Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
Sunday, May. 15 '16, Iyar 7, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. REVEALED: NETANYAHU'S HARSHLY WORDED LETTER TO FRANCE
2. HERZOG DEMANDS OFFICIAL BUILDING FREEZE IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA
3. EX-LONDON MAYOR COMPARES EUROPEAN UNION TO NAZI GERMANY
4. SENIOR JOURNALIST WORRIED ABOUT RELIGIOUS 'TAKING OVER' THE ARMY
5. RECENTLY DECEASED IMPLORE VOTERS NOT TO SUPPORT TRUMP
6. SUNDAYS OFF IN ISRAEL?
7. BILL CLINTON: I KILLED MYSELF TO GIVE THE PALESTINIANS A STATE
8. WATCH: NETANYAHU'S DOG MEETS THE PUBLIC
1. REVEALED: NETANYAHU'S HARSHLY WORDED LETTER TO FRANCE
by Hezki Baruch
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a strongly worded letter to French President Francois Hollande after France supported a UNESCO proposal denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, it was revealed on Saturday night.
The Paris-based UN cultural body had adopted the resolution on "Occupied Palestine" presented by several Arab countries in mid-April, referring several times to Israel as the "occupying power".
"The organization responsible for safeguarding the world's historic heritage has stooped to rewriting a basic and irrefutable part of human history," Netanyahu wrote to Hollande.
"While we have no illusions regarding the United Nations' commitment to truth or fairness, we were frankly shocked to witness our French friends raising their hands in favor of this disgraceful decision," he continued.
"The international validation of Palestinian efforts to deny Jewish history and to perpetuate the myth of Israel's aggression on the Temple Mount is not only immoral, it is also dangerous," added Netanyahu in his letter to the French president.
It is unclear whether the letter was the reason for French Prime Minister Manuel Valls' statement this week that the resolution was "clumsy" and "unfortunate" and said it should have been avoided.
"This UNESCO resolution contains unfortunate, clumsy wording that offends and unquestionably should have been avoided, as should the vote," Valls told parliament.
Valls' comments followed a similar objection by France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who said the resolution "should not have been adopted."
The comments also come ahead of French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's visit to Israel on Sunday, where he is scheduled to meet Netanyahu and discuss France's attempt to resurrect the peace process with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
2. HERZOG DEMANDS OFFICIAL BUILDING FREEZE IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA
by David Rosenberg
Party leaders moved closer to an agreement paving the way for a unity government over the weekend, despite continued opposition from both coalition members and Zionist Union MKs.
Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have reportedly sketched out a rough draft of a new coalition agreement that would expand the government from a narrow majority of 61 seats to a unity government with 85 MKs.
The remaining point of contention, according to a report by Maariv, are final status issues, including Herzog's demand for a formal, comprehensive freeze on construction in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
While Netanyahu has noted that a de facto partial freeze has been in effect for years, the Zionist Union leader has insisted that the Prime Minister make a formal declaration freezing all construction.
In addition, Herzog is seeking a pledge from Netanyahu that the government will immediately renew final status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Some reports indicate Herzog is also demanding the Foreign Ministry, from which the Zionist Union can directly oversee negotiations.
Netanyahu has hitherto rejected the above conditions, which would likely alienate present coalition partners and even many within the Likud. Without the concessions, however, Herzog will face an uphill battle in trying to sell a coalition agreement to members of his own party, who have voiced opposition to joining a Likud government.
3. EX-LONDON MAYOR COMPARES EUROPEAN UNION TO NAZI GERMANY
by David Rosenberg
Former London Mayor and ardent "Brexit" supporter Boris Johnson ratcheted up his rhetoric against the European Union over the weekend, comparing the central European government to efforts by Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler to create a "megastate".
A referendum on the proposed "Brexit" – short for British exit from European Union – is scheduled for June. Both supporters of the Brexit and those wishing to remain are making a final push to garner support amid polling showing voters are evenly divided between the two sides.
The referendum, which touches upon hot-button issues from immigration and multiculturalism to globalism and economic growth, has divided political allies, pitting party members against one another. Johnson, a prominent figure within the Conservative Party, has been vociferously opposed by Prime Minister David Cameron, a fellow Tory.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Johnson invoked Winston Churchill's wartime rhetoric, calling upon the British people to be "the heroes of Europe", leading by example with a departure from the EU.
Johnson railed against the EU, calling it yet another failed attempt to establish a European superstate, drawing comparisons to ancient Rome, France under the dictatorship of Napoleon, and Nazi Germany.
"Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically," said Johnson. "The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods."
Taking the Nazi comparison a step further, Johnson suggested that the European Union's currency, the Euro – which the UK has not adopted – was a tool for advancing German control over the continent.
"The euro has become a means by which superior German productivity is able to gain an absolutely unbeatable advantage over the whole Eurozone. This is a chance for the British people to be the heroes of Europe and to act as a voice of moderation and common sense, and to stop something getting, in my view, out of control."
4. SENIOR JOURNALIST WORRIED ABOUT RELIGIOUS 'TAKING OVER' THE ARMY
by Arutz Sheva Staff
In his weekly column in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, senior journalist Nahum Barnea commented on Deputy Chief of Staff General Yair Golan's controversial comments comparing Nazi Germany to Israel.
Barnea found nothing amiss with Golan's controversial comments but chose to criticize the fact that a senior army officer was chosen to address a Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony. "I do not understand why an army general needs to speak at a ceremony that has no relevance to the army. The IDF should deal with security. It is a subject of the utmost importance to Israeli society, it is a dominant theme."
"It extends from the operations room in Ein Zeitim to the textile factory in Dimona, from the Hevron soldier shooting to the security relationship with the United States, from the tunnels in Gaza to the stabbings in Gush Etzion, from illegal outposts in the Shiloh Valley to ISIS and Iran. All the things that the Chief of Staff or his deputy have to say regarding those issues is important, worthy and interesting. However, the proper functioning of society, religious and moral values, and the understanding of the Holocaust, should be left to citizens."
Barnea recalled the uproar caused after a Givati Brigade Commander made religious statements during Operation Protective Edge. "When Givati Brigade Commander Col. Ofer Winter told his soldiers to fight in the name of the Lord's army, many good people were alarmed. Winter was confused: He did not understand who sent him to this task and where his orders came from. He was not the only one confused. Perhaps in ten years the entire General Staff will be like a Winter. We must take preventive measures."
"The IDF should be everyone's army, and not an army for a handful of Messianic rabbis or emissaries of the Jewish Home party. The right-wing settlers follow this. It is no wonder they leaped on Golan's speech. Bennett attacked from behind, and a bunch of right-wing twitter journalists pushed forward. One of them said that Golan was fit to be deputy chief of staff in the Wehrmacht (unified armed forces of Nazi Germany)," Barnea concluded.
5. RECENTLY DECEASED IMPLORE VOTERS NOT TO SUPPORT TRUMP
by David Rosenberg
Penning your own obituary is hardly a novelty. Many have used their final public statement to impart words of wisdom, leave a special message for their loved ones, or even to get one last laugh.
And while many colorful obituaries have graced the pages of newspapers around the world, two published earlier this year were explicit calls from beyond the grave telling voters in November to oppose the presumptive GOP nominee.
Jeffrey Cohen of Pittsburgh, who died at the age of 70, used his obituary to plead with voters. While Cohen did not phrase the request, he did implore family members to include it.
"Jeffrey would ask that in lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Donald Trump," read the final line of the obituary, published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A successful chiropractor and self-described "Jewish cowboy", Cohen earned a modicum of fame prior to his noteworthy obituary for his treatment of celebrity patients including Liza Minelli, Weird Al Yankovic, as well as Olympian athletes and professional sports stars, earning him the monikers "Chiropractor to the Stars".
But Cohen was not alone in using his final message to voice his strident opposition to the Manhattan real estate mogul. Just days before his passing, an 86-year old grandmother issued an even sharper posthumous rebuke of not only Trump but his voters as well.
While her family included a loving portrait of Ruth, noting her love of horse-riding, "crocheting pillows for her grandchildren, and cooking her signature pasta casserole", they also respected her final wishes – which were even recorded in her last will and testament – to include the following profanity-laced rant against supporters of Donald. Trump.
"As stipulated in her will, Ruth wanted to make sure her obituary included this final line: 'If you vote for Donald Trump, you seriously must be a f****** dumb a**'".
6. SUNDAYS OFF IN ISRAEL?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
MKs Eli Cohen (Kulanu) and David Amsalem (Likud) are expected to submit a bill this week that would create an "extended weekend" once a month, giving Israelis a public holiday on Sunday.
According to the proposed bill, the work hours cut short due to the "day off" will consequentially be dispersed over the week, or alternatively, over the month.
Moreover, the trial is anticipated to run for three years, during which the possibility of extending the weekends throughout the year will be examined.
The bill has already received support from Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud), who intends to submit the proposal to the ministerial committee in two weeks in order for it to gain additional governmental support.
A preliminary vote for the proposal is expected at the beginning of the Knesset's summer session, with the aim of reaching legislation within a few months.
"I am convinced that we will have the majority in the Knesset and soon there will be a sabbatical on Sunday once a month in Israel," said MK Cohen, despite the fact that several similar bills have failed in the past.
7. BILL CLINTON: I KILLED MYSELF TO GIVE THE PALESTINIANS A STATE
by Ari Soffer
Former President Bill Clinton delivered an impassioned defense of both his own foreign policy legacy and that of his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is currently the Democratic front runner for presidential elections later this year.
During a Friday campaign event in Ewing Township, New Jersey, Clinton was heckled over his wife's support for Israel - prompting the former president to hit back, blaming the Palestinians for turning down generous peace offers.
"She and the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt stopped the shooting war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza," Clinton responded to the heckler, who had shouted "What about Gaza?" according to Politico.
When the spectator continued protesting - citing comments in which Hillary Clinton rejected Donald Trump's position of staying "neutral" - Bill Clinton responded: "Depends on whether you care what happens to the Palestinians as opposed to the Hamas government and the people with guided missiles."
"They were human beings in Gaza," the heckler continued.
"Yes, they were," Clinton fired back. "And Hamas is really smart. When they decide to rocket Israel, they insinuate themselves in the hospitals, in the schools, in the highly populous areas, and they are smart."
"They said they try to put the Israelis in a position of either not defending themselves or killing innocents," he added, citing Hamas leader's own boastful comments about the effectiveness of their human shield policy during 2014's war with Israel. "They're good at it. They're smart. They've been doing this a long time."
"I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state," Clinton asserted. "I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza."
His wife, he insisted, had accomplished a great deal vis-a-vis the Arab-Israel conflict, even convincing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come to the table for face-to-face negotiations. Nothing ever came of those talks, however.
And he asserted that guaranteeing Israel's security was the only way to ensure a lasting peace.
"There's nobody who's blameless in the Middle East, but we cannot really ever make a fundamental difference in the Middle East unless the Israelis think we care whether they live or die. If they do, we have a chance to keep pushing for peace," Clinton said.
"And that's her position," he said of Hillary. "Not to agree with the Israeli government on everything, not to pretend that innocents don't die, not to pretend that more Palestinian children don't die than Israeli children. But that we can't get anything done unless they believe, when the chips are down, if somebody comes for them we will not let them be wiped out and become part of the dustbin of history."
8. WATCH: NETANYAHU'S DOG MEETS THE PUBLIC
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2015294]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took his dog Kaiya for a walk in Jerusalem Friday, where he met with members of the general public.
Thankfully, the sometimes over-"friendly" first dog behaved for the cameras.
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
