A7News: SpaceIL's president: Beresheet was success, Israeli flag on moon

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Friday, Apr. 12 '19, ז' בניסן תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. SPACEIL'S PRESIDENT: BERESHEET WAS SUCCESS, ISRAELI FLAG ON MOON
2. REPORT: RIVLIN TO ASK NETANYAHU, GANTZ, TO FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT
3. A CREATIVE RESPONSE TO A MUSLIM LEGISLATOR
4. CAN WE RELY ON THE POLLS?
5. SPACEIL PRESIDENT: WE CHOSE TO DREAM
6. WATCH: BERESHEET FAILS TO LAND ON THE MOON
7. BENNETT AND SHAKED APPEAR TO HAVE PASSED THRESHOLD
8. REPORT: KAHLON WILL RETURN TO THE LIKUD PARTY


1. SPACEIL'S PRESIDENT: BERESHEET WAS SUCCESS, ISRAELI FLAG ON MOON
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261765

Arutz Sheva spoke to Morris Khan, president of SpaceIL, on Friday, who remains upbeat and optimistic despite Bereheet's failure to land safely on the moon on Thursday night. As millions of people watched in anticipation for Israel's spacecraft to make lunar history. SpaceIL lost communication with Beresheet minutes before Israel was set to become the fourth country to land on the moon after a successful seven-week journey in space.

"I'm happy," the 89-year old South African-born entrepreneur said. "The flag of Israel is on the moon. The slogan of "Small country, big dreams" and Am Yisrael Chai (the nation of Israel lives) is on the moon. I think we've done something. We got around the moon, we landed on the moon. It just happened to be a hard landing."

"This is Beresheet (Hebrew for Genesis, the first of the five books of the Torah), and Beresheet was only the beginning. We're only at the beginning," Khan stressed.

"We did a very professional job. We were in space for two months. Beresheet behaved beautifully," Khan enthused.

"The message for those watching is we tried and didn't complete. It doesn't mean that we stopped. I think that Israel has to continue and I'm sure they will continue. We learned a lot and we proved a lot. We showed that we could get to the moon. There was just a slight technical [glitch] at the very end at the landing. I don't regard this as a failure. I regard it as a success."

"I'm happy tonight," Khan emphasized. "I feel the investment I made was worthwhile."

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was equally optimistic. "Write this down, in three years we will get another spacecraft on the moon, and this one will land in one piece," Netanyahu said.

"If at first, you don't succeed, try again. We'll try again, and next time we'll just try it more gently."


2. REPORT: RIVLIN TO ASK NETANYAHU, GANTZ, TO FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is expected to ask Likud leader Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to form a unity government, Maariv reported.

A senior source involved in the coalition agreements told Maariv that "there is a scenario being explored, in which before the President asks Netanyahu to form the government, he calls in the Prime Minister and Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz, and offers them the option of forming a unity government."

According to the source, the challenges Israel will face in the coming months are the motivation for forming unity government.

On Monday, Rivlin is expected to begin meeting with party heads, asking who they recommend for premiership. Netanyahu is expected to receive the most support, leading Rivlin to task him with forming the next government.

Gantz and Lapid have both stated their refusal to work with Netanyahu, and promised to lead the opposition.


3. A CREATIVE RESPONSE TO A MUSLIM LEGISLATOR
by Nitzan Kedar, Chana Roberts

The New York Post newspaper on Thursday printed a photo of the burning Twin Towers on its cover page, captioned with the words "Here's your something."

The main headline read: "Here's your something ... 2,977 people dead by terrorism."

The photo and caption came in response to Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar's comment that "some people did something" on September 11, 2001.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261768

"CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties," Omar told CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, last month.

CAIR was founded in 1994 and aims to "enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims" while acting as a "leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding."

Critics, including the United Arab Emirates and a California senator, have claimed the group is connected to the Hamas terror organization and provides aid to terror groups. The organization has also protested aspects of the US counterterrorism policy, and one of its employees was indicted for his role in a terror group.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261768

Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley slammed the Post, tweeting that the response "clearly speaks" to "post 9/11 #Islamophobia."

"Manipulating her remarks is defaming & dangerous for her & her family. Stop with this recklessness. @rupertmurdoch this is on you - stoking hate, fear & division, putting REAL lives at risk. Shame on you."


4. CAN WE RELY ON THE POLLS?
by Benny Tucker

Dr. Ido Liberman, a professor at the Western Galilee College, explained why the exit polls did not accurately predict the results of Israel's recent elections.

"Polls are something we need to learn to use," he said. "They can be relied on, but they have drawbacks. The polls predicted the general trend, including the tie between the two [leading] parties and the advantage held by the right-wing bloc. On the other hand, there are the smaller things, the movement within each bloc, and that's harder to predict."

He also noted that those conducting the polls could not identify the slight movement of some right-wing voters who voted Likud, or of the left-wing voters who voted for Blue and White instead of Meretz and Labor.

According to Dr. Liberman, the pessimism regarding former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu party and the optimistic predictions for Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party were the result of active interference by those parties.

"These are two incidents with the opposite result but the same problem," he said. "Feiglin encouraged his supporters to be active on the internet, which caused him to be over-represented. Think about the fact that every Zehut representative answered the surveys, versus the other parties whose supporters answered less [surveys]."

"In the case of Yisrael Beytenu, the problem was the opposite: Liberman very much discourages internet activity and participation in polls, and so their representation was very low and did not represent the the true situation."

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz's victory declaration was a mistake.

"There's a lack of experience and understanding of how polls work, including exit polls, which are no more reliable than any other poll. Even in exit polls, not everyone cooperates, and some put in a different ballot than they put into the ballot box.

"From a sociological perspective, there was initial celebration because the party jumped significantly from the thirty seats predicted by the polls to thirty-five. It was an outpouring of happiness and an attempt to feel victory. But he obviously at the end of the day he erred and he's paying the price."


5. SPACEIL PRESIDENT: WE CHOSE TO DREAM
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261741

"We chose to dream."

Those were the words of Morris Kahn, President of SpaceIL, following the apparent crash of the Beresheet spacecraft into the moon's surface.

"There seems to be some desire already to plan the next launch, and the next time we will do better and we will succeed. But I think we have every right to be proud," he said.


6. WATCH: BERESHEET FAILS TO LAND ON THE MOON
by Gary Willig

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261738

The Beresheet spacecraft failed to land on the moon Thursday evening after its main engine failed.

The landing process started at 10:05 PM Israeli time. The craft was supposed to touch down on the lunar surface approximately 20 minutes later, but appears to have crashed.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara and his son Yair arrived at the control room in Yehud to watch the landing live. "Today we have unlimited pride and joy. The Israeli spacecraft is about to reach the moon and hope it will be successful," Netanyahu said.

"It is already possible to say that this is another important step for humanity and a giant step for the State of Israel, and Israel is the fourth country in history after three world powers to make this arrival," added the prime minister.

Following the engine failure, Netanyahu said that the launch and successful orbit were still a tremendous achievement for Israel.

"If at first you don't succeed, you try again," the prime minister said, adding that Israel would have a spacecraft land successfully on the moon within the next two to three years.

The spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 22 and has traveled four million miles in its journey to the moon.

Israeli NGO SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the two main partners in the project, describe Beresheet as the "world's first spacecraft built in a non-governmental mission," with philanthropist Morris Kahn providing $40 million of the $100 million budget.

Israel sought to become the fourth country to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, following the United States, Russia, and China, but will have to settle for being the seventh to achieve orbit around the moon instead.

Beresheet carried a scientific instrument to measure the lunar magnetic field, which will help scientists to understand how the moon formed. The data collected by the spacecraft was to be shared with NASA.

The spacecraft also carried a "time capsule" containing digital files including a Bible, children's drawings, Israeli songs, the memoirs of a Holocaust survivor, and a blue-and-white Israeli flag.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin shared his excitement prior to the landing attempt.

"Dozens of kids who are passionate about science and space, from all over the country, have come to Beit HaNasi to see the landing of the spaceship on the moon tonight. Good luck 'Beresheet'!" Rivlin said.

Following the malfunction, Rivlin said that "there is no need to be disappointed. We need to praise what we accomplished."

"This is an important night for the State of Israel," he said.

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7. BENNETT AND SHAKED APPEAR TO HAVE PASSED THRESHOLD
by Elad Benari

The New Right party, headed by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, appears to have passed the 3.25% electoral threshold, achieving 3.26%, and will be in the 21st Knesset thanks to the votes of the soldiers.

The counting of the "double envelopes" which contain the votes of soldiers, began on Wednesday night around 11:00 p.m.

In addition, it appears that Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party will not pass the threshold. As of the last update, it received 2.76 percent.

The so-called "double envelopes" also contain the votes of prisoners, diplomats, state employees living abroad, representatives of Zionist organizations living abroad, people in hospitals, and battered women in shelters who cannot vote in regular polling stations.

On Wednesday evening, in a reference to the party's situation as it had not yet passed the threshold, Bennett wrote on Twitter, "A statement by the legendary Teddy Roosevelt that has been with me for years: 'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.'"

"'The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; [...] who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.'"

Earlier Wednesday, Bennett said, "We need about 5 percent of the soldiers' votes, compared to the 3 percent we had nationally. It is possible but borderline. It can succeed or fail on the basis of [only] dozens of votes one way or the other," Bennett said.


8. REPORT: KAHLON WILL RETURN TO THE LIKUD PARTY
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Finance Minister and Kulanu chairman Moshe Kahlon is conducting advanced negotiations for the unification of Kulanu and the Likud party to act as one faction in the 21st Knesset.

Kahlon will continue to hold the Finance Ministry portfolio and will receive another portfolio as well in the new government.

In other election news, the chairman of the Union of Right-Wing Parties, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, met with the heads of the haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, to discuss the possibility of cooperating together in coalition negotiations.

Rabbi Peretz, in coordination with MK Betzalel Smotrich, suggested to the heads of the parties - Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni and Aryeh Deri - to insist on coalition negotiations on matters that are important to both the haredi and national-religious public.

The right-wing coalition believes that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will have to comply with the demands presented by UTJ, Shas and the Union of Right-Wing Parties, such as canceling the Western Wall agreement and preventing public work on Shabbat.

Litzman, Gafni and Deri are examining Rabbi Peretz's proposal. It should be noted that the coalition negotiations for forming the government will begin next week after President Reuven Rivlin meets with representatives of the factions and is expected to task Netanyahu with forming the government.

The Central Elections Committee chairman, Judge Hanan Meltzer, promised on Thursday evening that the results of the elections for the 21st Knesset will be published by Thursday night at midnight.