Coalition Deal Seen as Great Achievement for Religious Zionism
The coalition agreement that will send Israel’s 33rd government on its way is to be signed Wednesday night, sources in the Likud/Yisrael Beiteinu said, and it appears to be a great achievement for the Religious Zionist movement.
According to sources, Bayit Yehudi will receive three portfolios. Naftali Bennett will be Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, and an MK from the party will be named Sports and Culture Minister. Bennett will also be given the Religious Affairs, Diaspora and Jerusalem portfolio. Uri Ariel will be the Minister of Construction and Housing and will be in charge of the Israel Lands Administration. This should be very good news for residents of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, because Ariel is unlikely to cooperate with any scheme for housing freezes in these areas, and will likely make every effort to increase construction there.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Cracks in the Norwegian veneer
Norway, of all places, suddenly has doubts about the financial aid it offers the Palestinian Authority. Norway is one of the PA’s biggest supporters, giving it some $50 million a year. Now, someone has woken up and the Norwegian media wants to know: “Where is our money going?”
Questions surrounding the results of Palestinian projects that the Norwegians have funded have even reached the country’s state television station, NRK.
Tormod Strand, a senior journalist with Norwegian public TV, decided to follow the money trail; and together with Itamar Marcus, who heads “Palestinian Media Watch” — an Israeli research institute that monitors the PA’s media and schoolbooks — produced two episodes that presented the unadulterated hatred preached by the Palestinian Authority’s media towards Israel and the Jews.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Israel’s next government agreed: 4 parties, 68 members
Six weeks of coalition talks drew toward a successful conclusion Wednesday evening, when the Likud finally conceded the Education Ministry to Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid, and Lapid reportedly accepted the other terms of Likud’s compromise offer.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with Lapid, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett and former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman late Wednesday to confirm the terms.
The necessary legal documents were to be drawn up and signed Thursday, leaving Netanyahu free to formally inform President Shimon Peres on Saturday night — the final day of the six weeks allocated to him — that he has mustered a Knesset majority. The coalition will comprise four parties: Likud-Beytenu (31 seats), Yesh Atid (19), Jewish Home (12) and Hatnua (6), for a total of 68 members in the 120-seat Knesset.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Avi Bell attacks Levine for pseudo-intellectual bigotry
The author is a professor at Bar Ilan University’s Faculty of Law and the University of San Diego Law School…
Several days ago, the New York Times gave space in its “Opinionator” blog to anti-Israel activist Professor Joseph Levine of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was an ill-considered choice. Levine devoted his column to denying both Israel’s right to exist and the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
Posts
