He has mapped out his route to the premiership and will do everything to get there. He is young and he is not in a hurry.

By  Nechama Duek, ISRAEL HAYOM

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has described himself as a successful amateur chess player. He has boasted that he managed to force a draw against Natan Sharansky, who is considered an outstanding chess player. But now he is playing against Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich, who doesn’t play by the rules, and, the way things are looking now, may yet checkmate King Bibi. Read more…

T. Belman. This is important. The EU funnels money into these NGO’s to support the Palestinian resistance.

‘If we knew how to identify them in the early stages we would handle them in a much more effective way,’ Smotrich said at a Knesset conference titled Human Rights Organizations Operated by Hamas

By Noa Shpigel, Haaretz   

Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that human rights organizations are an existential threat to Israel and the incoming government must deal with them by “seizing their funds” and acting against them with legal and security measures.

Smotrich, who has demanded either the defense or finance portfolios as part of coalition negotiations, spoke during a conference hosted by the right-wing activist Ad Kan organization, titled “‘Human Rights Organizations Operated by Hamas” at the Knesset.

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T. Belman.  Smart move on Smotrich’s part.  He shows himself to conciliatory  and allows an experience person to be Min of Defence, while at the same time getting what he really wanted, namely control of COGAT.

Religious Zionism chief agrees to forgo Defense Ministry – but only if he receives responsibility for management of Judea and Samaria affairs.

Israel National News  Nov 21, 2022, 9:51 AM (GMT+2)

Bezalel SmotrichArie Leib Abrams/Flash90

MK Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, has informed the Likud that he is willing to compromise on his demand to be appointed Defense Minister – but only if certain conditions are met, Kan Reshet Bet reported Monday morning.

According to the report, Smotrich is willing to forgo the Defense Ministry if he receives the Finance Ministry and extensive responsibilities from the Defense Ministry related to Judea and Samaria.

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T. Belman. The article addresses a very important concern but falls far short in analyzing the problem. The authors exhibit a strong bias and have no idea of the complexity of the situation. They don’t even mention that the US and Europe have been courting Iran for at least a decade and how that factors in.

All in all, very unsatisfactory.

Russia’s new reliance on Iran’s weapons indicates a close alignment. Together, they are better equipped to bring the West to its knees.

By CATHERINE PEREZ-SHAKDAM, STEPAN STEPANENKO, JPOST

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2022 (credit: PRESIDENT WEBSITE/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

News broke in October that Russia had purchased kamikaze drones from Iran so they could be deployed in Ukraine. This formed part of the Kremlin’s military push against Kyiv – thus pulling Tehran into the European-centric conflict. While of course much ink has been spilled denouncing the move, few will find favor with Russia’s new fondness for Iranian military hardware and technology. The issue of such a rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran lies far beyond military cooperation, however, and should in fact be looked upon from an ideological standpoint.

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The White House has no right to dictate the conduct of a democratically-elected Israeli government. Op-ed.

By Morton A.Klein, INN    21.11.22

ZOA head Morton KleinArutz Sheva

(JNS) “Democracy is at stake” was a major theme voiced by President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party throughout the recent U.S. midterm elections.

For instance, during a Nov. 2 speech entitled “On Standing Up for Democracy,” in which Biden accused “MAGA Republicans” of voter intimidation, the president asserted: “Democracy is fundamental. … Democracy is on the ballot for all of us. … Autocracy is the opposite of democracy. It means the rule of one: one person, one interest, one ideology, one party. … Democracy is under attack because … [of the] refus[al] to accept the results of the 2020 election … the will of the people. … Democracy means the rule of the people—not the rule of monarchs or the monied, but the rule of the people.”

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T. Belman. The true col0urs of Likud and Netanyahu are on display for Israelis to see if they had any doubt up to now.  They don’t want to fight for sovereignty, they want a TSS but not right now. Only Smotrich and Ben Gvir are  fighting for Jews who want to extend sovereignty. They are our only hope.  It is now or never.

Otzma Yehudit announces that coalition negotiations have been stopped after Likud refused to give it the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee.

By Hezki Baruch, INN   20.11.22

Ben Gvir and NetanyahuSpokesperson

The Otzma Yehudit Party announced on Sunday evening that the coalition talks with the Likud have been terminated.

“Contrary to the earlier agreement, the Likud retracted and now refuses to give the additional minister – for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee – to Otzma Yehudit,” senior party officials said.

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Vast review finds no evidence that the Torah laws were commonly observed before the second century B.C.E., says Prof. Yonatan Adler. Not all agree

By Ariel David, HAARETZ

Third-century synagogue, Talumdic period, Anim, southern IsraelCredit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz

When was Judaism born? Tradition says it emerged more than 3,000 years ago at Mount Sinai, when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the rest of the laws contained in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

Most researchers have long dismissed the Exodus and the revelation at Mt. Sinai as foundation myths – leaving us with the question of how and when the first major monotheistic religion developed. And now a new theory springs a shock.

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BY ROBERT SPENCER, JIHAD WATCH

Here yet again we see that Islam is at the basis of the “Palestinian” conflict and is constantly invoked by those who support the “Palestinian jihad.” This guy is arguing against a “Palestinian” state not because he is pro-Israel, but because he believes that the entire Islamic umma should be united into a single caliphate, and that nation-states are infidel abominations. This has been the consistent position of Islamic leaders for years, while Western “experts” steadfastly ignore the role of Islam in the Israeli / “Palestinian” as well as in all issues involving Muslim countries. This is foolish and short-sighted in the extreme, and stems from the falsehoods that foreign policy analysts have been told about Islam and Sharia by Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups in the U.S.

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by Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post  November 20, 2022

Here’s a news item you may have missed which is as revealing as it is risible.

This past Monday, a young Israeli woman named Ofir Dayan visited the Temple Mount. Moved by the experience of setting foot on the site where Jews had longed to return for 19 centuries, she burst into song, proudly offering up a rendition of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem.

But as patriotism poured forth from her vocal cords in the heart of Jerusalem, Dayan was greeted by an unpleasant and rather unwelcome surprise, when an Israeli policeman asked her to stop.
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T. Belman. Who will stand down, Smotrich or Netanyahu?  A better question is, why is Netanyahu doubling down on this . Surely, it can’t be to appease the Biden Administration or can it? Could it be that he is ideologically at odds with Smotrich as the sub-title suggests?

I can not believe that  Likud nor Netanyahu would prefer to go to another election. Their threat has no teeth.

The Religious Zionist Party criticizes Benjamin Netanyahu for withholding the position from Smotrich, saying it is “strange” he is vetoing someone “who wants a true right-wing policy in security.”

By  Yehuda Shlezinger, ISRAEL HAYOM    20.11.22

Religioust Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich | File photo: Oren Ben Hakoon

Right-wing bloc negotiation teams are scheduled to meet on Sunday to continue the coalition talks that have been at an impasse due to disagreements over the role of defense minister.

The role is sought after by Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, who, according to reports, has been denied his request. Likud officials said that Smotrich will not be appointed defense minister, even at the expense of another election.

Read more…

In spending an astounding $3 million on Dr. Oz’s failed US Senate campaign, the group proved it has abandoned its pledge to further Jewish interests

By Shmuley Boteach, TOI

Mehmet Oz, a Republican candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, takes part in a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Every year I travel to the Republican Jewish Coalition confab in Las Vegas with my wife Debbie. But this year, I’ll skip it (and not just because it falls on my birthday November 19^th). No, I’ll be absent because the RJC is having a profound identity crisis that may only be solved with new leadership.

According to media reports, RJC head Matt Brooks announced that in October alone, the RJC was committing some $1.5 million to the Dr. Oz for Senate race in Pennsylvania. By the end of the month, he was doubling down – bringing the total spent on Oz on all platforms to more than $3 million – with an astounding $1.85 million spent on TV ads alone.
Read more…

by Giulio Meotti, GATESTONE  •  November 20, 2022

A country facing demographic suicide (1,707 kindergartens in Italy closed down in the last ten years) cannot afford to be overwhelmed by mass immigration without losing its national identity. That is why the new Italian government just returned to blocking ships carrying illegal migrants. Pictured: Illegal migrants that were brought aboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship between Africa and Italy, whom the Italian government refused permission to disembark, on November 10, 2022. (Photo by Vincenzo Circosta/AFP via Getty Images)

• Today, 90% of British demographic growth comes from immigration.
• The same shift is taking place in Sweden. In 2015 alone, Sweden welcomed 163,000 immigrants, the equivalent of 1.65% of its total population. Combined with other years, it is a demographic revolution: As of 2015, approximately 17% of the population were foreign-born.

Read more…

VGNI

Jews read in the Torah this week that our ancestor Abraham lived 175 years. This week’s positive Israel newsletter includes plans for both an Israeli Longevity Center and an Israeli Healthy Aging Center. So it is possible that one day we could again reach those Biblical lifespans – especially with the latest Israeli anti-cancer discoveries.

Israeli technology makes it possible for Africa to shrink its deserts; to make coral reefs resistant to temperature rises; to store energy underwater; to make environmentally friendly dyes and fabrics; to print vegan products for office workers; to fast charge electric vehicles and to power ships just with the wind.
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T. Belman. Harel thinks Smotrich won’t be appointed Min of Defense because his detractors, including the Defense establishment and Netanyahu, fear that he will solve what they couldn’t.

By Israel Harel, HAARETZ   20.11.22

Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich in August.Credit: David Bachar

Bezalel Smotrich almost certainly won’t be the next defense minister. This isn’t (only) due to American pressure, but also to the vehement opposition from leading media personalities and dozens of retired generals. (MY MONEY IS ON SMOTRICH FOR DEFENSE)

Benjamin Netanyahu, who during his many years as prime minister stood idly by while a Hamas state let entrenched itself in the south and a Hezbollah state did so in the north, is afraid of a talented man who, due to his original thinking and the fact that he isn’t part of the defense establishment, might prove that things can be done differently – that it’s possible to infuse the Israel Defense Forces with a new spirit and turn it from an army of containment into one that, in the next round of fighting, defeats Hamas and prevents Hezbollah from launching tens of thousands of missiles at Israel.

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IMRA    Dr. Aaron Lerner  19 November, 2022

If Smotrich and Ben-Gvir don’t blink there is good reason to believe that Binyamin Netanyahu will, with no time left to spare on the clock, form a coalition government with Bezalel Smotrich  serving as minister of defense.

This will be a triple bonus for Israel:
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T. Belman. The article correctly says what the Right wants is “a nationalistic right less concerned with the individual, that prizes Jewish nationalist values”. In essence Jews nationalism is being elevated above equality.  I am all for it. Israel is the state of the Jews, not of all its citizens. Many countries place foundational values above equality. Nothing wrong with that.

In clash over High Court override, it’s minority rights against majority’s will

By Amos Schocken, HAARETZ   18.11.22

Jews and Arabs against racism rally in Tel Aviv, 2021.Credit: Ofer Vaknin

Thirty years after its legislation, the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty will effectively be nullified: The intended passage of a law that would allow a 61-member Knesset majority to overturn Supreme Court rulings, signals this. Such a move reflects the deterioration of the Israeli right wing, from a liberal right that prioritized the singular citizen to a nationalistic right less concerned with the individual, that prizes Jewish nationalist values, that views non-Jews as a nuisance – in a state in which over one-fifth of its citizens are not Jewish.

Read more…

By Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz, NEWSWEEK

There is an Iranian revolution underway targeting the Islamic Republic. After more than eight weeks of protests, Iranians, especially courageous young women, are signaling that they want to end the radical Islamist regime that has ruled, and ruined, their lives. While the Biden administration equivocates, Israel should seize the greatest opportunity since the 1979 Islamic Revolution for regime change. Israeli intelligence services should be the tip of the spear: using their power to severely weaken, coercively deter, and, if fortunate, collapse the regime.

Read more…

by Majid Rafizadeh, GATESTONE  •  November 19, 2022

Reports from the NGO Iran Human Rights state that in recent anti-regime protests, 326 people have died and 15,000 have been arrested. Executions have already begun. The least the Biden administration can do to show support for the Iranian people is immediately to convene a UN session to address the ruling mullahs’ gruesome crackdown. Pictured: Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, in Tehran on September 21, 2022. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

• Reports from the Oslo-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights state that in recent anti-regime protests, 326 people have died and 15,000 have been arrested. Executions have already begun.
• The least the Biden administration can do to show support for the Iranian people is immediately to convene a session at the United Nations to address the ruling mullahs’ gruesome crackdown.

Read more…

By Diane Bederman

I have been a fan of Tucker for many years. He often shared a collage of main stream media bites that were exactly the same; as if someone had sent out a news release earlier in the day with “what to say.” He was the go-to-guy for the other side; sharing missing facts. He attacked Fake News.  He ends his broadcast with:

“The show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.”

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