A New Government Will Be Sworn-In on Sunday at 4PM In a Special Assembly of the Knesset If There Are No Unpredictable Changes at the Last Minute. The PM will be Naftali Bennet, head of Yamina party, and it will be the first time in the history of Israel that an observant Jew (wearing a yarmulka) sits in the Prime Ministers office. This will be the 36th government. It will be based on a coalition of 8 parties and will have 26 ministers, including the PM.
The formation of the new government was accompanied by an intense, and at many times vicious, campaign by Likud members and other Netanyahu supporters and allies, who attacked, sometimes brutally, the members of the Yamina party, who originally promised not to sit in a Government with Yair Lapid from Yesh-Atid, who, in their eyes, is considered to be a leftist.
This will be a unity government that will be based on a coalition of right-wing parties on the one hand and very left leaning and Arab parties on the other hand. It was a monumental challenge to bring all those parts together and draft a mutual roadmap for the government with an agreed set of priorities.
The sequence of events according to the law: all agreements between all the parties in the coalition must be published no later than Friday 4pm for all MKs (members of Knesset) to review before the swearing in ceremony on Sunday. Before swearing in the new ministers and voting to approve the government, the Knesset will vote for a new Speaker of the Knesset, from Yesh Atid.
Flag March: Another eruption of violence, in Jerusalem and beyond, was prevented, after the flag march scheduled to take place on Thursday, was cancelled by its organizers, following the police’s refusal to allow the march to pass through the Nablus Gate and the Muslim quarter in the Old City.
The flag march, organized by Jewish-nationalist religious right-wing parties and youth movements every year on Jerusalem day, has been a focus of political controversy for some years. It is perceived by left wing political leaders and civil society groups as a mere provocation and demonstration of power over the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem.
This year’s flag march on May 10th was cut short as rockets from Gaza hit near Jerusalem, marking the first day of the most recent cycle of violence between Israel and Hamas. Its rerun, only several weeks after a ceasefire was achieved – was perceived by many political leaders and senior officers in the security forces, to be an attempt to reignite the violence and curtail the swearing in of the new government, scheduled for Sunday.
The refusal by the chief of police to enable the march to proceed in the requested route, was met with harsh criticism by its organizers who claimed that this was a surrender to Islamic terrorism, and that the security cabinet should be the one to decide on the matter of the route of the march. The security cabinet announced that the march will be postponed to the following week, after the swearing in of the new government.
However, MK Itamar Ben Gvir of the Jewish Power Party, announced that he will use his immunity to march through the Muslim quarter. The police, in an unprecedented move, announced that it will not allow him to do so, since his actions present a threat to state security. After his petition to the high court of justice was rejected on a technicality, MK Ben Gvir did make an appearance at Nablus Gate, under heavy police guard, and was met by several hundred Palestinian demonstrators. The police dispersed the protest using stun grenades and made several arrests.
A Developing Story is Still Under Strict Gag Order and Military Censorship. It tells the story of an army officer who served in a top secret intelligence unit, during his service he allegedly crossed top secret lines and almost caused a huge disaster. He was detained and was facing trial. While in prison he died, from an as yet unknown reason which is under investigation. The story broke only after he died, and it took too many days for the army to agree to let his own family see the indictment document. Pathologists are still investigating the cause of his death. Due to a strict ban on the details of this story, even his name is censored, there are many rumors and conspiracy theories running all over social media and in some cases fringe news websites publish what they claim to be the factual story which was banned in Israel. At present all the details are held by security agencies, mainly Military intelligence and therefore the whole story may never be revealed to the public.
Corruption Scheme at the Ministry of Health Unveiled: earlier this week, the police special unit for fraud crimes arrested and questioned under warning a senior official at the Ministry of Health, a Haredi media persona, the CEO of a leading lobbying company and the CEO of one of Israel’s leading food conglomerates. Allegations include favorable policies by the ministry, including leniency in the marking of food products and the inclusion of medications in the state’s basket of subsidized drugs and services, in return for substantial contributions to non-profits associated with the health ministry senior official, a Haredi public figure, one of the closest people to the former Minister of health, Yaacov Litzman, believed to be a mover and shaker in the ministry and designated to replace his patron in due course.
Wildfires near Jerusalem: the fire department succeeded in containing a huge forest fire near Jerusalem on Thursday, after 2,650 dunams (655 acres or 265 hectares) were scorched and dozens were evacuated from their homes in two rural communities off route 1 from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Train movement was halted for several hours and car traffic on route 1 (the highway connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem) was slowed down by massive traffic jams. Another fire blazed near the city of Ariel, in the West Bank. While several media outlets reported that the fires were caused by arson, perpetrated by Palestinian residents, other analysts claim that climate conditions in these areas, high temperatures and low humidity, exacerbated the spread of the fires that could have been caused by an unextinguished cigarette butt or campfire.
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Political scene: Here, here, here, here