29 Shevat 5778
14 February 2018
The News on the Israel Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
*A highly suspicious incident took place early this morning at the Nizanei Oz interchange on Highway 6. A large truck, driven by a Palestinian from eastern Jerusalem, plowed into a row of parked cars carrying IDF soldiers. Two soldiers were killed immediately, and 10 more were wounded. The incident has all the earmarks of a bulldozer attack–yet the police have yet to call it such.
Numerous attacks of all sorts were carried out by Palestinian terrorists yesterday.
*There were two attempted stabbings in the Hevron area.
*There was an attempted shooting at Tel Sheva.
*There was an attempted IED attack in the military courtroom in Salem.
*There were “rock” and Molotov attacks at such places as the Yakir Junction, Shuafat (the Jerusalem Light Rail was damaged), the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road, Lubban, and the Halhul Junction.
TODAY’S BLOG
The Police-Media-Leftist Effort
To Topple The Netanyahu Government
[Note from your humble servant: Any regular reader of israelstreet knows that we have endlessly criticized PM Netanyahu’s policies over the years. However, we strongly feel that the ongoing attempt to unseat the Netanyahu government by non-electoral means is abominable in the extreme. It is nothing less than a brazen attempt to subvert democracy.]
The stage production went off without a hitch last night here in Israel.
As your humble servant predicted in yesterday’s blog, the leftist Israel Police Unit Lahav 433 had leaked all of the details concerning its Netanyahu investigations to the leftist Israel television channels long before the details were officially published.
A procession of television “reporters” then took turns breathlessly “informing” the public of the recommended police charges against Netanyahu. As the camera switched from the television studio to the halls of the Knesset to the front of the Lahav 433 building in Tel Aviv and back again, no reporter could wait to jump on the “at last we got Netanyahu” bandwagon.
It was fascinating to watch the pathetic reporters jockey for who could relate the most “damning” news–even to the point of interrupting each other for air time.
But all of this was just part of the show.
A show meant to disguise the fact that, at its core, there was very little new information from the police that had not been leaked a thousand times before during the last year.
Here were the police recommendations:
1. That PM Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in Case 1000 involving gifts (primarily cigars, champagne, and jewelry) he and his family received from Arnon Milchan and James Packer. By the way, the police also recommended indicting Milchan for “offering bribes.”
2. That PM Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in Case 2000 involving talks that Netanyahu had with the owner of the Yedioth Aharanot newspaper, Noni Mozes in order to receive more favorable coverage in the newspaper. By the way, the police also recommended indicting Mozes for “offering bribes.”
Both of these cases have been hashed, rehashed, and hashed again numerous times in the Israel media. Everyone expected the police to make the recommendations against Netanyahu that they did–despite the fact that it is very hard to see how Milchan, Packer, and Mozes got any benefit from their so-called “bribes.”
According to the police, these were the benefits that Milchan received:
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*Netanyahu’s promotion of a trade-free zone on the Israel-Jordan border that was sought by Milchan’s friend Ratan Tata. Apparently, members of the defense establishment were against the establishment of the zone.
What is the problem with the police scenario? The Netanyahu government decided not to establish the zone.
*Netanyahu tried to help Channel 10 when Milchan owned shares of the Channel.
What is the problem with the police scenario? Netanyahu actually tried to close Channel 10.
*Netanyahu tried to help Milchan renew his visa to the U.S.
What is the problem with the police scenario? Netanyahu tried to help numerous people with problems with their visas.
*Netanyahu tried to help Milchan by extending tax benefits for returning Israelis for 10 years.
What is the problem with the police scenario? During the time period in question, there was a concerted effort to try get Israelis living abroad to return to live in Israel. Milchan was one of thousands, including your humble servant’s daughter, who received government benefits.
And on and on.
For his part, Milchan said last night that it was ridiculous for the gifts that he gave the Netanyahus to be called “bribes” because he and Netanyahu had been friends before Netanyahu was in the government, and he had given gifts then.
As for the Mozes-Yedioth Aharonot allegations, any person in Israel can tell you that Mozes and Yedioth Aharonot have carried on an endless war against Netanyahu (see past israelstreet blogs). There is no evidence that Mozes gave Netanyahu anything or that Netanyahu gave Mozes anything in return.
As to the allegation that Netanyahu tried to close down Yedioth Aharonot’s chief competitor Israel Hayom by passing a law against Israel Hayom in the Knesset, Netanyahu correctly declared this last night:
“How can it be said that I wanted to act on Mozes’s behalf by passing the bill to close down Israel Hayom, when in reality I did the opposite? I voted against the bill, dissolved the Knesset and risked my political future. Unlike me, 43 ministers and MKs acted on Mozes’s behalf and as his emissaries. They promoted his bills and in return received flattering coverage from Yedioth Ahronoth. Why has no recommendation been made against them?”
There was, however, one extremely unsettling fact that emerged from the police allegations last night.
And that is that Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid Party and Netanyahu’s chief political rival, offered statements to the police to support the allegations in Case 1000 against Netanyahu.
That the police would rely on the deposition of Netanyahu’s main political opponent to topple Netanyahu does not even remotely pass the smell test.
So where do we go from here?
Attorney General Mandleblit now has the police information and recommendations.
He must decide if the “evidence” provided by the police supports an indictment. This decision process may take days, months, or even years–though Mandleblit will be under intense pressure from the police-media-leftist cabal to make a decision sooner rather than later.
As for Netanyahu, he made it clear in a stirring defense last night that he has no plans to go anywhere soon.
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.