-- Defense Minister Yoav Galant in a statement to the press, last night

Major bombshell to drop on the nation, and it may very well lead to the breakup of the coalition in the coming weeks and months..

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For Bet Shemesh and for cities across Israel, I wish much luck and success to the candidates who will have won spots as mayor or on the city council and their efforts should bear fruit to the benefit of the residents they serve.

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  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) at an election rally in Rechasim

1. they prefer no elections at all, in Gafni's own words. Don't even give the residents a choice as to who should administer their cities. Just make a deal among the politicians and the residents need not be involved at all. 

2. Let's not forget it was Degel who broke a municipal agreement and then said agreements do not need to be kept. Now they are upset that Shas no longer trusts them and decided to run their own candidates?

3. Just like Gafni has the gedolim he listens to, Deri has the gedolim he listens to. No need to say someone who isnt among the gedolim is taking revenge against the gedolim. Deri isnt among the gedolim, but he has his own gedolim in the Shas Moetzes just like Gafni has his in the Degel Moetzes. 

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this is technically an El Al ad, but it is also Israel...

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Israeli soldiers shielded hostages with their bodies. Hamas terrorists shield themselves with civilians’ bodies. That’s the difference between us and them.

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) February 12, 2024

Obviously this reminds me of the viral meme...

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  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), at an cornerstone laying event in Carmiel for a school building, takes a swipe at Goldknopf...

It is not just a retort, but with municipal elections on the docket right now and a split between Degel and Aguda, there is some sharp division there between the two groups...

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only posting this to honor Emily Schrader for her valiant efforts against the other two..

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  -- Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, in an interview with Yishai Cohen of Kikar Shabbos

wow

as disconnected as he sounds, I have no doubt that at least many in the government are looking for ways to avoid facing the public after the war, or to drag it out long enough the rage goes down enough to allow them to avoid culpability in any sense

caption?

Surprise!

Let them bring the food to me!

Just following instructions

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  -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

He is right, but. PM Netanyahu condemned this pretty quickly, but he didnt condemn the wild conspiracies spouted by Tali Gotliv, from his own Likud party, from the Knesset podium (and elsewhere), among others who are making claims of wild conspiracies of treason against civilians as being involved in Hamas's massacre without offering any evidence.

This is a picture of a female soldier, Elya Azoulay, in the Caracel brigade arresting several Hamas terrorists in Gaza and leading them to detention. (photo by Shay Yadel ElPorat)

This picture made the rounds a few days ago and I debated posting it and decided not to. Posting it made it feel to me like this is or should be unusual and unique, and I dont think it should be or is.

So why post it now?

Because now it has made an even bigger splash. Initially it went viral as everyone shared it proud of the female soldiers taking part in the war. Since then it has been published by some Haredi publications, including Yated Neeman, while cutting her out of the image. And that makes it more interesting.

While some find it upsetting and disturbing, personally it is not surprising. the Haredi media now have this policy and dont sway from it, even for the most bizarre situations (pictures of hostages, pictures of world leaders, pictures of Rabbaniyot, etc), so it is not surprising they cut this warrior out of the picture. If one does not have unreasonable expectations, they wont be frustrated by such stupidities. 

(I wonder if the photographer in these situations, if he cared to, would have a valid case for a lawsuit for doctoring his picture)

Ynet spoke to her mother about this situation and while unpleasant they dont let it bother them. The interesting part of what Proud Mama said is that the world is not just a world of men. It is also a world of women. Women are fighters and I think it is pride to post the picture of a woman as a combat soldier, that she was in the biggest war in the history of Israel. She is fighting for the women who experienced what they experienced on October 7 that were raped and abused. I think she serves with pride to show that women can also fight in battle.

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Today's TotD is a tweet that was a response - the original that was being responded to was deleted so I can only post a screenshot of it...

שובאל בני, אהוב לי מכל. אבל הלילה הוא עשה טעות חמורה בציוץ שאני מסתייג ממנו עמוקות.
ארצות הברית של אמריקה היא ידידתנו הגדולה והנשיא ביידן הוא ידיד ישראל. גם אם יש לי מחלוקת עם התנהלותו, אין שום מקום חלילה לסגנון מזלזל.
כבוד לבריות זה א׳ ב׳, כך אני מחנך את ילדיי.
מתנצל על דברי…

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) February 6, 2024

Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, posted an apology for something his son tweeted. Before translating the apology, I will add a screenshot of the original tweet by Shuvael Ben Gvir:

Shuvael tweeted a nasty tweet saying now is the time to raise awareness of Alzheimers disease that causes a cognitive decline and dementia in older people, negatively affecting ability to function, with a picture of US President Joe Biden.

I am not sure the White House or Biden family care much what Itamar or his family members say, but if Itamar didnt do enough damage with his own posts, this was a good way to try to up the odds.

Itamar Ben Gvir posted a tweet in response, the tweet posted above. Here it is translated to English:

First of all, nice tweet by Papa Itamar.

Second, I am not sure he should be apologizing for his son, but ok. PM Netanyahu never apologized for the vile his son puts out on social media - when pressed about it he says his son is an adult and independent person. I am not sure that is the wrong policy.

Then again, I dont know how old Shuvael is, but in his profile picture he looks to be an adult, maybe in his upper teens, not a kid.

Third, while Itamar Ben Gvir's tweet is a nice sentiment, it is ironic considering his own history. 

And to close it out, Shuvael then posted his own apology.

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Bank Leumi was the first to respond, freezing the account of Yinon Levi, one of the four. Today Bank Hadoar, the Postal Bank, froze the account of Dovid Chai Chasdai, another one of the four

Yesterday Finance Minister Betzalel Smotritch called on the banks to not follow these orders and to not freeze the accounts, even saying he will not allow them to follow the orders. Smoritch said no Israeli will be affected by these US orders to freeze accounts.

I am not quite sure how this works. Does Minister Smotritch have the authority to prevent the banks from following such orders? If the banks listen to Smotritch and ignore the orders, practically speaking, will they be able to continue operating as normal or will the US government be able to escalate and freeze all international wires to Israeli banks or take some other action against these institutions? Is like the FATCA rules from several years back - the banks have to play along, no choice, even though it makes things difficult for their customers with US citizenship?

And for those calling for a boycott of Bank Leumi because they followed orders and froze the account, what will happen when other banks do the same to the accounts of the other people in the list - will we be called on to boycott all the main banks? And what do they want people to do - transfer their accounts and loans and mortgages out of Leumi to some other bank, another bank that may do the same a few days later? Do they realize how difficult it is to transfer an account and move all the necessary connections (standing orders of what comes in or goes out) over to a new account? Outstanding checks that will bounce because the account no longer exists, credit card payments on an account that no longer exists, payments to the electric company, gas, school, for the washing machine that someone recently purchased in payments, etc?

I dont know if these four people did what they are accused of and if this order is justified or not. Freezing an account does not seem to require a court case - even within Israel they can put a lien on your account and lock it down because of money owed or due to criminal activity or for other reasons without putting the account holder on trial first. So I dont know if these orders are justified or not or if they can be appealed and challenged, but I dont see how the banks can just ignore the orders.

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honestly, I dont understand this and dont really know what it is

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  -- Finance Minister Betzalel Smotritch

I am not sure what he is talking about. Were the communities attacked in the October 7 massacre not settled? Were people not living there? Who were the victims of the massacre if people were not living there? If the soldiers would not be protecting the communities in Judea and Samaria, would they be safe just because people live there?

I also generally do not like it when Smotritch says the West Bank settlements are important because they create a security buffer for Israel. No citizen wherever he lives within the borders of Israel is meant to be a security buffer - not the people living in Judea and Samaria, not the people living in the Gaza envelope, not the people living near the border up north, or anywhere else within Israel. As long as Israel is responsible for the land, whatever that includes, Israel is responsible to keep the people living there safe. No one group of people or communities is supposed to be the buffer for another. 

Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir gave an interview to the Wall Street journal. In the interview Ben Gvir criticized US President Joe Biden saying that Biden has pressured Israel to give humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza, which mostly goes to Hamas, instead of supporting Israel fully. Ben Gvir also said that if Trump would have been in power now, US conduct would have been different.

First, I dont know if we can really say US conduct would have been different - according to Trump had he been US president Hamas would have never attacked Israel in the first place (and Russia would not have attacked Ukraine, but that's not relevant).

Second, I dont like "what if" statements, or any type of statement that requires prophecy. If Trump would have been President. Maybe yes, maybe no. We dont know what would have happened. Especially with Trump who is so unpredictable.

And third, while Ben Gvir's intervention, or meddling, in US politics does not bother me, considering the recent statements from Biden's people about Netanyahu and Ben Gvir, tit for tat and all that, how smart is it? Pressure or no pressure, humanitarian aid or no humanitarian aid, truth or not truth (there are reports Netanyahu pushed to send in aid before Biden ever got involved in that), how smart is it to be a senior part of the government and to criticize the US administration that is sending financial and military aid to help Israel conduct the war?

Besides for all the general criticism that has been thrown at Ben Gvir since the statements were published from the regular players (ie Lapid, Gantz, Michaeli, commentators, etc), some criticism has also come out form some more interesting places.

A little earlier today MK Aryeh Deri (Shas) put out his own statement on Twitter backhandedly criticizing Ben Gvir and thanking President Biden in what seems to be an attempt to fix what Ben Gvir might have broken..

"Thank you, President of the United States Joe Biden. The people of Israel will forever remember you for standing with Israel during some of our toughest hours. You and America are kingdoms of kindness. Even among friends and allies, there are differences of opinion. You are…

— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) February 4, 2024

And since then PM Netanyahu has also put out a statement to that effect saying "I dont need help knowing how to navigate our relationship with the USA and international community while staying strong in our national interests. Thank God I have been doing this for several years. Israel is a sovereign state, we value the support received from the Biden administration since the outbreak of the war - support with armaments, in international institutions, sending forces to the area, etc. That does not mean there are not disagreements among us, but until now we have known how to overcome the disagreements."

Ben Gvir is the Opposition within the government. He is in government, and stays in despite all the things Netanyahu does that he seriously disagrees with, but opposes the government frequently. He is either supremely coordinated with Netanyahu to make Netanyahu more palatable tot he public and international community or he is Netanyahu's biggest headache.

A Norwegian politician has nominated UNRWA for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Yes, you read that correctly. UNRWA has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

UNRWA, the organization whose members participated in the October 7 massacre, members who took and held hostages, members who supported Hamas, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

I wonder why they settled for UNRWA and didn't just nominate Hamas itself for the Nobel Peace Prize! or maybe even Iran!

The world is a strange place.

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This Hamas terrorist was captured in Gaza, reminding us UNRWA=Hamas, Hamas=UNRWA

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One of the solutions is to draft a bunch of people waiting in the ranks earlier than planned. Defense Minister Yoav Galant came up with a plan to draft 1300 young men earlier than originally scheduled. That includes drafting hesder boys earlier than planned, mechina students earlier than planned, yeshiva boys from the Dati Leumi yeshivas (separate from hesder), Service Year volunteers, and others cutting their programs short and bringing them earlier than scheduled to the IDF.

I am not going to argue with that solution or support it. I wont even comment on it. It does not affect me and I do not have an opinion on the matter - I do not know the positive or negative effects doing this might have on the draftees and how that weighs against the needs of the army. They are doing it, or working towards doing it. Ok. 

Interestingly, this needed to be discussed in the Knesset. Galant himself was, understandably unavailable to appear in the Knesset to discuss the plan and to defend it. What commonly happens in such situations is that the government appoints another minister to present and defend the plan to the Knesset in place of the absent party.

In the case of this law the minister selected to present the plan was Minister Meir Porush.

Regardless of anything anyone might like or dislike about Meir Porush, he is a representative form the Haredi parties who do not generally send their electorate to the army - they work on behalf of getting their electorate exempted from army service.

So, Minister Meir Porush stands up there at the Knesset podium telling everyone how important it is to fill the shortage of soldiers in the IDF by taking DL yeshiva students out of yeshiva early into the army, but God forbid his own young men should be taken out of yeshiva to help fill a shortage of soldiers.

Was nobody there smart enough to say maybe he isn't the right person to represent this issue? I don't know his position on the matter but maybe Smotritch (I havent heard him oppose it, but maybe he does) should have been the person to present it, considering it is somewhat (largely?) his electorate, or maybe a minister from the Likud...

This government has been dysfunctional from day 1 and is pretty much nothing but a major troll on everyone else.

One sign I saw looks fine, mentioning Achdut in Bet Shemesh under Abutbol (because he signed support with Agudat Israel and expects to sign with other parties, so he is calling that Achdut). The other sign being plastered around is less understandable, at least to me.

The slogan on these signs say "Aryeh needs a strong Moshe, Moshe Abutbol for Mayor of Bet Shemesh".

Why? Why does Aryeh need a strong Moshe? How does a strong Moshe as Mayor of Bet Shemesh help Aryeh Deri doing anything specific in the government? Feel free to enlighten me.

I do get that it is a play on words using a similar campaign theme to the last Shas campaign in the national elections, saying Bibi Needs a strong Aryeh", but at least that made sense - Bibi needed a strong turnout of support for Shas to form a stable coalition. That makes sense. I guess they are banking on that theme in people's minds, but I dont get a strong Moshe helps Deri or how a weak Moshe hurts Deri. Of course Deri wants him to win, but how does this hurt or help Deri?

  -- Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf

1. maybe the agreement was from previous years, when Litzman headed Agudat Israel, or when Gafni was chairman of UTJ...

2. Agudat Israel breaking the agreement with Degel, if there was an agreement, is actually funny and ironic. When Degel broke their agreement with Shas (in Elad) and supported Porush for re-election, their gadol Rav Landau justified it saying agreements do not need to be kept. Now Degel is upset that Aguda isnt keeping an agreement (if there was one) by supporting Abutbol for mayor instead of Degel's candidate Greenberg.

3. Notice that they dont care about what anyone feels is good for Bet Shemesh or any other city, what policies might be relevant, or who an appropriate candidate might be. They just want an equal share of power, divide up the land, each one getting a turn to put their people in place. This is why many dont like these deals.

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