Video can be found here: http://www.i24news.tv/en/tv/replay/the-spin-room/x5coppy

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wants to adopt a French constitutional article prohibiting the investigation of a sitting prime minister, but the view from Jerusalem is not quite the same as that from the Élysée Palace.

Many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle are looking toward Paris with trepidation these days, ahead of the planned international peace conference in the French capital later this month. But, some voices in the Likud make it clear that Netanyahu himself is eyeing the Élysée Palace with envy.

No, not because of Netanuyahu’s vendetta against the media, though the Palace’s last two residents (Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande) left their significant others for sexy starlets (Carla Bruni, Julie Gayet) while in office without the locals so much as batting an eyelash, while in Israel Netanyahu can’t so much as mention his wife without certain journalists getting palpitations.

The reason is the ongoing investigation into allegations that Netanyahu illegally accepted gifts from wealthy benefactors. The prime minister was questioned under caution on Monday, and is expected to be interrogated again on Friday.

Since the turn of the 21st century, nearly every politician at or near the top in Israel has been subjected to a criminal investigation, and probe after probe of Netanyahu’s conduct have come and gone without an indictment, leading him to adopt this catchphrase about investigations: “There won’t be anything, because there isn’t anything.”

In France, Netanyahu may have thought to himself, I wouldn’t have to keep going through this.

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No matter what happens, Netanyahu can certainly sit comfortably in the Prime Minister’s Office for many months to come.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to reports of his graft investigation by telling the media to hold off on planning celebrations and the opposition to wait before ordering new suits to wear as ministers.

The same can be said about potential successors within the Likud and outside it: Don’t hold your breath to become prime minister anytime soon.

Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, from both a political and a statutory standpoint it’s too early to be anticipating Netanyahu’s political demise.

But that doesn’t preclude us from exploring all the possibilities ahead. Continue reading

Trump can’t be expected to be more hawkish on Israel than the Israeli prime minister – even if his choice for ambassador to Jerusalem, David Friedman, is.

A senior political observer recently compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a piece of cooked spaghetti. If you try to push the piece of spaghetti with your finger, it won’t move. But you’ll be able to change its shape a bit if you nudge it.

In other words, Netanyahu doesn’t like being pushed around – but it’s possible to influence him.

This is what the leaders of the Ma’aleh Adumim First campaign, with Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett at the fore, seem to have in mind, while keeping an eye on January 20.

What were the most talked-about stories in the Knesset this year? And why will next year probably be a boring one for the prime minister?

David Bitan’s foot-in-mouth syndrome

David Bitan (Likud) became coalition chairman in May, and it didn’t take long for him to start stirring up controversy.

In addition to whipping up votes, coalition chairmen are often viewed as the prime minister’s mouthpiece, but after this one turned out to have a foot in it, people are wondering how true that is this time.

Some of Bitan’s gems, many of which were uttered at Shabbat Tarbut Saturday cultural events, include saying that former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination was not a political murder, that the press is too free, and that he would like it if fewer Israeli Arabs voted.

There was plenty of outrage on the Left, and more forgiving interpretations on the Right – Bitan usually explained himself more clearly after realizing how his statements were understood – but all seemed to agree that eloquence was not Bitan’s strong suit.

Likud backbencher Oren Hazan gets a mention here too, because he continued to appall and to some extent amuse Knesset observers throughout the year with his extremely rude manners. In an interview for The Jerusalem Post in March, he asked readers to help him find a wife. He also gets credit for predicting the victory of Donald Trump, whom Hazan calls a role model.

Continue reading the top five here

In her job as State Control Committee chairwoman, MK Karin Elharar doesn’t cut the government, or herself, any slack.

Three years into her career as a lawmaker, Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar made her mark on the Knesset in a way some veteran lawmakers are still dreaming of. The chairwoman of the State Control Committee is indisputably a rising political star, and unlike some of her colleagues, made a name for herself in the Knesset without attention- grabbing stunts, through sheer will, perseverance and hard work.

THE MOMENT one meets Elharar, 39, it’s obvious that she knows how to overcome obstacles. Elharar has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, as her mobility is extremely limited. Yet she took politics, a challenging career for anyone, head-on, and when she stands at the helm of her committee, it’s like any other MK is up there – or at least any other no-nonsense MK who doesn’t cut the government any slack, as behooves a good Control Committee head. Continue reading 

The 2017-2018 state budget passed at 1 a.m. Thursday, and now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can rest relatively easy, as the two-year budget almost guarantees that he can remain in office until 2019, unless he makes a serious political blunder.

Under normal circumstances, the annual budget season is a dramatic time, because if it doesn’t pass by the end of the year, or by the end of March if the government asks for an extension, an election is automatically called.

A two-year budget gives the prime minister an extra year of without that threat hanging over his head while he tries to balance the wants and needs of all of his partners. A two-year budget gives a sitting prime minister a political edge and more stability than he would normally enjoy, because it takes the opportunity to rock the boat away from his coalition partners.

Therefore, the budget vote is usually the height of parliamentary theater, with the opposition doing whatever it can to be disruptive. The longest filibuster in the Knesset’s history, with then-Likud MK Michael Eitan speaking for 10 hours and seven minutes in 1993, took place during a budget vote. In 2013, thanks to the opposition, led at the time by MK Shelly Yacimovich (Zionist Union), the final budget vote took 18 consecutive hours – and their original filibuster plan was to go on for a full day. Last year, the opposition submitted 32,000 objections to the budget, though that plan was thwarted by a Knesset House Committee crackdown.

One would think that for a budget which will last a full two years and essentially keep their political rival in office, the opposition would have brought their A-game, but this year its performance was lackluster, with the voting lasting a mere eight hours and the speeches on a tight schedule so no one would have to stay at work past midnight.

It’s hard to understand why the opposition didn’t put up much of a fight. They certainly know how to do so. Continue reading 

Hours upon hours of pressing “yea” or “nay” buttons are enough to make any MK fall asleep, which is why, when the time comes to vote on the budget, many bring books to the plenum.
While the proliferation of e-readers and tablets has made book-spotting increasingly difficult, The Jerusalem Post was still able scout out some of the titles lawmakers brought with them. Continue reading

(Photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)

Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary of the government’s historic decision to adopt Security Council Resolution 1325, which called to increase women’s participation in matters of peace and security and fight violence against women.

Has anything changed since? The decision stated that an interministerial committee would be formed to draft a plan to promote gender equality, in the spirit of Resolution 1325. However, the decision was made after an election had already been called for the following month, and the committee was never formed.

Now, there’s a social equality minister, Gila Gamilel, who’s also responsible for women’s issue.

Gamliel has taken on the goals of that committee and has started working on meeting them. Just the fact that there is a designated minister for empowering women is a step forward, she said. Continue reading

The deputy minister lamented the persistent idea that “everything starts and ends with ‘the occupation.’”

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) has big plans for next year, the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War. She seeks to alter what she terms “the false paradigm” that has taken root in the international community, claiming that Israel is an illegal occupier.

The false paradigm has developed over the decades following the war in light of Israel’s continued presence in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and, until 2005, Gaza.

Israel, however, has always maintained that it is not an occupying force. The territory is disputed, and Hotovely, who will be addressing the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Wednesday, wants to drive home that point, as well highlighting the millennia of Jewish history in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Continue reading