PHOTOS FOR TU B'SHVAT
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164567#.UQO_R_IwneE
JORDANIAN AND EX MOSSAD TALK JORDAN/ISRAEL ELECTION RESULTS ON CH.ROSE
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12751
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
By Elad Benari, Canada First Publish: 1/25/2013, 8:45 PM-Israelnationalnews
The door is closing on the chances of a two-state solution
to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and will
be firmly shut by the end of U.S. President Barack Obama's second term,
Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on Friday.“If we’re not too late, the two-state solution will only survive as
long as President Obama’s term. If we don't fix it in the next four
years, I don't believe it will ever happen,” AFP quoted King Abdullah as having told political and business leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland.
“Jordan with some Arab countries, and with three leaders in Europe -- the British, the French and Germans -- are all marching towards Washington in February and March to say 'Mr. President, it's time to really engage in the Israeli-Palestinian process',” the king said, according to AFP.He predicted that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is preparing to form a coalition government after this week's election, will come under pressure to make progress in the peace process.“Whatever he does to form his coalition, he's got to keep in mind that the international community... is going to be knocking on his door and that of the Palestinians to move the process forward,” the king said.Direct talks between Israel and the PA have been stalled for over two years, as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to come to the negotiating table, choosing instead to impose preconditions on talks.Abbas has insisted that Israel accept the pre-1967 lines as final borders and has demanded that Israel release all Arab terrorists from its jails, and halt construction in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem for a second time before talks begin.On Friday, King Abdullah also met with President Shimon Peres on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. A statement from Peres's office said that "the two held a working meeting at which they discussed ways to advance the peace process in the region."At his confirmation hearing as the next U.S. secretary of state on Thursday, Senator John Kerry said he believed there was "a way forward" in the peace process and that time was running out for a two-state solution.Last year, Jordan hosted talks between Israeli government negotiator Yitzchak Molcho and chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, but the two sides made no progress.Earlier this month, King Abdullah told a delegation of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that the stalemate in peace efforts between Israel and the PA and failure to revive the process would add to tensions in the Middle East and plunge the region into the unknown.(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
By Elad Benari First Publish: 1/25/2013, 6:45 AM-Israelnationalnews
Cairo is hoping that the results of the Israeli elections will bring
about a change in the peace process with the Palestinian Authority,
Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said on Thursday.Qandil told a Kol Yisrael radio reporter at the World Economic Forum in Davos that such a change will be good for Israel's relations with countries in the region, including Egypt.He said that the peace process is very important, not only for Israel
and the PA, but also for the entire region and the world. Qandil added
that Egypt is willing to join forces to bring peace to the region.Qandil was appointed
as Prime Minister by Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, in
July. Morsi, a member of Hamas’s parent movement, the Muslim
Brotherhood, was elected into power
after an Arab Spring revolution toppled former President Hosni
Mubarak.Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, but since being
elected Morsi has been getting closer to Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers,
and officials in his movement have called to amend the peace treaty with Israel.An official with the Muslim Brotherhood even said that the peace accord between Israel and Egypt has caused Egyptians to suffer from “endemic diseases”.Morsi has said that the peace treaty with Israel will remain intact,
but has refrained from saying whether he would agree to meet any
Israeli leaders. He said Egypt would adopt a "balanced" foreign policy
in order to safeguard its interests.At the same time Morsi helped broker a ceasefire that ended Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza last November.Meanwhile on Thursday, PA leaders said they hoped that the rise to power of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party would lead to the resumption of peace talks.“The Palestinian leadership watches the results of the Israeli
elections with great interest, and we think that these elections
constitute a new chance for the Israelis to express themselves," Yasser
Abed Rabbo, an official with the Palestine Liberation Organization, told
reporters.
"We are willing to open a dialogue with those Israeli parties who are ready," he added.For the past four years, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to come to the negotiating table with Israel and has continuously tried to impose preconditions on talks.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
JERUSALEM (AP) — Political newcomer Yair Lapid electrified Israel with his surprising success in this week's election and an Obama-like message of hope and change, and expectations are high.The former TV talk show host will need to make strides on pressing economic ills and advance peace prospects with the Palestinians
to avoid becoming another in a long line of centrists who have burst
onto the political scene with great fanfare, only to flame out.To avoid that fate, Lapid's Yesh Atid
movement may have to temper the lofty expectations of the Israeli
public, and will surely need to produce concrete results in Israel's
Knesset, or parliament."Everyone at Yesh Atid is aware of the expectations and the
responsibility which is upon us," said Dov Lipman, an American-born
rabbi and incoming lawmaker from Lapid's party. "All of us, including
our party leader, left other careers to enter the Knesset. We did so out
of a sense of duty and a passion to change the country's course, and we
plan to rise to the mandate we have been given to do so."
Pre-election polls predicted Lapid's party would win about a dozen of 120 parliament seats. Instead, the party, running in its first election, emerged as the country's second-biggest party with 19 seats. Israeli pollsters said a mass of undecided voters went with Lapid in the final days of the campaign, with roughly half of them coming from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's traditional base of support.Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu party remains the largest parliamentary bloc with 31 seats, and he is expected to continue to serve as prime minister. But the faction's strength fell substantially, from 42 seats in the outgoing parliament, and Netanyahu has little choice but to form an alliance with Lapid to ensure a viable governing majority.
Though Lapid himself comes from Israel's high society — he is a well-known media celebrity and the son of a former Cabinet minister — he campaigned as an average citizen fighting for Israel's struggling middle class. He criticized the country's high cost of living, its expensive system of handouts and draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students, and to a lesser extent, Netanyahu's failure to advance peace efforts with the Palestinians.The election, seen as a slap against Netanyahu, has made Lapid the talk of the nation and given him a honeymoon with Israel's normally contentious media. His coiffed silvery hair and wide grin have been plastered on the front pages of newspapers all week. Even Israel's usually brutal political cartoonists are accentuating his telegenic looks.Netanyahu has already reached out to Lapid, calling for formation of a broad coalition. The two men spent two and a half hours in a face-to-face meeting this week, the beginning of an intensive period of negotiations in which Netanyahu will haggle with Lapid and other party leaders over political appointments and key policy goals.Given its strong bargaining position, Yesh Atid, or There is a Future, is convinced it can make headway on two of the most intractable issues to bedevil the country: forcing ultra-Orthodox men to join their secular counterparts in performing compulsory military or national service; and pushing forward a peace treaty that would result in a Palestinian state.These were two issues Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox and hawkish partners have until now been unable, or unwilling, to resolve.
"Yair Lapid has been clear that we will go to the opposition if the government is not committed to both," said Lipman. "We are confident that both can be achieved."Doing so will not be easy. To ensure a parliamentary majority, Lapid and Netanyahu would need at least one other partner. The most likely candidates appear to be either smaller, ultra-Orthodox parties, which are sure to fight any reform in the draft law, or the pro-settler Jewish Home, which will resist any attempt to reach peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu's own bloc is dominated by hard-liners who oppose any concessions to the Palestinians. Lapid will have to use every ounce of his powers of persuasion to make progress on either front.It's not the first time a party championing centrist views has marched onto the scene seeking to solve similar issues. All before him have failed, including Lapid's own father.The late Joseph "Tommy" Lapid, also a journalist turned politician, led the liberal Shinui party from 1999-2006. In 2003 elections the party ran on a staunchly anti-religious platform, garnering 15 seats in parliament and making it Israel's third-biggest party. But it bolted the governing coalition when an ultra-Orthodox party joined, making it impossible to carry out its pledge to loosen the grip of religious interests on some state institutions. Shinui subsequently disappeared.The Center Party, created in 1999, had seasoned politicians and a retired general at its helm, but it also eventually disappeared on the backdrop of the rise of an ultra-Orthodox party.More recently, Kadima, formed by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with moderate breakaways from the rival Likud and Labor parties, has seen its fortunes sink. Pushing for an accommodation with the Palestinians, it went from being the largest party in parliament in 2006 with 29 seats, to the smallest party in the incoming parliament, with just two seats.Dov Weisglass, who served as Sharon's chief of staff, said the demise of these centrist parties — including Kadima — does not signal a failure of centrists in Israeli politics, but a dynamic voter base."Centrist voters move from place to place, depending on circumstances," said Weisglass. "The center is made up of people who believe in judgment by trial."He and other political analysts predicted that Lapid could have more success than his centrist predecessors, including his own father. Joseph Lapid was in his 70s when Shinui made its quick rise and fall. His 49-year-old son is younger and has more time to build up his party in elections to come.
"He has all the time in the world," said political commentator Hanan Kristal. And, "he has learned lessons from his dad."The makeup of Lapid's party is also far different from those of his predecessors. Instead of recycling experienced politicians, Lapid cobbled together an eclectic list of inexperienced newcomers. The coterie of enthusiastic, diverse fresh faces — Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, social workers, a former security chief, a progressive Orthodox rabbi, and even a judo champion — could inject new ideas to the political scene.Israeli commentators expect Lapid to drive a hard bargain with Netanyahu. "Netanyahu will barely be able to swallow, but people tend to show a surprising degree of flexibility when they have a knife to their necks," wrote leading columnist Nahum Barnea."He looks cavalier, and a little bit like a beach boy, but I think there's a lot of substance," said Yaron Ezrahi, a politics professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "This is the real incarnation of centrist leadership. Many people see it as a victory of enlightened Israel over fanatic Israel."If a Netanyahu-Lapid coalition fails to realize the key goals of Lapid's party, Ezrahi said, the government could crumble, and Lapid could make a serious run at becoming prime minister."It depends on his performance here, but he might carry the day," Ezrahi said. "If he will do the right things in this coalition, there is a future for Lapid."___Follow Daniel Estrin: www.twitter.com/danielestrin
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164567#.UQO_R_IwneE
JORDANIAN AND EX MOSSAD TALK JORDAN/ISRAEL ELECTION RESULTS ON CH.ROSE
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12751
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Door Closing on Peace, Warns Jordan's King
The
door is closing on the chances of a two-state solution and will be
firmly shut by the end of Obama's second term, King Abdullah warns.
Jordan's King Abdullah at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Reuters
“Jordan with some Arab countries, and with three leaders in Europe -- the British, the French and Germans -- are all marching towards Washington in February and March to say 'Mr. President, it's time to really engage in the Israeli-Palestinian process',” the king said, according to AFP.He predicted that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is preparing to form a coalition government after this week's election, will come under pressure to make progress in the peace process.“Whatever he does to form his coalition, he's got to keep in mind that the international community... is going to be knocking on his door and that of the Palestinians to move the process forward,” the king said.Direct talks between Israel and the PA have been stalled for over two years, as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to come to the negotiating table, choosing instead to impose preconditions on talks.Abbas has insisted that Israel accept the pre-1967 lines as final borders and has demanded that Israel release all Arab terrorists from its jails, and halt construction in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem for a second time before talks begin.On Friday, King Abdullah also met with President Shimon Peres on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. A statement from Peres's office said that "the two held a working meeting at which they discussed ways to advance the peace process in the region."At his confirmation hearing as the next U.S. secretary of state on Thursday, Senator John Kerry said he believed there was "a way forward" in the peace process and that time was running out for a two-state solution.Last year, Jordan hosted talks between Israeli government negotiator Yitzchak Molcho and chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, but the two sides made no progress.Earlier this month, King Abdullah told a delegation of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that the stalemate in peace efforts between Israel and the PA and failure to revive the process would add to tensions in the Middle East and plunge the region into the unknown.(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Egypt's PM Hopes Peace Talks Will Resume
Egyptian
PM Qandil: Cairo is hoping that the results of the Israeli elections
will bring a change in the peace process with the PA.
Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil in Davos-Reuters
"We are willing to open a dialogue with those Israeli parties who are ready," he added.For the past four years, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to come to the negotiating table with Israel and has continuously tried to impose preconditions on talks.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
New Israeli political star sets lofty expectations
By | Associated Press – 13 hrs ago JAN 25,13Pre-election polls predicted Lapid's party would win about a dozen of 120 parliament seats. Instead, the party, running in its first election, emerged as the country's second-biggest party with 19 seats. Israeli pollsters said a mass of undecided voters went with Lapid in the final days of the campaign, with roughly half of them coming from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's traditional base of support.Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu party remains the largest parliamentary bloc with 31 seats, and he is expected to continue to serve as prime minister. But the faction's strength fell substantially, from 42 seats in the outgoing parliament, and Netanyahu has little choice but to form an alliance with Lapid to ensure a viable governing majority.
Though Lapid himself comes from Israel's high society — he is a well-known media celebrity and the son of a former Cabinet minister — he campaigned as an average citizen fighting for Israel's struggling middle class. He criticized the country's high cost of living, its expensive system of handouts and draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students, and to a lesser extent, Netanyahu's failure to advance peace efforts with the Palestinians.The election, seen as a slap against Netanyahu, has made Lapid the talk of the nation and given him a honeymoon with Israel's normally contentious media. His coiffed silvery hair and wide grin have been plastered on the front pages of newspapers all week. Even Israel's usually brutal political cartoonists are accentuating his telegenic looks.Netanyahu has already reached out to Lapid, calling for formation of a broad coalition. The two men spent two and a half hours in a face-to-face meeting this week, the beginning of an intensive period of negotiations in which Netanyahu will haggle with Lapid and other party leaders over political appointments and key policy goals.Given its strong bargaining position, Yesh Atid, or There is a Future, is convinced it can make headway on two of the most intractable issues to bedevil the country: forcing ultra-Orthodox men to join their secular counterparts in performing compulsory military or national service; and pushing forward a peace treaty that would result in a Palestinian state.These were two issues Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox and hawkish partners have until now been unable, or unwilling, to resolve.
"Yair Lapid has been clear that we will go to the opposition if the government is not committed to both," said Lipman. "We are confident that both can be achieved."Doing so will not be easy. To ensure a parliamentary majority, Lapid and Netanyahu would need at least one other partner. The most likely candidates appear to be either smaller, ultra-Orthodox parties, which are sure to fight any reform in the draft law, or the pro-settler Jewish Home, which will resist any attempt to reach peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu's own bloc is dominated by hard-liners who oppose any concessions to the Palestinians. Lapid will have to use every ounce of his powers of persuasion to make progress on either front.It's not the first time a party championing centrist views has marched onto the scene seeking to solve similar issues. All before him have failed, including Lapid's own father.The late Joseph "Tommy" Lapid, also a journalist turned politician, led the liberal Shinui party from 1999-2006. In 2003 elections the party ran on a staunchly anti-religious platform, garnering 15 seats in parliament and making it Israel's third-biggest party. But it bolted the governing coalition when an ultra-Orthodox party joined, making it impossible to carry out its pledge to loosen the grip of religious interests on some state institutions. Shinui subsequently disappeared.The Center Party, created in 1999, had seasoned politicians and a retired general at its helm, but it also eventually disappeared on the backdrop of the rise of an ultra-Orthodox party.More recently, Kadima, formed by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with moderate breakaways from the rival Likud and Labor parties, has seen its fortunes sink. Pushing for an accommodation with the Palestinians, it went from being the largest party in parliament in 2006 with 29 seats, to the smallest party in the incoming parliament, with just two seats.Dov Weisglass, who served as Sharon's chief of staff, said the demise of these centrist parties — including Kadima — does not signal a failure of centrists in Israeli politics, but a dynamic voter base."Centrist voters move from place to place, depending on circumstances," said Weisglass. "The center is made up of people who believe in judgment by trial."He and other political analysts predicted that Lapid could have more success than his centrist predecessors, including his own father. Joseph Lapid was in his 70s when Shinui made its quick rise and fall. His 49-year-old son is younger and has more time to build up his party in elections to come.
"He has all the time in the world," said political commentator Hanan Kristal. And, "he has learned lessons from his dad."The makeup of Lapid's party is also far different from those of his predecessors. Instead of recycling experienced politicians, Lapid cobbled together an eclectic list of inexperienced newcomers. The coterie of enthusiastic, diverse fresh faces — Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, social workers, a former security chief, a progressive Orthodox rabbi, and even a judo champion — could inject new ideas to the political scene.Israeli commentators expect Lapid to drive a hard bargain with Netanyahu. "Netanyahu will barely be able to swallow, but people tend to show a surprising degree of flexibility when they have a knife to their necks," wrote leading columnist Nahum Barnea."He looks cavalier, and a little bit like a beach boy, but I think there's a lot of substance," said Yaron Ezrahi, a politics professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "This is the real incarnation of centrist leadership. Many people see it as a victory of enlightened Israel over fanatic Israel."If a Netanyahu-Lapid coalition fails to realize the key goals of Lapid's party, Ezrahi said, the government could crumble, and Lapid could make a serious run at becoming prime minister."It depends on his performance here, but he might carry the day," Ezrahi said. "If he will do the right things in this coalition, there is a future for Lapid."___Follow Daniel Estrin: www.twitter.com/danielestrin
