Welcome Yair Lapid, Goodbye Naftali Bennett

Yair Lapid swears in as interim Prime Minister of Israel at midnight, replacing Naftali Bennett, who announced not be running in the next elections being held on November 01, 2022.

This makes Lapid the 14th Prime Minister of Israel

Bennett, Lapid and their families participated in a small ceremony for Lapid's transition to Prime Minister. Before the ceremony, Lapid also paid a visit to Yad Vashem.

"Yair, I'm handing you the stick," Bennett told Lapid. "This country and this position do not belong to any one person. We're doing this together and now it's your time."

The Knesset dispersed a few hours earlier the same day with a 92-0 vote.

When Knesset Speaker Miki Levy announced the dissolution of the 24th Knesset, Bennett rose from his chair and signaled incoming Prime Minister Lapid that he would be replaced.

The two are expected to sit down for a long conversation in which they will discuss the overlap between them, Ynet reported.

On Tuesday, Lapid will make his first political trip abroad as Prime Minister to France, and will meet with French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron.

He will also host US President Joe Biden in his visit to Israel.

In accordance with the coalition agreement, Naftali Bennett stepped down from the premiership, becoming alternate prime minister, a title Lapid held for the past year. Lapid will remain foreign minister, as well.

Lapid’s first stop after becoming prime minister was the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem, which he said he visited “to promise my father that I will always keep Israel strong and capable of defending itself and protecting its children.” His father, former justice minister Tommy Lapid, was a Holocaust survivor.

After that, Lapid went to the Prime Minister’s Office for a handover ceremony and transition meeting with Bennett. Lapid’s wife, Lihi, and Bennett’s wife, Gilat, and their children attended, as did Prime Minister’s Office staff, but the ceremony was otherwise closed to press or guests.

Lapid made brief remarks, saying to Bennett, “I have worked under Prime Ministers. I am familiar with Prime Ministers. You are a good man and an excellent Prime Minister. You are also a good friend. This is not a farewell ceremony because there is no intention to take leave of you."

Bennett told Lapid that Israel and the premiership do not belong to any one person; they belong to the entire people of Israel.

“I hand over to you the responsibility for the State of Israel. I wish that you guard it well and may G-d watch over you,” he said.

Bennett wished Lapid luck and said to him the blessing parents traditionally say to children on Shabbat, “May G-d make you like Efraim and Menashe. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His face to you and grant you peace.”

Lapid said his mother, author Shulamit Lapid, had blessed him in the same way earlier that day.

The new Prime Minister’s next stop was expected to be the residence of President Isaac Herzog. Lapid’s first trip as Prime Minister, originally planned for Bennett, is set for Tuesday.

 

 

Can election in Lebanon restore peace and stability in the country?

In Lebanon polling is being held today (Sunday) and the country’s future could depend on a high turnout among the diasporas and voting changes in the country. However, the Hezbollah stranglehold on the country is expected to remain.

Israel terms this Catch-22 that it has been facing for years. It wants to Lebanon to be stable and successful. It accuses Hezbollah of siphoning off resources to build up its arsenal. Israel believes, if Lebanon is weakened, Hezbollah wins by forcing Lebanese to flee the country as it continues to grow its Iranian-financed tentacles.

According to reports more than 100,000 Lebanese living abroad have already cast ballots for the parliamentary election, many backing political newcomers after the worst crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war led to widespread poverty and a wave of emigration. Sunday’s election would be the first for the 128-member legislature since mass protests in October 2019 against political elites widely seen as responsible for decades of corruption and mismanagement.

The western media says, “Once a successful country seen as a stable, prosperous, diverse and beautiful global destination for tourists and intellectuals has long fallen into religious extremism and chaos”.

It is often alleged that Hezbollah has benefited from the chaos. When Saudi Arabia and Sunni Arab powers grew concerned about the Iranian-backed Shi’ite extremist movement, Lebanon began to look like it could fall into sectarian conflict similar to Iraq.

Later Riyadh appeared to withdraw support. Saudi Arabia had helped guarantee peace in the country after the Civil War of the 1970s and 1980s. However, the demographic-sectarian balance that underpins politics in Lebanon has been hijacked.

Western media openly says that Hezbollah not only uses Lebanon as a launching pad for threats against Israel; it also threatens the entire region. Yet Hezbollah does not have a way to solely control the parliament in Lebanon, and the sectarian voting system means it must ally with Christian and Druze parties. It has successfully done so in the past, controlling appointments to the presidency and even coming to control ministries.

The biggest tragedy is that Lebanon faces a huge financial crisis. Reports say that 80% of Lebanese are already in living poverty, and the Lebanese currency is losing value. This is likely, in part, the fault of the country’s elites who keep their money abroad.

Western media also plays mantra that the pandemic, inflation and the new crisis in Ukraine that has disrupted some global food supplies will add to the woes of the small country. Consider also that supply chain issues related to China mean that Lebanon will suffer even more. Endless and tough lockdowns in places like Shanghai are spreading global chaos. Lebanon was already on the brink. What might happen next?

Some media reports see Lebanon as being a victim of rivalries in the region. This posits that actors like Iran prey on Lebanon because they want to harm Israel. However the reality is much more complex. Iran uses Lebanon as an outlet to the Mediterranean, and Tehran is now involved via militias in the drug trade from Syria that threatens Jordan and the Gulf.

According to the western media, Lebanon is part of the Iranian axis, even though many Lebanese don’t approve of this hijacking. The UN has failed to rein in Hezbollah and enforce demands that its illegal weapons do not percolate around the country, yet Hezbollah continues to build up an arsenal.

A recent video appeared to show a new anti-ship missile in Hezbollah’s hands. Israel recently upgraded and received new naval platforms, such as the Sa’ar 6. This will matter in any future conflict with the armed Lebanese terror group.

Hezbollah also slammed US mediator Amos Hochstein recently, proclaiming in a video that it did not want to meet with any more “Steins,” a thinly veiled antisemitic reference that sought to highlight Hochstein’s Jewish background. With this language, it is hard to be optimistic about any future negotiations with Lebanon that might settle the maritime boundary and also enable peace and stability.

The US mantra is that Lebanese should work closely with the US and partners in the region to make sure Lebanon remains stable, regardless of the outcome of the election.

 

 

Iran presidential lineup

The Iranian Interior Ministry finally issued the much-awaited list of candidates who were found eligible to run for president, ending a wave of rumors and speculations over the potential array of candidates in the June presidential election. 

The Ministry said in a statement that it received the list of candidates whose qualifications were confirmed by the Guardian Council. The list included a number of prominent figures such as Saeed Jalili, Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, Alireza Zakani, Seyed Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi, Mohsen Mehralizadeh, Mohsen Rezaei, and Abdolnaser Hemmati.

These candidates are now allowed to start election campaigns and promote themselves in the eyes of millions of voters across the country. 

The list of candidates came as a surprise to many observers as it did not include some prominent figures that have been widely thought to be qualified for the 13th presidential election of the Islamic Republic. Former Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, First-Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, and Saeed Mohammad, the former Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps’ engineering conglomerate Khatam al-Anbiya, were among the disqualified candidates. 

According to Fars News, the election vetting body disqualified at least 18 candidates who are principlist or close to the principlist faction. It also rejected 14 candidates who are reformists or close to the reformist faction. 

This was a clear indication that the Guardian Council refused to vet candidates on the basis of their political affiliation. In fact, the council set a clear example of impartiality and abiding by law by disqualifying Larijani, who currently serves as an advisor to the Leader on international affairs. 

Larijani was widely promoted by moderate and reformist political circles as a candidate whose ties to the establishment enable him to earn qualification from the council and turn the tide in favor of reformists and their moderate allies in the government of Hassan Rouhani. 

But the Guardian Council made it clear that its vetting process is by no means subject to political or “expediency” considerations. Instead, it would examine the candidates in strict accordance with the law. 

In fact, the disqualification of Larijani indicated that the council never discriminates against candidates from different political and social backgrounds. At the end of the day, Larijani has held high-level posts in the Islamic Republic for years and now is currently serving as an advisor to the Leader. This is another indication that the Guardian Council can discharge its legal duties even when it comes to disqualifying high-level figures.

This brings us to the issue of the fluidity of the vetting process, which is more subject to present-day considerations than to past experiences. In some cases, the Guardian Council confirms individuals who have been disqualified in the past and vice versa. This does not mean that council’s criteria for screening are changing from time to time. The standards and criteria of the Guardian Council are subject to the law as a yardstick for who will be qualified or disqualified.

Regardless of the standards, the council performs its duty in legal but quiet ways. Usually, the oversight body does not publicly reveal the reasons behind its decisions regarding the candidates. And this has paved the way for some political factions to unfairly blame it for disqualifying certain candidates. Despite these criticisms, the council continues to protect the confidentiality of the vetting process. This has much to do with protecting the privacy of candidates.  

If the council reveals the reasons behind the disqualifications, the disqualified candidates’ reputation may be damaged; at the end of the day, the vetting process also includes security details about the candidates. That’s why the Guardian Council continues to vet candidates in a legal way while protecting the candidates’ reputation from being undermined by a formal process that is designed to increase social and political cohesion.