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Former Prime Minister Announces Turner Foundation and Liran Avissar Ben Horin Joining His Party • Turner Previously Headed the Ministries of Finance and Transportation and Promoted the Light Rail Project in the Dan Bloc • Avissar Ben Horin Served as Director General of the Ministry of Communications and Drafted 23 Work Plans for the "Bennett 2026" Party • Bennett: "We Will Make the Fastest Jump the Country Has Seen Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced this morning (Sunday) that Liran Avissar Ben Horin and Keren Turner will join his party's list in the upcoming elections. The two, who previously served...

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's under fire because he won't compromise the safety of Israel. "When there is pressure on Israel to give up on its security, the easiest thing is to give up," Arutz Sheva quoted Netanyahu's response at the Knesset. "As prime minister, I stand for the security of Israel," he continued. "The life of every single citizen and soldier matters to me, and I am not prepared to make comprises that will endanger our country." "Our interests are not on the minds of those who attack us -- or me -- personally,"...

In late February, the Israeli Knesset passed the NGO Funding Transparency Bill by 40 to 34. It had been a long journey for the bill, which despite, its neutered, state was still a declaration of war by the conservative Likud Party against the shadow NGO empire that was the Soros way. While the bill was no longer able to empower the lifting of tax exempt status for foreign funded NGOs and it only addressed foreign funding of NGOs by government entities, it was a major step for foreign funding transparency. The Soros empire had been built on non-transparency, on hidden...

Two Israeli political heavyweights on Sunday said they would join forces in elections scheduled for later this year in an effort to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid served as prime ministers in a rotation agreement as part of a coalition government they formed in 2021, ending 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule. Now they plan to merge their parties into single faction headed by Bennett, calling it a partnership between the center and the right. Bennett said if elected, the new government on its first day would establish a state commission of inquiry into the...

Former prime ministers announce merger of Yesh Atid and Bennett 2027 into a single party, with Bennett at the helm.

A ceasefire hailed as victory masks deep uncertainty—fragmented leadership, conflicting terms, and Iran’s track record all suggest the pause may only delay the next escalation. On Tuesday evening, with less than two hours remaining before U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or be bombed “back to the Stone Ages,” he announced a mutual ceasefire. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed, “a victory for the United States that President Trump and our incredible military made happen.” Eli Lake of The Free Press claims that “America has won twice” by getting Iran’s commitment to...

Opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply criticized on Wednesday the ceasefire with Iran announced earlier in the day, calling it a failure of political and strategic leadership and warning of long-term consequences for Israel’s security. “There has never been such a political disaster in all of our history,” Lapid wrote in a statement, arguing that “Israel wasn't even part of the discussions when decisions were made concerning our national security.” He added that while “the military carried out everything that was asked of it” and “the public demonstrated amazing resilience,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “failed politically, failed strategically, and didn't meet...

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) delivered an address to the press on Sunday in which he claimed that, based on intelligence in his possession, there is a fear of a political assassination. "I now want to warn, based on unequivocal intelligence information: we are on the way to another tragedy. This time it will come from within. The levels of incitement and madness are unprecedented. There will be a political assassination. Jews will kill Jews," Lapid warned. He added, "The most threats are against the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. The Israeli ruling party, the Likud, published...

Israel's Business Forum joined the Hostage Family Forum call to protest as Israelis blocked junctions around the country. The Histadrut chairman, Arnon Bar David, Israel's main labor organization, called for a total shutdown of the country's economy on Monday starting at 6 a.m., and Israel's airport followed shortly after. Israelis gathered at junctions and blocked intersections around the country Sunday morning, calling for a hostage deal after reports came out that the bodies of six hostages had been retrieved from Gaza. Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino were alive in captivity for nearly...

The IDF strike was the first strike on Yemen's soil in response to ongoing Houthi attacks on Israel and the Red Sea, including a drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed one. Israeli officials on Saturday evening responded to the confirmed IDF strike on the port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, which struck Houthi military targets and energy infrastructures. The strike was conducted by IDF fighter jets and struck several targets in Hodeidah, including Houthi strategic points and energy infrastructure. In response to the strike, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel struck the Houthis in Yemen to send a...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overtook war cabinet minister Benny Gantz as the public’s preferred choice for premier in a television survey aired Wednesday, marking the first time in a year that the incumbent rated higher than his best-polling rival. The Channel 12 news poll also found Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party gaining on Gantz’s centrist National Union, while indicating that a potential all-star slate of Netanyahu’s former right-wing allies could win a double-digit number of parliamentary seats, mainly at the expense of National Union. If elections were held today, according to the poll, National Union would pick up 25 of the...

"He (Lindsey Graham) said that the Biden Administration had dispatched him to the region in order to test Saudi Arabia's seriousness about a normalization deal and gauge how much the country has been able to implement reforms promised by the crown prince, known as MBS." Times Of Israel Story 4/18/2023 Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham visiting Saudi Arabia in recent days meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Then he stopped in Israel to meet top Israeli leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz (touted as the next "Centrist" Prime Minister to replace Netanyahu) and Opposition Leader...

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Jerusalem Monday for a mass demonstration against the government’s judicial reform plan. The protest coincides with a vote by the Knesset on a linchpin bill of the judicial reform plan. The proposed legislation, which is expected to pass its first reading Monday, would increase the influence of the Knesset and government over the appointment of judges. Currently, just four of the nine members of the judicial selection committee are from the government and Knesset, with the remaining five members being judges and members of the Israel Bar Association. In addition,...

Opposition leader Yair Lapid warned Sunday morning that Israel is "losing the US" as a result of the government's actions. "The Americans talk to me all the time and they are horrified by what is happening," Lapid said in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet. He dismissed claims that the US is interfering in Israel's internal affairs, saying: "We ask the US to interfere [in our affairs] every day, from aid to funding the Iron Dome. The Americans say clearly that our alliance is based on our shared democratic values, and if you don't maintain them, then the alliance will...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses opposition heads of "purposely pushing the country to anarchy" in a short video statement published after a turbulent day that has seen some 90,000 people protest in Jerusalem, as well as scuffles and shouting matches in the Knesset. "The opposition is going wild in the Knesset and its lawmakers are jumping on chairs, (Tel Aviv Mayor) Ron Huldai is expressly inciting violence, and in the left-wing protest they are calling the prime minister a traitor," he says. "Get a grip. Show responsibility and leadership," he tells opposition leaders adding: "Most citizens of Israel don't want...

It was predictable given the fervor of the left-wing demonstrations against Benjamin Netanyahu that talk of assassination would arise sooner or later. Despite their own calls that right-wing Israelis accept the results of the previous election that propelled Yair Lapid and his center-left allies to power, left-wing Israelis have largely refused to pay the same courtesy to Netanyahu and his new coalition, which won a firm majority in the most recent vote. It’s not just that they oppose his proposed policies. They insist Bibi is an unrepentant criminal and a danger to democracy who must be removed from power. Since...

The Pegasus Affair: This is how the right-wing government was overthrown They had a problem. The majority of the people in Israel vote right. The national camp has been in power for too long and they had no democratic way to replace it, so they found a solution Yehuda Vald, 10.02.22 The revelation this week [https://www.srugim.co.il/?p=645212] in the Calcalist newspaper about the activation of spy software against senior officials in the economy, including those close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, is the tip of the iceberg that has been revealed about the anti-democratic revolution led by influential people in the police...

Israel's new national security minister earlier visited the Jerusalem holy site, drawing condemnation The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session to discuss the recent visit by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, which sparked international backlash, a report said Tuesday. An unnamed senior diplomat told The Times of Israel that a date has not yet been set, but the meeting could take place as early as Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates and China asked the UN Security Council to meet shortly after Ben-Gvir's controversial visit, according to diplomats. The Temple...

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has signed a deal to give an Israeli government post to an openly homophobic ultra-nationalist party leader. It is the latest development set to give far-right parties unprecedented power within Israel's ruling coalition. Avi Maoz will be a deputy minister and run a "Jewish identity" authority. He heads Noam, a religious-nationalist, anti-Arab and anti-LGBTQ party that argues for a strict interpretation of Jewish religious laws in Israel. The agreement has added to a growing sense of alarm over the composition of Mr Netanyahu's likely government. Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid has described it as "full-on crazy",...

The Azerbaijani parliament on Friday announced its historic decision to open an embassy in Israel. The embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, and will be the first embassy in Israel of a country with a Shi’ite majority and a Shi’ite government. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: "I welcome the decision by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to open an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between our countries."...