US denies involvement while Jerusalem remains mum as per its policy; Iranian state TV claims trucks were carrying fuel to Lebanon, but others claim weapons were also being shipped

By AGENCIES and TOI STAFF    9 November 2022, 7:39 pm

Israel was accused Wednesday of carrying out a series of overnight airstrikes on a convoy near the Syria-Iraq border that left at least 10 people dead, including a number of Iranian fighters.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the strikes on a series of trucks as they crossed into Syria from Iraq at the al-Qaim crossing shortly before midnight Tuesday. The trucks were reportedly carrying fuel and possibly weapons from Iran to Lebanon.

Read more…

Among the arguments advanced in support of such a move is the court’s ostensible over-involvement in lawmaking; the claim that our politicians, as elected representatives of the people, should hold ultimate sway over non-elected judges; and the fact that parliament holds primacy over the courts even in such mighty democracies as Britain.

Read more…

By Kan Donovan, WESTERN JOURNAL

“Here We Go Again… Suspicious Ballots Arrive Way After Legal Deadline in Detroit,” Ben Wetmore reported on Wednesday, after a confusing election night.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan voters on Tuesday decided to enshrine reproductive rights, early voting and financial disclosures on behalf of certain elected officials into the state constitution. Voters in Oakland County came out to support transit.

Read more…

Netanyahu is likely to form a government within a week or two, after a compromise has been found regarding the details of the proposal that will allow the Israeli coalition to reenact laws overturned by the Supreme Court and avoid judicial oversight

By Michael Hauser Tov, HAARETZ
Credit: Photos: Hadas Parush, Ohad Zwigenberg, Debbie Hill / Artwork: Anastasia Shub

Officials from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said on Wednesday that the coalition agreement with the heads of the right-wing parties that are likely to join the government will contain a commitment to enact a parliamentary override clause.

The party heads made it clear they would not be satisfied with anything less, and would not sign a coalition agreement that only includes the distribution of ministries and a promise to reverse the previous government’s legislative agenda.

Read more…

T. Belman.  The battle lines are drawn. Will Bibi weigh on on the matter and try to thwart annexation? Regardless, it all depends on whether Smotrich is the Min of Defense or removes Area C from the Civil Administration.

Israel National News  Nov 10, 2022,

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Richard NidesOlivier Fitoussi/Flash90

United States Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides sent a warning regarding the possibility that the next government will attempt to annex land in Judea and Samaria. In an interview with Kan News on Thursday, the ambassador stated that he will fight against any attempt to make such a move and explained, “The United States and most of the Arab nations oppose annexation.”

The ambassador opened by expressing his willingness to work with the new government, saying, “I want to start with a relationship with this government that is strong and enduring, I want to work closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I want to work closely with his government.”

Read more…

by Marilyn Stern, Middle East Forum Webinar    October 31, 2022

Joshua Teitelbaum, Bar-Ilan University professor and author, spoke to an October 31^st Middle East Forum Webinar (video) about the increasingly open relations between Israel and the countries in the Persian Gulf region.

Teitelbaum touted the progress that has been made between the Jewish State and the Gulf countries, noting that the past vitriol expressed toward Jews and Israel by many Arab countries and their leaders is diminishing. He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE), “a pioneer in the relations,” has employed “soft power” since it joined the Abraham Accords brokered by Washington under the Trump administration. Describing the UAE’s method, Teitelbaum said, “First, they make Judaism kosher, and then they make Israel kosher.”

Read more…

Many on the left warn that democracy is in peril, just because the government they back isn’t in power.

By Eugene Kontorovich, WSJ

The victory of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has many on the left bemoaning the end of democracy in Israel. Even before voting began, Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) threatened harm to bilateral relations should Israelis vote to the right. The State Department has said it would boycott some right-wing ministers, and President Biden waited almost a week before calling to congratulate Mr. Netanyahu. Yet Secretary of State Antony Blinken apparently had time Friday to phone Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who last stood for election (to a four-year term) in 2005.

Read more…

By streiff, RED STATE | 1:30 PM on November 09, 2022

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has publicly directed the Russian Army to withdraw from Kherson City and all occupied territory on the right bank of the Dneiper River

This is the rather bizarre, stage-managed conversation in which General Sergey Surovikin, commander of Army Group South of the Russian Army in Ukraine, presents his assessment to his boss and gets permission to do what he would have to do without permission.

Read more…

TFI GLOBAL

EU’s plan to rebuild Ukraine comes crashing down

First Netherlands, now Slovakia: EU’s ‘silent removal’ of sanctions

A Republika Srpska is coming very soon

Election reform candidates are not the threat. The threat to democracy is to leave things the way they are.

By Edward Ring, AM GREATNESS

In a society that retains trust in its institutions, the most authoritative source for news and information would probably be the publicly funded media property that is supposed to adhere to the highest standards of journalistic objectivity. Here in America, that would have been PBS. Except it isn’t. The American media, by and large, along with Silicon Valley’s social media communications oligopolies, are doing everything they can to deny American voters the opportunity to politically realign their nation.
Read more…

Kyiv sees ‘no signs’ of Russian pullout from Kherson

By AFP  Today, 6:54 pm

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak says Kyiv sees “no signs” that Russian forces are withdrawing from the southern city of Kherson, shortly after Moscow ordered the pullout.

“We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight,” Podolyak writes on Twitter, suggesting the announcement could be a ploy and calling the order from Russia’s defense minister a “staged TV statement.”

New York Times

An aerial view of the city of Kherson, Ukraine, in May.Credit…Andrey Borodulin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Rajan Laad, AM TH

There was supposed to be a red wave that would put the corrupt, entitled, arrogant Democrats in their place. The GOP was supposed to take the House by an emphatic margin and possibly the Senate, too.

They said it was not a question of if, but when it would happen.

As someone on Twitter rightly observed, at this point, the GOP would be lucky to have Red Trickle. Even if the GOP takes the House, it will be by a slim margin.
Read more…

An attorney set to enter the Knesset with the Likud party next week says she intends to ignore rulings from the High Court of Justice striking down legislation, claiming Israel’s highest court lacks the authority to do so.

Tally Gotliv, a freshman lawmaker, told the Ynet news site in remarks published Tuesday that planned efforts to pass a clause that would allow lawmakers to override court vetoes were not needed.

Read more…

T. Belman.  Kurtzer is begging the Left to come off their high horse and drop the charges against Netanyahu and agree to join his government, in order to keep Smotrich and Ben Gvir out. If either Lapid or Gantz go for it, then Netanyahu will join with the taker rather than with Smotrich and Ben Gvir.

The stakes are extremely high: Either keep Netanyahu on trial, or risk Israel’s democracy, its civil rights and its international standing and alliances.

By Amb Daniel Kurtzer, HAARETZ

The anti-Netanyahu parties need to assess carefully what is most important to them and to Israel. The stakes are extremely high

T. Belman. Powerful forces are aligned to convince Netanyahu to diminish the victory of the right in Israel.  This is the latest such attempt. You will recall that President Herzog also called for unity government, as did Bennett and Amb Kurtzer to name the most prominent voices.. To deny Ben Gvir a cabinet post is to exclude the Religious Zionist Party from the government. This pressure is also being apply to Gantz and Lapid to relent on their refusal to sit in a government led by Netanyahu.

Everyone can accept Netanyahu’s centrist policies. They cannot accept religious Zionist policies. ALL THE MORE REASON TO INSIST ON THEM.

Yisrael Beytenu MK: Bibi is trying to get rid of Ben Gvir and Smotrich

Mercaz Olami organization of Conservative Judaism makes direct call on next PM not to allow Otzma Yehudit leader to ministerial position.

Israel National News  Nov 8, 2022, 10:46 PM (GMT+2)

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Chai BarBen Kelmer/Flash 90

Mercaz Olami, the Zionist arm of Masorti-Conservative Judaism in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Australia, called on presumptive Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu not to allow Otzma Yehudit chairman MK a minister in the government he is expected to form.

Read more…

MK Bezalel Smotrich, Religious Zionism chief, to demand changes in how construction is approved in Judea & Samaria in coalition negotiations.

Israel National News

Bezalel SmotrichPhoto by Yossi Aloni/Flash90

Religious Zionism chief MK Bezalel Smotrich will demand the cancellation of the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria as part of the coalition agreements, Israel Hayom reported.

According to the report, Smotrich’s plans would see the cancellation of the Civil Administration, with the services it currently provides being transferred to the authority of the relevant government ministries. Such a step is seen by many as progress in applying de facto Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.

Read more…

“We don’t understand what’s going on with him,” a senior member of the emerging coalition tells Israel Hayom after incoming prime minister seeks to swear in government without written promise to reform judiciary.

By  Amir Ettinger and Yehuda Shlezinger, ISRAEL HAYOM

With Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu set to form a coalition with right-wing and Haredi allies, there is growing discontent among his partners over what they say is a reluctance to promote legislation that would empower the legislative branch to override the Supreme Court in certain cases.

Netanyahu and the Haredi-Sephardi party Shas are at loggerheads with the far-Right Religious Zionism Party and the Haredi-Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism, with the former group seeking to put off any major initiatives on judicial reforms, while the latter two demanding this be cemented into the coalition agreements prior to the swearing-in of the government later this month.

Read more…

By Ted  Belman

Alon Pinkas, in Haaretz, asks  Can U.S. and Israeli ‘Shared Values’ Survive a Far-right Government? and writes:

“The narrative was simple: The United States and Israel are sister democracies, united by an unwavering commitment to a pluralistic, open, tolerant and diverse society. They cherish the rule of law, separation of powers, judicial independence, minority rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and checks and balances.

The Left in Israel may support that narrative but they were soundly defeated.

Read more…