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US President Donald Trump told Jewish Republicans on Saturday that Israel’s election on April 9 is a close contest between “two good people,” a reference to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. Trump’s mention of the election came as he regaled the Las Vegas gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition by ticking off conservative victories of his first three years in office, including his decision to recognize Israel’s control over the Golan Heights two weeks ago, which many called a major boost to Netanyahu’s reelection campaign. “How’s the race going, by the way?,” he asked...

(Reuters) - Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's toughest rival in Israel's upcoming parliamentary election, dismissed as "political gossip" on Friday media reports of allegations that his mobile phone had been hacked by Iranian intelligence. The former Israeli armed forces chief was speaking near the border with Gaza following a day which saw the most serious escalation in months between Israel's military and Palestinians in the coastal enclave. "We're in the middle of an ongoing security event...and someone's putting out a political gossip story," Gantz said. "I do not think Benny Gantz is the story here. There's no security issue...

A former Israeli armed forces chief who opinion polls show poses the toughest challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid for re-election next year formally established a political party on Thursday. Details about Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party, leaked to local media after it was registered, give little indication of its ideological tilt. Along with preserving Israel as "a Jewish and democratic country", the party pledged unspecified changes to priorities in national security and the economy. Polling has predicted an easy win for Netanyahu in the April 9 election, with his rightist Likud party taking around 30 of parliament's 120...

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz estimates that after Bashar Assad's fall, Syria rebels will fight each other and also fight Israel. Speaking on IDF Radio, Gantz described the scenario for what he called "Round B" of fighting in Syria. "You can see that the rebels in Syria are fighting the army and the Assad regime," he said, "but it is clear that there will be another war there. It could be between themselves, but also could be turned against us. I have the impression that we will see both." .....

Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, IDF Chief of Staff, warned Israel's enemies Wednesday that any attempt to harm Israel will be met with a painful response. "The IDF draws from the memory of Holocaust Remembrance Day military strength and moral resilience that directs it in every crossroad and leads it to victory time after time," Gantz said, in a ceremony at the Masua Institute at Tel Yitzchak. "This strength of both body and soul is with us at all times and especially now – when the winds of revolution undermine the stability of the Middle East and create an extremely complicated,...

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz condemned on Tuesday the incident at the Ephraim base in Samaria on Monday night. Speaking to graduates of the National Security College, Gantz also mentioned the incident in which right-wing activists jumped the fence near Qasr Al Yehud to protest Jordan's interference on the Temple Mount. He said both incidents were serious. “These initiated disturbances are violent,” Gantz was quoted by Channel 10 News as having said. “The IDF, which protects its people, found itself defending itself from them. It’s absurd and unbelievable, and I hope that justice is done with the perpetrators.” He...

A Dutch court acquitted a doctor on Wednesday of all charges for the euthanasia of an elderly woman who suffered from dementia but may not have wanted to end her life when her life was taken. The landmark case received widespread media attention because prosecutors claim the doctor, who remains unnamed, did not properly consult her patient before injecting her with a lethal dose of drugs. The unnamed 74-year-old patient was given a sedative in her coffee and had to be restrained by her husband and daughter as the doctor injected her with the deadly drugs. "We conclude that all...

THE Dutch city of Dordrecht near Rotterdam is in lockdown after police said several people had been shot. Emergency services rushed to the scene, with 15 police cars in the street, two ambulances, a trauma helicopter, and several police officers, according to a PvdA member from the city. Many local residents also rushed out on the street as panic ensued. The city has been partially closed off.

Modern continental Europe keeps trying to solve its political problem — and then to impose its solution on everyone within reach. Recognizing this historical process can help us understand European anti-Americanism, strongest perhaps in Germany. America created the Europeans' political predicament, and we keep preventing them from adopting the solutions they come up with. America created the Europeans' political problem by the magnificent example of the American Revolution and the astonishing, world-changing success of America. In an interesting version of the story of the emperor's new clothes, rule by hereditary monarchs, hereditary aristocracies, and established churches was suddenly revealed to...

It sounded like a historical moment was in the offing. For the first time, Europe’s finance ministers were seriously planning on publicly denouncing tax havens by presenting a black list of countries that lure companies through tax-saving schemes. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the countries on the list were “not doing enough to fight tax evasion.” Fellow Frenchman Pierre Moscovici, the European Union’s commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, called for vigorous sanctions. […] That was one and a half years ago, and that momentum has largely disappeared. This is partly because the black list had several fundamental...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Tired of all this #Winning yet? – Another month, another sterling jobs report. The private sector beat “expert” expectations yet again by adding 164,000 new jobs during the month of July, finishing the month with an all-time record 157,288,000 Americans gainfully employed. Even more encouraging is the fact that almost 400,000 Americans moved from the part-time jobs that characterized the Obama economy to the good-paying full-time jobs that are the centerpiece of the Trump economy. This truly never, ever gets old. She’s gonna need some new script-writers. – The Chief of Staff...

Shot through by German machine gun bullets and tattered by the wind, an American flag that flew on the first U.S. invading ship on D-Day came home on Thursday in a White House ceremony. The flag handover was a main part of the visit to the White House by Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, who held Oval Office talks with President Donald Trump. The flag has been owned by retired Dutch businessman and art collector Bert Kreuk, who paid $514,000 for it at auction three years ago with the intention of donating it to the United States. “I...

Iranian media report that a British flagged oil tanker has been seized by Iranian forces. Iran claiming that the tanker was seized for violating maritime regulations.... Iran stated its intention in recent days to respond to the seizure of one of its tankers by the UK. Earlier Friday the Supreme Court in Gibraltar granted a 30-day extension for detention of the Iranian oil tanker.... The Pentagon making it official Friday that US forces are going to Saudi Arabia.... Amidst all the controversy surrounding them, its been almost forgotten that Congresswoman Ihan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shot through by German machine gun bullets and tattered by the wind, an American flag that flew on the first U.S. invading ship on D-Day came home on Thursday in a White House ceremony. The flag handover was a main part of the visit to the White House by Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, who held Oval Office talks with President Donald Trump. The flag has been owned by retired Dutch businessman and art collector Bert Kreuk, who paid $514,000 for it at auction three years ago with the intention of donating it to the...

The United States women's national team is one win away from becoming World Cup champs for the fourth time. The 2019 Women's World Cup final is set for Lyon, France, on Sunday as the U.S. takes on the Netherlands. The United States enters as the favorite, making its third straight final, while the Dutch are in the final for the first time and looking to build upon their Euro 2017 glory two years ago. Megan Rapinoe is expected to play for the U.S. after missing the semifinals, as the Dutch face an uphill battle and look to pull off arguably...

The second spot in the 2019 Women's World Cup final is up for grabs Wednesday when surprising Netherlands takes on in-form Sweden. The winner will go up against the United States on Sunday after the reigning champs knocked out England on Tuesday. The Dutch have cruised through the tournament with a 5-0-0 record. They started off the round of 16 with a 2-1 win over Japan before beating Italy 2-0 in the quarters, and they are currently in the middle of their greatest World Cup in history. Sweden, meanwhile, has as much confidence as anyone. After being Canada 1-0 in...

Are tolls going to be enforced on private drivers? The German government, along with every car owner in the European Union, will finally get a definitive answer to that question on Tuesday. If the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules in favor of the tolls, all motorists will be charged to drive on German highways. The fees, known as "vignettes," are to be collected according to the time traveled on the autobahn. For cars registered in Germany, however, owners will get a credit deductible from the motor vehicle tax as compensation, meaning the costs would be offset, and ultimately, Germans...

In an unprecedented move last week, India voted in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organisation named ‘Shahed’. This is the first time India has taken a step back from its decades-old position on the two-state theory under which New Delhi sees both Israel and Palestine as separate and independent countries, seeking to bring peace in West Asia.The vote, which took place on 6 June at the UN, saw countries such as US, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK, South Korea and Canada polling in favour of...

LONDON — By the time she was 17, the Dutch teenager had written a harrowing memoir recounting repeated sexual assaults and her subsequent experience with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anorexia. Last year, when she was 16, she approached an end-of-life clinic in the Netherlands seeking euthanasia or assisted suicide, but was rejected because her parents had been unaware of her request and she needed their permission, according to a local newspaper profile published in December. When her sister announced that the teenager, Noa Pothoven, had died at 17 early Sunday morning — without revealing where or how — the...

A 17-year-old Dutch girl was legally allowed to kill herself using euthanasia after she was raped when younger and spent years battling depression, according to a report Tuesday. “Love is letting go, in this case,” Noa Pothoven of Arnhem wrote in an Instagram post announcing her choice to die in the living room of her home Sunday. Pothoven — who was sexually abused at 11 and raped three years later — said she was sick of suffering “unbearable pain. "Maybe this comes as a surprise to some, given my posts about hospitalization, but my plan has been there for a...