From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Erekat: Israel’s election results mean Palestinians will press at ICC
(JTA) — The Palestinians’ chief negotiator said in the aftermath of Israeli election results that the Palestinians will advance their efforts at the International Criminal Court.
“It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that we say clearly that we will go to the Hague Tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify” legal efforts, Saeb Erekat told the French news agency AFP.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas formally applied for admission to the ICC on Jan. 1, and the Palestinians are slated to fully join the court on April 1. In the meantime, the ICC has begun the processfor opening an investigation into potential Israeli war crimes during the 2014 Gaza conflict.
Israel has responded by withholding more than $400 million in taxes and customs revenue from the Palestinians.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Herzog calls for ‘government of reconciliation’ as Netanyahu declares victory
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Isaac Herzog claimed victory in Israel’s national elections.
Exit polling on Tuesday found Netanyahu’s Likud and Herzog’s Zionist Union parties tied with 27 seats each.
After the results were broadcast, Netanyahu tweeted, “Against all odds a great victory for the Likud. A major victory for the people of Israel!”
Speaking at his Jerusalem campaign headquarters, he said, “I spoke with all party leaders in the nationalist camp and called on them to join me and form a government without delay,” casting doubt on the formation of a national unity government. As he spoke, supporters shouted, “We don’t want unity.”
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From PressTV
Netanyahu says would oppose Palestinian statehood
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, promising that he would not allow the creation of such a state if he wins another term in office.
“Whoever moves to establish a Palestinian state or intends to withdraw from territory is simply yielding territory for radical Islamic terrorist attacks against Israel,” he told Israeli news site NRG on Monday.
He said that if he is re-elected to office, the Palestinians would not get the independent state they seek in the occupied West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Gaza.
The remarks, made on the eve of Israel’s parliamentary elections, come as latest opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party is behind the center-left Zionist Union coalition, an alliance of the Labor party, led by Isaac Herzog, and former Minister for Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 am local time (5:00 GMT) on Tuesday, where eligible voters are electing a new 120-seat Israeli Knesset (parliament).
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From The Times of Israel
Gazan gets 15 years’ hard labor for ‘spying’ for Israel
Man, 53, found guilty of collaborating with the Jewish state since 1988, handing over sensitive information
March 16, 2015, 11:29 pm
A court in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has handed a Palestinian convicted of “spying” for Israel to 15 years’ hard labor, a judicial source said on Monday.
The 53-year-old man was found guilty of “providing the occupier personal names and the location of sites belonging to the resistance,” said the source.
The defendant had been found to have “collaborated with the occupier since 1988″ and had spent a year in the Jewish state.
Under Palestinian law, those convicted of collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking face the death penalty.
Since the start of the year, at least one person convicted of “collaboration” with Israel has been sentenced to death in the West Bank.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Benjamin Netanyahu Calls on Supporters to Form Rightist Coalition
‘Reality Does Not Take a Break,’ He Told Likud Supporters
By Reuters
“Reality does not take a break,” Netanyahu said in a speech to supporters after two television exit polls gave Likud a narrow lead over his center-left challenger in the ballot.
From Russia Today
Supersonic strategic bombers heading to Crimea for drills – military source
Russia’s Air Force is deploying an unspecified number of strategic nuclear-capable supersonic bombers to Crimea, according to a source. The major drills also include deployment of tactical Iskander ballistic missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave in Europe.
Several Tu-22M3 (NATO designation ‘Backfire’) variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike rocket aircraft are due to arrive to Crimea as part of global training exercises for the Russian military in the European part of the country.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Wasserman Schultz opts against Senate run
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz opted out of running for one of Florida’s U.S. Senate seats.
“I plan to run and will be running for reelection to my House seat in the House of Representatives,” Wasserman Schultz told CNN on Tuesday.
Wasserman Schultz, who is among the most senior Jewish Democrats, had been touted for a possible 2016 run once Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, indicated that he would not keep the seat should he formally declare for a U.S. presidential bid.
In her CNN interview, Wasserman Schultz, whose district covers part of the Miami area, cited her current position chairing the Democratic National Committee as one reason for deciding against a run.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Vote Seen Too Close to Call, Herzog ‘Very Worried’
By J.J. Goldberg
Ben Caspit at Maariv reports that internal polls of the two main parties show the race too close to call, Herzog camp “deeply worried.” Race might be too close to call for 4 p.m. exit polls to be particularly meaningful. Last minute surge of right-wing voters from Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and Eli Yishai’s Yahad back to the Likud may be doing the trick, leaving serious doubt whether Lieberman and Yahad will cross the threshold and make it into the Knesset.
On one hand, if those two disappear, it could make it easier for Herzog to form a coalition from the parties that are actually represented in the Knesset. On the other hand, the narrow gap might make it harder for him to get the president’s nod to take the first shot at negotiating for a coalition, given Bibi’s advantage in party recommendations. Remember, Herzog will need Shas and Kahlon to form a government. Shas might be available for a Herzog coalition, but in stage one (recommendations to the president) Deri promised to recommend Bibi.
So it’s really anybody’s game right now, and we may not know anything until the soldiers’ votes are all counted a week from now. And in the final analysis, it may prove true that all votes are counted equally, but the only vote that will really count will be Moshe Kahlon’s.
