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Minggu, 07 April 2019

Netanyahu Vows He Will Annex Israeli Settlements In West Bank If Re-Elected - NPR

People walk by election campaign billboards showing Israeli Prime Minister and head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu (left) alongside the Blue and White party leaders, including Benny Gantz. Ahead of Tuesday's election, Netanyahu has pledged to annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Oded Balilty/AP hide caption

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Oded Balilty/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he is re-elected.

Netanyahu staked out the position on television on Saturday, ahead of Tuesday's election where he faces a challenge from his former army chief of staff Benny Gantz

The first-time move from the prime minister appears to be aimed at galvanizing support among his nationalist base and right-wing political allies. The annexation of parts of the West Bank would likely be considered the final blow to the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu was asked on Israeli Channel 12 TV why he hasn't annexed Israeli settlement blocs in occupied territory, as NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem.

The prime minister replied: "Will we go to the next phase? The answer is yes. We will go to the next phase to extend Israeli sovereignty."

"I will impose sovereignty, but I will not distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements," he continued, The Associated Press reports. "From my perspective, any point of settlement is Israeli, and we have responsibility, as the Israeli government. I will not uproot anyone, and I will not transfer sovereignty to the Palestinians."

On Sunday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki responded to that pledge and accused the U.S. of encouraging Netanyahu.

"If Netanyahu wants to declare Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, then you know he has to face a real problem, the presence of 4.5 million Palestinians, what to do with them," Malki told the AP while attending the World Economic forum in Jordan, apparently citing the combined total of Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

He said Israel cannot expel the Palestinians, adding, "The international community has to deal with us."

Netanyahu has actively supported the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967. But Israel has so far stopped short of formally annexing the West Bank, leaving the door open for further negotiations with Palestinians.

Some 400,000 Israeli settlers and 2.8 million Palestinians now live in in the West Bank.

The Israeli settlements – which include large subdivisions and cities full of middle-class villas – have long complicated efforts for a two-state solution: Palestinians have said the settlements would make it impossible to create a viable state in the West Bank, as NPR's Greg Myre has reported.

Another 200,000 Israelis live in East Jerusalem, part of the West Bank that Israel annexed shortly after the 1967 war.

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, criticized Netanyahu's statement on Saturday.

"Such a statement by Netanyahu is not surprising," Erekat wrote on Twitter. "Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity, particularly with the Trump Administration's support and endorsement of Israel's violation of the national and human rights of the people of Palestine."

Netanyahu's political campaign has emphasized his close ties with President Trump, Estrin reports. In his prime time interview on Saturday, Netanyahu portrayed those moves of support from the Trump administration as his own achievements, the AP reports.

Last month, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967. In his first year in office, Trump had also recognized Jerusalem — the disputed city claimed as capital by both Israeli and Palestinian people — as Israel's capital, breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy.

Polls indicate a close race, though Netanyahu's Likud Party and its traditional allies, smaller right-wing parties, are predicted to win a slight majority of the votes. That gives Netanyahu the edge on forming a ruling coalition over Gantz's Blue and White political alliance – unless some right-wing parties choose to side with Gantz, Estrin reports.

Gantz has accused Netanyahu of inciting against Israel's Palestinian Arab citizens and embracing extremists by allying with the far-right Jewish Power Party.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/04/07/710799152/ahead-of-israeli-election-netanyahu-pledges-to-annex-west-bank-settlements

2019-04-07 15:19:00Z
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American troops in Libya moved out of country as violence escalates near capital - The Washington Post

CAIRO — American forces currently operating inside Libya have relocated temporarily outside the war-riven country due to growing unrest in the Libyan capital, the U.S. military’s top commander for Africa said Sunday.

“The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable,” Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, said in a statement Sunday.

The contingent of U.S. forces present in Libya provides military support for counterterrorism activities and diplomatic missions and works to improve security in the region, the statement said. Waldhauser did not discuss where the U.S. forces have been relocated.

The announcement comes as the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli vowed to defend the capital against a renegade militia seeking to storm its way into the city, a showdown that threatened to spill into bloody urban combat in the streets of Tripoli.

On Saturday, fighters loyal to warlord Khalifa Hifter said they had overrun the airport, on the southern edge of the city. But forces for the U.N.-backed government mounted a counterattack — aided by reinforcements flowing into the city — and it was unclear which side held the airfield by nightfall.

The airport has been closed since it suffered widespread damage during battles between rival groups in 2014. But it would be a symbolic blow to the government if the site fell to Hifter, who could use it as a key staging ground for further advances.

Who is Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Hifter?

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-04-07 13:35:30Z
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Libya crisis: UN appeal for truce to evacuate wounded - BBC News

The UN has urged rival forces fighting near the Libyan capital to halt fighting for two hours so casualties and civilians can be evacuated.

On Sunday rebel forces under Gen Khalifa Haftar said they had carried out an air strike in southern Tripoli.

Gen Haftar's troops have advanced from the east with the aim of taking the capital, Tripoli.

The UN-backed prime minister has accused him of attempting a coup and says rebels will be met with force.

The UN said hostilities should cease at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) to allow access for the emergency services.

International powers have also begun evacuating personnel from Libya amid the worsening security situation.

Libya has been torn by violence and political instability since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.

What's the situation on the ground?

Gen Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) forces have been carrying out a multi-pronged attack from the south and west of the city since Thursday.

On Sunday the LNA said it had carried out its first air strike, a day after the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) hit them with air strikes on Saturday.

Fighting has continued around the disused international airport south of the capital that Gen Haftar earlier said his forces had seized.

Forces loyal to the GNA have slowed the advance and on Sunday a GNA spokesman told Al-Jazeera TV that the GNA now intended to "cleanse" the whole of the country.

What evacuations have already taken place?

US Africa Command, responsible for US military operations and liaison in Africa, said that due to the "increased unrest" it had relocated a contingent of US forces temporarily, but gave no further details on numbers.

There were reports of a fast amphibious craft being used in the operation.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said its full contingent of 15 Central Reserve Police Force peacekeepers had been evacuated from Tripoli because the "situation in Libya has suddenly worsened".

The Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni, decided to evacuate all its Italian personnel from the country.

The UN is also due to pull out non-essential staff.

Residents of Tripoli have reportedly begun stocking up on food and fuel. But BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says many of those near the fighting are remaining in their homes for now, for fear of looting should they leave.

Some fear a long operation, which Gen Haftar mounted to take the eastern city of Benghazi from Islamist fighters.

Who are the opposing forces?

Libya has been wracked by unrest since the overthrow of Col Gaddafi. Dozens of militias operate in the country.

Recently they have been allying either with the UN-backed GNA, based in Tripoli, or the LNA of Gen Haftar, a tough anti-Islamist who has the support of Egypt and the UAE and is strong in eastern Libya.

Gen Haftar helped Col Gaddafi seize power in 1969 before falling out with him and going into exile in the US. He returned in 2011 after the uprising against Gaddafi began and became a rebel commander.

The unity government was created at talks in 2015 but has struggled to assert national control.

Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj delivered a TV address on Saturday, saying he would defend the capital.

Mr Serraj said he had offered concessions to Gen Haftar to avoid bloodshed, only to be "stabbed in the back".

Back to square one?

Analysis by Rana Jawad, BBC North Africa correspondent, in Tunis

The rogue general's defiance suggests that, despite international condemnation of his recent moves, he believes he can only secure a place in Libya's future political makeup through militarily means.

Diplomats are worried, because the manner and timing of the attack means he is unlikely to back down unless he is defeated.

Few thought he would go ahead and launch this operation - which he has long threatened to do - because they believed ongoing talks that saw him go from Paris to Palermo and the UAE for more than a year would buy time until a new political settlement was reached through negotiations and an eventual electoral process.

Today, Western nations have few cards to play to de-escalate the violence and once again find themselves in a position where they may need to start from scratch.

Are peace talks planned?

UN-backed talks aimed at drawing up a road map for new elections have been scheduled for 14-16 April in the Libyan city of Ghadames.

UN envoy Ghassan Salame insisted the talks would go ahead, unless serious obstacles prevented it, saying "we won't give up this political work quickly".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was in Tripoli just last Thursday to discuss the situation.

But Gen Haftar has said his troops will not stop until they have defeated "terrorism".

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2019-04-07 13:30:00Z
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Will Netanyahu annex illegal settlements in West Bank? - Aljazeera.com

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he would annex illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins another term in office, in an attempt to win over right-wing voters.

He made the statement in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 News on Saturday, three days before the elections on April 9.

Reuters news agency reported that he was asked why he had not extended sovereignty to West Bank settlements since Israel had annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights without international recognition during the 1967 war.

"Who says that we won't do it? We are on the way and we are discussing it," Netanyahu said, according to Reuters.

"You are asking whether we are moving on to the next stage - the answer is yes, we will move to the next stage. I am going to extend [Israeli] sovereignty and I don't distinguish between settlement blocs and the isolated settlements."

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Mitchell Barak, an Israeli political pollster and analyst, told Al Jazeera he classifies Netanyahu's comments as nothing more than election talk.

"Whatever happens in the election, stays in the election. I don't think he has any real intention of [annexing settlements]. We don't know. It's highly unlikely that this will turn into policy," Barak said.

"If [voters] see him embracing this policy, they may move to vote for him, but it's nothing more than an election gimmick at this point."

However, many Palestinians have been taking his words seriously, including Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of the Knesset (MK) running for the joint Arab Haddash-Ta'al party.

On the eve of the last election in 2015, Netanyahu similarly made waves by stating that if he returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state, reversing his previous endorsement of a two state solution.

Since then, he has done precisely what he said, Touma-Suleiman told Al Jazeera.

"Everyone thought it was election talk. But for four years he has step by step almost accomplished the mission he stated … In my opinion he is going to annex the settlements," Touma-Suleiman said.

"I hope we'll be able to see a government that's more rational at least. I don't believe that [frontrunner Benny] Gantz is an alternative. I don't believe that generals will bring hope to this country but I can see the damage that Netanyahu is doing, which is long-term damage and I would like to see it stopped immediately."

'Creeping annexation'

Over the years reports have highlighted the "creeping annexation" that has been enfolding, with the government also initiating legislative measures that sought to apply Israeli law to the West Bank and the 2017 settlement regularisation law, which retroactively legalises settlements.

Currently, there are some 600,000-750,000 illegal settlers living in about 150 settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, built on land the Palestinians had envisioned for a future state.

Netanyahu has made significant achievements in the past two years.

Most recently during Netanyahu's visit to Washington, DC, on March 25, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing 52 years of official US policy.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967 when it seized the Syrian territory along with East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Many saw the move as paving the way for the subsequent annexation of the West Bank.

Israel election 2019: Palestinian-Israelis to boycott vote

During Netanyahu's term, Trump also recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, a catastrophic declaration for Palestinians who had envisioned East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

MK Ahmad Tibi, running as the second candidate on the Haddash-Ta'al list told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu's latest statement is a "direct continuation" of his declaration made in 2015 that he would never agree to a Palestinian state.

"An annexation of Palestinian land, he considers it an issue in the elections [because] it brings him more votes [among the right]. This is the real Netanyahu," Tibi said.

"If he will lead the next government, it will be more right, more extreme and more ready to annex the land with Donald trump in the White house."

There has been a surge of tenders for settlement construction in the past two years since US President Donald Trump took office, according to Israeli organisation Peace Now.

In 2017 and 2018 there were tenders for 3,154 and 3,808 settlement housing units, respectively, compared with just 42 in 2016.

However Akiva Eldar, senior columnist for Al-Monitor told Al Jazeera that annexing the illegal settlements outright would be difficult to do; Netanyahu's statement may be just a last-minute spin like in the previous election.

"It [would be] breaking the status quo ... it's going to rock the boat. I don't think Netanyahu is interested," Eldar said.

"He's very satisfied with the political status quo in diplomatic negotiations and the creeping annexation. He's been making statements but doing it one by one, one centimetre at a time, changing facts on the ground without having to pay a price in the diplomatic arena."

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2019-04-07 11:48:00Z
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Pro-Trump Republicans plan 8-figure play for the Jewish vote in 2020 - POLITICO

A Jewish supporter of Donald Trump — A Jewish supporter of President Donald Trump listens as the president addresses the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on April 6, 2019. | Erik Kabik Photography/Media Punch/IPX

2020 Elections

The Republican Jewish Coalition outlined the plans at its spring meeting at one of Sheldon Adelson's casinos.

LAS VEGAS — Republicans are planning a multimillion-dollar offensive aimed at fracturing the Democratic Party’s decades-long stranglehold on the Jewish vote.

Spearheading the push is the Republican Jewish Coalition, which receives substantial funding from casino mogul and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. On Friday morning, the group’s board members — many of them prominent Republican Party donors — gathered in a conference room at Adelson’s Venetian resort, where they were briefed on plans for a $10 million-plus blitz geared toward attracting Jewish support for President Donald Trump. The investment, people familiar with the early discussions say, will far surpass what the group has spent in past presidential elections.

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With Democrats embroiled in a wrenching internal debate over anti-Semitism and support for Israel, Republicans are moving to capitalize with an aggressive campaign painting Trump — who himself has at times faced accusations of stoking anti-Semitism — as a fierce and unapologetic defender of the Jewish state.

“We’re at the intersection of a very unique moment in time where we have the most pro-Israel president ever in history in Donald Trump, and we also at the same time have the Democratic Party— because of the pressure of the progressive left— moving away from the traditional support for Israel that has existed going back to 1948,” said Matt Brooks, who has served as RJC executive director for nearly three decades.

“This strain within the Democratic Party is making those centrist and center-left Jews who care about these issues feel more and more uncomfortable, and with the strength of Donald Trump and the Republican Party on these issues we believe that we’ll be able to bring those folks over to the Republican side,” Brooks added.

At a time when Trump’s approval rating remains mired in the low-to-mid 40s, the offensive shows how Republicans are taking steps to contest any votes they can. Jews only account for about 2 percent of the U.S. population and have overwhelmingly supported Democrats in past elections. But GOP officials believe that siphoning off even a small portion the Jewish vote in a few battleground states could be critical in 2020.

“The Jewish vote will remain and largely loyal Democratic vote because of domestic issues largely, but if there was ever a cycle where Republicans could make inroads it is this cycle,” said Ari Fleischer, a former George W. Bush White House press secretary who now serves as an RJC board member. “If you accept that there are sizeable Jewish populations in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, [and] Michigan, the Jewish vote – if we can make additional inroads – can be very helpful in putting you over the top. The White House knows that.”

The administration is going all-in on the strategy. On Saturday, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and three White House officials — Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, and Avi Berkowitz — all made pilgrimages to the Venetian, where RJC members were gathered for the third day of their annual spring conference. Before a sea of supporters waving “We are Jews for Trump” signs, the president accused Democrats of opposing Israel and “advancing by far the most extreme, anti-Semitic agenda in history.”

Prior to taking the stage, Trump met privately with Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who together gave over $120 million to Republican causes during the 2018 midterms. The 85-year-old Adelson, who’s been undergoing cancer treatment, hadn’t been expected to be in attendance. But those close to the billionaire said he was intent on making the Trump rally, and when he entered the auditorium on a motorized scooter and wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, he was greeted with a standing ovation.

Democrats are deeply skeptical that the GOP will succeed in making inroads with Jews. Since 1992, according to exit polling data, the Jewish vote has remained remarkably stable, with Democrats winning between 69 percent and 79 percent in each presidential election.

Halie Soifer, the executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said that recent polling her group had conducted showed that Jews remained confident in the Democratic Party’s posture on Israel and that they overwhelmingly disagreed with Trump on an array of domestic issues. And, she pointed out, Republicans had long vowed to make gains with Jewish voters only to fall short.

“This is not new. We’ve seen different iterations of this in previous elections either in midterm or presidential elections, and each time it’s kind of repackaged with a different narrative in an attempt by Republicans to chip away at the Jewish vote — and every time it fails,” Soifer said. “And while the repackaging might make it look like there are different reasons behind it — and certainly we are in a slightly different political context today than we have been in the past — the result is the same.”

But the Las Vegas foray was the latest in an ongoing White House effort to reach out to the Jewish community. In some instances, the administration has even made overtures to those who have long aligned themselves with the Democratic Party.

Kushner, the administration’s point person on the Middle East, has been in touch with Haim Saban, a pro-Israel mega-donor who in 2016 gave over $6 million to a super PAC backing Hillary Clinton for president.

In an interview, Saban said that Kushner had never pressed him who he planned to support in 2020 and that their conversations largely surrounded Israel. While the billionaire media executive said he remained a Democrat, he offered a note of caution at a time when some high-profile figures in his party are questioning the long-standing policy of unflinching support for the Jewish State.

“I sincerely hope the [presidential] nominee continues the traditional Democratic Party [policy] as it relates to the U.S.-Israel alliance,” Saban said.

To some Republicans, highlighting issues surrounding Israel and anti-Semitism goes beyond simply appealing to the Jewish vote. Among those making the rounds at the Venetian this week was Dan Conston, who, as the president of American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund, the main pro-House GOP outside groups, has been arguing to major donors that portraying Democrats as unwilling to confront anti-Semitic forces in their party will help to boost Republicans with the suburban voters who abandoned them in 2018.

Ahead of this week’s conference, the group released digital advertisements tying swing-district House Democrats to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has come under fire for using tropes widely viewed as anti-Semitic. While some senior Democrats have rebuked Omar, she has retained her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“It's appalling that Democrats have stood by and tolerated openly anti-Semitic commentary from their own members,” Conston said. “If Democrats continue to stand by and do nothing, we think suburban voters across America will find it similarly appalling next election.”

That Jewish Republicans have emerged as outspoken champions of Trump’s reelection bid represents something of a turnabout. The RJC was torn over the president during the tumultuous opening days of his tenure, and broke with Trump over his handling of the violence in Charlottesville, when he equated white supremacists with counter-protesters.

Yet many key Jewish Republicans are now firmly in the president’s corner. That includes Fred Zeidman, a longtime GOP giver who chairs a New York City-based investment banking firm. Zeidman, who backed Jeb Bush in the 2016 GOP primary, initially harbored concerns about Trump’s position on Israel and was rankled by the White House’s failure to mention Jews in its January 2017 statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

But Zeidman, who met with Trump early in his White House tenure to discuss Israel, said he no longer had any doubts about Trump. The president, he said, had been “incomparable” in terms of “how good he’s been to Israel.”

Zeidman, who helped to oversee Jewish outreach on the George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns, recalled a recent conversation with Houston oilman Harold Hamm. During the Bush years, Zeidman told Hamm, he had a T-shirt quoting the late Israeli leader Shimon Peres as saying that “George W. Bush is the greatest president Israel has ever had.”

“I had,” Zeidman told the billionaire oilman, “to tear up my T-shirt.”

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2019-04-07 10:56:00Z
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Iran will retaliate in kind if U.S. designates Guards as terrorists: MPs - Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran will take reciprocal action against the United States if Washington designates the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as terrorists, a majority of Iranian parliamentarians said on Sunday, according to state news agency IRNA.

The United States is expected to designate the Revolutionary Guards a foreign terrorist organization, three U.S. officials told Reuters, marking the first time Washington has formally labeled another country’s military a terrorist group.

“We will answer any action taken against this force with a reciprocal action,” a statement issued by 255 out of the 290 Iranian lawmakers said, according to IRNA.

“So the leaders of America, who themselves are the creators and supporters of terrorists in the (Middle East) region, will regret this inappropriate and idiotic action.”

The U.S. decision, which critics warn could open U.S. military and intelligence officials to similar actions by unfriendly governments abroad, is expected to be announced by the State Department perhaps as early as Monday, the U.S. officials said last week. The move has been rumored for years.

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned in 2017 that if Trump went ahead with the move, “then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American army to be like Islamic State all around the world”.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a strident Iran hawk, has advocated the change in U.S. policy as part of the Trump administration’s tough posture toward Tehran.

Set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the IRGC is Iran’s most powerful security organization. It controls large sectors of the Iranian economy and has huge influence in its political system.

Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Mark Heinrich

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-guards/iran-will-retaliate-in-kind-if-us-designates-guards-as-terrorists-mps-idUSKCN1RJ07U

2019-04-07 09:53:00Z
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Israel elections 2019 at a glance: Gantz vs Netanyahu - Aljazeera.com

About 5.88 million of eligible voters are set to vote in the Israeli elections on April 9 to elect a party that will lead the next Israeli government.

Fourteen main parties are competing for 120 seats in the 21st Knesset.

A party has to secure a majority of 61 seats out of 120 in order to form a government and choose a leader to become prime minister.

Israel in the past has seen particularly high turn-out rates, with 71.8 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots in the 2015 election.

Israel's incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party is seeking a fifth term in office.

According to polls it's a tight race against his main rival Benny Gantz, a former army chief who leads the centrist Blue and White party, a party merged in alliance with former finance minister and TV personality Yair Lapid.

Here's what you need to know about Israel's elections:

Main contenders

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, 69

If re-elected on April 9, Netanyahu could become Israel's longest serving prime minister and the first sitting prime minister to be indicted on corruption charges.

A corruption investigation involving one case of bribery and two cases of fraud and breach of trust culminated in February 2019 when Israel's attorney general announced that he intends to indict Netanyahu.

But Netanyahu dismissed the allegations, calling it a "witch-hunt" concoted by his opponents.

Despite the charges, mostly younger Israelis prefer Netanyahu for prime minister over rival Benny Gantz, according to a pre-election poll by Israel Democracy Institute.

Netanyahu currently leads the most right-wing government in Israeli history and also serves as defence minister.

Over the past decade he's become known as Mr. Security as he portrays himself as the one who can best keep Israel safe in the "tough neighbourhood" of the Middle East.

During his tenure, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and recognised the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967, which may boost his popularity at the polls.

Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, 59

As security always takes centre stage in Israeli politics, Benny Gantz former chief of staff of the Israeli army is Netanyahu's biggest challenger.

Along with two other former Israeli army chiefs of staff, he quickly formed the Centrist Blue and White party in February 2019 in alliance with former finance minister and TV personality Yair Lapid in a bid to unseat Netanyahu.

Gantz boasts the military credentials that appeal to much of the Israeli public. He served as chief of staff during two military assaults on the besieged Gaza Strip in in 2012 and 2014.

Once praised by Netanyahu as an "excellent officer" to whom Israelis owed gratitude, the prime minister has now branded his competition as a "weak leftist".

In a bid to win right-wing voters, Gantz's controversial campaign videos boast of killing Palestinians and sending Gaza "back to Stone Age" referencing to the air attacks the army launched in 2014.

Many have criticised him for lacking a clear political stance including the future of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

However, as part of his platform he has vowed to "fix" the controversial Jewish nation-state law which defined Israel as the exclusive homeland of the Jewish people.

How the elections work

Voters will be casting their ballots for a party, not a prime minister. The more votes a party gets, it obtains more seats in the Knesset (parliament) as the government is based on a nationwide proportional representation system.

There are 120 seats in Knesset. A party must secure a majority of at least 61 seats in order to form a government.

During elections, parties must pass an electoral threshold of 3.25 percent to gain a Knesset seat. That's why many parties form coalitions so they can have a better chance of passing this threshold.

Once the results are in, all parties that pass the threshold then submit their choice of candidate for prime minister to President Reuven Rivlin.

Rivlin then assigns the job of forming a coalition to the party leader who he thinks has the best chance of doing so.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/israel-elections-2019-glance-gantz-netanyahu-190407051123149.html

2019-04-07 05:36:00Z
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