Otzma Yehudit says it’s staying in the race after PM walked back agreement to raze Bedouin hamlet, amend law barring racists from Knesset

By JACOB MAGID, TOI

Left photo: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speach at the Likud party’s election rally in Ramat Gan on February 29, 2020. (Gili Yaari/Flash90) Right photo: Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit party, holds a press conference in Jerusalem on February 26, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party claimed Sunday that it had reached a deal with the Likud party according to which it would drop out of Monday’s election, but that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked back the agreement.

Netanyahu has been pushing Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir to pull out of the election race for months, seeing his extremist faction as a spoiler that would siphon tens of thousands of votes away from the Likud and Yamina parties but ultimately not make it into the Knesset.

According to Otzma Yehudit, the far-reaching offer from Likud included making its No. 34 candidate, anti-immigration activist May Golan, an Otzma representative in the Knesset if a religious, right-wing coalition were to be established. It was not clear what the implications of this would be, nor how formalized the shift in her status.

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THIS IS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.

CANDACE OWENS IS IN A CLASS BY HERSELF. SHE IS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, LIKEABLE AND HUMBLE.

The country holds that the ICC does not have the jurisdiction to hear such cases.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST 

Presiding Judge Robert Fremr in the courtroom at the ICC (International Criminal Court) in the Hague, the Netherlands, 2018 
(photo credit: BAS CZERWINSKI/POOL VIA REUTERS)

Canada asked the International Criminal Court not hold hearings regarding Israeli war crimes lawsuits, its Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The country holds that the ICC does not have the jurisdiction to hear such cases and wrote a letter stating this to the court before the February 14 deadline for such submissions.

It was one of seven countries to send a letter clearly stating that the ICC lacked jurisdiction in this matter. The other countries which did so are Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Uganda and Brazil. Australia also wrote a letter on the matter, but did not state its position. Israel has said that Australia intends to weigh in on its behalf.
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The votes are there for a Religious-Right Wing government. There is no question. It was demonstrated at the first of the three elections last April.

By Rabbi Prof. Dov Fischer, INN 29/02/20 22:26 | updated: 00:30

If you have forgotten, the April 2019 election resulted with Likud and Blue and White each getting 35 seats. (Sound familiar?) Shas and United Torah Judaism each got 8. The Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) – National Union – Otzma bloc got 5 seats.  And Moshe Kachlon, running on his own party, got 4.  That totaled 60 seats for the religious-right, only one single seat short of a government.

And then the Naftali Bennett-Ayelet Shaked New Right (Yamin Chadash) party, running on its own, got 3.22 percent of the vote, falling short of the election threshold by only an infinitesimal 0.03 percent.  That was the difference between a solid religious-right coalition government of 62 or 63 seats without Avigdor Liberman — or the year-long mess that has ensued. Meanwhile, Moshe Feiglin wasted another 118,000 mostly right-wing votes, comprising 2.74 percent of the total, with his Zehut party that ultimately found it possible to cut a deal with Likud anyway for September.

In many ways, the mess has proven a terrible mixed blessing.  One election after another has cost the national budget a fortune.  The government has been in limbo for a year.  With coronavirus floating around, medical care challenged in other ways, Hezbollah and Iranian dangers in the north, incessant and continual Hamas and Islamic Jihad (which in reality are the same thing) rocket-firing and balloon-bombing in the south, disastrous winter hurricane-style flooding in the north and central regions, it would have been nice to have had a government in place.
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T. Belman. Bennett did a great job as Min. of Education. He is also doing a great job as Min. of Defense. His handling of these two portfolios recommend him highly for the Premiership.

Take a look at the facts before accusing the religious Zionist parties of ignoring Judaism.

By Haim Lev, INN

And here’s one of the better kept secrets of Israeli politics: If you repeat a lie enough times, it eventually becomes plain fact. And on election night, it takes on a life of its own.

A classic example that comes to mind is the attack on the Yamina party’s approach to matters of religion and state. When it comes to roasting someone, Defense Minister and Yamina head Naftali Bennett has been “warming up” on the grill of the haredi barbecue for some time now.

But let’s take a look at the facts – the bare facts. As Minister of Education, Bennett increased the yeshiva budget by 112% (!); the Jewish culture budget went up by 76%. Bennett’s budget for religious associations soared to NIS 190 million. But these are not Bennett’s words – it’s what Calcalist journalist Shahar Ilan attests to in data he collected upon Bennett’s departure from the Ministry of Education. Read more…

Opinion: Recent polls show Likud overtaking Blue & White for the first time in this election cycle and demonstrate how, unlike in previous ballots, this time the prime minister appears to have the upper hand

By Yuval Karni, YNET

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue & White Chairman Benny Gantz

In the last two elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue & White Leader Benny Gantz each served a very particular role.

Netanyahu was the underdog candidate warning that, “the rule of the right is in danger” while pushing a narrative that poor right-wing turnout would result in the left forming a government that is dangerous for Israel.

Gantz, a political rookie, twice led Blue & White to become Israel’s biggest party, radiating confidence and telling everyone “we are close to victory.”

Despite his lack of political prowess and the fact his party had been constructed almost from scratch, Gantz became the first and only candidate in the last decade to jeopardize Netanyahu’s grip on the premiership.
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By Eileen AJ Connelly, NY POST

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad (L) and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (R) shake hands after signing the peace agreement between US, Taliban, in Doha.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The United States and Taliban signed a peace deal Saturday aimed at bringing an end to the country’s longest war.

The agreement sets the stage for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan more than 18 years after President George W. Bush ordered bombing in response to the 9/11 attacks. The US has spent more than $750 billion fighting the war, which has cost tens of thousands of lives on all sides.

The historic deal was signed in Doha, Qatar, by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on hand to witness the ceremony.

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Jewish Electorate Institute survey finds that 91% of American Jews identify as pro-Israel, but Israel is not driving the community’s vote

By Eric Cortellessa,, TOI  >28 February 2020,

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., smiles during his campaign event in Carson City, Nevada on February 16, 2020. (AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders would overwhelmingly outperform US President Donald Trump with Jewish voters in a head-to-head match-up this fall, according to new polling from the non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI).

The self-proclaimed democratic socialist would defeat Trump with the demographic group 65% to 30%, despite only 52% of American Jews having a favorable view of Sanders and 45% having an unfavorable view of him, the survey found.

Trump is far more unpopular with the US Jewish community. Sixty-six percent of the poll’s respondents disapprove of the job he’s doing in office. Read more…

Great panel on Israel starts at 1:34

Interesting panel with Larry Kudlow and Ivanka Trump at 2:08

by Marilyn Stern, Middle East Forum Radio

Martin Kramer, chair of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Department at Shalem College in Jerusalem and the Koret Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, spoke to Middle East Forum Radio host Gregg Roman on February 5 about President Trump’s “deal of the century” plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to Kramer, the importance of the Trump proposal “transcends whether either of the parties accept it” because “it’s not a peace plan, it’s a partition plan … the proposal of a third party, looking from the outside, that has some authority.” The Palestinians refused to accept partition plans put forth by the British in 1937 and by the United Nations in 1947, yet both had “historic effects,” notably culminating in the establishment of Israel. The details of these plans were largely irrelevant – it was their underlying assumptions and core principles that proved enduring.

The same is true of the “deal of the century.” Details of the plan are flexible and sure to be superseded by future negotiations. The important focus should be on the assumptions and principles of the plan.

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By Randy DeSoto, WESTERN JOURNALISM

Samuel Corum / Getty ImagesJared Kushner, senior advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2020 hosted by the American Conservative Union on Feb. 28, 2020 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Samuel Corum / Getty Images)

White House senior advisor Jared Kushner told the attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of Washington, D.C., on Friday that the U.S. border wall with Mexico is progressing rapidly.

“As of today, we’re at 130 miles on the wall that’s been built, and by the end of the year, we are on track to have over 400 miles,” Kushner told Matt Schlapp, the president of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC.

“We’ve finished most of the contracting, and what we’re seeing now is we’re doing about five miles a week,” he continued. “We hope in about two months, we’ll be over seven miles a week.”
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This week a tragedy happened. It was not about Teck. It was about the future of Alberta and Saskatchewan within Canada

By Diane Francis, NATIONAL POST

Signage at the Teck Resources Ltd. booth, seen on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention and trade show in Toronto.Norm Betts for Bloomberg News

Nature abhors a vacuum and so does free enterprise and democracies. And Canada is about to show why.

This week, Canada’s massive megaproject, Teck Resources’ giant oil sands mine in Alberta, was obliterated — the biggest casualty of the #ShutDownCanada movement that’s been building and hurting the economy and country’s reputation.

The significance is not so much about a single project. It is the beginning of Canada’s irreversible economic decline caused by the anti-enterprise policies of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s regime.
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by Seth Frantzman, THE HILL

Israel’s new “Momentum” plan integrates all elements of its armed forces in innovative ways.

Iran is shipping sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, drones and other missiles to its allies across the Middle East. A seized shipment, revealed by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Feb. 19, included drone and cruise missile components reportedly linked to an attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil facility last September. To confront the threat, Israel rolled out a new multi-year plan to transform its armed forces’ ability to both fight a multi-front war and to confront Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is trying to do something unique in history by preparing the army for a potential future war that does not look like any before. Often armies end up planning to face enemies of the past, with disastrous results. This was the case with tactics of the U.S. Civil War, or the French army’s static defenses in World War II. Recent conflicts have revealed how technology is transforming the battlefield. This is illustrated in the counter-insurgency campaigns of the kind the U.S. has faced in the Global War on Terror, and inter-state conflicts such as tensions between Iran and other countries in the Middle East.
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Russia deploys warships to Syria’s coast as Turkey says it ‘opens the gates’ for refugees who want to cross into Europe.

AL JAZEERA

MORE ON BATTLE FOR IDLIB

• Turkish casualties as Syria rebels fight to hold on to key towntoday
• Turkey vows to drive Syrian forces back from Idlibyesterday
• Russia-backed Syrian forces kill more than 20 civilians in Idlibyesterday
• Syria’s Idlib sees ghost towns as hundreds of thousands flee2 days ago

At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Syrian government forces in northwestern Idlib province as Turkey vowed “to respond in kind” with attacks on “all” their positions.

The rapid escalation of the conflict on Friday also threatened another refugee crisis as media reports cited Turkish officials as saying they “opened the gates” for Syrian refugees to transit unimpeded to Europe.

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Israel’s technological innovation has turned it into a prominent driver of the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, which is digitizing global production and supply chains.

By Eytan Halon, JPOST

A robot engineered by Kuka adjusts a windscreen in a fully automated process on a model of the A-class production line of German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz at the Daimler factory in Rastatt, Germany, February 4, 2019. Picture taken on February 4, 2019.(photo credit: REUTERS)

The State of Israel didn’t exist during the first and second industrial revolutions, and was just a nascent entity as the third revolution ushered in a new age of information.

Given Israel’s modest size, it was never destined to become a global manufacturing power. Yet its technological innovation has turned it into a prominent driver of the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, which is digitizing global production and supply chains.

ital investments in Industry 4.0 technologies last year, surpassed only by the United States and China. Since 2014, annual investments in the sector have soared from $112 million to $650m., according to data published this week by Tel Aviv-based nonprofit Start-Up Nation Central. Approximately 260 Israeli start-ups are currently active in the field.
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By: Seth J. Frantzman, DEFENSE NEWS   February 18

Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade take part in a military training exercise near the border with Syria on Jan. 19, 2015. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

JERUSALEM — Israel has announced a new multiyear plan to restructure its armed forces to face existing and potential future adversaries for decades.

The plan, called “Tnufa” in Hebrew and “Momentum” in English, has been a priority for Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Israel Defense Forces’ chief of the General Staff, over the last year. The plan envisions fighting a multi-front war and harnessing the latest technologies to bring the most effective firepower from the largest number of different units to the forefront of the battlefield.

Momentum also seeks to shorten the time of a conflict while achieving more success on the battlefield and lessening the impact of war on civilians. Forces will be streamlined with the goal of a “swift and massive use of force against enemy systems,” the IDF said during a briefing about the plan.

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