrow majority.
According to the poll, conducted by Maagar Mohot and published by i24NEWS and Israel Hayom Sunday evening, if new elections were held today, the Blue and White party of Gantz and Lapid would win 36 mandates.
The Likud, by contrast, would gain a single mandate over its 2015 performance, winning a total of 31 seats.
But the right-wing and haredi parties would retain the rightist majority in the Knesset, though by a razor-thin margin, with 62 seats to 58 for the left-wing – Arab bloc.
The New Right, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, would become the third largest party with nine seats, following by Labor with eight. Tied with Labor for fourth place is the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma Yehudit alliance with eight seats.
Both of the haredi factions, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would win seven seats each, as would the far-left Meretz party.
Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu, Gesher, Zehut and the Balad-United Arab List alliance would all fail to cross the threshold. Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu would win three seats-worth of votes, while Gesher, Balad, and Zehut would receive two seats-worth. Four seats are needed to cross the electoral threshold.
7. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attorney approached Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nd asked her to work to release material that would prove that his relationship with Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch was not inappropriate, News 12 reported.
According to the report, in a letter sent by Netanyahu's attorney Navot Tel Tzur, to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Netanyahu demanded that Mashad ensure that the Justice Ministry release the answers he sent to the State Comptroller from the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. It is alleged that there was nothing illegal about the relationship between Netanyahu and Elovitz.
The document also alleged that Netanyahu, in his capacity as Communications Minister, did not make controversial decisions before a famous conflict of interests arrangement was formulated, and that all of his decisions were made after a proper procedure and coordination with the legal authorities.
According to Netanyahu, the Justice Ministry refuses to give these full answers to the comptroller, despite the fact that they are common knowledge, and therefore he wrote to Shaked, "We see the Ministry of Justice's answers to the State Comptroller as documents of great importance to the defense of the prime minister. In light of the fact that the Attorney General's decision is expected to be received in the near future, our appeal to you is a very urgent one."
8. CRUISING ISRAEL - MAHANE YEHUDA
by ILTV
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259568
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Tuesday, Feb. 26 '19, כ"א באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
2. ANOTHER RELATIVE INTERROGATED IN KADOURI MURDER
3. EX-ISRAELI MINISTER SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS FOR SPYING FOR IRAN
4. INSIDE MEIR PANIM'S SOUP KITCHEN 'RESTAURANTS'
5. ARGENTINA'S CHIEF RABBI IN SERIOUS CONDITION AFTER ATTACK
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
7. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
8. CRUISING ISRAEL - MAHANE YEHUDA
1. 'TRUMP WON'T FORCE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN ON ISRAEL'
by Shimon Cohen
Recent comments by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, this week regarding the upcoming American Middle East peace plan quickly became a hot political topic in Israel, and becoming the focus of the Knesset election campaign now underway.
While many on the Israeli right expressed concern over Kushner's statement that the plan would include provisions "delineating the border", the chairman of the Republican party's Israel branch cautioned against a rush to pre-judge the plan, adding that President Trump would not force Israel into any agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
"I would advise people on the right, and that includes myself, not to panic," said Attorney Marc Zell, a senior member of the Republicans Overseas organization and chief of its Israeli branch.
The Trump administration has refused to release details of its Middle East peace plan, carefully guarding the few copies of the document and limiting the number of people with access to the entire plan to just five in a bid to prevent leaks.
The secrecy surrounding the plan has spawned mass-speculation and false leaks regarding the plan's provisions.
Zell noted that regardless of the plan's contents, Israeli leaders should not be overly concerned with the 'Deal of the Century', as the president has dubbed it, which is expected to be released after Israel's April 9th election.
"The rule by Trump is…Trump and his administration will not force Israel to do something that [Israel] views as being against its security interests. If Israel says, 'No', Washington won't force Jerusalem [to accept it], and that is a very important thing."
But would the mere fact that the Trump administration is putting the proposal on the table not pressure Israel to accept a deal in a way that a more hostile administration, like that of President Obama, would be unable to do?
"I really respect Netanyahu and support him, but when Obama said what he wanted, the Israeli government gave in and accepted the idea of the two-state solution," Zell said, referring to Netanyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan address in which he formally backed the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state.
On the other hand, Zell continued, "If the Israeli government under Netanyahu or someone else will tell Trump that… it cannot accept the provisions on Jerusalem or the right of return, etc., the US won't force Israel to accept it."
2. ANOTHER RELATIVE INTERROGATED IN KADOURI MURDER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday extended the detention of a relative suspected of involvement in the murder of Tamar and Yehuda Kadouri in their apartment in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Another relative was detained today for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the double murder.
Tamar and Yehuda Kadouri, who were both in their 70s, were found dead in their home more than a month ago with signs of severe violence on their bodies.
Last week, it was cleared for publication that two relatives of the Kadouri family are the prime suspects in the murder case.
The details of the suspects and their precise connection to the Kadouri family are under a gag order. Police believe the background to the murder is criminal.
3. EX-ISRAELI MINISTER SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS FOR SPYING FOR IRAN
by David Rosenberg
Former Israeli minister Gonen Segev was sentenced Tuesday morning to 11 years in prison, after he was found guilty of spying on behalf of Iran.
The Jerusalem District Court meted out the 11-year jail term to Segev Tuesday, who once served as Energy and Infrastructure Minister, after breaking away from the secular right-wing Tzomet party to join Yitzhak Rabin's Labor coalition government.
While reporters were not allowed into the court room, given the sensitive nature of the case, prosecutor Geulah Cohen confirmed that Segev had been sentenced to 11 years in prison as part of the plea bargain.
"He admitted having given information to the Iranians over five years," Cohen told reporters.
"The agreement is aimed at protecting security sources and keeping information confidential. A longer trial would not have allowed all the information to be kept secret."
In January, Segev agreed to a plea bargain deal with prosecutors, settling on the 11-year prison sentence.
As part of the deal, Segev agreed to plead guilty to espionage charges, and a charge of transferring information to an enemy power.
In exchange, prosecutors will drop charges of aiding an enemy of the state.
Segev was arrested by Israeli authorities in May 2018, after he sold information to Iranian government agents.
In June, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency revealed that Segev had been arrested on suspicion of committing the offenses of assisting the enemy in a time of war and of spying against the State of Israel.
Israeli investigators said they had found evidence that Segev had been recruited by the Iranian regime, and that Segev had acted as an agent on behalf of Iranian intelligence.
It was further alleged that in 2012, Segev had opened a channel to Iranian intelligence services via the country's embassy in Nigeria. He later came twice to meetings with his operators in Iran.
Segev is said to have met with his Iranian operators around the world, in hotels and apartments which are believed to be used by Iranian intelligence services. Segev also received a secret communications system to encrypt the messages between him and his operators.
Segev was previously convicted of attempted credit card fraud, and plead guilty to drug smuggling
4. INSIDE MEIR PANIM'S SOUP KITCHEN 'RESTAURANTS'
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259604
Arutz Sheva visited the Meir Panim restaurant-style soup kitchen in Jerusalem, speaking with staff and volunteering in kitchen operations to get an idea of what Meir Panim is all about.
"Meir Panim is a set of relief centers here in Israel which provides opportunities for Israelis in need. In each different center we have different things we specialize in," said Mimi Rozmaryn, Meir Panim's Director of Global Development. "Here in Jerusalem we have this free restaurant which provides hot lunches to hundreds of people a week who don't have anywhere to be."
Ellen Tilles, a volunteer with Meir Panim, said that her main mission in coming into the Meir Panim restaurant every day is "to actually feed people."
"I see these people around the city eating out of garbage cans. I would rather they come here and we give them something fresh."
Tilles related her history of volunteering with Meir Panim. "When I first started to volunteer here in 2012, I had not yet made aliyah. I was here only for six weeks each winter, and I fell in love with the people who come here. Eventually I made aliyah with the intent to come here, and that's what I do Sunday to Thursday, I come here each day."
Tovi Galili, a volunteer who works for the Hebrew University, says that the university has been sending its students from all over the world to volunteer at Meir Panim "and have a chance to see Jerusalem in a broader sense, not just going to the Kotel or Shuk Mahane Yehuda, but also to see Israelis, to see what Israel looks like. But it also gives them a sense of purpose."
Rozmaryn explained that the food for the restaurant is "donated from local hotels, event halls and individuals that have excess and don't want to see the food go to waste and the environmental impact of the food being thrown away, and want to help provide an opportunity for people who want to eat."
Volunteers say they aim to provide visitors not just with food, but with a smile and a pleasant atmosphere.
"We don't want them to feel like what they deserve is in the garbage. Here they can sit down, and now there is this beautiful dining room, and it makes it much easier and prettier for them to come here," Tilles said.
"We wanted this restaurant to feel like any other one in the city," Rozmaryn noted.
According to Galili, "There's no questions about who you are, why you're here, we don't necessarily know why people need what they need, but we maintain the sense of dignity that you can come into a restaurant and have that feeling of being served and not have to feel that's it's about having to ask for a hand, it's just giving - for its own sake."
Rozmaryn explained that the restaurant is able to continue its daily operations by virtue of "donations we receive from people all over the world who want to support the folks that are here, want to support Israel, and want to support our efforts. So we are endlessly appreciative and grateful and humbled by our ability to continue doing this work every day."
Tilles said that the feeling she gets from volunteering at Meir Panim is one of "absolute joy."
"It's just a pleasure seeing people being able to eat, being able to sit. It's like my mission - to make people feel comfortable."
5. ARGENTINA'S CHIEF RABBI IN SERIOUS CONDITION AFTER ATTACK
by Ben Ariel
The Chief Rabbi of Argentina, Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich, was violently attacked Monday at his home in Buenos Aires, Yediot Aharonot reported, citing local media.
According to the report, Rabbi Davidovich was attacked by unknown assailants who entered his home at around 2:00 a.m. and told him, "We know that you are the rabbi of the Jewish community."
The assailants stole money and personal effects and attacked his wife as well. As a result of the attack, the rabbi was hospitalized in a local hospital and is in serious condition.
The AMIA Jewish community center described the attack as "alarming" and called on local authorities to quickly investigate the assault.
Channel 13 News reported that the attack on Rabbi Davidovich and his wife is the second anti-Semitic incident in Argentina in two days. On Sunday, gravestones were desecrated in a Jewish cemetery in the northern city of San Luis.
The news coming from Argentina follows a string of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and Europe.
On Friday, swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were drawn in a Jewish schoolyard in Queens. The words and drawings, found in the Rego Park Elementary School, have since been erased.
Also on Friday, vandals suspected of being soccer hooligans from The Hague painted graffiti, including swastikas and anti-Semitic texts, on buildings in Amsterdam.
France alone has seen a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks, including the daubing of swastikas on nearly 100 graves in a Jewish cemetery in eastern France last Tuesday.
A week earlier, a memorial in Paris to Ilan Halimi, a French-born Moroccan Jewish man who was murdered in 2006, was desecrated.
In addition, swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were found at multiple locations in Paris, including the window of a bagel shop and mailboxes which featured the portrait of French politician and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil.
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
by David Rosenberg
The new Blue and White alliance of Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid faction would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll shows – but the right-wing – religious bloc would retain a narrow majority.
According to the poll, conducted by Maagar Mohot and published by i24NEWS and Israel Hayom Sunday evening, if new elections were held today, the Blue and White party of Gantz and Lapid would win 36 mandates.
The Likud, by contrast, would gain a single mandate over its 2015 performance, winning a total of 31 seats.
But the right-wing and haredi parties would retain the rightist majority in the Knesset, though by a razor-thin margin, with 62 seats to 58 for the left-wing – Arab bloc.
The New Right, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, would become the third largest party with nine seats, following by Labor with eight. Tied with Labor for fourth place is the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma Yehudit alliance with eight seats.
Both of the haredi factions, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would win seven seats each, as would the far-left Meretz party.
Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu, Gesher, Zehut and the Balad-United Arab List alliance would all fail to cross the threshold. Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu would win three seats-worth of votes, while Gesher, Balad, and Zehut would receive two seats-worth. Four seats are needed to cross the electoral threshold.
7. NETANYAHU SEEKS SHAKED'S HELP
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attorney approached Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nd asked her to work to release material that would prove that his relationship with Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch was not inappropriate, News 12 reported.
According to the report, in a letter sent by Netanyahu's attorney Navot Tel Tzur, to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Netanyahu demanded that Mashad ensure that the Justice Ministry release the answers he sent to the State Comptroller from the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. It is alleged that there was nothing illegal about the relationship between Netanyahu and Elovitz.
The document also alleged that Netanyahu, in his capacity as Communications Minister, did not make controversial decisions before a famous conflict of interests arrangement was formulated, and that all of his decisions were made after a proper procedure and coordination with the legal authorities.
According to Netanyahu, the Justice Ministry refuses to give these full answers to the comptroller, despite the fact that they are common knowledge, and therefore he wrote to Shaked, "We see the Ministry of Justice's answers to the State Comptroller as documents of great importance to the defense of the prime minister. In light of the fact that the Attorney General's decision is expected to be received in the near future, our appeal to you is a very urgent one."
8. CRUISING ISRAEL - MAHANE YEHUDA
by ILTV
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259568
Monday, February 25, 2019
A7News: Lapid: When we win, we'll form unity government with Likud
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, Feb. 24 '19, י"ט באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. LAPID: WHEN WE WIN, WE'LL FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT WITH LIKUD
2. ISRAELI FM TRIES TO DEFUSE CRISIS WITH POLAND - WITHOUT APOLOGY
3. 'WHERE ARE CONDEMNATIONS OF ARAB NATIONALIST PARTY?'
4. NETANYAHU WORKING TO UNDERMINE BENNETT, SHAKED
5. ISRAELI FILMMAKER WINS OSCAR
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
7. GUNMAN BREAKS INTO COCKPIT IN HIJACK ATTEMPT
8. 'I NEED YOU IN ORDER TO WIN'
1. LAPID: WHEN WE WIN, WE'LL FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT WITH LIKUD
by David Rosenberg
The newly-formed Blue and White party will reach out to the Likud to form a unity government if the new left-wing bloc wins the April 9th elections, Yair Lapid said, adding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would be unlikely to remain chief of the Likud if he lost the upcoming vote.
Speaking with Kan Monday morning, Lapid, the chairman of the Yesh Atid faction and member of the Blue and White union with the Israel Resilience Party, said the Blue and White party would not form a government which relied on the support of Arab factions, but would instead try to create a unity government including the Likud party.
Lapid predicted that if, as current polls suggest, Blue and White defeats the Likud, Prime Minister Netanyahu would step down as chairman of the Likud.
That, the former Finance Minister added, would pave the way for a grand coalition led by Blue and White and including the Likud.
"We won't form a government with the Arab parties," said Lapid, "we'll turn to the Likud. It will be the post-Netanyahu Likud."
"Overall, the Likud is an important national party with important people, and its Knesset slate isn't bad, and we would definitely love to have it [in our coalition]."
Lapid also rejected claims that Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid would rely on Arab factions to form a "blocking majority" of 61 MKs to prevent Netanyahu from forming an alternative government.
"There is no such thing as a blocking majority. That's something Bibi made up so he could say 'they're going to make a blocking majority with the Arabs.'"
The Blue and White alliance, which is currently leading the Likud with 33 to 36 seats in recent polls to the Likud's 26 to 32, was formed last Thursday via the merger of Yesh Atid and the Israel Resilience Party.
If the party succeeds in forming the next government, Gantz and Lapid will rotate as Prime Minister, similar to the arrangement used by the Likud-Labor unity governments of the 1980s.
2. ISRAELI FM TRIES TO DEFUSE CRISIS WITH POLAND - WITHOUT APOLOGY
by David Rosenberg
Israel's foreign minister attempted to defuse an ongoing diplomatic crisis with Poland, but refused Poland's demands for an apology over remarks the foreign minister made last week regarding anti-Semitism in Poland.
Speaking with Israel's Kan, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz emphasized the "close cooperation" between Israel and Poland, and Warsaw's efforts to stabilize the Middle East, referencing the recent Warsaw conference.
"The foreign policy of the Polish government entails close cooperation with Israel," Katz said, noting Poland's "significant contribution to the safety and stability" in the Middle East.
Katz refused to apologize for his comments last Sunday, when Katz defended Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after Netanyahu publicly flouted Poland's controversial Holocaust censorship law, which bans discussion of collaboration by Poles with the Nazis occupation during World War II.
"Poles collaborated with the Nazis," Netanyahu said in Warsaw. "See, I'm saying it. It is a fact. And I don't know a single person who was ever sued because of it."
Following criticism by the Polish government, and the downgrading of a Polish delegation to a summit in Jerusalem, Katz defended Netanyahu while quoting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
"The memory of the Holocaust is something we cannot compromise about, it is something clear and we won't forget or forgive. Poles collaborated with the Nazis, and as Yitzhak Shamir, whose father was murdered by Poles, said, 'they suckle anti-Semitism with their mother's milk'."
Katz's comments quickly drew condemnation from Poland, which labelled the comments "racist".
3. 'WHERE ARE CONDEMNATIONS OF ARAB NATIONALIST PARTY?'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) pushed back Monday morning against the wave of criticism aimed at the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, over his backing for an alliance bringing the Otzma Yehudit faction onto the Jewish Home-National Union ticket for this year's election.
"Over the past few days I've heard discussions on the union of three Religious Zionist parties, including Otzma Yehudit. I think that it is an important discussion, but I do not understand why it is focused on Michael Ben-Ari," referring to the former National Union MK and current Knesset candidate from Otzma.
"If we want to see a Knesset without any radical representatives, we need to start with Balad, whose [former] MK is sitting in prison for aiding terrorists – and then there's Hanin Zoabi, whom we don't even need to discuss," said Edelstein, referring to the Arab nationalist party, Balad.
In 2016, Balad MK Basel Ghattas was arrested after he was caught smuggling cell phones to jailed Hamas terrorists, and serving as a go-between for jailed terrorists and their contacts on the outside.
"I've always said that, before anything else, we need to deal with our own radicals, which is why I, when it was necessary, said how I felt about Otzma Yehudit – and my views were not particularly positive. But when someone uses that to make a political discussion out of it, that's something else. We need to decide whether the Knesset is open to everyone who has a voter base which sends him to the Knesset, or if we need to put boundaries. If and when we decide to put up boundaries, I'll be ready to continue the discussion about the radical right, but right now the situation is that Balad, which doesn't recognize the State of Israel, is part of the Knesset."
4. NETANYAHU WORKING TO UNDERMINE BENNETT, SHAKED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's support for a united ticket spanning the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit factions was intended to block a post-election alliance between the Jewish Home and the New Right, sources within the Likud said Monday morning.
According to a report by Yediot Ahronot, unnamed senior officials within the Likud have claimed that while the Prime Minister is primarily occupied with overcoming the lead in the polls enjoyed by the newly-formed Blue and White party of Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, Netanyahu's second concern in the election is the possibility that a powerful alliance of factions to his right could limit his options in the next government.
While former Jewish Home chief Naftali Bennett abruptly left the party to form the New Right, Bennett has called for an alliance with his former party following the April 9th elections to form a large bloc to the right of the Likud.
The New Right, Jewish Home-National Union alliance would then have broad bargaining powers during coalition talks with the Likud, and would be better positioned to block the inclusion of left-wing or center-left factions in the government.
The Likud officials cited by the Yediot report Monday morning claim that Netanyahu has been working actively to neutralize the New Right, and to prevent it from forming an alliance with the Jewish Home after the elections.
Some of the officials even claimed that the Prime Minister's support for a joint ticket of the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit was intended to form a smaller alternative alliance on the right, thus reducing the chances of a post-election union between the Jewish Home and the New Right.
5. ISRAELI FILMMAKER WINS OSCAR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv on Sunday night won the Oscar for best live action short film for his film "Skin".
The film is about a gang war in a small town that breaks out after a black man smiles at a white child at a supermarket.
Nattiv, who grew up in Israel and now lives in Los Angeles, wrote "Skin" with Sharon Maymon, who is also from Israel. He co-produced the film with his wife, actress Jaime Ray Newman, who received the award alongside him.
In his speech, Nattiv gave a shout out to Israel and said: "Good night Israel". He also said, "My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. The bigotry that they experienced in the Holocaust, we see that everywhere today, in America, in Europe. This film is about...teaching your kids a better way."
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
by David Rosenberg
The new Blue and White alliance of Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid faction would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll shows – but the right-wing – religious bloc would retain a narrow majority.
According to the poll, conducted by Maagar Mohot and published by i24NEWS and Israel Hayom Sunday evening, if new elections were held today, the Blue and White party of Gantz and Lapid would win 36 mandates.
The Likud, by contrast, would gain a single mandate over its 2015 performance, winning a total of 31 seats.
But the right-wing and haredi parties would retain the rightist majority in the Knesset, though by a razor-thin margin, with 62 seats to 58 for the left-wing – Arab bloc.
The New Right, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, would become the third largest party with nine seats, following by Labor with eight. Tied with Labor for fourth place is the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma Yehudit alliance with eight seats.
Both of the haredi factions, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would win seven seats each, as would the far-left Meretz party.
Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu, Gesher, Zehut and the Balad-United Arab List alliance would all fail to cross the threshold. Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu would win three seats-worth of votes, while Gesher, Balad, and Zehut would receive two seats-worth. Four seats are needed to cross the electoral threshold.
7. GUNMAN BREAKS INTO COCKPIT IN HIJACK ATTEMPT
by David Rosenberg
A passenger plane making its way to Dubai was forced down for an emergency landing Sunday, after a gunman tried to hijack the flight.
The incident occurred on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG147 from Dhaka to Dubai was carrying 142 passengers Sunday, when a passenger carrying a pistol stormed the plane's cockpit in an attempt to hijack the flight.
The Boeing 737 aircraft landed at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where local authorities managed to successfully evacuate the plane. Army commandos stormed the plane, and captured the gunman.
AFP reported, however, that the gunman had refused to surrender, and was shot before being taken into custody.
The gunman later succumbed to his wounds.
"We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters.
"He is a Bangladeshi. We found a pistol from him and nothing else."
Bangladeshi authorities later identified the gunman as a 25-year-old Bangladeshi man who may have been suffering from a mental illness.
"From the talks and dialogue we have with him, it seems he is psychologically deranged," Nayeem Hasan, chief of Bangladesh's aviation authority, said.
A Bangladeshi lawmaker, MP Mayeen Uddin Khan Badal, who was on board the flight, reported that the gunman had fired a shot during the incident.
8. 'I NEED YOU IN ORDER TO WIN'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday published a post on Facebook in which he responded to the recent polls and to the Attorney General's decision in the cases against him, which is expected to be published in the coming days.
"The left wants to defeat us in the elections in order to establish a Lapid-Gantz government with the support of a bloc of Arab parties," wrote Netanyahu.
"In order to do so, they are pressuring the Attorney General to file an indictment against me at all costs and before the elections. They are pressing for an indictment to be filed for bribery because of two and a half articles on the Internet," the Prime Minister continued.
"They even work to deprive me of the basic right to finance my legal defense, against an army of investigators and lawyers who operate against me 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a cost of half a billion shekels at the expense of taxpayers."
"So far, the left's pressure appears to be succeeding. But it all depends on you. I need you to win."
"I need you to prevent the establishment of Lapid-Gantz's left-wing government that will endanger the land of Israel and stop all our great achievements in all areas. I need you, because only a big Likud will prevent a leftist government," concluded Netanyahu.
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, Feb. 24 '19, י"ט באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. LAPID: WHEN WE WIN, WE'LL FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT WITH LIKUD
2. ISRAELI FM TRIES TO DEFUSE CRISIS WITH POLAND - WITHOUT APOLOGY
3. 'WHERE ARE CONDEMNATIONS OF ARAB NATIONALIST PARTY?'
4. NETANYAHU WORKING TO UNDERMINE BENNETT, SHAKED
5. ISRAELI FILMMAKER WINS OSCAR
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
7. GUNMAN BREAKS INTO COCKPIT IN HIJACK ATTEMPT
8. 'I NEED YOU IN ORDER TO WIN'
1. LAPID: WHEN WE WIN, WE'LL FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT WITH LIKUD
by David Rosenberg
The newly-formed Blue and White party will reach out to the Likud to form a unity government if the new left-wing bloc wins the April 9th elections, Yair Lapid said, adding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would be unlikely to remain chief of the Likud if he lost the upcoming vote.
Speaking with Kan Monday morning, Lapid, the chairman of the Yesh Atid faction and member of the Blue and White union with the Israel Resilience Party, said the Blue and White party would not form a government which relied on the support of Arab factions, but would instead try to create a unity government including the Likud party.
Lapid predicted that if, as current polls suggest, Blue and White defeats the Likud, Prime Minister Netanyahu would step down as chairman of the Likud.
That, the former Finance Minister added, would pave the way for a grand coalition led by Blue and White and including the Likud.
"We won't form a government with the Arab parties," said Lapid, "we'll turn to the Likud. It will be the post-Netanyahu Likud."
"Overall, the Likud is an important national party with important people, and its Knesset slate isn't bad, and we would definitely love to have it [in our coalition]."
Lapid also rejected claims that Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid would rely on Arab factions to form a "blocking majority" of 61 MKs to prevent Netanyahu from forming an alternative government.
"There is no such thing as a blocking majority. That's something Bibi made up so he could say 'they're going to make a blocking majority with the Arabs.'"
The Blue and White alliance, which is currently leading the Likud with 33 to 36 seats in recent polls to the Likud's 26 to 32, was formed last Thursday via the merger of Yesh Atid and the Israel Resilience Party.
If the party succeeds in forming the next government, Gantz and Lapid will rotate as Prime Minister, similar to the arrangement used by the Likud-Labor unity governments of the 1980s.
2. ISRAELI FM TRIES TO DEFUSE CRISIS WITH POLAND - WITHOUT APOLOGY
by David Rosenberg
Israel's foreign minister attempted to defuse an ongoing diplomatic crisis with Poland, but refused Poland's demands for an apology over remarks the foreign minister made last week regarding anti-Semitism in Poland.
Speaking with Israel's Kan, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz emphasized the "close cooperation" between Israel and Poland, and Warsaw's efforts to stabilize the Middle East, referencing the recent Warsaw conference.
"The foreign policy of the Polish government entails close cooperation with Israel," Katz said, noting Poland's "significant contribution to the safety and stability" in the Middle East.
Katz refused to apologize for his comments last Sunday, when Katz defended Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after Netanyahu publicly flouted Poland's controversial Holocaust censorship law, which bans discussion of collaboration by Poles with the Nazis occupation during World War II.
"Poles collaborated with the Nazis," Netanyahu said in Warsaw. "See, I'm saying it. It is a fact. And I don't know a single person who was ever sued because of it."
Following criticism by the Polish government, and the downgrading of a Polish delegation to a summit in Jerusalem, Katz defended Netanyahu while quoting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
"The memory of the Holocaust is something we cannot compromise about, it is something clear and we won't forget or forgive. Poles collaborated with the Nazis, and as Yitzhak Shamir, whose father was murdered by Poles, said, 'they suckle anti-Semitism with their mother's milk'."
Katz's comments quickly drew condemnation from Poland, which labelled the comments "racist".
3. 'WHERE ARE CONDEMNATIONS OF ARAB NATIONALIST PARTY?'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) pushed back Monday morning against the wave of criticism aimed at the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, over his backing for an alliance bringing the Otzma Yehudit faction onto the Jewish Home-National Union ticket for this year's election.
"Over the past few days I've heard discussions on the union of three Religious Zionist parties, including Otzma Yehudit. I think that it is an important discussion, but I do not understand why it is focused on Michael Ben-Ari," referring to the former National Union MK and current Knesset candidate from Otzma.
"If we want to see a Knesset without any radical representatives, we need to start with Balad, whose [former] MK is sitting in prison for aiding terrorists – and then there's Hanin Zoabi, whom we don't even need to discuss," said Edelstein, referring to the Arab nationalist party, Balad.
In 2016, Balad MK Basel Ghattas was arrested after he was caught smuggling cell phones to jailed Hamas terrorists, and serving as a go-between for jailed terrorists and their contacts on the outside.
"I've always said that, before anything else, we need to deal with our own radicals, which is why I, when it was necessary, said how I felt about Otzma Yehudit – and my views were not particularly positive. But when someone uses that to make a political discussion out of it, that's something else. We need to decide whether the Knesset is open to everyone who has a voter base which sends him to the Knesset, or if we need to put boundaries. If and when we decide to put up boundaries, I'll be ready to continue the discussion about the radical right, but right now the situation is that Balad, which doesn't recognize the State of Israel, is part of the Knesset."
4. NETANYAHU WORKING TO UNDERMINE BENNETT, SHAKED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's support for a united ticket spanning the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit factions was intended to block a post-election alliance between the Jewish Home and the New Right, sources within the Likud said Monday morning.
According to a report by Yediot Ahronot, unnamed senior officials within the Likud have claimed that while the Prime Minister is primarily occupied with overcoming the lead in the polls enjoyed by the newly-formed Blue and White party of Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, Netanyahu's second concern in the election is the possibility that a powerful alliance of factions to his right could limit his options in the next government.
While former Jewish Home chief Naftali Bennett abruptly left the party to form the New Right, Bennett has called for an alliance with his former party following the April 9th elections to form a large bloc to the right of the Likud.
The New Right, Jewish Home-National Union alliance would then have broad bargaining powers during coalition talks with the Likud, and would be better positioned to block the inclusion of left-wing or center-left factions in the government.
The Likud officials cited by the Yediot report Monday morning claim that Netanyahu has been working actively to neutralize the New Right, and to prevent it from forming an alliance with the Jewish Home after the elections.
Some of the officials even claimed that the Prime Minister's support for a joint ticket of the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit was intended to form a smaller alternative alliance on the right, thus reducing the chances of a post-election union between the Jewish Home and the New Right.
5. ISRAELI FILMMAKER WINS OSCAR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv on Sunday night won the Oscar for best live action short film for his film "Skin".
The film is about a gang war in a small town that breaks out after a black man smiles at a white child at a supermarket.
Nattiv, who grew up in Israel and now lives in Los Angeles, wrote "Skin" with Sharon Maymon, who is also from Israel. He co-produced the film with his wife, actress Jaime Ray Newman, who received the award alongside him.
In his speech, Nattiv gave a shout out to Israel and said: "Good night Israel". He also said, "My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. The bigotry that they experienced in the Holocaust, we see that everywhere today, in America, in Europe. This film is about...teaching your kids a better way."
6. POLL: RIGHT-WING - RELIGIOUS BLOC 62, LEFT-WING - ARAB BLOC 58
by David Rosenberg
The new Blue and White alliance of Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid faction would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll shows – but the right-wing – religious bloc would retain a narrow majority.
According to the poll, conducted by Maagar Mohot and published by i24NEWS and Israel Hayom Sunday evening, if new elections were held today, the Blue and White party of Gantz and Lapid would win 36 mandates.
The Likud, by contrast, would gain a single mandate over its 2015 performance, winning a total of 31 seats.
But the right-wing and haredi parties would retain the rightist majority in the Knesset, though by a razor-thin margin, with 62 seats to 58 for the left-wing – Arab bloc.
The New Right, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, would become the third largest party with nine seats, following by Labor with eight. Tied with Labor for fourth place is the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma Yehudit alliance with eight seats.
Both of the haredi factions, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would win seven seats each, as would the far-left Meretz party.
Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu, Gesher, Zehut and the Balad-United Arab List alliance would all fail to cross the threshold. Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu would win three seats-worth of votes, while Gesher, Balad, and Zehut would receive two seats-worth. Four seats are needed to cross the electoral threshold.
7. GUNMAN BREAKS INTO COCKPIT IN HIJACK ATTEMPT
by David Rosenberg
A passenger plane making its way to Dubai was forced down for an emergency landing Sunday, after a gunman tried to hijack the flight.
The incident occurred on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG147 from Dhaka to Dubai was carrying 142 passengers Sunday, when a passenger carrying a pistol stormed the plane's cockpit in an attempt to hijack the flight.
The Boeing 737 aircraft landed at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where local authorities managed to successfully evacuate the plane. Army commandos stormed the plane, and captured the gunman.
AFP reported, however, that the gunman had refused to surrender, and was shot before being taken into custody.
The gunman later succumbed to his wounds.
"We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters.
"He is a Bangladeshi. We found a pistol from him and nothing else."
Bangladeshi authorities later identified the gunman as a 25-year-old Bangladeshi man who may have been suffering from a mental illness.
"From the talks and dialogue we have with him, it seems he is psychologically deranged," Nayeem Hasan, chief of Bangladesh's aviation authority, said.
A Bangladeshi lawmaker, MP Mayeen Uddin Khan Badal, who was on board the flight, reported that the gunman had fired a shot during the incident.
8. 'I NEED YOU IN ORDER TO WIN'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday published a post on Facebook in which he responded to the recent polls and to the Attorney General's decision in the cases against him, which is expected to be published in the coming days.
"The left wants to defeat us in the elections in order to establish a Lapid-Gantz government with the support of a bloc of Arab parties," wrote Netanyahu.
"In order to do so, they are pressuring the Attorney General to file an indictment against me at all costs and before the elections. They are pressing for an indictment to be filed for bribery because of two and a half articles on the Internet," the Prime Minister continued.
"They even work to deprive me of the basic right to finance my legal defense, against an army of investigators and lawyers who operate against me 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a cost of half a billion shekels at the expense of taxpayers."
"So far, the left's pressure appears to be succeeding. But it all depends on you. I need you to win."
"I need you to prevent the establishment of Lapid-Gantz's left-wing government that will endanger the land of Israel and stop all our great achievements in all areas. I need you, because only a big Likud will prevent a leftist government," concluded Netanyahu.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
A7News: Bennett: Netanyahu, Trump plan to establish a Palestinian state
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, Feb. 24 '19, י"ט באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. BENNETT: NETANYAHU, TRUMP PLAN TO ESTABLISH A PALESTINIAN STATE
2. WATCH: TIMES SQUARE FLOODED FOR SHWEKEY CONCERT
3. WOMAN DIVORCES AFTER HUSBAND FORGOT TO BUY HAMBURGER
4. 'STAGGERING' EVICTION OF 1 MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
5. TREE GROVE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF SLAIN TEEN UPROOTED
6. GANTZ-LAPID LEADS LIKUD, BLOCS TIED
7. WATCH: ARABS FORCE THEIR WAY THROUGH GOLDEN GATE
8. 'I PRAY OUR SEPARATED PEOPLES CAN RECONCILE'
1. BENNETT: NETANYAHU, TRUMP PLAN TO ESTABLISH A PALESTINIAN STATE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Minister Naftali Bennett weighed in on the Trump peace plan as he entered Sunday's cabinet meeting. He claimed that a plan to establish a Palestinian state will be presented immediately after elections.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump are in agreement on launching the plan to establish a Palestinian state immediately after the elections," he said.
"They are coordinated not to present the plan before the elections so as not to make it difficult for Netanyahu, but a day or two after the elections the plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state on 90% of the area and the division of Jerusalem will be presented.
"Lapid and Gantz will enter the government as a national peace government. The only way to stop this is with a strong and real New Right," he said.
Likud blasted the assertion, calling it a "complete invention with no connection to reality. After the elections Netanyahu will establish a right-wing government headed by himself."
2. WATCH: TIMES SQUARE FLOODED FOR SHWEKEY CONCERT
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259500
3. WOMAN DIVORCES AFTER HUSBAND FORGOT TO BUY HAMBURGER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A UAE woman left her home and demanded a divorce after her husband forgot to buy her a hamburger on his way home.
According to the Khaleej Times, the woman, who is in her 20s, asked her husband, who was spending the night with friends, to pick up a burger she ordered from a fast food joint in Abu Dhabi and bring it home for her.
However, the husband forgot to pick up the hamburger and arrived home empty-handed at 3:00a.m. When the wife discovered the oversight, a fight broke out and the woman left her home.
Lawyer Hasan Al Mazrooqi noted that "being realistic will save people from going to the courts and filing for divorce to resolve marital disputes."
"The law stipulates that if there is no personal harm, couples are referred to a judge who will try to help them solve their problems. If the wife insists on the divorce, the post-marriage dowry will be voided."
4. 'STAGGERING' EVICTION OF 1 MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
by Mordechai Sones
India's Supreme Court has ordered its government to evict a million people from their homes for the good of the country's wildlife.
The Washington Post reported the ruling, issued Wednesday, concluded a decade-long case that pitted some of India's most vulnerable citizens' rights against the preservation of its forests.
The court told the government to evict over one million members of indigenous tribes from their homes in public forest land "because they had not met the legal criterion to live there", reported the Post.
With over 700 tribal groups, India is home to over 100 million indigenous people. While forest land is legally controlled by the government, people have lived in these areas for centuries. The number of affected people is estimated to go up to 1.89 million when more states comply with the order.
Human Rights Watch acting Managing Director Nicholas Dawes wrote the ruling had "staggering" implications for India's most marginalized.
India
iStock
5. TREE GROVE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF SLAIN TEEN UPROOTED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Friday, residents of the village of Nokdim planted a grove of trees in memory of Ori Ansbacher on the outskirts of the community, opposite Tekoa, where Ori lived.
During the planting, clashes broke out between Palestinian Arabs who invaded the area and the residents. The army kept the invaders away and the planting continued.
According to TPS, residents on Sunday discovered that Arabs had entered the plot that had been planted, uprooted about 50 trees from the planting pits and stole most of them.
Shlomo Ne'eman, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said, "Only a week ago we witnessed agricultural terror in Kfar Etzion and we are once again witness to terror on Jewish agriculture by our neighbors. This phenomenon must not continue to lead to a large wave of destruction in Israeli agriculture."
"The State of Israel must define agricultural terror as terrorism in every way and bring about a solution to these phenomena, which occur throughout the State of Israel, both in the north, in the south and in Judea and Samaria," he said. "A hard hand must be used and these incidents must be treated like terror in every way. It cannot come to the point of reaching human lives. This is the order of the day and we have to turn on the light for decision-makers."
6. GANTZ-LAPID LEADS LIKUD, BLOCS TIED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A poll published this morning in Yediot Aharonot found that the Blue and White Party leads by a six-point margin over the Likud, although both parties poll with one less seat than they did last week.
According to the poll, if elections were held today, Blue White would win 35 seats. The Likud wins 29 seats, Labor for 9 seats, United Torah Judaism 7 seats, Hadash-Ta'al - 7, the New Right - 6 seats, Shas 5 seats, the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma alliance 5 seats, Ram-Balad 5, Kulanu 4, Yisrael Beyteinu 4 seats and Meretz 4 seats.
Zehut and Gesher do not pass the electoral threshold.
The poll also found that the balance between the blocs remains unchanged: The right-wing bloc has 48 seats and the center-left bloc 48 seats, the haredim 12 seats and the Arabs 12 seats.
7. WATCH: ARABS FORCE THEIR WAY THROUGH GOLDEN GATE
by Ido Ben Porat
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259460
Hundreds of Arabs arriving for Friday prayers breached the Golden Gate and entered the site.
The Arabs shouted incitement against Jews and breached the area, which has been closed off for the past 16 years, since it was discovered that those running the site were connected to the Hamas terror organization.
Large police forces are at the scene and it has been decided not to remove the Muslims from the site.
On Thursday night, Israeli police arrested 60 Arabs who were planning to riot on the Temple Mount during Friday's prayers.
"Due to the calls to disturb order during the Friday prayers on the Temple Mount, the police have brought in reinforcements to prevent any intention of disturbing order during the prayers on and around the Temple Mount," a police statement read.
Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, called on Palestinian Authority Arabs to march to Al-Aqsa mosque and to arrive there from all parts of "Palestine."
In an announcement, Haniyeh said, "I call on the masses of our nation in Al-Quds (Jerusalem - ed.), the [West] Bank, and the territory occupied since 1948 (Israel - ed.) to arrive at Al-Aqsa mosque and to congregate there and stand steadfastly there, to protect it and to stand as a strong building in order to foil the steps of the occupation."
According to Haniyeh, Israel closed the Golden Gate and institutions connected to Al-Aqsa mosque in order to force facts on the ground in preparation for a division of the Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews and as part of a gradual takeover of the site.
He called on those organizing the Palestinian Arabs' "struggle" to "protect" Al-Aqsa mosque "in all ways and using every means." According to him, "the new plots will not succeed, and we will protect Al-Aqsa with our lives and our blood, no matter what the price in victims."
8. 'I PRAY OUR SEPARATED PEOPLES CAN RECONCILE'
by Yoni Kempinski
Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, believes that Israelis and Palestinian Arabs can accept each other's existence.
"25 years ago Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians & wounded 125 in a universally condemned attack in Tomb of the Patriarchs/Sanctuary of Abraham. I pray our separated peoples can reconcile as Isaac & Ishmael did before they jointly buried their father Abraham at that holy site," he tweeted.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259484
Greenblatt is currently working on the US peace plan that will be made public after the April 9 elections in Israel. Washington has refused to provide details about the plan but believes that the plan is capable of bringing an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva last week, the US envoy said, "I think you will see a plan that is fair, realistic, and implementable with enough detail where people can actually imagine how it might succeed. It will not just be just aspirational principles or slogans."
"We have developed it to a degree that people will clearly understand the many benefits and opportunities that can be achieved by this vision, as well as the suggested compromises. We hope that people keep an open mind and judge it on its merits. It will be up to the parties to decide if and how to move forward," he continued.
Greenblatt also made clear that "we are not making demands of either side. We hope to be able to facilitate a deal if it is possible. I think it is clear that thus far President Trump has been perhaps the greatest president for the State of Israel in the history of the State of Israel. The vision should be reviewed in that context."
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, Feb. 24 '19, י"ט באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. BENNETT: NETANYAHU, TRUMP PLAN TO ESTABLISH A PALESTINIAN STATE
2. WATCH: TIMES SQUARE FLOODED FOR SHWEKEY CONCERT
3. WOMAN DIVORCES AFTER HUSBAND FORGOT TO BUY HAMBURGER
4. 'STAGGERING' EVICTION OF 1 MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
5. TREE GROVE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF SLAIN TEEN UPROOTED
6. GANTZ-LAPID LEADS LIKUD, BLOCS TIED
7. WATCH: ARABS FORCE THEIR WAY THROUGH GOLDEN GATE
8. 'I PRAY OUR SEPARATED PEOPLES CAN RECONCILE'
1. BENNETT: NETANYAHU, TRUMP PLAN TO ESTABLISH A PALESTINIAN STATE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Minister Naftali Bennett weighed in on the Trump peace plan as he entered Sunday's cabinet meeting. He claimed that a plan to establish a Palestinian state will be presented immediately after elections.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump are in agreement on launching the plan to establish a Palestinian state immediately after the elections," he said.
"They are coordinated not to present the plan before the elections so as not to make it difficult for Netanyahu, but a day or two after the elections the plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state on 90% of the area and the division of Jerusalem will be presented.
"Lapid and Gantz will enter the government as a national peace government. The only way to stop this is with a strong and real New Right," he said.
Likud blasted the assertion, calling it a "complete invention with no connection to reality. After the elections Netanyahu will establish a right-wing government headed by himself."
2. WATCH: TIMES SQUARE FLOODED FOR SHWEKEY CONCERT
by Yoni Kempinski
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259500
3. WOMAN DIVORCES AFTER HUSBAND FORGOT TO BUY HAMBURGER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A UAE woman left her home and demanded a divorce after her husband forgot to buy her a hamburger on his way home.
According to the Khaleej Times, the woman, who is in her 20s, asked her husband, who was spending the night with friends, to pick up a burger she ordered from a fast food joint in Abu Dhabi and bring it home for her.
However, the husband forgot to pick up the hamburger and arrived home empty-handed at 3:00a.m. When the wife discovered the oversight, a fight broke out and the woman left her home.
Lawyer Hasan Al Mazrooqi noted that "being realistic will save people from going to the courts and filing for divorce to resolve marital disputes."
"The law stipulates that if there is no personal harm, couples are referred to a judge who will try to help them solve their problems. If the wife insists on the divorce, the post-marriage dowry will be voided."
4. 'STAGGERING' EVICTION OF 1 MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
by Mordechai Sones
India's Supreme Court has ordered its government to evict a million people from their homes for the good of the country's wildlife.
The Washington Post reported the ruling, issued Wednesday, concluded a decade-long case that pitted some of India's most vulnerable citizens' rights against the preservation of its forests.
The court told the government to evict over one million members of indigenous tribes from their homes in public forest land "because they had not met the legal criterion to live there", reported the Post.
With over 700 tribal groups, India is home to over 100 million indigenous people. While forest land is legally controlled by the government, people have lived in these areas for centuries. The number of affected people is estimated to go up to 1.89 million when more states comply with the order.
Human Rights Watch acting Managing Director Nicholas Dawes wrote the ruling had "staggering" implications for India's most marginalized.
India
iStock
5. TREE GROVE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF SLAIN TEEN UPROOTED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Friday, residents of the village of Nokdim planted a grove of trees in memory of Ori Ansbacher on the outskirts of the community, opposite Tekoa, where Ori lived.
During the planting, clashes broke out between Palestinian Arabs who invaded the area and the residents. The army kept the invaders away and the planting continued.
According to TPS, residents on Sunday discovered that Arabs had entered the plot that had been planted, uprooted about 50 trees from the planting pits and stole most of them.
Shlomo Ne'eman, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said, "Only a week ago we witnessed agricultural terror in Kfar Etzion and we are once again witness to terror on Jewish agriculture by our neighbors. This phenomenon must not continue to lead to a large wave of destruction in Israeli agriculture."
"The State of Israel must define agricultural terror as terrorism in every way and bring about a solution to these phenomena, which occur throughout the State of Israel, both in the north, in the south and in Judea and Samaria," he said. "A hard hand must be used and these incidents must be treated like terror in every way. It cannot come to the point of reaching human lives. This is the order of the day and we have to turn on the light for decision-makers."
6. GANTZ-LAPID LEADS LIKUD, BLOCS TIED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A poll published this morning in Yediot Aharonot found that the Blue and White Party leads by a six-point margin over the Likud, although both parties poll with one less seat than they did last week.
According to the poll, if elections were held today, Blue White would win 35 seats. The Likud wins 29 seats, Labor for 9 seats, United Torah Judaism 7 seats, Hadash-Ta'al - 7, the New Right - 6 seats, Shas 5 seats, the Jewish Home-National Union-Otzma alliance 5 seats, Ram-Balad 5, Kulanu 4, Yisrael Beyteinu 4 seats and Meretz 4 seats.
Zehut and Gesher do not pass the electoral threshold.
The poll also found that the balance between the blocs remains unchanged: The right-wing bloc has 48 seats and the center-left bloc 48 seats, the haredim 12 seats and the Arabs 12 seats.
7. WATCH: ARABS FORCE THEIR WAY THROUGH GOLDEN GATE
by Ido Ben Porat
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259460
Hundreds of Arabs arriving for Friday prayers breached the Golden Gate and entered the site.
The Arabs shouted incitement against Jews and breached the area, which has been closed off for the past 16 years, since it was discovered that those running the site were connected to the Hamas terror organization.
Large police forces are at the scene and it has been decided not to remove the Muslims from the site.
On Thursday night, Israeli police arrested 60 Arabs who were planning to riot on the Temple Mount during Friday's prayers.
"Due to the calls to disturb order during the Friday prayers on the Temple Mount, the police have brought in reinforcements to prevent any intention of disturbing order during the prayers on and around the Temple Mount," a police statement read.
Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, called on Palestinian Authority Arabs to march to Al-Aqsa mosque and to arrive there from all parts of "Palestine."
In an announcement, Haniyeh said, "I call on the masses of our nation in Al-Quds (Jerusalem - ed.), the [West] Bank, and the territory occupied since 1948 (Israel - ed.) to arrive at Al-Aqsa mosque and to congregate there and stand steadfastly there, to protect it and to stand as a strong building in order to foil the steps of the occupation."
According to Haniyeh, Israel closed the Golden Gate and institutions connected to Al-Aqsa mosque in order to force facts on the ground in preparation for a division of the Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews and as part of a gradual takeover of the site.
He called on those organizing the Palestinian Arabs' "struggle" to "protect" Al-Aqsa mosque "in all ways and using every means." According to him, "the new plots will not succeed, and we will protect Al-Aqsa with our lives and our blood, no matter what the price in victims."
8. 'I PRAY OUR SEPARATED PEOPLES CAN RECONCILE'
by Yoni Kempinski
Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, believes that Israelis and Palestinian Arabs can accept each other's existence.
"25 years ago Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians & wounded 125 in a universally condemned attack in Tomb of the Patriarchs/Sanctuary of Abraham. I pray our separated peoples can reconcile as Isaac & Ishmael did before they jointly buried their father Abraham at that holy site," he tweeted.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259484
Greenblatt is currently working on the US peace plan that will be made public after the April 9 elections in Israel. Washington has refused to provide details about the plan but believes that the plan is capable of bringing an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva last week, the US envoy said, "I think you will see a plan that is fair, realistic, and implementable with enough detail where people can actually imagine how it might succeed. It will not just be just aspirational principles or slogans."
"We have developed it to a degree that people will clearly understand the many benefits and opportunities that can be achieved by this vision, as well as the suggested compromises. We hope that people keep an open mind and judge it on its merits. It will be up to the parties to decide if and how to move forward," he continued.
Greenblatt also made clear that "we are not making demands of either side. We hope to be able to facilitate a deal if it is possible. I think it is clear that thus far President Trump has been perhaps the greatest president for the State of Israel in the history of the State of Israel. The vision should be reviewed in that context."
Friday, February 22, 2019
A7News: Gideon Sa'ar: Palestinian state endangers Jewish nation's future
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Friday, Feb. 22 '19, י"ז באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. GIDEON SA'AR: PALESTINIAN STATE ENDANGERS JEWISH NATION'S FUTURE
2. SCAMMERS STEAL $437K FROM HUNGARIAN SYNAGOGUE PROJECT.
3. STRONG EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ECUADOR
4. CHOSSON ALMOST GAVE UP HOPE
5. 'GANTZ-LAPID GOVERNMENT MEANS A PALESTINIAN STATE'
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
7. GANTZ-LAPID 36, NETANYAHU 30
8. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
1. GIDEON SA'AR: PALESTINIAN STATE ENDANGERS JEWISH NATION'S FUTURE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Former minister Gideon Sa'ar, who received a top spot in the recent Likud primaries, expressed concern over what might happen if the right-wing government falls in Israel's upcoming elections.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Sa'ar said, "Between [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and myself there is no fighting, because a fight needs two sides and there aren't two sides willing to fight. Chasing can be one-sided. When certain things were said about me just before the party primaries, I had to respond so that my silence would not be considered an agreement."
"At this moment we need to be focused on the April 9 elections. All personal and interpersonal issues need to be brushed aside. They're a lot less important than our common goal."
Sa'ar doesn't agree with Netanyahu on everything, but believes Netanyahu's policies have aided Israel.
"The Likud returned to power exactly ten years ago," he said. "And in general we can say two important things: First, Israel today is stronger, from a political and economical perspective, than it was when we first returned to power. Second, during this period, Israel removed itself from the dangerous path of withdrawals, which began in the days of Oslo and continued for more than a decade. These two main facts, and this is the main choice the Israeli nation must make today, even if it's not presented this way, is: Do we continue in a path which strengthens Israel, or do we go back to the path of compromises and withdrawals?"
Sa'ar also noted that Netanyahu stood up to the pressures placed on him by the Obama administration for eight years.
"I don't agree with everything Netanyahu did, but I give him credit for his ability to stand up to the Obama administration for eight years, and for his ability to remove Israel from the precedent that [former Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert placed on the table. Because the Obama administration's original desire was to continue talks with Israel and the Palestinians from where Olmert left off. And he (Netanyahu - ed.) deserves credit for that."
In Sa'ar's opinion, Israel needs to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state under US President Donald Trump's peace plan.
"This is my opinion, and I expressed it at a meeting I held with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman," he said. "There is no reason to stick to a draft whose main point is the creation of an Arab state in the heart of the land of Israel, i.e., an additional state. It doesn't matter if it's called a 'state minus'. I oppose a Palestinian state. In my eyes it's a dangerous idea for the future of the Jewish nation in their own land."
"The left says that the creation of an Arab state will solve the demographic problem, but the opposite is true. A state means they control their borders, and that means the entry of a Palestinian and Islamic population, which will want to be at the forefront of the fight against the Zionist entity. So in essence, the entire Zionist enterprise which we've reached will be in reverse, because a Palestinian state will cause an Arab majority in Israel. And anyone who wants to prevent such a majority must oppose it."
When asked what the alternative is, he responded, "Arab autonomy, the basis of which already exists in the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria. In my opinion, in the future we'll be able te reach regional agreements on the basis of existing states, and the autonomy will have a connection to Jordan. But in no way will there be an Arab state in Judea and Samaria, that would cause a problem beside which the problem of Gaza pales in comparison."
Sa'ar also emphasized that he supports applying Israeli law to the Israeli settlement areas in Judea and Samaria.
"In my eyes, this needs to be a top priority goal in the next government," he said. "We need to try to reach an agreement with the American government which will ensure an umbrella of protection in international bodies. I obviously oppose annexing the areas which are under the Palestinian Authority and which we have no control over. Our case is for Area C."
2. SCAMMERS STEAL $437K FROM HUNGARIAN SYNAGOGUE PROJECT.
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
Scammers stole from Hungary's largest Jewish group the equivalent of $437,000, which the government had given for the renovation of a synagogue in Budapest.
The fraud took place last month in several phone calls and emails to employees of the Mazsihisz Jewish federation by unidentified individuals, according to an internal Mazsihisz report from Jan. 24 that was obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The suspects convinced two employees to switch the bank account numbers of a contractor working for Mazsihisz on the renovation of the Rumbach Street Synagogue. Mazsihisz wired 122 million Hungarian forints to the wrong account.
The money was quickly withdrawn in cash and vanished, the report said. Police, which notified Mazsihisz of the theft, are investigating it.
The two employees, who work as office administrators at Mazsihisz, were fired, the report said.
"It is the basic premise of the present investigation that Mazsihisz became the victim of an externally induced fraud, the employees of the organization are not perpetrators or co-perpetrators," the internal probe said. But Mazsihisz employees did commit "errors," the document also stated.
But, it added, "the Police investigation may change what we know fundamentally."
In November, the Figyelo magazine, which is generally supportive of the policies of Hungary's rightwing government, published an article about allegedly faulty accountability at Mazsihisz, also regarding the Rumbach synagogue project. The article featured an illustrative photo of Mazsihisz President Andras Heisler amid money bills. He called it an anti-Semitic image.
A Mazsihisz spokesman told JTA that he could not immediately say how the incident would affect renovations.
3. STRONG EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ECUADOR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck Ecuador early Friday afternoon.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake's epicenter was registered as 140 miles southeast of Ambato, Ecuador.
The quake, which occurred at 10:17a.m. local time, affected both Peru and Colombia, in addition to Ecuador.
Emergency responders are working to help the victims.
No tsunami warnings have been issued.
4. CHOSSON ALMOST GAVE UP HOPE
by Sponsored Content
Chosson Almost Gave Up Hope
One of Israel's most prominent and beloved rabbis, Rav Yitchok Dovid Grossman shlit"a, is famous for his tremendous chesed. Many suffering men, women, and children have turned to Rav Grossman in times of need. This week, the Rav took Yitzchok Shlomo, a young man who has endured tragedy, under his wing.
Yitzchok Shlomo's life took a grim turn in 2014, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. His parents flew together to America for her treatments. In a shocking twist, Yitzchok's father was diagnosed with cancer as well shortly afterward. They both died before returning home to their 13 children. The children of the family were utterly abandoned, left to grieve in shock. Yitzchok's focus turned toward raising his younger siblings in his parents' absence. Recently, when the young man became engaged, he had to face the bitter truth: He has no parents to escort him to his chuppah.
Rav Grossman knew the young man's story and felt that it was worthy of sharing internationally. A Chesed Fund page features video footage of the Rav and the bochur together. Rav Grossman speaks extremely frankly in the video:
"I ask you to help this boy because this is mamash the biggest mitzvah. Also pikuach nefesh and also hachnasas kallah, on the highest level that it can be. I ask you again, [don't do] as much as you can, do more than you can, and Hashem will give you back everything [that] you need."
Phrases such as "the biggest mitzvah," "pikuach nefesh," and "don't do as much as you can, do more than you can" stand out as particularly noteworthy. A rav of Rav Grossman's stature presumably does not use such phrases lightly.
Donations have begun to trickle in to the couple's wedding fund, with the hopes of making them a basic wedding and allowing them to establish a modest home. Those who donate can rest assured that they have joined Rav Grossman in a truly worthy cause, and receive his bracha to receive "everything that [they] need."
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CAMPAIGN
5. 'GANTZ-LAPID GOVERNMENT MEANS A PALESTINIAN STATE'
by David Rosenberg
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259423
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu castigated the new alliance formed by former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid, claiming the new 'Blue and White' party was a left-wing movement masquerading as a centrist party.
Speaking at Kfar Maccabiah Thursday night, Netanyahu warned that the union between Gantz's Israel Resilience and Lapid's Yesh Atid – dubbed the Blue and White party – would, if it were able to form the next government, establish a Palestinian state which could threaten the State of Israel's very existence.
Netanyahu also said that the Blue and White party would rely on anti-Zionist Arab factions in the Knesset to create a 'blocking majority' to try to block the formation of a right-wing government.
"They will rely on a blocking majority of Arab parties which not only don't recognize the State of Israel, they are working to annihilate it. A right-wing, Zionist blocking majority is forbidden [the left says], but a blocking majority with Arab parties which work to destroy Israel is legitimate? That is absurd," Netanyahu said, referring to criticism of his recent pressure on the Jewish Home to form a joint list with the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party, in the hopes of preserving a right-wing majority in the Knesset.
"A government like this [led by Gantz and Lapid] will destroy Israel economically and establish a Palestinian state on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, next to Afula, next to Beer Sheva. A Palestinian state that will threaten our existence. That is what they're planning to do. All of the left, which is part of this disastrous conspiracy, is working to help them bring their 'solution'."
Gantz and Lapid "talk about unity but in reality they are planning to introduce left-wing policies and left-wing plans," Netanyahu continued.
"In 1992, we got Yitzhak Rabin and the Oslo disaster. In 1999, [we got] Ehud Barak and the intifada, with buses bombed and more than 1,000 dead."
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
by David Rosenberg
A new poll shows the right-wing, religious bloc losing its majority in the Knesset, even as the Israel Resilience party shows signs of decline.
According to the poll, conducted by Panels Politics and published by Walla! on Wednesday, the parties which made up Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition during most of the 34th government would win just 59 seats if new elections were held today, compared to 67 seats in 2015.
That eight-seat decline would deprive the right-wing, religious bloc of the majority needed to guarantee Netanyahu's reelection as Prime Minister, enabling him to block the formation of an alternative government.
The poll still shows Netanyahu's Likud the clear favorite to win the election, with 31 seats to 19 for former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party. That's down from 22 seats Gantz's party was projected to win by another Panels Politics poll earlier this month.
Yesh Atid would gain two mandates if new elections were held today, the poll finds, rising from 11 to 13 mandates.
Orly Levy's Gesher faction would win four seats, the same number as the Kulanu party and the haredi Shas faction.
Labor would plummet to just nine seats, down from the 24 it won in a joint list with Hatnuah in 2015. Hatnuah will not be running in the election.
The far-left Meretz faction would win five seats, the same number it currently has, while the two Arab factions, Ta'al and the Joint List, would fall from a combined 13 seats to 11.
The United Torah Judaism faction, which won six seats in 2015, would rise to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu would fail to clear the threshold.
Naftali Bennett's New Right would win eight seats, while the Jewish Home-National Union ticket would win eight seats.
The poll was conducted prior to today's announcement that Otzma Yehudit has accepted the Jewish Home's offer for a joint ticket.
According to the poll, Otzma would receive 2.8% of the vote, but fail to cross the threshold on its own.
7. GANTZ-LAPID 36, NETANYAHU 30
by David Rosenberg
A new poll conducted Thursday following the announcement of a joint run between the Israel Resilience party and Yesh Atid show the new left-wing alliance, dubbed the Blue and White party, becoming the largest faction in the Knesset – and defeating the Likud.
The poll was conducted Thursday, following the announcement Thursday morning that former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience faction and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid would be running jointly.
The poll, conducted by Midgam on behalf of Channel 12, shows the left-wing, Arab bloc reaching parity with the right-wing – religious bloc at 60 seats each.
The new Blue White party would win the most seats if new elections were held today, the poll found, with 36 mandates, compared to 30 for the Likud.
Labor would win just eight seats, while the far-left Meretz would fall to four mandates.
The Arab parties would win a total of 12 seats – six for the Joint List, and six for Ta'al.
Kulanu and Yisrael Beytenu would narrowly cross the electoral threshold, entering the Knesset with four each, while United Torah Judaism would win seven seats, compared to five for Shas.
The New Right is projected to win six seats, while the alliance of the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit parties disappoints with just four seats – leaving Otzma's representatives out of the Knesset.
Orly Levy's Gesher and Moshe Feiglin's Zehut fail to cross the threshold.
8. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
by Mordechai Sones
While many prominent Jewish leaders have expressed praise and encouragement for the union between Jewish Home-National Union and the Otzma Yehudit "Jewish Power" parties, many in the religious-Zionist camp are openly lamenting the alignment, some going so far as to quit the party rather than be tainted by association with "extremists".
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right, tweeting about "the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight." Meanwhile Jewish Home party Director Nir Orbach said in closed conversation he is ideologically opposed to any association with Otzma Yehudit, calling it "the erasure of Jewish Home's basic identity."
Religious Zionist fastidiousness
iStock
Why is the Otzma Yehudit party considered such anathema in some circles? National Union Chairman Betzalel Smotrich called the union an "unnatural" one, actually apologizing to followers and assuring them of a speedy separation immediately after the elections. Sounds pretty Otzmaphobic if you ask me.
The ideology some religious Zionists and other Otzmaphobes find so objectionable can be encapsulated in a video Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, ideological father of Otzma Yehudit, recorded from his Knesset office:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
"How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset in another ten years? After all, we're a democracy. All of us, Jews and Arabs, have the same rights. How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset?
"Today I have the privilege of sitting together with Tawfiq Toubi and Tawfiq Ziad; how many Tawfiqs will there be in another ten years?
"And in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee: How many Arabs will sit and hear a classified report from the Chief of Staff? Maybe the Chief of Staff will be an Arab; why not? Democracy!
"There is an absolute contradiction between Western democracy and Zionism. I'm for democracy for every Jew - but not for Arabs. The only solution is population exchange. We already moved 800,000 Jews from the Arab countries to Zion; now we've arrived at Phase II - Arabs to Arabia.
"I declare it is ethical, and imperative, and Zionist, and halakhic, and logical. I do not hate the Arabs. I love the Jewish People. They have 22 lands, we have one, and it is ours, only ours. Arabs to Arabia, Jews to Zion, and peace to the Middle East."
Kahane's point, "I'm for democracy for every Jew - but not for Arabs" is not an acrobatic feat of sophistry concocted by Meir Kahane; it is ingrained within the very tenets of Western democratic thought and happens to be embraced heartily by right-wing "democracy" advocates whenever it suits them. Pretending that democracy is anything more than a human contrivance even violates the Socratic manner that, as Plato taught in several of his dialogues, does not admit all members. They have to have a preconditioned appetite to further a discussion. This is why calling a "Palestinian" a "peace-partner" is an absolute travesty of the entire exchange.
When does it suit our right-wing democracy advocates to suspend democracy? Take for example October 18, 1988, when Israel's Supreme Court upheld a Knesset Central Elections Committee ban on the Kach Movement running in the Knesset elections. Kach at the time was already sitting in the Knesset and polls were predicting anywhere from 6-12 seats, severely cutting into the other "right-wing" parties' voter bases and threatening to become the third largest party in the Knesset.
At the time, newspaper Hadashot commented: "Kahane lies deep in every part of the country. He is the only one of all the smaller parties who retains a stable and strong nucleus in every segment of the population. In 12 different ballots, over two-and-a-half months of polling, Kahane does not drop below five percent of the voters, no matter where you put the ballot box."
Without that background in may be difficult to understand the August 23, 1988 Hadashot headline: Peres and Shamir will work together to ban Kahane's list.
So apparently, it's our right-wing leadership's prerogative to inform We the People, whose choice of representatives they would bar if given the chance, that we must accept being limited to the choices they find acceptable.
So please spare us your hypocritical Puritan religious-Zionist moralizing about ideological hygiene, and rationally answer any one of Rabbi Kahane's points. Or could it be it's not the ideology part that's irritating you, after all?
Popular Israeli singer-songwriter and composer Ariel Zilber sings 'Kahane was Right': 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
Documentary on Phase I of Kahane's population exchange (three parts): 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Friday, Feb. 22 '19, י"ז באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. GIDEON SA'AR: PALESTINIAN STATE ENDANGERS JEWISH NATION'S FUTURE
2. SCAMMERS STEAL $437K FROM HUNGARIAN SYNAGOGUE PROJECT.
3. STRONG EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ECUADOR
4. CHOSSON ALMOST GAVE UP HOPE
5. 'GANTZ-LAPID GOVERNMENT MEANS A PALESTINIAN STATE'
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
7. GANTZ-LAPID 36, NETANYAHU 30
8. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
1. GIDEON SA'AR: PALESTINIAN STATE ENDANGERS JEWISH NATION'S FUTURE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Former minister Gideon Sa'ar, who received a top spot in the recent Likud primaries, expressed concern over what might happen if the right-wing government falls in Israel's upcoming elections.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Sa'ar said, "Between [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and myself there is no fighting, because a fight needs two sides and there aren't two sides willing to fight. Chasing can be one-sided. When certain things were said about me just before the party primaries, I had to respond so that my silence would not be considered an agreement."
"At this moment we need to be focused on the April 9 elections. All personal and interpersonal issues need to be brushed aside. They're a lot less important than our common goal."
Sa'ar doesn't agree with Netanyahu on everything, but believes Netanyahu's policies have aided Israel.
"The Likud returned to power exactly ten years ago," he said. "And in general we can say two important things: First, Israel today is stronger, from a political and economical perspective, than it was when we first returned to power. Second, during this period, Israel removed itself from the dangerous path of withdrawals, which began in the days of Oslo and continued for more than a decade. These two main facts, and this is the main choice the Israeli nation must make today, even if it's not presented this way, is: Do we continue in a path which strengthens Israel, or do we go back to the path of compromises and withdrawals?"
Sa'ar also noted that Netanyahu stood up to the pressures placed on him by the Obama administration for eight years.
"I don't agree with everything Netanyahu did, but I give him credit for his ability to stand up to the Obama administration for eight years, and for his ability to remove Israel from the precedent that [former Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert placed on the table. Because the Obama administration's original desire was to continue talks with Israel and the Palestinians from where Olmert left off. And he (Netanyahu - ed.) deserves credit for that."
In Sa'ar's opinion, Israel needs to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state under US President Donald Trump's peace plan.
"This is my opinion, and I expressed it at a meeting I held with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman," he said. "There is no reason to stick to a draft whose main point is the creation of an Arab state in the heart of the land of Israel, i.e., an additional state. It doesn't matter if it's called a 'state minus'. I oppose a Palestinian state. In my eyes it's a dangerous idea for the future of the Jewish nation in their own land."
"The left says that the creation of an Arab state will solve the demographic problem, but the opposite is true. A state means they control their borders, and that means the entry of a Palestinian and Islamic population, which will want to be at the forefront of the fight against the Zionist entity. So in essence, the entire Zionist enterprise which we've reached will be in reverse, because a Palestinian state will cause an Arab majority in Israel. And anyone who wants to prevent such a majority must oppose it."
When asked what the alternative is, he responded, "Arab autonomy, the basis of which already exists in the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria. In my opinion, in the future we'll be able te reach regional agreements on the basis of existing states, and the autonomy will have a connection to Jordan. But in no way will there be an Arab state in Judea and Samaria, that would cause a problem beside which the problem of Gaza pales in comparison."
Sa'ar also emphasized that he supports applying Israeli law to the Israeli settlement areas in Judea and Samaria.
"In my eyes, this needs to be a top priority goal in the next government," he said. "We need to try to reach an agreement with the American government which will ensure an umbrella of protection in international bodies. I obviously oppose annexing the areas which are under the Palestinian Authority and which we have no control over. Our case is for Area C."
2. SCAMMERS STEAL $437K FROM HUNGARIAN SYNAGOGUE PROJECT.
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
Scammers stole from Hungary's largest Jewish group the equivalent of $437,000, which the government had given for the renovation of a synagogue in Budapest.
The fraud took place last month in several phone calls and emails to employees of the Mazsihisz Jewish federation by unidentified individuals, according to an internal Mazsihisz report from Jan. 24 that was obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The suspects convinced two employees to switch the bank account numbers of a contractor working for Mazsihisz on the renovation of the Rumbach Street Synagogue. Mazsihisz wired 122 million Hungarian forints to the wrong account.
The money was quickly withdrawn in cash and vanished, the report said. Police, which notified Mazsihisz of the theft, are investigating it.
The two employees, who work as office administrators at Mazsihisz, were fired, the report said.
"It is the basic premise of the present investigation that Mazsihisz became the victim of an externally induced fraud, the employees of the organization are not perpetrators or co-perpetrators," the internal probe said. But Mazsihisz employees did commit "errors," the document also stated.
But, it added, "the Police investigation may change what we know fundamentally."
In November, the Figyelo magazine, which is generally supportive of the policies of Hungary's rightwing government, published an article about allegedly faulty accountability at Mazsihisz, also regarding the Rumbach synagogue project. The article featured an illustrative photo of Mazsihisz President Andras Heisler amid money bills. He called it an anti-Semitic image.
A Mazsihisz spokesman told JTA that he could not immediately say how the incident would affect renovations.
3. STRONG EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ECUADOR
by Arutz Sheva Staff
An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck Ecuador early Friday afternoon.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake's epicenter was registered as 140 miles southeast of Ambato, Ecuador.
The quake, which occurred at 10:17a.m. local time, affected both Peru and Colombia, in addition to Ecuador.
Emergency responders are working to help the victims.
No tsunami warnings have been issued.
4. CHOSSON ALMOST GAVE UP HOPE
by Sponsored Content
Chosson Almost Gave Up Hope
One of Israel's most prominent and beloved rabbis, Rav Yitchok Dovid Grossman shlit"a, is famous for his tremendous chesed. Many suffering men, women, and children have turned to Rav Grossman in times of need. This week, the Rav took Yitzchok Shlomo, a young man who has endured tragedy, under his wing.
Yitzchok Shlomo's life took a grim turn in 2014, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. His parents flew together to America for her treatments. In a shocking twist, Yitzchok's father was diagnosed with cancer as well shortly afterward. They both died before returning home to their 13 children. The children of the family were utterly abandoned, left to grieve in shock. Yitzchok's focus turned toward raising his younger siblings in his parents' absence. Recently, when the young man became engaged, he had to face the bitter truth: He has no parents to escort him to his chuppah.
Rav Grossman knew the young man's story and felt that it was worthy of sharing internationally. A Chesed Fund page features video footage of the Rav and the bochur together. Rav Grossman speaks extremely frankly in the video:
"I ask you to help this boy because this is mamash the biggest mitzvah. Also pikuach nefesh and also hachnasas kallah, on the highest level that it can be. I ask you again, [don't do] as much as you can, do more than you can, and Hashem will give you back everything [that] you need."
Phrases such as "the biggest mitzvah," "pikuach nefesh," and "don't do as much as you can, do more than you can" stand out as particularly noteworthy. A rav of Rav Grossman's stature presumably does not use such phrases lightly.
Donations have begun to trickle in to the couple's wedding fund, with the hopes of making them a basic wedding and allowing them to establish a modest home. Those who donate can rest assured that they have joined Rav Grossman in a truly worthy cause, and receive his bracha to receive "everything that [they] need."
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CAMPAIGN
5. 'GANTZ-LAPID GOVERNMENT MEANS A PALESTINIAN STATE'
by David Rosenberg
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259423
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu castigated the new alliance formed by former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid, claiming the new 'Blue and White' party was a left-wing movement masquerading as a centrist party.
Speaking at Kfar Maccabiah Thursday night, Netanyahu warned that the union between Gantz's Israel Resilience and Lapid's Yesh Atid – dubbed the Blue and White party – would, if it were able to form the next government, establish a Palestinian state which could threaten the State of Israel's very existence.
Netanyahu also said that the Blue and White party would rely on anti-Zionist Arab factions in the Knesset to create a 'blocking majority' to try to block the formation of a right-wing government.
"They will rely on a blocking majority of Arab parties which not only don't recognize the State of Israel, they are working to annihilate it. A right-wing, Zionist blocking majority is forbidden [the left says], but a blocking majority with Arab parties which work to destroy Israel is legitimate? That is absurd," Netanyahu said, referring to criticism of his recent pressure on the Jewish Home to form a joint list with the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party, in the hopes of preserving a right-wing majority in the Knesset.
"A government like this [led by Gantz and Lapid] will destroy Israel economically and establish a Palestinian state on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, next to Afula, next to Beer Sheva. A Palestinian state that will threaten our existence. That is what they're planning to do. All of the left, which is part of this disastrous conspiracy, is working to help them bring their 'solution'."
Gantz and Lapid "talk about unity but in reality they are planning to introduce left-wing policies and left-wing plans," Netanyahu continued.
"In 1992, we got Yitzhak Rabin and the Oslo disaster. In 1999, [we got] Ehud Barak and the intifada, with buses bombed and more than 1,000 dead."
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
by David Rosenberg
A new poll shows the right-wing, religious bloc losing its majority in the Knesset, even as the Israel Resilience party shows signs of decline.
According to the poll, conducted by Panels Politics and published by Walla! on Wednesday, the parties which made up Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition during most of the 34th government would win just 59 seats if new elections were held today, compared to 67 seats in 2015.
That eight-seat decline would deprive the right-wing, religious bloc of the majority needed to guarantee Netanyahu's reelection as Prime Minister, enabling him to block the formation of an alternative government.
The poll still shows Netanyahu's Likud the clear favorite to win the election, with 31 seats to 19 for former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party. That's down from 22 seats Gantz's party was projected to win by another Panels Politics poll earlier this month.
Yesh Atid would gain two mandates if new elections were held today, the poll finds, rising from 11 to 13 mandates.
Orly Levy's Gesher faction would win four seats, the same number as the Kulanu party and the haredi Shas faction.
Labor would plummet to just nine seats, down from the 24 it won in a joint list with Hatnuah in 2015. Hatnuah will not be running in the election.
The far-left Meretz faction would win five seats, the same number it currently has, while the two Arab factions, Ta'al and the Joint List, would fall from a combined 13 seats to 11.
The United Torah Judaism faction, which won six seats in 2015, would rise to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu would fail to clear the threshold.
Naftali Bennett's New Right would win eight seats, while the Jewish Home-National Union ticket would win eight seats.
The poll was conducted prior to today's announcement that Otzma Yehudit has accepted the Jewish Home's offer for a joint ticket.
According to the poll, Otzma would receive 2.8% of the vote, but fail to cross the threshold on its own.
7. GANTZ-LAPID 36, NETANYAHU 30
by David Rosenberg
A new poll conducted Thursday following the announcement of a joint run between the Israel Resilience party and Yesh Atid show the new left-wing alliance, dubbed the Blue and White party, becoming the largest faction in the Knesset – and defeating the Likud.
The poll was conducted Thursday, following the announcement Thursday morning that former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience faction and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid would be running jointly.
The poll, conducted by Midgam on behalf of Channel 12, shows the left-wing, Arab bloc reaching parity with the right-wing – religious bloc at 60 seats each.
The new Blue White party would win the most seats if new elections were held today, the poll found, with 36 mandates, compared to 30 for the Likud.
Labor would win just eight seats, while the far-left Meretz would fall to four mandates.
The Arab parties would win a total of 12 seats – six for the Joint List, and six for Ta'al.
Kulanu and Yisrael Beytenu would narrowly cross the electoral threshold, entering the Knesset with four each, while United Torah Judaism would win seven seats, compared to five for Shas.
The New Right is projected to win six seats, while the alliance of the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit parties disappoints with just four seats – leaving Otzma's representatives out of the Knesset.
Orly Levy's Gesher and Moshe Feiglin's Zehut fail to cross the threshold.
8. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
by Mordechai Sones
While many prominent Jewish leaders have expressed praise and encouragement for the union between Jewish Home-National Union and the Otzma Yehudit "Jewish Power" parties, many in the religious-Zionist camp are openly lamenting the alignment, some going so far as to quit the party rather than be tainted by association with "extremists".
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right, tweeting about "the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight." Meanwhile Jewish Home party Director Nir Orbach said in closed conversation he is ideologically opposed to any association with Otzma Yehudit, calling it "the erasure of Jewish Home's basic identity."
Religious Zionist fastidiousness
iStock
Why is the Otzma Yehudit party considered such anathema in some circles? National Union Chairman Betzalel Smotrich called the union an "unnatural" one, actually apologizing to followers and assuring them of a speedy separation immediately after the elections. Sounds pretty Otzmaphobic if you ask me.
The ideology some religious Zionists and other Otzmaphobes find so objectionable can be encapsulated in a video Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, ideological father of Otzma Yehudit, recorded from his Knesset office:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
"How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset in another ten years? After all, we're a democracy. All of us, Jews and Arabs, have the same rights. How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset?
"Today I have the privilege of sitting together with Tawfiq Toubi and Tawfiq Ziad; how many Tawfiqs will there be in another ten years?
"And in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee: How many Arabs will sit and hear a classified report from the Chief of Staff? Maybe the Chief of Staff will be an Arab; why not? Democracy!
"There is an absolute contradiction between Western democracy and Zionism. I'm for democracy for every Jew - but not for Arabs. The only solution is population exchange. We already moved 800,000 Jews from the Arab countries to Zion; now we've arrived at Phase II - Arabs to Arabia.
"I declare it is ethical, and imperative, and Zionist, and halakhic, and logical. I do not hate the Arabs. I love the Jewish People. They have 22 lands, we have one, and it is ours, only ours. Arabs to Arabia, Jews to Zion, and peace to the Middle East."
Kahane's point, "I'm for democracy for every Jew - but not for Arabs" is not an acrobatic feat of sophistry concocted by Meir Kahane; it is ingrained within the very tenets of Western democratic thought and happens to be embraced heartily by right-wing "democracy" advocates whenever it suits them. Pretending that democracy is anything more than a human contrivance even violates the Socratic manner that, as Plato taught in several of his dialogues, does not admit all members. They have to have a preconditioned appetite to further a discussion. This is why calling a "Palestinian" a "peace-partner" is an absolute travesty of the entire exchange.
When does it suit our right-wing democracy advocates to suspend democracy? Take for example October 18, 1988, when Israel's Supreme Court upheld a Knesset Central Elections Committee ban on the Kach Movement running in the Knesset elections. Kach at the time was already sitting in the Knesset and polls were predicting anywhere from 6-12 seats, severely cutting into the other "right-wing" parties' voter bases and threatening to become the third largest party in the Knesset.
At the time, newspaper Hadashot commented: "Kahane lies deep in every part of the country. He is the only one of all the smaller parties who retains a stable and strong nucleus in every segment of the population. In 12 different ballots, over two-and-a-half months of polling, Kahane does not drop below five percent of the voters, no matter where you put the ballot box."
Without that background in may be difficult to understand the August 23, 1988 Hadashot headline: Peres and Shamir will work together to ban Kahane's list.
So apparently, it's our right-wing leadership's prerogative to inform We the People, whose choice of representatives they would bar if given the chance, that we must accept being limited to the choices they find acceptable.
So please spare us your hypocritical Puritan religious-Zionist moralizing about ideological hygiene, and rationally answer any one of Rabbi Kahane's points. Or could it be it's not the ideology part that's irritating you, after all?
Popular Israeli singer-songwriter and composer Ariel Zilber sings 'Kahane was Right': 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
Documentary on Phase I of Kahane's population exchange (three parts): 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
Thursday, February 21, 2019
A7News: Lapid-Gantz-Ya'alon list: 'Blue and White'
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Thursday, Feb. 21 '19, ט"ז באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. LAPID-GANTZ-YA'ALON LIST: 'BLUE AND WHITE'
2. WILL ELI YISHAI'S YAHAD GO IT ALONE?
3. FOUNDER OF JEWISH HOME WOMEN'S FORUM RESIGNS
4. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
5. GANTZ AND LAPID TO RUN TOGETHER
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
7. JEWISH HOME RECEIVES 2 MINISTRIES, REP ON LIKUD LIST
8. JEWISH HOME'S NUMBER 3 RESIGNS
1. LAPID-GANTZ-YA'ALON LIST: 'BLUE AND WHITE'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
New details have been published about the alliance signed Thursday morning between Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon and Gabi Ashkenazi.
The new list will not be composed of the names of the lists that comprise it, as many have predicted, and will be called "Blue and White" ("Kahol Lavan").
The first 30 places will be divided according to the following system: 13 seats for the Yesh Atid party headed by Yair Lapid, 12 seats for Israel Resilience headed by Benny Gantz, and 4 seats for the Telem party headed by Moshe Ya'alon, while former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi will also be placed on the list.
According to the agreement, Gantz and Lapid will jointly run the premiership and, if they win and form the coalition, Gantz will be appointed to the post after the elections and Lapid will replace him two and a half years later. It was also agreed that Lapid would be foreign minister until then, and Ya'alon would be defense minister.
Tonight, at 8:00 pm, the heads of the alliance will hold a press conference during which they will launch the new list to be submitted today to the Central Elections Committee.
The joint ticket's candidate list for the Knesset runs as follows:
1. Benny Gantz
2. Yair Lapid
3. Moshe Bogie Ya'alon
4. Gabi Ashkenazi
5. Avi Nissenkorn
6. Meir Cohen
7. Miki Haimovich
8. Ofer Shelah
9. Yoaz Hendel
10. Orna Barbivai
11. Michael Biton
12. Chili Tropper
13. Yael German
14. Zvi Hauser
15. Orit Farkash-Hacohen
16. Karin Elharar
17. Meirav Cohen
18. Yoel Razvozov
19. Asaf Zamir
20. Izhar Shay
21. Elazar Stern
22. Mickey Levy
23. Omer Yankelevich
24. Pnina Tamano-Shata
25. Gadeer Mreeh
26. Ram Ben Barak
27. Alon Shuster
28. Yoav Segalovich
29. Ram Shefa
30. Boaz Toporovsky
31. Orly Fruman
32. Eitan Ginzburg
33. Gadi Yevarkan
34. Idan Roll
35. Yorai Lahav Hertzano
36. Moshe "Mutz" Matalon
37. Einav Kabla
38. Aliza Lavie
39. Itzhak Ilan
40. Tehila Friedman
41. Hila Shay Vazan
42. Moshe Kinley Tur Paz
43. Ruth Wasserman Lande
44. Zehorit Sorek
45. Alon Tal
46. Michal Cotler Wunsh
47. Anat Knafo
48. Yair Farjun
49. Deborah Biton
50. Idit Wexler
51. Vladimir Beliak
52. Keren Gonen
2. WILL ELI YISHAI'S YAHAD GO IT ALONE?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Yahad, the political party founded by former Shas chief and ex-interior minister Eli Yishai following his departure from Shas, may be forced to run alone in this year's Knesset election, with Thursday night's deadline for submitting candidate lists approaching and no deals finalized with larger factions.
Yishai, who led the Shas party from 1999 to 2013, bolted from the faction in 2014, ahead he lost control of the party to former chief Aryeh Deri.
In 2015, Yishai founded the Yahad party, bringing on Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun. The faction ran on a joint list with the smaller right-wing party Otzma Yehudit, led by Hevron activist Baruch Marzel. Despite polls suggesting the alliance could win four to five seats, the joint ticket narrowly failed to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold, winning just 2.97% of the vote and failing to enter the Knesset.
In recent weeks, Yishai had sought to run in a technical bloc with the Jewish Home and National Union.
Despite indications Wednesday that Yishai would receive the sixth place on a joint right-wing ticket spanning the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma, by Thursday afternoon, no deals had been reached with the Jewish Home.
Candidate lists for the Knesset must be submitted by Thursday night, leaving Yahad with just hours to reach an 11th hour agreement with another party.
Yahad has engaged in talks with the Shas party for a technical bloc – allowing the two factions to split immediately after the election – though the talks between Yahad's spiritual leader, Rabbi Meir Mazuz and Shas' Rabbi David Yosef have reportedly reached an impasse, with Shas calling for the inclusion of a Yahad candidate other than Yishai on the joint list.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has expressed concerns that the multiplicity of small right-wing parties failing to cross the threshold could hand a victory to the left-wing bloc, offered Yishai a ministry in the 35th government in exchange for Yishai not running an independent campaign.
Recent polls show Yishai's list coming in far below the 3.25% minimum threshold if it does run independently, with some polls showing Yahad failing to receive even 1% of the vote.
3. FOUNDER OF JEWISH HOME WOMEN'S FORUM RESIGNS
by Mordechai Sones
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right.
"Take a minute before the painful analyses and accusations about bringing Otzma Yehudit into the Jewish Home party and try a moment to concentrate on the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight," Yeshurun said in her Twitter account the night after approval of the agreement with Otzma.
"Maybe it didn't happen to you, but there are many who always knew who to vote for and today they stand confused. A hug instead of a slap might help," she added.
After her announcing joining the New Right, Bennett tweeted, "Welcome, Ya'ara, to the New Right!"
A series of party activists resigned last night following approval of the agreement with Otzma Yehudit for running in a joint technical block in the elections to the 21st Knesset.
4. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
by Mordechai Sones
While many prominent Jewish leaders have expressed praise and encouragement for the union between Jewish Home-National Union and the Otzma Yehudit "Jewish Power" parties, many in the religious-Zionist camp are openly lamenting the alignment, some going so far as to quit the party rather than be tainted by association with "extremists".
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right, tweeting about "the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight."
Why is the Otzma Yehudit party considered such anathema in some circles? National Union Chairman Betzalel Smotrich called the union an "unnatural" one, actually apologizing to followers and assuring them of a speedy separation immediately after the elections. Sounds pretty Otzmaphobic if you ask me.
The ideology some religious Zionists find so objectionable can be encapsulated in a video Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, ideological father of Otzma Yehudit, recorded from his Knesset office:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
"How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset in another ten years? After all, we're a democracy. All of us, Jews and Arabs, have rights. How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset?
"Today I have the privilege of sitting together with Tawfiq Toubi, Tawfiq Ziad; how many Tawfiqs will there be in another ten years?
"And in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee: How many Arabs will sit and hear a classified report form the Chief of Staff? Maybe the Chief of Staff will be an Arab; why not? Democracy!
"There is an absolute contradiction between Western democracy and Zionism. I'm for democracy - for every Jew. But not for Arabs. The only solution is population exchange. We already moved 800,000 Jews from the Arab countries to Zion; now we've arrived at Phase II - Arabs to Arabia.
"I declare it is ethical, and imperative, and Zionist, and halachic, and logical. I do not hate the Arabs. I love the Jewish People. They have 22 lands, we have one, and it is ours, only ours. Arabs to Arabia, Jews to Zion, and peace to the Middle East."
Kahane's point, "I'm for democracy - for every Jew. But not for Arabs," is not an acrobatic feat of sophistry concocted by Meir Kahane; it is ingrained within the very tenets of Western democratic thought and happens to be embraced heartily by right-wing "democracy" advocates whenever it suits them. Pretending that democracy is anything more than a human contrivance even violates the Socratic manner that, as Plato taught in several of his dialogues, does not admit all members. They have to have a preconditioned appetite to further a discussion. This is why calling a "Palestinian" a "peace-partner" is an absolute travesty of the entire exchange.
When does it suit our right-wing democracy advocates to suspend democracy? Take for example October 18, 1988, when Israel's Supreme Court upheld a Knesset Central Elections Committee ban on the Kach Movement running in the Knesset elections. Kach at the time was already sitting in the Knesset and polls were predicting anywhere from 6-12 seats, severely cutting into the other "right-wing" parties' voter bases and threatening to become the third largest party in the Knesset.
At the time, newspaper Hadashot commented: "Kahane lies deep in every part of the country. He is the only one of all the smaller parties who retains a stable and strong nucleus in every segment of the population. In 12 different ballots, over two-and-a-half months of polling, Kahane does not drop below five percent of the voters, no matter where you put the ballot box."
Without that background in may be difficult to understand the Auguat 23, 1988 Hadashot headline: Peres and Shamir will work together to ban Kahane's list.
So apparently, it's our right-wing leadership's prerogative to inform We the People, to whom they have barred our choice of representatives, that we must accept being limited to the choices they find acceptable.
So please spare us your hypocritical Puritan religious-Zionist moralizing about ideological hygiene, and answer any one of the Rabbi's points. Or could it be it's not the ideology part that's irritating you, after all?
Documentary on Phase I of the population exchange (three parts): 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
Religious-Zionist fastidiousness
iStock
5. GANTZ AND LAPID TO RUN TOGETHER
by Elad Benari
Israel Resilience chairman Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid announced on Thursday morning that they had reached an agreement on a joint Knesset run.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has also joined the united party.
Gantz and Lapid agreed, among other things, on a rotation in the post of prime minister. Gantz will serve first in the post and Lapid will replace him after two and a half years.
The first four spots on the united list will be:
1. Benny Gantz
2. Yair Lapid
3. Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon
4. Gabi Ashkenazi
The rest of the list will be put together using the "zipper" method between the two parties – one spot for a candidate from Israel Resilience, followed by one spot for a candidate from Yesh Atid and so on.
"Motivated by national responsibility, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, and Bogie Ya'alon have decided to establish a joint list that will constitute the new Israeli ruling party," the parties said in a joint statement.
"The new ruling party will bring forth a cadre of security and social leaders to ensure Israel's security and to reconnect its people and heal the divide within Israeli society."
"Recognizing this pivotal moment and the national task at hand LTG (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi has also decided to join the new party," the statement said.
Party leaders will make an official announcement later on Thursday.
Earlier this week, as he officially introduced his list of candidates, Gantz made clear that the door to a joint run with Yesh Atid had not yet been closed. "Immediately after the event, I will call Lapid and propose that he meet again tonight," he said.
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
by David Rosenberg
A new poll shows the right-wing, religious bloc losing its majority in the Knesset, even as the Israel Resilience party shows signs of decline.
According to the poll, conducted by Panels Politics and published by Walla! on Wednesday, the parties which made up Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition during most of the 34th government would win just 59 seats if new elections were held today, compared to 67 seats in 2015.
That eight-seat decline would deprive the right-wing, religious bloc of the majority needed to guarantee Netanyahu's reelection as Prime Minister, enabling him to block the formation of an alternative government.
The poll still shows Netanyahu's Likud the clear favorite to win the election, with 31 seats to 19 for former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party. That's down from 22 seats Gantz's party was projected to win by another Panels Politics poll earlier this month.
Yesh Atid would gain two mandates if new elections were held today, the poll finds, rising from 11 to 13 mandates.
Orly Levy's Gesher faction would win four seats, the same number as the Kulanu party and the haredi Shas faction.
Labor would plummet to just nine seats, down from the 24 it won in a joint list with Hatnuah in 2015. Hatnuah will not be running in the election.
The far-left Meretz faction would win five seats, the same number it currently has, while the two Arab factions, Ta'al and the Joint List, would fall from a combined 13 seats to 11.
The United Torah Judaism faction, which won six seats in 2015, would rise to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu would fail to clear the threshold.
Naftali Bennett's New Right would win eight seats, while the Jewish Home-National Union ticket would win eight seats.
The poll was conducted prior to today's announcement that Otzma Yehudit has accepted the Jewish Home's offer for a joint ticket.
According to the poll, Otzma would receive 2.8% of the vote, but fail to cross the threshold on its own.
7. JEWISH HOME RECEIVES 2 MINISTRIES, REP ON LIKUD LIST
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with the chairman of the Jewish Home Party, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, and the two agreed on the conditions that would lead to the inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in the joint list of the Jewish Home and the National Union.
As part of the agreement, the Jewish Home-National Union faction will receive two significant ministerial positions, with the two sides already talking about the education portfolio.
In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to secure the 28th place on the Likud list for a representative of the Jewish Home-National Union, and after the elections the representative would be transferred to the united party.
Netanyahu also agreed to enact the expanded 'Norwegian Law,' which would allow additional representatives from the list to serve as Knesset members.
The two also agreed during the election campaign that the parties would not attack each other but would strengthen each other to secure a right-wing victory.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said at the end of the meeting that "the next elections are between a left-wing government headed by Lapid and Gantz and a right-wing government headed by me. I congratulate the representatives of the Jewish Home and the National Union for their responsibility for the Land of Israel that caused their success in uniting the ranks to ensure that the voices of the right are not lost."
Jewish Home Chairman Rabbi Rafi Peretz stated that "the preachers of the left cannot be crowned as leaders of the state. At the end of the process everyone will see that we were right. I will make a decision during the day and request the approval of the party's central committee for the agreement."
The Jewish Home central committee will convene this evening to vote on the agreement to run on a joint list with Otzma Yehudit.
Prime Minister Netanyahu postponed his visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin by several days to meet with the leaders of the Jewish Home and National Union to press them to run on a joint list with Otzma Yehudit.
The arrangement offered by the Jewish Home and accepted by Otzma Wednesday morning would give Otzma the fifth and eighth spots on the joint Knesset list.
"The leadership of Otzma Yehudit decided at an emergency meeting to accept the demand of Otzma rabbis, and to join a technical bloc with the National Union and Jewish Home on the fifth and eighth spots"
"For the sake of the Land of Israel and the many people in the public who have called for unity on the right so that, God forbid, a left-wing government will not be established, the Otzma Yehudit faction has decided to accept the joint list offer from the Jewish Home and National Union, taking the fifth and eighth spots – despite the fact that based on all the data and in most recent polls, Otzma was guaranteed to bring at least four seats. But when the choice is the Land of Israel or our own honor, we choose the Land, and the establishment of a right-wing government."
8. JEWISH HOME'S NUMBER 3 RESIGNS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Journalist Yifat Erlich, who was third on the Jewish Home list and sixth on the Jewish Home-National Union alliance with Otzma Yehudit, resigned Thursday morning from the list and will not run for the 21st Knesset.
Erlich's move followed the Jewish Home central committee's decision last night to approve the agreement for a joint run with the Otzma Yehudit party.
According to officials in Jewish Home, Erlich quit after Jewish Home Chairman Rafi Peretz refused to place her in the 28th slot on the Likud list, which Netanyahu reserved for a Jewish Home representative.
Following Erlich's decision, the public council of the Jewish Home Party will convene shortly and will elect a new candidate to be placed in the same slot on the list.
Leading candidates for the slot are Chairman of the Shurat HaDin legal organization Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Hagit Moshe and party activist Idit Silman.
"YIfat Erlich, the No. 3 candidate on the Jewish Home list, reached an agreement in mutual understanding with the party chairman, Brig. Gen. (res.) Rabbi Rafi Peretz, about her departure from the list. We are sorry about her departure, but respect her decision," the party said.
"There is room in Jewish Home for all sons and daughters of Religious Zionism, including Druze and secular candidates," the party continued, adding, "Against the unification on the left, the entire right-wing bloc must take responsibility and unite. The time has come for the parties of Bennett, Kahlon and Liberman to unite as well."
Last night, the National Union and the Jewish Home Centers approved an agreement on a technical bloc with Otzma Yehudit.
According to the agreement, Otzma Yehudit candidates will be placed in the 5th and 8th spots on the list. Immediately after the elections, Otzma will split from the Jewish Home-National Union faction and will function in the Knesset as an independent faction.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259391
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Thursday, Feb. 21 '19, ט"ז באדר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. LAPID-GANTZ-YA'ALON LIST: 'BLUE AND WHITE'
2. WILL ELI YISHAI'S YAHAD GO IT ALONE?
3. FOUNDER OF JEWISH HOME WOMEN'S FORUM RESIGNS
4. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
5. GANTZ AND LAPID TO RUN TOGETHER
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
7. JEWISH HOME RECEIVES 2 MINISTRIES, REP ON LIKUD LIST
8. JEWISH HOME'S NUMBER 3 RESIGNS
1. LAPID-GANTZ-YA'ALON LIST: 'BLUE AND WHITE'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
New details have been published about the alliance signed Thursday morning between Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon and Gabi Ashkenazi.
The new list will not be composed of the names of the lists that comprise it, as many have predicted, and will be called "Blue and White" ("Kahol Lavan").
The first 30 places will be divided according to the following system: 13 seats for the Yesh Atid party headed by Yair Lapid, 12 seats for Israel Resilience headed by Benny Gantz, and 4 seats for the Telem party headed by Moshe Ya'alon, while former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi will also be placed on the list.
According to the agreement, Gantz and Lapid will jointly run the premiership and, if they win and form the coalition, Gantz will be appointed to the post after the elections and Lapid will replace him two and a half years later. It was also agreed that Lapid would be foreign minister until then, and Ya'alon would be defense minister.
Tonight, at 8:00 pm, the heads of the alliance will hold a press conference during which they will launch the new list to be submitted today to the Central Elections Committee.
The joint ticket's candidate list for the Knesset runs as follows:
1. Benny Gantz
2. Yair Lapid
3. Moshe Bogie Ya'alon
4. Gabi Ashkenazi
5. Avi Nissenkorn
6. Meir Cohen
7. Miki Haimovich
8. Ofer Shelah
9. Yoaz Hendel
10. Orna Barbivai
11. Michael Biton
12. Chili Tropper
13. Yael German
14. Zvi Hauser
15. Orit Farkash-Hacohen
16. Karin Elharar
17. Meirav Cohen
18. Yoel Razvozov
19. Asaf Zamir
20. Izhar Shay
21. Elazar Stern
22. Mickey Levy
23. Omer Yankelevich
24. Pnina Tamano-Shata
25. Gadeer Mreeh
26. Ram Ben Barak
27. Alon Shuster
28. Yoav Segalovich
29. Ram Shefa
30. Boaz Toporovsky
31. Orly Fruman
32. Eitan Ginzburg
33. Gadi Yevarkan
34. Idan Roll
35. Yorai Lahav Hertzano
36. Moshe "Mutz" Matalon
37. Einav Kabla
38. Aliza Lavie
39. Itzhak Ilan
40. Tehila Friedman
41. Hila Shay Vazan
42. Moshe Kinley Tur Paz
43. Ruth Wasserman Lande
44. Zehorit Sorek
45. Alon Tal
46. Michal Cotler Wunsh
47. Anat Knafo
48. Yair Farjun
49. Deborah Biton
50. Idit Wexler
51. Vladimir Beliak
52. Keren Gonen
2. WILL ELI YISHAI'S YAHAD GO IT ALONE?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Yahad, the political party founded by former Shas chief and ex-interior minister Eli Yishai following his departure from Shas, may be forced to run alone in this year's Knesset election, with Thursday night's deadline for submitting candidate lists approaching and no deals finalized with larger factions.
Yishai, who led the Shas party from 1999 to 2013, bolted from the faction in 2014, ahead he lost control of the party to former chief Aryeh Deri.
In 2015, Yishai founded the Yahad party, bringing on Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun. The faction ran on a joint list with the smaller right-wing party Otzma Yehudit, led by Hevron activist Baruch Marzel. Despite polls suggesting the alliance could win four to five seats, the joint ticket narrowly failed to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold, winning just 2.97% of the vote and failing to enter the Knesset.
In recent weeks, Yishai had sought to run in a technical bloc with the Jewish Home and National Union.
Despite indications Wednesday that Yishai would receive the sixth place on a joint right-wing ticket spanning the Jewish Home, National Union, and Otzma, by Thursday afternoon, no deals had been reached with the Jewish Home.
Candidate lists for the Knesset must be submitted by Thursday night, leaving Yahad with just hours to reach an 11th hour agreement with another party.
Yahad has engaged in talks with the Shas party for a technical bloc – allowing the two factions to split immediately after the election – though the talks between Yahad's spiritual leader, Rabbi Meir Mazuz and Shas' Rabbi David Yosef have reportedly reached an impasse, with Shas calling for the inclusion of a Yahad candidate other than Yishai on the joint list.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has expressed concerns that the multiplicity of small right-wing parties failing to cross the threshold could hand a victory to the left-wing bloc, offered Yishai a ministry in the 35th government in exchange for Yishai not running an independent campaign.
Recent polls show Yishai's list coming in far below the 3.25% minimum threshold if it does run independently, with some polls showing Yahad failing to receive even 1% of the vote.
3. FOUNDER OF JEWISH HOME WOMEN'S FORUM RESIGNS
by Mordechai Sones
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right.
"Take a minute before the painful analyses and accusations about bringing Otzma Yehudit into the Jewish Home party and try a moment to concentrate on the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight," Yeshurun said in her Twitter account the night after approval of the agreement with Otzma.
"Maybe it didn't happen to you, but there are many who always knew who to vote for and today they stand confused. A hug instead of a slap might help," she added.
After her announcing joining the New Right, Bennett tweeted, "Welcome, Ya'ara, to the New Right!"
A series of party activists resigned last night following approval of the agreement with Otzma Yehudit for running in a joint technical block in the elections to the 21st Knesset.
4. OTZMAPHOBIC HYPOCRISY ON THE RIGHT
by Mordechai Sones
While many prominent Jewish leaders have expressed praise and encouragement for the union between Jewish Home-National Union and the Otzma Yehudit "Jewish Power" parties, many in the religious-Zionist camp are openly lamenting the alignment, some going so far as to quit the party rather than be tainted by association with "extremists".
Jewish Home Women's Forum founder Ya'ara Yeshurun announced she was resigning from the party and transferring support to the party of Bennett and Shaked, the New Right, tweeting about "the sorrow of many members of the religious Zionist movement who lost their political home tonight."
Why is the Otzma Yehudit party considered such anathema in some circles? National Union Chairman Betzalel Smotrich called the union an "unnatural" one, actually apologizing to followers and assuring them of a speedy separation immediately after the elections. Sounds pretty Otzmaphobic if you ask me.
The ideology some religious Zionists find so objectionable can be encapsulated in a video Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, ideological father of Otzma Yehudit, recorded from his Knesset office:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
"How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset in another ten years? After all, we're a democracy. All of us, Jews and Arabs, have rights. How many Arabs will sit in the Knesset?
"Today I have the privilege of sitting together with Tawfiq Toubi, Tawfiq Ziad; how many Tawfiqs will there be in another ten years?
"And in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee: How many Arabs will sit and hear a classified report form the Chief of Staff? Maybe the Chief of Staff will be an Arab; why not? Democracy!
"There is an absolute contradiction between Western democracy and Zionism. I'm for democracy - for every Jew. But not for Arabs. The only solution is population exchange. We already moved 800,000 Jews from the Arab countries to Zion; now we've arrived at Phase II - Arabs to Arabia.
"I declare it is ethical, and imperative, and Zionist, and halachic, and logical. I do not hate the Arabs. I love the Jewish People. They have 22 lands, we have one, and it is ours, only ours. Arabs to Arabia, Jews to Zion, and peace to the Middle East."
Kahane's point, "I'm for democracy - for every Jew. But not for Arabs," is not an acrobatic feat of sophistry concocted by Meir Kahane; it is ingrained within the very tenets of Western democratic thought and happens to be embraced heartily by right-wing "democracy" advocates whenever it suits them. Pretending that democracy is anything more than a human contrivance even violates the Socratic manner that, as Plato taught in several of his dialogues, does not admit all members. They have to have a preconditioned appetite to further a discussion. This is why calling a "Palestinian" a "peace-partner" is an absolute travesty of the entire exchange.
When does it suit our right-wing democracy advocates to suspend democracy? Take for example October 18, 1988, when Israel's Supreme Court upheld a Knesset Central Elections Committee ban on the Kach Movement running in the Knesset elections. Kach at the time was already sitting in the Knesset and polls were predicting anywhere from 6-12 seats, severely cutting into the other "right-wing" parties' voter bases and threatening to become the third largest party in the Knesset.
At the time, newspaper Hadashot commented: "Kahane lies deep in every part of the country. He is the only one of all the smaller parties who retains a stable and strong nucleus in every segment of the population. In 12 different ballots, over two-and-a-half months of polling, Kahane does not drop below five percent of the voters, no matter where you put the ballot box."
Without that background in may be difficult to understand the Auguat 23, 1988 Hadashot headline: Peres and Shamir will work together to ban Kahane's list.
So apparently, it's our right-wing leadership's prerogative to inform We the People, to whom they have barred our choice of representatives, that we must accept being limited to the choices they find acceptable.
So please spare us your hypocritical Puritan religious-Zionist moralizing about ideological hygiene, and answer any one of the Rabbi's points. Or could it be it's not the ideology part that's irritating you, after all?
Documentary on Phase I of the population exchange (three parts): 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259403
Religious-Zionist fastidiousness
iStock
5. GANTZ AND LAPID TO RUN TOGETHER
by Elad Benari
Israel Resilience chairman Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid announced on Thursday morning that they had reached an agreement on a joint Knesset run.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has also joined the united party.
Gantz and Lapid agreed, among other things, on a rotation in the post of prime minister. Gantz will serve first in the post and Lapid will replace him after two and a half years.
The first four spots on the united list will be:
1. Benny Gantz
2. Yair Lapid
3. Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon
4. Gabi Ashkenazi
The rest of the list will be put together using the "zipper" method between the two parties – one spot for a candidate from Israel Resilience, followed by one spot for a candidate from Yesh Atid and so on.
"Motivated by national responsibility, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, and Bogie Ya'alon have decided to establish a joint list that will constitute the new Israeli ruling party," the parties said in a joint statement.
"The new ruling party will bring forth a cadre of security and social leaders to ensure Israel's security and to reconnect its people and heal the divide within Israeli society."
"Recognizing this pivotal moment and the national task at hand LTG (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi has also decided to join the new party," the statement said.
Party leaders will make an official announcement later on Thursday.
Earlier this week, as he officially introduced his list of candidates, Gantz made clear that the door to a joint run with Yesh Atid had not yet been closed. "Immediately after the event, I will call Lapid and propose that he meet again tonight," he said.
6. POLL: RIGHT-RELIGIOUS BLOC LOSES MAJORITY
by David Rosenberg
A new poll shows the right-wing, religious bloc losing its majority in the Knesset, even as the Israel Resilience party shows signs of decline.
According to the poll, conducted by Panels Politics and published by Walla! on Wednesday, the parties which made up Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition during most of the 34th government would win just 59 seats if new elections were held today, compared to 67 seats in 2015.
That eight-seat decline would deprive the right-wing, religious bloc of the majority needed to guarantee Netanyahu's reelection as Prime Minister, enabling him to block the formation of an alternative government.
The poll still shows Netanyahu's Likud the clear favorite to win the election, with 31 seats to 19 for former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience party. That's down from 22 seats Gantz's party was projected to win by another Panels Politics poll earlier this month.
Yesh Atid would gain two mandates if new elections were held today, the poll finds, rising from 11 to 13 mandates.
Orly Levy's Gesher faction would win four seats, the same number as the Kulanu party and the haredi Shas faction.
Labor would plummet to just nine seats, down from the 24 it won in a joint list with Hatnuah in 2015. Hatnuah will not be running in the election.
The far-left Meretz faction would win five seats, the same number it currently has, while the two Arab factions, Ta'al and the Joint List, would fall from a combined 13 seats to 11.
The United Torah Judaism faction, which won six seats in 2015, would rise to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu would fail to clear the threshold.
Naftali Bennett's New Right would win eight seats, while the Jewish Home-National Union ticket would win eight seats.
The poll was conducted prior to today's announcement that Otzma Yehudit has accepted the Jewish Home's offer for a joint ticket.
According to the poll, Otzma would receive 2.8% of the vote, but fail to cross the threshold on its own.
7. JEWISH HOME RECEIVES 2 MINISTRIES, REP ON LIKUD LIST
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with the chairman of the Jewish Home Party, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, and the two agreed on the conditions that would lead to the inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in the joint list of the Jewish Home and the National Union.
As part of the agreement, the Jewish Home-National Union faction will receive two significant ministerial positions, with the two sides already talking about the education portfolio.
In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to secure the 28th place on the Likud list for a representative of the Jewish Home-National Union, and after the elections the representative would be transferred to the united party.
Netanyahu also agreed to enact the expanded 'Norwegian Law,' which would allow additional representatives from the list to serve as Knesset members.
The two also agreed during the election campaign that the parties would not attack each other but would strengthen each other to secure a right-wing victory.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said at the end of the meeting that "the next elections are between a left-wing government headed by Lapid and Gantz and a right-wing government headed by me. I congratulate the representatives of the Jewish Home and the National Union for their responsibility for the Land of Israel that caused their success in uniting the ranks to ensure that the voices of the right are not lost."
Jewish Home Chairman Rabbi Rafi Peretz stated that "the preachers of the left cannot be crowned as leaders of the state. At the end of the process everyone will see that we were right. I will make a decision during the day and request the approval of the party's central committee for the agreement."
The Jewish Home central committee will convene this evening to vote on the agreement to run on a joint list with Otzma Yehudit.
Prime Minister Netanyahu postponed his visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin by several days to meet with the leaders of the Jewish Home and National Union to press them to run on a joint list with Otzma Yehudit.
The arrangement offered by the Jewish Home and accepted by Otzma Wednesday morning would give Otzma the fifth and eighth spots on the joint Knesset list.
"The leadership of Otzma Yehudit decided at an emergency meeting to accept the demand of Otzma rabbis, and to join a technical bloc with the National Union and Jewish Home on the fifth and eighth spots"
"For the sake of the Land of Israel and the many people in the public who have called for unity on the right so that, God forbid, a left-wing government will not be established, the Otzma Yehudit faction has decided to accept the joint list offer from the Jewish Home and National Union, taking the fifth and eighth spots – despite the fact that based on all the data and in most recent polls, Otzma was guaranteed to bring at least four seats. But when the choice is the Land of Israel or our own honor, we choose the Land, and the establishment of a right-wing government."
8. JEWISH HOME'S NUMBER 3 RESIGNS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Journalist Yifat Erlich, who was third on the Jewish Home list and sixth on the Jewish Home-National Union alliance with Otzma Yehudit, resigned Thursday morning from the list and will not run for the 21st Knesset.
Erlich's move followed the Jewish Home central committee's decision last night to approve the agreement for a joint run with the Otzma Yehudit party.
According to officials in Jewish Home, Erlich quit after Jewish Home Chairman Rafi Peretz refused to place her in the 28th slot on the Likud list, which Netanyahu reserved for a Jewish Home representative.
Following Erlich's decision, the public council of the Jewish Home Party will convene shortly and will elect a new candidate to be placed in the same slot on the list.
Leading candidates for the slot are Chairman of the Shurat HaDin legal organization Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Hagit Moshe and party activist Idit Silman.
"YIfat Erlich, the No. 3 candidate on the Jewish Home list, reached an agreement in mutual understanding with the party chairman, Brig. Gen. (res.) Rabbi Rafi Peretz, about her departure from the list. We are sorry about her departure, but respect her decision," the party said.
"There is room in Jewish Home for all sons and daughters of Religious Zionism, including Druze and secular candidates," the party continued, adding, "Against the unification on the left, the entire right-wing bloc must take responsibility and unite. The time has come for the parties of Bennett, Kahlon and Liberman to unite as well."
Last night, the National Union and the Jewish Home Centers approved an agreement on a technical bloc with Otzma Yehudit.
According to the agreement, Otzma Yehudit candidates will be placed in the 5th and 8th spots on the list. Immediately after the elections, Otzma will split from the Jewish Home-National Union faction and will function in the Knesset as an independent faction.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/259391
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