Tag Archive for Israeli politics

| July 7, 2013
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Cabinet adopts historic draft bill to ultra-Orthodox’s dismay & anger

Lapid: Historic day; MK Porush: Black day for Jewish settlement

 

Ministers approve outline for haredi draft, to commence in 4 years.

By Omri Efraim

 

The cabinet adopted the equal share of the burden outline, according to which 21-year-old haredim will be drafted to the IDF, beginning in 2017, excluding 1,800 who have proven themselves scholarly-gifted and will continue to study the Torah.

Haredim in enlistment bureau – Photo: Yaron Brener

Fourteen ministers voted in favor of the outline, while only four opposed it.

The outline, finalized last May by a committee headed by Minister Yaakov Peri, also recommends that haredi draft-evaders will be criminally sanctioned. Continue Reading »

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| June 21, 2013
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Lapid calls for ‘honest divorce’ from Palestinians but Bennett urges ‘coexistence’

Economy and Trade Minister Bennett suggests gov’t give Area C Palestinians Israeli citizenship.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) came out in support of a two-state solution, while his coalition partner Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) rejected it completely and urged for “coexistence” between Israelis and Palestinians, in interviews they gave separately to the Washington Post this week.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett at Knesset swear in, Feb 5, 2013.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett at Knesset swear in, Feb 5, 2013. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Dubbing the two-state solution an “honest divorce” between Israel and the Palestinians, Lapid vowed to “push for this as hard as [he] can.”

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| June 21, 2013
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Netanyahu: Natural Gas exports to yield $60 billion in revenue over 20 years

 

Israel stands to become one of the world’s top-25 gas exporters. PM Netanyahu says Israel will export 40% of its natural gas, keeping 60% for domestic use.

Opposition Leader Yachimovich: Bill is a shameful capitulation to the tycoons, a major blow to Israel’s economy.

By Zeev Klein, Hezi Sternlicht, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that Israel will keep 60 percent of the natural gas it harvests from its offshore gas fields for domestic use, setting export levels at 40%. The cabinet will vote on a bill to that effect next week.

Tamar offshore gas field – Photo: Albatross

The Tamar and Leviathan fields, discovered in 2009 and 2010 west of the Haifa coast, are two of the world’s largest offshore natural gas fields.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 14, 2013
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Lapid wants public transportation for Shabbat as well

On a

Facebook chat, finance minister Lapid wrote ‘grandfather who cannot afford taxi should be able to visit his grandchildren on Shabbat.’

On stalled peace talks: Oslo Accords boosted economy

Ynet

 

“We need public transportation on Shabbat in secular neighborhoods and in secular cities,” Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Thursday evening during a live chat on Facebook. However, he said, more time was needed to sense the changes regarding this issue and economic issues.

Lapid during Facebook chat

Lapid during Facebook chat

“I think there should be public transportation on Shabbat. I said this during my (election) campaign and I’m saying it again – not in religious areas, but in secular neighborhoods and secular cities – because this issue is not related to religion and state; it is a simple social matter,” the Yesh Atid chairman wrote on Facebook. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| June 7, 2013
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Foreign Ministry strikes against Defense Ministry – Where’s Bibi?

Sanctions of the Foreign Ministry strike include a refusal to issue diplomatic passports to ministers, cessation of cable communications between Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem & delegations around the world and a halt to arrangements for ministerial visits abroad.

By

 

 

Defense Ministry Director General Udi Shani sent an urgent letter Wednesday to Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he requested that he intercede to end the strike within the Foreign Ministry as soon as possible, in order to save Israel from possible harm to its security and diplomatic ties.

Foreign Ministry union members

Foreign Ministry union members. – Photo: Emil Salman

A senior Israeli official, who read the letter, stated that Shani wrote to Netanyahu that the diplomats’ strike, as well as the decision of the Foreign Ministry union to halt all cooperation with the Israeli Defense Forces has severely hindered the process of changing military and defense ministry attaches in at least ten countries around the world. Continue Reading »

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| June 5, 2013
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Netanyahu sends message to Abbas from the Knesset: ‘Give peace a chance.’

PM Netanyahu uses his Knesset address on the Arab Peace Initiative to send a message of Peace to the Palestinians and another to his restive coalition partners.

By

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a Knesset debate on the Arab Peace Initiative to allay fears in some quarters that his three-month-old coalition is on the rocks – and to urge Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel.

Netanyahu addressing the Knesset April 24, 2013.

Netanyahu addressing the Knesset – Photo: Emil Salman

“I want to send a message to Abu Mazen [Abbas] in a language that both of us understand: Give peace a chance,” he told lawmakers. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 27, 2013
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Likud seeks to legislate Judea & Samaria’s legal status into Israeli law

 

A draft bill aiming to define the Land of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people is to be presented by Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin. The bill will also seeks to downgrade official status of Arabic as an official language of Israel.

Opposition (Labor) MK Braverman: “This is a disaster.”

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

After an effort to legally define Israel’s Jewish character in legislation sparked much controversy, Likud has now come up with yet another controversial proposition: Anchor the legal status of Judea and Samaria in a basic law — the Israeli precursor to a constitution, Army Radio reported Monday.

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| May 12, 2013
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Lapid now knows where the money is & needs to plug the hole

PM Benjamin Netanyahu is giving Finance Minister Lapid his full support even if some of Lapid’s own party supporters are not.

Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini is pleased, although, ‘Ricky Cohen from Hadera’ now has to deal with harsh austerity measures, i.e. higher taxes.

By Mati Tuchfeld

 

It is okay to say that Finance Minister Yair Lapid has good intentions. More than a year has passed since he quit his job as the anchorman of the Channel 2 news magazine and began traveling the country from end to end, carrying the flag of the middle class, vowing to do everything to protect the middle class, and criticizing all those “old politicians” that turned the middle class into the country’s “ATM,” as he said in one of his campaign speeches.

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| February 5, 2013
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Being a Member of Knesset Isn’t so Bad a Job

The MKs’ monthly salary is 38,250 shekels ($10,391) & each is given a car of his/her choosing from any of 6 models. MKs are covered in their travels abroad, either by the Knesset or, in the case of a diplomatic mission, by the Foreign Ministry…and that’s just the beginning.

Gideon Allon

 

 

The 48 new members of the 19th Knesset will soon enjoy the generous salary and benefits that come with the job.

carsMoreover, MKs are entitled to up to a NIS 4,250 ($1,155) reimbursement per year in clothing expenses, and a similar amount for foreign language studies.

In addition, each Knesset member is granted an annual budget of NIS 27,500 ($7,470) from which one may be reimbursed for a cellphone, two newspaper subscriptions, two home phone lines (one of which is a fax machine), NIS 103 ($28) per diem for food and lodging on days when Knesset sessions run long, and mailing expenses for up to 15,000 items.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| January 21, 2013
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Judaism’s Temple makes appearance as election topic

Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute wrote: Gimpel and other Jews longing for the day the Temple will be rebuilt shouldn’t have to apologize.

By  Israel Today Staff

 

Amid all the pre-election arguing over diplomatic, security and economic issues, the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem made a brief appearance as a topic of fiery debate between two Israeli candidates.

The episode began when Israel’s Channel 2 News in its Friday evening coverage of the election aired a video showing a member of the right-wing Jewish Home party purportedly stating that it “would be incredible” if the Dome of the Rock were to be blown up and a Jewish Temple rebuilt in its place. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 21, 2013
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Arab League urges Israeli Arabs to go vote against ‘radical Right’

The Arab League, representing all Arab nations, calls on the Israeli Arab sector to stand up to ‘racist, radical Right’, warning that by not voting, Arabs are giving a hand to ‘ethnic cleansing’

By Roi Kais

 

The Arab League is urging Arab Israelis to go vote in the national elections on Tuesday in order to battle the rise of the “radical Right” in the Jewish state.

Arab League conference

In a statement released Sunday, only two days before Israeli citizens head to the polling stations to determine the makeup of the next Knesset, the umbrella organization of Arab countries called on the Arab sector to make its voice heard. Continue Reading »

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| January 19, 2013
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Palestinians Foresee an Apartheid state if Netanyahu wins upcoming election

Palestinian president Abbas’ aides say PM is ‘killing’ 2-state solution and hope Obama will ‘get tougher with Netanyahu on the settlements’

Associated Press

 

Mohammed Ishtayeh, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told The Associated Press on Friday that his boss has been warning that ensuring Israel’s future as a democracy with a Jewish majority will not be possible if settlement building continues and that Israel could end up with a Jewish minority ruling over an Arab majority.

Abbas, NetanyahuIshtayeh warned Israel could end up with “an apartheid style state, similar to the one of former South Africa.”

“In the long run it will be against the Israeli interests because … we Palestinians will be the majority and will struggle for equality,” he said, adding that Abbas had met repeated this message in meetings with several Israeli leaders in the past year. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 19, 2013
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Original Thinking: Recognizing Israeli diplomatic incompetence

Saving Israel from a global delegitimization campaign that has a significant diplomatic impact on our country is sufficient grounds for influential & powerful people to rally around the Jewish state and protect it from our enemies, AND and from the incompetence of our gov’t’s politicians & officials.

By BARRY SHAW

 

How is it possible for Israel to effectively present its positions to the world when its government PR organs are in such a state of disarray? Not only are they in shameful condition, they have become incapable of addressing the most basic elements of our legitimacy and policy.

Mavi Marmara incident - Photo by Stringer Turkey, Reuters

We hear the most outlandish criticisms and resolutions used against us that go unanswered by the government. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| January 17, 2013
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Netanyahu rebuffs Obama; White House spooked by the nationalist parties

Past prime ministers who succumbed to American pressure left Israel with devastating results. For instance, Ehud Barak was convinced by Bill Clinton to meet nearly all of Yasser Arafat’s demands, only to be thanked with the outbreak of the “Second Intifada.”

By Ryan Jones

 

The Obama White House appears to be engaging in a very thinly veiled effort to influence next week’s Knesset election by suggesting to Israelis that voting for right-wing parties will further strain US-Israel relations and isolate the Jewish state.

NetanyahuOn Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politely suggested that the American administration butt out.

“Only the Israeli people will determine who best represents the State of Israel’s vital interests,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the Gaza security fence. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| January 11, 2013
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Daam party leader says she’s ‘not Zoabi’

 

Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka objects to ‘nationalistic’ discourse and promises to represent Jewish & Arab workers pitted against each other by gov’t’s ‘divide & conquer’ policy.

Hassan Shaalan

 

While many Arab Knesset members are known mostly for their harsh criticism of Israel, one Arab woman sees things quite differently.

Together with her Jewish partners, Asma Agbarieh Zahalka leads Daam, the “Workers’ Party.” She aims to direct the political discourse to a wholly different area.

“We combine a political agenda with a social one,” she said. “Our aim is to represent Jewish and Arab workers, the unemployed, women and youth who are pitted against each other by the government’s “divide and conquer” policy. Continue Reading »

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