“I regret that the parties are still in the treetops,” Netanyahu told a weekly meeting of his old Cabinet as the formation of a new one remains elusive.

With a deadline looming to form a new government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging his potential future partners to get off the “treetops” in order to prevent losing an opportunity to form a right-wing government and potentially even forcing yet another Knesset election.

On the heels of the April 9th parliamentary ballot, Netanyahu has until May 28 to build a new majority in the 120-seat Knesset, though he might begrudgingly suffice temporarily with 60 members to get the government running and lure in others later.

Still operating with the ministers of his previous government, the prime minister said at the weekly Cabinet meeting: “I regret that the parties are still in the treetops. I hope that a way will be found soon to bring them down to the ground of reality so that together we can form a strong and stable government for the State of Israel that will continue to lead the country to new heights.”

Netanyahu’s Likud party finished tied with the Blue and White faction in the election with 35 seats each. President Reuven Rivlin, in his ceremonial capacity, gave the incumbent prime minister the nod over Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to form the next government because parties representing a majority of the Knesset told the president that they prefer the Likud.

Common wisdom and the historic track record indicate that parties are likely to fall in line before time runs out next week. If, however, that scenario does not play out, Rivlin would give MK Gantz a crack, and if he fails, Israelis could find themselves going back to the polls.

Netanyahu finds himself in a position to form a new government despite criminal indictments which are pending against him in three cases.

Channel 12 news reported comments made by the prime minister that he intended to advance legislation that would grant him legal immunity as long as he remains premier.

“After I complete my term, I will address my legal affairs. Israel’s citizens knew what my situation was and elected me,” he reportedly said.

“If I were thinking of my personal good, I would conduct my trial as prime minister, not as a private citizen, but I realize that it would not be for the good of the state,” Netanyahu added, according to Channel 12.

The process of forming a governing majority includes reaching an agreement on policy guidelines with each of the coalition partners.

Likud sources say that in order to prevent additional confrontations with potential partners who object to the immunity legislation, the prime minister’s ambition to pass the bill might not be included specifically in the policy guidelines. Criticism of such a law has also come from some members of Netanyahu’s own party.

Other demands reportedly being made in the coalition negotiations include the call by the Union of Right-Wing Parties (URP) to remove military authority from the day-to-day life of Israelis in Judea and Samaria. The objective of such a move would be to transfer authority to Israeli civilian bodies instead and thereby carry out a de facto imposition of Israeli law on the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria.

Also in the government formation talks, religious-secular tensions still exist between Haredi Orthodox factions and the Yisrael Beytenu party which objects to what it views as religious coercion.

The prime minister is faced, as well, with the task of placating Knesset members from the Likud and the coalition partners by appointing them to prestigious ministerial and parliamentary positions.

            (World Israel News)

Read More at: worldisraelnews.com

Israeli organizers are praised for their running of the event, which went smoothly despite boycott calls and other controversies.

After months of planning and a week filled with music, partying, and at times controversy, the annual Eurovision Song Contest has come to a close in Tel Aviv. The Netherlands was declared the winner by professional panels and a popular vote submitted through phone apps by viewers around the world.

The Dutch victory means the Netherlands earns the right to host next year’s event. Israel won last year’s contest but finished near the bottom in Saturday night’s grand final.

Israeli organizers received high grades from foreign visitors for their running of the event, including both the technical details of conducting the singing competition itself as well as outside arrangements which included activities that took place in the Eurovision Village.

Because of Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, this year’s event was marked by various anti-Israel calls to boycott the competition. The Jewish State earned the hosting honor by virtue of winning last year.

Local organizers breathed a sigh of relief that the boycott calls did not disrupt the smooth flow of the week-long activities, which included a semifinal round on Tuesday and Thursday and the grand final on Saturday.

The only blatant political detour centered around Iceland’s representative, a punk rock band called Hatari. Their song and overall demeanor were provocative and hostile.

On Saturday night, as their final result was announced, members of the Icelandic group held up Palestinian banners.

On the other hand, other foreign competitors spoke of Israel’s beautiful sights and how they enjoyed their visit.

After Israel’s victory last year, some Israeli officials and politicians called for hosting the 2019 contest in Jerusalem. However, both the lack of international recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over its capital and the more conservative nature of the holy city convinced government officials to back off and acquiesce to hosting the song contest in Tel Aviv instead.

Even with the extravaganza taking place in cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, internal Israeli controversy erupted over violation of religious observance of the Jewish Sabbath, which included friction over the issuing of Sabbath work permits for Eurovision preparations and rehearsals.

To protest the Sabbath desecration, haredi political parties temporarily suspended talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s representatives on forming a new government majority in the Israeli parliament in the aftermath of the April 9 general election.

In addition, a band on behalf of the Shalva non-profit organization, which supports and empowers individuals with disabilities and their families was forced in February to pull out of the Israeli competition for determining the country’s representative at Eurovision because of the issue of Sabbath observance.

All members of the band have disabilities, from blindness to Down syndrome and Williams’ syndrome. The band was advancing toward a victorious crowning as Israeli champion but backed out as preparations required breaking the rules of the Sabbath, even though the competition itself was not taking place on the day of rest. The band includes members who observe Sabbath in an Orthodox manner, as does the founder of the organization.

Shalva made a special appearance in Thursday night’s event and received rave reviews not only from Israelis but also in Europe. Some went as far as to say that Israel would have won again had the Shalva Band represented the country.

            (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com 

The IDF has responded to a new allegation being circulated by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and other elements about a Gazan girl who died at home after receiving treatment in Israel and who suffered beforehand as a result of Israel cruelty.

The Arabs are claiming that Aisha Lulu, five years old from Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, died at home shortly after returning from receiving treatment in Jerusalem.

The PA claimed Sunday that none of Lulu’s family members were allowed by Israel to enter the country to be at her side while in the hospital as applications by her family members to accompany her to Jerusalem for her complicated brain surgery were denied by the IDF.

This tragic story reflects the “oppression and suffering of the Palestinian people,” stated PA Minister of Health Mai Alkaila.

“How can a little child travel alone through Israeli checkpoints without being escorted by her mother, father or brother to provide her with affection and psychological support during treatment?” Alkaila said in a press statement.

While the PA claimed that Lulu was alone as a result of Israel’s refusal to admit her parents into the country, the IDF said it was Lulu’s parents who refused to leave Gaza and accompany her to the hospital in Jerusalem.

The IDF’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is entrusted with facilitating Arabs’ medical treatment in Israel, stated Sunday night that “in contrast to various publications, Israel approved the entry of Aisha Lulu for medical treatment in a hospital in east Jerusalem after her parents signed a declaration stating that they did not want to leave the Gaza Strip with her.”

“In addition, we emphasize that, contrary to publications, Aisha Lulu died in the Gaza Strip after returning home two weeks ago after an operation that unfortunately did not succeed at Al-Makassed Hospital. It should be emphasized that as a policy, the Gaza District Coordination Office (DCO) requires parental guidance for medical treatment of minors, based on the understanding that a child needs his parents during these moments. In this case too, in accordance with the DCO procedure, Aisha’s parents were required to sign a statement stating that they did not want to accompany their daughter during the treatments – for their own reasons – and asked that another person on their behalf accompany her,” COGAT clarified.

Israel regularly offers its medical services, know-how and expertise to Arab care providers and patients, in many cases free of charge, and facilitates care for Arab patients who seek it elsewhere.

(TPS)

Another Christian institution in the Palestinian Authority (PA) was targeted by vandals, while the number of Christians living in the PA has dropped to an all-time low.

The Anglican Church in the PA village of Abםud, near Ramallah, was broken into on Thursday and valuable property, including religious artifacts, was stolen.

A resident of Aboud, identified only as I.M., told TPS that the atmosphere in the village is charged and that there appear to be elements who are pushing the generate strife between Christians and Muslims. He estimates that this incident is a religion-based hate crime. He added that that jewelry, computers and other electronic equipment were stolen from the church.

This is the third incident in the past month in which Christians living in the PA were targeted.

The St. Charbel Monastery in Bethlehem was broken into last week, the sixth time to be targeted in recent years. The convent, part of the Lebanese Maronite Church, has been repeatedly targeted, and Father Yacoub Eid, the monastery head, has asked the PA to protect the Christian holy sites.

Attacks on Christians in the PA have recently expanded, and are driven by religion.

Last month, Christian residents of the town of Jifnah in the PA were attacked by Fatah activists and were forced to pay the Muslim Jizyah ransom tax after a local woman complained to the police about the son of a senior Fatah official.

The violent incident, which included shooting, occurred in an almost exclusively Christian area, situated north of Jerusalem and near Ramallah, the de facto PA capital.

In a notice published on Facebook, the Christian residents of Jifnah complained about the loss of security and of their property, especially after they were forced to pay the Jizyah, as demanded by Islam.

They demanded that the newly-appointed Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtayeh intervene and ensure their safety, and decry the “racist and sectarian” behavior by a “senior official.”

A member of one of the families told TPS that the Fatah members ordered them to pay the Jizyah “so that they could enjoy the PA’s protection” and that the event was caused by religious and sectarian hatred.

The Jizyah is an annual per capita tax levied by Islamic law on non-Muslim subjects residing in Muslim lands. The tax is a fee for protection provided by the Muslim ruler to non-Muslims, for the permission to practice a non-Muslim religion with some communal autonomy in a Muslim state, and as proof of the non-Muslims’ submission to the Muslim state and its laws.

Jizyah has also been understood by some as a ritual humiliation of the non-Muslims in a Muslim state for not converting to Islam.

The Muslim-Christian Council in Jerusalem recently published a survey that shows that the Christian population in the PA consists of only one percent of the general population. Tens of thousands of Christians have left the PA for other parts of the world following religious persecution they have encountered at home, including the confiscation of Christian land and the assault on young Christian women.

Once a sizable community, the survey’s numbers show that today the community numbers only 45,000 in the PA, with 4,000 living in Jerusalem and only 1,000 living in Gaza.

            (Tazpit Press Service)

A large majority of the German Bundestag on Thursday passed a motion defining the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as anti-Semitic and called on government bodies to refrain from funding or supporting any groups that question Israel’s right to exist.

The motion was supported by Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Social-Democrat Party (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democrats. However, the motion is not legally binding.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs and BDS activists slammed the resolution as “fascist” and “racist.”

Mahmoud Nawajaa, the General Coordinator for BDS, said that his movement would coordinate actions with other Arab organization to repel the German motion and would petition a German Constitutional Tribunal on the issue.

Nawajaa conceded that the motion consisted of a dangerous precedent for the BDS as it could generate similar resolutions in other countries. He rejected the German motion as “a racist a fascist decision.”

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terror group condemned the move as an encouragement for Israel’s occupation and its suppressing of human rights, its expansion of the “settlements” in Judea and Samaria and its destruction of the PA’s economy.

The DFLP further charged that the decision served the Trump administration and its “Deal of the Century” peace plan for the Middle East, and that Germany’s true face was exposed, despite its declared support for a two-state solution, human rights and democracy.

BDS activist Salah Khawaja wrote on Facebook that the German resolution counters legitimate international decisions and the international treaty on human rights and that the German parliament has officially joined the Neo-Nazi alliance with President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While BDS supporters were enraged by the resolution, Israel warmly welcomed it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the German Bundestag “on the important decision.”

Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff welcomed the initiative, saying it has a “broader European significance given that BDS makes no attempt to build coexistence and peace between Israel and all of its neighbors.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon stated that Israel’s welcomed the Bundestag’s resolution which “recognized the anti-Semitic nature of BDS and its illegitimate boycott activities. This is an important step which we hope will be adopted by other European legislative bodies.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Friday welcomed the decision and crowned it is “a crushing victory for the truth and a great achievement in the struggle against Israel’s detractors.”

“Germany proved to BDS supporters that its lies do not go unnoticed, but will pay a price. I congratulate the German parliamentarians who took part in passing this historic decision and call on the rest of the world leaders to join Germany, and work towards shaping a future without hatred against Jews and against Israel,” he added.

In 2016, Berlin’s Mayor Michael Müller observed that a tactic adopted by the BDS campaign of “standing with anti-Semitic signs in front of Berlin shops” is the functional equivalent of “the intolerable methods used in the Nazi era.”

Intelligence agencies in three German states, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, and Rhineland-Palatinate, have identified the BDS campaign as anti-Semitic.

In August 2017, Frankfurt became the first German city to pass a bill outlawing municipal funding for the BDS’s activities.

In May 2017, the SPD passed a resolution in support of Israel and condemning BDS as anti-Semitic, while in December 2016, Merkel’s CDU announced the passing of a resolution declaring BDS anti-Semitic.

            (Tazpit Press Service)

Israel condemned the Al Jazeera news network after it published a clip making light of the Holocaust and apparently denying aspects of it.

The clip alleged that Israel is the top beneficiary from the Holocaust, and uses it as an excuse for ethnic cleansing and the extermination of the Palestinians. It also claimed that the world focused on the six million Jewish victims, out of 20 million victims of the Nazis, because of the influence of Jewish organizations.

Al Jazeera further claimed that the number of Holocaust victims is debatable, that some deny the extermination while some say it is exaggerated, and some blame the Zionist movement for playing up the Holocaust.

Israeli journalist Shimrit Meir, who exposed the story, noted that the video was posted on a Friday night, after Iftar that breaks the Ramadan fast, because Al Jazeera “wanted all the traction they could get.” Nighttime watching during Ramadan is considered primetime in the Muslim world.

“Needless to say, with 750,000 views on Facebook in just a few hours, this is not your usual anti-Semite preacher on a Friday sermon. This is a huge propaganda machine that shapes the worldview of millions in the region, and in the Al Jazeera case, millennials,” she added.

Al Jazeera Media Network stated Friday that it deleted the video, produced by Al Jazeera Arabic, because “it violated the editorial standards of the Network.”

“This Holocaust denying video should not have been produced at all. Good that you deleted it,” stated Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. “Reason prevailed and an insane anti-Semitic Holocaust denying ‘educational video’ and meant to fuel hatred of Israel and the Jews in the Arab world, was removed.”

“This ‘explanation’ of the Holocaust is the worst kind of pernicious evil. That’s how Al Jazeera brainwashes young people in the Arab world and perpetuates hatred of Israel and the Jews. Lies and evil propagated by the ideological descendants of ‘Der Stürmer’,” he added.

Israel announced in August 2017 that it planned to ban Qatar’s flagship Al-Jazeera network from operating in the country over allegations it incites violence and supports terrorism, joining Arab nations that have shut down the broadcaster amid a separate political dispute.

Israeli officials have long accused Al-Jazeera, a pan-Arab satellite network funded by the Qatari government, of bias against the Jewish state. Then-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has likened its coverage to “Nazi Germany-style” propaganda.

            (TPS)