If you thought the explosions were over in Lebanon, well, then you just don’t know anything about Lebanon. Its civil war lasted, officially, for 15 years and still nobody really won!
Explosion in Lebanon Continues to Reverberate
Although most sources agree that the prime ingredient in the massive explosion that rocked Beirut last week was ammonium nitrate, it’s still quite unclear why it was there in the first place and what ignited it.
Hezbollah is doing everything it can to conceal this information. Not since O.J. Simpson has a party appeared more guilty and yet claimed it wasn’t.
Meanwhile, the entire Lebanese cabinet has resigned their positions in response to the disaster. Where Lebanon goes from here politically is anyone’s guess. The current president of Lebanon has asked that everyone stay on to help with transition, but it’s unclear what they will be transitioning to.
There are even some in Lebanon calling for a return of French rule and, let’s just say, you don’t hear that everyday. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. Maybe it was heard in France during World War II. Maybe.
For the time being, it appears that the threat of another attack by Hezbollah on Israel has been significantly reduced. You can never be certain with maniac terrorists, but for now the IDF has pulled back the additional forces that had been sent to the border to reinforce Israeli forces there.
There remains a widespread belief among many in the Israeli public that the materials that exploded in Beirut were intended by Hezbollah to explode in Israel. The head of Hezbollah had previously stated that specifically.
Moshe Feiglin – no idea what title to give him nowadays – probably said it best when he said that he’s happy it exploded there and not in Israel. Of course there were some who thought his statement was insensitive – and they have no business living in the Middle East… or maybe anywhere.
Coalition Crisis/Early Elections?
There continues to be daily drama between the Likud Party and the Blue and White Party. The main fight now is over the budget. Blue and White wants a two-year budget and Likud wants a one-year budget. Or maybe Likud doesn’t really care.
However, the coalition agreement says if a budget isn’t passed by a certain date, elections will be called and Prime Minister Netanyahu will remain prime minister until those elections. This is possibly the only way for that to happen, hence the view that Netanyahu is carefully orchestrating this coalition crisis just to prevent Benny Gantz from ever becoming prime minister.
A compromise was recently proposed and accepted (in theory) by all parties to delay the deadline for when the budget has to get passed. I think the expression that most accurately describes this move is “kicking the can down the road.”
In the meantime, nothing else is really getting done. Maybe with the delay, something will get done – like curing corona!
Corona in Israel
Coronavirus cases continue to increase in Israel at a rate of over 1,000 a day. The numbers of deaths and seriously ill patients continue to rise as well.
The government official in charge of corona continues to threaten a countrywide lockdown if numbers don’t get better. Nobody, including the Knesset, seems to be taking him very seriously.
Israel is planning to soon open its borders to foreign tourists from designated countries and allow outdoor events like concerts. Outside of charedi areas, there is no enforcement on wearing masks. In charedi areas, not wearing a mask remains a serious crime that requires violence against on the perpetuator, regardless of age, immediately upon detection.
Anti-Netanyahu Protests Continue
Speaking of not wearing masks or social distancing, thousands of leftists continue to protest against Prime Minister Netanyahu in the streets and parks of Jerusalem. Some leftists publications were suggesting that right-wing people had now joined the protests as well. They made the mistake of identifying the “right-wing” protestors – who all turned out to be quite the outliers. Fake news is what they do.
All current polls put the Likud party, led by Netanyahu, way ahead of any other party, and these corona-spreading protests seem to have had very, very little effect.
Extending Sovereignty
Earlier this week, there were reports that US Ambassador David Friedman had flown to the U.S. for intensive discussions on U.S. support for applying Israeli sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Soon it was quickly changed to a “personal visit.” Now the left is reporting that the “Palestinian Authority” says it has been promised that sovereignty will not happen.
Wow, who is less believable – the leftist press or the terrorists in Ramallah? Seth Rogen. Seth Rogen is less believable.