Kahlon negotiating return to Likud fold, would stay on as finance minister
Following a dismal showing in the polls, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is negotiating a return to the Likud party.
Israel
For Netanyahu, an unprecedented election haul bodes well for political survival
The 2019 elections are over. Officials may yet be recounting votes, but nothing will change the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu has well and truly beaten the generals, the pollsters and the sourpusses. With 1,138,772 votes cast for Likud, Netanyahu’s party is the first in Israel’s history to cross the one-million-ballot threshold.
Pompeo declines to reaffirm Trump commitment to two-state solution
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday regarding the State Department 2020 budget request, Pompeo expressed hope that the upcoming peace plan would create the conditions in which Israelis and Palestinians could solve the conflict, but did not provide any specifics.
Israeli spacecraft crash lands on moon’s surface
An Israeli spacecraft crashed into the moon Thursday just moments before touchdown, failing in an ambitious attempt to make history as the first privately funded lunar landing.
Russia, Turkey, Iran back Syrian territorial integrity
Lawmakers from Russia, Iran and Turkey are calling for Syria’s territorial integrity to be preserved as remarks from Israel and the United States have renewed long-standing land disputes.
Israel’s Beresheet set to make history, land on moon today
Seven weeks after Israeli spacecraft Beresheet (Hebrew for Genesis) soared into the night sky at Cape Canaveral, Florida, commencing an epic 6.5 million km. journey, it is poised to make history on Thursday evening when it reaches the Moon.
Trump says Netanyahu election win means a ‘better chance for peace’
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday congratulated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his win in the Israeli election, and said it would improve the chances of success for his administration’s much-anticipated peace plan.
After night of vote-counting, New Right appears just short of entering Knesset
The New Right party appeared just short of crossing the election threshold to enter the Knesset, according to updated results released early Thursday with several thousand ballots still to be counted.
After Guard blacklisted, Iran president says US is ‘leader of world terrorism’
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that the United States was the real ‘leader of world terrorism’ after Washington blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a ‘foreign terrorist organization.’
New poll finds Palestinians deeply distrust their leaders
A new public opinion survey showed the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are disillusioned with their leaders and desperate for presidential elections.
Labor bemoans ‘worst result ever’ after polls show historic failure
Labor Party leaders lamented the faction’s apparently poor showing in Tuesday’s national elections, with exit polls predicting it would fall to historic lows.
With almost all votes in, Netanyahu-led right wins decisively
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clinched a clear electoral victory Wednesday morning, with some 97 percent of votes showing his Likud party tied with Blue and White, but the right-wing bloc with a decisive lead and Netanyahu possessing a clear path to forming a governing coalition.
Results all but final, jostling for coalition spots begins
Headed toward his largest-ever election victory as leader of the Likud party, and with the Knesset’s right-wing bloc holding a clear lead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was widely seen Wednesday morning as having secured a fifth term in office.
New Right, just shy of electoral threshold, sets sights on soldiers’ votes
Several parties were eagerly awaiting the tally of the soldiers’, diplomats’ and prisoners’ votes Wednesday morning, as a count of some 97 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s elections revealed they were very close to the 3.25-percent electoral threshold.
Urging Israelis to vote, Rivlin warns that ‘democracy not a given’
President Reuven Rivlin urged Israelis to vote in Tuesday’s general election, saying that maintaining a democratic system is hard work and ‘not a given.’
Syria denounces US labeling Iran Guards a terror group as ‘blatant attack’
The Syrian government condemned as irresponsible a US decision on Monday to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a ‘terrorist group,’ calling it a ‘badge of honor’ for the Islamic republic.
Officials confirm US to name Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terror group Monday
The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a ‘foreign terrorist organization,’ an unprecedented move against a national armed force that could have widespread implications for US personnel and policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.
As vote nears, Netanyahu likely seeking to annex right-wing votes, not West Bank land
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening dropped a bombshell with potentially dramatic political, diplomatic and security-related ramifications for Israel and the entire region — or was it just an empty election promise?
Erdogan’s party to demand total recount of Istanbul ballots
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party said Sunday it had asked for a recount of all ballots cast in Istanbul, the country’s economic capital, during last week’s mayoral election after an opposition candidate claimed a slender win.
Turkey to go ahead with Russia S-400 deal despite suspension from F-35 program
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday vowed to go ahead with a deal to purchase Russian missiles despite Washington’s suspension of Turkey’s participation in a US jet program because of security concerns over the Russian deal.