ISRAEL (IINO)
‘I’m taking the reins’: Netanyahu says real danger to democracy is ‘all-powerful court’ By Debbie Reiss, World Israel News
March 23, 2023 – “Many in the nation agree that the Supreme Court is run as a closed club for the appointment of judges in a friend brings friend system,” said Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement that he had no plans to stop the judicial reform, beginning with the passage of a bill to reform the process of appointing judges.
“I’m taking the reins,” Netanyahu said, noting that until now his “hands were tied” over a conflict of interest.
“For our people, and for our country I will do everything to reach a solution,” he said.
Addressing the protesting IDF soldiers and reservists, the premier said: “There is no place for refusal to answer the call of duty. It endangers our national security and everyone’s personal security, and there is no justification for it.”
“I will do everything to heal the rift in the nation because we are brotherly people and with God’s help we will do it together, and together we will succeed,” he said.
“Citizens of Israel, a few months ago, as soon as the election results were announced, I said, ‘I intend to be the prime minister of all the citizens of Israel,’ I meant it then and I mean it today,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his statement.
“We have one country and we must do everything to protect it from external threats and from an irreconcilable rift from within. We cannot allow any dispute, no matter how acute, to endanger the common future of all of us.”
He went on to warn that the real danger to democracy was “an all-powerful court.”
IINO’s Ruling Oligarchy
As negotiations on judicial reform compromise continue, government and Opposition split on judicial review By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
April 20, 2023 – Opposition says 9 or 10 justices should be able to overrule Knesset law, while coalition’s bill says a majority of 12 is necessary.
Negotiations between the Opposition and Coalition on one of the biggest issues in the judicial reform package – judicial override – hit an snag this week, Kan Reshet Bet reported Thursday.
The government’s current bill on the subject of how many justices are needed to overturn a regular Knesset law, which has already passed its first reading, says that 12 of the 15 sitting Supreme Court judges must agree in order to cancel the law – down from 15 in the original draft of the bill. Yesh Atid is demanding that the number be reduced to nine – just one more than a bare majority, while the National Unity party is willing to compromise at ten.
According to the report, the parties signaled in closed talks that they believe an agreement can be reached on the issue.
The court cannot strike down Basic Laws according to the current bill, and the report did not mention negotiations on this issue.
The two largest Opposition parties have also presented different views of the enactment of Basic Laws, with Yesh Atid again taking a hardline. While the bill already on the table would allow an absolute majority of 61 MKs to pass or amend Basic Laws, Yair Lapid’s party says a supermajority of 80 legislators should be necessary for each of the four readings (vs. three for a regular law).
Israeli NGOs fight gov’t to allow terrorists’ families attend Memorial Day event By World Israel News Staff
April 19, 2023 – Two left-wing Israeli groups file petition with Supreme Court calling to overturn Defense Minister’s decision not to grant entry permits to Palestinian Arabs for alternative Memorial Day event in Tel Aviv.
Two left-wing Israeli groups have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice, demanding that Israel allow Palestinian Arabs to enter the country in order to attend a bi-national Memorial Day ceremony in Tel Aviv.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant decided not to allow Palestinians to enter the country due to security concerns, citing the general closure of Judea and Samaria during the holidays and the recent string of terror attacks.
The two groups, Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle-Families Forum, argued in their petition that Gallant’s decision violates freedom of expression and democratic values, as it denies families the right to express their grief and impedes the goal of facilitating peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
[Ed.: Just what we need! Terrorists at Memorial Day! Israel is similar to the US in the aspect that a loud minority destroys the country.]
Netanyahu halts bill against Christian proselytizing while Jews in Israel are increasingly targeted
March 28, 2023 – “Any attempts to curb evangelizing in the Jewish state, via legislation, is met with international pressure and cries of church persecution and violations of religious freedom.”
By Associated Press and World Israel News Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would prevent the passage of a proposal by a powerful ally in his governing coalition to punish Christian proselytizing with jail time.
The proposal had raised an uproar with evangelical Christians — one of Israel’s strongest and most influential supporters in the United States.
The bill was introduced in January by a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish lawmakers, including Moshe Gafni, who heads the parliament’s Finance Committee. It says soliciting someone to convert their faith should be punishable by one year in prison and solicitation to convert a minor would be punishable with a two-year sentence.
“Recently, the attempts of missionary groups, mainly Christians, to solicit conversion of religion have increased,” it said.
[Ed.: That’s why it’s ‘IINO’!]
Ties with Iran lead to catastrophe, Netanyahu warns Saudi Arabia By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
April 20, 2023 – “Ninety-five percent of the problems in the Middle East emanate from Iran,” Netanyahu says.
Following a historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which saw the two countries pledge to restore diplomatic ties after Chinese-brokered talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Gulf Kingdom about the potential consequences of trusting Tehran.
“Those who partner with Iran partner with misery. Look at Lebanon, look at Yemen, look at Syria, look at Iraq,” Netanyahu said during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday evening.
“Ninety-five percent of the problems in the Middle East emanate from Iran,” he added.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have been engaged in a proxy war for nearly a decade, with Riyadh growing closer to Israel and coordinating on security issues with Jerusalem during that time period.
Netanyahu said he believes that the normalization of ties between the two countries did not stem from a genuine desire to be allies, but rather to end their long-simmering conflict.
“I think it has probably a lot more to do with the desire to de-escalate or even eliminate the long-standing conflict in Yemen,” he said.
“I think that Saudi Arabia, the leadership there, has no illusions about who are their adversaries, and who are their friends.”
The premier has hinted for years that a peace deal with Saudi Arabia is on the horizon, but the country’s recent resumption of ties with Iran and its willingness to engage with the Hamas terror group has cast doubt on the possibility of normalization with Israel.
Why Did Israel Take 2 Days to Exercise its Sovereign Rights? by AFSI Staff
April 20, 2023 – A banner proclaiming support for terrorism against the Jewish State hung unimpeded for two days from the Temple Mount’s Dome of the Rock Mosque this week. The banner was finally removed two days later during the overnight hours following an appeal from Beyadenu to Israeli media and to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Tom Nisani, executive director of Beyadenu protested the decision: “Who would have believed that under the right-wing government we would see a banner supporting Hamas and encouraging terrorism emblazoned in the heart of the Temple Mount, all the more so on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I’m ashamed.”
Hanging the PA flag on the Temple Mount is a clear violation of Israeli law. It’s enough of an outrage that the Jewish people must be subjected to restricted access to this holy site. To see this flag displayed, particularly on Yom HaShoah, adds insult to injury. The two days it took for Israel to act on this doesn’t indicate the immediate and timely action that should have been taken by a sovereign nation.
The Altalena – One Sad Story By Chaim Eliezer
The history of the creation of the State of Israel has always been charged with emotions. Mostly these emotional feelings are positive, but to the old timers of the state, the incidents that surrounded the emergence of the state were causes of deep inter Jewish hatred and suspect amongst brethren. This is highlighted in an extreme manner in an episode called the “Atlalena” from which an important lesson must be learnt.
The Alatlena was the name of a boat that brought in supplies, arms and Jewish soldiers. It met a sad fate which illustrates some of the inborn problems that existed during the formation of the State of Israel and the subsequent government intrigues and prejudices that were and still abound in the national government. To properly understand the rise of the State of Israel and the Altalena affair we must first understand a bit of its background.
