The Jewish New Year Begins this Sunday evening. I want to take this opportunity to wish my Jewish friends and memo readers the happiest, healthiest and best ever of New Years.
To my Christian friends, and fellow memo readers, though it is not your New Year, my greeting and wishes are the same. I hope you and yours have a wonderful year of peace, prosperity and good health.
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What next. (See 1 below.)
And:
America's Amb. to support Israel in the UN. (See 1a below.)
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Lindsey Graham suggests that if Democrats can investigate Trump for Russian collusion why can't the DOJ investigate Biden for collusion with Ukraine? (See 2 below.)
Once again, I believe the zeal on the part of those who work for WAPO and The NYT's will prove more of a trap for the Trump haters who are ready to swallow anything these organizations publish.
One day maybe someone in Hollywood will have the courage to make a film about all of the efforts to destroy Trump and take America down with him and perhaps these deranged mental midgets will see how small they truly are. To add authenticity I would hope Nadler and Schiff and the 4 zanies would play themselves.
It would seem to me the day of party line phones should be behind us. I remember picking up the phone when a second party was on it and I would immediately know to hang up because I was intruding in the other party's privacy.
If Congress has the right to listen in on president phone calls the idea of "separation of powers" seems dead and in need of a burial.
And:
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
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More good news from Israel and Ordman. (See heavily edited 3 below.)
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I am within 40 pages of finishing the new biography on George Gershwin. I was about 5 when he died at such an early age and yet I already had been introduced to is music because my maternal grandmother played his songs while my mother sang them. Her father was an opera singer in his spare time and she would sing with him when he came to the house on Sundays.
I cannot imagine what beautiful songs he and Ira would have composed had he lived beyond 38.
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Sen. Graham believes it is now time for Trump to hit Iran militarily Why? Because he believes Iran's latest attack on The Saudi's is an act of war and America's strategic interests were also threatened because Iran is seeking to harm the world's economy. Gen Keane agrees with Graham.
Graham continues by asserting Iran's leaders have no intention of going to war with America because they know they will lose but unless sent an unmistakable message of pain they will escalate their own destructive actions.
I know Trump would prefer to take the negotiate road and Bolton's more bellicose stand caused them to part ways but I also believe Bolton's stance is more clear eyed and realistic. You cannot feed bullies without expanding their appetite. They only learn after you have administered large "hickey's."
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More vulnerability from China. (See 4 below.)
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1) Blue&White Prefers Haredim, Arabs, Over Liberman
By David Israel
Blue&White officials told Kan 11 News on Sunday that their party would need the Haredi parties, more than it would Avigdor Liberman’s Israel Beiteinu, to form a coalition. They believe that Liberman would be a more difficult partner in cobbling a coalition, while the 17 Haredi mandates, should they decide to join in, would make it possible to form a center-left-Haredim coalition.
According to these officials, this is the reason Blue&White chairman Benny Gantz has so far avoided stating his intention to form a secular government without the Haredim, which Liberman is demanding, seeing as such a statement would shut the door before those savory 17 seats. Blue&White with 33 mandates, with Labor and the Democratic Camp’s 11 and the Haredi 17 add up to the much coveted 61 seats.
The left has partnered with the Haredim in several coalition governments in the past, most notably in 1992, which resulted in the Oslo accords. Yamina’s predecessor, NRP, used to be a practically permanent partner in Labor governments.
President Reuven Rivlin will begin a round of consultations with the new Knesset’s faction leaders on the road to assigning the job of potential prime minister to Benjamin Netanyahu or Benny Gantz. As of this morning, none of the candidates are able to gather 61 recommendations, giving the president enormous powers in deciding who would be the next leader of Israel. In light of this, the president’s residence has announced that Rivlin might invite both Netanyahu and Gantz to a three-way meeting, to examine the prospects of forming a unity government. Should they refuse, he would meet with each one of them separately.
If Gantz gets the mandate to form a coalition first, due to his 2-seat advantage over Netanyahu, the Blue&White chairman would have 28 days to try to form a government, and should he fail the president could grant him an additional 14 days. Should he fail again, the mandate would be passed to Netanyahu, who would receive 28 days without the possibility of an extension. Should Netanyahu also fail, the Knesset would have three weeks to propose a third candidate, and should that fail, Israel would face a third election, possibly inside the same year.
A deal with the Haredim would have to include a solution to their hostility towards MK Yair Lapid, who, as finance minister in Netanyahu’s 2013 government, slashed their government stipends, most injuriously government support for their children. Gantz would have to come up with a solution that won’t involve a Lapid faction walkout and still make it worthwhile for the Haredim to join.
Meanwhile, the Blue&White party has committed to the Joint Arab List to repeal the Kaminitz Law in exchange for the Arabs’ recommending Benny Gantz to the president, Channel 13 News reported Saturday night. The 2017 Kaminitz Law, authored by Deputy Attorney General (civil) Erez Kaminitz, amended the Knesset Planning and Building Law, improving government’s ability to deal with illegal construction in Israel’s Arab sector.
Meir Deutsch, CEO of the Regavim movement, which is affiliated with MK Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina), reminded the Israeli public that “the Kaminitz Law is one of the most important moves the outgoing Knesset has promoted, and following its enactment illegal construction in the Galilee fell by 50%.”
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said on Sunday that “it is in the interest of all the rightwing parties to maintain the partnership” they all signed last week, but which, after all is said and done, nets only 55 seats. Levin suggested a Gantz-led coalition is not desirable to the Haredim, who, admittedly, enjoyed their best term in the outgoing government.
But if Netanyahu is unable to deliver the goods while Gantz can, United Torah Judaism and Shas are likely to follow their voters’ interest rather than their relatively new loyalty to the right.
1a) New American UN Envoy Reiterates US
Support for Israel, Says Jewish State ‘Will
Have No Better Friend’ Than Herself
The new US ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, reiterated American support for Israel at a monthly Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Friday.
“The United States has always supported Israel in the past,” Craft, who took office last week, said. “The United States supports Israel today. The United States will always support Israel going forward. Israel will have no better friend than Kelly Craft.”
Responding to Craft, Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon said, “The United States will have no better friend than the State of Israel. Ambassador Craft made it clear today that the US remains strongly committed to Israel and our security. With her help, together we can continue to change the culture at the United Nations.”
Craft’s predecessor at the UN, Nikki Haley, was known for her staunch defenses of Israel at the world body, where the atmosphere is often hostile toward the Jewish state.
In his remarks on Friday, Danon also called out the Tehran regime, saying “Iran poses the greatest danger to regional stability and security. Iran must be stopped. Not with smiles and handshakes, but with economic, political, diplomatic and any other pressure as necessary. I call on the members of this esteemed council to act against the Iranian violations and exert more pressure on Iran.”
Following the Security Council session, Craft and Danon greeted each other.
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2)
Lindsey Graham calls for DOJ probe of Biden-Ukraine connection: 'There is enough smoke here' - Read More
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3) Good News Israel
By Michael Ordman
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