The bottom line: Netanyahu may be out, but creeping annexation and oppression continue. For Palestinians, nothing has changed.
Source: Netanyahu Is Out But Nothing Has Changed for Palestinians | The Smirking Chimp
Tag: Netanyahu
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12 years in office has come to an end, as the country’s parliament narrowly approved a new coalition government. Naftali Bennett, the head of a small ultra-nationalist party, was sworn in as prime minister on Monday (Australian time) after 60-59 vote in parliament. Mr Netanyahu immediately declared to stay on to fight the new government, and then took to Twitter to tell supporters “do not let your spirit fall. We’ll be back – and faster than you think”.
Source: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu out after 12 years in office
Netanyahu sent people from his circle to talk to people in the circle of Benny Gantz, leader of the center-right Blue and White Party, offering to resign “today” as prime minister in favor of Gantz if only the latter would defect from the Change coalition and join his far right likud-led government.
At the insistence of outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli cabinet authorized the so-called “Flag Day” march of militant Israeli squatter-settlers through Palestinian East Jerusalem for next Tuesday. So reports Mahmoud Mujadala at the Arab 48 Israeli newspaper. Netanyahu denied charges that his fixation with humiliating Palestinians with this march through their neighborhood was intended to cause a social explosion and forestall the formation of a new government, which will be voted on this Sunday, and which will end his 12-year run as prime minister. However, it seems likely that he is hoping that the ensuing tensions with Palestinians and with Israelis of Palestinian heritage (20% of the population of Israel proper) will damage the incoming government.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Avigdor Lieberman of the “Israel Our Home Party,” who is part of the “Change” coalition, asserted last week that he anticipates that what “everyone saw happen in the Capitol in Washington to happen” in Jerusalem.
Outgoing Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu lost his chance to form a government as the deadline ran out on Thursday, but he swung into action in an attempt to stop his rivals from forming one, either. A successful prime minister would have to be able pass a confidence vote in the Israeli parliament or Knesset, requiring a simple majority of 61 yes votes in the 120-member body. Netanyahu’s rivals, the right wing extremist Naftali Bennett of the Yamina Party and the centrist Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) Party, have lined up exactly 61 votes. The slimness of this majority, however, makes them vulnerable. Netanyahu called on right wing members of the coalition not to vote for it and instead to join him.
Source: Israel’s Netanyahu pledges to destroy President Biden’s Iran, Settlements Policies if he Can Survive
Under the agreement, Lapid and Bennett will split the job of prime minister in a rotation. Bennett will serve the first two years, while Lapid is to serve the final two years. The historic deal also includes a small Islamist party, the United Arab List, which would make it the first Arab party ever to be part of a governing coalition. The agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset, or parliament, in a vote that is expected to take place early next week. If it goes through, Lapid and a diverse array of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum will end the record-setting 12-year rule of Netanyahu.
Source: Netanyahu Opponents Reach Coalition Deal To Oust Israeli Prime Minister | HuffPost
TRUMP OF ISRAEL: NETANYAHU HAS BEEN ON ON CORRUPTION CHARGES FOR YEARS YET TO BE JUDGED. HE CAN’T FORM A GOVERNMENT AND HE SPITS ON AND DESTROYS- CM- CRITICAL MEDIA
“That’s just hogwash,” Netanyahu added. “But this is a persistent criticism, Mr. Prime Minister,” Dickerson explained. “It persists because I’ve been reelected five times,” Netanyahu remarked. “It persists because I beat every other candidate.”
The Palestinian health ministry said Monday that Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed nine people including three children—an attack that came the same day Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and injured hundreds of Palestinians.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday at various places against Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is being tried for corruption, as the country goes to the polls Tuesday. This was the 39th consecutive weekly demonstration against the beleageured prime minister, who polls suggest faces an extremely close election. If he loses, and if the courts convict him, he could go to jail like his predecessor, Ehud Olmert. The biggest demonstration was staged in Jerusalem in front of the prime minister’s official residence, with an estimated 20,000 joining in. It was the largest such rally since they began last week.
Tens of Thousands Protest “Crime Minister” Netanyahu in Israel as his Political Survival hangs in Balance
Over 50,000 demand Benjamin Netanyahu resign for his indictments for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Large Pro-Democracy, Anti-Netanyahu Pre-Election Protest in Jerusalem | Common Dreams News
The European Union appears to be rejecting Benjamin Netanyahu’s smears against the International Criminal Court after Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed on Wednesday that she would be launching a formal investigation into war crimes in Palestine.
EU backs ICC after Netanyahu’s “anti-Semitism” smear | The Electronic Intifada
Israel and its supporters are ramping up efforts to outlaw solidarity with Palestinians in the name of combating antisemitism. But these authoritarian maneuvers can’t hide the fact that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion over its denial of Palestinian rights.
Israel’s Leaders Are Trying to Cancel the Debate Because They Know They’re Losing
I think Washington can show good faith by lifting sanctions prior to opening negotiations. Then both sides could work out such details as destroying the excess enriched uranium and arranging frequent international inspections. Iranians are waiting for Biden to make the first move after his Inauguration on January 20, 2021. Lifting unilateral US sanctions is the key to foiling Trump’s attempt to handcuff the new administration. We’ll see if Biden finds a good locksmith.
Iran assassination is way for Netanyahu and Trump to hurt Biden
The JVP is right: “Israel is a state and does not represent communities in the diaspora… It is what it is.” However, if the Israeli government takes a stand in the fight against anti-Semitism, it should stop looking for anti-Semites where they do not exist, which is not amongst defenders of human rights and universal rules of refuge and return. If Netanyahu and his sidekick Benny Gantz are really serious about tackling anti-Semitism, they should tackle the support base of their main ally in the White House. This has never happened, of course, and it never will.
Why is the Israeli Gov’t Rooting for a 2nd Term for Trump and his White Nationalist, anti-Semitic Allies?
Trump is Netanyahu’s Muppet (ODT)
Trump appears to have made the decision to cut $5.5 billion in US AID funds to the Palestinians in part on the basis of his rage about Abbas allegedly being a baby-killer, which was a Netanyahu lie. It seems likely that Netanyahu and Trump are responsible for the deaths of Palestinian children through this deprivation.
Gullible Trump was manipulated by Netanyahu’s Deep Fake Video of Mahmoud Abbas to Cut off Palestinians
When you have nothing left blame the MEDIA, avoid the truth at all costs Do the Trump (ODT)
There is apparently no limit to what the United States and Israel can get away with without any consequences. The United States has been waging devastating economic warfare against Iran and Venezuela while also blaming China for a global health crisis that it is unwilling to help address due to its withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Israel meanwhile is planning on illegally annexing significant parts of the Palestinian West Bank in July, with a green light from the Trump Administration, and no one in Europe or elsewhere is even interested in initiating serious sanctions that might lead to the postponing of that decision. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has even stated flatly that the remaining Palestinians who would be annexed will not become Israeli citizens – they will instead be “subjects” of the Jewish state with no guaranteed rights or privileges.
Even as Israel becomes chronically unable to form a government, the ‘Gaza consensus’ — the endless pounding of the strip into oblivion — persists. It could tip the scales in Netanyahu’s favor.
via To save himself, Netanyahu is going to war with Gaza | +972 Magazine
“It’s easy for the Israeli left to forget how things were before Netanyahu, but the main problem with the Israeli media is not Netanyahu, or the right, or racism, even though these are all big problems. The problem, rather, is that journalists and media all across the spectrum are working for their owners and their owners’ interests, and for commercial and political interests, rather than for the public.
“The names can vary. Today it’s Netanyahu, yesterday it was Sharon, and tomorrow it will be someone else. But this is the most important thing I have to say about it — populist leaders like Trump and Bibi couldn’t stoke so much hatred and fear toward minorities and the media if the media itself was working in the public interest. If the public thought that the media was working for them, Bibi wouldn’t succeed [in his attacks]. You can’t convince the public to hate something they love; you can only convince them to keep hating something they already hate.”
via Behind Netanyahu’s scorched earth campaign against Israel’s media | +972 Magazine
No Interferance, No Collusion, No Obstruction (ODT)
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Tuesday that he plans to name a new illegal settlement in the occupied Golan Heights in honor of Donald Trump, to thank the American president for agreeing to overlook the unlawful nature of Israel’s annexation of the territory seized from Syria in 1967.
The saga began on Thursday after Yair Netanyahu wrote on Facebook that: “There will not be peace here [in Israel-Palestine] until: 1. All the Jews leave the land of Israel. 2. All the Muslims leave the land of Israel. I prefer the second option.”
The post quickly gained traction in Israel, with the Times of Israel reporting that it had “garnered over 750 reactions as of Friday evening, […] most of them in agreement”. Yair then continued his anti-Muslim tirade, writing in a separate post: “Do you know where there are no terror attacks? In Iceland and Japan. Coincidentally there’s also no Muslim population there.”
According to Haaretz, Yair also wrote a third post in which he called for “avenging the deaths” of two Israeli soldiers killed last week and the expulsion of Palestinians. Although Facebook had removed these posts on the grounds that they were in violation of its community rules, Yair shared a screenshot of the post, prompting the social media giant to yesterday block his account for 24 hours.
Taking to Twitter, Yair claimed he had been blocked for calling out Facebook on its removal of the posts, saying: “Unbelievable. Facebook blocks me for 24 hours for simply criticising it! Thought police.”
via Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Son Banned from Facebook after Call to Expel 2 mn. Muslims
The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on trial Sunday for allegedly using state funds to fraudulently pay for hundreds of meals, part of a list of legal troubles facing the family.
The start of Sara Netanyahu’s trial was the latest chapter in a saga intensely scrutinised in Israel but dismissed by the Netanyahus as another “absurd” attempt to discredit them.
via Israel PM Netanyahu’s Wife Goes on Trial for Corruption and Fraud
Indictment claims Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife misused more than £76,000 of public money ordering hundreds of meals to official residence
via Sara Netanyahu: Israeli PM’s wife charged over alleged misuse of state funds | The Independent
Protesters in Paris rally against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to France, 5 June. Mustafa Sevgi SIPA
Hundreds of protesters shut down the Champs-Élysées on Tuesday evening to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s gala welcome for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader was in Paris for the official inauguration of the Saison France-Israël – or France-Israel Season – a series of propaganda events backed by both countries to boost Israel’s image.
Earlier, France had canceled a visit by its prime minister to Israel for a similar ceremony, but it went ahead with receiving Netanyahu to the outrage of supporters of Palestinian rights.
The opening event at the Grand Palais focused on Israel’s supposed technological achievements.
Nearby, in the Champs-Élysées, protesters danced the Palestinian dabke and they held a festive breaking of the Ramadan fast on the iconic avenue at the end of the rally.
They chanted, “Netanyahu is an assassin, Macron is an accomplice” and “Gaza, Gaza, we won’t forget!”
via Protest against Netanyahu shuts down Champs-Élysées | The Electronic Intifada
While Palestinians were being slaughtered, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was declaring this a most glorious day.
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Israel has made many such changes to Occupied Territories. For example, the Golan Heights still belongs to Syria despite the many illegal settlements built there, however much stolen oil is extracted there, or however many field hospitals for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and Al-Qaeda fighters Israel erects there. That like Jerusalem, the Golan has been illegally annexed makes no difference at all in law nor to every other government in the world. Except Trump’s government.
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Donald Trump’s trashing of the Iran nuclear deal this week was not just an attack on Iranian sovereign interests. The US president was also poking European allies in the eye.
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How obscenely ironic. Embassies traditionally symbolize diplomacy and peace. The opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem was occasioned by a grotesque baptism of murder of Palestinians, heralding wider war in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim in his theatrical 20-minute presentationof an Israeli physical seizure of Iran’s “atomic archive” in Tehran would certainly have been the “great intelligence achievement” he boasted if it had actually happened. But the claim does not hold up under careful scrutiny, and his assertion that Israel now possesses a vast documentary record of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program is certainly fraudulent.
Netanyahu’s slide show revealed more than just his over-the-top style of persuasion on the subject of Iran. It provided further evidence that the claims that had successfully swayed the U.S. and Israeli allies to join in punishing Iran for having had a nuclear weapons program were based on fabricated documents that originated in the state that had the strongest motive to make that case – Israel.
via The Latest Act in Israel’s Iran Nuclear Disinformation Campaign | The Smirking Chimp
Making policy by destroying the reputations of middle management in the government is of course highly destructive to the democratic process.
Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker now reports that the Trump aides who targeted former Obama administration officials Ben Rhodes and Colin Kahl used the Israeli Black Cube agency, the same one deployed by Harvey Weinstein to keep his many victims of sexual harassment in line. It advertises itself as being able to provide the best former Mossad agents for the job (but if they are the best why are they former?)
I mind this behavior quite a lot and fear it won’t get the traction it deserves among the press and the public.
via Treason: Obama Iran Deal Officials targeted by Trump via Israeli Black Cube
Shlomo Filber, the suspended Communications Ministry director and former chief of Mr Netanyahu’s bureau, signed an agreement to become a state witness. He turned on his former boss less than a week after police recommended pressing charges against Mr Netanyahu in two other influence-peddling cases – and a day after news broke that police were investigating whether another long-time Netanyahu associate sought to bribe a judge.
Unfortunately it’s up to the Israeli Attorney General
Promoted by Netanyahu, Israel’s Attorney General Must Now …
Feb 13, 2018 – Promoted by Netanyahu, Israel’s Attorney General Must Now Scrutinize Him. JERUSALEM — Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s favored candidate for the country’s top legal job. Now, Mr. Netanyahu’s fate lies in Mr. Mandelblit’s hands.
via Ex-top aide agrees to testify in Netanyahu corruption scandal
Both Trump and Netanyahu want to secure their rule by attacking liberal, democratic forces. But in order to do so, they need two things: a wall and the promise of eternal war.
via A wall and a war: Two things every fascist regime needs | +972 Magazine
Forty-nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and armed civilians so far this year, 13 during the month of July alone. Thirteen Israelis and a British national were killed by Palestinians in 2017.
Source: Six killed as Netanyahu throws match onto Jerusalem powder keg | The Electronic Intifada
Any blowback Netanyahu receives after snubbing the German foreign minister will be short-lived: his base is behind him, he has the patronage of the U.S., and the status quo will remain exactly as it is. This week Netanyahu gave the world another lesson in how authoritarianism disguised as democracy works. Upon learning that the visiting German foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, refused to accede to his demand that he cancel his meetings with two NGOs that document human rights violations in territories controlled by Israel, the Israeli prime minister went ahead and canceled their own scheduled meeting as a punitive measure. Haaretz, Israel’s lone liberal…
Source: Netanyahu looks like a bully, but he doesn’t care | +972 Magazine
Israeli police want to question Australian billionaire James Packer in connection with a corruption probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, local media reports.
Police are likely to recommend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted following an investigation into bribery allegations, national broadcaster Channel 2 has reported. Multiple investigations into the leader were opened, but Case 1000 – which allegedly involves illegal gifts – was being treated as separate to the other ongoing investigations.
Original Analysis by +972 Magazine’s bloggers and op-ed contributors
Netanyahu’s silence on Trump and anti-Semitism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the American embassy in Israel should move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
