DEMOCRAPS WILL CHEAT AT THE LAST AGAIN.YOU CAN BET ON THAT.

 DEMOCRAPS WILL CHEAT AT THE LAST AGAIN.YOU CAN BET ON THAT.

AT LEAST THE GOP HAS THE HOUSE NUMBERS UP. 209-192 WITH 34 SEATS UP FOR GRABS.AND 218 TO HOLD A MAJORITY. OF THE 435 TOTAL HOUSE SEATS.AND THE GOP HAS A 49-48 SENATE LEAD. 3 SEATS UP FOR GRABS. AND 51 TO HOLD THE MAJORITY OF 100 SENATE SEATS.

SO THE DEMOLIBNUTS WILL CHEAT TO GIVE THE DEMOCRAPS 50 SENATE SEATS. TO GOP 49 GOING INTO THE RUNOFF DEC 6 IN GEORGIA.THEN FIX THE WALKER ELECTION ON DEC 6 SO THE DEMOCRAPS TAKE THE MAJORITY IN THE SENATE.

AND IN THE HOUSE SEATS I PREDICT THE SLIMBAG CHEATING DEMOCRAPS WILL LET THE GOP HAVE 217 SEATS. THEY HAVE 209 CURRENTLY. WHICH MEANS THE GOP WILL GET 8 SEATS ONLY OF SEATS REMAINING. AND JUST LIKE MAGIC. THE DEMCRAPS CURRENTLY HAVE 192 HOUSE SEATS. WILL GET 26 MORE HOUSE SEATS. TO HAVE A MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE ALSO. THEN THE DEMOCRAPS WILL HOLD A MASJORITY OF BOTH. AND THEN THEY CAN PUSH EVERY SIN POSSIBLE THREW BOTH HOUSE AND SENATE FOR THE NEXT 2 YEARS. ARIZONAS DOING THE SLOW COUNT SO THE DEMOCRAPS CAN DO THE SETUP FOR THE MAGICAL GEORGIA RUNOFF WIN BY THE DEMOCRAP ON DEC 6. WHILE THE NEVADA RACE IS BEING FIXED FOR A RUNOFF ALSO. SINCE THE LAME BRAIN MEDIA DO NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT NEVADA. WERE THE GOP IS CURRENTLY LEADING. THE SECOND RUNOFF WOULD TAKE PLACE DEC 6 ALSO. AND LIKE MAGIC. THE BRAIN DEAD DIAPER BOY BIDN THE PROUD DEMOCRAP AND ALL HIS PUPPETOCRAPS . WOULD WIN. AND SECURE BOTH HOUSE AND SENATE IN THESE 2 RACES. WE WILL SEE HOW CLOSE MY PREDICTION COMES TO FACT.

GOP nudges closer to House win; Senate could hinge on Georgia runoff-Control of Congress will decide how next two years of Biden’s term play out, and whether he’s able to carry out more of his agenda or will see it blocked by new GOP majority-By Sara Burnett, Jill Colvin and Will Weissert-NOV 10,22-Today, 6:16 am 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans inched closer to a narrow House majority Wednesday, while control of the Senate hinged on a few tight races in a midterm election that defied expectations of sweeping conservative victories driven by frustration over inflation and President Joe Biden’s leadership.Either party could secure a Senate majority with wins in both Nevada and Arizona — where the races were too early to call. But there was a strong possibility that, for the second time in two years, the Senate majority could come down to a runoff in Georgia next month, with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker failing to earn enough votes to win outright.In the House, Republicans on Wednesday night were within a dozen seats of the 218 needed to take control, while Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Kansas and many West Coast contests were still too early to call. In a particularly symbolic victory for the GOP, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the House Democratic campaign chief, lost his bid for a sixth term.Control of Congress will decide how the next two years of Biden’s term play out, and whether he is able to achieve more of his agenda or will see it blocked by a new GOP majority.Republicans are likely to launch a spate of investigations into Biden, his family and his administration if they take power, while a GOP takeover of the Senate would hobble the president’s ability to appoint judges.“Regardless of what the final tally of these elections show, and there’s still some counting going on, I’m prepared to work with my Republican colleagues,” Biden said Wednesday in his first public remarks since the polls closed. “The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well.”Democrats did better than history suggested they would. The party in power almost always suffers losses in the president’s first midterm elections, though even if the GOP ultimately wins the House, it won’t be by a margin as large as during other midterm cycles. Democrats gained a net of 41 House seats under then-President Donald Trump in 2018, President Barack Obama saw the GOP gain 63 in 2010 and Republicans gained 54 seats during President Bill Clinton’s first midterm.A small majority in the House would pose a great challenge for the GOP and especially California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is in line to be House speaker and would have little room for error in navigating a chamber of members eager to leverage their votes to advance their own agenda.In the fight for Senate control, Pennsylvania was a bright spot for Democrats. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke five months ago, flipped a Republican-controlled Senate seat, topping Trump-endorsed Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.Georgia, meanwhile, was set for yet another runoff on Dec. 6. In 2021, Warnock used a runoff to win his seat, as did Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff — which gave Democrats control of the Senate. Both Warnock and Walker were already fundraising off the race stretching into a second round.Both Republican and Democratic incumbents maintained key Senate seats. In Wisconsin, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson prevailed over Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, while in New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan beat Don Bolduc, a retired Army general who had initially promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election but tried to shift away those views closer to Election Day.AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the national electorate, showed that high inflation and concerns about the fragility of democracy were heavily influencing voters. Half of voters said inflation factored significantly, with groceries, gasoline, housing and other costs that have shot up in the past year. Slightly fewer — 44% — said the future of democracy was their primary consideration.Biden didn’t entirely shoulder the blame for inflation, with close to half of voters saying the higher-than-usual prices were more because of factors outside of his control. And despite the president bearing criticism from a pessimistic electorate, some of those voters backed Democratic candidates.Democrats counted on a midterm boost from the Supreme Court’s decision to gut abortion rights, which they thought might energize their voters, and the bet paid off. In four states where the issue was on the ballot, voters backed abortion rights. VoteCast showed that 7 in 10 national voters said overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was an important factor in their midterm decisions. It also showed the reversal was broadly unpopular. And roughly 6 in 10 said they favor a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.In the first national election since the Jan. 6 insurrection, some who participated in or were in the vicinity of the attack on the US Capitol were poised to win elected office.One of those Republican candidates, Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin — who was outside the Capitol during the deadly riot — won a House seat. Another, J.R. Majewski, lost to Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.Republicans had sought to make inroads in liberal New England but were shut out of House contests, with one Maine race still set to be determined by ranked choice voting.Governors’ races took on outsized significance this year, particularly in battleground states that could help decide the results of the 2024 presidential election. Democrats held on to governors’ mansions in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, defeating Republicans who promoted Trump’s lies about a stolen 2020 election. Republicans held on to governors’ mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.Trump found some success as well. He lifted Republican Senate candidates to victory in Ohio and North Carolina. JD Vance, the bestselling author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” defeated 10-term congressman Tim Ryan, while Rep. Ted Budd beat Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court.Trump had endorsed more than 300 candidates across the country, hoping the night would end in a red wave he could ride to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. After summoning reporters and his most loyal supporters to a watch party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Tuesday, he ended the night without a triumphant speech.Still, the former president insisted on social media that he’d had “A GREAT EVENING.” Hours later, Palm Beach County issued an evacuation order for an area that included Trump’s club with Hurricane Nicole approaching.

Democratic edge shrinks in Arizona Senate, governor races-Democrats maintain small but dwindling leads in run for US Senate, governor, and secretary of state-By JONATHAN J. COOPER-NOV 10,22-Today, 6:27 am 0

PHOENIX (AP) — Margins between Democrats and Republicans narrowed considerably Wednesday in key Arizona races as election officials chipped away at counting more than half a million mail ballots returned on Election Day and shortly before.Democrats maintained small but dwindling leads in key races for US Senate, governor and secretary of state, while Republicans were optimistic the late-counted ballots would break heavily in their favor, as they did in 2020.It could take several days before it’s clear who won some of the closer contests.With Republicans still in the hunt, it remained unclear whether the stronger-than-expected showing for Democrats would extend to Arizona, a longtime Republican stronghold that became a battleground during Donald Trump’s presidency.The GOP nominated a slate of candidates who earned Trump’s endorsement after falsely claiming his loss to President Joe Biden was tainted.Among them former television news anchor Kari Lake was about half a point behind Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in the race for governor, a contest that centered heavily on Lake’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. The Republican candidate for attorney general also trailed narrowly.Democrats had more comfortable five-point margins in the races for US Senate and secretary of state, but with so many ballots outstanding, the races were too early to call.In the race for attorney general, Republican Abraham Hamadeh took the lead from Democrat Kris Mayes.Officials in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, said about 17,000 ballots were affected by a printing mishap that prevented vote-counters from reading some ballots, a problem that slowed voting in some locations and infuriated Republicans who were counting on strong Election Day turnout. County officials said all ballots will be counted but gave no timeline for doing so. They did not offer any new information about what caused the problem but promised a thorough review.“There is no perfect election. Yesterday was not a perfect election,” said Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the county board of supervisors. “We will learn from it and do better.”Lake repeated her pledge to immediately call lawmakers into special session upon being sworn in to make massive changes to Arizona election laws. She wants to significantly reduce early and mail voting, options chosen by at least 8 in 10 Arizona voters, and to count all ballots by hand, which election administrators say would be extremely time consuming.Ballots can have dozens of races on them. Maricopa County has more than 50 judges on the ballot, on top of state and local races and 10 ballot measures.“We’re going to go back to small precincts where it’s easier to detect problems and easier to fix them and it’ll be easier to hand count votes as well,” Lake told Fox News host Tucker Carlson Wednesday night. “These are some of the things I’d like to see happen. I’ll work with the Legislature.”A political urban-rural divide was evident among Arizona voters.Democrats Katie Hobbs and Sen. Mark Kelly each drew support from nearly two-thirds of urban voters, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 3,200 voters in Arizona.Suburban voters split about evenly between the two Democratic candidates and their GOP rivals, Kari Lake and Blake Masters. Small town and rural voters were more likely to favor Lake and Masters.In the Senate race, suburban men and women were divided in their candidate preferences. Suburban men clearly favored Masters, suburban women Kelly.In the race for governor, suburban men overwhelmingly backed Lake, while suburban women slightly favored Hobbs.Meanwhile, Republicans who control the three-member board of supervisors in southeastern Arizona’s GOP-heavy Cochise County voted Wednesday to appeal a judge’s decision that blocked them from hand-counting all the ballots, which are also being tabulated by machines.The efforts to hand-count ballots in the county and elsewhere across the nation are driven by unfounded concerns among some Republicans that problems with vote-counting machines or voter fraud led to Trump’s 2020 defeat.A judge said the plan ran afoul of state election law that limits hand counts to a small sample of ballots, a process meant to confirm the machine count was accurate.

Posthumous win-Dead Pennsylvania state lawmaker wins reelection-Tony DeLuca, a Democrat who represented a Pittsburgh suburb in the state legislature’s lower house, died last month; on Tuesday, he crushed Green Party challenger Zarah LivingstonBy AFP and TOI staff-NOV 10,22-Today, 3:16 am

A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who died of cancer last month was reelected by a crushing margin, news reports quoting preliminary results said.Tony DeLuca, a Democrat who represented a Pittsburgh suburb in the lower house of the state legislature, crushed Green Party challenger Zarah Livingston. But Deluca died of lymphoma on October 9 at the age of 85. It was too late to get his name off the ballot in Tuesday’s nationwide US legislative elections.DeLuca retained his seat with 86 percent of the votes in his race, with 98 percent of the ballots counted.A special election will now be held to decide who gets his seat.“While we’re incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by reelecting him posthumously,” the Pennsylvania Democratic Party said.According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, DeLuca was the longest-serving member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. He served for 39 years.While we're incredibly saddened by the loss of Representative Tony DeLuca, we are proud to see the voters to continue to show their confidence in him and his commitment to Democratic values by re-electing him posthumously. A special election will follow soon. pic.twitter.com/CfLnSCuvK9— PA House Dems (@PAHDCC) November 9, 2022

US envoy says White House ‘will fight’ any Israeli West Bank annexation efforts-Tom Nides says he expects to work closely with incoming government, says it remains to be seen if he’d meet with far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir-By Amy Spiro-NOV 10,22-Today, 12:52 pm 6

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides warned in interviews that the White House would push back against any attempts by the expected incoming Israeli government to annex all or parts of the West Bank.“Our position is quite clear: We do not support annexation. We will fight any attempt to do so,” Nides told the Kan public broadcaster’s diplomatic correspondent Gili Cohen in an interview aired Thursday, adding that “most of the Arab countries” feel the same way.Nides’s comments came after senior Likud MK Yariv Levin said following his meeting with President Isaac Herzog during party consultations on Wednesday that West Bank annexation was high on the government’s agenda.“We brought the State of Israel closer than ever before to applying sovereignty [over the West Bank],” Levin said at the President’s Residence. “We were just a step away on that issue in the past, and I hope that we’ll be able to continue in that direction.”Just ahead of the Abraham Accords in 2020, then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an intention to move ahead with annexing portions of the West Bank with the support of then-president Donald Trump.But the plan was shelved as part of the burgeoning peace deal with the United Arab Emirates, which strongly opposed any annexation efforts.In an interview with the Ynet news site on Wednesday, Nides said that he was not worried by the prospect of annexation, and did not expect Israel to try to go through with it.The US envoy told Kan that he intends to work closely with the expected future right-wing government.“I want to start with a relationship with this government that is strong, that is enduring. I want to work closely with prime minister Netanyahu,” said Nides. “That said, we have to stand up for the things that we believe in — that’s what American values are about… There will be times that we will articulate what we believe our differences are.”Asked if he would meet with far-right Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben Gvir, who is expected to receive a senior cabinet post, Nides said time would tell.“I’m not going to make draconian statements that I’m not ever going to talk to anyone — it doesn’t matter left or right,” said Nides. “We’ll see who gets to be in these positions… I want to see rhetorically what they say and how they act.”The US envoy said his job “is to keep dialogues going, conversations going, but push back on things we disagree with — and I will be pushing back aggressively on things that we disagree with.”Asked if he would invite Ben Gvir to the traditional embassy July 4 party next year, Nides laughed loudly, and said only: “There are a lot of things that could happen in the next six months.”US officials have privately expressed serious concerns over the potential future role of Ben Gvir, a firebrand MK who ran an anti-Arab campaign and has a history of inflammatory statements, as well as past convictions for incitement.On Monday, US President Joe Biden phoned Netanyahu to congratulate him on last week’s election victory.According to a Hebrew statement from Netanyahu’s office, during the eight-minute phone call with Biden, the US leader told Israel’s presumed next premier that “we’re brothers” and “we’ll make history together.”An official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration is still waiting for the Israeli government to be formed before making any policy decisions. However, the US will likely have a hard time working with ministers such as Ben Gvir and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, the official said.Pressed for his reaction on the rise of the far-right in Israel, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US “hope[s] that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups.”Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Op-ed-Israel could be en route to a tyranny of the majority-The ‘override clause’ planned by the incoming coalition risks leaving Israel without an effective independent judiciary and no guaranteed civil liberties-By David Horovitz    Today, 10:05 am 53

All four parties in Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming coalition are interested in reducing the power of the Supreme Court by legislating a so-called “override clause” that would drastically restrict the justices’ capacity to intervene in Knesset legislation and government decisions.Among the arguments advanced in support of such a move is the court’s ostensible over-involvement in lawmaking; the claim that our politicians, as elected representatives of the people, should hold ultimate sway over non-elected judges; and the fact that parliament holds primacy over the courts even in such mighty democracies as Britain.There is indeed nothing unacceptable about examining the separation of powers — the rights, responsibilities and delicate relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature — to ensure that the checks and balances necessary in a democracy, including the capacity of the majority to rule and the minority to enjoy protection, are functioning effectively. There is a great deal to fear, however, from a purported “reform” of those checks and balances that actually demolishes them, and gives the elected political majority of the day near-absolute or even absolute authority.In Israel, it should be noted front and center, the legislature — our 120-seat Knesset — can generally exercise precious little control over government-backed legislation and decision-making. And with the November 1 elections having given the extremely homogeneous right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties a decisive majority, with 64 seats, opposition voices in the Knesset are broadly rendered powerless to resist.That leaves the justices of the Supreme Court as the only brake on coalition-backed legislation and administrative decisions.In Britain, which has a Bill of Rights and where the existence of two Houses of Parliament already brings more diverse voices to bear on legislation, the courts do not have the right to strike down laws as unconstitutional or anti-democratic, but they can and do warn of such dangers, and the political echelon almost invariably amends as necessary. Here, the entire motivation for the intended “override clause” is to enable the ruling majority to disregard judicial objections. Furthermore, as ToI’s Raoul Wootliff noted when he wrote extensively about the override debate three years ago, Israel has no federalized state system, no constitution, no bill of rights to mitigate the government’s authority and help guarantee individual protections.Until about a decade ago, our once and soon-to-be prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu avowedly protected the independence of the Supreme Court against precisely such “reforms” as an override clause.“Now, what is the real test of a democracy? It’s not over this or that radical proposal or this or that extreme bill, but on how the leadership responds to these proposals,” Netanyahu told the Knesset Channel in an interview in 2012. “Listen, there have been proposals to limit or cut the power of the Supreme Court, which is one of the pillars of our democracy, and I prevented all of them. All of them! I have repeatedly protected the independence of the Supreme Court: The law to limit its authority — I buried it; the law for public hearings of judges in the Knesset committees — I buried it; the law to change the makeup of the Judicial Appointments Committee — I buried it,” he specified. “The fact that people put forward proposals is part of democracy, but the real test is what passes and what doesn’t pass. So no, there is no danger to Israeli democracy. It is strong. And I am certainly, certainly committed to it.”Right now, though, as Netanyahu is pulling together his coalition, the calls from his potential partners and from within his own Likud to legislate an “override clause” have reached a crescendo. And, unlike a decade ago, Netanyahu has a very personal interest in the process.Depending on its scope and reach, such a clause could hamper or abolish altogether the justices’ capacity to oversee the Knesset and cabinet and to overturn their laws and decisions — as the court has done on issues such as the treatment of illegal immigrants, the legalization of settlements built on private Palestinian land, and the exemption of ultra-Orthodox youths from military service. Depending on its scope and reach, indeed, the clause could enable the infringement, curtailing or abolition of far wider freedoms — on everything from LGBTQ rights to the status of non-Orthodox Judaism, Arab Israeli and Palestinian rights and status, the free press, you name it — turning Israel’s governance into a “tyranny of the majority,” in the vivid summation of criminal and constitutional law expert Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer.For Netanyahu personally, a neutered Supreme Court could facilitate the unimpeded passage of legislation rendering prime ministers immune from prosecution, its retroactive application, and the abolition of the charge of “fraud and breach of trust” — all of which would bring an end to his current corruption trial, and all of which are being openly advocated by members of his expected coalition. (In France, too, the president cannot be indicted while in office for offenses allegedly committed during his term; but in France, the president can serve only two five-year terms.)-Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, whose ultimate declared goal is for an Israeli theocracy, and who is eyeing the Justice Ministry among other portfolios in the coalition negotiations, is also seeking to “reform” the process by which Israel chooses its justices, and thereby to ensure that the ruling majority determines who gets to sit on the country’s top court. In essence, therefore, Smotrich is aiming to neuter our independent judiciary twice over — both to handpick the justices and to ensure that they can’t interfere with the governing coalition’s activities anyway.Over the years, as the idea of an override clause has risen and fallen, proposals have varied regarding how large a Knesset majority would be required to impose it and how wide-ranging its potential application. Israel’s judicial hierarchy has itself at times suggested that re-legislating a law struck down by the Supreme Court would be appropriate were 75 or 80 of the 120 Knesset members to back it. In almost any conceivable Israeli political circumstance, this would mean a substantial number of opposition Knesset members would also be backing the re-legislation. That does not appear to be the nascent coalition’s idea.Nobody knows right now the specifics of the override clause the coalition will move to pass, including whether it could impact all rights and all of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws. But multiple Hebrew media reports this week have suggested that the favored framework would require the support of only 61 MKs, that it would be widely applicable, and that Netanyahu is inclined to support this. If that proves to be the case, the incoming coalition — which won the support of only a fraction more than half of those who voted on November 1 — would be destroying the only legitimate constraint on its governance. And Israel, lacking an effective independent judiciary and guaranteed civil liberties, would no longer be a democracy.As then-president Reuven Rivlin noted in 2018, “protecting the rights of the minority does not merely balance the right of the majority to rule and decide. In the absence of protection for the rights of the minority, the determining majority is nothing more than a tyrant.”

UTJ, Religious Zionism back Netanyahu for PM as Herzog continues consultations-Yisrael Beytenu declines to endorse candidate; United Torah Judaism lawmakers vow to block changes to status quo on Temple Mount after president’s hot mic warning about Ben Gvir-By Amy Spiro-NOV 10,22-Today, 2:35 pm 0

Representatives of the United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism parties formally backed Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister during meetings with President Isaac Herzog on Thursday.With their backing, Netanyahu has so far received 58 nods in support of him receiving the mandate to form the next government, and is expected to reach 63 or 64 by the end of the day, following Herzog’s separate meetings with the Otzma Yehudit and Noam factions.Herzog sat down with the party representatives a day after he was overheard on a hot mic saying that “the entire world” was concerned about far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party ran on a joint slate with Religious Zionism and Noam in last week’s election.The president was heard telling representatives from Shas: “You’re going to have a problem with the Temple Mount. That’s a critical issue,” adding that with Ben Gvir — who has pushed for major changes at the flashpoint holy site — “you have a partner that the entire world is anxious about.”At the outset of his meeting with UTJ, Herzog joked that they were being “very careful with the sound these days,” to laughs from the gathered officials.After the party’s meeting with Herzog, UTJ lawmakers told reporters that they would not support any changes at the flashpoint site.“We’re concerned with any steps that anyone takes on the Temple Mount,” said UTJ MK Uri Maklev. Party MK Ya’akov Asher added that UTJ “will not take part in any change” to the status quo, and MK Meir Porush added: “Netanyahu won’t either.”The ultra-Orthodox parties, along with the Chief Rabbinate, are opposed to the ascension of Jews to the holy site because they believe that Torah law bans setting foot in the sacred area.Ben Gvir and many on the political right have long pushed for greater access and control over the Temple Mount, which is largely controlled by the Jordanian Waqf. Currently, Jews can only visit the site at certain times, and are barred from praying there.In the meeting with Herzog, UTJ chief Yitzhak Goldknopf said his party’s voters had felt personally targeted by the actions of the outgoing government, “and were greatly harmed,” a likely reference to taxes on disposable tableware and sweetened drinks, which the party has vowed to repeal.Goldknopf promised, however, to work on behalf of the entire Israeli public, not just the Haredi community.Religious Zionism MK Orit Strock told Herzog after formally backing Netanyahu that reforms in the judicial system are a priority for the party.“We have a lot of appreciation for the judicial system as a system, and for the judges and their efforts… but there is no doubt that there is a great deal to fix, and that there is a large population that is waiting for that fix,” Strock told Herzog.Future Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal said that the relationship with Diaspora Jewry “is at the top of our agenda,” referencing plans to work on education, world youth groups and fighting antisemitism.President Isaac Herzog (left) meets with representatives of the Yisrael Beytenu party during consultations at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on November 10, 2022. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)-A delegation from Yisrael Beytenu declined to formally back any candidate for the next prime minister, saying that the outcome of the election is “very clear.”Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer said the party is particularly concerned that the expected future government will work to change the Law of Return, which currently offers Israeli citizenship to anyone with at least one parent with Jewish ancestry.Any such change, said Forer, “would be scandalous in terms of our worldview.”The current law is strongly opposed by the ultra-Orthodox parties as well as many in Religious Zionism, for granting citizenship to many not considered Jewish under Orthodox Jewish law.On Wednesday, Likud and Shas formally backed Netanyahu as the next prime minister, while Yesh Atid gave its support to Yair Lapid and National Unity declined to support any candidate.Despite the fact that Ben Gvir and Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich announced on Sunday that they would negotiate their entry into the coalition as a bloc, Herzog is meeting separately with all three factions on the joint electoral slate.On Thursday afternoon Herzog is scheduled to meet with Otzma Yehudit, Noam and Ra’am. The president’s office said that he will complete his round of consultations on Friday — meeting with Labor and Hadash-Ta’al — and is expected to hand the mandate to Netanyahu on Sunday.Likud officials said Wednesday that their bloc “will make an effort to form the government as quickly as possible,” once Netanyahu is formally tasked with the job. Despite not being awarded the mandate yet, the Likud leader has held a series of meetings with his allied party leaders over the past week.

Iran claims to develop hypersonic missile that can breach all defense shields-Commander of Revolutionary Guards aerospace unit predicts that for decades, no technology will be able to counter the new weapon-By AFP-NOV 10,22-Today, 11:43 am 6

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has developed a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating all defense systems, General Amirali Hajizadeh, the commander of its Revolutionary Guards aerospace unit, claimed on Thursday.Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles which can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly more than five times the speed of sound.“This hypersonic ballistic missile was developed to counter air defense shields,” Hajizadeh said, quoted by Iran’s Fars news agency.“It will be able to breach all the systems of anti-missile defense,” said the general, adding that he believed it would take decades before a system capable of intercepting it is developed.“This missile, which targets enemy anti-missile systems, represents a great generational leap in the field of missiles.”The announcement comes after Iran admitted on Saturday that it had sent drones to Russia, but said it had done so before the Ukraine war.The Washington Post reported on October 16 that Iran was preparing to ship missiles to Russia, but Tehran rejected the report as “completely false.”Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles fly on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching targets more quickly.North Korea’s test of a hypersonic missile last year sparked concerns about a race to acquire the technology.Russia currently leads the race to develop the missiles, followed by China and the United States.Both Iran and Russia are targeted by stringent sanctions — Iran after the US unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, and Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February.The two countries have responded to the sanctions by boosting cooperation in key areas to help prop up their economies.-Stalled nuclear talks-A hypersonic missile is maneuverable, making it harder to track and defend against.While countries like the United States have developed systems designed to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, the ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains a question.Thursday’s announcement comes against a backdrop of stalled talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.The deal reached with six major powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US — gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for guarantees it could not develop an atomic weapon.Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.The deal collapsed after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 under then president Donald Trump.It also follows Iran’s announcement on November 5 of the successful test flight of a rocket capable of propelling satellites into space.The United States has repeatedly voiced concern that such launches could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology, extending to the potential delivery of nuclear warheads.In March, the US government imposed sanctions on Iran’s missile-related activities.It said in a statement at the time that the punitive measures followed “Iran’s recent missile attack on Arbil, Iraq, as well as missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”“These attacks are a reminder that Iran’s development and proliferation of ballistic missiles pose a serious threat to regional and international security,” it said.

Accusing rival of fomenting unrest, Iran warns Saudi Arabia its patience running out-Intelligence minister says destiny of two neighbors is linked, cautions that any instability is ‘contagious’ and can spread to other countries in the region-By AFP-NOV 10,22-Today, 2:16 pm 0

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has warned its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, that it will retaliate against moves to destabilize it at a time of daily protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.Street violence flared across Iran after the 22-year-old Amini died on September 16, following her arrest by the morality police for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.Iran has accused its enemies, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, of being behind the unrest that it says has led to dozens of deaths, mostly among demonstrators but also among the security forces.“I would like to say to Saudi Arabia that our destiny and that of other countries in the region are linked to each other because of us being neighbors,” its intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, said on Wednesday.“For Iran, any instability in the countries of the region is contagious, and any instability in Iran can be contagious to the countries of the region,” he said, quoted on the website of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.“The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far adopted strategic patience but it cannot guarantee that it will maintain this strategic patience if hostilities against it continue,” the minister added.“If the Islamic Republic decides to punish these countries, their glass palaces will collapse and they will no longer enjoy stability.”Last month, Iran accused the CIA and its counterparts in Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia of “plotting” against it.

Putin will not go to G20 summit in Bali, may participate via video link-Russia’s foreign minister to attend instead; experts warn absence of Russian president would stymie progress on resolving Ukraine war and its global economic fallout-By Lucie GODEAU and Jack Moore-NOV 10,22-Today, 8:49 am 2

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 leaders’ summit in Indonesia next week, Moscow’s embassy in Jakarta told AFP on Thursday.It was the first Russian confirmation that Putin will not travel to the resort island of Bali for the summit, which would have put him in the same room as US President Joe Biden for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in February.Biden has called Putin a “war criminal” and ruled out meeting him in Bali if he went unless the conversation involved the release of Americans held in Russia.“I can confirm that (foreign minister) Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin’s program is still being worked out, he could participate virtually,” said Yulia Tomskaya, the embassy’s chief of protocol.The decision follows months of speculation about Putin’s participation at the November 15-16 summit.The Kremlin is expected to try and shield itself from Western condemnation over the war, in which its forces are suffering setbacks in the face of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.Another source with knowledge of Russia’s G20 planning confirmed that Putin would be replaced by Lavrov.The person said it was unclear if the Russian leader would attend virtually as “the issue has not been finalized.”Lavrov walked out of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali in July after officials roundly condemned Russia over Ukraine.Host Indonesia pursues a neutral foreign policy and has rebuffed Western calls to disinvite Russia from the summit.Indonesian President Joko Widodo had invited Putin despite the invasion, prompting a flurry of Western criticism. In August, he said Putin had accepted that invitation.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend virtually. He had threatened to boycott the summit if Putin attended.Ukraine is not a G20 member.Increasing isolation-Experts said Putin’s absence would hurt the summit, with no progress likely to be made on the Ukraine war and its global economic fallout.“The G20 cannot do much, so it will only be a symbolic forum. Their discussion is always stuck on the issue of war,” said Radityo Dharmaputra, a Russia and eastern Europe expert at Indonesia’s Airlangga University.“The main issue itself — the war — cannot be discussed and resolved. Fruitful results might come up in bilateral meetings but the rest of it is just the leaders trying to attend in respect for Indonesia as the host.”While Biden has shunned contact with his Russian counterpart, France has warned against worsening Putin’s isolation on the world stage.Russia refers to its invasion as a special military operation to “de-Nazify” Ukraine and blames subsequent Western sanctions for the global food and energy crises that followed.While those sanctions have gnawed at Russia’s war effort, other countries have maintained economic ties with Moscow. India and China stepped up their purchases of Russian oil.-Global crises-The G20 summit will be the biggest meeting of the bloc since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Fresh from securing a historic third term, Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to attend.The Chinese leader will be looking to shore up Beijing’s global alliances in the face of US competition without close ally Putin in toe.The