Netanyahu Plea Deal
– AG Rejected Netanyahu’s Terms for Plea Deal. An attorney suggested former PM Netanyahu admitting to 2 counts of fraud, and breach of trust, will be sentenced to community service for less than 3 months, and not be barred from running in the next elections.
– Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit is willing to enter plea bargain talks with Benjamin Netanyahu only on condition that it is understood in advance that the former prime minister would be convicted of corruption-related crimes and that the prosecution would seek a court finding of moral turpitude to exclude him from public office for seven years. (All sides of politics and the law do not want to see another useless election or Bibi as Prime minister of Israel again. He must step down from leadership of the Likud party and politics.)
– Israeli Public Opposes Netanyahu Plea Deal. Most of those asked, believe the former prime minister is guilty of the corruption charges against him and wish to see Netanyahu’s cases reach a decision in court; he is on trial for charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud. 42 percent of Likud supporters in favour of the plea bargain.
– Former PM reportedly ready to sign deal, even one including admission of moral turpitude which would remove him from politics for 7 years. In his first public statement on the issue in recent days, Netanyahu thanked the Israelis who supported him and contributed to a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his legal fees.
by Jack Engelhard
From the beginning, the Israelis were admired as rugged pioneers who “made the desert bloom.” To this day, planting a tree in Israel is a symbol of rebirth and permanence.
That’s what we do when we go to Israel to visit or to stay. We plant trees. But not everybody is happy about this, three Arab communities in the Negev in particular, say not in my backyard. To many of them, of course, the entire Land of Israel is their backyard, and so they riot when they don’t get their way.
In order to form a government by hook or by crook, Bennett/Lapid needed up to four more Knesset votes, and got them from Mansour Abbas and his Arab Ra’am Party.
On this day, it’s the Arabs, seeing how the coalition capitulated in the Negev, which proves that Bennett/Lapid are only half the show, and often the lesser half.
When the Muslim Brotherhood speaks, they listen, and obey. They have no choice. Should any member of the Ra’am Party bolt, the entire government collapses.
Jews are 80 percent of the county. So how did the Jews put themselves in such a spot where others can dictate to them where they can or cannot plant trees?
Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak
The day after Netanyahu steps down from the leadership of Likud party, and politics as well, an election will be announced and a Zionist government will be formed.
Israel is not the Bedouins’ Country
Bedouin riots continue with stone-throwing and violence, purportedly in response to JNF’s work planting trees in the Negev. The vehicle of a security guard was stoned. A policeman was slightly injured and required evacuation to the hospital for medical treatment. There were reports of tire fires on Road 25 and Road 80. (They do not want to see the country they live in flourish. International Jew-haters, liberal and self-hating Jews are still talking about ‘co-existence’.)
Syrian Surface-to-surface Missile Threat to Israel
A fortified compound north of Palmyra in eastern Syria is equipped with medium-range and long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and threats almost the entire territory of the State of Israel. These missiles can also threaten US military positions in northeast and southeast Syria.
Iran’s foreign ministry says it wants a comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers and won’t settle for an interim agreement. Meanwhile on Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed that Israel is not obligated to keep a nuclear agreement made by other countries with Iran. (Iran is buying time by participating in the negotiations. Afterward, Iran will test a nuclear bomb and it will be too late! The solution is regime change. The Iranian people would be glad to be rid of the mullahs – but the world does not discuss this option.)
Apparent drone attack in Abu Dhabi, with three explosions reported on oil tankers and airport. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen claimed responsibility for the explosions.
Quote of the Week:
“Iran’s domestic situation presents an opportunity for the international community. Iran is not a leading power – its citizens are suffering as a result of the poor economic situation, investments and development have been slashed by 50 percent in the last decade, and the country faces a variety of internal and external challenges. The Iranian regime is well aware of this situation and as such, Iran is coming into negotiations without real bargaining chips. It is possible and necessary to put an end to Iran’s ‘time-dragging’ strategy. We are deepening international cooperation, and I am certain that soon – both overt and covert actions will be expanded, by a variety of means.” – Benny Gantz, Israeli Defense Minister
Stop Talking to the Palestinian Authority
by Steve Postal
Until the PA stops inciting violence, it’s hopeless (and it never will.)
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently hosted Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas at his home, marking the first such meeting of Israeli and Palestinian senior officials inside Israel since 2010. But what is the point?
The PA (and the PLO and Fatah) continues to endorse terrorism, spread various libels against Israel, reject Arab normalization with Israel, and question the legitimacy of Israel itself. While Israel is inching towards diplomacy, the PA marches on with its rejectionism.
The Hebron branch of Fatah celebrated Fatah’s 57th anniversary with a post on its Facebook page stating that “We are the ones who give birth to a Martyr every day.”
The PA also continues to propagate numerous libels against Israel. The official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida claimed that Israel “exported” COVID-19 to the PA and used it “as a new weapon” to tank the PA’s economy. Official PA TV programming included Palestinian girls singing songs calling Jews “impure” and “the world’s dogs” and accusing Jews of “defiling” Jerusalem.
The PA has been rejecting the normalization of relations with Israel. The PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports recently called soccer matches between Israel and Morocco and Israel and the UAE “an insult to our people’s struggle and the sacrifices it has made” and “a serious and deep stab in the heart of every free Arab.”
The PA continues to question the legitimacy of Israel itself. Over 100 years after the fact, the PA repeatedly maligns the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the document in which Britain supported the concept of a Jewish home in the British Mandate of Palestine. One recent Palestinian publication called the Declaration a “declaration of war against Palestine”. (They did not even exist 100 years ago!)
The PA also taught fourth grade Palestinian girls “that Palestine is Arab from its (Jordan) River to its (Mediterranean) Sea, its capital is Jerusalem, and that it will be liberated sooner or later,” leaving no room for Israel to exist.
So while the unity government in Israel could be testing the waters on a new diplomatic initiative to the PA, any such initiatives are doomed to fail until the PA stops inciting against Israel. (Planning to remove the enemies from the Jewish land would be better way to spend time.)
Read previous Editorials here.