Hundreds of Thousands of Diaspora Jews to share in Masa’s Virtual Yom HaZikaron Ceremony: Allie Longo, Miller Ink, JNS, Apr. 12, 2021 — On the eve of Yom HaZikaron, a day of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, Masa Israel Journey is virtually hosting its annual Yom HaZikaron Ceremony. The event will commence on April 13 at 8:00 PM Israel Standard Time (1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM PST), and will be held on Facebook Live through Masa’s Facebook page.
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Arab-Israeli Dentist Holds Sway Over Israel’s Next Government
Dov Lieber
WSJ, Apr. 12, 2021
“What we are witnessing, depending on the outcome of the coalition negotiations, are potentially dramatic changes in Israel’s political landscape,” Mr. Plesner said.
The man who could determine who forms Israel’s next government is a 46-year-old Arab-Israeli dentist.
Mansour Abbas controls four seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament through his Islamist party, Ra’am.
He is the first leader of an Arab-Israeli party to declare he would support any government ready to help the country’s disadvantaged Arab minority and, after March’s close-fought election—the country’s fourth in two years—again left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struggling to cobble together a ruling coalition, he could make an unlikely kingmaker.
“I don’t want to be part of any bloc, right or left. I am here in a different bloc—the bloc that voted for me to serve my people,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech a few days after the vote.
Yohanan Plesner, president of the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute, said Mr. Abbas’s willingness to support Mr. Netanyahu or another contender is a potential game-changer for Israeli politics. Until now, Arab-Israeli parties have largely focused on the historic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and have been reluctant to play a role in any Israeli government. Only once has an independent Arab-Israeli party supported a ruling coalition.
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Mansour Abbas: Islamist Kingmaker of Israeli Politics
Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom Journal, March 2021
‘Whoever wants to prevent fifth elections will need to be in touch with Raam. But support won’t come free of charge’ — Mansour Abbas
Israeli elections over the years have sprung their fair share of shocks and surprises. In 1996, the public ‘went to bed’ with Shimon Peres as the next Prime Minister only to ‘wake up’ with Benjamin Netanyahu who won by fewer than 30,000 votes; in 2006 the recently formed Pensioners Party famously won seven Knesset seats. And in April 2019, the New Right party headed by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked failed to cross the electoral threshold by a mere 1400 votes, thus depriving Netanyahu of the coalition he so craved (and continues to crave). Yet for pure drama, symbolism and potential significance, few events can compare to the head of an Islamic party, a shopkeeper’s son from a small Galilee village, potentially determining the next Israeli prime minister.
Yet with all ballots counted, this is where Israelis find themselves. Netanyahu’s preferred coalition of Likud, the ultra-Orthodox, the Religious Zionist party (including its Kahanist wing) and Naftali Bennett only has 59 seats, two short of forming a coalition. The anti-Netanyahu factions – comprised of New Hope, Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yisrael Beiteinu, Labour, Meretz and the Arab Joint List – are also short of the magic number. In the self-declared non-aligned camp lie two parties. One is Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party with seven seats. The other, the United Arab List, known as Raam, with four seats. Led by Mansour Abbas, it has expressed its openness to supporting either Netanyahu or the centre-left. The party’s choice will be crucial to the future of Israeli politics.
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The New Plan To Oust Netanyahu And Its Implications For Israel
Caroline Glick
JNS, Apr. 11, 2021
“Sa’ar’s plan, which Bennett has joined, is to do to Likud members what late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did to Likud voters in 2004.“
In a discussion with associates on Tuesday, Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett spoke candidly about his political plans, which, according to media reports, he is closely coordinating with New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar. Both Bennett and Sa’ar hail from the ideological right and both are outspoken opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seek to unseat him as premier.
Although Bennett refused to recommend that President Reuven Rivlin confer the mandate to form a government on Netanyahu last week, he has made clear that he will join a Netanyahu-led governing coalition if Netanyahu is able to secure the two seats he lacks to build a 61-member government. In contrast, Sa’ar refuses to join a Netanyahu-led government. And for now, Sa’ar’s five colleagues in his six-member Knesset faction are boycotting Netanyahu with him.
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In Israel, Prosecutors Gone Wild
Conrad Black
National Review, Mar. 23, 2021
“Every Israeli prime minister in the last 25 years has been under investigation by the attorney general, and one, Ehud Olmert, as well as one president of Israel, Moshe Katsav, were convicted and imprisoned (and may conceivably have committed offenses, but they were stilted legal proceedings).”
The Israeli election on Tuesday, the fourth in that country in two years, is generally being portrayed in the Western media as the latest round in the gripping battle for survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has established himself as one of the most important figures in the history of the State of Israel, having served as prime minister for 15 years. The real issue, in this and previous Israeli elections, is the continued viability of Israel’s democratic institutions. Over the course of the last 25 years, a highly independent, recently a rogue, prosecution service has been assembled by successive attorneys general of Israel in the shadow of the protection of the Supreme Court. Step by step, the power of Israel’s attorney general has been augmented and liberated from any supervision or restraint.
The role of the crusading prosecutor has been a politically popular one since Roman times. Famous tribunes, such as Tiberius Gracchus in 133 b.c., through such relentless and fearsome prosecutors as Fouquier-Tinville and Robespierre in the French Revolution, and up to more civilized times and prosecutors such as Thomas E. Dewey (twice Republican candidate for president) and Rudolph Giuliani, have advanced their political careers by punishing the corrupt and authoritarian abusers of public office. There was an element of this in the astounding career of J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI and its predecessor organization for 48 years. He never sought elective office but cultivated a mystique as the scourge of gangsters and then of communist subversives, and was a shadowy and powerful, but generally popular, figure in the land for decades.
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For Further Reference:
Netanyahu Taps Likud Fixer Miki Zohar To Head Key Knesset Steering Panel: Times of Israel staff and Raoul Wootlif, Times of Israel, Apr. 11, 2021 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tapped his party’s former coalition whip Miki Zohar to head the powerful Knesset Arrangements Committee, a move made possible after President Reuven Rivlin chose the premier to form a coalition following last month’s election.
Israel’s Bennett Says He Would Back New Netanyahu-led Government: Reuters, Apr. 12, 2021 — The leader of Israel’s ultra-nationalist Yamina party said on Monday it would back a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, potentially nudging the incumbent towards being able to build a coalition after last month’s inconclusive election.
Likud, Blue and White Trade Blame As Further Vaccine Purchases Held Up: Times of Israel staff, Apr. 12, 2021 — The Likud and Blue and White parties on Monday engaged in a fresh spat over the purchase of additional coronavirus vaccines, which has been held up by political infighting.
First Week Of Netanyahu Corruption Trial Paints Grim Picture Of Israeli Media: Judah Ari Gross, Times of Israel, Apr. 9, 2021 — The evidentiary stage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial kicked off this week with witnesses painting a dour picture of a leading Israeli media outlet, controlled and manipulated by the premier.
Daily Briefing Apr. 11 – When Prince Philip Broke Royal Taboo By Visiting Israel: Times of Israel, Apr. 11, 2021 –– With the death of Prince Philip at age 99 over the weekend, we open today’s show with a look at the late Duke of Edinburgh’s relationship with Israel, the resting place of his mother, and how his 1994 visit to the Holy Land broke a royal taboo.
