While American millennials have a liberal reputation, young Israeli Jews, who have never known a real peace process, identify as right-wing at much higher levels than their parents

By LAURA E. ADKINS and BEN SALES, JTA

JTA — Like lots of millennials who have catapulted to fame, May Golan got her start on the internet, blogging about life in her South Tel Aviv neighborhood. From there she gained a platform as a social activist, with 25,000 followers on Facebook and 16,300 on Twitter.

On Tuesday, hours before she won a seat in Israel’s Knesset, she reached out to voters in one last Facebook video.

“The right wing government is in danger,” she warned viewers, wearing a T-shirt with the words “Netanyahu. Right-wing. Strong. Successful.” emblazoned in blue and white block letters.
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By Ron Jager

Benjamin Netanyahu has been declared the winner of an unprecedented fifth term as Israel’s prime minister, refusing to be beaten by the combined political force of three former IDF army chiefs; pending bribery and fraud allegations hanging over him; and the combined forces of a hostile broadcast, printed, and digital news media who spent the latter part of the past three years hounding and tarnishing Netanyahu day and night. All have failed to end his political career. Netanyahu, a seasoned conservative politician and a brilliant political tactician, proved once again his ability to lead and overturn what seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he would be ousted.
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I sure hope the final ballots to be counted won’t change that.

By Patricia McCarth, AMERICAN THINKER

It has been a long time since a person as young as Candace Owens appeared on the political scene who is as brilliant, grounded, and quick-thinking as she is.  She is the same age as Rep. Ocasio-Cortez!  Let that sink in a minute.

Owens has about a hundred I.Q. points on the supremely ignorant Ocasio-Cortez.  Owens’s grace and class are the antithesis of Ocasio-Cortez’s empty-headed, ditzy meanderings.  Owens’s videos are all worth watching, and her performance on Tuesday in front of the House Oversight Committee was spectacular.  She put the Democrats on that committee to shame, especially Jerrold Nadler and Ted Lieu.  Both of them tried their best to humiliate her, to use her as a prop in their latest narrative that Trump is responsible for a make-believe rise of white nationalism and white supremacy.  The two of them are imbecilic at best.  Their focus on “white nationalism” is nonsense, but that is all the Democrats have now: nonsense.
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Antisemitism and Islamophobia are both depraved forms of hate, but the root causes affecting them are light years apart. Are Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump a potential couple just because both are politicians?

By Dr. Avi Perry, INN

The latest action by the Democratic House of Representatives condemning all forms of hate—rather than singling out an anti-Semitic Spring within its own ranks—has contributed to a gross distortion, typical of an ignorant liberal thinking, presuming that all forms of hate may be thrown into a single bowl to fashion one appealing salad.

It’s very possible that the ineffectual resolution was not sorted out under malicious intent, but rather under an ignorance-soaked naivete. Still, the outcome was a shameful misrepresentation of reality, serving the wrong purpose, leaving the door open for more of the same antisemitic outbursts by those who had been left unscathed.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia are both depraved forms of hate, but the root causes affecting them are light years apart.
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TOI

The first three books on Israel’s current bestseller list are, in descending order, a tale of three generations of women searching for their family’s past; a part-imagined coming of age story of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s daughter and her view of the Hasidic revolution; and a fictional telling of the challenges facing a boy orphaned in the 1948 Independence War.

Number four on the list is a 344-page political manifesto saying Israel should annex the entire West Bank, encourage Palestinians to leave the territories, move government facilities to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and the attorney general.

The protracted and radical platform may sound like fiction. But in two days’ time, it could be well on the way to becoming policy advocated by a party at the heart of the Israeli government.
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T. Belman. During the campaign, I asked, why is Feiglin so strong while Bennett and Shaked are so weak. This article answers me in part. I wish him and Zehut well.

Seven clues to understand the mysterious appeal of Moshe Feiglin and Israel’s uniquely Jewish brand of libertarianism

By Liel Leibovitz, TABLET

What to make of Moshe Feiglin? Until a few months ago, the radical right-wing activist and former Likud backbencher was no one’s idea of a political contender, let alone kingmaker. Now, if polls are to be believed, Israelis casting their votes are slated to hand Feiglin’s party, Zehut—the word is Hebrew for identity—as many as seven Knesset seats, which might make it the most sought-after partner for anyone seeking to assemble the country’s next coalition. Much has already been writtenabout Zehut’s unorthodox platform, which advocates for a host of seemingly incompatible policies, such as the legalization of marijuana and the establishment of an independent halachic legal system side by side with the country’s secular courts. What’s behind the party’s rapid rise? Seven observations come to mind:
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By MATTHEW R. J. BRODSKY, NATIONAL REVIEW

It is too supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood and too close to Iran.It is a good idea in theory: Assemble a coalition of Sunni Arab states, call it the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), and create a multinational military force meant to serve as a bulwark against Iranian aggression, terrorism, and extremism. Such an alliance would finally allow the U.S. to lessen its Middle East footprint, as the 2017 National Security Strategy recommended, and allow the Pentagon to redeploy some capabilities toward China and Russia — two of the “Big 4” countries that pose the greatest menace to the United States according to the latest U.S. intelligence community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment. It is also hoped that such a self-sufficient Arab military pact would help bring some much-needed stability to the region.
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By Yossef Bodansky, YAHOO FIANANCE

A new bloc is emerging in the greater Middle East with the declared objectives of dominating the entire Arab world, confronting and containing the US and its allies; and controlling and benefiting from the entire hydro-carbon economy, from production to transportation. The leading members of the new bloc are Turkey, Iran, and Qatar; with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan submitting to the new bloc. Russian experts call the new bloc “the Middle Eastern Entente”.

The key to the success of the bloc is the emerging correlation of influence of the great powers in the aftermath of the wars in Syria and Iraq. Russia and the People’s Republic of China are ready to compromise with the regional powers in order to secure their vital and global interests, while the US, Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Israel, are the nemeses of the bloc.
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Unprecedented move will be first time Washington blacklists a foreign military; designation could complicate Iraq, Lebanon ties and spark backlash against US interests in region

By AGENCIES, TOI

President  Rivlin’s reveries

By Dogan Akman

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is visiting Canada. He came to be part of a crowd singing Matishyahu’s popular song “One Day” at an event  this Tuesday hosted by the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Toronto and Israel Bonds Canada featuring the social-music initiative Koolulam.

As protocol requires , on his way to Toronto, on Monday he stopped in Ottawa for a courtesy visit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

I have to admit that ever since he strongly objected to the nation-state law duly enacted by the Knesset, I don’t think much of him.
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Are good relations with the EU worth it if the price to pay is surrendering strategic land that is key for Israel’s survival?

By Ezequiel Doiny, CONSERVATIVE PAPERS/strong>

On December 28, 2017 Israel National News reported “A number of government ministers were surprised to discover this week that, without notice, under their noses, an agreement was signed with the European Union that could have very significant implications for the State of Israel vis-a-vis the PA, B’Sheva revealed this morning, Thursday.

This is an agreement called the “Transboundary Cooperation Program in the Mediterranean Basin” and is aimed at financing projects costing tens of millions of euros for 14 non-EU countries in the Middle East, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which is also defined as a political entity.
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Here’s the transcript.

“…We had Barack Obama use the State Department and American tax dollars to try and defeat Benjamin Netanyahu last time around. We have the New York Times that has a daily drumbeat of anti-Israel, anti-Netanyahu stories by cretins, malcontents, miscreants, and that sort of crowd. We let me use my microphone to do the following: I don’t know the extend to this program reaches into the State of Israel but we are heard on podcasts throughout the world and including in Israel. And I just want to encourage the Israelis as strongly as I know how to vote for Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party. Benjamin Netanyahu has not only been a great leader for Israel but during the time when Obama was President he was the most important leader of the free world. He is a tremendous ally of this country, and he’s hated by the Left because he’s a strong leader. He’s hated by the Left because he’s made Israel a strong, economic country. He’s moved it towards the free market and away from socialism. He’s hated by the Left because the Israelis know how to defend themselves, and they’ve built up a military second to none in the Middle East.
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