People walk next to election campaign billboards for Likud Party, shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and the Blue and White party, the opposition party led by Benny Gantz, left, in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March. 1, 2020. Israel heads into its third election in less than a year on Monday, March 2nd. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is holding its third election in less than a year on Monday, with over 6.4 million eligible voters set to cast their ballots for the 23rd Knesset, or parliament. With the actors all the same as the last round in September and pre-election opinion polls predicting similar results, weary Israelis are still hoping to see an end to the year-long deadlock that has paralyzed national politics.

Here is a closer look at what to expect:

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM

The March 2 vote is Israel’s third parliamentary election in under a year, an unprecedented situation for the 71-year-old country. The third election was called after neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival, former army chief Benny Gantz, succeeded in forming a governing coalition following the Sept. 17 election. The Knesset voted to dissolve itself and send the country to yet another election. A similar deadlock followed elections last April.

THE BIG NAMES

Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for over a decade, is seeking what would be his fifth term overall, including an earlier stint in the 1990s. In July, Netanyahu secured a place in history as the country’s longest-serving prime minister, surpassing Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion. He faces tough opposition from Gantz, whose Blue and White party seeks to replace Netanyahu’s long-dominant Likud.

VETERAN VS. CLEAN SHEET

For the third time running, the main contenders remain Netanyahu and Gantz. Netanyahu has campaigned on his experience and diplomatic accomplishments, pointing to his opponent’s inexperience. Gantz has stumped on Netanyahu’s inability to serve under the shadow of a looming trial on corruption charges.

Netanyahu was indicted on fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges in November. He had sought immunity from prosecution from parliament but later rescinded his request. His trial is scheduled to begin on March 17, just two weeks after election day.

Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing and says he’s the victim of a witch hunt by police, prosecutors and the media. The election is widely seen as a referendum on his character and ability to govern while facing criminal charges.

THE CONTENDERS

All 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, are up for grabs. Twenty-nine parties are competing, including the large front-runners, ultra-Orthodox religious parties, Arab factions and fringe movements.

But only a handful are expected to garner the 3.25% of the vote necessary to break the electoral threshold and earn the minimum four seats in parliament.

TURNOUT AND FATIGUE

Israeli elections tend to have robust turnout. Election day is a national holiday, a measure aimed at encouraging participation.

In both of last year’s elections, turnout was about 69%, slightly below the 72% figure in the 2015 vote.

But with voter fatigue high after the repeat elections, it remains to be seen whether parties’ efforts to get out the vote will succeed.

ROUND FOUR?

No Israeli party has ever won an outright majority, which forces the larger parties to form blocs with smaller allies.

After the election, Israel’s president will meet with party heads and select the party he believes is most capable of forming a coalition. That party, which is usually but not always the largest faction, then has four weeks to form a coalition. A new government will be given a four-year term, but disagreements between coalition parties often result in early elections.

Preelection polls point to a similar outcome as September’s election, suggesting Likud and Blue and White could both struggle to form a coalition. Whether the two parties can agree to form a unity government — something they couldn’t do after the last election — remains a remote possibility to break the year-long political deadlock.

Recent opinion polls have indicated softening support for Blue and White, giving Netanyahu a remote chance of claiming victory.

Another key player could be the secular, ultranationalist party Yisrael Beitenu, whose leader, Avigdor Lieberman, has refused to commit to either side. The predominantly Arab Joint List is also expected to make a strong showing. While an Arab-led party has never served in a government, the Joint List could provide external support to push Gantz over the top.

Another possible outcome is that there is once again no clear winner and Israelis will head to the polls for an unprecedented fourth vote.

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Follow Ilan Ben Zion on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IlanBenZion

Source: https://apnews.com/2445d92222cc13de54c55cc64d5376eb

The post AP Explains: Israel’s upcoming vote, its 3rd in under a year first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Gantz and Kahol Lavan member Moshe Ya’alon during a tour of the West BankElad Malka

Benny Gantz, chairman of Kahol Lavan, said Tuesday that he would work to advance Israel’s annexation of the Jordan Valley after Israel’s March 2 election, adding he is expecting the publication of the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in the past has promised annexation not only of the Jordan Valley but of Area C territories comprising over 60% of the West Bank, said he will apply Israeli law to all Israeli settlements “without exception.”

Speaking during a tour of the region, Gantz said “The Jordan Valley is Israel’s eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict. Israeli governments that spoke of the possibility of returning the area [to Jordanian control] were making a grave strategic and security mistake, and we see this strip of land as an inseparable part of the State of Israel.”

>> Defense chief says Israel will apply sovereignty to West Bank ■ Whoever wins Israel’s next election will be a right-winger

When asked about the Trump administration’s plan for Middle East peace, Gantz said, “I hope that President Trump will hurry and release his plan. Several weeks have passed. Many dramatic things are happening in the Middle East, and I’m looking forward to the plan’s release.”

The post Gantz Vows to Annex Jordan Valley; Netanyahu Wants Sovereignty ‘Without Exception’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Israel is set to continue without a government and may be heading to new elections after Benny Gantz, rival of longtime Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday that he missed a deadline to form a government.

Netanyahu, who is facing the possibility of imminent indictment on corruption charges, also failed to form a coalition following the hotly contested election in September.

Gantz’s announcement that he could not meet the deadline set by President Reuven Rivlin doesn’t automatically trigger new elections. Rather, it kicks off another wave of political haggling — Israel’s parliament has 21 days to nominate another lawmaker to try to form a majority government. If no other lawmakers are successful, it could usher in a third and unprecedented election this year, which Netanyahu has described as “institutional insanity.”

Gantz, a longtime military leader, and relative political newcomer said his Blue and White party did everything it could.

“In the past 28 days, no stone was left unturned while we tried to form a government that would bring Israel a leadership of dignity, morals, and values, a leadership that has been forgotten,” Gantz said, according to Haaretz.

“Most of the people chose a liberal unity government headed by Blue and White,” he added, according to The Associated Press. “Most of the people voted to weaken the power of extremists, and most of the people voted to go on a different path from that of Netanyahu in recent years.”

Gantz and Netanyahu were apparently unable to broker a power-sharing agreement, which could have resulted in switching off as prime minister. Their parties — Gantz’s centrist Blue and White Alliance and Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party — hold 33 and 32 seats, respectively, in the Knesset.

One group that wielded considerable power in the negotiations was Avigdor Lieberman’s secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party. He has said he favors a unity government with the two largest parties, and wouldn’t throw his group’s weight behind a more narrow coalition.

Lieberman was quoted by the BBC as saying the problem with Gantz’s attempt to form a coalition was that he ” ‘was not prepared to accept the president’s plan’ for a national unity government, while Mr. Netanyahu ‘was not prepared to separate from his ultra-Orthodox messianic bloc.’ ” It’s worth noting that Lieberman has also signaled that he was not willing to join a government with Arab parties, who are plausible allies for Gantz.

Overshadowing all the political jockeying, Netanyahu is being investigated and could face indictment for bribery and other charges. He’s accused of accepting gifts from wealthy businessmen and allegedly conspiring with media moguls to trade favors in exchange for positive coverage. He has denied wrongdoing.

Gantz had refused to form a unity government with the threat of indictment looming over Netanyahu, the AP reported but had expressed a willingness to work with Likud if someone else took over.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/20/781260650/israel-may-hold-new-elections-after-netanyahus-rival-fails-to-form-government

The post Israel May Hold New Elections After Netanyahu’s Rival Fails To Form Government first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman have agreed to meet on Thursday amid talks on a national unity government, hours after Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party shunned a meeting with Likud’s negotiation team.

As Likud-Kahol Lavan talks appear to be deadlocked, Netanyahu told Lieberman, “There is no point in wasting Israel’s time. We’ll meet and decide [how to proceed] if we see [intentions are] serious.”

During a Wednesday meeting between representatives of right-wing parties Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas and Yamina, Yamina MK and Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich offered to give up a ministerial portfolio in the next government to ensure that Lieberman joins a Netanyahu-led coalition.

Smotrich made his suggestion after Lieberman clarified that he would not join a “messianic” right-wing government. According to a source who was present at the meeting, Smotrich’s expressions suggested that he was prepared to sacrifice his position to allow Kahol Lavan to join the government as well. Smotrich declined to comment on the matter.

Sources who attended the meeting also said party leaders refused to sign a document presented by Likud’s Zeev Elkin that would commit them to endorsing Netanyahu as prime minister in the case that current coalition talks and a potential second-round fail, arguing it was “unnecessary at this point in time.”

If Netanyahu fails to form a coalition by a late October deadline or decides to return the mandate beforehand, President Reuven Rivlin may tap another candidate to try and form one. If that second candidate also fails, Rivlin would then allow a group of at least 61 lawmakers to present another candidate beyond the two forerunners, which is when Elkin would present such a document.

Netanyahu and Lieberman are slated to meet on Thursday at 9:30 A.M.

Lieberman confirmed the meeting, stressing he will push to “establish a unity government with the three parties: Yisrael Beiteinu, Likud, and Kahol Lavan.”

In addition, Lieberman said his party made its position clear before, during and after the September election, stating it won’t join any other government.

Lieberman’s unrelenting stance on religion-and-state issues led to Netanyahu’s failure to secure a ruling coalition following the April 9 election, which resulted in the dissolution of the Knesset and a do-over election within six months. In the September campaign, Lieberman has insisted that he will only support a government without the ultra-Orthodox parties, which Netanyahu calls “natural partners.”

Netanyahu and Lieberman have been at odds since the Knesset voted to disband itself in May after Yisrael Beiteinu chairman refused to back down on the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, while ultra-Orthodox parties claimed they have already yielded enough ground.

Netanyahu bashed Lieberman, saying he misled his voters while dragging the entire country into a new election. Netanyahu also called Lieberman a leftist: “he brings down right-wing governments.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Lieberman announced that his party would join negotiations between Netanyahu’s Likud and Kahol Lavan if no breakthrough is achieved in talks to form a unity government by Yom Kippur, marked on Tuesday.

Lieberman urged Likud and Kahol Lavan during the September election campaign that the two parties form a unity government. Nevertheless, Yisrael Beiteinu hasn’t taken any action to bridge the gaps between Kahol Lavan and Likud since the election.

During his meeting on Wednesday with Yisrael Beiteinu staffers, Lieberman said he would hold informal talks with the leaders of Likud and Kahol Lavan on Thursday when the newly elected members of the 22nd Knesset will be sworn in.

Lieberman added that he hopes that “Likud and Kahol Lavan could make much more progress than what we’ve seen so far,” stressing that that last thing that Israel needs is a new election,” and that no significant political shifts are expected should a third election be held.

“We must reach a wise solution and leave all personal considerations and egos aside. In any case, we’ll enter high gear after Yom Kippur in an effort to form the new government.”

It remains unclear what is the outline Lieberman’s party will attempt to advance after it made clear — in contrast to Kahol Lavan’s stance — that it’s not against Netanyahu serving as prime minister under indictment. On the other hand, Yisrael Beiteinu committed to passing the draft law as well as additional laws in a bid to change the religious status quo in Israel, a move that will be rejected by ultra-Orthodox parties Shas, United Torah Judaism, and far-right alliance Yamina — Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc partners.

Last week Lieberman criticized Netanyahu, expressing hope that the prime minister demonstrates flexibility during negotiations with Kahol Lavan.

Taking to Facebook, Lieberman wrote that Netanyahu must “Stop your game of assigning the blame for a third round of elections, and perhaps we’ll hear even before Rosh Hashanah that we have a government, at least in principle,” adding that “history has proven that when Bibi wants to he can be the most flexible man in the world.”

The post Israel Election Results: Netanyahu Announces Thursday Meeting With Lieberman as Unity Talks With Gantz in Deadlock first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

As the Jewish Voice meets its weekly publication deadline on Tuesday evening in New York City, it has been reported that the results of the much anticipated Israel elections have once again concluded in a stalemate of sorts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to secure a ruling majority in Israel’s second election of 2019, according to exit polls released by Israeli television channels on Tuesday.

According to a report on the Haaretz web site, exit polls currently indicate that Netanyahu’s Likud party will gain approximately 56 seats. The polls indicate that the largest party is Benny Gantz’s, Kachol v’Lavan. The Haaretz report indicates that since neither Netanyahu nor Gantz appear to have gained a 61-seat majority, the two are likely to enter into deliberations with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin who will determine which of them will receive the mandate to try and cobble together a governing coalition.

According to two of the polls, Kahol Lavan is leading with 32-34 Knesset seats, while Likud is projected to garner 33-30 seats.

Haaretz reported that in all three polls, the Joint List of Arab parties is projected to have garnered 15 seats, making it the third-largest party in the Knesset, while Yamina, led by Ayelet Shaked, is currently projected to win 6-7 seats, and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to receive 8-9 seats, as of the time of publication on Tuesday evening.

Amongst the religious parties, the polls indicate that the Shas party is projected to win nine seats. United Torah Judaism is projected to win 7-8 seats, according to the Haaretz report.

All three exit polls have said that the Democratic Union party is projected to win 5-6 seats, whereas Labor-Gesher, which teetered on the edge of the electoral threshold in polls leading up to the vote, is projected to win six seats in all three exit polls, according to the Haaretz report.

As of 2:07 am Israel time, Channel 12 in Israel have updated their exit polls that show that Kahol Lavan and Likud are tied.

Kahol Lavan: 32

Likud: 32

Joint List: 13

Yisrael Beiteinu: 9

Shas: 9

United Torah Judaism: 7

Yamina: 7

Labor: 6

Democratic Union: 5

The leaders of the Blue and White Party including its leader, former IDF chief Benny Gantz as well as Yair Lapid, Gabi Ashkenazi and Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday night arrived at party headquarters at the Tel Aviv Port, according to an INN report.

INN reported that Gantz said in his remarks, “We will wait for the true results, but it seems as though we have accomplished the mission, and no less important–we accomplished it in our way. Blue and White was and remains a major and central force in the Israeli political arena.”

“As we said, we will now patiently wait for the real results. However, we can say that it appears as though Netanyahu was unsuccessful in his mission. We, on the other hand, proved that the idea called ‘Blue and White’–a venture we started a little over six months ago–has succeeded, in a big way, and is here to stay.”

Some Netanyahu supporters gathered at the Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night. They reacted to the initial exit polls by waving banners emblazoned not with “Netanyahu,” but instead with “Trump.”

Throughout his campaign, the Prime Minister boasted about his tight relationship with President Trump, who is quite popular in Israel. And billboards across the country are plastered with photographs of the two of them together.

Neither Likud nor Kachol v’Lavan appears able to form a majority coalition without the support of Avigdor Liberman, leader of the midsize Yisrael Beitenu party, according to a report on World Israel News.

In a speech to his supporters, Liberman said the only choice is for the two large parties to join him in a broad, secular coalition that would not be subject to the demands of Charedi parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism.

Liberman’s call would set the stage for complicated negotiations, according to the WIN report.

In the closing days of his campaign, Netanyahu vowed to annex large parts of Judea and Samaria, which Israel liberated in the aftermath of defeating four Arab armies in 1967’s Six-Day War. The Palestinians, who in over 70 years have yet to create a viable independent state, demand that Israel cede large swaths of that territory, as was reported on the WIN web site.

No serious peace talks have taken place since 2009, with Palestinian rejectionism remaining the hallmark of Mahmoud Abbas’ regime.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s office said Tuesday that his nomination of a candidate to form the next government would be guided in part by the need to avoid a third election, after two votes in five months, as was reported by World Israel News. Rivlin said he would meet with party leaders “after he receives a clear picture of the results, and as soon as possible.”

Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Arab Joint List, told Israeli media that if the final results match the exit polls, Arab voters will have “prevented Netanyahu from forming a government.”

Tazpit Press Service reported earlier on Tuesday that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Facebook chatbot was suspended on election day after it published poll results. Publishing polling results in the days prior to elections day is illegal in Israel.

A Netanyahu bot was suspended last week after it published “incitement.”

“We work with election committees around the world to help maintain the purity of elections. Our policy specifically states that developers are required to comply with all applicable laws in the country where their app is available. Therefore, we have suspended the bot activity in violation of local law until the polls close,” Facebook stated. Netanyahu accused Facebook of buckling to left-wing pressure, according to the TPS report.

Several parties claimed they have documented attempts at elections fraud at various locations across the country, and a few voting stations were shut down following scuffles at the site, as was reported by TPS.

Political parties across the spectrum on Tuesday submitted several complaints to the police and the Central Elections Committee following claims that they have exposed attempts to influence the outcome of the elections in a fraudulent fashion.

TPS reported that in Jerusalem, a 17-year-old was arrested after it was reported that he attempted to vote using an ID card that did not belong to him. The voting age in Israel is 18.

The police were alerted to the Arab town of Yarka in the north after a voter was caught trying to cast several votes at once when he was entitled to only one. At other locations, parties claimed that representatives of other political bodies attempted to limit the votes for them by hiding the ballots with their party name, as was reported by TPS.

All parties are claiming that the turnout of their supporters is low in comparison to their political rivals, a ploy to motivate their supports to go out and vote.

The voting turnout at 2 o’clock was 36.5%, compared to the slightly lower 35.8% at the same time of day in the April elections.

Some 130,000 chose to spend the day hiking and visiting nature reserves throughout the country. Malls reported they were full of shoppers who took the day to shop for the upcoming holiday. Many others chose to soak in the last rays of sun at the beach, before the summer ends, according to the TPS report.

(TPS, INN, WIN)

Source: http://thejewishvoice.com/2019/09/19/israeli-election-too-close-to-call-again-will-unity-govt-emerge-2/

The post Israeli Election Too Close to Call–AGAIN! Will Unity Gov’t Emerge? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

As we have already explained, in May 2018 the IAF revealed that it has used its stealth fighters in combat operations, making Israel the first country in the world to carry out an “operational attack” using the F-35.

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) commander Brigadier General Farzad Ismaili, who had been in office since 2010, has been fired by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after he kept secret that Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35 stealth fighters had violated Iran’s airspace, the Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida reported on Saturday.

(This first appeared several weeks ago.)

The newspaper emphasized that it was the original media source that exposed the Israeli raids, which had taken place in March 2018. Al Jarida cited senior Iranian military who said that only following its March report did the intelligence services of the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian intelligence ministry begin to investigate the case, under Khamenei’s direct orders.

According to the newspaper’s investigation, “the IAF F-35 “Adir” planes penetrated Iran’s airspace, circled high above Tehran, Karajrak, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Bandar Abbas – and photographed Iran’s air defense system.”

One of the sources reported that Iran’s air defense system, including its Russian radar, did not detect the entry and exit of the fighter planes, and that Ismaili hid this information from the supreme leader to cover his service failure. However Iranian intelligence discovered that the Israeli fighter jets had carried out this sortie as a test of the possibility of an undetected attack on Iranian outposts and bases, during which they photographed those sensitive bases, evading the Russian S-300 missile system’s radar.

According to Al Jarida, Iranian intelligence received top secret information that the Israeli fighter planes even managed to photograph Iran’s underground bases. Khamenei, who received this information, now suspects cooperation between Russia and Israel, and that the Russians gave Israel the secret code of the Russian radar in Iran – according to the Kuwaiti newspaper.

Khamenei fired the commander of Iran’s air defense system on May 29, replacing him with his deputy, General Alireza Sabahi-Fard.

Israel is the first country outside the U.S. to acquire the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, of which it could take up to 75.

Noteworthy Israeli F-35 deals have been severely criticized because the aircraft are more expensive than those purchased by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) since they feature several unique (and indigenous) systems to satisfy Israeli Air Force (IAF) operational requirements.

However former Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman explained that “The F-35 squadrons are the pinnacle of technology, and will assist the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and air force in meeting the many security challenges Israel faces head-on. They are a central aspect in protecting the safety of the people of Israel along the country’s borders and even away from them.”

The U.S. in fact has given Israel more military aid than any other country in the world – currently around $4bn a year – and its laws on arms sales require that Israel always maintains military superiority in the Middle East.

Israel has praised the Lockheed Martin F-35 as a “game-changer”.

All planes ordered by IAF belong to the F-35A variant named F-35I Adir (Mighty) in Israel and are operated by the IAF’s Golden Eagle Squadron, based in the Nevatim Air Base in the center of the country.

As we have already explained, in May 2018 the IAF revealed that it has used its stealth fighters in combat operations, making Israel the first country in the world to carry out an “operational attack” using the F-35.

This article by Dario Leone originally appeared on The Aviation Geek Club in 2019.

The post Israeli Air Force’s F-35 Stealth Fighter Went Into Iran’s Airspace: Report first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Office of the Iranian Supreme Le

The post Analysis Iran’s Soleimani Seeks New Balance of Terror With Israel. For Now, He Failed first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Israel Says It Discovered Third Cross-border Hezbollah Tunnel first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Avigdor Lieberman quit on Wednesday over what he described as the government’s too-soft policy on cross-border violence with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The loss of the five seats of Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu faction leaves Netanyahu with control of just 61 of the 120 seats in parliament, raising the prospect that a scheduled November 2019 election would be brought forward.

Lieberman’s resignation takes effect 48 hours after being handed in, which he did early on Thursday. Each coalition partner will then have the power to bring down the government.

To avert a crisis, Netanyahu has been holding talks with ministers in an effort to stabilize the government.

Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who heads the centrist Kulanu party, said he told Netanyahu in their meeting that the responsible step to take would be to establish a new and stable government.

“The best thing for Israel’s citizens and economy is to hold an election as soon as possible,” Kahlon said in a statement. His call was echoed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas faction.

Adding to the pressure, Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the far-right Jewish Home party, has demanded the defense brief by given to him.

Both Lieberman and Bennett, who compete with Netanyahu’s Likud for right-wing voters, have spoken in favor of harsh Israeli military action against Gaza’s dominant Hamas Islamists.

Israel has fought three wars in Gaza since Hamas took over the enclave in 2007.

“I asked the prime minister yesterday to appoint me defense minister to fulfill one goal only – that Israel start winning again,” Bennett said at a conference near Tel Aviv.

Jewish Home said on Wednesday that without the defense brief, there would be no point in keeping the government together.

However Bennett did not repeat this in his remarks on Thursday nor did he render an explicit ultimatum to Netanyahu, with whom he is due to meet on Friday.

It was unclear whether Netanyahu would opt for an early election.

Netanyahu is under investigation for corruption, and speculation has been rife that he may bring the ballot forward in order to win a renewed mandate before Israel’s attorney-general decides whether to indict him.

A poll published on Wednesday by Israel’s Hadashot television news showed Likud falling by one seat from 30 to 29 after months of surveys that have shown it gaining power. Only 17 percent of respondents were happy with Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

The post Netanyahu faces snap election calls after defense minister quits first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

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