Full agreement between Likud, Otzma Yehudit not yet signed; far-right party head’s portfolio to include control over West Bank Border Police; Religious Zionism talks remain stalled

By TOI STAFF  Today, at 8:35 am

Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir arrive for the swearing-in ceremony for the new Knesset, at the parliament building in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

Likud and Otzma Yehudit agreed early Friday on the positions the far-right party will hold in the incoming government, with Itamar Ben Gvir to serve in the newly created position of National Security Minister (an expanded public security minister role).

The parties signed an annex to a coalition deal, though not yet the full deal itself, detailing the posts Otzma Yehudit will receive.

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Bezalel Smotrich is a seasoned politician. Why is he insisting on separating the Civil Administration from the Defense Ministry? Op-ed.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, INN      Nov 25, 2022, 7:16 AM

Chair of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel SmotrichSderot conference – Kay Academic College

Smotrich is not a child.

He is fighting stubbornly to separate the Civil Admnistration, the body that controls life in Judea and Samaria, but really euphemism for Defense Ministry control of civil life in Judea and Samaria, from the Defense Department.

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Deputy J’lem Mayor Aryeh King talks about stopping future terror attacks and why he doesn’t trust Netanyahu to keep a right wing agenda.

By Yoni Kempinski, INN    Nov 24, 2022, 7:19 PM (GMT+2)

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King tells Israel National News that the city of Jerusalem needs to increase its intelligence gathering in the aftermath of the two tragic terror attacks this week.

“We need to [deepen] our intelligence sources in East Jerusalem. We need to build more police stations in East Jerusalem. We have today just three police stations out of East Jerusalem. It’s not enough,” King says.

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Aviv Kohavi wraps up 5-day final official trip focused on Iranian threat; plans for handling Iran and terror proxies said agreed upon

By EMANUEL FABIAN, TOI       Today, 8:21 pm

 
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, right, walks with IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi in Washington, on November 21, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel Defense Forces chief Aviv Kohavi on Thursday said joint activities with the US military in the Middle East would be “significantly expanded” in the near future, following a five-day trip to the US.

“In order to improve our capabilities in the face of challenges in the region, joint activity with the US Central Command will be significantly expanded in the near future,” Kohavi said in remarks provided by the Israel Defense Forces after he returned to Israel.

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T. Belman.  Peace Now’s fear is my hope.  Bibi is being exposed by these negotiations as being anti sovereignty. He is hiding behind the demands of the US but in reality he doesn’t want to extend sovereignty.

Religious Zionism party is insisting that the Civil Administration, which controls civilian life in West Bank’s Area C, be transferred to the Finance Ministry under leader Smotrich

By JEREMY SHARON, TOI      Today, 8:28 pm

Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks with Religious Zionist party head MK Bezalel Smotrich at the swearing-in ceremony of the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The left-wing activist organization Peace Now has warned that if the far-right Religious Zionism party achieves its desire for control of the Civil Administration — which directs aspects of civilian life in some 60 percent of the West Bank — it could lead to Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the territory.

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By Zachary Stieber, EPOCH TIMES    24.11.22

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Nov. 23 filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County.

An election worker carries trays filled with mail in ballots to open and verify at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 11, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Lake sued Stephen Richer, the county’s recorder, and other officials in Arizona Superior Court. She’s asking the court to compel the officials to promptly produce records on the administration of the midterm elections, which featured widespread issues in the state’s largest county.

“Given instances of misprinted ballots, the commingling of counted and uncounted ballots, and long lines discouraging people from voting, as demonstrated in the attached declarations, these records are necessary for Plaintiff to determine the full extent of the problems identified and their impacts on electors,” the 19-page suit states.

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Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger: “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative November 22, 2022,

*Thanksgiving was initially celebrated in November 1621 by William Bradford, the leader of the “Mayflower” and the Governor of the Plymouth Colony.

*He enhanced his appreciation of the Bible – and especially the Five Books of Moses – in Leiden, Holland, where he found refuge from religious persecution in England, where he heavily interacted with the Jewish community.
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Brazil court rejects Bolsonaro party complaint over vote

“The court said the complaint was made “in bad faith” and fined the party 22.9m reais (£3.5m; $4.3m).

“Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Alexandre de Moraes said the PL complaint was “offensive to democratic norms” and had sought to “encourage criminal and anti-democratic movements”.

By Debra Heine, AM GREATNESS   November 22, 2022

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is challenging his election loss last month to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, arguing in a complaint that votes from most electronic voting machines should be “invalidated” due to a software bug.
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US SENATOR BLACK

T. Belman. Everyday, the US finds something to pressure Israel on.  It has no respect for our sovereignty, independence or democracy.  It acts like it owns us.

After US pressure, Allenby crossing to Jordan set to open at all hours on weekdays

US ambassador Nides: ‘We will fight against any attempt at annexation

Op-ed: Enough with the American Bear Hug

Time Israel untied America’s apron strings

Amb Nides Boasts: I Work Every Day to Eliminate Jewish Settlements

And don’t forget the Lebanon deal and the pressure to deny a cabinet post to Ben Gvir and Smotrich.  The list is endless.

Leaked internal memo says Biden is focusing on threat from Beijing, Moscow, and could lose patience, amid speculation that Netanyahu may draw Israel closer to Kremlin

By LAZAR BERMAN, TOI    23 November 2022,

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 30, 2020. (Maxim Shemtov/Pool/AFP)

Israeli diplomats are warning that the White House could become increasingly frustrated with Israel if its approach toward Russia and China continues to run at odds with US priorities, according to an internal Foreign Ministry document leaked this week.

“The Biden administration wants to place the threat from China and Russia at the center of the agenda, and in our assessment, the level of patience toward allies who don’t contribute to this effort will go down,” reads the report leaked to Channel 13 news on Tuesday.

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Spearheaded by Pope Francis.

by Raymond Ibrahim, FPM

What if you had a deceased grandfather whom you were particularly fond of, and out of the blue, a stranger says: “Hey, that’s my grandpa!” Then—lest you think this stranger is somehow trying to ingratiate himself with you—he adds: “And everything you thought you knew about grandpa is wrong!  Here, let me tell you what he really said and did throughout his life.”  The stranger then proceeds to inform you that much of the good things you had long attributed to your grandfather were, not just false, but the exact opposite of what he is now attributing to your grandfather—much of which you find immensely disturbing.

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Attacking Israel for human rights abuses — and ignoring them elsewhere.

by Richard L. Cravatts, FPM

At Princeton University, the Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP) has had a busy year of activism with the sole purpose of maligning, libeling, and questioning the legitimacy of Israel.

In March, for example, the group sponsored a referendum that called on Princeton to “immediately halt usage of all Caterpillar machinery in all ongoing campus construction projects given the violent role that Caterpillar machinery has played in the mass demolition of Palestinian homes, the murder of Palestinians and other innocent people, and the promotion of the prison-industrial complex (among other atrocities).”

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T. Belman. Progress. I have always believe that Netanyahu was in a weak position and that when push comes to shove that he would cave. He can’t afford to go to another election and he must have partners who agree to help him get rid of his legal troubles. Ergo he had to cave.

This is a huge victory for the right.

The Civil Administration, which Religious Zionism will be responsible for in Israel’s next government, oversees coordination of government activity in the West Bank. However, coalition talks remain stuck due to Smotrich’s demand to control the Jewish Conversion Authority

By Michael Hauser Tov, HAARETZ Nov 23, 2022 10:00 pm IST

Israel’s designated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to grant Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism authority over the Civil Administration which oversees construction, infrastructure and security coordination in the West Bank.

The agreement was reached as part of coalition talks between Netanyahu’s Likud and Religious Zionism which stalled once more after the parties failed to reach agreement on several other key issues.

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Emerson Poll: Trump Owns 30-Point Lead in GOP Primary Field

CROSSROADS

As Donald Trump announces his 2024 run for president of the United States, he has also said the GOP wins in the midterm elections are just the beginning of the battle. Taking place now is a contest of who represents the Republican Party, and which values the party will stand for.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice announced the launch of a special counsel to investigate Trump. And soon after, House Republicans announced they will form a committee to investigate the Department of Justice.

WATCH HERE

By Zachary Stieber, EPOCH TIMES   November 23, 2022

A Republican candidate for Arizona’s attorney general position on Nov. 22 sued his opponent and a slew of election officials, including officials in Maricopa County, alleging that widespread “errors and inaccuracies” caused voter disenfranchisement.

Officials in at least 15 counties have “caused the unlawful denial of the franchise to certain qualified electors, erroneously tallied certain ballots, and included for tabulation in the canvass certain illegal votes in connection with the election for the office of Arizona Attorney General,” Abe Hamadeh, the candidate, said in the complaint.
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T. Belman. This article is silent on Area C.

TOI Today, 5:37 pm

Illustrative: Then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks with Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri during a meeting in Jerusalem, March 4, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hebrew media reports significant progress in coalition talks following a meeting held by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.

The two leaders apparently hope agreements can be filed by tonight, but at the pace of talks thus far, that would seem unlikely.

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How many nuts do the Diversity Police want?

By Daniel Oliver, AM GR   November 20, 2022

United States Representative James Clyburn (D-S.C.) gives “diversity” a bad name.

That’s not because he’s black: his congressional district is almost 60 percent black.

It’s because he’s nuts.

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By  Daniel Greenfield, 22 Nov

After being described as “partners” by the Biden administration, the Taliban announced that they’re bringing back sharia punishments by chopping off hands and stoning their victims.

Last year, the Biden administration had praised the Taliban’s “openness” to women’s rights.

This development puts the nail in the coffin of claims by Biden administration figures that the Jihadist organization had changed into a kinder, gentler Taliban. But the media has conveniently ignored revelations of the close collaboration between the administration and the Taliban.

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The American people should prepare for more stunning revelations about the FBI’s key role in the events of Jan 6.

By Julie Kelly, AM GREATNESS    November 19, 2022

Amid bombshell revelations that the FBI embedded numerous informants in two militia groups accused of plotting to overthrow the government on January 6, FBI Director Christopher Wray finally is facing some heat.

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Representative Clay Higgins (R-La.) angrily demanded to know more details about the use of FBI informants related to the Capitol protest. Higgins twice asked Wray whether FBI informants disguised as Trump supporters were planted inside the building even before protesters gained entry.
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