(22.11.2021)
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks for permission to be excused from the remainder of the testimony of Nir Hefetz, his former aide-turned-state’s witness, in his criminal trial.
Archiv: (future) departures into the dustbin of history
Netanyahu’s Ultra-Luxurious Hawaii Vacation Is a Total Legal Shitstorm
It is doubtful whether Netanyahu, who was on vacation from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1, should have been there at all: Ellison, who is seventh on the Forbes list of the richest people on earth, is also listed as a witness for the prosecution in Netanyahu’s trial on three charges of criminal corruption, which resumed this week after a three month break.
The major drama on opening day came from outside the courtroom—and outside the country—with news that Haim Geron, a former deputy director general of the communications ministry and another witness for the prosecution, died in a mysterious private plane crash near the Greek island of Samos.
Netanyahu trial resumes after three-month delay
(SEPTEMBER 13, 2021)
The trial of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu for suspected bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which was postponed due to new evidence on ex-Walla CEO’s cell phone, reopened on Monday.
President Biden made the tough and right decision to end the military occupation in Afghanistan. Blair’s language invokes tropes against Muslims, disrespects @POTUS and pretends to care about Afghans when this is really about Western Imperialism for him.
Pompeo Delivers R.N.C. Speech From Israel, With Eye Toward 2024
(25.08.2020)
No sitting secretary of state had previously addressed a national political convention in at least 75 years.
Netanyahu corruption trial delayed for third time
(05.07.2021)
The trial has been frozen since June 16 and will now reconvene on July 19 instead of the prior dates of July 5 or 12 for restarting witness testimony of July 5, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The court’s decision effectively means that the trial will not fully restart until October; the court’s summer recess runs from July 21 – September 1 and many of September’s hearings will be canceled due to the Jewish High Holy Days and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).
After Midnight, Netanyahu Left the Official Residence. Outside, These People Celebrated
Five hours before the official deadline for the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu and his family from the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, the final episode in the “Balfour” national reality show refused to come to an end. The huddle of protesters, which dwindled as night fell, exchanged recent photos among themselves of moving vans and other vehicles leaving the residence, trying to figure out whether the Netanyahus had finally vacated the premises or whether maybe someone was still hiding inside, or about to return for a final visit…
Love this. Netanyahu “… compared the American government under Joe Biden to Iran and Hamas, depicting all three as threats to Israel. That doesn’t sound like someone who expects to visit the White House soon.”
Combative Netanyahu urges fellow right-wingers to abstain from voting in ‚dangerous leftist‘ govt of Lapid, Bennett
Minutes after Yamina leader Naftali Bennett said he would join Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid in forming a national unity government, Netanyahu lashed out in a televised address, calling the plan „a danger for the security of Israel“ and saying that under the resulting government would be at the mercy of the far left.
Israel: Top Likud MK says party is headed towards Netanyahu-led opposition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is on its way towards the opposition, Likud whip MK Miki Zohar stated after the faction was defeated in a Knesset (Israel Parliament) vote on the formation of a key committee.
„We understand and we adopt the idea that we are headed in the direction of the opposition,“ he said during a meeting of the Knesset’s Arrangements Committee.
Israel Election Results: Netanyahu’s Loyal Soldiers Are Slowly Losing Faith in Their Leader
Just like the people caught in traffic jams during the intermediate days of the Pesach holiday, the political convoy is stuck on its way to forming a government. The infrastructure (i.e., the system) is to blame, and so are the drivers themselves.
They turned off Waze and knowingly headed into dead ends.
Israel Election: Three of Four Joint List Factions Run Together, United Arab List to Go Solo
Three of the four factions of Joint List – Hadash, Ta’al and Balad – have signed an agreement for a united bid for Israel’s March election, parting ways with the conservative United Arab List after a prolonged period of disagreements.
Alliance of Israeli Arab Parties to Split Ahead of March Election
At this stage, it’s not yet clear whether Ta’al might even decide to run jointly with Hadash and Balad, which have agreed to run on a joint slate, or whether it would pursue a link-up with the United Arab List.
Israel’s top general says its military is refreshing operational plans against Iran
(26.01.2021)
Israel’s top general said on Tuesday that its military was refreshing its operational plans against Iran and that any U.S. return to a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be “wrong.”
Gantz, We’ll Take It From Here
It’s hard not to feel uncomfortable when we hear Gantz – who gave Netanyahu the government, betraying his voters and his partners – trying to look like someone worried about the future of the “Anyone But Bibi” camp and trying to serve as a strategic adviser.
‚I Was Wrong to Join Netanyahu‘: Gantz Calls for Broad Center-left Coalition
Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz called on leaders of center-left parties to unite ahead of Israel’s March 23 election in order to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – his coalition partner over the past year.
Israeli government collapses, sending country back to elections for fourth time in two years
In the run-up to the budget vote, Gideon Saar, a former Likud education minister, shocked his fellow party members by resigning from the Knesset and starting a new party to challenge Netanyahu’s grip on the right wing of Israeli politics. Polls immediately showed Saar’s fledgling “New Hope” draining a significant number of parliamentary seats from Likud, reflecting growing frustration with Netanyahu even among conservative voters.
Israeli Government Collapses, Forcing 4th Election in 2 Years
“It’s not the budget, stupid,” said Reuven Hazan, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Mr. Netanyahu “needs a government that will pass legislation either to delay his case for the foreseeable future or cancel it altogether,” he added.
Attempts by Gantz and Netanyahu to buy more time have failed, turning their coalition into a zombie government until the anticipated March ballot, Israel’s fourth in two years
Anti-Netanyahu Bloc Grows but Gantz Is Losing Steam, Election Poll Shows
threshold.
The bloc that has pledged not to join a Netanyahu government would stand at 64 out of 120 Knesset seats. The opposing bloc, composed of Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Yamina, would garner just 56, which is not enough to form a government.
Gantz’s Party Agrees to Delay Budget Deadline to Give More Time for Deal With Netanyahu
Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party said Sunday that it has agreed to postpone the Tuesday deadline to pass Israel’s 2020 state budget by one week, in a move that could give it more time to negotiate a deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud to avoid what would be a fourth election cycle in two years.
Gantz Agrees to Curb Justice Minister’s Powers in Deal With Netanyahu to Stave Off Election
Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz has agreed to curb Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn’s powers, sources said, in bid to stave off election.
In return, Gantz hopes to cement the rotation agreement for the premiership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is upheld.
Three Days to Stave Off Election: Gantz Met With Netanyahu Rival Sa’ar
Defense Minister and Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz met on Saturday with breakaway Likud lawmaker Gideon Sa‘ar, three days before the Knesset is expected to disband.
Attorney-General to High Court: Don’t overturn unity gov’t
It was unclear whether the High Court could ever strike down a quasi-constitutional basic law, he said. In any event, if it were possible, it would need to be a far more extreme law, implying something criminal or actively undermining democracy, he added.
Furthermore, Mandelblit rejected the notion that the coalition was abusing or ignoring the will of the voter by forming coalitions they had vowed not to form.
Pompeo Delivers R.N.C. Speech From Israel, With Eye Toward 2024
No sitting secretary of state had previously addressed a national political convention in at least 75 years.
Basically nobody in liberal circles is taking seriously the consequences of the fact that the exiled cadre of the Republican Party are building a massive power base in the Democratic Party
All The Republicans Who Have Endorsed Joe Biden For President
Though Trump has largely seized control of the Republican party and the loyalty of GOP officials, a number of prominent former GOP officials, and even some of his ex-staffers, have come out in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden.
Bush endorsing Biden? Don’t hold your breath
Behind the scenes, some Biden allies have been reaching out through backchannels to friends in the Bush universe to see if an endorsement would ever happen — or if it’s just a pipe dream.
“We tried a little unofficially to see if there was a way to make it happen but we couldn’t get there,” said one Biden ally. “And I do think it would make a difference because we’ve learned every vote counts.”
Wow….the Democratic Party is basically telling progressives to go elsewhere at this point. Bad strategy toward 40-45% of the party
Progressives blast DNC for giving AOC just 60 seconds at convention but more time to Kasich, Bloomberg
Progressives blasted the Democratic National Committee for allotting only 60 seconds at next week’s convention to „Squad“ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., while giving larger platforms to former Republican Gov. John Kasich and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
17 Rising Democratic Stars Win Fight To Deliver Keynote Address At Convention
Speakers include former Georgia gubernatorial nominee and Biden VP prospect Stacey Abrams, as well as Reps. Colin Allred of Texas and Conor Lamb and Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania.
Nine current and former state legislators and two mayors are also among the speakers, in addition to Florida State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.
It’s time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president
For decades, the conversation about nominations has been about the conflicts between party elites and everyone else. Today, that conversation is counterproductive. A better approach is to think about how voters and elites could best play their different roles: to make their political parties more representative while ultimately narrowing the nomination choice down to one person. And the best way to do that would be through preference primaries.
New left-wing alliance including Ehud Barak aims to unseat Netanyahu in Israel’s elections
The united slate announced Thursday has the far-left Meretz party running with Barak’s new Israel Democratic Party and Stav Shaffir, who left the Labor Party, under the Democratic Camp moniker. It also hopes to bring Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister, out of political retirement.
What it means: While Democratic Camp won’t overtake Netanyahu’s Likud and his right-wing camp, it could combine with the center-left Blue and White party to ensure that Benny Gantz, a former military chief of staff, is tapped to form the government.
Netanyahu is now Israel’s longest-serving leader. Watch some of the key moments on his rocky road so far.
(21.07.2019)
To his passionate supporters, Netanyahu, known fondly by his nickname, “Bibi,” is an unrivaled world leader with cultlike status. They credit him with expanding Israel’s international alliances, helping foster its thriving high-tech industries and remaining a steady hand on security. For his fans, the allegations of corruption and impropriety that have plagued him are an underhanded attempt by his left-wing rivals to unseat him, as they have failed to do so at the ballot box.
The Last Thing Israel Needs Is Yet Another Election
(24.07.2019)
Why doesn’t Mr. Netanyahu seek out different coalition partners? The centrist Blue and White party is expected to be the strongest opposition party in the coming Knesset and a unity government of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud and Blue and White would likely be popular among Israelis, a majority of whom believe Mr. Netanyahu is the most fit to lead but don’t have much love for his past coalition partners, especially the ultra-Orthodox.