|
|
 |
 |
Benzion Netanyahu, Historian Father of Prime Minister, Dies in Jerusalem at 102
Benzion Netanyahu, an historian and former leader of the Revisionist Zionist movement during the creation of the modern state of Israel, died at his Jerusalem home at the age of 102 on Monday. He is the father of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The senior Netanyahu’s bona fides in history – he specialized in Medieval Spanish Jewry -- include the status of professor emeritus at Cornell University and editor of the prestigious Encyclopedia Hebraica. During the state’s formative years, he served as secretary to Zev Jabotinsky, considered the father of Revisionist Zionism and still an iconic figure to Israelis with conservative political views. [Editor’s note: “Revisionist” Zionism stood in contrast to and preached the “revision” David Ben Gurion’s “Practical Zionism.” It is the founding ideology of the non-religious political right wing, the counter-point of Labor Zionism.]
Israel Faces Elections; Timing Unclear
That Israelis will be going to the polls shortly to elect a new government now seems a certainty with only the timing remaining at issue. Dates being discussed range from August 14; to September 4; to the first week in November, and will be settled in the near future. Banking on the strong position his Likud party holds in all current polls, Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing for the earliest possible date in order to play on that strength and deny his opponents time to organize and campaign. All seem to agree that five months hence is the outside date for the election which opens the door to a possible re-alignment of the governing coalition. With most of the belief that Netanyahu and Likud will form the next government, speculation is growing over whether Netanyahu will reach an agreement to bring parties into his new coalition that are currently in opposition. Many pundits believe recently deposed Kadima party head Tzipi Livni sealed her fate when she passed up a deal that would have given her a senior role in the Netanyahu coalition. Her successor, newly-elected Shaul Mofaz, is already characterizing the upcoming election as a head-to-head race for the prime minister’s job between himself and Netanyahu, a description very few share.
In Op-Ed, Former Israeli Military Chief Predicts Acceptance of “Bad Deal” with Iran
Israel’s former chief of military intelligence has predicted that Western powers will ultimately accept a “bad deal” with Iran that will leave Israel in a position from which it will be difficult to justify a military strike at the Iranian nuclear facilities. Writing in the Globes economic magazine, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin explains that a “bad” deal is one in which Iran is allowed to enrich uranium to an agreed limit of 5% but will not require the removal from Iran of enriched uranium reserves nor limit the number of its centrifuges and enrichment sites. Yadlin argues that with the 5% limit in-place, the short time span the Iranians would need to accelerate enrichment of weapons-grade uranium would be so short that defensive actions will not be realistic. The crux of the difference between the US and Israeli approaches is that the American red-line is when the Iranians have an “actual breakthrough toward a nuclear weapon” while the Israelis believe defensive action must precede Iran attaining the ability to assemble a weapon. Yadlin predicts the Iranians will proffer the “bad” solution and the West will take the bait, snatch it up and present it as a successful end to the stand-off. Yadlin concludes that, “the US red line is very blurry and hard to distinguish, but it conforms with US policy which seeks to postpone the day of reckoning, at least until after the November elections.”
Palestinian Hospital in Jerusalem Blames Palestinian Authority for Fiscal Dilemma
Officials at a Palestinian hospital on Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem that was established to treat patients from the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an alternative to Israeli hospitals is blaming the Palestinian Authority for the financial crisis that threatens to close the facility. According to a statement issued by Al-Maqasid Hospital, which caters to primarily low income families, the facility is in the red because the PA “has failed to pay for the cases [it] referred and as a result the hospital ran into huge debts. We had to borrow tens of millions from local banks and pay interests, and since we couldn't pay it back, banks are refusing to give us loans anymore.”
Syria’s Post-Cease Fire Death Toll Exceeds 500; UN Observer Head says Mission “Not Enough”
Syrian activists have reported at least 25 more deaths at the hands of Syrian army forces on Sunday, bringing the death toll since Kofi Anan’s cease fire went into effect on April 12 to 500; and the total since unrest began a year ago to about 10,000. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a blast ripped through government security offices in the northern city of Idlib on Monday, killing at least 25, all of whom are believed to be security forces personnel. State-run television attributed the attack to two suicide bombers. On Sunday, the head of the United Nations observer force arrived at Damascus airport where he warned that “even 1,000 observers” will not prevent violence unless all parties cooperate.
|
| | | | | |
|
