Examples of continuous Israeli harassment/murder of Palestinians

[angelburst29]

Wider Image: Israel's settlers and the Palestinians they live among

His people's link to the land goes back to biblical times, says the comics illustrator. His neighbor, a farmer, says the land belonged to his ancestors and has been stolen. One is an Israeli settler, the other a Palestinian living across the road.

Lebanon's Hezbollah says it downed Israeli drone

Hezbollah said it downed an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon on Monday in the latest flare-up raising tensions between the Iran-backed group and Israel.

Former Hezbollah official found dead in Beirut flat
A former official in the powerful Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was found dead in his flat in a Beirut neighborhood, the state-run Lebanese news agency said on Sunday.

 

[angelburst29]

Israeli government approves voting cameras, critics cry foul

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved draft legislation on Sunday to have cameras monitor polling stations in Israel's election next week, a move opponents said was effectively meant to intimidate Arab voters.

Parliament bars Israeli PM's plan for cameras at polling stations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed on Monday in a bid to have camera's installed at Israeli voting stations, but seized on the legislative defeat to hone accusations his foes intend to steal next week's election.

 

[angelburst29]

Israel's Netanyahu announces post-election plan to annex West Bank's Jordan Valley

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention on Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the occupied West Bank, if he wins a closely contested election just a week away.

Factbox: Netanyahu's West Bank pledge alarms Middle Eastern states

Middle Eastern nations have expressed alarm at a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex parts of the occupied West Bank if he wins a closely contested election less than a week away.

Iran slams Netanyahu land annexation pledge as election ploy
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to annex the Jordan Valley and his frequent accusations against Tehran were ploys to win re-election, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

Former Netanyahu aide Lieberman could be Israeli kingmaker

A former nightclub bouncer with a heavy Russian accent, Avigdor Lieberman used to carry a fresh change of shirt for his political boss, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Christian evangelicals harvest land in settlements Israel hopes to annex

It's harvest time in vineyards atop the hills of Shilo settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But it's not Jewish settlers picking the grapes, it's evangelical Christians.

Russia raps Netanyahu's Jordan Valley plan before Putin meeting

Russia condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to annex the Jordan Valley ahead of a meeting between the Israeli leader and President Vladimir Putin later on Thursday, warning it could sharply increase regional tensions.

Israeli parties vie for Arab vote in bid to oust Netanyahu

Challengers to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in next Tuesday's election have courted Israel's Arab minority, hoping that a strong turnout from this unlikely source could tip the scales in their favor.

With Gaza war talk, Russia visit, Netanyahu fights on in election race

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday threatened war in Gaza and then flew to Russia to discuss Israeli freedom of action in Syria with President Vladimir Putin as a frenetic election race neared its end.

Israel must have freedom to act against Iran, Netanyahu says in Russia

Israel must be allowed to act freely against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday during a visit to Sochi, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss security coordination in Syria.

Trump says he does not believe Israelis are spying on the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he does not believe Israel is spying on the United States after a published report said Israel was most likely behind cellphone surveillance devices found near the White House and elsewhere in Washington.

 

[angelburst29]

Oh, too funny! I bet this went over - real BIG?

Facebook has prevented Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from sending private messages, after his open incitement against Arab citizens and the elected Arab leadership in Israel.

Facebook suspends Netanyahu’s page after incitement against Arabs

Facebook logo [West McGowan/Flickr]

September 13, 2019 - In a message he sent to his followers via Facebook, Netanyahu incited against Arab citizens and MP Ayman Odeh in particular.

In the message, Netanyahu said: “The formation of a dangerous leftist government should be prevented next week, with Lapid and Odeh, Gantz and Lieberman, a secular, weak leftist government formed by Arabs who want to exterminate us all, children, women, and men. This government will allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb to destroy us all,” reported Russia Today.

In this context, MP Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Arab Joint List, contacted Facebook immediately and asked them to remove these inciting messages and punish Netanyahu.

At the request of Odeh, Facebook stripped Netanyahu of the right to send private messages from his account for violating the platform regulations.

Netanyahu’s campaign has tried to distance the prime minister from the message. The campaign claims that an employee published it without Netanyahu’s consent and was deleted as soon as Netanyahu knew about it.

Incitement complaint filed after Netanyahu statement ‘Arabs want to destroy all of us’
September 12, 2019 - An incitement complaint has been filed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his recent remarks that “Arabs want to destroy all of us”.

The complaint was filed by legal rights centre Adalah on behalf of the Joint List to the Central Elections Committee (CEC) chair and Israeli attorney general yesterday.

According to Adalah, Netanyahu’s statement was included “in an exchange of digital messages with party activists during which he directed them how to appeal to the Israeli public in election campaign telephone calls,”

The complaint urges CEC chair Justice Hanan Melcer “to issue a restraining order banning Netanyahu from further illegal dissemination of racist election propaganda.”

'King Bibi' fights for his political life in Israeli election

Twenty years after Benjamin Netanyahu's first term as Israel's prime minister ended, the man hailed by supporters as "King Bibi" is again fighting for his political survival in a rerun election.

Israeli parties vie for Arab vote in bid to oust Netanyahu

Challengers to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in next Tuesday's election have courted Israel's Arab minority, hoping that a strong turnout from this unlikely source could tip the scales in their favor.

Israel bulldozers raze Palestinian farmland, uproot olive trees

Palestinian farmers inspect the damage done to their olive trees after they were cut down by Israeli settlers [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

Sept. 12, 2019 - Israeli occupation forces attacked and bulldozed large areas of Palestinian agricultural land in the occupied West Bank at dawn today.

Head of Atouf Village Council Abdullah Bisharat confirmed that soldiers swept into Palestinian territorial grounds in Um Kbeish, located near the town of Tammun, south of Tubas, in the north-eastern West Bank.

Authorities called on officers to uproot and destroy 300 olive trees and hundreds of dunams of Palestinian farmlands.

Bisharat added that four water wells, used by the farmers for irrigation, were also demolished. Palestinians were given no prior warning of the demolition.

The area has been a frequent target of military raids since June when two wells and a dozen olive trees were bulldozed. Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq noted that documents proving ownership of Palestinian land has allowed landowners to plant olive trees since 2012.

Local farmers are barred from tending to their land under the pretext that the area has been classed “a nature reserve” by occupation authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already starting to follow through on his promise to annex the Jordan Valley, Bisharat said in response to the occupation’s latest action.

Earlier this week Netanyahu pledged to annex the Jordan Valley should he win a new term in office next week.

 

[angelburst29]

Dutch court to hear case against Israel's Gantz

A Dutch court will consider on Tuesday a request to hear a civil suit seeking damages from former Israeli armed forces chief Benny Gantz, who is standing against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a parliamentary election.

Explainer: Israel's election - will Netanyahu survive?

Israelis vote on Tuesday for the second time in less than six months in an election that could see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a record fifth term - or end his decade-long dominance of Israeli politics.

Israel's Netanyahu fights for new term after decade in power

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a battle for political survival in a closely fought election on Tuesday that could end his 10-year domination of national politics.

Israel's Netanyahu fights for record fifth term in do-over election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a battle for political survival in a closely fought election on Tuesday that could end his 10-year domination of national politics.

 

[angelburst29]

LIVE: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fights for record fifth term

1 / 8
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara cast their votes at a voting station in Jerusalem on Sept. 17, 2019. (Heidi Levine/Pool/AFP)

2 / 8
Israelis queue up outside a polling station during Israel’s parliamentary election in Rosh Haayin on Tuesday, September 17, 2019. (AFP)

3 / 8
Israel's former justice minister Ayelet Shaked greets supporters after casting her ballot during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Tel Aviv on Sept. 17, 2019. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)

4 / 8
Retired Israeli General Benny Gantz, one of the leaders of the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) political alliance, casts his ballot with his wife Revital at a polling station in Rosh Haayin, on Sept. 17, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)

5 / 8
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man watches as another casts his ballot at a voting station in the city of Bnei Brak during the Israeli parliamentary election on Sept. 17, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

6 / 8
Israel's former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and his wife Ella cast their ballots at a polling station in the Israeli settlement of Nokdim in the occupied West Bank on Sept. 17, 2019. (Gali Tibbon/AFP)

7 / 8
Campaign posters in Israel. (AFP)

8 / 8
Israel's head of the mainly Arab Joint List alliance Ayman Odeh casts his ballot accompanied by his family during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Haifa on Sept. 17, 2019. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

 

[angelburst29]

LIVE: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fights for record fifth term

An Israeli man casts his ballot during Israel's parliamentary election, at a polling station in Rosh Haayin, on Sept. 17, 2019. (Jack Guez /AFP)

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a battle for political survival in a closely fought election on Tuesday that could end his 10-year domination of national politics.

polls put former armed forces chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud, and suggest the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party could emerge as kingmaker in coalition talks.

“(The election) is very close. I call on all citizens of Israel to come vote,” Netanyahu said, his voice hoarse after weeks of campaigning, as he cast his vote in Jerusalem shortly before 10 a.m.

Gantz voted shortly afterwards in Rosh Haayin, and wished everyone luck.

The two main parties’ campaigns in Israel’s second parliamentary election in five months point to only narrow differences on many important issues: the regional struggle against Iran, ties with the Palestinians and the United States, and the economy.

An end to the Netanyahu era would be unlikely to lead to a big change in policy on hotly disputed issues in the peace process with the Palestinians that collapsed five years ago.

Netanyahu has announced his intention to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinians seek statehood. But Blue and White has also said it would strengthen Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, with the Jordan Valley as Israel’s “eastern security border.”

The election was called after Netanyahu failed to form a coalition following an April election in which Likud and Blue and White were tied, each taking 35 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, or parliament. It’s the first time Israel has ever had two general elections in a single year.

Netanyahu, 69, has cast himself as indispensable and blighted by voter complacency over his tenure — the longest of any Israeli prime minister. He was prime minister from June 1996 until July 1999 and has held the post since March 2009.

Warning he may be replaced by “leftists” who would weaken Israel in the eyes of both foes and friends, Netanyahu has flooded the airwaves and social media with calls on his Likud faithful to turn out in force.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 10 p.m. when Israeli media will publish exit polls giving a first indication of the outcome.

It’s going to be close. It’s going to be a close election,” US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday in the Oval Office.
Both Netanyahu and Gantz, 60, have tried to energize their bases, and poach votes from smaller parties.

Netanyahu portrays Gantz as inexperienced and incapable of commanding respect from world leaders such as Trump. Gantz accuses Netanyahu of trying to deflect attention from his possible indictment on corruption charges that the prime minister has dismissed as baseless.

Hagit Cohen, a 43-year-old social worker, said she would back Blue and White rather than her former favorite, the now fringe Labour party: “I don’t want my vote to be wasted. Gantz may not be perfect, but enough is enough with Bibi (Netanyahu).”

Gantz also worries about public apathy. Interviewed by Army Radio, he urged Tel Aviv residents to “put down their espressos for an hour” and vote — a nod to the secular, middle-class constituency he hopes to mobilize against pro-Netanyahu religious-nationalists.

“There is a definite sense of fatigue. Many Israelis are fed up with the politicians, or expect more of the same,” said Amotz Asa-El, research fellow at Jerusalem’s Shalom Hartman Institute.
Netanyahu, Asa-El said, “has always divided the electorate into ‘theirs’ and ‘ours’. This time he’s reading the political map even more closely and knows that he needs every extra vote.”

In the Israeli-Arab town of Taybeh, residents showed up to vote without incident. In April, there was some controversy when election monitors from Netanyahu’s Likud party turned up with cameras in Arab areas. Locals accused them of voter intimidation with Likud saying they were trying to prevent election fraud.

Before the last election, Trump gave Netanyahu a boost with US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. This time, the White House seems more preoccupied with Iran.

The Trump administration plans soon to release an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that may prove a dead letter: The Palestinians have rejected it in advance as biased.

In Gaza, Palestinians awaited the results of the vote. “This election affects many things in our life,” said Mohamad Abdul Hay Hasaneen, a janitor in the city of Khan Younis. “There might be limited escalations after the election, but I don’t think this would result in a full war.”

Still, the telegenic Netanyahu’s open door in Washington and other world capitals, at a combustible time on Israel’s borders with Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon, remains a big draw domestically.

“There’s no one else running who is worthy of being prime minister,” said Alon Gal, a 53-year-old hi-tech manager who plans to vote Likud after previously supporting a party further to the right. “With him, at least I know who I am dealing with.”

Weeks of wrangling over who should be tasked with forming the next government could follow the election. Opinion polls indicate Yisrael Beiteinu could hold the key to the next coalition because it is forecast to win double its representation in the Knesset, from five seats to 10.

 

[angelburst29]

Russia's Putin plans to visit Israel in January 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he planned to visit Israel in January next year to inaugurate a memorial to World War Two victims in Jerusalem.

Warning of election 'disaster', Israel's Netanyahu battles for survival

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu battled for his political survival in the final hours of a close-run election on Tuesday, urging voters to support him to avert a "disaster".

Facebook blocks Netanyahu chatbot on election day

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Facebook <FB.O> on Tuesday after the social network blocked a "chatbot" from his right-wing Likud party's account for violating election day rules.

 

[angelburst29]

Netanyahu's election day a wall-to-wall political commercial

Barely pausing for breath in a last-gasp election-day pitch for votes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed potential backers in live video election feeds on social media.

election too close to call, Netanyahu weakened: exit polls

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's battle for political survival looked set to stretch on after exit polls following Tuesday's election showed the race too close to call and Israel's longest-serving leader weakened.

Israeli election too close to call: exit polls

Israel's election on Tuesday was too close to call, exit polls indicated, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party virtually level with Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White.

Netanyahu in post-election speech makes no victory claim

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no victory claim or concession of defeat in a speech to his Likud party on Wednesday after exit polls showed no clear winner in an election race that was too close to call.

Netanyahu election rival Gantz says will work for unity government

The main election rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centrist Benny Gantz, said on Wednesday that he would work toward a national unity government in a speech that lauded his party's performance but stopped short of claiming victory.

Israel's Lieberman calls for unity government

Israel's former defense chief Avigdor Lieberman, a possible kingmaker in the parliamentary election held on Tuesday, called for a national unity government after exit polls showed no clear winner at the ballot.

 

[angelburst29]

Explainer: Israeli politics deadlocked after second election: What now?

After failing to secure a clear election victory for the second time this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must wait days - or more likely weeks - to learn if he can stay in office, or whether he must step aside.

Israeli voters deliver deadlock, Netanyahu's tenure in doubt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to win a ruling majority in an election that produced a virtual tie between his right-wing bloc and a center-left grouping that would be led by former military chief Benny Gantz.

From "King Bibi" to kingmaker Lieberman?

Half a year ago one man stood alone and unchallenged on the summit of Israeli politics - the veteran right-wing populist Benjamin Netanyahu, known as "King Bibi" to his loyal followers.

 

[angelburst29]

Israel's Gantz to speak at 1100 GMT, after Netanyahu overture

Israeli election challenger Benny Gantz will deliver a statement on 1100 GMT on Thursday, his office said, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the centrist rival to join him in a broad governing coalition.

Netanyahu Cancels Participation in UNGA Session in Wake of Snap Parliamentary Election Results

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his trip to participate in the upcoming UN General Assembly session in the US, due to the results of the general election, a spokesman of the PM's office stated. The statement did not further elaborate on the Israeli PM's reasons for the decision, RIA Novosti reported.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz will be delivering a speech at the UN General Assembly instead of the prime minister next week, according to Netanyahu's spokesperson.

According to Israeli media reports, after counting 90% of the votes both Netanyahu's Likud party and its key opponent, the opposition Blue and White coalition, are going head-to-head in the general elections and thus falling short of securing a majority in the Israeli parliament.

This means that both parties will have to negotiate an alliance with minor parties to build a government, something that Likud failed to do after the April 2019 elections, thus triggering re-election.

The 74th session of the UN General Assembly kicked off on September 17 in New York, with statements by the heads of states to be delivered between 24 and 30 September.

Israel's Netanyahu cites 1980s precedent in hint at rotating premiership with Gantz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Thursday at a possible rotating premiership deal with election challenger Benny Gantz after inviting his centrist rival to join him in government.

Netanyahu Admits Election Results Won't Let Him form Government, Calls on Gantz to Unite

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to his major rival Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party, suggesting that they form a broad coalition and implicitly admitting defeat in Israel’s contentious general election.

Gantz party rejects Netanyahu's offer of Israeli unity gov't

The centrist party of Israeli election challenger Benny Gantz rejected on Thursday an offer by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join forces in a governing coalition under the incumbent.

Netanyahu "surprised and disappointed" by Gantz rebuff, says open to talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced disappointment at his election challenger's rejection on Thursday of his offer to discuss forming an Israeli unity government but said he remained opened to talks.

Newsmaker: The anti-Netanyahu? Ex-general Gantz poised for top office

Benny Gantz has little of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's worldly polish or flair as a showy ideologue - and that may be exactly why so many weary Israelis want the ex-general in top office.

'Only Bibi' no more: Why does Israel's Netanyahu want to power-share?

After failing to secure a clear election victory twice in six months, Israel's longest-serving prime minister now seems to be calculating that he can stay in power only by sharing it.

 

[angelburst29]

Bye-Bye ... Bibi

Israel's Netanyahu clings to power as coalition talks loom

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced Israeli media headlines on Friday suggesting power is slipping from his grasp after an election in which he trails his main rival with nearly all votes counted.

A historic first? Israel's Arabs could lead parliamentary opposition

FILE PHOTO: Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, gestures as he hands out pamphlets during an an election campaign event in Tira, northern Israel September 5, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

HAIFA, Israel September 20, 2019 - Israel's Arab parties are set to be the largest non-ruling bloc in parliament - and could even lead the opposition - if a national unity government emerges from Tuesday's election.

A surge in turnout gave the Arab-dominated Joint List 13 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, making it the third-largest grouping behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party, with 31 seats, and Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White, with 33.

That would make the Joint List the largest opposition grouping in parliament if a unity government takes shape, a realistic possibility even though Gantz rebuffed Netanyahu’s initial invitation.

No party drawn from the 21 percent Arab minority has ever been part of an Israeli government. But if Joint List head Ayman Odeh, 44, becomes opposition leader, he would receive monthly briefings from the Mossad intelligence agency and meet visiting heads of state.

This would provide a platform to voice Arab complaints of discrimination against them and give a bigger platform to Arab parties that differ with parties drawn from the country’s Jewish majority.

“It is an interesting position, never before held by someone from the Arab population. It has a lot of influence,” Odeh told reporters outside his home in Haifa, a mixed Arab and Jewish city in northern Israel.

But although the Joint List will be the single biggest group, other opposition parties combined would have enough seats to block his appointment through an absolute majority vote, analysts said.

GRAPHIC: Seat projections in Israel's election - here



“There’s no way the other parties will agree to have Ayman Odeh as head of the opposition, and grant our community recognition and legitimacy,” said Aida Touma-Sliman, an Arab lawmaker from Odeh’s Hadash faction.

Arab lawmakers often call for an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and the dismantling of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.

"Symbolic Win"
The Arab community in Israel is mainly descendants of the Palestinians who remained in Israel after its creation in 1948, and some in the younger generation openly identify as Palestinian.

They make up 1.9 million of Israel’s 9 million population, and often complains of discrimination in health, education and housing, living in cities such as Nazareth and Acre in the north and Bedouin towns in the southern Negev desert.

The Mossawa Center rights group says Israel’s state budget often favors Jews, allocating more funds to Jewish localities and schools than to Arab ones. Some 47% of Arab citizens live in poverty, far above a national average of 18%, it says.

However, Netanyahu’s Likud party counters that its 15 billion shekel ($4.19 billion) investment plan for the Arab sector during the last parliament “is the largest such commitment in Israel’s history”, according to Eli Hazan, Likud’s foreign affairs director.

In Tuesday’s election, Odeh and his group of four Arab parties ran a united front and Arab turnout increased sharply. That helped them regain seats lost in April when they were divided and turnout plummeted.

The Joint List held up its stronger showing on Tuesday’s rerun as a victory over what is described as an “unprecedented campaign of incitement against the Arab public” by Netanyahu and right-wing parties.

Netanyahu made allegations of voter fraud in Arab communities an issue in his election campaign, and sought to deploy cameras to the country’s polling centers in what Arab leaders described an attempt to scare off voters. Israel’s top court refused to allow cameras.

Eid Jbaili, a 55-year-old gym teacher from Haifa, said he boycotted the April election but voted on Tuesday “because my community’s leaders showed they could exude unity in the face of adversity”.

But Jbaili was unsure an Arab opposition leader would be able to provide anything beyond a “small symbolic win” for his community.
“We still won’t be decision-makers in this country,” he said.

 

[angelburst29]

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin begins talks to form new government

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will begin hearing Sunday the recommendations of various parties at his residence. (AFP)

September 22, 2019 - JERUSALEM: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin began two days of crucial talks Sunday with party leaders before selecting his candidate for prime minister, after a deadlocked repeat election was set to make forming any new government a daunting task.

Israel’s largely ceremonial president is tasked with picking the politician with the best chance of forming a stable coalition government. While usually a mere formality, this time Rivlin plays a key role after an election result in which neither of the top candidates has an outright majority.

“The president, in this case, will be very, very involved in the particulars. He will ask for clear answers,” Harel Tubi, the president’s top aide, told Israel’s Army Radio. “I think he’ll turn the consultations this time into consultations that have the ability to present other possibilities, of the sort that the public hasn’t heard about yet.”

In last week’s vote, Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party won 33 seats in the 120-member parliament, while incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud took 31 seats. Neither can muster a parliamentary majority with their traditional smaller allies.
The deciding factor looks to be Avigdor Lieberman and the eight seats his Yisrael Beitenu party captured. Lieberman is demanding a broad unity government with the two major parties that is secular and excludes the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties. That appears to be the emerging compromise between Blue and White and Likud, though both are insisting upon leading it.

Complicating matters is Blue and White’s refusal to sit with Netanyahu because he faces a likely indictment on corruption charges.

The first step out of the quagmire is the consultations at the president’s residence, where each of the parties is asked to make its recommendations. Though Netanyahu’s Likud dropped in support, its allies appear to give Netanyahu the support of 55 members of parliament. For Gantz to compete, he’ll need the backing of the Joint List of Arab parties, which emerged as the third largest party with 13 seats, and has traditionally refrained from openly endorsing a candidate for prime minister.

The Arab-led parties have never sat in an Israeli government and its leader, Ayman Odeh, says he is aiming to become opposition leader in case of a unity government. But he hasn’t ruled out giving Gantz his recommendation to the president to thwart another Netanyahu-led government. It would make the first time since 1992 the Arab parties played a role in the process. The decision will come down later Sunday, before party representative meet Rivlin.

Rivlin’s eventual candidate will have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If that fails, Rivlin could give another candidate for prime minister 28 days to form a coalition. And if that doesn’t work, new elections would be triggered yet again. Rivlin has said he will do everything possible to avoid such a scenario and no one appears interested in a third Israeli election within a year.

Last week’s vote happened because Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition after April’s election without the support of Lieberman, an unpredictable ally-turned-rival who has upended Israeli politics in recent months. The nationalist, yet secular, former defense minister is still being coy about whom he will recommend as the next prime minister.

Overhanging the whole process is Netanyahu’s pre-indictment hearing scheduled in two weeks, after which he could face charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud in three separate corruption cases. Netanyahu had hoped to secure a narrow majority of hard-line and religious parties that support granting him immunity from prosecution. With immunity now off the table, Netanyahu is desperate to remain in office despite the long odds.

Israeli law does not require a sitting premier to resign if indicted. But if he is charged, as is widely expected, he would come under heavy pressure to resign.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

BREAKING:

Israel's Benny Gantz Rules Out Joining Government With Prime Minister Facing 'Severe Indictment'

This comes after Netanyahu's Likud party received 32 seats in the 120-member Knesset and its major rival, the Blue and White party, received 33, bringing the country to another political deadlock after the second national elections this...

sputniknews.com

 

[angelburst29]

Israeli unity government talks falter after Netanyahu rival rejects meeting

Talks to form a national unity government in Israel hit a further snag on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's centrist election rival called off a meeting with the embattled leader.

Explainer: A look at the legal trouble facing Israel's Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to head off a corruption indictment at a series of pre-trial hearings that begin on Wednesday, in which he will try to persuade Israel's attorney-general not to press charges.

Comment: It is probably the lighting but Netanyahu's eyes look bloodshot and Demon red?