The Israeli Air Force is currently in the midst of preparations for a broad-ranging exercise in which dozens of airplanes will participate, in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.

According to a report on Channel 11, the exercise will take place in the coming spring over the Mediterranean Sea, and will be held openly. Enhanced budgets have been allotted toward this exercise, which involves, among other things, flights of over 1000 kilometers in length, similar to what pilots would be traveling if they were headed to Iran.

Three months ago, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi announced that the IDF was accelerating its plans for scenarios involving attacks on Iran – the announcement was made partly as a message to the world in order to convey Israel’s intentions and the seriousness with which it regards the current situation.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night Defense Minister Benny Gantz departed for Washington D.C., where he will be holding talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on possible military options for destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities, in the event that diplomacy fails. The talks between Gantz and Austin follow an October 25 briefing by Pentagon leaders to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, on the full set of military options available to ensure Iran does not become capable of producing a nuclear weapon.

Gantz is expected to request of the United States that it continue to exert pressure on Iran – via retaining substantial armed forces in the Middle East, as well as taking steps to display its might against the Islamic regime. Israel is working under the assumption that such steps will be seen as more significant if they occur within the timeframe of the nuclear talks in Vienna which are set to resume on Thursday, and that with the talks appearing to have stalled, a show of force could prove effective.

Gantz has also assessed that now is the right time to advance what in the United States is known as “Plan B” – that is, sanctions along with a credible military threat. Prior to leaving for Washington, Gantz met with Kochavi and also with the head of IDF Military Intelligence, in order to be updated on the latest developments with regard to the Iran issue.

Commenting on the aerial exercise, Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Elkin (New Hope) told KanNews, “The aim is for us to prepare for every eventuality. Israel needs to be ready for any scenario; we will not allow Iran to go nuclear. Unfortunately, Israel has shown weakness in the past, and it’s vital that we address the situation alertly now.

“Anyone with eyes in his head can see that the Iranians are trying to entrench themselves in Syria,” Elkin added. “We are doing everything that we can and so far, we have had a large number of successes. I’m not going to relate to anything specific, but Israel has red lines,” he concluded.

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/318342

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Exactly one month after the 21st Knesset was sworn in, a majority of the Knesset voted late Wednesday night to disperse and initiate an unprecedented repeat election on September 17.

It was the first time in Israeli history that a candidate for prime minister failed to form a coalition after being given the task by the president after an election.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Likud faction ahead of the vote that he had not succeeded in reaching a compromise with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman on the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription bill, and that he had also tried unsuccessfully to woo MKs from the opposition to join his government.

“The State of Israel is going to elections because of the Likud’s refusal to accept our proposal,” Liberman said as he entered the Knesset plenum. “This is a complete surrender of the Likud to the ultra-Orthodox. We will not be partners in a government of Jewish law.”

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, head of the Likud’s negotiating team, told reporters “it’s over,” as he arrived at the Likud meeting after his last negotiation had failed.

Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin said that there was no choice but to hold new elections, due to Liberman’s intransigence and refusal to accept “1,000 compromises” that had been offered throughout the last week.

The vote – taken just after the midnight deadline by which Netanyahu needed to tell President Reuven Rivlin whether he had been able to form a governing coalition – was 74 to 45 in favor of dispersing.

Opposition MKs shouted “shame, shame, shame” in unison ahead of the vote.

The Likud initiated the bill to dissolve the Knesset rather than give Rivlin a chance to appoint someone other than Netanyahu to form a government.

In presenting the bill to the Knesset, Likud MK Miki Zohar said that he is “disappointed by the situation, but we were forced into it.” He admitted that the decision “would not be remembered positively in our history.”

“The Left asks us why we didn’t give [Blue and White leader] Benny Gantz a chance to form the coalition,” Zohar said. “Two and a half million people voted as if they had two votes, for their party and for [Netanyahu]… despite knowing about the [pre-indictment] hearing [for the prime minister on corruption charges]. They didn’t want Gantz.”

According to Zohar, those calling to let Gantz form the government are “saying to give the opportunity to the minority to form the government at the expense of the majority. The majority rules, while the minority has rights. That is the meaning of democracy.”

The bill called the election for September 17, but there were several other options the coalition was set to vote on in the second reading. Netanyahu asked the other parties to back September 17, because that is what Yisrael Beytenu preferred, and he needed them to have a majority in favor of dissolving the Knesset.

In the unsuccessful coalition talks, the Likud had proposed that as soon as the government would be formed, Liberman’s original conscription law would be presented, as written and in his language, for the approval of the Knesset plenum. After its approval, there would be more negotiations when the law would be prepared for its final readings.

If that agreement is not reached by the end of July, the party said, and in accordance with the decision of the High Court of Justice, the current arrangement that has exempted haredim from being drafted would expire, and the compulsory service law would apply to all. The ultra-Orthodox parties would therefore have to choose between Liberman’s version of the law or a return to the original law, which means full mobilization for haredim, the Likud said.

“The proposal has now been submitted to the parties, and we await their positive response in order to form a right-wing government tonight and prevent unnecessary elections,” the party wrote.

In response, United Torah Judaism said that it would back another party to lead the coalition.

“We won’t retreat beyond what we have agreed to,” UTJ leader Deputy Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman said in his initial response to the Likud statement. “I still believe that a government can be formed. I’m on my way to sign on the coalition agreement.”

Liberman also initially rejected the proposal, saying it was not exactly what he had said all along about the conscription bill needing to be passed into law as is.

The proposal was made after the Likud reported that it had secured agreements with 60 MKs from the Likud, Kulanu, UTJ, Shas and the Union of Right-Wing Parties, leaving it only one MK short of a majority coalition.

After Kulanu denied that it had signed any documents and insisted it won’t sign unless the coalition would include 61 MKs, the Likud said the deal with Kulanu was complete and ready to be signed, pending Liberman joining the government.

Hours ahead of the deadline, Liberman stood his ground on the matter of haredi conscription.

“We repeatedly said we want the original [haredi] conscription bill, nothing else,” Liberman said. “People claiming that there’s a compromise, when it was just 10 millimeters of movement, are not familiar with the bill.”

Liberman said that proposed compromises “empty the bill of all content,” and he will not agree to them.

The bill, which the Defense Ministry drafted under Liberman’s leadership, sets rising annual targets for haredi conscription in the IDF.

“The bill is good for the IDF, for the haredim and for Israel,” Liberman stated. “We have to be reasonable. I am appealing to the haredi MKs’ reason…. There is no better bill than this. Let it pass with you abstaining.”

The Likud attacked Liberman fiercely throughout the day.

“Liberman continues to mislead,” the Likud said in an official statement. “He says ‘I will consider’ to every offer and stalls for a few days. His goal is to end Netanyahu’s career and replace him.”

The Likud mocked Liberman for portraying himself as the defender of secular people, after he prevented there being a secular mayor of Jerusalem.

“For a few seats and his hunger for power, he is dragging an entire country to elections,” the Likud concluded.

Yisrael Beytenu responded by condemning the Likud’s tone and reiterating that Liberman’s views on the conscription bill have been consistent.

Earlier, a Likud spokesman confirmed that offers were made to the Labor Party and the Blue and White Party. In talks with Labor head Avi Gabbay, Netanyahu offered him the Defense or Finance ministries and three other ministerial positions, in an effort to convince him to join his government.

A Labor spokesman confirmed that the party received an offer from the Likud that included stopping bills that the party believes would harm democracy, including the Immunity Law. But the spokesman said the offer was considered and rejected.

Labor MKs expressed outrage that Gabbay mulled the offer for a full day before telling them. By contrast, Blue and White said no immediately.

Opposition MKs took advantage of the nearly 12-hour debate to bring up their grievances against the government that was never formed.

Many lamented the estimated NIS 475 million that the election will cost, according to the Finance Ministry, saying that taxpayer money would be better spent elsewhere. In addition, industry experts estimated that the day off for Election Day will cost the economy NIS 2 billion.

“Likud MKs, you also have the option of showing some courage and saying no to Netanyahu,” Blue and White MK Miki Haimovich said.

Another MK from Blue and White, Yoaz Hendel, said: “Have an opinion. If you’re on the Right, then Right; Left, then Left. But say something other than ‘Bibi!’ Is that Right? When it comes to Hamas, you turn into Peace Now. When there are [corruption] allegations, you become defense attorneys. You turned into dishrags.”

Blue and White MK Ram Shefa hosted a trivia game from the Knesset stage, asking who said various quotes from politicians, and offering champagne, cigars and trays of take-out meals – references to Netanyahu’s corruption investigations.

Alon Einhorn and Tzvi Joffre contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Elections-set-for-Sept-17-after-coalition-talks-fail-591044

The post Israel goes back to elections as Netanyahu fails to form coalition first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“The article is nonsense and a provocation that is published by someone who is a coward,” wrote the Head of Hezbollah’s “Loyalty to Resistance” parliamentary bloc, Hajj Mohammad Raad, in an article published on the Ahewar website.

“Israel should not act foolishly and complicate itself in a war that will be destructive for it. Hezbollah is stronger today and has capabilities that can destroy the Israeli army. Israel today has become a regional and international isolationist, and the media spins that come out of it are meant to cover up its distress, because it wants to present itself as strong,” he continued.

On Sunday, an article published by Manelis was published by several Arab-language media outlets, including on the Hezbollah friendly al-Masdar website and the Voice Beirut radio station.

“The authority of the Zionist entity, whatever it tries, will not be able to persuade the Arab-Muslim peoples to give up the idea of ​​resisting the Zionist occupation,” Raad wrote Monday. “The day will come when Hezbollah’s flag will be raised over the honorable city of Jerusalem and the Palestinians will regain their occupied land.”

Manelis urged Lebanese citizens to open their eyes to the fact that their fate was “in the hands of a dictator sitting in Tehran,” which, alongside its proxy Hezbollah, has turned Lebanon into one large missile factory.

“The ordinary citizen will be mistaken to think that this process turns Lebanon into a fortress, it is nothing more than a barrel of gunpowder on which he, his family and his property are sitting,” Manelis said in his op-ed on Sunday.

“In Lebanon, Hezbollah does not conceal its attempt to take control of the state,” he continued, adding that “in the shadow of Nasrallah’s bullying behavior” the terror group has built “terror infrastructure and factories to manufacture weapons under the nose of the Lebanese government.”

Israeli officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah and the growing Iranian presence on its borders, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will discuss Iran’s efforts in Lebanon with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting in the Kremlin, telling reporters before taking off to Moscow that this is something that Israel will not tolerate.

Netanyahu said that he will also speak with the Russian president about Iran’s ”unending efforts to militarily entrench itself in Syria, something that we are adamantly opposed to and act against.”

He will be accompanied by Military Intelligence Directorate (MID) chief Maj. Gen. Hezi Levy, as well as Minister Ze’ev Elkin, National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat and the Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brig. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hezbollah-official-warns-terror-group-can-destroy-Israeli-army-540111

The post Hezbollah official warns terror group can destroy Israeli army first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The bill requires a super-majority to give parts of Jerusalem to a foreign entity, but has a major loophole.

 A general view of Jerusalem shows the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem’s Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount December 6, 2017.. (photo credit: REUTERS)

A law ostensibly meant to make it harder to cede parts of Jerusalem to a foreign entity, which has a glaring loophole that allows Jerusalem to be divided, passed in a final vote in the Knesset overnight Monday.

The amendment to Basic Law: Jerusalem, requiring a vote of 80 MKs out of 120 to give parts of the capital away, was proposed by Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Shuli Moalem-Refaeli with enthusiastic backing from her party leader Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

The newly requisite supermajority comes in addition to the existing law requiring a referendum to give away any sovereign land, which includes Jerusalem. Although concessions in Jerusalem require an 80 MK vote, the bill can be changed with a 61-lawmaker majority.

However, the bill also canceled the article in the Basic Law that prohibits changing Jerusalem’s municipal borders, creating a loophole by which parts of Jerusalem can be turned into a new municipality, and then ceded to the Palestinians. That land will still be subject to 80-MK vote and the Referendum Law.

That lacuna was created intentionally, following a push by Jerusalem Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who seeks to remove villages populated by Arabs, which are part of Jerusalem but outside the separation barrier, from Jerusalem’s municipal borders.

Elkin said the new law “strengthens the defensive shield against those on the Left who want to try to harm the future of Israeli sovereignty in a united Jerusalem.”

“This isn’t a theoretical bill,” Bennett said in the Knesset. “It’s very practical. There have already been attempts to divide Jerusalem.

You know very well that this isn’t about [Arab neighborhood] Kalandiya but about dividing the Holy Basin and the Old City. This isn’t just [former prime minister Ehud] Barak’s formula, but of those present, here. [Zionist Union leaders] say Jerusalem’s Jewish neighborhoods belong to Israel, but the Old City and Holy Basin have a ‘special status.’ [Yesh Atid leader Yair] Lapid said the same. They’re talking about dividing Jerusalem.”

Bennett added: “Our understanding is clear. No Jew has the authority to give up any part of the land, nor does the Jewish people.”

Earlier Monday, Bezalel Smotrich of Bayit Yehudi, one of the Knesset’s most hawkish members, expressed discomfort with the part of the bill that allows for Jerusalem to be divided.

“It’s very problematic,” Smotrich told The Jerusalem Post. “It’s in the law out of necessity, because Elkin refused to promote it any other way. Bennett only wanted the first part,” meaning the supermajority.

The deliberations came down to whether to have an “all or nothing” attitude or to make incremental change, Smotrich explained.

In the opposition, MKs saw the bill as a way to prevent a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) argued that the bill “does not help any citizens, only because the person leading the coalition is Naftali Bennett. There is no connection between the Palestinians living in villages and Jerusalem.”

Meretz MK Esawi Frej posited that “there is no diplomatic solution without east Jerusalem being Palestinian. All other ways won’t help.”

MK Ofer Shelah of Yesh Atid said the coalition is contradicting itself, on the one hand requiring a supermajority, and on the other, “the neighborhoods that few know where they are will be turned into not-Jerusalem.”

“In every agreement, Jerusalem will be under Israeli sovereignty, but we can’t let the residents of [Arab neighborhood] Shuafat decide our fate,” Shelah added.

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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Right-wing-coalition-passes-law-allowing-Jerusalem-to-be-divided-522627

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The post Right-wing coalition passes law allowing jerusalem to be divided first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.