A Brief Look At The U.S. Midterm Elections

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29 Cheshvan 5779

7 November 2018

Quote of the Day:

“Any Palestinian who enters Israel from Gaza serves as a Hamas courier, including those cancer patients who come for treatment.”

Nadav Argaman, Director of Israel’s security service Shin Bet, speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday

In other testimony, Argaman revealed that Shin Bet thwarted 480 Palestinian terror cell attacks (219 of which were affiliated with Hamas) last year along with stopping 590 potential lone-wolf attacks. 

The News on the Israeli Street

Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .

On the Gaza border:

*Palestinian terrorists launched a missile toward Israel last night which exploded in Gaza before reaching the border.

*Palestinian terrorists launched numerous incendiary balloons and kites into southern Israel. One balloon landed on the roof of a house in the Eshkol region where its explosive was defused by police sappers.

In Judea and Samaria:

*A Palestinian terrorist attempted to stab a Border policeman at Kfar Adumim yesterday but was stopped when she was shot by another policeman. This was the third attempted stabbing in as many days.

Jordan’s newest demand . . .

If you can believe this, after informing Israel that it was canceling parts of its peace treaty by demanding return of two small pieces of land leased to Israel, Jordan demanded that Israel allow it to build a 5th minaret on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Yes, you read that correctly.

There is no end to Jordanian gall. 

 
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TODAY’S BLOG:

A Brief Look At The U.S. Midterm Elections

Americans voting yesterday.

We have awakened here in Israel this morning to Israeli print and television “journalists” proclaiming that the U.S. midterm elections are a dramatic defeat for President Trump. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

To begin with, one needs to do something that no Israeli reporters are doing–we need to put yesterday’s results (which are still coming in) in context. Let’s take a look for a moment at what happened in the midterms during the first terms of the last two Democrat presidents before Trump.

After two years of Bill Clinton in 1994, the Republicans scored a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives. After two years of Barack Obama, the Republicans scored a net gain of 63 seats.

54 and 63 seats.

Apparently, if projections hold true, Democrats stand to gain about 35 seats–enough to take control of the House of Representatives but hardly enough to be called a dramatic defeat for Trump.

Before we discuss the implications for Israel in terms of the Democrat victory there, let us turn to the Senate for a moment where the Republicans appear to have increased their margin by 4. What is more, virtually every candidate that Trump supported emerged victorious. There was no defeat of Trump in the Senate.

But back to the House where the Democrat win does have disturbing implications for Israel.

The first piece of bad news is that some of the most vehement anti-Israel candidates running for office won their races and will be new members of the House. People like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, Rashida Tlaib in Michigan, and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota can be counted to loudly denounce Israel at every turn.

The second piece of bad news is that, as of the current moment, more than 100 Democrats supported by J Street and its Pac have emerged victorious. Of course, just because J Street supported a candidate does not mean that the candidate embraces J Street, but the results are ominous.

So what can we say about the elections insofar as Israel is concerned?

The results are a mixed bag. Some of Israel’s most vocal supporters (such as Ted Cruz) won Senatorial elections; some of Israel’s most vocal foes won House seats. 

Unfortunately however, the bottom line is that a Democrat party which is more “left,”  more “progressive,” and less supportive of Israel now has control of the U.S. House of Representatives.