T. Belman. The upshot of this is no coalition solidarity.  Bibi is allowing partners to bring the legislation while at the same time to allow other partners not to vote for it. What’s that all about? Window dressing?

Kulanu will not tolerate any attempts to harm the current standing of the High Court, a top party official said.

By Yaakov Levi, INN

Avigdor Yitzchaki, a member of the Kulanu negotiating team, said Thursday that the party had made clear in its discussions with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that it would not tolerate any attempts to harm the current standing of the High Court.

That includes several laws that Jewish Home is demanding be included in its deal with the Likud, as well as a tenet that is included in Likud’s agreement with United Torah Judaism. Read more…

How many Democrats, especially the Jewish ones, would vote against the idea that Iran recognizes Israel?

By:Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu, JP

Sen. Marco Rubio’s insistence on amending the proposed Senate bill for review of a deal with Iran by requiring the Islamic Republic to recognize Israel is beginning to make Democrats squirm.

Iran has repeatedly stated that Israel should be wiped off the map. It is building Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and by all accounts, except Tehran’s, is not far from being able to obtain a nuclear warhead.

It doesn’t take an evangelist Republican to connect the dots despite Iran’s position that it would never never even dream of obtaining a nuclear weapon.
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By Senator Ted Cruz, WASHINGTON TIMES

Today, there is no greater threat to U.S. national security than the prospect of a nuclear Iran. Led by theocratic zealots who have pledged to “annihilate Israel” and who regularly lead chants of “Death to America,” an Iran with nuclear weapons poses an unacceptably high risk of murdering millions of Americans or millions of our allies.

For that reason, the top priority for the Senate should be to stop a bad Iran deal.

The Senate is now considering the Iran Nuclear Review Agreement Act (Corker-Cardin), which provides that any Iran deal must be submitted to Congress. This legislation started out with good intentions, and I supported moving it forward in committee. Indeed, I support anything that slows down the Obama administration’s headlong rush into finalizing an Iran deal that jeopardizes U.S. national security.
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Miriam Naor’s comments come as Likud is crafting a bill to let parliament override the top court.

By Revital Hovel, HAARETZ

The Israeli president, the current and former Supreme Court presidents and the state attorney general on Wednesday all sharply criticized Likud’s legislative efforts to weaken the court.

Supreme Court President Miriam Naor noted that her team was “the last barrier against harm to human dignity.” She was speaking at a conference on human dignity as a constitutional principle; the event was held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
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Meanwhile the Senate Rejects Tying of Sanctions Relief for Iran with Terror. Rubio’s amendment will reach the same fate.

T. Belman.  Is the “quiet understanding” for investment in infrastructure, the end of it or is Bennett going to insist that Netanyahu publically commit to building more homes?

Arutz Sheva has learned that settlement figure Ze’ev Haver has come to a quiet understanding with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

By Yaakov Levi, INN

In the wake of demands by the Tekuma component of Jewish Home, Arutz Sheva has learned that the head of the Amana construction firm, Ze’ev Haver (“Zombish”), one of the most influential members of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria, has come to a “quiet understanding” with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The two have been discussing the needs of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria via “back channels” – and Ya’alon has promised that the new government will ensure that those needs are satisfied.
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T. Belman. Under no conditions should Israel agree to a Hudna so Gaza can be rebuilt. Hamas started the war and is unwilling to bury the hatchet. They keep rearming, building tunnels and training an army of youths. Also they keep talking about destroying us and are now connected to Iran. If they want to rebuild they must sign a peace agreement with Israel and agree to demilitarization. Nothing less will do.

In addition Turkey is our enemy and Qatar is also and haven’t recognized us. Neither should be intermediaries. We would just be giving them a foothold. This is madness.

Ankara floats idea of offshore harbor for Gaza; Hamas official accuses Israel of stonewalling all long-term ceasefire proposals

BY AVI ISSACHAROFF, TOI

A new proposal for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been put forth by Qatar and Turkey, The Times of Israel has learned.

Palestinian sources said that Turkey passed along the proposal via the Qatari ambassador to the Gaza Strip, Muhammad Al-Ahmadi, who visited Israel and even met with Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai.
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By Ted Belman

Recently I suggested that Israel should bail Greece out in exchange for favours. Now it appears that Russia took my advice.

INN reports:

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced today (Wednesday) that his country will receive 3 billion Euro ($3.3 billion US) for shipping Russian gas to Europe.

Russia has expressed interest in building an energy center in Greece to open up the European market to its natural gas.

Now Europe and Israel must ponder the new situation. No doubt Israel will negotiate with Russia to see how the two can work together.

By Yonah Jeremy Bob, JPOST

The Jerusalem Post spoke this week to three top experts on the law of armed conflict who will be among a plethora of other experts speaking and debating thorny issues at Shurat Hadin’s upcoming conference – “Toward a New Law of War.”

The experts, Col. (res.) Richard Kemp, former British commander of forces in Afghanistan, Professor Chris Jenks, a former US JAG officer and Professor Rachel Vanlandingham, a former US Air Force lawyer, presented a variety of views to the Post on cutting-edge issues under debate about how the law of armed conflict should evolve as Western armies find themselves fighting more asymmetrical conflicts against non-state actors who ignore or abuse those same laws.

Kemp said there are “many persuasive arguments” why change should happen with the law of armed conflict or at least how it is interpreted. Read more…

T. Belman. Former Masssad Chief, Efraim Halevy, says Obama was right, Iran capitulated
Op-ed: Netanyahu should accept the American offer of dialogue on the draft agreement reached in Lausanne, instead of signalling his intent to scupper it out of hand. This is worth reading.

Op-ed: Netanyahu needs to stop the hysterical rhetoric and start thinking about the benefits Israel can get – like full coordination, a diplomatic umbrella, fighter jets and missile defense funding.

By Ron Ben-Yishai, YNET

President Obama is now willing to promise Israel the moon and the stars, provided that Congress, under the influence of Benjamin Netanyahu, does not spoil his “deal” with Iran. The framework agreement is not yet final, but is supposed to be the crowning glory – and in fact almost the only legacy – of Obama’s foreign policy, and he will do anything to remove the obstacles in his path.
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T. Belman. Bibi is gutting the key reforms of the last government having to due with the conversion law and the draft law. I would have preferred to have Yesh Atid  in the government instead of UTJ and Shas. But this was not to be.

While Bennett is asking for more Jerusalem construction he is not asking for construction in J&S. Why not? Bibi on the other hand hasn’t granted either.

After coalition crisis as Jewish Home walks out of talks, Likud tells party its request for education portfolio will be granted.

By Ido Ben-Porat, INN

After Jewish Home cut off coalition negotiations, Likud representatives have indicated to the party Tuesday night that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will grant its chairman Naftali Bennett his request to become the education minister in the coalescing coalition.

Bennett lost no time in demanding a budget increase for the ministry to the tune of a billion shekels ($260 million) according to Channel 2, with the large expenses meant to add an additional assistant in every kindergarten with over 30 children, and to continue the summer camp program initiated by previous Education Minister Shai Piron (Yesh Atid).
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After cutting off talks with PM, Jewish Home MKs vent their fury at Likud for ‘taking us for granted’; ‘We’re not in Likud’s back pocket’.

By Ari Sofer, INN

The Jewish Home party convened a stormy faction meeting Tuesday afternoon, following its dramatic decision to cut off coalition negotiations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Party officials were particularly annoyed that Netanyahu has still not given any answer regarding Jewish Home’s key demands for more Jewish construction in Jerusalem.

But MKs also challenged that Bennett’s request for the Education Ministry is aiming too low, noting that Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party – which received just two more seats (10) – has reportedly received a far better deal from Netanyahu. They also lamented that the haredi parties Shas and UTJ – which received 7 and 6 seats respectively, to Jewish Home’s 8 – have also fared far better in coalition negotiations.
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T. Belman. Rosen says that the intent is to put pressure on Israel by further isolating her. He does not get into what, if any, the U.N. tools are, to enforce it. He goes so far as to say that they could amend Res 242. I will try to find someone to write a follow up article on what would happen if Israel rejected the resolution.

Obama has two cards to play to achieve his goals, the Iran card and the U.N. resolution card. He aims to force the opposition to both cards, to choose between minor amendments to both to get their approval. Its called linkage.

While the U.N. Charter specifically acknowledges the “sovereignty equality” of all members, Art. 25 provides “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.” So much for sovereignty..

by Steven J. Rosen, Wash Times

The concessions that President Obama is making to Iran have alarmed not just the right in Israel but also the left, and forced pro-Israel Democrats to choose between loyalty to the President and steadfast support for the Jewish state. Even former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has cautioned that “we need to all work together to return the special U.S.-Israel relationship to constructive footing, to get back to basic shared concerns and interests.”
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by Michael Freund, JPOST

It may be hard to fathom, but more than 13 years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the public is still being kept in the dark about a critical issue related to the events of that dreadful day.

As former Senator Bob Graham (D-Florida), who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee from 2001 to 2003, put it in an April 17 opinion piece in the Tampa Bay Times, “This is the essential unanswered question remaining from 9/11: While the hijackers were inside the United States, did they act alone or did others facilitate them?” Specifically, as Graham and others have noted, there is a host of evidence suggesting that senior figures from Saudi Arabia financed and assisted the atrocity that was perpetrated on American soil.
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T. Belman. To this list I would ask how can Bennett join a government that won’t lift the construction freeze or embrace the Levy Report. So far I have read nothing about this issue. Why doesn’t he once again join with Yair Lapid (11 mandates) and insist that Shas and UTJ be dropped from the Government if they don’t greatly reduce their demands. Yesh Atid would be a better fit than the two of them.

I just talked to a Bayit Yehudit insider about the thrust of this article and he advised that I shouldn’t believe anything I read in the papers and that the reality is far different. He went so far as to say that Bennett is not getting screwed and that any agreement achieved so far, with anyone, even if in writing is tentative only. Finally he nixed the Lapid idea saying Lapid is the only leader that Netanyahu has not talked to and that is because Lapid has removed himself from the running.

MK Rabbi Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid), Open letter to Naftali Bennett

Please, please be strong, and don’t cave. You are a man with values, and you represent a population that has strong principles. Represent them. And don’t give in just to sit in the next government.
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By Ted Belman

I was very upset to read that Kahlon was against legislation limiting the power of the High Court.

But today I read that MK Zahava Gal-on head of Meretz, met with Netanyahu to discuss the proposed legislation. She wrote on FB:

“Without a meaningful judicial authority, democracy cannot exist” and

“There is no one to defend it against the tyranny of the majority, no one who will guard it against itself.”

“a chance majority in the Knesset, a random parliamentary majority” to take away power from the judicial branch of the government, and inflict “the greatest possible damage on — first of all — human rights and also on Israel’s standing in the world.”

She is wrong on all counts. The role of the court is not to defend “human rights nor Israel’s standing in the world”. It role to apply the laws passed by the Knesset. It also has the role, as in most democracies, to declare laws unconstitutional and therefore not valid. All constitutional democracies provide for this. But Israel doesn’t have a constitution. To get around this problem, Israel passes laws which she calls Basic Laws to approximate a constitution in regard to certain issues. Read more…

 BY ROBERT SPENCER, JIHAD WATCH

T. Belman. Abrams assumes that the Kerry framework is the only game in town (’67 lines plus swaps). He wrongly assumes that all settlement blocs will remain in Israel and focuses on the growth of the Jewish population outside the blocs i.e., east of the fence. Kerry’s proposal suggested about 75% of the Jews east of the ’67 lines would remain in Israel and thus at least 150,000 Jews would have to be evacuated. According to his numbers only 93,000 would have to be expelled. But even this number he admits would present huge problems. Obviously double that number would exponentially increase the problems. One other point that should be noted is that no one has listed which settlement blocs we are talking about.  For the peace camp including the US Administration, to have any success at all in acheiving a two-state solution, it must abandon the ’67 lines plus swaps formula and work toward Israel keeping 10% of the land. This means putting enormous pressure on the PA. But as we know, this is not about to happen.

Keep in mind that the Obama Admin recently said that if Israel abandons the TSS, then the US will abandon Israel at the UN.

Eric Yoffee commented on this article in his Haaretz op-Ed, This right-winger’s about-face on settlements might inspire Netanyahu to stop building. He claims that Elliott Abrams admits that settlements do indeed make it harder for Israel to reach a two-state solution and goes on from there. I will leave it to you to critique Yoffie’s conclusions.

By Elliott Abrams and Uri Sadat, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, APRIL 16, 2015

Joint Arab List must reduce Jews’ fear / Yaron London
Op-ed: The Arab political leadership’s challenge is to convince the Jews that Israel’s Arab citizens have adopted a political culture which is different from the culture dominating the countries surrounding us.

Op-ed: If more people like Lucy Aharish become the face of Israel’s Arab public, the Jewish public will be more supportive of equal rights for Arabs and the level of hostility and racism will drop.

Ben-Dror Yemini, YNET

I don’t envy Lucy Aharish. It isn’t easy and isn’t simple to be avant-garde. She is blasted both by the Jewish radical right and by the Palestinian radical right. The coalition of extremists has once again expressed a uniform stance. For the former she is too Palestinian, supporting the struggle for equality, reconciliation and peace. For the latter she is too Israeli, because she chose the road of integration.

Aharish is avant-garde because she refuses to play by the rules of the herd. The herd demands hatred and incitement. The herd is against giving the Palestinians rights or giving the Jews rights. The herd has a lot of power in the Arab sector, and it’s also strong, we must admit, among part of Israel’s Jewish elites, where Aharish has already been attacked too.
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By ROBERT S. WISTRICH, JPOST

As a historian of the Holocaust I have always recognized its uniqueness. But without comparisons and the ability to correctly read the warning signals of looming catastrophes, such knowledge remains sterile and liable to paralyze timely action. Hence I respectfully disagree with The Jerusalem Post’s April 17 editorial, “Bad Comparisons,” which targets the “conflation” of Nazi Germany and contemporary Iran, allegedly made in my book A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad (2010).

The quotation from the book which is offered is not an assertion of identity between Nazism and Shi’ite fundamentalism.
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