Israeli police say they have arrested an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man for demanding women move to the back of a bus, sparking protests that saw bus windows smashed. …read more
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Tag Archives: Orthodox Jewish
Support grows for liberal area at Israel holy site
The rabbi of Judaism’s holiest prayer site on Wednesday endorsed a proposal to establish a section where men and women can worship together, a groundbreaking motion that could end a decades-old fight against an Orthodox monopoly of the area.
The fight over the Western Wall has reached a fever pitch in recent months, after police arrested female worshippers who prayed at the site wearing religious garments and leading prayers — acts that Orthodox Judaism permits for men only.
The arrests caused an uproar in Israel and among liberal Jewish leaders in the United States, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to instruct the semi-governmental Jewish Agency to devise a plan that would permit non-Orthodox forms of worship at the holy site.
The Western Wall‘s rabbi, Shmuel Rabinovich, told Army Radio Wednesday that while he dislikes non-Orthodox prayer, he would tolerate it in a separate section in order to end intra-Jewish fighting at the site.
“I want everyone to pray according to Orthodox Jewish religious law, but I don’t interfere,” said Rabinovich, who is Orthodox. “If these things can be done at the Western Wall without hurting others, and this can bring about compromise and serenity, I don’t object.”
The Western Wall is Judaism’s most revered prayer site because it is a remnant of the biblical Jewish temple compound. Worship at the site is administered according to Orthodox Jewish religious custom: the men’s section and smaller women’s section are separated by a divider, and women are not allowed to lead prayer groups or wear prayer shawls, skullcaps or phylacteries — small boxes strapped to the head and arms during prayer.
The pluralistic Reform and Conservative movements, which allow mixed prayer and female rabbis, have long campaigned for recognition in Israel. The two groups however are largely marginalized in the Jewish state despite being popular overseas, especially in the United States. The emerging plan could represent a significant accomplishment by these liberal streams of Judaism.
Under the plan, unveiled by the Jewish Agency announced on Tuesday, Israel would create a permanent area for mixed-gender and women-led prayer next to a section of the Western Wall that mainly serves as an archaeological site. Currently, liberal Jewish worship is permitted in the area only during limited hours. Under the proposed plan, a platform would be erected to expand the area and allow liberal prayer there 24 hours a day, like the Orthodox section of the site.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Infant Contracts Herpes Through Orthodox Jewish Circumcision Ritual, NYC Health Officials Say
By The Huffington Post News Editors
A New York City infant contracted herpes last month as a result of an Orthodox Jewish procedure known as metzitzah b’peh (MBP) that involves orally sucking the blood off a newborn’s penis after circumcision, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
The news, which came in an April 3 email alert from the New York City Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease Control, marks the 13th such case in New York City since 2000. Two of those infants died (including one last year), and two others have suffered brain damage as a result, according to a department alert from January.
The infant, whose parents were not named, came down with a fever a week after being circumcised and developed vesicular lesions the next day, the email stated. The city did not disclose in which hospital the infant was born.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
The Ultimate Aim Of The Gay “marriage” Plot
The gay marriage plot is not hard to see. It goes as follows: First, legalize gay “marriage.” Next, use tax law to force churches to commit to gay “marriages” with an either/or choice. Finally, close those that refuse to commit to gay “marriages.”
The forced choice will be: gay “marriage,” or lose tax exempt status.
The real target of all of this is the Catholic Church. For all of her faults, the Catholic Church has steadfastly refused to change her position against same-gender marriage. The elevation of Pope Francis has done nothing to make anyone think this position will be changed.
The Left knows that a Supreme Court victory will never give gays what they really want, which is a totally unfettered lifestyle and “freedom” to live not only as they wish, but to be accepted as equals in everyday life. With the Catholic Church standing in the way, that is a door gays will never be able to open.
Defeating a Church as strongly opposed to gay “marriage” as the Catholic Church is her gay enemy’s goal. Nevertheless, those who believe the approximately 28 million Catholics – actual Catholics who actually attend Mass each week – will roll over and accept gay “marriage” in their churches are terribly wrong.
The media can poll people who once walked past St. Patrick’s Cathedral and count them as Catholics to show “Catholics” voted for Barack Obama and love gay “marriage”; but real Catholics know the truth.
The plan will be carried out in an insidious and low-keyed manner. A pastor of a small unaffiliated white Protestant church will have a gay couple ask him to marry them, knowing he will say no. Since the pastor is unaffiliated with a larger structure, he will be faced with a lawsuit putting him in an “either/or” trap: Commit gay “marriages,” violate Scripture, and stay open; or refuse and be taxed out of existence. At first, many will resist; but eventually, some, then more and more, will be forced to cave in.
When the first legal case is won by gay “marriage” supporters, a legal precedent will be established. Larger churches such as Evangelical Assembly’s will be next – mosques and Orthodox Jewish synagogues will NOT be approached as it would not be worth the distraction.
Eventually, a prominent gay Catholic will demand to “marry” a gay partner in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. When that day comes, the gay enemies of Catholicism will see their long-held dream of putting the Catholic Church in an “either/or” trap become reality.
Photo credit: Dave Schumaker (Creative Commons)
Suspect in fatal NYC crash that killed couple gets manslaughter charges
A motorist already accused in a horrific hit-and-run traffic accident that killed a pregnant ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman and her husband in Brooklyn was charged Tuesday with three counts of second-degree manslaughter, including one for the death of the couple’s premature child.
Julio Acevedo also was indicted on three new counts of criminally negligent homicide to go along with a lesser charge, announced earlier this month, of leaving the scene of an accident. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.
“While we knew it was a snowy evening and the defendant was speeding, our investigation has developed additional information concerning the nature of Mr. Acevedo’s conduct leading up to the fatal crash,” Brooklyn District Attorney Hynes said in statement.
Hynes cited evidence that Acevedo was traveling nearly 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour — more than twice the legal speed limit — on March 3 when he crashed into a hired car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, who were on their way to a hospital. Police had previously put his speed at about 60 mph (97 kph).
In addition, firefighter and civilian witnesses described Acevedo driving a borrowed BMW recklessly and accelerating as he passed their vehicles and rounded a curve moments before impact, prosecutors said.
Good Samaritans who stopped to help the crash victims told investigators that Acevedo assured them he wasn’t hurt. Prosecutors allege that he slipped away on foot, fully aware of the carnage.
The Glaubers, both 21, died that day. Their son, delivered by cesarean section, died a day later.
The deaths left the couple’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn grief stricken and touched off an intense manhunt for the 44-year-old suspect, who served time in the 1990s for a shooting conviction. He surrendered after five days on the run.
Defense attorney Kathleen Julian said Tuesday that her client would continue to fight the charges.
“The case should be decided on the facts and not on public outcry,” the lawyer said.
Acevedo’s family has described him as a dedicated family man who quit his job to become a stay-at-home father. His mother told the Daily News he’s “not the monster they’re portraying him to be.”
Acevedo is being held without bail.
Spokesman: Deal signed for new Israeli government
A spokesman for a major Israeli party says a deal has been signed to form the next government.
Yesh Atid spokesman Harry Cohen says the three main coalition partners signed the deal Friday. The agreement comes after weeks of deadlock.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s bloc has now joined with the centrist Yesh Atid and the pro-settler Jewish Home parties. Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads a small party, joined last month.
Talks were stuck for weeks over the division of Cabinet portfolios and reforms in the military draft law.
The new coalition is the first in a decade to exclude ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties. It includes two new rising stars who have vowed to end a system of draft exemptions and welfare subsidies granted to thousands of ultra-Orthodox students.
Officials: Israeli government deal to be signed
A parliamentary official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sign a formal deal Friday with two leading parties to form a new coalition government.
Noga Katz, a spokeswoman for Netanyahu’s Likud-Yisrael Beitenu faction, says leaders of the Yesh Atid and Jewish Home parties have given up last-minute demands to be named deputy prime ministers. Those last-minute demands delayed the deal from being formalized.
An official with the Yesh Atid party, Netanyahu’s leading partner, said that the matter was resolved, and new coalition partners would sign a coalition agreement Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been formalized.
The new government is expected to curb preferential treatment for Israel‘s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority and may push for renewed Mideast peace efforts.
Israel's ultra-Orthodox suddenly are outsiders
As Israel‘s new government takes shape, the country’s powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish political parties seem poised to find themselves in unfamiliar territory — the parliamentary opposition — instead of their traditional seats around the Cabinet table.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s two new potential partners pledge to end a system in which the ultra-Orthodox have used political clout to win generous government subsidies, evade compulsory military service and attempt to impose their conservative social mores.
Nothing is certain yet. Netanyahu is still negotiating, and he has not yet signed coalition agreements with the two main parties — the centrist Yesh Atid and hawkish Jewish Home.
If his new government excludes the ultra-Orthodox parties, it could reshape the face of Israel, which has experienced growing strife in recent years between the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community and the general public.
Ultra-Orthodox party leaders are vowing to put up a fight.
“This is a passing trend,” Meshulam Nahari, an outgoing Cabinet minister from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, told The Associated Press. “People understand the value of studying the Torah and we will not be abandoned. Those who will cut funding have no right to be a part of the Jewish state.”
The ultra-Orthodox make up about 10 percent of Israel‘s 8 million citizens. Because of Israel‘s coalition government system, they have traditionally wielded influence well beyond their numbers by ensuring a parliamentary majority for a string of prime ministers.
In recent decades, ultra-Orthodox parties have used this kingmaker status to secure vast budgets for their religious schools and seminaries that teach students about Judaism but very little math, English or science. Tens of thousands of young ultra-Orthodox males are granted exemptions from military service in order to pursue their religious studies, and older men collect welfare stipends while continuing to study full time.
The system has led to high rates of unemployment and poverty in the ultra-Orthodox community. It also has bred widespread resentment among the secular and modern Orthodox publics, and it became the central issue in January parliamentary elections.
Yesh Atid and the modern Orthodox Jewish Home surged in popularity by promising to change the system and “ease the burden” on middle class Israelis who serve in the military, work and pay taxes. Yesh Atid won 19 seats, making it the second-largest …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Suspect in New York hit-and-run that left couple, baby dead to return from Pennsylvania
A man arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with a gruesome car crash that killed a pregnant woman and her husband on their way to a hospital waived extradition Thursday and will be taken back to New York.
Julio Acevedo, 44, surrendered to police in the parking lot of a Bethlehem convenience store on Wednesday and was later ordered held without bail overnight in Lehigh County Prison on a charge of being a fugitive.
Police in New York say Acevedo is wanted on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident. He is accused of speeding down a Brooklyn street at 60 mph early Sunday and crashing into a car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, who died Sunday. Their premature son, delivered by cesarean section, died Monday.
Acevedo told Judge Kelly Banach he had finished the 11th grade, was unemployed and that he lives in Brooklyn with his mother. He wore an orange jump suit and was shackled at the ankles and wrists.
His surrender Wednesday evening was brokered by a friend who had been in touch with police earlier in the day. The friend met officers at New York‘s Grand Central Terminal and then led them to Acevedo in Bethlehem, about 80 miles away, police said. The friend had told police that Acevedo would surrender after consulting an attorney, but none was with him when he turned himself in, police said.
Acevedo told the Daily News that he was fleeing a gunman who was trying to shoot at him when his borrowed BMW slammed into a hired car carrying the couple. He told the newspaper he fled because he was worried he’d be killed. But police said there were no reports of shots fired in the area at the time of the wreck.
The couple belonged to a close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, which is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. The couple’s son was buried Monday near his parents’ graves, according to a spokesman for the community. About a thousand community members turned out for the young couple’s funeral a day earlier.
Suspect arrested in New York City crash that killed expectant parents, baby
A man wanted for a hit-and-run crash in New York City that killed a pregnant woman and her husband was arrested Wednesday, authorities said.
New York City police said they arrested the suspected driver Julio Acevedo at a mini-mart in Bethlehem, Pa.
Acevedo allegedly was speeding down a Brooklyn street in a BMW at 60 mph early Sunday when he collided with a car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday, and their premature son died Monday.
It was not immediatedly known if the 44-year-old Acevedo had a lawyer.
Acevedo was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and that case is pending. He served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter.
No one answered the door at Acevedo’s last known address, in a public housing complex in Brooklyn. Neighbors said his mother lived in the same building, but she did not answer her door.
The Glauber’s close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn was in mourning, only worsened following the baby’s death. He weighed only about 4 pounds when he was delivered, neighbors and friends said. He died of extreme prematurity, according to the city medical examiner’s office.
The infant was buried Monday near the fresh graves of his parents, according to Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Hasidic Jewish community. About a thousand community members turned out for the young couple’s funeral a day earlier.
“The mood in the neighborhood is very heavy,” said Oscar Sabel, a retired printer who lives near the scene of the accident. “We all hoped the baby would survive.”
Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. The couple wed last year in a marriage arranged through a matchmaker and were living in the Williamsburg neighborhood.
They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose men dress in dark coats and hats, wear long beards like their Eastern European ancestors and have limited dealings with the outside world. Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent rabbinical family. Her husband was studying at a rabbinical college; his family founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews.
Sabel, dressed in the traditional long black coat of the Satmar, said it was a terrible tragedy.
“But it’s what God wants,” he said. “Maybe the baby’s death, and his parents’, is not for nothing; God doesn’t have to give us answers.”
Shortly after midnight Sunday, Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, wasn’t feeling well, so the couple decided to go to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber‘s cousin. They called a livery cab, a hired car that is arranged via telephone, not hailed off the street like a yellow cab.
The livery cab had a stop sign, but it’s not clear if the driver stopped. Police said the crash with the BMW reduced the cab to a crumpled heap, and Raizy Glauber was thrown from the wreck. The engine ended up in the back seat, Abraham said.
Police said the driver of the BMW ran away.
“We in the community are demanding that the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Suspect in NYC hit-and-run crash that killed family reportedly plans to surrender
Police worked through the night searching for a man suspected of driving the car that killed a pregnant woman, her husband and ultimately their child in a wreckage-strewn crash as a $15,000 reward was offered for information.
Police on Tuesday said they’d had no contact with Julio Acevedo, 44, and early Wednesday he’d still not turned himself in although a friend said he planned to surrender.
“We are still looking to apprehend him,” police spokesman Paul Browne said. “We have no information that he is going to surrender.”
Acevedo told the Daily News of New York Tuesday that he was speeding away from a gunman who was trying to shoot at him early Sunday when the accident with a hired car happened in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
The car was carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday and their premature son died on Monday.
Members of the couple’s Hasidic Jewish community have offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to Acevedo’s capture and called for murder charges to be filed.
Acevedo told the Daily News that he fled the scene because he was worried he’d be killed and didn’t know the couple had died until he saw it in newspapers.
“My heart goes out to them,” Acevedo told the newspaper Tuesday in a phone call arranged by a friend, Derrick Hamilton. “I didn’t know they died until I saw the news.”
Hamilton said Acevedo was running for his life after the crash, and called it a terrible accident. He told The Associated Press that Acevedo was meeting with a lawyer and that they were going to arrange for Acevedo to turn himself in.
Police said Acevedo was in a BMW going at least 60 mph when he crashed. The hired car had a stop sign; it’s not clear if the driver stopped.
Acevedo was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and the case is pending. He was stopped by police after they said he was driving erratically around 3 a.m. Feb. 17. He had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the limit of .08, police said.
Acevedo served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter after he was convicted of shooting Kelvin Martin, a Brooklyn criminal whose moniker “50 Cent” was the inspiration for rapper Curtis Jackson‘s current stage name. Neighbors said his mother lived in the same building, but she did not answer her door.
Shortly after midnight Sunday, Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, wasn’t feeling well, so the couple decided to go to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber‘s cousin. They called a livery cab, a hired car that is arranged via telephone, not hailed off the street like a yellow cab.
The crash with the BMW reduced the cab to a crumpled heap, and Raizy Glauber was thrown from the wreck. The engine ended up in the back seat. The driver of the livery cab was knocked unconscious but was not seriously hurt.
The couple belonged to a close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, which …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
New York police seek driver in hit-and-run crash that killed expectant parents, seriously injured newborn
New York police say they are searching for the driver and a passenger in a BMW who fled the scene after slamming into a cab carrying a expectant couple.
Doctors were able to save Nachman and Raizy Glauber‘s newborn baby boy through a cesarean section but the couple, both 21, died at the hospital.
The driver of a BMW slammed into the livery cab carrying the Glaubers in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Sunday as they headed to a hospital, said Isaac Abraham, a neighbor of Raizy Glauber‘s parents who lives two blocks from the scene of the crash.
The engine of the livery car ended up in the backseat, where Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, was sitting before she was ejected, Abraham said. Her body landed under a parked tractor-trailer, said witnesses who came to the scene after the crash. Nachman Glauber was pinned in the car, and emergency workers had to cut off the roof to get him out, witnesses said.
Both parents died of blunt-force trauma, the medical examiner said. Their son was in serious condition, Abraham said. Neighbors and friends said the boy weighed only about 4 pounds. The Glaubers’ livery cab driver was treated for minor injuries at the hospital and was later released.
Both the driver of the BMW and a passenger fled and were being sought, police said.
On Saturday, Raizy Glauber “was not feeling well, so they decided to go” to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber‘s cousin. Abraham said the Glaubers called a car service because they didn’t own a car, which is common for New Yorkers.
The Glaubers were married about a year ago and had begun a life together in Williamsburg, where Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbinical family, Sara Glauber said.
“She was so excited and so very, very happy to be pregnant – and so was the entire family,” Carol Silverstein, the aunt of one of the victims told MyFoxNY.com.
Raised north of New York City and part of a family that founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews, Nachman Glauber was studying at a rabbinical college nearby, said his cousin.
Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. The community has strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world. Men wear dark clothing that includes a long coat and a fedora-type hat and often have long beards and ear locks.
Jewish law calls for burial of the dead as soon as possible, and hours after their deaths, the Glaubers were mourned by at least 1,000 people at a funeral outside the Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar synagogue. Men in black hats gathered around the coffins in the middle of the street, while women in bright headscarves stood on the sidewalk, in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish tradition of separating the sexes at religious services.
The sound of wailing filled the air as two coffins covered in black velvet with a silver trim were carried from a vehicle. A succession …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Netanyahu Gets Coalition Extension, Has 2 More Weeks To Form Government In Israel
By The Huffington Post News Editors
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday granted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another two weeks to form a governing coalition, after Netanyahu failed to build a broad coalition including ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
In a televised address, Netanyahu told Peres that he has yet to build a coalition because some parties wish to “boycott” an entire Israeli demographic. It was a reference to the nationalist Jewish Home and centrist Yesh Atid parties, which have refused to join his coalition if it includes the ultra-Orthodox.
If Netanyahu fails to reach a government in two weeks, political newcomer Yair Lapid who heads Yesh Atid, Israel‘s second largest party, could be offered the chance to form the coalition, or new elections could be held.
Orthodox rabbi seeks Israeli religious revolution
When Rabbi David Stav launched his official campaign last month to wrest control of Israel‘s top religious institution from its longtime hardline leadership, it was a long shot.
But just two weeks later, Israelis went to the polls and surprisingly shifted the country toward the center of the political spectrum — creating a rare window of opportunity for the modern Orthodox rabbi to capture the title of chief rabbi and fulfill his pledge to revolutionize the contentious role that religion plays in the Jewish state.
Stav, a 53-year-old father of nine, heads a private network of modern Orthodox rabbis that is virtually an alternative organization to Israel‘s state-sanctioned rabbinical bureaucracy. It seeks to put a friendly face on Jewish traditions for secular Israeli Jews alienated by the ultra-Orthodox functionaries that regulate religious services. The organization, called Tzohar, has gained popularity among secular Israelis with its program that sends rabbis free of charge to officiate at weddings.
Now Stav is waging a highly visible public campaign to change Israel‘s rabbinate from the inside. He is being featured frequently in media interviews, is running a Facebook campaign, and appears in large color newspaper ads placed by a group of secular Israelis.
“It’s not about public relations and niceness,” Stav said in an interview. “There is a critical problem — it’s not cosmetic — in the rabbinic system. It needs dramatic changes.”
Stav cautiously acknowledges that the stars now seem to be aligned for his hoped-for coup.
Every 10 years, two rabbis — one representing Ashkenazi, or European-descended Jews, the other of Sephardic, or Middle Eastern lineage — are appointed to co-lead the Chief Rabbinate.
It’s the country’s supreme body overseeing civil services for Jews from cradle to grave — circumcision, marriage, divorce and burial. The current ultra-Orthodox Sephardic chief rabbi will likely be allowed to stay on, but the current Ashkenazi rabbi, Yona Metzger, is vacating his post in the coming months.
For the last two decades, ultra-Orthodox Jewish political parties have wielded outsized influence in governing coalitions, and in turn held sway over the panel of 150 rabbis and politicians that appoints the new chief rabbis.
That balance of power, however, may soon tip in Rabbi Stav‘s favor.
Israel's Netanyahu hits snags in building team
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to take office for a third time, his attempts to form a new coalition government have gotten off to a rocky start.
Netanyahu is vowing to form a broad-based government to tackle the country’s challenges in the coming years, but that won’t be easy. Given the dizzying array of potential coalition partners and their deep differences on key issues, Netanyahu will be hard pressed to build a stable government, much less make significant progress on such divisive matters as drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students into the military and pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
“There are very serious disputes that will be very hard to resolve,” Reuven Rivlin, a senior member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, told Israel Radio on Tuesday.
Netanyahu got the nod to form a new government Saturday night, following a Jan. 22 election. He has six weeks to put a team together. The gloves typically come off early in the negotiations but eventually end up with a coalition.
The sniping has already begun.
Newcomer Yair Lapid, whose party came out of nowhere to become the second largest in the parliament, is thought to be an important partner for Netanyahu.
But Lapid was quoted this week by Israeli media as saying that he is ready to become the parliamentary opposition leader and could force new elections that would make him the prime minister within 18 months. Netanyahu’s allies have seized on the reported comments to depict Lapid as arrogant and intransigent.
Netanyahu’s close ally, Avigdor Lieberman, said Tuesday that he was shocked to hear that a political rookie already has his eyes set on the prime minister’s job. “That is a new phenomenon,” he told Israel Radio. “I only hope that this is temporary, and we can return to negotiations about real issues.”
Rivlin, a veteran of decades of backstage political maneuvering, explained why the sometimes ugly negotiations have to work out in the end with the formation of a government — because failure means another election. That has never happened in Israel.
“Never before has Israel needed to have such a wide government, because every problem or dispute could spark the need for new elections,” he said. “I don’t think any of the 120 members, especially the 50 newly elected ones, would want to go to elections again in a few months.”
Netanyahu’s Likud-Yisrael Beitenu bloc won the most seats in last month’s parliamentary election. But with just 31 seats, Netanyahu needs to bring in multiple coalition partners to secure a majority of at least 61.
He can pursue two main choices — either form a narrow coalition with the hard-line and religious parties that have traditionally backed him, or try to build a broader, more moderate coalition.
Each choice has risks.
Netanyahu’s traditional allies hold a total of 61 seats, so this option is mathematically possible. But a narrow coalition would be unpopular with the public following an election in which secular, centrist candidates did surprisingly well.
With the government required to pass a budget in the coming months after posting a larger-than-expected deficit last year, a narrow coalition would leave Netanyahu vulnerable to political extortion by partners threatening to bring down his government.
For now, Netanyahu is pledging to court more centrist partners, believing a larger coalition will be more stable and better capable of addressing the nation’s needs.
“It is inconceivable that the most challenging country in the world should suffer from instability and weak governance,” Netanyahu told a welcoming ceremony for the new parliament on Tuesday. “We need stability to deal with the quality of living for the citizens of Israel, but also to guarantee something far more superior and important.”
In his comments, Netanyahu laid out an ambitious agenda: He vowed to reform the country’s compulsory military draft “in a way that will not tear this nation apart” and to find ways to reduce Israel‘s high cost of living.
He said Israel must face “new and mounting threats,” a reference to Iran‘s suspect nuclear program and the turmoil sweeping the region. Netanyahu also pledged to pursue a “secure, stable and realistic peace” with the Palestinians.
Despite Netanyahu‘s appeals for unity, any one of these issues could rip apart a future coalition. Ending the country’s contentious system of giving out draft exemptions to Jewish seminary students would alienate potential ultra-Orthodox partners. Failing to do so would drive away centrists like Lapid, who made the issue a centerpiece of his campaign.
Negotiations with the Palestinians are just as contentious.
Peace talks remained frozen during Netanyahu’s just-completed four-year term, and he is under heavy international pressure to get negotiations back on track. When President Barack Obama visits in the spring, he can be expected to increase the pressure on Israel to come forward with an initiative.
Restarting peace talks with the Palestinians will likely require new concessions by Netanyahu that would be opposed by his hard-line base of support. Netanyahu’s own party is dominated by lawmakers who reject concessions to the Palestinians. A likely partner, the pro-settler Jewish Home, even advocates annexation of large parts of the West Bank, the heartland of any future Palestinian state.
Yet Lapid, among others, has said he will not participate in a government that is not conducting serious peace negotiations.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Israeli election casts ex-TV anchor as kingmaker
Israel‘s election has put a suave former TV news anchor and political novice in the role of kingmaker, and he has signaled he would use his power to try to move hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s next government to more centrist positions on Mideast peacemaking.
Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid (There is a Future) emerged as the second-largest party in Israel‘s parliament after the prime minister’s bloc, giving the 49-year-old former journalist unexpectedly strong leverage in upcoming coalition negotiations. A nearly complete vote count early Wednesday showed a deadlock between Netanyahu’s hawkish bloc and the center-left camp.
Lapid told cheering supporters after Tuesday’s election that he wants a broad alliance of moderates, suggesting he would try to prod Netanyahu to abandon his traditional right-wing and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.
But that might be tough in Israel‘s cluttered political landscape of small parties with sharp ideological differences. Veteran political commentators were left scratching their heads when trying to come up with scenarios for a stable Netanyahu-led coalition.
With 99.8 percent of votes counted, according to media reports, Netanyahu’s Likud-Yisrael Beitenu electoral bloc won 31 seats in the 120-member parliament, remaining the largest party, but down from 42 in the 2009 election. Lapid’s party won 19 seats, followed by 15 for the centrist Labor, 11 for the ultra-Orthodox Shas and 11 for the pro-settler Jewish Home.
Israeli voters do not directly elect the prime minister — that depends instead on post-election negotiations in which the party leader who has the best chance of putting together a majority coalition in the newly-chosen parliament is given an opportunity to do so, offering both Cabinet posts and policy concessions to other blocs.
That person will have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If successful, he or she becomes prime minister. In the unlikely scenario that he or she is not successful, another party is chosen to try.
Although the blocs appear evenly split, Netanyahu would likely get the first shot at trying to form a coalition government, because the center-left bloc draws 12 of its parliamentary seats from Arab parties that traditionally neither have been asked nor sought to join coalitions.
With the blocs tied, Netanyahu will need Lapid in any constellation.
Lapid, in turn, called for “as broad a government as possible” that would include “moderate forces from the left and right,” but leaving unclear which partners he prefers.
Lapid is a member of Tel Aviv’s secular elite, the son of a former Cabinet minister and one of Israel‘s best-known faces, yet has portrayed himself as an average Israeli and champion of a middle class struggling to make ends meet.
During the campaign, he largely focused on domestic concerns, such as improving the education system, offering more affordable housing and ending blanket military draft exemptions and government stipends for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
He has said little about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling for a resumption of peace talks that were frozen during Netanyahu’s term, but also insisting Israel keep war-won east Jerusalem. Palestinians claim the eastern sector for a future capital, and would be unlikely to agree to an accord without shared sovereignty in the holy city.
Ofer Shelah, a leading member in Lapid’s party, said easing the burden on the middle class is a key demand, but that resuming talks with the Palestinians is also important. “We will insist on this with the same determination,” Shelah said.
Such demands could place Netanyahu in a difficult bind. The Israeli leader’s Likud, traditionally hawkish, became even more hard-line and pro-settlement after party primaries earlier this year and would likely balk at a government it deems too centrist.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he would only return to talks on the terms of a Palestinian state if Netanyahu freezes construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip.
Some 560,000 Israelis already live in areas they Palestinians want for their state, and Netanyahu has refused to halt construction. Instead, construction began on nearly 6,900 settlement apartments during his term, and thousands more housing units are in various stages of construction.
Lapid noted Wednesday that “we are facing a world that is liable to ostracize us because of the deadlock in the peace process,” but it was not clear if he would insist on a construction freeze as a condition for joining the coalition.
Instead, he could try to promote his domestic agenda, such as ending special privileges — notably draft exemptions — for the ultra-Orthodox. This could mean keeping ultra-Orthodox parties out of the coalition, but bringing in the pro-settler Jewish Home, which surged in Tuesday’s vote and draws much of its strength from the modern Orthodox community.
Jewish Home, led by former army commando and high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett, like Lapid seeks a more equitable military draft. Yet Jewish Home‘s call to annex 60 percent of the West Bank and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state appears to clash with Lapid’s position.
In a sign of Lapid’s new rock star status, TV stations opted for split screens when both he and Netanyahu began addressing their supporters at the same time in different locations early Wednesday. The stations switched back and forth, torn over whose words were more important, and only after a while settled on Netanyahu and his claim of victory.
Lapid’s new political leverage could produce a more moderate Israeli government, but it’s not clear if that would be enough to end the paralysis in Mideast peace efforts.
In an interview last week, Lapid told The Associated Press he would not be a fig leaf in an extremist government and would make firm demands for joining, including returning to peace talks.
“I think it is crucial that we take the path of being part of the Western, civilized world and the international community,” he said at the time.
Under Netanyahu, Israel has become more isolated internationally, and President Barack Obama has signaled increasing displeasure with the prime minister’s settlement policies.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Israel vote presents diplomatic, domestic choices
WHO IS RUNNING?
Polls indicate about a dozen of 32 parties competing in Tuesday’s election have a chance of winning seats in the 120-member parliament. Most parties fall either into the right-wing-religious or center-left camp, and surveys indicate hard-line and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties will command a majority.
The three largest parties, according to polls, will be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s hard-line Likud-Yisrael Beitenu alliance, the centrist Labor and the pro-settlement Jewish Home.
Others include the ultra-Orthodox Shas and two centrist parties, Hatnua and Yesh Atid. Hatnua is the only mainstream faction to make peace with the Palestinians a priority. Yesh Hatid champions middle class concerns but, like Labor, focuses largely on domestic issues.
— WHAT MIGHT ISRAEL’S NEXT GOVERNMENT LOOK LIKE?
If polls prove accurate, Netanyahu would be given the first shot to form a coalition government. He could team up with ideological allies on the right, court centrist parties or try to establish a broad coalition.
— WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The conflict with the Palestinians and their demand for a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in 1967 — was largely absent from the campaign.
Polls suggest a majority of Israelis support a partition of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River into two states, but doubt such a deal is possible for now, in part because the Islamic militant Hamas used Gaza, a territory from which Israel withdrew in 2005, as a staging ground for attacks.
Netanyahu said in 2009 that he is willing negotiate the terms of a Palestinian state. But settlement construction in the West Bank resumed after his 10-month partial building freeze failed to restart peace talks.
Netanyahu follows an economic policy based on free market ideas, but his rivals charge it has further widened gaps between rich and poor.
— ISRAEL’S PLACE IN THE WORLD
Israel has become more isolated under Netanyahu. The Israeli leader seems headed toward a confrontation with the U.S., Israel‘s key ally, if he opts for a hard-line government and more settlement building.
In November, the U.N. General Assembly voted 138-9 to recognize a state of Palestine in the lands occupied in 1967, rebuffing Netanyahu’s demand to keep east Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank.
The U.S. voted with Israel at the U.N., but there are signs of increasing displeasure in Washington.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Orthodox Jewish girl disqualified from ping-pong tourney for sitting out the Sabbath
An 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish table tennis phenom was reportedly disqualified from a national tournament last month after declining to play one of her matches on the Sabbath.
The Christian Post reports that Estee Ackerman, from Long Island in New York, opted out of participating in the conflicting match while competing at the 2012 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships in Las Vegas.
“I advanced in my round robin and then we looked at my schedule and saw the next match would be during Friday night, which is our Sabbath, so of course I’m disappointed,” Estee told The New York Post.
Glenn Ackerman, Estee’s father, said the family had been expecting the potential conflict to become a problem.
“I believe everyone in life has certain things that they love to do, maybe they love to cook, they love to play golf, they love to work, but the Sabbath, unless you’re a doctor or a fireman – you have to save people’s lives – the Sabbath takes precedence over all these things,” Glenn Ackerman told the Christian Post.
Ackerman said tournament organizers did a “very good job” in spite of his daughter’s disappointment, acknowledging the difficulty in rescheduling a five-day competition involving 60 events and 800 players.
“We clearly try to be inclusionary in the manner in which we run our events,” Michael Cavanaugh, CEO of USA Table Tennis, told The Christian Post. “Estee entered eight events and played to completion in all but one of them.”
Click here for more from The Christian Post.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News