The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Robert Winnett, the Daily Telegraph editor that Washington Post Publisher and CEO William Lewis recruited to edit “core news” at the paper, resigned last week as the tide of exposés about his and Lewis’ shady conduct at British newspapers continued to surge. “It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor of The Washington Post,” Lewis wrote in a staff memo.

Suddenly, Lewis looks increasingly isolated and his own job seems at risk — made more so by a PR strategy of deflection and silence increasingly at odds with the severity of his predicament.

Since accepting the publisher position in November — and even before — Lewis has tried to charm everybody he encounters. When charm won’t suffice, Lewis plays the “tough guy.” That was his move at a recent Post staff meeting when he parried with his irate journalists, saying, “Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

But his most potent tactic, more effective so far than charm or trash-talking, has been to stonewall ethical questions about his past — other than to deny them, that is. “I took a view very early on that I’m never going to talk about it,” Lewis told the Washington Post about his purported role or non-role in destroying evidence when he took the job. Recent news accounts about him are peppered with him declining to take questions from the press or even respond to queries. When NPR reporter David Folkenflik sought an interview with Lewis last year, he agreed on the condition Folkenflik didn’t ask about phone-hacking. Folkenflik declined.

Is this any way for the publisher of the Washington Post to behave?...  (our emphasis)

No, and we're hoping he won't be publisher of the Post much longer.

The bad:

More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, Saudi authorities announced Sunday.

Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures to perform the Hajj rituals in and around the holy city of Mecca.

Speaking with the state-owned Al Ekhbariya TV, the minister said 95 pilgrims were being treated in hospitals, some of whom were airlifted for treatment in the capital, Riyadh. He said the identification process was delayed because there were no identification documents with many of the dead pilgrims.

He said the dead were buried in Mecca, without giving a breakdown.

The fatalities included more than 660 Egyptians. All but 31 of them were unauthorized pilgrims, according to two officials in Cairo. Egypt has revoked the licenses of 16 travel agencies that helped unauthorized pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia, authorities said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists, said most of the dead were reported at the Emergency Complex in Mecca’s Al-Muaisem neighborhood. Egypt sent more than 50,000 authorized pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year.

Saudi authorities cracked down on unauthorized pilgrims, expelling tens of thousands of people. But many, mostly Egyptians, managed to reach holy sites in and around Mecca, some on foot. Unlike authorized pilgrims, they had no hotels to return to to escape the scorching heat...  (our emphasis)

Terrible loss of life that could have been avoided.

The ugly:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to dismiss the latest cease-fire proposal backed by President Biden, angering the families of Israeli hostages who accused him of not honoring a key element of the plan: a full Israeli military withdrawal.

In a TV interview Sunday night, Netanyahu said he was open to some aspects of a hostage exchange but not the permanent cease-fire that Biden presented as part of what he described as the Israeli deal last month.

“The intense phase of the war will come to an end very soon,” Netanyahu said. “But that does not mean that the war will be over.” He added: “I am willing to make a partial deal, which will bring some of the people back to us. That is no secret. But we’re committed to continuing the war after the truce.”

The Hostages Families Forum on Monday condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, saying that ending the conflict in Gaza “without freeing the hostages would be an unprecedented national failure and a departure from the war’s objectives.”

The group said Netanyahu’s plan “abandons” the 120 hostages and “violates the state’s moral obligation to its citizens.” It said that “the responsibility and duty to return all hostages lies with the prime minister.”

The families of the hostages have increasingly clashed with Netanyahu and far-right members of his cabinet over whether it is a priority to reach a deal on the hostages or to continue fighting to destroy Hamas...

Israel is America's ally, Netanyahu is not.  Watch how he acts when he's the guest of House MAGAt Republicans in a few weeks.

 

Bibi's Judicial "Reform" Plan Gets Nixed

 

Bibi's efforts to neuter Israel's judiciary gets smacked down (for now):

Israel’s high court on Monday struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s polarizing law that sought to limit the court’s power over government decisions, putting the country on the brink of a constitutional crisis just three months after Israelis united behind the war effort in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judiciary sparked nearly a year of widespread social unrest before the Israel-Gaza war. The unprecedented standoff drew international condemnation and extraordinary opposition from military and senior security officials.  [snip]

Monday’s ruling concerned one part of the package, an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law — which serves in place of a constitution — that was pushed through and passed by Netanyahu’s far-right government in July. The altered law removed the right of the Israeli Supreme Court to block decisions made by government ministers that the judges deem “unreasonable.”

In striking down the law 8-7 on Monday, the top court’s ruling calls for the legislation to be removed. If Netanyahu’s government refuses to honor the ruling, the wartime country could face a constitutional crisis...

It's already been suggested that Netanyahu's prolongation of the war against Hamas is designed to keep him in power (and out of jail).  The judicial "reforms" that Netanyahu wanted to implement would also help with the latter.  We'll see if he'll abide by the decision, or if his personal survival instincts will cause him to deepen the crisis in Israel over the legitimacy of the government and the origins and prosecution of it's war against Hamas by ignoring the court's decision.

(Photo:  Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images)

 

QOTD -- Dictatorship

 

"The 64 Knesset members who voted on Monday in favor of the law canceling the reasonableness standard have struck a serious blow to the State of Israel’s infrastructure of democracy and have signaled the direction in which they plan to take the country, namely dictatorship. They did it in a Knesset empty of opposition lawmakers, befitting of a imperious group that chose to ignore the millions of citizens who took to the streets for weeks to express their concern about the change in Israel’s democratic structure. 

"All those 64 will be remembered forever as being responsible for crushing the rule of law and fatally undercutting the separation of powers. Even the moderate forces in the coalition, who worked to forge a compromise with the opposition and soften the terms of the law, will not be able to wash their hands of it. They are no less responsible for this black day than the law’s architects – Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman.

"But the heaviest blame falls on Benjamin Netanyahu. The most destructive prime minister in Israel’s history has again proven that he is prepared to sacrifice Israel’s democracy for his personal political survival. Netanyahu is smashing Israel into tiny parts using the divide and conquer method. He incites and stirs up emotions, disrupts, tears the social fabric, crushes the rule of law and weakens the judicial system – all in order to escape the horror of judgment. Netanyahu is taking revenge on the system that decided to put him on trial, and along the way he is taking revenge on the entire country..."  -- Haaretz editorial board, July 25, on the passage of a law undercutting the independence of Israel's judiciary and paving the way to dictatorship.  Read that last paragraph again -- does it remind you of a certain lawless Malignant Loser?  The forces of ultra right- wing authoritarianism are showing us in plain sight their methods and goals, whether it's in Texas and Florida, or Hungary, or now Israel.  They're determined to have a dictatorship.  They must be stopped.

Israel's Defense Minister Fired By Netanyahu

Amid broad protests by Israelis over increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister Bibi "BombBomb" Netanyahu's move to make Israel's judiciary less independent and more responsive to Netanyahu's will, the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired today for opposing the Netanyahu right-wing coalition's plan. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Israel in the past few weeks to oppose the authoritarian plan, which would shield Netanyahu from prosecution for his corruption. The reaction from opposition leaders was swift:

"In a tweet, opposition head Yair Lapid said that Gallant's firing, 'just because he warned of a threat to Israel's security, is a new low for this anti-Zionist government. Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he can't fire reality and he can't fire the Israelis who are standing up against this coalition's insanity.'

'The prime minister is a danger to Israel's security,' Lapid alleged.

Netanyahu proved on Sunday that Israel's security is not his chief priority, former IDF chief of staff MK Gadi Eisenkot. "Gallant's dismissal is a disgrace to Netanyahu's legacy and a dangerous bet on all of our lives."

'We face a clear and immediate danger to Israel's security,' former defense minister MK Benny Gantz wrote in reaction to Gallant's dismissal. 'This evening, Netanyahu put politics and himself above security.'" (our emphasis)

The U.S. and its western allies have expressed deep concern over Netanyahu's undermining of Israel's independent judiciary, apparently to deaf ears for now. Netanyahu's provoking a greater crisis in Israel now with the firing of Gallant.

(photo: Nir Elias / Reuters)

 

Netanyahu's Push For Autocracy

In recent weeks, Israel's far-right Prime Minister Bibi "BombBomb" Netanyahu has been pushing what he calls "reforms" to Israel's judicial system, making it far less independent and subject to the whims of power politics. Critics view the proposed changes as actions that would solidify Netanyahu's grip on power, along with the extreme right coalition he leads. From Douglas Bloomfield in the Jerusalem Post:

"Netanyahu and his extremist coalition appear hellbent on rushing ahead, in defiance of public and international calls to slow it down and seek a national consensus. He and his Knesset allies appear prepared to sacrifice democracy in favor of power.

The prime minister insists his approach would make Israel more democratic, but the evidence points emphatically in the opposite direction.

Alon Pinkas, former Israeli consul-general in New York, said the Netanyahu proposal is 'a swift, brutal and illegitimate attempt to change the regime, curtail civil liberties, deny the Supreme Court its judicial-review powers, weaken checks and balances, destroy constitutional guardrails, and control the media and academia through constant harassment.'

For Netanyahu, it is also personal. These changes – reforms are a misnomer – are Netanyahu’s 'get out of jail free' card, thanks to provisions that would effectively quash the criminal charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust for which he is currently on trial, and grant him future immunity."

Former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit, who had indicted Netanyahu for these crimes, said in a recent interview that the prime minister’s motivation is to nullify his trial. 

Tzipi Livni, a former justice minister and foreign minister, has said Netanyahu’s 'personal interest is to delegitimize the judicial system.'” (our emphasis)

Sound familiar? We noted last month that there's "a strong whiff of lawless Trumpism" in Netanyahu's move to undermine and control Israel's judiciary. That Bibi and the Malignant Loser would be in a race toward corrupt, self-serving autocracy isn't surprising. Netanyahu's cozy relationship with Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin is another indication that he's chosen autocracy over democracy in his grab for power. His attack on Israel's independent judiciary will be just the first step.

(photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)

 

Netanyahu's Move Toward Autocracy

After forming the most radically right-wing government in Israel's history, Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu is proposing changes to the Israeli government that would undercut its system of  checks and balances. That brought out tens of thousands of Israelis across the country in protest last night. The specific changes that Netanyahu's government is proposing would weaken the Israeli Supreme Court by giving the Knesset, Israel's parliament, power to overturn a decision by the court with a simple majority vote. They would also exercise greater power over the appointment of judges and legal advisors in their ministries. 

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption stemming from his previous term in office, has a personal vendetta against the justice system, much like his close friend the Malignant Loser.  From the linked article:

"...opponents to the plans say the proposed changes will rob the judiciary of its independence and undermine Israeli democracy. Israeli opposition leaders, former attorney generals and the president of Israel’s Supreme Court have all spoken out against the plan.

The legal changes could help Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, evade conviction, or even make his trial disappear entirely. Since being indicted in 2019, Netanyahu has said the justice system is biased against him."

There's a strong whiff of lawless Trumpism in Netanyahu's outlook and approach to government, especially when legal jeopardy is involved. The global wave of right-wing authoritarianism, from war criminal Putin (also a friend of Bomb Bomb's), to Bolsonaro, to Orban and Erdogan appears to be something Netanyahu's going with, most ominously in this democracy-damaging proposal. It's a good sign that a great number of Israelis won't stand for it.

(photo: Flag-carrying demonstrators in Tel Aviv. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

 

Bibi's Ominous Return

Disgraced former Israeli Prime Minister and Trump ally Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's far right, ultra religious coalition is set to take power today, as a result of winning a majority of seats in the Knesset in Israel's November elections. With him, he'll be bringing a assortment of ultranationalist firebrands and zealous religious advocates who are positioned to enact some of the harshest policies toward Palestinians and, many say, toward democracy. From the Associated Press:

"Netanyahu’s new government has pledged to prioritize settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, extend massive subsidies to his ultra-Orthodox allies and push for sweeping reform of the judicial system that could endanger the country’s democratic institutions. [snip]

Netanyahu heads a government comprised of a hard-line religious ultranationalist party dominated by West Bank settlers, two ultra-Orthodox parties and his nationalist Likud party.

His allies are pushing for dramatic changes that could alienate large swaths of the Israeli public, raise the risk of conflict with the Palestinians, and put Israel on a collision course with some of its closest supporters, including the United States and the Jewish American community."  (our emphasis)

Netanyahu's coalition has made it clear that, in time, the claims of the Palestinians to the West Bank will be vacated, and the territory absorbed into Israel, previous agreements and treaties notwithstanding:

"Netanyahu’s government published its platform, which stated that 'the Jewish people have exclusive and indisputable rights' over the entirety of Israel and the Palestinian territories and will advance settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. That includes legalizing dozens of wildcat outposts and a commitment to annex the entire territory, a step that would draw heavy international opposition by destroying any remaining hopes for Palestinian statehood and add fuel to calls that Israel is an apartheid state if millions of Palestinians are not granted citizenship."  (our emphasis)

His resemblance to the Malignant Loser is striking, minus the stupidity and buffoonish behavior. On an international level, Netanyahu not only has a close relationship with the Malignant Loser, but he's cultivated warm relations with other authoritarians like Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's murderous Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman, relations that are likely to deepen. He still has bribery and corruption charges hanging over his head from his previous term in office, something that he may succeed in overturning. The next couple of years in the Middle East with Netanyahu forging ahead with his regressive policies, coupled with Iran's sinister alliance with Putin, should be of real concern to the U.S.

 

Bibi Back?

Bad penny shekel alert!  It would appear that reports of former far- right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyanhu's most welcome political demise may have been premature:

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies have won just enough seats to form a narrow majority in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, according to preliminary exit polls, marking a potential comeback for the country’s longest-serving and most polarizing leader.

The election on Tuesday — the fifth since 2019 — was a referendum on Netanyahu, who until last year had ruled Israel for 12 consecutive years. While critics feared a Netanyahu victory would empower the ultranationalist far right, others hoped it would mark the end of a political crisis that has paralyzed the country.

Exit polls published Tuesday night by the three main Israeli television channels showed that Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc was set to secure 61 or 62 seats, which would allow him to form a ruling coalition. The current government is helmed by centrist caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, which was projected to get 54 or 55 seats. On Wednesday morning, about 62 percent of the votes counted showed an even more definitive edge for Netanyahu, with this right-wing bloc clinching 62 seats, according to all three channels, enough to form a narrow majority in the 120-seat Parliament.

The far-right bloc that has joined Netanyahu’s coalition, known as Religious Zionism, was predicted to win 14 or 15 seats — an unprecedented showing for a movement once considered too extreme for the political mainstream.

The comparisons with his pal and alter ego in American politics, the Malignant Loser, are all there:  the corruption, the mania for power, the far- right/religio-fascist politics (in Israel, Netanyahu's Religious Zionism party parallels with Christian Nationalism here).  Bibi is arguably more dangerous for his country's future because, unlike the Malignant Loser, he isn't a toddler and he has a working brain.  Should he stage a comeback, it will go counter to the most recent rejection of authoritarian right politics -- the outcome of the presidential election in Brazil, where another Trumpy politician was ousted.  One step forward, one step back.

(Photo:  Matching red ties like peas in a pod/ AP)

Netanyahu Era Ends

Today is far-right Likudnik Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's last day as Israel's Prime Minister, as an newly elected government forms its cabinet to govern. The new coalition government spans political parties from right to left, with right-wing Naftali Bennett to become the Prime Minister initially, after which centrist Yair Lapid will take over the Prime Minister position. 

As expected, an angry Netanyahu, who faces a corruption trial, spoke to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, sounding much like his close friend sociopath and con man Donald "Loser" Trump:

"'We will go to the opposition with our heads held high until we topple the government,' Netanyahu said. [snip]

'An Israeli prime minister needs to know how to say no to the president of the United States,' Netanyahu said, praising his own speech to Congress against the Iran deal and lamenting that there will be no one left who could stand up for Israel that way."  (our emphasis)

Netanyahu took the opportunity for an egregious slap at former Dem President Franklin D. Roosevelt, tying him to the Holocaust, leaving no doubt as to which U.S. political party he's attached to:

“'In 1944, at the height of the Holocaust, Roosevelt refused to bomb the trains and gas [chambers], which could have saved many of our people. Today we have a voice, we have a country and we have a defensive force,' [Netanyahu] said, in an implicit rebuke of Biden." 

We're certain it's not lost on Netanyahu that Biden reveres FDR and has his portrait displayed in the Oval Office. Far more than any Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu has damaged the bipartisan consensus on Israeli policy, turning hard right to embrace the likes of Trump and Christofascists. It won't be repaired any time soon, and that's perhaps Bomb Bomb's most ignominious political legacy.

(photo: Anti-"Crime Minister" Netanyahu protesters. Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Netanyahu's Down To Procedural Games

The close- to- being- replaced right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu is vowing to cling to power, as his ability to form a government fades rapidly. A broad right to left coalition (including an Israeli Arab party for the first time) is determined to end the 12-year Netanyahu era, but procedural hoops may give him a few more days to put pressure on right-wing members of the anti-Netanyahu coalition before a confidence vote in the Knesset. The New York Times reports:

"The speaker of the Israeli Parliament, Yariv Levin, is a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, and can use parliamentary procedure to delay the confidence vote until June 14, constitutional experts said.

That would give Mr. Netanyahu’s party time to pile pressure on wavering members of Mr. Lapid’s fragile coalition, in a bid to persuade them to abandon the new alliance. Many of them feel uncomfortable about working with one another and have made difficult compromises to join forces to push Mr. Netanyahu from office.

Officials of several of the parties making up the new alliance said early Thursday that the internal coalition agreements between them, and even the distribution of ministerial posts, had not yet been finalized."  (our emphasis)

The more time it takes for the anti-Netanyahu coalition to form a government, the better for Netanyahu, who is clinging to office to avoid the types of legal problems now facing his close ally, Donald "Loser" Trump. As Prime Minister, Netanyahu would be immune to prosecution on corruption and bribery charges that could send him to prison.

The anticipated new Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, is from a political party to the right of the Likud, and contingent on the final deal struck within the coalition, he would serve as Prime Minister until 2023, with moderate Yair Lapid assuming the office after that point. That's not a good prospect, but presumably he would be moderated by Israel's center and right coalition members. The next hours will tell.

(photo: Gil Cohen-Magen, AFP/Getty)

Israel's Netanyahu On His Way Out?

 

From the Jerusalem Post:

Barring last-minute unforeseen circumstances, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett will announce in a meeting with his faction on Sunday that he has agreed to form a coalition government with Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid, sources in the faction who spoke to Bennett told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night.

Bennett informed Lapid of his decision on Friday. They agreed that Bennett would serve first as prime minister until September 2023, after which Lapid would take over until the term ends in November 2025. But sources in Yamina said there are still some disputes with Yesh Atid that remain unresolved.

 

Final coalition deals will be signed by Monday and submitted to the Knesset. The swearing-in ceremony could take place as early as Wednesday, but legally, once Lapid tells President Reuven Rivlin that he could form a government, he has a week to bring the government to a vote of confidence in the Knesset.

Of course, the dealing and horsetrading over the next 48 hours will be mind- numbing, and PM Netanyahu is pulling out all the stops to retain power:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu manoeuvred on Sunday to try to dissuade opponents from forming a "government of change", with media reports saying a deal to unseat Israel's longest-serving leader could be imminent.

Opposition chief Yair Lapid, who has until Wednesday to put together a coalition after the fourth inconclusive election in two years, was closing in on an alliance of right-wing, centrist and leftist parties, Israeli media reported.

The new coalition's parties would have little in common apart from a plan to end the 12-year-run of Netanyahu, a right-wing leader on trial over corruption charges he denies. [snip]

Netanyahu, 71, made a sudden three-way counter-offer on Sunday to stand aside in favour of another right-wing politician, Gideon Saar. Under Netanyahu's blueprint, Saar would serve as prime minister for 15 months, Netanyahu would return for two years, and Bennett would then take over for the rest of the government's term.

"We are at a fateful moment for Israel's security, character and future, when you put aside any personal considerations and take far-reaching and even unprecedented steps," Netanyahu said in a video statement on Twitter about the proposal.

However, Saar, a former Likud cabinet minister, swiftly rejected the offer, writing on Twitter: "Our position and commitment are unchanged - to end Netanyahu's rule."

Netanyahu is the ultimate political survivor, but this just might be where his story ends.  Stay tuned.

(Photo: two right- wing leaders with corruption issues/ Ronan Zvulun, Reuters)