Showing posts with label Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Show all posts

Thursday, December 4, 2014

iSRAEL'S Early Elections: Who Wins, and Who Thinks They'll Win?

Early Elections: Who Wins, and Who Thinks They'll Win?

Wednesday, December 03, 2014 |  Ryan Jones   ISRAEL TODAY

It’s official. The current government in Israel is dissolving. An early election has been set for March 17, 2015. The nation is about to be plunged into yet another season of political campaigning.
The question on the minds of just about everyone is who benefits most from this move, and, equally important, who thinks they will benefit, but might be sorely mistaken?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu triggered the early election process by firing the two leading left-wing ministers in his cabinet - Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni - in hopes that going to the polls would deliver a less fractious 20th Knesset, enabling him to form a government that, in Netanyahu’s words, doesn’t include an “internal opposition.”
Surveys conducted by Channel 2 News and Channel 10 News shortly before Netanyahu’s announcement showed that most Israelis blamed the prime minister for the early elections, but that a plurality of voters would choose his Likud party in the upcoming poll.
According to both surveys, Likud will win 22 seats in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset in March, making it easily the largest party. Next would be the right-wing Jewish Home faction with 17 seats, followed by the left-wing Labor Party (13), a new right-wing party headed by former Likud heavyweight Moshe Kahlon (12), and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu faction with either 10 or 12 seats.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid party is predicted to fall from 19 to just nine seats, while Livni’s Hatnua faction will win just four mandates, barely passing the 3.25 threshold to make it into the Knesset.
If those numbers hold true, Netanyahu might get his wish of being able to form a majority coalition made up of only right-leaning parties that largely share his views on issues ranging from the peace process to economic reforms.
There is much speculation that Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett had a hand in bringing about the early election given that he and his party stand to gain the most. Jewish Home is the only party predicted to grow by more than 50 percent, and Bennett could then make a strong case for demanding the position of defense minister, putting him on track to one day take the prime minister’s chair.
Those on the left see a different outcome.
“The state of Israel isn’t stuck with Bibi anymore,” declared Labor MK Stav Shafir, referring to Netanyahu by his popular nickname.
Shafir continued by calling on left-wing voters: “This is our chance, the democratic camp in Israel led by the Labor party, to show that it is possible to do things differently. This is our time to bring the change that the public in Israel wants so badly.”
Earlier in the week, Shafir’s boss, Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog, insisted that despite the current poll numbers, he will be the next prime minister of Israel. “I think today it is clear that I present an alternative to [Netanuahu],” he told Channel 10. “I believe I’ll lead the next government.”
Further afield, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped that whatever government comes next will help advance his own failed efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a failure that Kerry and the Obama Administration largely blame on Netanyahu.
Last, and certainly least, is Hamas, which tried to connect the dissolution of the Knesset to the summer’s Gaza war, even though security issues played little-to-no role in the disputes between Netanyahu, Lapid and Livni.
“The collapse of the Israeli coalition is another example of our victory and of Netanyahu’s defeat in Gaza,” declared ever-informative Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
PHOTO: The 19th Knesset votes unanimously for its own dissolution. (Flash90)
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Israeli Minister: Our Capital Cannot Be Divided - ISRAEL TODAY

Israeli Minister: Our Capital Cannot Be Divided

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  
Israel's cabinet has thrown its weight behind a bill requiring a large Knesset majority to approve a new division of Jerusalem, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to the motion, arguing that it will hinder peace efforts.
The bill would require the approval of at least 80 Knesset members (two-thirds of the 120-member parliamentary body) to even start negotiations leading to the division or relinquishing of even a small part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation backed the bill in a vote of 5-4 on Sunday.
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said the vote was yet another reminder that "we won't divide Jerusalem or negotiate the eternal capital of the Jewish people."
Bennett said he expects Netanyahu to bring the bill before the Knesset for an official vote in the very near future.
But Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, whom Netanyahu appointed to oversee negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, is doing her best to squash the bill before it ever reaches the Knesset floor.
"Members of the coalition are ruining the ability of Israel to make diplomatic decisions," complained Livni.
Insisting that her demand to be able to negotiate away parts of the holy city stem from a position of caring, Livni continued, "Do they want the government to defend our interests, including Jerusalem, or do they want to lead us all to chaos? No one can teach us about Jerusalem and no one loves Jerusalem more than us."
Netanyahu is expected to support Livni's appeal aimed at freezing the bill.
Opposition MK Yaakov Litzman of the religious United Torah Judaism party sponsored the bill. In remarks to Yediot Ahronot, he called it a means to hold Netanyahu to his campaign promise never to divide the city.
"Netanyahu promised more than once not to negotiate on Jerusalem," Litzman said. "The message of the bill is clear: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and is outside of any negotiations."
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Arab pastor: Our future is with Israel

Arab pastor: Our future is with Israel

Tuesday, July 09, 2013 |  Ryan Jones  
Father Gabriel Nadaf, an Arab Christian priest from the area of Nazareth, told Israeli media a week ago that the future of Arab Christians is in becoming one with the Jewish state.
Israel Today has several times in recent months reported on the activities of Father Nadaf and a growing movement in Nazareth to encourage young Arab Christians to join the Israeli army and fully integrate into Israeli society.
Predictably, that effort has not been popular with Arab Muslims and more antagonistic Arab Christians, and Father Nadaf has received many death threats. The priest has also been forbidden by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem from speaking further to the Israeli media.
But just days before that ban was imposed, Father Nadaf managed to explain to the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom why he and other Arab Christians are engaged in such a risky endeavor.
"We want young Christians to be completely integrated into Israeli society, and this means also carrying an equal share of the burden," said the fearless priest. "Our future as a Christian minority is wrapped up in the future of the State of Israel."
Contrary to the claims of loud-mouthed Arab members of the Israeli Knesset, Father Nadaf insisted that Arab Christians "feel secure in Israel," and enjoy equal rights, and therefore should shoulder equal obligations.
The battle for the hearts and minds of young Arab Christians in Israel is heating up, and at present far too few are coming to Father Nadaf's aid, whether out of fear or apathy.
While additional Christian support would no doubt be very welcome, what Father Nadaf really wants to see if the State of Israel itself openly and publicly support Arab Christians who buck the anti-Israel trend.
"If our youth see that Israel is supporting their integration into Israeli society, the word will spread," he said. "But, if the state turns its back on us, those who incite [against Israel] will win."
A number of Israeli politicians have come out in support of Nadaf, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Unfortunately, too many still do not see this as a simple black-and-white situation. The bulk of the Arab world, with which Israel is trying to make peace, strongly opposes the kind of integration Father Nadaf is seeking, and so many Israeli leaders feel they must tread lightly.
Meanwhile, a growing number of young Arab Christians are joining Israel's army and boldly speaking out on behalf of the Jewish state. Some are even going so far as to take a Christian Zionist position, noting that Jesus was a Jew, and so their allegiance must lie with the Jewish state.
Hopefully the increased Israeli media coverage of this phenomenon will result in the kind of backing Father Nadaf and others need to keep them in this important fight.
Father Gabriel Nadaf of Nazareth, Israel