PM says Benny Gantz rejected offer to form rotational unity government, calls on Yisrael Beytenu to help him form right-wing government.

Arutz Sheva Staff, 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on Yisrael Beytenu chief Avidgor Liberman Wednesday to help him form a right-wing government, after the prime minister’s meeting with Benny Gantz Tuesday night failed to achieve progress towards the formation of a national unity government.

Netanyahu cited Liberman’s vow to back whichever candidate pushed for a unity government, if the second candidate refused the overture, saying the time had come for Liberman to make good on his promise and back the Likud after Tuesday night’s failed talks with Blue and White chief Benny Gantz.

“Unfortunately, during our talks last night Benny Gantz refused to accept the condition set by Avidgor Liberman – accepting the president’s compromise arrangement under which I would serve first as prime minister, as part of a rotational premiership. Liberman said that he would go with whichever side doesn’t refuse the deal. Now, all that is left is to see if Avidgor Liberman will keep his promise.”
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BREITBART

(JNS) As Israel approaches what would be its third election in less than a year, many Israelis and international observers are questioning the sustainability of the country’s complicated parliamentary system.

Yet at the heart of Israel’s current political impasse lies not only its system of government, but also its justice system.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether or not to issue formal indictments in three separate cases against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Case 1000, Netanyahu is accused of receiving gifts worth over $200,000 from friends over an extended period, while Case 2000 and Case 4000 both involve alleged attempts by Netanyahu to secure positive media coverage in exchange for political favors.
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By Ofira Seliktar, BESA

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,349, November 19, 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: President Trump’s ill-advised decision to withdraw from Syria should be viewed in the context of two broader developments. In terms of foreign policy, both the Republicans and the Democrats are moving from international engagement to neo-isolationism; and strategically, the Pentagon is shifting from the war on terror to a renewed focus on Russia and China.

President Donald Trump’s hasty decision to abandon the Syrian Kurds, America’s most loyal allies in its war on ISIS, and the subsequent Turkish invasion triggered a firestorm of condemnation from both sides of the political aisle. Although Trump backed down and allowed about a hundred troops to stay, even some of his closest Republican supporters expressed anguish and dismay. The Democrats, seeking a winning issue in the middle of the contentious impeachment process, described the decision in dire terms. Critics on all sides warned that by betraying the Kurds, the US lost all credibility in the Middle East and beyond.

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In light of the growing probability of a direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran, Israel would do well to remember Elie Wiesel’s words: “Better to believe the threats of our enemies than the promises of our friends.”

By Eytan Gilboa, ISRAEL HAYOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently warned that increasing Iranian provocations and the absence of a US response could lead to a dangerous military confrontation between Israel and Iran. While some have suggested the warning is designed to break Israel’s political deadlock and push for the establishment of a national unity government of the type Netanyahu favors, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the head of the IDF’s Operations Directorate, have issued similar warnings.

Military and strategic experts argue that an Iranian military attack on Israel is just a matter of time, in part due to American strategic weakness, as reflected in its failure to respond to a series of Iranian provocations in the Gulf. The main purpose of such an attack would be to deter Israel from continuing its relentless strikes on the military infrastructure Iran is attempting to build in Syria and more recently in Iraq.
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T. Belman. This is no deal at all.  Its bullshit. They must at least meet Liberman half way in terms of what he has been demanding.

In bid to form a right-wing government, brokers offer compromise deal to Yisrael Beytenu and haredi parties to break ongoing deadlock.

Arutz Sheva Staff, 19/11/19 08:57

Negotiators trying to cobble together a narrow right-wing government have put together a new compromise deal, offering the plan to Yisrael Beytenu and haredi lawmakers in a bid to resolve the ongoing dispute between the two sides, and pave the way for a new right-wing government.

According to a report by Reshet Bet Tuesday morning, officials working to broker a deal between Yisrael Beytenu and the haredi Shas and United Torah Judaism parties have offered a new compromise arrangement aimed at bringing both sides into a new right-wing government led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Under the proposed compromise deal, the haredi parties would cede a number of powerful positions they have held since 2015, including the Interior Ministry portfolio, currently held by Shas chief Aryeh Deri, and leadership of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, currently held by UTJ MK Moshe Gafni.
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By SETH J. FRANTZMAN, NATIONAL REVIEW

Israelis take cover as a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets from Gaza, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, May 5, 2019. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

A battle with terrorists in Gaza is a preview of Jerusalem’s tactics in the next, larger conflict.Commuters on Route 4, driving toward the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod on November 12, were shocked by an explosion, a rocket impact next to a major intersection. Had it fallen on a car or one of the many trucks plying the route, there would have been deaths, and the road would have been closed. Instead, police and Israeli Home Front Command units came and cordoned off the sidewalk, and drivers went about their day. Twenty-five miles south of where the rocket landed, other rocket teams from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Iranian-backed terrorist group, were preparing to fire more than 400 rockets at Israel during a brief flare-up in fighting. Most of them would be intercepted by Israel’s high-tech air defense.
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AP Exclusive: By Matthew Lee

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, pauses during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. Pompeo spoke about Iran, Iraq, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, protests in Hong Kong, and Bolivia, among other topics. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that the U.S. is softening its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood.

Pompeo repudiated a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The move angered Palestinians and immediately put the U.S. at odds with other nations working to end the conflict.

The Trump administration views the opinion, the basis for long-standing U.S. opposition to expanding the settlements, as a distraction and believes any legal questions about the issue should be addressed by Israeli courts, Pompeo said.
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By Amb. Yoram Ettinger

The following are politically-incorrect, game-changing themes, which have dominated my weekly article, videos, PowerPoint presentations, lectures and briefings in Israel (Hebrew) and the US (English). These game-changing themes dwell on US – rather than Israeli – interests, which is the common sense approach, when addressing US target-audiences. 

• The US investment in – not foreign aid to – Israel feeds the mutually-beneficial, two-way-street US-Israel cooperation, which yields to the US a few hundred percent annual rate-of-return, rendering the US taxpayer significant benefits (e.g., advancing research & development, increasing exports, expanding employment base, enhancing national security).
• The400^thAnniversary of the unique US-Israel ties  (from the 1620 “Mayflower” to the 2020 statues of Moses in the US House of Representatives and Supreme Court) reflects the deep roots of the American people’s solidarity with the Jewish State, which transcends the political beltway in Washington, DC, the US media and academia. 2020 will be dedicated to the amplification of the 400^th Anniversary via Congressional and State (Governors and State Legislatures) resolutions, a series of 2 minute videos, a series of PowerPoint presentations, exhibits (based on an inventory of over 100 documents), lectures and articles in the US and Israel.

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New Right leader Ayelet Shaked predicts Yisrael Beytenu and haredi lawmakers will be able to reconcile, opening door for Rightist government

By Ayelet Shaked, INN

New Right MK and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is optimistic that a reconciliation can be reached between the secular rightist Yisrael Beytenu party and haredi lawmakers, paving the way for a right-wing government.

Speaking with Arutz Sheva Monday, Shaked pointed to the more conciliatory tone taken by the Likud recently vis-à-vis Yisrael Beytenu’s chief, Avidgor Liberman, as a positive sign regarding the possibility of a last-minute rapprochement before new elections are called.

“The change in the Likud’s talk is correct. There is no reason at this time to attack Liberman; instead he should be seen as a partner. From the beginning, I believed that that is the right way, and I made great efforts in this regard.”
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T. Belman. Looking good. Blue and White has agreed to Liberman’s demands re religion. The Likud block has no choice but to do likewise. This is what I have been recommending.

If President Ford could give a pardon to Pres Nixon for far greater crimes than Netanyahu has been accused of, surely the same principles suggest that Netanyahu be pardoned by Liberman. Considering what Netanyahu has done for Israel and considering how insignificant the potential indictments are, we should put it all behind us and move on.

In a joint statement of Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, both sides reported progress and called the discussion “professional and good.”

By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 06:08

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman will conduct fateful shuttle diplomacy on Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz that will decide whether Gantz will form a minority government by Wednesday night’s deadline.

The four leaders of Blue and White decided late Sunday to await the results of Liberman’s meeting with Netanyahu before making a final decision on whether to give on forming a unity government and instead build a minority coalition backed from outside by a parliamentary safety net from the Joint List.

“We all agree that taking the country to a third election now would be completely insane,” Liberman said at an event in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. “We have to do everything possible to bring about a wide unity government.”
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T. Belman. That’s what I’ve been saying.

By Hezki Baruch, INN

MK Miki Zohar (Likud) took part on Sunday evening in the Likud “emergency conference” which was called to protest the possible establishment of a left-wing government supported by the predominantly Arab Joint List party.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Zohar called the haredim to compromise in order to prevent a third election in one year and also urged Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman to return to the right-wing bloc.

“We are in a state of emergency. There is a real danger that a left-wing minority government will be established. I truly hope that Liberman will come to his senses, will not lend a hand to this, and will prevent this because, ultimately, it’s in his hands. He can prevent this disaster and I hope that he does so,” said Zohar.
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But Leftist Privilege will prevent him from ever being held accountable.
Thu Jun 7, 2018

By Robert Spencer FPM

The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday that “the Obama administration skirted key U.S. sanctions to grant Iran access to billions in hard currency despite public assurances the administration was engaged in no such action, according to a new congressional investigation.”

And it gets even worse: “The investigation, published Wednesday by the House Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, further discloses secret efforts by top Obama administration officials to assure European countries they would receive a pass from U.S. sanctions if they engaged in business with Iran.”

This revelation comes after the news that came to light in February, that, according to Bill Gertz in the Washington Times, “the U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred.”
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The European Court of Justice’s ruling to label goods produced in Judea and Samaria is nothing short of an anti-Semitic bombshell.

by  Caroline B. Glick, ISRAEL HAYOM

Tuesday morning, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) released an anti-Semitic bombshell. It decreed that all EU member states must affix special labels to Jewish-made Israeli “foodstuffs” produced beyond the Green Lone and exported to EU member states. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought before a French court by Psagot winery, located north of Jerusalem.

Psagot’s manager Yaakov Berg was represented by a consortium of attorneys led by Brooke Goldstein, the founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project in New York. The focus of the Lawfare Project’s work is defending Israel and Jews from discrimination.

Israeli political leaders and American Jewish leaders roundly and rightly condemned the court ruling as anti-Israel, biased and anti-Semitic.
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DEBKA  Nov 17, 2019 @ 10:02

The arrival this week in Qamishli of 50 Russian military trucks, 300 troops and hardware confirmed the revised US intelligence regarding Moscow’s military intentions in Syria, as DEBKA Weekly 869 first revealed on Nov. 8.

Until recently, US strategic experts estimated that Moscow’s interests focused on expanding its Mediterranean coastal footholds up to Libya, for which the Khmeimim air base was designed. This US assessment changed abruptly two weeks ago, when the first Russian military delegation arrived in Qamishli, capital of the Kurdish cantons in northern Syria.  

The delegation was first thought to be looking for accommodation for the Russian troops taking part in joint patrols with Turkey along a 10-km deep strip on the Syrian-Turkish border.  But when Russian officials were photographed closely examining Qamishli airport and asking Syrian and Kurdish officials technical questions, warning signals flashed. Moscow was now seen to be eying Qamishli airport for conversion into a major military airfield to compete with expanding US military involvement in the region.

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T. Belman. This is a great backgrounder to the Liberman/Netayahu feud. Be sure to read the comments to Common sense dictates that Liberman and Netanyahu should cut a deal. They explain where the Hareidi are coming from.

By Caroline Glick, BREITBART  May 29/19

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party were unable to form a governing coalition within the six weeks prescribed by law — an outcome that seemed inconceivable six weeks ago, with the Likud’s stunning victory in Israel’s April 9 general elections.

And as a result, on September 17, Israeli voters will again go to the polls and again elect their representatives to the Knesset. In the meantime, Netanyahu will remain Israel’s caretaker prime minister.

The man responsible for Israel’s political chaos is former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Liberman, a native of Moldova, leads the Yisrael Beitenu party, which he formed 20 years ago. His party won five seats in April in Israel’s 120 seat Knesset. Although it is a paltry faction, its size was sufficient to block the formation of a government. Without Liberman, Netanyahu had a coalition of 60 – one short of a majority.
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