A New Coalition Government In Israel?

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Knesset swear in, February 5, 2013. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

After Days Of Haggling, Netanyahu Strikes Coalition Deal -- Jerusalem Post

Likud Beytenu, Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid expected to sign final agreement Thursday morning; new government will have 22 ministers with Bennett as Economy and Trade Minister, Piron as Education Minister.

Likud Beytenu, the Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid reached the final stages of coalition talks Wednesday night, with Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett negotiating to break the impasse between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.

After days of arguing over the Education and Interior portfolios, the number of ministries in the government, the Knesset Finance Committee, and changing Hatnua's coalition deal, the parties reached an apparent compromise brokered by Bennett on Monday evening, meeting late at night to iron out the final details.

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My Comment: President Obama is coming to Israel next week .... the Israeli politicians know that they must get their act together.

Israel's Defense Miinster Comments On Issues Of The Day

 

Barak: Israeli Coalition Difficult To Predict -- CNN 

Davos, Switzerland (CNN) -- Veteran Israeli politician Ehud Barak says the outcome of the Israel elections are so surprising it is hard to predict the outcome of coalition negotiations. It remains to be seen whether a new Israeli government will have the political capital to push for a peace deal with Palestinians, he added. "It's too early to tell," the outgoing deputy prime minister told CNN's Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "You know, there's a challenge here," he said. "I personally believe, and I believe the people of my generation strongly believe, that we have to find a way to continue the political process." Read more ....

More News On Ehud Barak  

Barak to CNN: I Will Not Serve as Defense Minister Again -- Arutz Sheva Barak confirms departure as Bibi starts on coalition -- Washington Times Israel’s Barak: Syria serves as warning that countries can’t always count on outside help -- Washington Post Barak: Lack of Response to Syria Crisis Means Countries Can’t Count on Outside Support -- Algemeiner Barak: Elections a win for ignored social justice movement -- Jerusalem Post Israeli DM: Lack of Syria Invasion a ‘Lesson’ to Israel -- Antiwar.com Barak: Government must heed the people, can no longer ‘do what it wants’ -- Times of Israel

Exit Polls Indicate That Netanyahu And His Allies Have Win In Israel's General Election

Netanyahu, Allies Win Israeli Election -- Wall Street Journal

Exit polls show that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party and his hard-line allies have won a narrow majority in parliamentary elections.

In an election far closer than polls forecast, Netanyahu's Likud Party captured just 31 seats, well below expectations. But with his hard-line and religious allies, he would still be able to form a narrow majority in the 120-seat parliament, according to the exit polls.

In the biggest surprise, the centrist "Yesh Atid," party headed by political newcomer Yair Lapid captured as many as 19 seats, well above the forecasts. That would position Lapid to become either opposition leader or seek a major cabinet post if he decides to join Netanyahu's governing coalition.

Netanyahu's campaign manager, Gideon Saar, says he hopes to form a broad coalition.

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More News On Today's Israeli Election

Exit Polls Show Netanyahu Lost Ground to Centrist Party -- New York Times
Exit polls: Netanyahu, hard-line allies win narrow majority in Israeli election -- FOX News/AP
Election shocker: Likud 31, Lapid 19 -- YNet News
At Likud headquarters, optimism and bated breath -- Haaretz
Netanyahu Weakened as Lapid Surprises, Israeli Exit Polls Show -- Bloomberg
Israeli exit polls show lead for Likud -- Al Jazeera
Key parties in Israeli elections -- AP

My Comment: It appears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party (and allies) have eked out a victory. And even though they lost some votes ..... and there will be dissension within the party .... I do expect them to form the next coalition government.

Update: Palestinians see no hope for peace in Israeli polls -- Reuters

Former Israeli Shin Bet Chief Slams Benjamin Netanyahu And Ehud Barak

A rift. Diskin, Netanyahu and Barak (Photos: Motti Kimchi, IDF)

Former Shin Bet Chief Slams Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak Over Iran -- Dan Ephron, Daily Beast

Security Chiefs apparently didn’t trust the motives of Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in regards to an Iran campaign.

A former Israeli security chief has revealed that he and his colleagues worried constantly over the past four years that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might try to launch a large-scale assault against Iran’s nuclear installations without seeking prior approval from his cabinet—a move that would run counter to longstanding Israeli policy.

Yuval Diskin, who served as head of the internal Shin Bet security agency for six years and retired in 2011, told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that on one occasion, the chiefs refused an order from Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to prepare the military for such an assault, telling them it amounted to an end run around the cabinet.

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More News On Former Israeli Shin Bet Chief Slamming Benjamin Netanyahu And Ehud Barak

Israel's ex-security chief says Netanyahu wavering and weak -- Reuters
Former Israeli Security Chief Calls Netanyahu a Poor Leader -- New York Times
Israel ex-spy chief blasts PM ahead of election -- AP
Livni: We can't leave Israel's future in PM's hands -- YNet News
A Brutal Leak from Israeli Security -- Daily Beast
Ex-official: Netanyahu focusing on legacy -- UPI

My Comment: Talk about a security leak .... but this is Israeli politics at it's dirtiest.

Update: This is not the first time that Yuval Diskin has criticized both Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.

Israeli Defense Minister Barak Is Quitting Politics

Israeli Defense Minister To Quit Politics -- New York Times

JERUSALEM – The Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, announced Monday that he would soon “leave political life,” after a half-century career in the military and government that included two years as prime minister.

Coming days after the end of a weeklong air blitz on the Gaza Strip and eight weeks before Israelis head to the polls, Mr. Barak’s move is the latest to show the disarray in Israel’s center-left bloc. Though he formed a close partnership with the right-leaning prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly on the Iranian nuclear threat, Mr. Barak was a longtime leader of the liberal Labor Party, and now heads the tiny Independence faction.

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More News On The Impending Resignation Of Israel's Defense Minister

Israel's Barak, architect of Iran policy, quitting politics -- Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Barak says he's quitting politics -- CNN
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says he’s quitting politics in surprise announcement -- Reuters
Israel Defence Minister Ehud Barak quits politics -- BBC
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak resigns -- The Australian/AFP
Ehud Barak announces he is quitting political life -- Jerusalem Post
Ehud Barak: the military mastermind Israel loves to hate -- Ian Black, The Guardian
Barak, the great hope that turned into a bitter disappointment -- Gideon Levy, Haaretz
Despite leaving politics, Barak is keeping all of his options open -- Amos Harel, Haaretz
Haaretz analysts and columnists weigh in on Ehud Barak's decision to quit politics -- Haaretz
Why is Ehud Barak leaving Israeli politics? -- Amy Teibel, Christian Science Monitor/AP