A7News: Netanyahu one of TIME's '100 most influential people'

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Wednesday, Apr. 17 '19, י"ב בניסן תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. NETANYAHU ONE OF TIME'S '100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE'
2. 'HARD TO FEEL DEFEATED WHEN TRUMP, NETANYAHU ADOPT MY POLICIES'
3. ISRAEL DEFENSE SALES TOPPED $7.5 BILLION IN 2018
4. 'HOPING FOR A STRONG AND STABLE GOVERNMENT'
5. WHO WILL BE ISRAEL'S NEXT DEFENSE MINISTER?
6. BENNETT ADMITS DEFEAT
7. FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ATTACKED IN JERICHO AREA
8. SPIES OF NO COUNTRY


1. NETANYAHU ONE OF TIME'S '100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE'
by Tal Polon

TIME Magazine on Wednesday voted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one of its "100 most influential people of 2019."

Netanyahu was chosen for the list's subsection on "leaders" that also included Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Brett Kavanaugh, Robert Mueller, and international figures such as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Pope Francis.

Explaining its decision to include Netanyahu on the prestigious annual list, TIME wrote that "Israel is Bibi's nation."

"Were there any doubt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election to a fifth term in April not only cemented his hold on the critical Mideast country, but also positioned him to surpass its founding leader, David Ben-Gurion, as Israel's longest-­serving Prime Minister."

"The reasons for his enduring appeal are clear," the magazine continued. "The second intifadeh undermined Israel's political left, with fresh memories of suicide bombers rebuking the idea that there exists a partner for peace. Ongoing rocket attacks launched by Hamas show that present dangers are real. And Iran's power and ambition signal that even two generations after the Yom Kippur War, Israel can face existential threats."

"Yet in spite of the dangers, Israel grows more prosperous. It grows more powerful. And as the election shows, sufficient numbers of Israelis believe not just that Netanyahu is partly responsible for that success but that he's the nation's indispensable man. And so he won again, in spite of facing serious allegations of corruption. Bibi certainly deserves his share of credit for Israel's strength, but persuading Israelis that he alone could achieve it is his true political accomplishment."

Writing on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Netanyahu thanked the magazine for the honor.

"Thanks to the international magazine TIME for choosing me as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. I will continue with all my strength to act for our state."


2. 'HARD TO FEEL DEFEATED WHEN TRUMP, NETANYAHU ADOPT MY POLICIES'
by Hezki Baruch

In December 2018, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and MK Shuli Mualem shocked the Israeli political establishment by breaking off from the Jewish Home party which Bennett had led, and established the New Right party.

The faction, which positioned itself in between the Likud and the Jewish Home, declared itself the political home for both secular and religious rightists, providing an alternative to the Orthodox Jewish Home – National Union alliance.

Polls for the party initially projected it would win as many as 10 to 14 seats in the 120 member Knesset.

Even after the initial burst of enthusiasm wore off, however, and new parties, like the Zehut faction, drew some of its voters, the New Right still polled safely above the 3.25% minimum threshold on the eve of last Tuesday's election. In the final week of polling, the New Right was projected to win anywhere from five to seven seats.

Yet on election day, the New Right came up short, receiving missing the threshold by just 1,400 votes.

In exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva, American-born conservative journalist and New Right Knesset candidate Caroline Glick explored the reasons behind her party's defeat – while explaining her sense of optimism despite the loss.

"Obviously there's a lot of disappointment because we were hoping to get into the Knesset. I was hoping to be a member of the Knesset. And with Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked I think it's a national loss that they're not going to be ministers in the next government."

Despite the party's defeat – a personal loss for her and a blow to the right-wing bloc – Glick was sanguine about the prospects for advancing the New Right's sovereignty agenda in the next Knesset.

"I joined the race for the Knesset with the [New Right] because I have an ideology that I've devoted my entire career to advancing: applying Israeli law to Judea and Samaria, ending our commitment to the failed Oslo process and the two-state solution.

"In the last week of the election, Prime Minister Netanyahu, for the first time, said he supports applying Israeli law to the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. I don't think that that is enough, but I think that that is a world apart from where we were ten years ago, five years ago, and it's extraordinary.

"Then at the beginning of this week we got the leak from The Washington Post that said that President Trump's 'Deal of the Century' does not involve establishing a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. These are things that I've been fighting for. So it is hard to feel defeated when I see that everything I've been working towards is being adopted by Prime Minister Netanyahu on the one hand and President Trump on the other."

Why did the New Right fail?

In explaining her party's failure to cross the threshold – and its disappointing showing considering the pre-election polling – Glick suggested that the New Right's fall could be largely attributed to the rise of another right-wing faction – Zehut.

Zehut, which embraced both the annexation of Judea and Samaria along with libertarian economic positions, drew from the same base of voters as the New Right, Glick claims.

Yet the New Right failed to respond during the campaign, focusing instead on the Jewish Home party.

"Why did we fail? I think the main reason we failed, honestly, is because the campaign, Bennett, Shaked… were unwilling to deal with the challenge that we were surprised by from Zehut, Moshe Feiglin's party. I think that they had come into the race with certain expectations, that there were would be two ideological parties to the right of Likud, the [New Right] and the [Jewish Home]. Then, suddenly, they were faced with a third actor. Zehut really was challenging us from an ideological perspective.

"Their positions weren't that different from ours on economic issues, although their policies for them were delusional in many ways and incapable of being implemented. And of course they had their whole drug legalization thing.

"The final results show that they got the equivalent of three mandates in the Knesset; we got almost four – we were short just about 1,000 votes – so seven mandates [combined]. If you take one – one-and-a-half and say that [vote] was for the drugs, they still have one – one-and-a-half mandates that are from ideological right-wing voters that would otherwise have been voting for Bennett and Shaked. And they [Bennett and Shaked] weren't heeding the warnings. They had a plan and they stuck with it, even though during the course of the election it was clear that we were facing a significant challenge from Feiglin."

Was the New Right a mistake?

Even with its defeat, Glick was hesitant to call the establishment of the New Right a mistake, noting that the party gave large numbers of Israeli voters a political home.

"Was it a mistake to form the new party? Should they have stayed in the Jewish Home or gone into the Likud? Well, I don't think that going into the Likud was really an option. I don't think that the doors were open to Bennett and Shaked for a host of reasons. So it was really a question of whether to stay in the [Jewish Home] or to form a new party.

"I think that there is a demand in Israel for a party is that is more traditional, less openly religious, and also less harsh in its interpretations of halakha [Jewish law]. There are a lot of voters in Israel – here in my community of Efrat, for instance, we won. We came in ten points ahead of Likud and [Jewish Home] was third place. And also the same thing in a lot of the different communities in Gush Etzion, because people have a much more modern Orthodox vision for Judaism and halakhic interpretations. The problem, again, is that when you thought you were going to be in an election with just one other ideological party to the right of the Likud and then you suddenly find yourself with a third one, are you going to be able to pivot, here what we ran into was an inability to change course in the middle when the circumstances required it."


3. ISRAEL DEFENSE SALES TOPPED $7.5 BILLION IN 2018
by AFP

Israel's defense exports exceeded $7.5 billion in 2018, with the bulk going to Asia and the Pacific region, the government said Wednesday.


A defense ministry spokeswoman told AFP that the total was down from $9.2 billion in 2017 but that had been an exceptionally strong year.


The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute put Israel in eighth place in its 2017 top 10 of global arms exporters and said its largest clients that year were India, Azerbaijan and Vietnam.


The Israeli government does not comment on individual arms sales, but Wednesday's ministry statement said missile and air defense systems accounted for 24 percent of 2018 sales.


UAVs and drone systems amounted to 15 percent, radars and early warning systems 14 percent and aircraft and avionics 14 percent.


Other areas included "land systems, ammunition and weapon stations", intelligence and cyber systems and naval systems, it added.


"Over the past year we have signed dozens of contracts with various countries around the world," the head of the defense ministry's international cooperation directorate, Mishel Ben-Baruch, said in the statement.


"This serves as further evidence of the desire of more and more countries to cooperate with the state of Israel, and a sign of their confidence in the excellent capabilities of our defense industries," he added.


Sales to Asia and the Pacific region were 46 percent of the total, the statement said, with 26 percent going to Europe, 20 percent to North America, six percent to South America and two percent to Africa.


4. 'HOPING FOR A STRONG AND STABLE GOVERNMENT'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday received the official results of the elections to the 21st Knesset at Beit HaNasi from Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Deputy President of the Supreme Court Judge Hanan Melcer.

At the beginning of his remarks, the president noted the vital role that the Central Elections Committee plays in ensuring the elections are free and fair, and thanked the members of the committee and Judge Melcer, saying "the members of the committee worked with a sense of civic duty, honesty and fairness in order to ensure all candidates were equal in the eyes of the law and the voters. I am glad that the various problems were resolved. It is important that every Israeli citizen knows that their vote is counted."

The president added, "in this election campaign we faced challenges we had not encountered before. On one hand, we saw that technology is an important tool in raising transparency and accessibility. This year, for the first time, there was a pilot scheme to allow blind and partially-sighted people to vote without assistance, using a new device. On the other hand, technology can also be used as a weapon for attacking political opponents. The members of the committee stood up to this dangerous trend and said 'Cursed be those who attack their neighbors in secret' (Deuteronomy 27:24). Anonymity does not exempt you from the rules of the democratic game. A computer screen is not a suit of armor."

The president related to the voter turn-out, which was lower this time than in previous elections, saying "From now, our task is to raise trust, strengthen the public's involvement in political discourse and encourage as many people as possible to use their democratic right and duty. Over the last two days, I have held consultations with representatives of the parties elected by Israel's citizens and soon I will entrust the candidate who was recommended by them with the task of forming a government. I hope that we will soon be able to get back to our normal daily lives, led by a strong and stable government that reflects the will of the people as far as possible and allows representation of more forces. Congratulations to the State of Israel for holding free and fair democratic elections Congratulations to the candidates and thank you to the Central Elections Committee."

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Deputy President of the Supreme Court Judge Hanan Melcer: "Over the last few days, unfortunately, there have been attempts to challenge the legitimacy of the elections by submitting appeals. These have all been investigated by us as a matter of routine, on our own instigation. Every appeal is investigated. In addition, and as an exception, in line with the transparency that has been part of the work of the committee, I instructed that all our discussions would be open just as the president did with his consultations. We did this for all meetings of the committee and also published the results in real time for the public to see."

At 7 pm the president will formally receive Benjamin Netanyahu, the candidate whom he decided to task with forming the government. At 8:05 pm Rivlin will sign the letter of appointment of the candidate to form the government, and hand it over to him.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262001


5. WHO WILL BE ISRAEL'S NEXT DEFENSE MINISTER?
by i24News

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261997


6. BENNETT ADMITS DEFEAT
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Education Minister Naftali Bennett conceded that he had lost his Knesset seat and that the New Right party had failed to clear the electoral threshold.

"I did the best I could for my beloved people," Bennett wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening after the Central Elections Committee found that the New Right had gained less than 50 votes in the latest recount and remained over 1,400 votes shy of the electoral threshold.

"After six years of kosher service, 100 campaign days and another week of struggle for every voice, I can say: I did the best I could for the people of Israel, my beloved nation," Bennett said.

"This time it was not enough.

"I have no complaints to anyone. I and I alone are responsible for the result.

"Some people mocked us for trying to pass the threshold :"It's pathetic, hopeless, desperate."
That does not matter.

"I would prefer to be struggling at the front and not among the mocking people from the gallery. We are not contractors of successes, we are messengers of endeavor. And I did everything I could. Only in this way does one succeed in studies, in high-tech, in the army, anywhere in life, by trying. Even if it seems all is almost lost. Sometimes it works, but not this time.

"As a minister of education, I want to convey to every student, student, entrepreneur, and every person with a dream - do not give up! Never give up a worthy cause! Even if it seems hopeless.

"Indeed, we have found irregularities in the polls and beyond, but they do not, in and of themselves, nullify all the election results. Our lawyers will examine the findings in the next two weeks, but at this stage we are moving on.

'I believe in the great Israeli spirit.

"I believe that our people have a great mission: to be a model state, and we all have a lot of work to do.

"I would like to thank my wife Gilat first and foremost for being my strength and happiness.

"I want to thank my partner, Ayelet Shaked, whom I consider to be the best justice minister in Israel's history. Together, over the past six years, we have held the steering wheel of the ship, positioned it to the right, and succeeded in changing the path of the State of Israel. The ship will continue to sail without us. It hurts me for the state that it and Ayelet, who is so talented, will part for a while, but I have no doubt that she will serve our people again.

"Thank you to the wonderful Alona Barkat who will continue to contribute greatly to Israeli society, to Matan Kahane who was a true friend and a fighter, to Shuli Moalem with her huge heart, to the brave Carolyn Glick, and to Uri Shechter.

"I give thanks to Tal Gan Zvi, the head of my staff, a gifted and talented man, and to every staff member of my bureau and the wonderful campaign leader.

"I give thank to all the volunteers in the campaign and in recent days. It was incredible what mobilization there was for the cause.

"I give much thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, Whom I trust as always, and thank Him for the good and the bad..

"You will continue where I left off.

"And I promise: wherever I am, I will never stop being a soldier of the people of Israel.

"Yours with love,

Naftali Bennett"


7. FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ATTACKED IN JERICHO AREA
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261901

Dozens of foreign correspondents stationed in Israel were attacked Monday by Palestinians throwing stones on their bus, while on a tour organized by the Government Press Office. The attack took place in Jericho, where the journalists were visiting the town's ancient synagogue and other sites in commemoration of the 10th of Nissan, the day when Israelites crossed the Jordan river to enter the Land of Israel.

There were no injuries in the attack. The bus, however, sustained damage as one of the windows was shattered.

The tour was guarded and coordinated with the security forces, and the journalists were making their way from Jericho to cover the 10th of Nissan ceremony at the Jordan crossing site (Qasr el-Yahud). The location also holds great significance for Christians in Israel and abroad, believed to be the site where Jesus was baptized and visited yearly by thousands of pilgrims.

Head of the GPO, Nitzan Chen, said: "The Government Press Office condemns the attack on members of the press who came to carry out their duty, The GPO provides wide coverage services to the foreign journalists, including diverse tours that introduce them to Israel's culture, legacy and innovation, along with the country's challenges. We will continue organizing these tours for the entire foreign press corps and will not be deterred by attempts to harm journalists"


8. SPIES OF NO COUNTRY
by The Land Of Israel Network

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261907

Award winning journalist and author Matti Friedman joins Eve Harrow to discuss his new release, "Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel".

This fantastic book tells the true story of four Jewish young men from the Arab world who play a risk laden, integral role in establishing Israel via a nascent organization that eventually becomes the legendary Mossad.

The idea of Israel as a haven for mainly European Jewry gets wiped out with the Holocaust; instead it becomes home to 'Mizrachi' Jewish refugees whose continuous discrimination by - but ultimate influence on and integration with - 'Ashkenazim' is a huge part of what defines Israel today.

The Jewish state's current conservative tilt, emphasis on faith and family, melding of music and fabulous food is all part of a unique culture that can't be understood outside a Mid East context. There's no place like it, and this book pays homage to little known individuals whose willingness to live as Arab Muslims was an incalculable sacrifice that led to the birth of the state.

[קישורים:4:Radio]