Yom Reva’e, Wednesday
23 Kislev 5781
December 9, 2020
Photos of the Day
1.
A pre-Chanukah present this morning on the Gaza border!
This is the spirit of Israel. A wonderful woman from Be’ersheva, Tzipora Halfon, showed up with a car full of souvganiot (jelly-filled donuts) and began handing them out to soldiers on the Gaza Border. Kolakevod!
2.
Remember the photo from yesterday of the “Thank you Mossad” sign hanging from a Tehran Bridge:
Thank you Mossad.
It didn’t take long for authorities to rip the sign in half and replace it:
Note the original sign ripped in half on each side of the new sign with pictures of Soleimani and Fakhrizadeh that reads: “We will get revenge. Wait for us.”
The News on the Israeli Street
The “daily” Corona (Covid-19) update . . .
The following covers the last 24 hours (from 8 am yesterday until 8 am this morning:
348,285 Israelis have been confirmed with the virus since the pandemic began last March.
There are 1,488 newly confirmed cases.
328 are in critical condition—a decrease of 4
93 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—an increase of 4
2,932 have died–an increase of 8
There are currently 14,298 active Corona cases in Israel.
A totally dysfunctional government, yet again:
—after letting everyone know that we were going to a nightly lockdown starting tonight and lasting until January, PM Netanyahu suddenly reversed course last night and said the lockdown wouldn’t happen.
—in the midst of the current surge of newly confirmed and active cases, the government decided to open all the malls today.
—amidst the governmental rush to encourage Israelis to visit the UAE comes news this morning that 17 returning Israelis have tested positive for Corona–meaning that the UAE is now classified as “red” and any Israeli returning to Israel from there will have to be quarantined for 14 days.
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
In Judea and Samaria:
Judea and Samaria have been wracked by riots and terror attacks during the last day and night.
Dozens of terrorists throwing Molotovs set fire to IDF vehicles in Jenin yesterday.
Elsewhere, Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis at such places as Beit Haggai near Hevron, Huwara, Luban a-Sharqiya, the Tzur Vineyards, and the Petzal Junction in the Jordan Valley.
Palestinian on Palestinian:
A terrorist of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade who was released from prison yesterday was given a hero’s welcome in Tulkarm. During the parade, his fellow terrorists opened fire with assault weapons accidentally hitting a high voltage power line. Fortunately, one terrorist was electrocuted and six more nearly so.
TODAY’S BLOG
Gideon Sa’ar’s Political Earthquake
Gideon Sa’ar quits Likud and throws his hat in the ring.
How ironic! No sooner had your humble servant published yesterday’s blog about how it is impossible to label PM Netanyahu as “right-wing” than one of Likud’s strongest members on the “right” shockingly decided to quit Netanyahu’s Likud Party and form his own party to challenge Netanyahu from the “right”.
Gideon Sa’ar who many thought over the years would be Netanyahu’s eventual replacement at the head of Likud made his announcement on Israeli television last night. Here is part of what he said:
“Israel has been in an ongoing political crisis for the past two years, the worst in its history. During it, the rifts in the nation have been constantly expanding, public discourse is becoming increasingly toxic, and public trust in the political system is deteriorating.
I can’t be a Likud member under Netanyahu’s leadership.
The Likud has been my political and emotional home all my adult life. But the movement has become a tool for the interests of its leader, a personality cult for one man.
In addition to the political crisis, Israel is experiencing a severe social and economic crisis, which is exacerbated as a result of the government’s failure to deal with the coronavirus . . .
Israeli citizens look to the future with anxiety and hopelessness. Many ask themselves – what future awaits me and my children and grandchildren? This has not always been the case, and it does not have to be the case. There is a better Israel, and it is waiting for us, but the political system under its current leadership and composition will not be able to make the necessary correction.
In breaking away from Likud, Sa’ar follows a long line of Likudniks who could no longer tolerate Netanyahu. Tzipi Livni, Moshe Kahlon, Dan Meridor, Benny Begin, Yitzhak Mordechai, Avigdor Lieberman, Moshe Ya’alon, and Naftali Bennett were all once considered Likud’s young lions, only in most cases to be systematically denuded of power and relegated to minor posts (if posts at all) by King Bibi so that he could maintain his stranglehold on power.
Some of these left Likud to form parties to the center or “left” (Livni, Kahlon, Meridor, Ya’alon), while Lieberman and Bennett formed parties on the “right.”
So how does Sa’ar’s earthquake impact the political landscape?
Here’s the first poll out this morning:
Likud 25 (loss of 3 from the previous poll)
Yamina 19 (loss of 4)
Sa’ar 17
Yesh Atid 14 (loss of 4)
Joint Arab List 11 (virtually unchanged)
Shas 9 (virtually unchanged)
United Torah Judaism 7 (virtually unchanged)
Yisrael Beiteinu 7 (virtually unchanged)
Blue and White 7 (loss of 4)
Meretz 4 (virtually unchanged)
In sum, Sa’ar takes votes from the right and from the center, and thus becomes a dangerous threat to Netanyahu. Over the next few months, we’ll see what a hatchet job Netanyahu and his cronies do on Sa’ar.
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A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.