Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival, Benny Gantz, have signed an agreement to form an emergency unity government.

The deal will see the pair rotating the leadership of the country, with Mr Netanyahu going first as PM.

It brings political certainty to Israel after three inconclusive elections and a year of political paralysis.

Both men had faced calls to avoid a fourth election and form a coalition to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Israeli health ministry has reported more than 13,700 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 177 associated deaths.

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Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz signed the coalition deal at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem on Monday night, as Israel remained in near-total lockdown.

“I promised the State of Israel a national emergency government that will act to save the lives and livelihoods of Israeli citizens,” Mr Netanyahu tweeted afterwards.

Mr Gantz wrote: “We have prevented a fourth election. We will protect democracy. We will fight coronavirus and care for all Israel’s citizens.”

The agreement will see positions in the government shared between Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and Mr Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance.

More than 13,700 Israelis have so far tested positive for Covid-19 – AFP

Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, will remain in post for 18 months, during which time his delayed trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust is due to start. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Gantz, a former military chief who was elected speaker of parliament three weeks ago, will start off by serving as deputy prime minister and defence minister, before taking over as prime minister in October 2021 for another 18 months.

No legislation unrelated to the battle against the coronavirus will be brought before parliament for a period of six months without consent, according to the agreement.

However, Mr Netanyahu will be allowed to advance legislation to annex Jewish settlements and other land in the occupied West Bank that the Palestinians want as part of a future state – in line with the peace plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump in January. The settlements are widely considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

The BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem says the agreement marks an end to one of the most turbulent periods in Israeli political history and amounts to a victory for Mr Netanyahu, who stays in office despite a criminal indictment and a country deeply divided over his leadership.

Mr Gantz, our correspondent adds, has ditched half of the political alliance he built over three elections – it had fractured under the strain of Mr Netanyahu’s manoeuvres, with the coronavirus emergency providing a backdrop of urgency.

Hundreds of Israelis protested on Sunday against a deal keeping Mr Netanyahu in office -Reuters

Some of Mr Gantz’s former allies accused him of betrayal by joining his former adversary in government.

He had pledged not to serve under Mr Netanyahu because he was facing criminal charges. But he backtracked last month, saying that “these are not normal times and they call for unusual decisions”.

Tamar Zandberg of the left-wing Meretz party was quoted by the Jerusalem Post newspaper as saying: “The man who was supposed to be the prime minister who would bring change decided to raise a white flag instead of winning.”

“This is not an emergency government, but there is an emergency situation for our democracy,” she added.

US ambassador David Friedman said he was “delighted” by the agreement.

“The United States looks forward to working closely with the new gov’t to advance our shared values and interests bilaterally and across the world,” he tweeted.

But Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh condemned the formation of “an Israeli annexation government”, which he said meant “ending the two-state solution and the dismantling of the rights of the people of Palestine as established under international law and resolutions”.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52358479

The post Israel’s Netanyahu and Gantz sign unity government deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A new poll of Israeli voters published on Sunday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party gaining on its nearest rival, former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party, and appearing likely to form the next government after elections in April.

The poll conducted for Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot indicates that while Blue and White would still gain the most Knesset seats, Netanyahu is better positioned to form a working coalition with the other right-wing and religious parties.

Blue and White leads the poll with 33 seats, three or four seats down from previous poll results. Likud comes in at 29. The center-left Labor party would win ten. Religious parties Yahadut HaTorah and Shas would win seven and six seats, respectively. Arab parties the Joint List and Balad would win seven and four seats respectively.

The national-religious Union of Right-Wing Parties, which includes the controversial far-right Otzma Yehudit party, would win six. Left-wing Meretz would take five seats. The New Right party would win five as well. Center-right parties Yisrael Beiteinu and Kulanu would both win four.

Further complicating the picture are the hard-right Zehut party and centrist Gesher party, both of which polled below the threshold to enter the Knesset, potentially wasting right-wing and centrist votes that could have gone to the larger parties.

The results show Netanyahu would be able to put a narrow right-wing coalition together consisting of 61 out of 120 Knesset seats.

Source: https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/03/10/new-poll-shows-netanyahu-gaining-on-rivals-likely-to-form-next-government/

The post New Poll Shows Netanyahu Gaining on Rivals, Likely to Form Next Government first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Reaction to the deaths of 16 protesters in clashes on Gaza border split across Israel’s political spectrum

Hundreds of Israelis rallied in front of the Tel Aviv headquarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party on Sunday against the military’s use of lethal force against tens of thousands of Palestinian protesters who marched on the Gaza border over the weekend.

Held under the banner “Create hope, stop the next war”, some 250 protesters marched with placards calling on Israel to “stop the shooting” sponsored by the left-wing Meretz party and watchdog Peace Now.

Protesters chanted “no to the occupation” and “in Gaza and Sderot, little girls want to stay alive” while a small counter-protest formed on the opposite side of the street.

“The government is doing everything it can to present the Palestinians as the only guilty party whereas it played an important part in the responsibility for what happened,” Hagit Ofran of the Peace Now group which opposes Israeli settlement of Palestinian land told AFP.

Peace Now issued a statement condemning what it called the army’s “trigger happy” policies under orders from the government.

Sixteen Palestinians were killed by IDF fire on Friday, as tens of thousands of demonstrators surged towards the border. Of the 16 killed, 10 were members of Palestinian terror groups, including five members of the Islamist Hamas group which rules the blockaded enclave, the Israeli army said.

Reaction to the military’s response to the clashes on Friday was split across Israel’s political spectrum with most factions — including opposition parties — expressing support for the military while the left-wing Meretz and Joint (Arab) List parties condemned the military’s use of lethal force and demanded an investigation into the army’s response.

Israelis rally outside the Tel Aviv headquarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party against the IDF’s use of lethal force against protesters in Gaza   i24NEWS 

Prime Minister and Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday praised troops for “guarding the country’s borders”.

“Well done to our soldiers,” he wrote in a statement. “Israel acts vigorously and with determination to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens.”

Avi Gabbay of the opposition’s Zionist Union said he had “no doubt our soldiers did everything to reduce the number of casualties”, while Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said he was “proud” of Israel’s soldiers.

A statement from the Joint (Arab) List, by contrast, said that “the fire against the protesters again proves that Israel chooses a path of force and deliberate violence.”

“All nations that have been under occupation fought against their occupiers, and the Palestinian nation is like any other nation,” a statement from the party said.

The newly-elected head of Israel’s left-wing Meretz party, Tamar Zandberg, meanwhile demanded an investigation into the killing of 16 protesters in Gaza.

“It’s Israel’s duty to know what happened there, and it’s also in its interest to prevent another round of violence. We must not allow a ‘trigger-happy’ policy to lead to the loss of innocent lives,” Zandberg said in a tweet on Saturday, calling for “an independent investigation by Israel, including a probe into the rules of engagement and the military and political readiness for the events.”

Israeli soldiers hold rifles in southern Israel near mass demonstrations in Gaza on March 30 2018.   IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Zandberg’s position drew fierce criticism from hawkish defense minister Avigdor Liberman, chair of the secular right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, who charged that Meretz has long represented “Palestinian interest” in Israel’s parliament.

“Any state whose borders people tried to crash would act in an even more severe way than we did, and therefore the procession of hypocrites calling for a committee of inquiry must understand that there will be no such thing,” Liberman said. “There will not be any international inquiry. We will not cooperate with any inquiry of this kind.”

The army said 30,000 Palestinians took part in Friday’s planned rallies endorsed by all Palestinian factions to mark ‘Land Day’, which commemorates the killing of six unarmed Arab protesters in Israel in 1976.

Calling it the ‘Great March of Return,’ protesters were demanding hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948 be allowed to return.

Israel, meanwhile, accused Gaza militant groups of using the protests as a cover to either break through the border or launch terror attacks.

Gaza’s health ministry said that in addition to the 16 Palestinians killed, more than 1,400 were wounded Friday, 758 of them by live fire, with the remainder hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) on Sunday disputed the Hamas-run ministry’s claim, however, asserting that only “dozens” of Palestinians were hit by live bullets.

See also:

In Gaza, pain but few regrets after deadliest day in years

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Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/171340-180402-hundreds-of-israelis-rally-in-tel-aviv-against-shootings-of-gaza-protesters

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