Blue and White party has made no commitments yet to predominantly Arab alliance, which makes its recommendation to President Rivlin at 6:30 p.m. Sunday

By MICHAEL BACHNER and JACOB MAGID, TOI

The Joint List alliance of Arab-majority parties will reportedly on Sunday present a list of demands to the Blue and White party as conditions for recommending Benny Gantz as the next prime minister, although, despite talks, the centrist party has not yet made any commitments in return.

Blue and White has established a back channel to communicate with the Joint List — an alliance of four parties — which is said to be leaning toward endorsing the former IDF chief of staff. However, three of its 13 newly elected Knesset members, from the Balad party, are opposed to the move.

The primarily Arab slate will have to make a decision by 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, when its representatives are scheduled to meet with President Reuven Rivlin and tell him whether they recommend Gantz — the chief rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — as leader of the country.
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DEBKA Sep 22, 2019 @ 8:37

By William Anderson, AMERICAN THINKER

Great nations have great histories.  Over time, these develop into a national character.  The Western tradition contains many such nations, each with unique pride, burden, and curse.  Let us consider the case of Russia.

Russia has survived for more than 1,000 years.  These have been marked by great challenge, suffering, brutality, and achievement.  Natural resources abound.  She sometimes has considered herself to be of essentially Western heritage, while at other times, she has assumed a unique identity.

Spasms of mayhem have marred Russian history for many centuries.  From the very beginning, there has been a tradition, persisting to this day, of assassination as an instrument of national policy.  Plane crashes, poisonings, fatal assaults, and suspicious accidents continue to be an expected feature of domestic and international practice.  Successive governments have not made an effort toward a plausible denial of culpability in these matters.
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By Dogan Akman

Once again, some or a good number of the readers will find the heading to be outrageous and gratuitous.

It is my intention to demonstrate that the heading is both valid and a timely one that must be addressed on an urgent basis .And while I am at it, it is my further contention that the policies of the European Union and in particular those of France, are of kindred spirit.

Germany’s genocidal record

Germany has the unique distinction of being the only so-called   western “civilised” country that has committed not one, not two, but three genocides all within the first half of the 20^th century.

Namibia- The Ovahereros and the Nama: 1904-1908
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THIS IS A HORROR STORY. OUR WORST NIGHTMARE.

In exchange for recommending Gantz for PM, Blue and White promises Arab Joint List to repeal Kaminitz Law.

Arutz Sheva Staff, 
The Blue and White party promised the Joint Arab List that it will repeal the Kaminitz Law in exchange for the Arab party’s recommendation of Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz to President Reuven Rivlin for prime minister, according to a Channel 13 News report on Saturday night.

The Kaminitz Law is the term for the amendments to the Planning and Building Law in 2017, which was formulated following extensive administrative work by a staff headed by Deputy Attorney General (Civil), Adv. Erez Kaminitz.

The phenomenon of illegal construction on public and private land has plagued the state for many years. Every year thousands of buildings are erected throughout Israel in contravention of the Planning and Building Law. The phenomenon severely impairs legal planning and construction and the ability to advance solutions to the severe housing shortage in Israel.
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YAHOO NEWS

WASHINGTON — The Education Department has ordered Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remake the Middle East studies program run jointly by the two schools after concluding that it was offering students a biased curriculum that, among other complaints, did not present enough “positive” imagery of Judaism and Christianity in the region.

In a rare instance of federal intervention in college course content, the department asserted that the universities’ Middle East program violated the standards of a federal program that awards funding to international studies and foreign language programs. The inquiry was part of a far-reaching investigation into the program by the department, which under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has become increasingly aggressive in going after perceived anti-Israel bias in higher education.
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Deals to remove competing parties from election boomeranged against Likud, near-final figures show; Blue and White said planning interview blitz next week to claim victory

By TOI STAFF and MICHAEL BACHNER 20 September 2019, 9:50 pm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin at a joint press conference at Kfar Hamacabiah in Ramat Gan announcing Zehut’s withdrawal from the September elections, on August 29, 2019. (Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to remove two competing parties from the playing field ahead of last week’s election do-over backfired spectacularly, near-final results show, with the Likud — despite having absorbed the Kulanu party, and promised Zehut’s leader a ministerial post in return for dropping out of the race — winning 300,000 fewer votes than the three factions picked up separately in April’s vote.

In the lead-up to the elections on Tuesday, Likud absorbed Kulanu into its slate. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s party had won 10 seats in 2015 and four in April.

Netanyahu also reached a deal with Moshe Feiglin, the head of Zehut, which won 118,000 votes in April but still fell below the 3.25% Knesset threshold, to appoint him a minister in his next government and work towards his agenda of cannabis legalization, in return for Zehut withdrawing from Tuesday’s vote.
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T. Belman. This the point I was making yesterday.  The religious parties have become an albatross around the neck of Likud.  The majority of  Israeli Jews want a new social contract. I really hope that it is acheived.

As secular voters complain of ‘overboard’ religious coercion, it appears Netanyahu’s iron-clad alliance with ultra-Orthodox parties has cost him politically

By ARON HELLER, TOI

Ultra Orthodox Jews attend an election campaign rally for the United Torah Judaism party in central Jerusalem on September 15 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

AP — Yamit Dulberg considers herself a traditional Israeli woman with right-wing views who would usually vote for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party. But this week the 37-year-old mother of two cast her ballot for his main rival, in part because she’s sick of his ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies and their disproportionate power over daily life.

“Something has changed in recent years, the coercion has gone overboard,” said Dulberg, who runs a small family-run jewelry business. “We are a Jewish state, but not a religious state.”

In Israel’s secular heartland, religion played a central role in this week’s deadlocked election. For many, a vote for the opposition was driven by a desire to keep rabbis out of their schools, businesses and love lives.

With the Palestinian issue almost completely off the agenda, and a general consensus about security challenges, matters of religion and state took center stage.
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The latest round of attacks on Iran’s military complex in Syria’s Abu Kamal region are a joint operation by the Israeli and Saudi air forces, DEBKAfile and Gulf military sources reported on Friday, Sept. 20. Their targets are the al Qods Brigades bases, command centers, missile and ammo stores which Iran has set up close to the Syrian-Iraqi border, as well as Iraqi Shiite militia and Lebanese Hizballah forces. An estimated 100 Iranian and militia combatants were reported killed in the joint operation and several hundred injured.
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In new video clips from Intelligence Squared U.S., five experts debate three related motions about how we should handle the current power dynamics in the Middle East:

1. “Trump Is Right on Saudi Arabia”
2. “The World Is Safer Without the Iran Deal”
3. “Turkey Is an Asset to NATO”

The five debaters, all experts on international relations, shift sides and allegiances based on the motion. The debaters are:

• Michael Doran, senior director on the National Security Council under President Bush
• Reuel Marc Gerecht, former CIA case officer
• Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton
• Brett McGurk, the State Department’s former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
• Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative

By Lee Smith, TABLET

It wouldn’t seem hard for anyone remotely interested in the fate of the planet to draw at least one clear lesson from last Saturday’s Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia: There is no way that the regime that casually took 50% of Saudi oil production offline can ever be allowed to get anywhere near possessing a nuclear bomb. Imagine what a nuclear-armed Iran might do to the oil production on which the entire planet depends for energy, transportation, and food. Does anyone really care to wager that an Iranian regime that had such devastating weapons wouldn’t actually use them? That seems like a bad bet.
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By James Delingpole, BREITBART

Environment Canada – the federal environment agency in Canada – has erased a century’s worth of observed temperature data, claiming its modelled computer projections are more accurate.

According to Lorrie Goldstein of the Toronto Sun:

Canadians already suspicious of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax are likely be even more suspicious given a report by Ottawa-based Blacklock’s Reporter that Environment Canada omitted a century’s worth of observed weather data in developing its computer models on the impacts of climate change.

The scrapping of all observed weather data from 1850 to 1949 was necessary, a spokesman for Environment Canada told Blacklock’s Reporter, after researchers concluded that historically, there weren’t enough weather stations to create a reliable data set for that 100-year period.

“The historical data is not observed historical data,” the spokesman said. “It is modelled historical data … 24 models from historical simulations spanning 1950 to 2005 were used.”

This excuse is unlikely to persuade sceptical observers of the Climate Industrial Complex, which has consistently sought to play down, conceal or even destroy temperature data which does not fit in with the alarmist global warming narrative.
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T. Belman.  This encourages me to believe that Liberman and the religious parties will cut a deal and Liberman will join the Right again. The only question is will he agree to Immunity for Bibi?

The following is a translation of an excerpt of a post by Avigdor Liberman
on his Facebook page on 20 September, 2019

After counting almost 100% of the votes and before the meetings with the
president begin, a few updates:
…
4. In recent days, I have suddenly heard new music from the leaders of the
ultra-Orthodox parties. There are no more nicknames such as Amalek and
Hitler and there is a call to stop the hate talk. I warmly welcome it. For
us, and I have made it clear in the past, the ultra-Orthodox parties are not
an enemy, but a political rival. We follow different approaches. They are
Beit Shamai and we are Beit Hillel.

On issues of religion and state, we have reached a crossroads that requires
a decision between the two approaches. Not a compromise, but a decision.

It is important to clarify once again what is the minimum threshold for us
regarding religion and state:
– the Draft Law as written
– civil marriage
– conversion by the rabbis of cities
– Restoring the Western Wall Outline
– Core studies in ultra-Orthodox educational institutions
– Public transport and opening supermarkets on Saturday. The last two issues
will be within the authority of the local government according to the nature
of the community in each locality.

We will not agree to less than that, even at the cost of sitting in the
opposition.

T. Belman. Yesterday’s post, The End of Saudi Arabia’s Illusion, from the NYT was fake news. This article reports that the saudis and others, perhaps Israel, attacked Iranian interests. My information is that the attack was huge. Much bigger than reported here.

“Saudi fighter jets have been spotted along with other fighter jets that have attacked facilities and positions belonging to Iranian militias.”

BY Tzvi Joffre, JPOST

Royal Saudi Air Force F-15’s fly with US Air Force F-15’s. (photo credit: HANDOUT/REUTERS)

Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have been blamed for recent air strikes targeting pro-Iranian militias in the Albukamal area of Syria near the border with Iraq, according to Arab media. The attacks resulted in a number of deaths and injuries and the destruction of weapon storage facilities and rocket launchers.

“Saudi fighter jets have been spotted along with other fighter jets that have attacked facilities and positions belonging to Iranian militias,” said an unnamed source to the Independent in Arabic. The attacks targeted positions belonging to the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Albukamal and other areas near the Iraq-Syria border.
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Yisrael Beytenu leader blasts Netanyahu ‘deception’ in conditioning unity government on inclusion of religious parties; as potential kingmaker, his support could be crucial

By MICHAEL BACHNER, TOI19 September 2019, 4:46 pm

Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman reportedly told associates that he intends to recommend Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz as the next prime minister rather than Benjamin Netanyahu.

Liberman’s comments, made behind closed doors according to an unsourced Channel 12 news report on Thursday afternoon, would mark a significant boost to Gantz, who is seeking President Reuven Rivlin’s backing to form a new government and unseat Netanyahu.

Yisrael Beytenu MK Yevgeni Suba denied the report later Thursday, however. “We’re not recommending anybody at this stage — not Gantz and not Netanyahu,” he said, noting that Gantz has not ruled out sitting in a coalition including the ultra-Orthodox parties, which Suba said was a core Liberman demand.
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Netanyahu’s MKs still pledge loyalty, but the inconclusive election result may yet prompt them to commit regicide. Predicts one analyst: ‘They won’t stay on the Likud-Titanic’

By RAPHAEL AHREN, toi Today, 6:47 am

Given the inconclusive results of this week’s Knesset elections, the question of who will form the next government can perhaps best be answered with a sentence known as the Socratic paradox: “I know that I know nothing.”

There are numerous possible scenarios, but many experts believe that the most likely outcome of Israel’s current coalition conundrum is a broad unity government including Blue and White and Likud, but only after the latter has deposed its longtime leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blue and White has long called for a unity government, but insists that Netanyahu not be a part of it, due to the three pending corruption cases against him. However, all senior Likud MKs — even including the former minister Gideon Sa’ar, who Netanyahu previously accused of plotting a coup against him — insist that they won’t abandon their chairman. Anticipating a possible revolt, he had made them all sign a loyalty pledge before the elections.
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Blue and White reportedly promised Yisrael Beytenu leader he will be part of any coalition they lead.

By Ben Ariel, INN

The leaders of the Blue and White Party have promised Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman that he will be a part of any government they lead, Channel 13 News reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Blue and White realized that Liberman does not intend to return to the right-wing camp, and have assured him that he would be with them in any government so that he does not become concerned that a unity government would be established without him.

The report further added that Benny Gantz is expected to meet with Amir Peretz in the coming days in an attempt to add the Labor-Gesher party to the left-Arab bloc.

The Blue and White Party reportedly wants Gantz to be the first to receive the mandate from the President to head the government, so they intend to ask the Joint List and the Democratic Union to recommend Gantz as Prime Minister.

The party headed by Gantz and Yair Lapid also wants to replace the current Knesset Speaker, Yuli Edelstein, with a candidate from the party – most likely Meir Cohen, and are trying to formulate a majority for that.

T. Belman.. So Netanyahu must look elsewhere.  Hewill have to cut a deal with Liberman and get the UTJ and Shas to go along with it.

Gantz is the most uncharismatic leader I have ever seen.

Or Let Liberman be Deputy Prime Minister and call it a day