Pro-settler hardliners swept a vote on Monday held by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, effectively tossing four of his closest allies and backers of Middle East diplomacy off a list of candidates for the Jan. 22 election.
Party members ranked candidates on a list for the national poll to determine which of dozens already nominated could actually be elected to parliament.
The top 15 chosen, or those most likely to become or be re-elected as lawmakers, overwhelmingly included ultra-right champions of Jewish settlement on land Palestinians want for a state.
Netanyahu is predicted to win re-election in the national election in two months’ time. However, being surrounded by more hardline lawmakers than previously could toughen his policies on such issues as Iran’s nuclear program and diplomacy with the Palestinians.
Among the winners of the vote were Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon, who is seen as a possible successor to the more moderate Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.
Barak abruptly quit politics the day of the vote, marking an end to a distinguished and tumultuous career that spanned half a century. It began on a communal farm, led to military greatness and business success and a mixed record in politics that was highlighted by failed peacemaking efforts during a brief term as Israeli prime minister.
Despite polls showing his small centrist Independence Party gaining momentum following the eight-day Israeli offensive in Gaza that he steered, Barak said he would not run again for office in January.
“I feel I have exhausted my political activity, which had never been a special object of desire for me,” Barak, 70, said in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv. “There are many ways for me to serve the country and society, not just through politics.”
Barak will remain as defense minister until a new government is sworn in after the elections.
Still, analysts predicted that Israel’s most prominent warrior-statesman of his generation had yet to say the last word and was perhaps still angling to keep his job after the election as a special appointment of Netanyahu, who is expected to be re-elected. In recent polls, Barak’s party had been struggling to reach the electoral threshold needed to get into parliament.
Over the past four years, Barak gave the governing coalition a well-known face to deal with the international community and Netanyahu a loyal and seasoned partner.
Former Israeli general Danny Yatom, a longtime Barak confidant, said he will be remembered most for his attempts at peace.
“Barak’s legacy is steadfastly defending the security of the state of Israel alongside a deep understanding that the conflict between us and the Arabs cannot be solved by military means alone,” he said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number