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Archive for April 10, 2019
FULL: Benjamin Netanyahu on Israeli Elections Night
April 10, 2019Trump congratulates Netanyahu; Bolton says peace plan coming very soon
April 10, 2019Goodwill wishes begin coming in from allies around the world.
BY HERB KEINON
APRIL 10, 2019 17:56
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose in the Rose Garden at the White House this week. (photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
US President Donald Trump, who gifted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights just two weeks before the elections, congratulated Netanyahu on his elections victory on Wednesday.
“I’d like to congratulate Bibi Netanyahu, it looks like that race has been won by him. It may be a little early, but it looks like he’s won it in good fashion,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump called Netanyahu a “great ally” and “a friend,” and characterized the campaign as “a well thought out race.”
Trump also said that Netanyahu’s re-election will improve the chances of peace in the region.
“The fact that Bibi won, I think we’ll see some pretty good action in terms of peace.” he said. “Everybody said, and I never made it a promise, ‘you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians.’ But I think we have a chance, and I think now we have a better chance with Bibi having won.”
US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday that the US administration will roll out its long-awaited peace plan in the “very near future.”
Trump was among a number of international leaders who sent congratulatory messages to Netanyahu, primarily from some of his closest allies.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who himself is in the midst of an election campaign – with voting there to start on Thursday – tweeted: “My dear friend Bibi, Congratulations! You are a great friend of India, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to take our bilateral partnership to new heights.”
Modi, with whom Netanyahu has forged a close relationship, then tweeted the same message in Hebrew.
Another leader with whom Netanyahu has developed a close relationship, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, was the first leader to tweet his goodwill wishes: “Congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu for an excellent showing in yesterday’s national elections. While the official results have yet not been published, one matter is clear: you have – once again – gained the trust of the people of Israel in record numbers.”
Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who met Netanyahu in December, also took to social media to congratulate the prime minister, writing on twitter: “Good job to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and a hug to the people of Israel.”
A less enthusiastic response came from Berlin, where Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin will “work closely, cordially and faithfully with the new Israeli government.” He added that Germany was waiting for the final results of the election.
Israel, he said, “lies in a region with enormous challenges, which is why it’s important to form a government quickly.”
Off Topic: Netanyahu’s peerless political instincts bring him fifth term – Irish Times
April 10, 2019Source: Netanyahu’s peerless political instincts bring him fifth term
Israel PM’s re-election shows he knows exactly which buttons to press – and when
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely at his Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv on election night in the early hours of Wednesday. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images
King Bibi has done it again. Trailing in the polls to the centrist Blue and White throughout the campaign, Binyamin Netanyahu managed to siphon enough votes from Israel’s smaller right-wing parties in the days before Tuesday’s election to draw level, winning 35 seats for his Likud party in the 120-seat Knesset – exactly the same as Benny Gantz’s Blue and White.
More significantly, Netanyahu’s natural right-wing/religious bloc enjoys a hefty 10-seat lead over all the other parties combined, meaning that in July he is set to surpass Israel’s founding father statesman, David Ben-Gurion, as the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
“This is a night of tremendous victory,” he told the party faithful at the Likud’s election night gathering in Tel Aviv, after it became clear that some of the TV exit polls indicating a much closer outcome were incorrect.
“He’s a magician,” the Likud faithful sang, idolising their seemingly invincible leader.
They weren’t wrong – a political magician, at least. Netanyahu is the pre-eminent Israeli politician of the modern era, who knows exactly which buttons to press, and when, in order to keep winning elections.
Even some of his closest associates had warned Netanyahu that a full-throttle attack on the Likud’s potential coalition parties in the closing days of the campaign could backfire and endanger the bloc. But they were wrong.
The Likud emerged with more seats and a comfortable majority for the bloc.
Love him or loath him, no one can deny that Netanyahu has also established himself as a major player on the world stage, forging close ties with right-wing leaders in European states and Brazil, as well as maintaining a close personal friendship with Vladimir Putin.
He has also managed to break Israel’s diplomatic isolation in Africa and improve ties with key Sunni Arab states who share Israel’s concern over Iranian regional ambitions.
His relationship with US president Donald Trump is, of course, the most significant, and has already resulted in a diplomatic windfall for Israel that leaves even Netanyahu’s bitterest opponents in awe.
The Trump administration has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear pact, moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation on the day before Israelis went to the polls.
Quite an impressive list, considering that Trump hasn’t asked for anything in return – at least for now.
Off Topic: Foreign investments in Israel jumped 30% from 2015 to 2017
April 10, 2019Source: Foreign investments in Israel jumped 30% from 2015 to 2017 – www.israelhayom.com
2017 saw investment by foreign residents and companies in Israeli ventures totaling $129.1 billion, more than 20% more than in 2016 and a 30% increase compared to 2015 • The U.S. was the leading foreign investor, followed by the Netherlands.
Intel is a major investor in Israel’s high-tech sector | Photo: Noam Revkin-Fenton
Foreign investment in Israel jumped 30% in two years, according to a new report from the Central Bureau of Statistics, released Sunday.
The report states that foreign investments in Israel totaled $129.1 billion for 2017, a 20.2% increase compared to 2016 and 30% higher than 2015, which saw foreign investment of under $100 billion.
The CBS figures covered investments by foreign residents or companies who bought more than a 10% stock share in Israeli companies.
In 2017, 60.4% of foreign investment went to the fields of trade and services. The remaining investment was divided between high-tech (32.6%); industry (28.3%); and advanced technologies (15.8%).
The greatest amount of investment by foreign residents came from the U.S. ($21.1 billion), followed by the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands, Canada, China, Luxembourg, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Israelis abroad were also investing more outside of Israel. In 2017, Israelis abroad put $100.3 billion into foreign ventures, more than 65% of which went into industry. Other prominent investment targets included companies in the oil, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors. The lion’s share of investment from Israelis abroad went to Europe, which received over 63% of the investments.
Netanyahu’s Iran policy welcomed by Arabs, veteran Lebanese journalist says
April 10, 2019Source: Netanyahu’s Iran policy welcomed by Arabs, veteran Lebanese journalist says – www.israelhayom.com
“The problem I have with Israel as a state is no different from the problem between Mexico and the Americans,” Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich says.
Veteran Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich (Screenshot) | Photo: YouTube
Koteich said Iran is playing a destructive role in Lebanon and in the region. He added that Beirut and Lebanon are his top priorities and that for him, Beirut is more important than Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
“Under no circumstances am I willing to pay the price for the Golan Heights,” he said.
I’m not American, so I do not focus on Trump’s domestic policies. Is he anti-women? Is he anti-homosexuals? From a general moral perspective, I support [former U.S. President Barack] Obama, but as far as my interests are concerned, I support Trump regardless of his domestic policies. The same is true for Israel,” he said.
“I’m not Israeli, and I don’t care about their domestic policies. So if Netanyahu’s economic policies – and by the way, I’m not Palestinian, either – if Netanyahu’s policy towards the Palestinians is oppressive, which it is, it is only my second or third priority. My No. 1 priority is what Netanyahu is doing vis-à-vis Iran. I consider Iran to be playing a destructive role in the region, included in Lebanon. Netanyahu’s [anti-Iranian] policy is welcomed warmly by the Arabs, despite the other differences they have with him. It’s no longer black and white.”
As a Lebanese citizen, Koteich said that “under no circumstances am I willing to pay the prices for the Golan Heights. … Jerusalem is not more important than Beirut. The Golan is not more important than Beirut.”
He said, “The problem I have with Israel as a state is no different from the problem between Mexico and the Americans.
Asked in response if Mexican planes enter American airspace on daily basis, Koteich replied, “That’s another issue. That has to do with the Israeli-Iranian conflict, and it has nothing to do with Lebanon.”
German police raid Islamic organizations over suspected Hamas support
April 10, 2019Source: German police raid Islamic organizations over suspected Hamas support – www.israelhayom.com
German interior ministry says the main targets of the raids were WorldWide Resistance-Help and Ansaar International, which are believed to have collected funds for Hamas “under the guise of humanitarian aid.”
Hamas terrorists partake in a military drill in the southern Gaza Strip, March 25 | Photo: Reuters
German police on Wednesday raided offices belonging to Islamic organizations suspected of financing the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which is on the European Union’s terrorism blacklist.
The German interior ministry said the main targets of the raids were WorldWide Resistance-Help and Ansaar International, which are believed to have collected funds for Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, under the guise of humanitarian aid.
The organizations say on their websites that they collect donations for people in Gaza, Somalia, Syria and other countries.
“Whoever supports Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid disregards fundamental values of our constitution and discredits the commitment of many aid organizations,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a statement.
The ministry said the two organizations also supported Hamas through propaganda campaigns.
Trump: Netanyahu win a ‘good sign for peace’
April 10, 2019Source: Trump: Netanyahu win a ‘good sign for peace’ – www.israelhayom.com
U.S. president, who is considered a close friend of the Israeli leader, makes congratulatory statement while speaking to reporters. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tells local NTV news that with election over, Israel must “abandon its aggressive stance.”
President Trump | Photo: AP
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s winning re-election was “a good sign for peace.”
“Everybody said you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians… I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won,” Trump said.
Trump made the remarks to reporters at the White House hours after Netanyahu secured a fifth term in office, which will likely make him the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton said the administration’s peace plan was likely to be released soon. “I think we’re going to see that coming out in the very near future,” Bolton said on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s Likud party got a projected 35 seats, up from 30 in the current Knesset.
Initial exit polls initially predicted a tight race on Tuesday night, showing that the Blue and White center-left bloc would get more seats than Likud, but as the votes came in it became apparent that Likud and its allies had secured a majority in the Knesset.
An almost complete tally has both Likud and Blue and White tied at 35.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Israel to abandon strong “rhetoric and populism” now that the elections were over.
Cavusoglu’s comments were in an apparent reference to Netanyahu’s recent pledge to annex Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria if he won the election.
The minister told Turkey’s NTV news channel on Wednesday that Israel “must put aside the populism and the rhetoric, it must abandon its aggressive stance.”
Cavusoglu also called on the United States to be an “honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying a U.S. peace plan for the region must be fair and objective toward Palestinians.
Also Wednesday, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the outcome of Israel’s election raised Palestinian fears about an Israeli annexation of parts of Judea and Samaria.
Abbas aide Ahmed Majdalani says that Palestinians would seek the help of the international community to try to block any annexation plans. He said that the outcome of the election means a boost for what he called the “extreme right-wing camp” in Israeli politics.
Gantz can’t deliver on his promise to be next prime minister. Netanyahu leads majority bloc – DEBKAfile
April 10, 2019
“I will be everyone’s prime minister,” Blue-White leader Benny Gantz promised in his victory speech after bypassing Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud with 37 seats to 36 or 33, variously predicted by two TV channels’ exit polls. Gantz and his cheering followers were premature. A 20pc count of votes just after midnight gave Likud 34 seats to Blue-White’s 30, while the 97pc count early Wednesday registered a tie of 35 between them.
Although Likud and Blue-White could if they joined forces command a comfortable majority in the 120-member Knesset – this would be a landmark event in Israel’s political history – the reality for now is that the right-of-center bloc controlled by Netanyahu can muster 8-10 seats more than the left-of-center parties willing and able to support Gantz’s bid for the premiership.
Blue-White’s four-man leadership, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya’alon and Gaby Ashkenazi, pulled off an amazing feat by creating a brand-new political party in three months and campaigning successfully enough to win more than a million votes. At the same time, the opponent they swore to destroy came to the campaign limping badly under the burden of three threatened corruption indictments hanging over his head. Yet, Binyamin Netanyahu, in an exceptional display of political flair, actually enhanced Likud’s rating from 27 well past the 30-mark – and multiplying as real returns are counted. His victory speech following that of Gantz was greeted with hysterical applause – especially when he congratulated the new Likud MKs.
Benny Gantz, to beat him for the premiership, would have to poach heavily in the right- of-center camp to eke out a majority coalition. He would need to steal such Netanyahu loyalists as former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and at least one ultra-religious party. However, Blue-White failed in its campaign effort to win over the “soft right” which stuck with Likud in the end and drew most of its support by virtually cannibalizing the veteran Labor party, which came out of the election reduced by half.
Netanyahu, for his part, has no time to lose before building a stable coalition government out of right-wing and religious parties – no easy task, while preparing to defend himself in a hearing before the attorney general set for July, in the hope of extricating himself from the cases pending against him. Three religious parties announced on Tuesday night that they were wholeheartedly behind him; Kahlon and Lieberman, who hopes to recover the defense portfolio will also stand by Netanyahu when he establishes his fifth coalition government.
Pompeo, in testimony to Senate, refuses to back two-state solution
April 10, 2019Source: Pompeo, in testimony to Senate, refuses to back two-state solution | The Times of Israel
After Netanyahu pledges to extend Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements, secretary says that ‘ultimately the Israelis and Palestinians will decide how to resolve this’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on April 9, 2019 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday refused to reaffirm American support for a Palestinian state after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to extend Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.
Testifying before a Senate subcommittee just as Israel wrapped up tight elections, Pompeo declined to respond when Democrats asked him to back a two-state solution.
“Ultimately, the Israelis and Palestinians will decide how to resolve this,” Pompeo replied.
Pompeo said that US President Donald Trump’s aides Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt would soon lay out a proposal “to resolve a problem that’s been going on for decades and decades that previous administrations couldn’t solve.”
“We’re hopeful that we have some ideas that are different, unique, which will allow the Israelis and the Palestinian people to come to a resolution of the conflict,” Pompeo said.
Days before the Israeli election, Netanyahu broke precedent by saying that he planned to extend Israeli sovereignty over at least parts of the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises in a Channel 12 TV interview to extend Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements, April 6, 2019 (Channel 12 news screenshot)
Exit poll results showed Netanyahu with a likely straightforward path to cobbling together a government and staying in power for a record fifth term. The constellation of parties will likely include the far-right Union of Right-Wing Parties, which has advocated for an extension of sovereignty.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, told Pompeo that such a unilateral Israeli move would indicate “no agreement” with the Palestinians.
“It sounds like you’ve already abandoned what has been a bipartisan foreign policy of opposing the annexation of any or all of the West Bank by Israel,” he said.
Houses under construction are seen in the West Bank settlement of Amichai on September 7, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX)
Trump has strongly supported Netanyahu and taken a series of major actions long sought by Israel, including recognizing Jerusalem as capital of the Jewish state.
Gantz criticized Netanyahu’s pledge, calling it “irresponsible” and questioning why a prime minister who has served for 13 years was making such a historic decision on the eve of an election.
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