Gantz and Ashkenazi the former IDF chiefs who are politically AWOL – The Jerusalem Post
admin | October 4, 2020
Missing in action is the best way to describe Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi these days.
Pandemic Temporarily Silences Violins That Survived the Holocaust – Smithsonian Magazine
admin | October 4, 2020
In one more twist of fate for prized possessions that survived the Holocaust, dozens of violins and other stringed instruments recently returned to their Tel Aviv home after spending six months hidden beneath a stage in California. The instruments represent a large part of the Violins of Hope collection owned by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom
We dont know if rotation will happen says FM amid political tension – The Jerusalem Post
admin | October 4, 2020
Amid mounting political instability and the resignation of a government minister over the prime ministers handling of the COVID-19 crisis, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said threats by the premier about elections were a threat to the public, not the Blue and White party.Ashkenazi was speaking following the resignation of Tourism Minister Asaf Zamir on Friday, who said again Saturday night that the coronavirus epidemic in Israel could not be resolved until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves office because of his focus on political concerns.Speaking on the Channel 12 Meet the Press program Saturday night, Ashkenazi said he did not know if, due to the severe political tension between Netanyahus Likud party and Blue and White if party leader and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz would actually get to take over as prime minister next year, as stipulated in the rotation clause of the coalition agreement.If we feel that we can no longer influence [matters] that is a red line, said Ashkenazi.If Netanyahu wants elections that is not a threat against us, it is a threat against the public, he continued in reference to the severe health crisis the country is experiencing, and accusing Netanyahu of acting against political unity.We dont know what will happen in another month or two, I don't know if the rotation will happen, and dont know what to answer.The foreign minister also defended his partys decision to advance the appointment process for a new state attorney and to seek to advance the appointment of a new chief of police despite Netanyahus opposition to this process without a joint committee. cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });Gantz issued a statement on Friday saying he had told Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn to start the appointment process for the state attorney and said his party would advance the process for a new police chief, who is appointed by the minister for internal security, currently Netanyahu ally Amir Ohana.Gantz said he was doing so because of the lack of stability and the lack of control in the management of the coronavirus requires the restoration of government order.The Blue and White leader said he had accepted Zamirs resignation with understanding and pain, and appeared to agree with the outgoing ministers sentiment towards the prime minister when saying that the publics crisis of confidence in the government was due to a real concern stemming from the fact that dealing with political concerns is trumping concern for public health and livelihoods of millions of homes who are trembling over their fate and work.Speaking on Channel 13 on Saturday night, Zamir said Netanyahu was responsible for 90 percent of the problems and failures in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, and was responsible for the failure in which we dont have a budget, [and] responsible for the state of the health system after a decade of budgetary neglect.Zamir said of Netanyahu that despite the fact the whole country is on fire, and internal [medicine] wards are collapsing, and businesses cannot make ends meet, the majority of the time he is dealing with the protests against him.Netanyahu ally and coalition chairman, Likud MK Miki Zohar, called on the prime minister to dismantle the government and call new elections in an interview with the ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Shabbat, saying that the partnership with Blue and White was not working.Zamir became the first Blue and White minister to quit Netanyahus government on Friday, a step which raised speculation that elections could be on the horizon.Following Zamirs resignation, Gantz announced that he will appoint Orit Farkash Hacohen as the new tourism minister instead of her current role as minister of strategic affairsZamir voted against the last two packages of coronavirus regulations in the government and had come under tremendous pressure from protest movements to resign.Zamir met with Gantz on Friday and told him he had to resign because he had no faith in Netanyahu.The coronavirus crisis is at best a secondary priority for the prime minister, he said
The Holocaust-Surviving Violins That Were Quarantined Beneath a California Stage – Atlas Obscura
admin | October 4, 2020
In March 2020, as each hour brought updates on the spread of COVID-19 and the looming possibility of lockdown, a group of visitors with rather unfortunate timing appeared in Los Angeles. Dozens of violins from Israel, fresh off a run of concerts in San Francisco, had arrived in town for a series of eventsevents that were just about to be cancelled. So, like many musicians themselves, these instruments had to spend the next several months in quarantine, emerging only recently for filmed performances before they were sent back home to Tel Aviv
‘The Chicken Soup Manifesto’ features hundreds of recipes from around the world – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
admin | October 4, 2020
This post originally appeared in The Nosher.
Iran busts sanctions by using other nations to get WMD – German intel – The Jerusalem Post
admin | October 4, 2020
The Islamic Republic of Iran has sought to disrupt sanctions imposed on its effort to secure illicit weapons of mass destruction technology by using third party countries to transport the material, The Jerusalem Post can reveal on Friday.The German state of Hesse reported in its new intelligence report on Friday that "in particular, states such as Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and Syria tried to acquire and distribute such weapons as part of the proliferation, for example, by concealing the transport routes via third countries. The aim of such intelligence measures was to circumvent control mechanisms over third countries that are not subject to special embargo regulations.The Post reviewed the 384-page intelligence report in connection with all references to the Iranian regime threat. The Hesse intelligence document covers the year 2019 and outlines the most pressing security threats faced by the state.
Realizing his party is on verge of collapse, Gantz resorts to diversion tactic – Haaretz.com
admin | October 4, 2020
Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered on Friday to begin the nomination process of a new state prosecutor, in a bid to save his crumbling Kahol Lavan party. Over the past two weeks, as the cabinet debated limiting protests as part of Israels coronavirus lockdown, just as a wave of anti-government demonstrations was growing across Israel, Gantz felt he was losing his party members. Threats by Science, Technology and Space Minister Izhar Shay to resign and dissenting votes by Kahol Lavan lawmakers Ram Shefa and Miki Haimovich against amendments to emergency regulations allowing the government to restrict demonstrations were a public expression of the contempt his party felt over his conduct
Ahead of November election, growing numbers of Jews consider leaving US – The Times of Israel
admin | October 4, 2020
JTA By 11:42 a.m.
‘The regime has no real choice but to let the victors rule’ – Cleveland Jewish News
admin | October 4, 2020
Pavel Latushko got out to the plaza in front of the Belarus national theater in Minsk and addressed the gathering of his employees, including actors. I am ashamed
How museums can help end the culture wars – Prospect Magazine
admin | October 4, 2020
History wars on a plate: a 17th-century ceramic basin from Puebla, Mexico, borrows the Habsburg double-headed eagle motif. Is it cultural appropriation or supplication to an imperial power
