HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Redacted with Clayton Morris

Levin, Netanyahu said to seek further changes that would redefine High Court-Knesset balance of power, limit Israelis’ right to petition against government actions

By MICHAEL BACHNER, TOI    Today, 3:27 pm

Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) speaks with incoming Justice Minister Yariv Levin during a vote for the new Knesset speaker in the Knesset on December 13, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)[/caption]

The new government’s far-reaching plan to overhaul the judiciary is reportedly just the first step out of four, with additional plans including splitting the attorney general’s role, limiting the ability to petition against government actions, and major changes to the quasi-constitutional Basic Laws to reshape the balance of power between the Knesset and the High Court of Justice.
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Regavim hosts Likud MKs for tour of illegal Bedouin encampment east of Jerusalem, urging them to oppose plan relocating town to nearby site.

Israel National News   Jan 23, 2023, 10:24 AM (GMT+2)

A group of Likud MKs visited an illegal Bedouin encampment near Jerusalem Monday morning, as some members of the coalition government called for the encampment’s evacuation.

Likud lawmakers joined activists from the Regavim watchdog group, which monitors illegal construction in the Arab sector, for a first-hand look at Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin encampment built on Israeli land next to the town of Mishor Adumim, east of Jerusalem.

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by Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News   January 18, 2023

Published originally under the title “Israel’s Christian Population Grows as Church Numbers Dwindle in Region.”

Jerusalem, with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the foreground.

JERUSALEM — While the plight of Christians in the region has increased drastically, the population of Israeli Christians grew by 2 percent in 2021, according to a report released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in December.

The publication of the new data coincided with Christmas and showed roughly 185,000 Christians live in Israel and make up 1.9 percent of the country’s population.

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Mike Pompeo talks about his latest book and the dangers posed by antisemitism, Iran and China to Israel and the West. Pompeo will be signing his book in a special event with the Israel Heritage Foundation on Tuesday

By Yoni Kempinski, INN   Jan 22, 2023, 

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells Israel National News that the controversy that has erupted this week stemming from a passage in his new book about Nikki Haley plotting to be named Trump’s vice president while she was serving as the administration’s UN ambassador reveals a great deal about the way Washington D.C. functions.

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By Alexander G. Markovsky, AM THINKER

MS. St. Louis (public domian picture)

During his visit to U.S.-Mexican border in January 2023, President Biden brought up an ugly chapter in the history of Democrat rule in America.

In response to a reporter’s question about the admission of illegal border crossers, Biden replied: “I thought it was a human right for, you know, Jews in Germany to be able to go — to get to escape and get help where they could.”
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by Ruthie Blum January 22, 2023

_{The WSJ editorial board has a more positive take on the resilience and future of the Jewish state than the protesters in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.}

(JNS) Kudos to The Wall Street Journal for defending the new Israeli government’s judicial-reform plan. It takes guts for a news outlet to go against the grain of fashionable politics, particularly when the decibel level of the loud minority is so high.

Anyone arguing that it’s easy for the paper’s editorial board to take a stand that’s unpopular in far-away elite circles ought to reconsider. Though it’s true that the protesters in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem who’ve been spending the past three Saturday nights living it up by warning against the death of democracy are nowhere near WSJ headquarters in New York City, their voices have been resonating well beyond the borders of the Jewish state.

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Political official says PM giving ‘extremists’ free rein to entice opposition leaders to join govt. to serve as a counterbalance.

Israel National News     Jan 22, 2023, 11:11 AM (GMT+2)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to bring either the Yesh Atid or National Unity parties into his government, a senior political official told Ynet.

According to the official, Netanyahu has not reined in the ‘extremists’ in his government in order to create the condition for Yair Lapid or Benny Gantz to join the government in the next few months to serve as a counterbalance to the far right.

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T. Belman. I find the tone of this article very irritating. Its all about what American expects and Israel’s need to kiss their ass. Nides said;

“But there’s only so much time in the day, so it would be enormously helpful if we don’t have to be dealing every day with things that we fundamentally oppose, because that just distracts us from the bigger issues that we’re trying to achieve,” .

To the contrary, Israel should overwhelm the US with things it opposes. Israel must make it clear that Israel is in charge, not the US.

“My goal here is to keep calm.”

“keeping calm” is no longer the operative phrase. Israel’s goal is to reclaim its rights.

PM is eyeing Saudi normalization, closer cooperation with US on Iran, but Tom Nides tells ToI those will be hard to achieve if his Israel moves to shut door on two states for good

By JACOB MAGID, TOI     22.1.23

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The Supreme Court president has transformed the court into a super-legislator dictating terms of laws based on the values of justices.

By Caroline Glick

(JNS) Friday morning brought the first piece of good news from Israel’s Supreme Court in years. Yediot Ahronot’s top headline declared that Supreme Court President Esther Hayut intends to resign if the Knesset passes Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s judicial reform package.

Hayut’s stewardship of the court over the past six years has been disgraceful and destructive to both the court and the State of Israel. The Hayut court dropped even the pretense of judiciousness. Hayut cast the court on a course of ideological radicalism and politicization that has no parallel anywhere in the world.

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Israel’s court rules on economic, security, political and demographic issues. And it is chosen undemocratically. Op-ed.

By Barry Shaw, INN

Much has been said and written recently about Israel’s new government pushing judicial reforms.

The incoming government views past decisions taken by Israel’s Supreme Court as undemocratic and autocratic rulings which, they claim, have been politically biased interference in the business of government for several years.

The origins of their complaint stems from the intrusion of Judge Aharon Barak who became the President of the Supreme Court.

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Mark Sleboda: Radio Interview on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour 19/01/2023

Listen · 18M

Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine. US sponsors of the Ukraine regime claim that they are preparing to ramp up military aid, possibly including Western main battle tanks.
Also, Russia to pull out of the European Council, Henry Kissinger reverses the course on Ukraine joining NATO and Sergey Lavrov gave a speech on several issues.

Spectacular!  There is no other word to describe some of the latest incredible Israeli innovations in this week’s newsletter. Four exciting cancer treatment developments; a life-changing portable dialysis machine; a wearable to relieve chronic pain; a device to take your vital signs from 5 feet away; and another to diagnose ADHD from eye movements.

How else would you describe the appointment of an Israeli Arab as Israel’s youngest Professor; or as Israel’s ambassador to Muslim Azerbaijan? Or Israel hosting a cyber conference at the United Nations?

Then we have Israeli technology for machines to recognize smells; and to see in the dark, or to drive autonomously; or clean windows on skyscrapers. And don’t miss four exciting Israeli agricultural developments to help feed a hungry world. There has been a quantum leap in Israeli computer technology; and a massive increase in the number of new Israeli startups.

Finally, an Israeli has been running for charity in the harshest, but most spectacular places on Earth;

In the 22nd Jan 23 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

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The American cultural establishment behaves like the Saudis when it comes to Islam. Op-ed.

By Giulio Meotti, INN

A professor at Hamline University, Erika López Prater, showed a picture of the Prophet Mohammed in class. The decision sparked a storm on campus after students reported the incident and the university refused to renew the professor’s contract. The case took place during an art history lesson. The lecturer had shown images of two paintings of Muhammad from the 14th and 16th centuries.

Medieval works are considered canonical. The teacher had given a two-minute warning to the class beforehand so that observant Muslim students could choose not to view the material for religious reasons. The case was reported by the university’s Muslim Student Association, which described the lecturer as an “Islamophobe” in an email to staff.
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RED VOICE MEDIA

“Unfortunately, Trump is still hanging his hat on this vaccine. And he’s either got the worst advisors, or he’s got a bunch of Gríma Wormtongues (LOTR reference) whispering in his ear.”

Full Video: https://banned.video/watch?id=63c76a833315ed1aa69924fa

by Majid Rafizadeh, GATESTONE  •  January 21, 2023

• The European Union’s charter stresses that “Human rights are at the heart of EU relations with other countries and regions. The European Union is based on a strong commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law worldwide”. This is clearly not the case when it comes to the EU’s appeasing relationship with the ruling mullahs of Iran.
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T. Belman. When push comes to shove the IDF takes orders from the Cabinet on at least pre-emptive action and rules of engagement.

West Bank terror, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, sociopolitical crisis and tech revolutions are all on deck for Herzi Halevi.

By By Jonah Jeremy Bob, JPOST   20.1.23

What is IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi’s biggest challenge?

His biggest challenge regarding the West Bank terrorism wave will be trying to press some advantages the IDF has gained from its Operation Breaking the Wave dating back to spring 2022, while possibly running into headwinds in relations between the Palestinian Authority and the new Netanyahu government.

Some statistics show the IDF has made great progress in killing or arresting large numbers of terrorists, seizing their weapons and completing portions of the West Bank security barrier that had been left vulnerable and incomplete for nearly two decades.

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