Likud MK Gideon Sa’ar openly dares to take on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as leader of the Likud party.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is prepared to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in making compromises ahead of the December 11 deadline to form a government and prevent a third election in under a year, sources close to Gantz said on Sunday.
Friday marked the 72nd anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s passage of Resolution 181, which led to the establishment of the State of Israel.
Israel’s current UN ambassador, Danny Danon, celebrated the occasion with a tweet, saying the Jewish state “continues to exemplify the Zionist ideals, fulfilling our ancestors’ dreams.”
Last week Benny Gantz returned the mandate to form a coalition back to President Reuven Rivlin. What’s next in the election process?
Recent reports tell us that MK Shlomo Kari said he received a “green light” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to promote legislation that would have Israelis choose between the heads of the two most popular political parties in Israel: the ruling Likud and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party. This new election showdown would also potentially be the third round of elections in 12 months. A third election could also signal the end of Netanyahu’s leadership as it is highly questionable that he could receive a mandate to form a government while indicted or at the trial stage.
Meanwhile, an attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Netanyahu FROM WITHIN LIKUD continues as Gantz begins attempting to put together a majority to form a government. Jerusalem Post report HERE.
Today, Rivlin handed back the mandate to the Knesset. In the process he blasted both Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to put together a coalition.
The next step in this process allows for any lawmaker to put together a coalition and hopefully avoid the need to conduct a third round of elections. Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit handed down indictments today against Netanyahu in all three cases against him. Does this signal the end of any chances for a unity government?
The Israeli public is losing patience with this entire state of affairs. This “…miserable political situation” is a first in Israel’s history, said Rivlin, who also urged lawmakers to ask themselves, “What is my duty to the State of Israel?” How many politicians will put their country before themselves? This may be an opportunity to put that question to the test.
Immediately following this weeks US policy change regarding the legality of Judea and Samaria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved advancing a Jordan Valley annexation bill. The bill would have Israel apply Sovereignty to the Jordan Valley.
The bill was proposed several weeks ago by Likud MK Sharren Haskel who said, “The bill has the prime minister’s full backing. There is no reason that this important bill won’t pass in the plenum with an 80-member majority.”
In an official statement this week, the Trump administration announced that it does not view Israeli “settlements” (Jewish communities) in Judea and Samaria as illegal.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement Monday evening. This welcome decision comes after a year-long review conducted by the US State Department’s legal office, The team met with international law experts as well as officials from different governments to hear their opinions. We know there was no need to debate the issue but it shows the Trump administration took careful steps to review this before making it official.
This is a historic reversal of hateful and anti-Semitic US policy under prior administrations since 1978 (under Jimmy Carter’s administration) known as the Hansell Memorandum, held that establishing Israeli civilian communities in the areas beyond the 1949 armistice lines are “per se inconsistent with international law.”
This decision also negates the European Union’s ridiculous ruling that Jews can’t live in or have businesses in Judea and Samaria.
The Trump decision also puts the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement to shame. BDS has always relied on the argument – and false claim – that Jews are “illegal occupiers” of the Jewish homeland.
Thank you President Trump for advancing the truth about Judea and Samaria: Jewish land that has always belonged to Israel and has always been, without a doubt in our minds, legal under international law.
Watch Secretary Pompeo make the historic announcement below and a second video with comments by Nadia Matar of The Sovereignty Movement.
Videos below: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo makes historic announcement. Nadia Matar: President Trump is not afraid of being on the side of justice.
The United States will release its position on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria – thus changing its 1978 position, according to which the “settlements” violate international law, according to Israel’s Channel 13 News.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed a gathering of hundreds of Likud activists gathered at the Tel Aviv Expo Center Sunday night for an ‘emergency conference’ called to protest the possible establishment of a left-wing government without majority backing in the Knesset.
“We are at a crucial moment for the State of Israel. The leaders of Blue and White – Benny Gantz, Gabi Ashkenazi, and Boogie Yaalon – have decided to form a minority government that will be dependent on members of the Joint Arab List,” Netanyahu claimed.
Did Gantz forget who struck Israel for nearly three straight days last week with an endless barrage of rocket attacks?
Where was Gantz on Saturday morning when two more rockets were launched into Beersheva post ‘ceasefire.’ Did he not hear about this?
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s latest attempt to form a coalition is not only outrageous – it puts Israel in grave danger. Allowing terrorist supporters into any part of the Israeli government is unacceptable! Gantz has clearly forgotten his roots as an IDF leader. HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND.
We fail to see where Gantz has the security and safety of Israel in mind, hence, AFSI labels him the enemy from within.
