Yom Chamishee
Thursday
26 Sivan 5783
June 15 2023
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The News on the Israeli Street
The war in Judea and Samaria.
IED, Molotov, and “rock” attacks:
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis at Road 458 near Al Muayyir, Ujah, on Road 55 between Azzun and Ma’ale Shomron, in the Hossan Bypass between Al-Khader and the Beitar Junction, on Road 55 in the Nabi Elias Bypass, in Hawara, at Luban Al-Sharqiya, near Peduel, and at a dozen other locations.
Shooting attacks:
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on IDF troops operating in Shechem.
Palestinian terrorist attacked IDF soldiers in Yabad.
Weird weather continues . . .
A dust storm at the Kineret (Sea of Galilee)?
TODAY’S BLOG
The Bizarre Zigzags of PM Netanyahu Yesterday
The extraordinary events in the Knesset yesterday surrounding the supposed selection of two Knesset members to the Judicial Selection Committee have left many Israelis who voted for PM Netanyahu dumbfounded by his actions.
The surreal saga began in the morning when PM Netanyahu let it be known than he planned to support Opposition nominee Karine Elharrar for a position on the Judicial Selection Committee. In making this decision, he plotted a course directly opposite that of his own Justice Minister Yariv Levin who had previously demanded that no Opposition member be chosen for the Committee.
The reasoning behind Netanyahu’s course of action remains unclear. Did he really believe that by supporting Elharrar the street demonstrations would stop? Did he really believe that by supporting her, the Reform negotiations at the President’s House would pick up momentum?
As we shall see below, if that is what he thought, he was dead wrong on all counts.
To further complicate matters, Netanyahu then called on all 7 members of the Coalition who had been nominated for a position on the Committee to withdraw their nominations.
Six of them did, but firebrand Likud member Tali Gotliv declared that in a Likud meeting in advance of the Knesset vote that she would not withdraw her name from the Knesset vote of those seeking selection to the committee.
According to numerous reports, Netanyahu exploded with this rant at Gotliv: “You are harming the security of the state. You are doing something that should not be done. You want to overthrow the government. You are harming Likud on purpose. I will come against you with all my might.”
Say what? Gotliv wanted to harm the security of the state, overthrow the government, and harm Likud by having herself on the Judicial Selection Committee?
PM Netanyahu then apparently decided that he would postpone the selection of the Committee for a month by ordering everyone in the Coalition not to vote for anyone in the Knesset election.
Then, the vote took place in the Knesset.
Stunningly, the Opposition nominee, Karin Elharrar, was elected by receiving 58 votes. Since the Opposition only has 54 votes, it meant that 4 members of the Coalition (Likud members) voted for her.
Afterwards, one of the anonymous Likud members that voted for Elharrar blathered: “We saved Bibi.”
Say what? Far from saving Netanyahu, those four votes may have eventually spelled the end of Likud because it ripped the Party apart. Now there is no way to know how many Likud members of the Knesset will actually vote with the Coalition on any of the bills coming before it.
By the way, Gotliv, whose name was on the ballot, only received 15 votes–so she was not chosen. Obviously many Coalition members followed Netanyahu’s orders and did not vote.
Then we had the bizarre spectacle of Opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz coming to the microphone. Earlier in the day, they had said that if Elharrar was not chosen they would walk out of the reform negotiations at the President’s House.
Now, after Elharrar was chosen, they announced that they were walking out of the reform negotiations at the President’s House.
Yes, you read all of that correctly.
At the same time, they called on increased demonstrations against the government. Lapid made clear what the goal of the demonstrations is:
“We will not stop fighting until this awful government passes from the world.”
And so the streets of Tel Aviv were filled again last night with anarchists and “demonstrators.”
So where do we stand this morning?
1. The creation of the Judicial Selection Committee has now been delayed for a month at which time the Coalition will choose its member of the Committee.
2. The Opposition senses blood in the water. They feel that Netanyahu has been exposed as a weak leader.
3. Even many Coalition members are befuddled by Netanyahu’s bizarre zigzags yesterday.
4. Some Coalition members and leaders are now demanding that Netanyahu agree to go ahead and unilaterally vote in the reforms that had already passed their first and second readings back in April. These reforms only need one more reading before becoming law.
Your humble servant hopes that a newly bold PM Netanyahu recovers his mojo and sets out on a determined path to enact the reforms that we have all fought so hard for. Lapid and Gantz will never compromise, and the demonstrations will never stop.
Justice Minister Levin summed it up very well yesterday morning before the day’s saga began:
“The Opposition isn’t giving us anything . . . They protest against us, beat us, and spit on us . . . Why should we make concessions to them? What have they given us in return? Nothing.”
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.