Following a failure to advance a bill on the military draft of ultra-Orthodox men, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has been unanimously agreed to be dissolved to set the stage for early elections.
Questions about the draft of the ultra-Orthodox have been an ongoing
split in Israel, and the Supreme Court has been pushing a bill to be
passed soon to settle the matte, the election means further extensions
are likely.
Though this is an early election, moving the vote to April 9 will allow
Israel’s outgoing government to claim that they served a full four year
term. With just 61 out of 120 seats left since Avigdor Lieberman’s party
withdrew last month. This left the collapse just a matter of time.
While the draft is likely to be a major election topic,
analysts say it may be overshadowed by corruption investigations
against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some say they believe the
early election is designed to give Netanyahu some cover from the
charges.
What is one of Trump’s incendiary catchphrases? “Lock her/him up!!”? Works for me.
If only…………..
JPost:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction claimed on Monday that Hamas has arrested 500 of its activists and officials in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah spokesmen said the arrests were designed to prevent the men from celebrating the 54th anniversary of the launching of its first attack against Israel.
“Our sons have been arrested [by Hamas] because of their insistence on celebrating this anniversary,” said Atef Abu Seif, a senior Fatah official in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, he added, was “kidnapping Fatah men from the streets, raiding their homes and confiscating posters and other material that were supposed to be used during our rallies.” He also accused Hamas of torturing some of the detainees.