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You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The current status of Netanyahu’s efforts to form a new government coalition
2) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is nearing completion to form a new government coalation. The Jewish parties elected to the Israeli Knesset are as follows:
1) The Tzipi Livni Part (Hatnua) (“The Movement”). Her primary objective is to see a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. Her party has joined Netanyahu’s government and will oversee peace negotiations.
2) Yesh Atid (There is a Future). The party leader is former Israeli journalist, Yair Lapid. This is a secular centrist party. They would like to see ultra-Orthodox Jews drafted into the Israeli military, restart of peace talks with the Palestinians, a reduction in the size of the Israeli government and economic policies that help the middle class.
3) Jewish Home. This is a religious Zionist party. Many are modern Orthodox Jews who serve in the Israeli army and have daily jobs. They are against a PLO state.
4) Shas. This is a Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party. They don’t want to see their Yeshiva students be drafted into the Israeli army. Their Yeshiva students study Talmud all day and most don’t have a daily job.
5) United Torah Judaism. This is an Askenazi ultra-Orthodox party. They don’t want to see their Yeshiva students be drafted into the Israeli army. There Yeshiva students study Talmud all day and most don’t have a daily job.
6) Kadima. The party leader is Shaul Mofaz. He would like to be Defense Minister and he supports a PLO state.
Two other political parties, Labor and Meretz, said that they would not join Netanyahu’s coalition.
On March 2, Netanyahu was granted a two week extension to form a government. His deadline is March 16. Netanyahu used the moment to criticize Jewish Home for forming an alliance with Yesh Atid and taking a position regarding drafting ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva students into the Israeli army that would cause the ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, to not be able to join the government. He said, “The reason I have not succeeded in establishing this government is, simply, that there are boycotts. There is a boycott of a section of the public in Israel and this does not jibe with my world view. I am doing everything within my power to unite the nation. I think that we, as Jews, suffered from boycotts. We know that Israel is boycotted in international forums and we protest that justly. The people who should understand this better than anyone are the settlers from Judea and Samaria, who undergo daily boycotts. That is why, in my world view, in history we underwent terrible tragedies as a result of hatred between brothers and internecine strife, and when we look around us today and see the tremendous challenges around us – security challenges, the challenge of a holding responsible diplomatic process – these challenges require a unification of strength and not a splitting of forces, and that is why I want to use the coming days for another attempt to bring about a wide government. I hope that the parties’ leaders show responsibility.”
Jewish Home leader, Naftali Bennett issued a response on his Facebook page accusing Likud-Beytenu of boycotting Jewish Home before accusing Jewish Home of doing the same to ultra-Orthodox parties. He said: “The message from the Likud was simple: At no price will religious Zionism [Jewish Home] be in the government. Forget about it. While the prime minister met twice with Lapid, with [Hatnua chairwoman] Tzipi Livni, with [Labor leader] Shelly [Yacimovich], with [Kadima leader Shaul] Mofaz, and even with [Meretz leader] Zehava Gal-On, only religious Zionism [Jewish Home] was boycotted. Likud said they want a government with the Left and haredim, explaining that they can’t have peace talks with the Jewish Home in the coalition,” he said. “In the days immediately following the elections, Likud refused to speak with the Jewish Home,” said Bennett. “They excluded us. We knew if we sat quietly we would be in the opposition. I spoke with Yair Lapid and we agreed that Yesh Atid would not enter the government without the Jewish Home and that the Jewish Home would not enter the government without Yesh Atid. We don’t boycott any parties,” he said.
The alliance between Yesh Atid and Jewish Home got an endorsement from from four Religious Zionist rabbis who support the West Bank settlers. The statement said: “We support the way you’re taking in order to save the world of the Torah and the settlement of the land of Israel by cooperating with Yair Lapid and his party.”
Yesh Atid leader, Yair Lapid, also criticized the political tactics of the ultra-Orthodox parties on his Facebook page by writing that they do not accept the rules of the democratic process. “No one likes to lose, but everyone accepts the basic idea that sometimes you’re in the coalition, and sometimes in the opposition,” he explained, adding that if Yesh Atid ends up in the opposition, they will go proudly, without feeling that someone hates or rejects them. Furthermore,
Lapid pointed out that no matter what ideology won the last election – “Left, Right, socialist, capitalist, two-state solution or whole Land of Israel” – the ultra- Orthodox are always willing to be in the coalition.
“Did someone change the law and didn’t tell us? Can a government be formed with the Likud, without Labor, without Kadima, without Meretz, without Arab parties, without any party at all, but the ultra-Orthodox parties always have to be in the government, otherwise you’re boycotting and rejecting them? What kind of strange democracy is that? The obvious conclusion is that no tragedy will happen if, in the next term, they sit in the opposition.”
“Moreover, I think that our world would be more meager without Torah study. This doesn’t mean they cannot work or enlist in the army, but Torah studies are one of the basic principles of ‘Israeliness’ and we have no Jewish existence without it.” Lapid said that it is his task to return Israeli society’s focus to issues like education, aid to small businesses, lowering hosing prices and the cost of living. “In other words, instead of enhancing the power of sectors, we must assist Israel’s middle class, which is collapsing as a result of the need to subsidize all the others.”
While Netanyahu originally tried to cause either Jewish Home or Yesh Atid to join his government independently of each other, Likud negotiators met with senior officials this week and concluded that the partnership between Jewish Home and Yesh Atid was solid and Netanyahu would not be able to break their alliance. As a result, Netanyahu began to realize that he will either have to have Jewish Home and Yesh Atid in his government together or choose to have a government with the ultra-Orthodox. Therefore, Netanyahu notified the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party, Shas, that they most likely will not be in the government. Shas tried to convince Netanyahu to try to form a government with the ultra-Orthodox parties along with the Labor party of Shelly Yacimovich, It was reported that in the last few weeks that Netanyahu did offer the Labor party the government ministries of Finance and Industry, Trade and Labor but Labor rejected the offer. A Labor official described the pressure exerted on them to join the coalition as being “unprecedented.”
Shas leaders said unless there is a “dramatic breakthrough” in the next few days, Shas will not be a part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s new government. If Shas is indeed excluded from the coalition, it would be only the second time in 30 years.
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, a leader of ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews representing United Torah Judaism made harsh comments regarding the issue of ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva students serving in the Israeli army calling on ultra-Orthodox Jews to “stand guard without any changes, because this is one of the fundamentals of the faith, in the category of (a commandment one must obey even at the cost of their own life).” Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni said that his party was switching allegiances. “Until now we agreed to joining together only with right wing parties, but that is over. Now we will be working with [the Labor party of] Shelly Yechimovich.”
Two popular ultra-Orthodox radio commentators called on the ultra-Orthodox to take “revenge” on religious Zionism by boycotting settlement products. One of them, Avi Bloom, said that the support of the settlements is inconsistent with Jewish law. Another commentator, Yaakov Rivlin, added “It’s time to end all these relations with the real estate dealers in the West Bank territories.”
In the last couple of days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made considerable progress in talks to form a new government which will have a coalition of 70. The coalition, set to be finalized early next week, will comprise Netanyahu’s Likud-Beytenu (31 seats), Yesh Atid (19), Jewish Home (12), Hatnua (6) and Kadima (2). Labor would lead the opposition along with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism.
In order to reach a final deal, compromises are being made. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who had hoped to become foreign minister, will become finance minister. Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett will become minister of trade and industry. The Foreign Ministry post will be kept open for former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who resigned in December to fight corruption charges and hopes to return quickly to the post after clearing his name. The defense minister is likely to be former IDF chief of the General Staff Moshe Ya’alon (Likud), housing could well go to Jewish Home’s Uri Ariel, while the same party’s Eli Ben Dahan could take religious affairs, and Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz could become minister of welfare. Yesh Atid would also receive at least four ministerial positions in addition to finance, including the Education Ministry, which MK Rabbi Shai Piron would likely head.
The emerging compromise on ultra-Orthodox military service will see 1,500-2,000 scholars exempted from service each year — a far higher number than the 400 cap Yesh Atid had sought. Ultra-Orthodox men will be called for service at age 22, not 18, in another reported compromise.
Yesh Atid showed readiness to be more flexible on the number of ministries, accepting a drop from 30 to 23, or 24 after Liberman’s return, instead of the party’s campaign promise of 18. However, a law will be passed within a month of the government being sworn in that there can only be up to 18 ministers, starting from after the next election.
According to Israel Radio, the various cabinet posts would be filled by eight ministers from Likud, six from Yesh Atid, four from Jewish Home, three from Yisrael Beytenu, two from Hatnua, and one from Kadima. Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua, with six seats, is the only party to date to have signed with Likud-Beytenu. In addition to the position of justice minister, Livni was promised the right to lead peace talks with the Palestinians
In meetings with Jewish Home, Likud negotiators have agreed that any peace agreement with the Palestinians will be brought to a national referendum before being ratified by the Knesset. In addition, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s June 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, in which he called for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state, will not be mentioned in the coalition’s guidelines.
If Netanyahu cannot form a new government, new elections will be held. If new elections are held, poll results are showing that Yesh Atid would become the largest party in Israel increasing their seats from 19 to 29. If this were to happen, Yesh Atid leader, Yair Lapid, would become the next Prime Minister of Israel. Jewish Home would increase from 12 seats to 18. Likud would fall from 31 to 23. Labor, Shas and Tzipi Livni would lose seats and Kadima would no longer be in the government. At the moment, new elections seem unlikely as Netanyahu is expected to present his coalition to Israel President Shimon Peres when the president returns on Wednesday from his current trip to Europe, and to have it sworn in at the Knesset on either Wednesday or Thursday.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) Peres Grants Netanyahu 14-Day Extension
2) Netanyahu: I won’t accept Bennett-Lapid boycott of haredim
3) MK Strook: Likud Mudslinging Continues
4) Bennett: Likud Refused to Speak with Us
5) Mediator Tells Likud: Bennett, Lapid Inseparable
6) MK Shaked: Alliance with Lapid Rock Solid
7) Netanyahu begins talks for haredi-free government
8.) PM to Shas: You can’t be in coalition over Bennett
9) Lapid: Not calamitous if haredim sit in opposition
10) Haredi leaders hit out against Bennett, Lapid
11) Rabbi Auerback: Army Service Means Eradication of Judaism
12) Shas headed to opposition; ‘it’s a done deal’
13) Hareidi MKs: We’re Now on the Left
14) Ultra-Orthodox pundits urge boycott of settlement products
15) Yesh Atid: Coalition talks are ‘in crisis’
16) Lapid, Bennett, Mofaz form 33-MK bloc to pressure PM
17) Netanyahu aims to present coalition to Peres next Wednesday
18) Report: Lapid Will Replace Yishai
19) Coalition deal to require peace treaty referendum
20) 70-strong Israeli coalition nearing completion
21) Poll: Likud Would Lose Repeat Vote
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had a meeting in Saudi Arabia with US Secretary of State John Kerry where they discussed the peace process. Abbas wants the United States to put pressure on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and freeze construction of Jewish homes in the West Bank. Unless the United States is willing to do this, the Palestinians say that they will not resume peace talks with Israel.
Meanwhile Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a surprise visit with King Abdullah of Jordan last week regarding the peace process. However, no details were released about the results of the meeting. Netanyahu did announce that he would suspend all Jewish housing construction for one month in contested areas of East Jerusalem and the West Bank so not to embarrass Obama when he visits Israel. However, Netanyahu emphasized that this was not a building freeze but rather a temporary suspension because of Obama’s visit.
Obama had a meeting at the White House with Jewish leaders regarding his trip to Israel later this month. There was conflicting information released from the meeting. Israel’s Channel 10 reported that Obama planned to present a “general framework” for starting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks during his visit but not a “comprehensive peace plan”. However, he told Jewish leaders to not rule out him doing so within six to twelve months. According to Channel 10, Obama told the Jewish leaders he intended to speak to the Israelis about peace with the Palestinians and would make clear that “wanting peace is not enough.” He would be asking Israel “which tough steps it will be willing to take,” the TV report said. The president’s remarks to the senior Jewish leaders were not supposed to have been made public.
According to Senior Obama officials, “The president reiterated America’s unshakeable support for Israel and thanked the leaders for the role they play in strengthening ties between the two nations. The president noted that the trip is not dedicated to resolving a specific policy issue, but is rather an opportunity to consult with the Israeli government about a broad range of issues – including Iran, Syria, the situation in the region, and the peace process. He also underscored that the trip is an opportunity for him to speak directly to the Israeli people about the history, interests, and values that we share.” The officials denied that Obama will be presenting a “general framework” to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to a report by the World Tribune, U.S. President Barack Obama has demanded that Israel provide a detailed timetable for withdrawing from the West Bank. Israel sources said that “Obama has made it clear to Netanyahu that his visit is not about photo-ops, but the business of Iran and a Palestinian state. The implication is that if Israel won’t give him something he can work with, then he’ll act on his own.” The source said that the Israeli plan would be considered in what could be an imminent U.S. initiative to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank in 2014.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering the possibility of approving a “meaningful package of gestures” toward the Palestinian Authority in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel which included ceding some land to the Palestinians based upon recommendations from the “defense establishment” that would not endanger Netanyahu politically within Israel. One of the “gestures” is the transfer of some areas that are currently under full Israeli control (Area C) to full Arab control (Area A). These territories would include access roads to the new PA city of Rawabi and another road that leads to the Tul Karm industrial area.
Finally, the leader of the Labor political party, MK Shelly Yechimovich, said that if Israel was able to make a peace agreement with the Palestinians that her party would join the government to support the peace agreement if Jewish Home threatened to topple Netanyahu’s government by not supporting a possible peace agreement.
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) ‘Abbas to Kerry: Push Israel for settlement freeze’
2) Palestinian leadership not to revive peace talks before Obama’s visit: official
3) Report: Netanyahu, King Abdullah discuss Mideast peace
4) Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu suspends housing settlements ahead of Obama’s visit
5) ‘Obama won’t bring peace plan or even general framework’ to Israel
6) Obama plans to extract timetable for Israeli pullout from West Bank
7) Netanyahu Reportedly Mulling Ceding Land to PA
8) Labor Head: We’ll Save Govt in Case of Peace Talks
From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).
We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).
Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l