by ANDREW C. MCCARTHY, NATIONAL REVIEW

The scope of the special counsel’s investigation remains unlimited, despite the deputy attorney general’s claim that it’s not a ‘fishing expedition.’

To what should be the surprise of no one, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has tried to defend his conferral of boundless jurisdiction to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Donald Trump. But the conferral is indefensible because Rosenstein failed to adhere to regulations that require a clear statement of the basis for a criminal investigation.

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By Dan Calabrese, CFP

One of the funniest things about the Beltway is that, when they talk amongst themselves, they often confirm everything people like us say about Washington and how it works. But they are so completely lacking in self-awareness that they don’t even realize that’s what they’re doing.

The Hill is one of the online publications most widely read by political types, and it’s considered a must-read inside the hallowed halls of power. These are the same halls of power, you’ll recall, where people scoff at the idea that there is a “deep state” working to undermine the Trump presidency. So imagine their surprise when The Hill, without really meaning to, confirmed over the weekend that everything we’ve been saying about the deep state is 100 percent true:

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For now Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is paired with Habayit Hayehudi party leader Naftali Bennett. But when the right moment comes, she’ll be No. 1 and a candidate for prime minister

By Carolina Landsmann, HAARETZ

With the generosity of a hangman, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked appeared in Ynet’s studio this week and told all the heretics, those waiting with bated breath for the fall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he isn’t obligated to resign if he’s indicted.

This was Shaked at her best. “Let’s wait and see what happens,” she said, with considerable relish. “First, by law, the prime minister doesn’t have to resign.” After all, she wasn’t there to say anything good about Netanyahu. He needn’t resign not because he isn’t guilty, but because the law doesn’t require him to do so. Look how much Shaked respects the law.

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By Jonathan S Tobin,  NATIONAL REVIEW

Senators Booker and Gillibrand signal that they’ll march in step with the radical, anti-Israel Left.

The shift to the left by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York demonstrates the power of a party base that is abandoning the Jewish state. Both were once rock-solid supporters of Israel. But both have other priorities these days — they are thinking about running for president in 2020. Their problem is that no one who plans to compete in future Democratic primaries can ignore the growing power of their party’s left wing, which has grown increasingly hostile to Israel.

The influence of the far left is the only thing that might explain why Booker and Gillibrand are presenting themselves to their party’s base as less than fully supportive of Israel. The context for this development is a sea change in the Democratic party that has been taking shape over the past two decades.

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By Matthew Boyle, BREITBART

Following troubling revelations and concerned raised about National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) announced it has undertaken a review and analysis of the top White House official’s positions, actions, and statements on Israel.

“Zionist Organization of America (‘ZOA’) issues the following statement in response to several media inquiries regarding General Herbert Raymond ‘H.R.’ McMaster’s tenure as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor,” ZOA said in a statement on Monday morning. “ZOA’s leadership is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of all publicly available facts and statements. Morton Klein, national president of ZOA, will be issuing a full statement later this week.”

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By Daniel pipes, ISRAEL HAYOM

A recent poll showed that Israelis want a tougher policy toward the Palestinians. And Palestinians, beyond occasional rampaging and murdering Israelis, what do they want

Shalem College Executive Vice President Dr. Dan Polisar reviewed opinion polls taken of Palestinians in recent years, and found that they hold three main views of Israel: It lacks a historical or religious justification, it is by nature aggressive, and it will soon disappear.

But attitudes might be changing slightly, judging by a recent poll that suggests a growing apathy toward the priorities of both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

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The Deep State forced Trump to
– sign Russian sanctions
– approve of Iran deal
– endorse McMaster
– install Kelly and authorize him to control all access and info getting to Trump
– allowed Sessions to avoid the big issues like attacking Obama, Clinton, Lynch, Wasserman-Shultz, etc

The Daily Beast reports two of the White House’s most senior officials are locked in a power struggle–and an internal ‘enemies list’ may be to blame.

THE DAILY BEAST

T. Belman. Nothing short of a conviction should lead to a resignation.

There are three possible timetables for Netanyahu’s legal process.

By Gil Hoffman, JPOST

Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi was not just defending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he said it would take a long time for the legal process in Netanyahu’s criminal investigations to take its course. He was speaking from experience.

Hanegbi became an expert on the Israeli legal system after serving as Netanyahu’s justice minister in his first term, and as Ariel Sharon’s public security minister. Hanegbi was convicted in 2010 of perjury after a four-year trial while being cleared of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He did not serve jail time and paid only a 10,000 fine.

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T. Belman. Roger Stone had no concrete evidence that said its fake news. He merely looked between the lines. This article confirms Trumps support and even quotes Kushner, who likewise gave support.  Bannon, to say the least, is not happy, Nor am I and all the Trump supports happy.

McMaster is the mirror opposite of Flynn. How could Trump stand by him, let alone appoint hint him.

By Chas Danner, NY MAG

This odd couple remains together, for the time being. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump and his son-in-law/senior adviser Jared Kushner are both pushing back on a widespread campaign to convince Trump to fire his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster. That campaign — which may include some top White House officials, but has primarily been conducted by nationalist, right-wing organizations and news sites — has sought revenge on McMaster for his ousting of four conservatives from Trump’s national security council, as well as for his opposition to simply voiding President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal without a backup plan. The #FireMcMaster campaign has proliferated on social media, too, including among Russian Twitter bots. As far as the anti-McMaster effort’s chances, there had been reports that Trump was thinking about pulling McMaster from the NSC to put him in charge of the war in Afghanistan, but on Friday night, in a rare, clearly concerted effort for this White House, both the president and Kushner released statements expressing their support for McMaster.

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Arabs have never shed blood – nor have Arabs dedicated their economic power – on behalf of Palestinians.

By Amb. (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, INN

The Al-Aqsa Mosque controversy has exposed, once again, the non-centrality of the Palestinian issue in the overall Arab order of priorities.

Contrary to Western media headlines, Arab policy-makers and the Arab Street are not focused on Palestinian rights and Al Aqsa, but on their own chaotic, raging local and regional challenges, which are not related to the Palestinian issue.

For example, while the top Palestinian religious leader, Mufti Muhammad Hussein, castigates Arab leaders for their inaction on behalf of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Egyptian President General Sisi, and the Egyptian street, are preoccupied with traumatizing economic and social decay and challenges; the dwindling level of tourism, which is a main source of national income; the lethal, domestic threat of Muslim Brotherhood terrorism; the Libyan chaos and its effective spillover into Egypt; the entrenchment of Islamic terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula, across the Gulf of Suez; the Gaza-based terrorism; the threatening collaboration of Turkey-Qatar-Iran and Turkey’s support of Hamas; the potentially-explosive border with Sudan; etc.

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By ROBERT DONACHIE, DAILY CALLER

President Donald Trump’s new Chief of Staff John Kelly gave a speech to roughly 200 White House aides Friday and warned them about the serious repercussions of leaking classified information and about their priorities in serving the president.

Kelly, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, reportedly told the staff that he did not care how long each staff member has been with the Trump camp or how they made it to the White House. Each member of the staff works with one common purpose: to serve at the pleasure of the president, he said Friday.

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By Jewish Breaking News

Forbes Israel has chosen Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked as the magazine’s “Woman of the Year.” The prestigious annual list includes 50 of Israel’s most influential women in a broad range of fields, including politics, business and academics.

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By Joshua Caplan, GATEWAY PUNDIT

By Ron Jager, AMERICAN THINKER

In the United States, the two groups that most ardently support Israel are Jews and evangelical Christians. Jewish support is easy to explain, but why should certain Christians, most of them politically quite conservative, be so devoted to Israel? There is a second puzzle: despite their support for a Jewish state, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians are disliked by many American Jews.

The evidence about evangelical attitudes is clear. In 2006, a Pew survey found that evangelical Christians were more favorable toward Israel than the average American was—and much more sympathetic than either mainline Protestants or secularists. In another survey, evangelical Christians proved much likelier than Catholics, Protestants, or secular types to back Israeli control of Jerusalem, endorse Israeli settlements on the West Bank, and take Israel’s side in a Middle Eastern dispute. Among every religious group, those who are most traditional are most supportive of Israel.

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