Gideon Sa’ar suggested that Netanyahu’s Likud party might make the request just so that it could pass problematic laws before the new government is sworn in.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Outgoing Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar called Tuesday for President Isaac Herzog to reject any Likud party request to extend the coalition negotiations’ deadline, claiming it would be “deceitful.”

Since all the designated coalition partners have now signed on to the formal request to replace the Knesset Speaker, which is a move made by all new administrations so that they can control the pace of legislation, this “indicates that the formation of the government has been completed,” Sa’ar tweeted.

Therefore, he charged, “Netanyahu’s request to the President for additional days for this purpose is deceitful.” According to Sa’ar, the reason for such a request. if made, would be to enable the incoming prime minister to “pass personal and problematic laws according to the demand of his partners before the formation of the government.”

“That is not why the president was given the authority in the law to extend the deadline,” Sa’ar continued, referring to the period of up to two weeks that Herzog could theoretically give the lead party. “The president must reject Netanyahu’s request.”

Senior members of the outgoing government, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid, have repeatedly claimed that Netanyahu would try to pass legislation that would cancel his corruption trial and “destroy democracy” by allowing a Knesset majority to override Supreme Court decisions.

What is immediately necessary, however, is a change in the law to enable Shas leader Arye Deri to become a minister by defining the suspended sentence he received for tax violations as a legal non-issue. Shas made this a precondition for joining the coalition, and so a new government cannot be sworn in until this legislation is approved by the Knesset.

Sa’ar presumably believes that this was why the incipient coalition members were jumping the gun, as it were, in requesting to install a new Knesset speaker.

An extension may also become necessary because neither of the ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, has signed a coalition deal with the Likud yet, although it is expected that they will do so in the coming days. However, the deadline to form a mandate without a legal postponement is this coming Sunday.

It is considered doubtful that all the details will be finalized by then. This includes the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit and Noam parties, which did sign coalition agreements whose general provisions have been made public but whose specifics have yet to be nailed down.

Sources close to Herzog told Hebrew-language Maariv Monday night that the president has thus far received no request to extend Netanyahu’s mandate, but if he does, he would “study the material and the precedents” before making a decision.

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The disaster that claimed 45 lives must be investigated impartially rather than by the government, say the families of those who died in the Lag b’Omer festivities last month.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The families of the 45 victims who died last month during the Lag B’Omer celebration in Meron sent a letter Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that an independent probe be made into the cause of Israel’s worst-ever civilian disaster.

“We want to say in a loud, clear, and unequivocal voice that cannot be misinterpreted, all the families as one, that we are demanding an independent state commission of inquiry,” the letter said.

The Knesset Arrangements Committee is set to discuss the matter Monday. The opposition controls the committee agenda, and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, head of the opposition, has already said he will try to fast-track a bill to set up such a commission.

A state commission is headed by a former or current Supreme Court judge and is considered an impartial investigation untainted by politics. Although its final recommendations are not binding, they are considered serious and are usually followed by the relevant government ministries.

The letter said that only such a group can be trusted to uncover those responsible for the disaster and prevent it from happening again.

“We believe that only a state commission of inquiry will investigate the matter completely and thoroughly [so as to] … prevent the next tragedy and apply justice in the most correct way to all the elements involved,” the authors wrote.

So far, only the police and the Police Internal Investigations Department are investigating the tragedy, where a crush of people fell on top of each other on a slippery, narrow incline while leaving one of the traditional bonfire sites on the mountain that contains the grave of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

Interior Minister Arye Deri, who heads the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas party, had taken credit before the event for overruling health considerations and getting permission for unrestricted access to the site. Up to 100,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox men and boys ended up attending, when in pre-Covid 19 years the crowds have been even larger.

After the tragedy, Shas and fellow haredi party United Torah Judaism called for a proposed bill to establish a public committee of inquiry that would be run by a former local authority head appointed by Deri. It would consist of representatives of the Interior, Public Security and Religious Services ministries and the Chief Rabbinate, and two others the committee would decide on together.

Opponents saw this move as a way for the ultra-religious parties to basically investigate themselves, as the Interior and Religious Services ministries are run by Shas, and the Chief Rabbinate is also a bastion of the haredi parties.

On Wednesday, UTJ turned around and supported a state commission of inquiry. UTJ MK Moshe Gafni wrote to Netanyahu that the government should initiate it as “the right way to obtain a legal solution regarding the sanctuaries and ownership at Meron, as well as comfort for the families of the dead.”

Supervision over the site and the annual mass celebration is currently divided among a hodgepodge of bodies and security professionals have considered it a safety hazard for years.

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Wanting to pray at the grave of  the Breslov leader on Rosh Hashana, they ignored Kiev’s August declaration that borders would be closed due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Some 2,000 Jews who wanted to pray at the grave site of the founder of the Breslov hasidic group for the upcoming Rosh Hashana (or Jewish New Year) holiday are stuck at the border between Belarus and Ukraine due to the Covid-19 closure on foreigners imposed in late August by Ukraine.

The mostly hasidic crowds flew to neighboring Belarus in hopes of getting to the grave of Rabbi Nachman in the town of Uman anyway, thinking that they might be more successful on a roundabout land route instead of trying to go straight to Ukraine.

Hundreds have been in border towns for weeks already, according to one man who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. Some have been sleeping in parks and the streets, and subsisting mainly on fruits and vegetables, as kosher food is hard to come by in these cities, he said. The Red Cross came to deliver water and blankets, but cleanliness is an issue as there are no showers or bathroom facilities, he added.

Reuters reported Tuesday that hundreds were allowed to pass through the Belarus border at one particular crossing in the Chernihiv region, but are now stuck in the no-man’s land between countries as the Ukrainian officials would not allow them in.

The Belarusian border guard service said there were 734 people in this group that included families and 40 children under age 12. Tents were set up for the stranded travelers, food and water was distributed, and according to the state news agency, the authorities are letting them back into Belarus if they want to give up their plans and return home.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of Shas has asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to let the pilgrims in “on extraordinary humanitarian grounds,” promising that they would strictly adhere to all health regulations dictated by Kiev.

Some 2,000 Jews made it into Uman before the closure went into effect, and the rabbinic authorities on site have pledged that all necessary health precautions will be taken.

However, Kiev is struggling with a new outbreak of the disease, and a Chabad emissary who got infected in the Ukraine and was in serious condition for weeks told Ynet Sunday, “People who travel to Ukraine, to Uman, do not understand that this is a crazy danger to lives. There are no conditions.”

Rabbi Avraham Wolf of Odessa, the country’s fourth largest city, confirmed the situation to the news site.

“The health care system has completely collapsed. Whoever comes here makes a dangerous, fateful decision. Do not do this,” he said.

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims – not all necessarily religious – make the trip to Uman for the most important holiday on the Jewish calendar, as the hasidic master promised that those who pray at his grave will see success in life.

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Restrictions are again loosened after a recent reduction in attacks from the Strip.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The government announced Tuesday that it would relax a number of restrictions on the people of the Gaza Strip, a carrot offered after Hamas terrorists stopped the launch of explosive devices into Israel in the last few days.

“In light of the relative calm in the Gaza envelope in recent days and the cessation of explosive balloons, it was decided after a security consultation to restore the civilian measures that were halted last weekend,” the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said.

Gazans were delighted at the news, Ynet reports. “Everyone wants to work [in Israel], everyone wants quiet, and a good life,” said Nahed Halees, a worker from Gaza, told Ynet. He entered Israel through the Erez border crossing.

COGAT offered the caveat: “The continuation of this policy will be determined by action on the ground. Hamas is responsible for what is happening in Gaza and from Gaza. If the calm is not preserved, Israel will act accordingly.”

Easing includes expanding the permitted fishing zone from 10 to 15 nautical miles off the Gaza coast after two weeks of restriction, giving permits to 7,000 day workers to enter Israel instead of the current 5,000. This number includes 2,000 merchants.

This is the highest number of permitted entries in at least a decade, according to daily paper Yediot Ahronot. Allowing more workers into Israel has been one of the key Hamas demands in exchange for a promise of quiet on Israel’s border.

Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said that despite the tough rhetoric against Hamas from government officials, including the prime minister, they prefer coming to an arrangement with Hamas.

“Believe me, we could conquer Gaza very quickly, we have the power,” he said, but Israel has no interest in being in charge of the Arabs living there.

“There are very, very sharp and clear plans, they would suffer a very heavy blow, [the plans] include everything. But before you go out to battle you make every effort to avoid it. We are making this effort. I applaud the prime minister and the security services, who also know how to show restraint despite that it is perhaps not popular.”

“I agree that it’s not the ideal situation,” he continued, “but we understand we’re not dealing with a state but with terror organizations…. We can flatten Gaza, destroy all their infrastructure, and be left with two million people and outbreaks of disease, and the whole world on top of us. You have to see a much bigger picture.”

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“This is ours, this is the land of our forefathers,” said Interior Minister Aryeh Deri during a visit to the Jordan Valley.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Government officials have already begun preparing the necessary paperwork involved in applying Israeli sovereignty to areas of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said Monday.

The minister, together with his Shas party MKs, was on a visit to the community of Mevo’ot Yericho in the Jordan Valley.

Acknowledging the Jewish history that the region represents, Deri said, “This is ours, this is the land of our forefathers,” who originally crossed into Israel through the Valley to settle it after the Exodus from Egypt, and “it’s a privilege to continue their life’s work.”

Jumping to the present, he continued, “On the municipal side, as minister of the interior, I want to say – we have begun preparing; there is work to do since sovereignty will be applied here.”

His statement possibly referred to the reported permission given in President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley, as well as portions of Judea and Samaria. The president will reportedly be revealing the American initiative on Tuesday, when he meets for the second time in two days with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Deri might also have been acknowledging the pressure that the right-wing, including Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, has been applying over the last several days to annex the Jordan Valley immediately, as Netanyahu had pledged to do before the last Knesset election in September.

Before the prime minister flew to Washington on Sunday, Bennett had warned, “If this entire event ends without the extension of Israeli law now, before the [March] election, when the Americans are providing us tailwind and a chance to do so, then there won’t be a deal of the century, but rather a missed opportunity of the century.”

The interior minister’s words shed light on the practicalities involved in such a politically historic shift.

“There are a lot challenges we have to deal with,” he said, listing such matters as whether new local government authorities would need to be formed and officials elected because the Israeli army would cease being the authority in the region.

“We are preparing all the staff work, it’s not a simple thing,” Deri said. “There are a lot of legal and registration issues here…. But we welcome them and are waiting for [annexation] already.”

Meanwhile, Army Radio reported Monday that Netanyahu will not try to annex the Jordan Valley as his coalition partners are demanding, due to the heavy opposition emanating from Jordan and the fear that radical Jordanians may imperil the monarchy if Israeli sovereignty is applied now. Instead, he would suggest annexing the city of Maale Adumim, just east of Jerusalem, the report said.

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