Kellyanne Conway's daughter ignites mockery of Ted Cruz and other conservatives
March 17, 2023
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a pause to a set of divisive judicial reforms moving through parliament. The move came hours after the head of Israel’s top trade union called for a general strike following weeks of mass protests.
"Out of a sense of national responsibility, out of a will to prevent a rupture among our people, I have decided to pause the second and third readings of the bill," he told the legislature.
Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, will go on recess next week for the Passover holiday.
Earlier in the day, Israel's unions threatened to expand the movement against the judicial reform plans.
"I am calling a general strike," Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised address, adding that "from the moment this press conference ends, the State of Israel stops".
The Histadrut labour federation, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, issued the ultimatum amid expectations that Netanyahu would be making an announcement regarding the fate of the overhaul.
"Bring back the country's sanity. If you don't announce in a news conference today that you changed your mind, we will go on strike," Bar-David said.
Reporting from Jerusalem, FRANCE 24’s Irris Makler explained that a general strike call is extremely rare in Israel.
“The people have spoken, and today we saw the union movement speaking,” said Makkler, adding that the Histadrut press conference on Monday featured unusual scenes rarely seen in Israel’s history.
“It was quite an interesting press conference because it felt like the protests. People were carrying flags, they were shouting “democratia” – democracy – and the union leaders were flanked by industry leaders,” she said. “It’s a sign that there’s chaos everywhere: teachers’ strike, schools are closed, and now, there’s a potential for a general strike.”
Israeli media reported that takeoffs from Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport have been suspended.
Earlier Monday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the government to halt its bitterly contested judicial overhaul
"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," he said on Twitter.
Herzog’s call followed massive demonstrations over the weekend that saw tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets after Netanyahu fired his defese minister.
Yoav Gallant had spoken out against controversial plans to overhaul the justice system.
As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Crowds gathered outside Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.
Netanyahu's plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has regularly ignited protests and been questioned by Israel's top allies, including the US, which expressed concern Sunday.
Critics say the reform project threatens Israel's democracy, but the government argues changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Netanyahu on Sunday decided to "dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant", the prime minister's office said in a brief statement.
In response to the decision, Gallant countered on Twitter: "The security of the State of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life."
Some three months since taking office, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has been plunged into crisis over the bitter divisions exposed by its flagship judicial overhaul plans.
Slim majority
Gallant's call for a halt to the reforms came as lawmakers are due to vote this coming week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.
The US said it was "deeply concerned" about the day's events and called on Israeli leaders to reach a compromise.
The White House noted that President Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu that "democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship".
"Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
Two other Likud lawmakers tweeted their support for Gallant, raising questions over whether the government could count on a majority if it pushes ahead with a vote.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the prime minister could fire Gallant, "but he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition.
"The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel," Lapid added.
Adding to the political uncertainty, Israel's consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, tendered his resignation Sunday over Netanyahu's "dangerous decision".
"Following today's developments, it is now time for me to join the fight for Israel's future to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world," Zamir tweeted, posting his resignation letter.
Gallant, a former general, was named to his post in December as part of Netanyahu's coalition with far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies.
He is the first casualty, but other high-level officials have also expressed reservations.
'Illegal' intervention
A parliamentary committee amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.
In a televised address last week, the prime minister vowed to "responsibly advance" the reforms and "end the rift" they have caused in the nation.
In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of "illegal" public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms.
Netanyahu is on trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.
His broadcast gave rise to contempt of court accusations filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a non-governmental, anti-corruption group.
The NGO's complaint alleges Netanyahu violated an agreement with the court that an accused prime minister does not have the right to act in a matter that could constitute a conflict of interest.
Demonstrators have announced a "national paralysis week", including countrywide rallies, protests outside ministers' homes and on Wednesday outside parliament.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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Reacting to a report that former Donald Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran sat down with a grand jury for over three hours last Friday after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. paved the way to pierce the attorney-client protections, an MSNBC legal analysts claimed Donald Trump's use of his lawyers to delay proceedings may come back to haunt him in devastating ways.
In a column for MSNBC, attorney and former FBI agent Asha Rangappa wrote that, among the myriad of lawyers the former president has retained, the strongest evidence that Trump committed criminal acts or knew he was breaking the law could come out if more judges rule the way the Court of Appeals did.
Taking it to the extreme, she wrote one of them could deliver the "fatal blow" that ends in a Trump conviction.
As Rangappa notes, the case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is pursuing against Trump is based on testimony and evidence provided by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen -- and he might not be the last.
IN OTHER NEWS: Trump ridiculed for wallowing in self pity: 'Suck it up, Donnie boy'
With regard to the DOJ's investigation into Trump's hoarding of confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago report that required the FBI showing up with a warrant, Trump lawyer Christina Bobb was put on the spot for her part in obstruction of justice by signing off and saying all documents had been returned when they had not.
According to Rangappa, "A subsequent search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago, which turned up about 100 additional classified documents, however, revealed that certification to be false. Under questioning by prosecutors, Bobb stated that she had been instructed to sign the certification by Trump’s other attorney, Corcoran. But when Corcoran was brought in to testify in front of the grand jury, he avoided answering the prosecutor’s questions — which presumably concerned how he came to believe from Trump that all of the documents had been returned — citing attorney-client privilege."
With that protection now stripped away, the former president might see his defense fall apart based on Corcoran's testimony.
"While we don’t yet know what transpired during Corcoran’s testimony Friday, we can say that breaking the cone of silence between Trump and his attorney may be the fatal blow for Trump in the Mar-a-Lago investigation. One of the most difficult elements to prove in an obstruction of justice investigation is the defendant’s state of mind," she wrote before adding, "Corcoran is in a position to provide direct evidence that Trump knowingly lied to him that all of the documents had been returned. That can seal the deal for the special counsel — and as icing on the cake, Smith could also charge Trump with making a false statement, since his lies would have induced Corcoran to sign a false certification."
She then added, "But by pulling back the curtain on Trump’s communication with his lawyer, [special counsel Jack] Smith can remove Trump’s Teflon protection and demonstrate why his case is different."
You can read more here.
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Ohio church pelted with Molotov cocktails after announcing plan to host drag story hour
March 27, 2023
A church in Ohio that intends to host a drag show brunch and story hour says that it was pelted with Molotov cocktails late last week.
Local news station Fox 8 reports that the Community Church of Chesterland, Ohio, has been apparently targeted with violence over its decision to host the show, as its sign announcing the show was hit with both Molotov cocktails and a sledgehammer.
While the vandals did little damage to the church itself and no one was inside the building at the time of the attack, Pastor Jess Peacock tells Fox 8 that the organization is nonetheless taking extra security precautions going forward.
"That kind of violence is pitiful," she tells Fox 8. "There are people who say, ‘think of the children, think of the children.’ Well, children go here. We have a preschool here."
READ MORE: Expert warns Christian nationalism supporters are nearing a ‘tipping point’ for violence
The church is still holding the event, which will consist of both a drag-themed brunch that will be open to anyone 18 years or older, and then a drag story hour available to people of all ages.
Drag shows have increasingly come under attack in recent months from both right-wing protesters from organizations such as the Proud Boys and from Republican state legislatures who have placed legal restrictions on venues that host such events.
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