Biden and Netanyahu are at odds and the response is non-invitation

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Decree after a General Strike: State of the Case against the Israeli Government’s Court Proposals

The Biden administration has been under pressure from progressive Democrats to punish Israel for its policies affecting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and U.S. Jewish groups have voiced concern over Netanyahu’s proposals for the courts.

Later Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby emphasized the long, friendly relations between the two countries and Biden and Netanyahu, who he said have known each other for 40 years. He said the U.S. was pleased with Netanyahu’s pledges to negotiate with opponents to his court proposals.

Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and former premier of Israel, said on Wednesday that Netanyahu has ruined the relationship. “For decades Israel was the USA’s closest ally. In three months, the most extreme government in country’s history ruined that.

Netanyahu maintains he’s trying to strengthen the country’s democracy against a liberal court system. He said Israel is a country that’s made its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad.

Background: The prime minister finally paused the legislation on Monday after a general strike and mass protests threw Israel into chaos, but he said he planned to return to the effort in the next legislative term. Critics say Netanyahu is pushing through the changes because of his own ongoing corruption trial, which he denies.

DeSantis in Jerusalem: Bridge Between the American and Israeli Insights into the Unfinished Business of the Mid-Asian Sub-Solution

Next month, the likely Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis will visit Jerusalem, a trip that will inject the likely candidate into Israel’s tumult and its increasingly fraught relationship with the US.

“At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people,” DeSantis told the Jerusalem Post, which announced details of his planned keynote address at an April 27 event.

“We are in the middle of an important debate, we will overcome it,” Netanyahu said in a statement to staff on Tuesday after announcing that the legislation will be paused until after Passover.

“You are going to Passover, on the eve of Seder you will sit with the families. You can come to an agreement when you fight a little, not too much. This is our goal is to reach agreements, both among you and among us,” he said.

Israel accused the US of intervening in its internal affairs because it was displeased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to increase his party’s influence over judges.

Since Netanyahu was elected, there have been a series of exchanges between the White House and Israel showing that they weren’t on the same page on some issues.

Netanyahu tried to paper over the dispute in his remote address Wednesday to the Biden administration’s Summit for Democracy, saying “the alliance between the world’s greatest democracy and a strong, proud and independent democracy — Israel — in the heart of the Middle East is unshakable.”

The coalition of Netanyahu is in talks with opposition politicians to reach a deal on a judicial change before parliament returns in late April.

Netanyahu’s Statement on the Delay of the Judiciary Overcomes a Land Destroyed by the Jewish Power Party and the Judgement of Solomon

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When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his decision to delay a controversial plan to weaken the country’s judiciary on Monday, he invoked the biblical story of the Judgement of Solomon, where the king had to rule between two women, both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered that the child be cut in two and the woman who protested the decision was determined to be the real mother.

Before Netanyahu spoke, supporters of the judicial overhaul had gathered in the streets following calls from right-wing politicians to come out, allowing the prime minister to make his address as protesters from both sides rallied simultaneously for the first time in weeks.

“Even today, both sides in the national dispute claim love for the baby – love for our country,” said Netanyahu. “I am aware of the enormous tension that is building up between the two camps, between the two parts of the people, and I am attentive to the desire of many citizens to relieve this tension.”

Aviv Bushinsky, a former media adviser for Netanyahu who served him for nine years, said the timing of the address was intentional and meant to give Netanyahu a positive backdrop for his speech.

“He is playing the game,” said Gideon Rahat, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The problem with Israel is that there isn’t any certainty, so he’s not likely to be happy about it.

Bushinsky claims that Netanyahu would have stopped the judicial overhaul a long time ago, if he had the power to.

The survival of his coalition depends on it and he is standing by it. But now, analysts say he’s backed into a corner between appeasing protesters and keeping his government intact.

The Jewish Power party broke the news about the delayed National Guard before Netanyahu even announced the delay. That caused alarm, with some speculating on social media that Ben Gvir, who has an extremist past, was being allowed to set up his own militia.

According to Diana Buttu, the National Guard is akin to putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.

The new body was addressed by Ben Gvir. He said in a statement published on his Telegram page that there were no private armies or militias.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/middleeast/netanyahu-options-israel-mime-intl/index.html

Netanyahu’s options in the judicial overhaul: what are they telling us? Palestinians worried about a security threat to the Israeli government?

Analysts say the prime minister has few options. If he sides with his coalition and votes on the overhaul, crippling protests and strikes would resume. If he pulls the brakes, his coalition could collapse.

The only wiggle room the Israeli leader has, analysts say, is if negotiators reach a moderated judicial overhaul plan bill over the Knesset’s recess period, which ends April 30, and where concessions to his right-wing coalition members need not be too extreme.

Bushinsky said that he believed Netanyahu would try to run away from the thing, hoping things will ease in the future.

Analysts say that a possible security threat from other countries or from conflict with the Palestinians could be the potential cause of a public rally in support of the government.

The president of the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem said that a security crisis would cause the government to pay more attention.

Palestinians are worried that Netanyahu will put them in a bad situation with his concessions to the right and that they will pay the price.

Not everyone is positive that the recess period will result in a consensus or moderation in Netanyahu’s position.

“I have not detected any indication that tells me that the prime minister is actually entering into the negotiations with a keen interest in achieving consensus … including comprises on core aspects of the judicial overhaul,” said Plesner.

Netanyahu lost legitimacy and support in the eyes of the Israeli people, as well as in the eyes of his own Likud voters, thanks to the political injuries he suffered over the last few months.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/middleeast/netanyahu-options-israel-mime-intl/index.html

Saudi Arabia is a Dialogue Partner in the Security Council of the Eurasia Region and Washington is worried about Security Issues in the Middle East

The cabinet of Saudi Arabia approved on Wednesday a decision to join the SCO, as Riyadh builds a relationship with China despite security concerns in the US. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going to be granted the status of a dialog partner in the SCO, according to the state news agency.

The body was formed in 2001 by Russia, China and the former soviet states of Central Asia to counterbalance Western influence in the region. The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia. In the past, Iran has signed documents for full membership. Countries belonging to the organization plan to hold a joint “counter-terrorism exercise” in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region in August.

Washington is worried about security due to Riyadh’s growing ties with Beijing. Washington says Chinese attempts to exert influence around the world will not change US policy toward the Middle East. The United States’ main security guarantor partners have moved to a different position as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states worry that the country will withdraw from the region. Washington will remain an active partner in the region.

Syria is an important production site for captagon in the Gulf as well as for many drugs in the West, according to the UN and anti-narcotics drug officials.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/middleeast/netanyahu-options-israel-mime-intl/index.html

Irregular Iraqi Women: Why Is Kuwait the Mother of Democracy? The Iraqi Problem in Light of the “London Class” Show

In a deal worth more than $3 billion, Saudi Arabia’s oil giant will acquire a 10% stake in China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical, which would vastly increase its presence in China.

The series, “London Class,” is produced by the Saudi state-backed media conglomerate MBC group and depicts Iraqi women working as maids for Kuwaiti women and being accused of theft.

According to Arabic media, the show was not shown on any platform in Kuwait but the ministry of information said it had nothing to do with the country.

The show was written by Kuwaiti writer Heba Hamada and directed by Egyptian Mohamed Bakir. Hamada responded to the criticism in an Instagram post, saying: “Iraq is the mother of civilization, and all Arabs lean on its shoulder.”

A member of the Iraqi parliament accused the show of degrading the value of Iraqi talent to make it seem as though the Iraqi people aren’t all women.

The show “Cairo Class” written by Hamada caused turmoil between Kuwaitis and Egyptians due to its portrayal of Egypt. That show is being aired on the streaming service.

The question of honor, particularly that of Iraqi women, has long been a sensitive issue in Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had accused Kuwait of insulting his country’s women, citing it as a reason for his invasion of the country in 1990.

He asked how Saddam could be tried over Kuwait, which said it would reduce Iraqi women to prostitutes. “He (Hussein) defended Iraq’s honor and revived its historical rights over those dogs,” Saddam said, referring to the Kuwaitis.