by Seth J. Frantzman, JPOST June 10, 2021

Thousands of Bedouin live in 35 villages not recognized by the Israeli state.

The incoming government has promised to invest in the Arab sector and also to possibly recognize several Bedouin villages in the Negev as part of the coalition agreement with the Ra’am Party.

Mansour Abbas has been praised for his flexibility and willingness to join a coalition government, breaking with his former Joint List partners and paving the way for active participation in the government. He has also been praised by Arabs in Israel. Moussa Al-Zaydana of Rahat, a large town populated mostly by Bedouin, said Abbas should be commended.

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By Debra Heine, AM GREATNESS June 15, 2021

In an extraordinary interview last week, Dr. Peter McCullough, an American professor of Medicine and Vice Chief of Internal Medicine at Baylor University, declared that the world has been subjected to a form of bioterrorism, and that the suppression of early treatments for COVID-19—such as hydroxychloroquine— “was tightly linked to the development of a vaccine.”

Dr. McCullough made the explosive comments during a webinar on June 11, with  Dr. Reiner Fuellmich, a German trial lawyer, who believes the pandemic was planned, and is “a crime against humanity.”
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Yair Lapid, who will serve as foreign minister until his scheduled entry into the Prime Minister’s Office in two years, has long been preparing himself for the job.

By NIMROD GOREN, JPOST

YAIR LAPID, foreign minister-designate, at the Knesset yesterday.

The new government offers an opportunity for significant improvements in Israeli foreign policy. The popular belief is that this government will be ineffective in this domain due to the ideological differences among its member parties. Indeed, dramatic moves vis-à-vis the Palestinians, such as evacuating settlements or annexing territory, are not expected to occur, but this is not the sum total of Israeli diplomacy.

The weakening of Israel’s Foreign Service under Netanyahu, flawed policy directions that were taken, and regional potential that was left untapped – all provide fertile ground for action on which the government could agree despite its diversity.

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By Noga Tarnopolsky, NYT      June 15, 2021

Few politicians have more experience than Naftali Bennett with being heckled and jeered, usually by left-wing rivals, for his hard-line positions opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state. But it must have been jarring to be the target of insults and abuse hurled by his fellow right-wingers when he tried to deliver his maiden speech as Israel’s unlikeliest and possibly luckiest incoming prime minister on Sunday.

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By Yaniv Kubovich, HAARETZ     Jun. 16, 2021 5:58 AM

Israel’s supervision of the equipment and materials that enter the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons is flawed and has enabled Hamas to build attack tunnels, reports released by the defense establishment show.

The reports, which deal with Hamas empowerment and were presented recently to security and political officials, state that the oversight problems stem from reduced manpower for the oversight units and problematic behavior within them.

The reports also say that the lack of a state budget led to a freeze in funding to strengthen these oversight units, undermining their enforcement ability and allowing Hamas to build hundreds of kilometers of tunnels the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip.

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Over half of survey respondents say the Islamist terror group is ‘most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people,’ versus less than 15% percent who prefer Fatah

By AGENCIES and TOI STAFF         15 June 2021, 9:04 pm  

Palestinians gather during a Hamas rally in Gaza City, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A new poll released Tuesday finds a dramatic surge in Palestinian support for Hamas following last month’s Gaza conflict, with around three-quarters viewing the Islamist terrorists as victors in a battle against Israel to defend Jerusalem and its holy sites.

The poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research also found plummeting support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was sidelined by the fighting but is seen internationally as a partner for reviving the long-defunct peace process.

The poll found that 53% of Palestinians believe Hamas is “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people,” while only 14% prefer Abbas’ secular Fatah party.
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T. Belman.  Shmuel Rosner wrote in the NYT about the power sharing arrangement between Bennett and Lapid, “In reality, neither can do anything without the consent of the other because of a law that in practice gives each veto power.”

Alternate prime minister lays out foreign policy agenda, improving relations with Jordan and the US Democratic Party.

By LAHAV HARKOV, JPOST  JUNE 14, 2021 21:20

Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett

Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid is expected to take a leading role in Israel’s international relations, unlike the past 12 years in which the prime minister did so.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett plans to focus on his domestic agenda, at least at first, a source close to the new premier said. Any diplomatic decision or statement Bennett makes will have to be coordinated in advance with Lapid because of the delicate rotation government they formed on Sunday.

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T. Belman. The reason I posted this, is because Barkat is the leading challenger in Likud to take over after the Netanyahu era. He is often described as more of a centrist than Netanyahu but here he is against any Palestinian state west of the Jordan R.

I am registered to participate in a ZOA  Zoom meeting tomorrow in which Barkat is presenting his Sovereignty Plan.

Former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat pledges to block establishment of Palestinian state, will push for sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

By Arutz Sheva Staff , Jan 17 , 2019 10:04 PM

Nir Barkat

Former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (Likud) responded Thursday to reports that the Middle East peace plan being drawn up by the Trump administration will included the establishment of a Palestinian state spanning most of Judea and Samaria, with its capital in part of eastern Jerusalem.

During a tour of the Samaria Regional Council on Thursday, Barkat said he was opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the area.

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A letter to Israelis and American alike. 

By Mark Levin,  INN                 Jun 14 , 2021 12:30 PM

Jerusalem’s iconic Mahane Yehuda Market

(JNS) Barak Ravid is an Israeli journalist of the old Soviet school. In other words, he is a shameless propagandist for the cause. In his case, the cause is to destroy Netanyahu and install a left-wing government, and he’s been working on it for many years. In his last Axios screed, he trashes former President Donald Trump and then tries to link the smeared president with Netanyahu—that is, both men are said to oppose a government of the people and the decision of the voters.

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Wokeism has become our most popular secular religion—at least for a moment dethroning climate change. It reduces all of the past and present into puerile binaries between “whites” and “non-whites.”

Its aim is for the present generation to rewrite our history—whether by The 1619 Project and cancel culture or iconoclastic statue-toppling and Trotskyization of names and places. Wokeism becomes a child’s morality tale of noble non-white victims versus villainous white victimizers. Erasing the past and its language supposedly fuels a recalibration of the future, all in the here and now, a holy Year Zero

In the process, wokeism has done a lot of damage to America, and will do even more if left unchecked. Here are its chief characteristics.

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By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS       June 14, 2021

Despite his attempt to show deference to his predecessor, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took a swing at his former boss when he said that the ministers in the new government would be a better fit in carrying out the duties of their portfolios. It should have stung, because the past two years under former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were rife with internal wars within an impossibly split cabinet, and not so much about doing the job of governing.

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