After a year and a half, Israel to get New Government today
This is the day for which we have all been waiting, for 18 months. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Benny Gantz will be both sworn in today as Prime Minister. Bibi will serve for 18 months and then they will switch roles. Not many believe that Netanyahu, considered one of the greatest political tacticians ever, will actually allow Gantz to serve as PM, which is why ] Gantz included many conditions in fine print—such as, that they would be sworn in together. The breakthrough came when Gantz bolted from his partners Yair Lapid and Boogie Ayalon, who swore that they would never serve with an indicted Prime Minister (Bibi is set to go on trial for corruption charges). Gantz said he did so because of the virus, however we had only 15 new cases two days ago. Gantz will assume the new role of “alternate prime minister”, where he gets all the perks of being prime minister. Because there are so many minsters to please, the new cabinet will be the largest in Israel’s history. It will eventually swell to 36 ministers, and with deputies, over 50! This is a colossal waste of millions of shekels that could be going to feed holocaust survivors living in poverty. But then again, it is better than living in a dictatorship with one cabinet member. In addition to assuming the new role of “alternate prime minister”, Gantz will be the defense minister. His number two, Gabi Ashkenazi will have the prominent role of foreign minster. Unfortunately, the anti-Messianic Aryeh Deri from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, will keep the Interior Ministry. The right wing Yamina party, led by current defense minister Naftali Bennett and former justice minister Ayelet Sheked, shocked everyone when they decided not to join the new government. The reasoning has nothing to do with the ideology of the new coalition, but not getting the cabinet posts they wanted. In the coming months, controversial legislation is the expected regarding the annexation of part of the West Bank. The West Bank of the Jordan is the territory that Israel captured when Jordan attacked us on the first day of the Six Day War. Israel had sent word to the Jordanians that if they stayed out of the conflict, Israel would not attack them. However, the King of Jordan believed false reports that Israel was being pummeled and joined in. Two days later there was not one Jordanian solider in Jerusalem or the West Bank. Since that time, the territories have been consider “occupied” by some, and “disputed” by others. Israel plans to annex part of that region in July, where there are Jewish cities. US Secretary of State seemed to give the American stamp of approval, when he made a quick visit to Israel yesterday—his first foreign trip since the Coronavirus crisis.
