1.
Haifa
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Haifa, is the third-largest city in the State of Israel, with a population of 278,903 in 2015. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area and it is also home to the Baháí World Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Bahai pilgrims. Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years, the earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age. In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center, over the centuries, the city has changed hands, being conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, and the Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Haifa Municipality has governed the city, as of 2016, the city is a major seaport located on Israels Mediterranean coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7 square kilometres. It lies about 90 kilometres north of Tel Aviv and is the regional center of northern Israel. According to researcher J. Kis-Lev Haifa is considered a haven for coexistence between Jews and Arabs. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion, are located in Haifa, in addition to the largest k-12 school in Israel, the city plays an important role in Israels economy. It is home to Matam, one of the oldest and largest high-tech parks in the country, Haifa also owns the underground rapid transit system located in Israel. Haifa Bay is a center of industry, petroleum refining. Haifa formerly functioned as the terminus of an oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan. With locals using it to refer to a tell at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contains its remains. The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, some time after the end of the 1st century, Haifa is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud, a work central to Judaism. Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius of Caesareas 4th-century work, Onomasticon, is said to be another name for Sycaminus, references to this city end with the Byzantine period. Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tel Shikmona upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon. Haifa is mentioned by the mid-11th-century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw, the Crusaders, who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Aramaic name of Simon Peter. Other spellings in English have included Caipha, Kaipha, Caiffa, Kaiffa and Khaifa.5 miles to the east. The new village, the nucleus of modern Haifa, was first called al-imara al-jadida by some, but others residing there called it Haifa al-Jadida at first, the ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear
2.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
3.
Israeli legislative election, 2015
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Early elections for the twentieth Knesset were held in Israel on 17 March 2015. Disagreements within the coalition, particularly over the budget and a Jewish state proposal. The incumbent Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, declared victory in the election with Likud picking up the highest number of votes. President Reuven Rivlin granted Netanyahu an extension until 6 May 2015 to build a coalition when one had not been finalized in the first four weeks of negotiations and he formed a coalition government within two hours of the midnight May 6 deadline. His Likud party formed the coalition with the Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism, Kulanu, Yisrael Beiteinu later joined the coalition in May 2016. During late November and early December 2014, there were disagreements between parties in the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a Jewish state proposal. On 2 December Likud announced it would support a dissolution bill, hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid from their cabinet portfolios. In the first reading of the bill on 3 December, it was approved by a vote of 84–0. The second and third readings were held on 8 December, with the third reading passing with a vote of 93–0. The final election turnout was 72. 3%,4. 6% higher than in the election and the highest since the 1999 elections. Initially, exit polls reported a virtual tie between the Likud and the Zionist Union, a coalition headed by Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog, both Netanyahu and Herzog began attempts to build a coalition in preparation for a possible government, with Herzog calling Netanyahus statement premature. However, when the counting of the votes on 18 March 2015 revealed a significant lead for the Likud and he stated in a 19 March 2015 post-election interview that he still hopes to be the prime minister. The date was set for 17 March. 13 March 2015 – Deadline for publishing election polls and predictions 15 March 2015 – Election day for serving soldiers,668 ballot boxes set up on military bases, and mobile polling stations are deployed to travel between remote army posts. Serving soldiers may vote from this day to the end of the elections,16 March 2015 – Starting from 19,00 campaigning using assemblies, meetings, speakers, and media is prohibited. 17 March 2015 – Election Day, most polling stations for the general public opened at 7,00 AM, although some polling stations in rural communities, hospitals, and prisons opened an hour later. Some 10,372 polling stations were set up, including 56 ballot boxes in prisons and 255 ballot boxes in hospitals, polls in prisons closed at 9,20 PM. Polling stations open to the general public closed at 10,00 PM, hospital staff and emergency room patients who were not be available to vote while polling stations are open were issued special documents allowing them to vote after 10,00 PM
4.
Joint List
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The Joint List is a political alliance of four Arab-dominated parties in Israel—Hadash, the United Arab List, Balad, and Taal. They are the third largest faction in the 20th Knesset, the Joint List was formed in the build-up to the 2015 elections as an alliance of Balad, Hadash, Taal and the United Arab List. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement denounced the entire electoral project, the agreement between the parties was signed on 22 January, marking the first time the major Arab parties had run as a single list. Balad, Hadash and the United Arab List had run separately for elections since the 1990s, initially, the parties mulled running as two blocs, but party representatives said pressure from the Arab public pushed them to join forces. The twelfth to fourteenth places are subject to agreements between the parties. Lawyer Osama Saadi of Taal will be the first to hold the 12th seat if the alliance wins enough seats, the list is ideologically diverse and includes communists, socialists, feminists, Islamists, and Palestinian nationalists. The alliances 2015 election campaign focused on preventing Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government, the list is not united in terms of support for Jewish–Arab cooperation, supported mainly by Hadash. However, the offer caused intra-list tension, Hadash and the United Arab List supported the partnership with Meretz, after the Joint List announced it would not share votes with any party, Meretz officials declared that the List had chosen nationalism and separatism over Jewish–Arab solidarity. A post-election analysis showed that neither the actual nor proposed agreements between these parties would have made a difference to the final result. With most of the votes counted, Joint List received 13 seats in the Israeli legislative election,2015 with 10. 55% of the total vote, odeh intends for his party to work on shared issues with center-left Jewish opposition parties and seek membership in key parliamentary committees. A, Compared to the total of Hadash, Balad
5.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
6.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
7.
Arab citizens of Israel
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Arab citizens of Israel or Arab population of Israel are Israeli citizens, whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab. The majority of the Arabs in Israel are Muslim but some are Christian or Druze, many identify as Palestinian and commonly self-designate themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel. The traditional vernacular of most Arab citizens, irrespective of religion, is the Palestinian dialect of Arabic, Most Arab citizens of Israel are functionally bilingual, their second language being Modern Hebrew. By religious affiliation, most are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam, There is a significant Arab Christian minority from various denominations as well as the Druze, among other religious communities. According to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, the Arab population in 2013 was estimated at 1,658,000, the majority of these identify themselves as Arab or Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. Many have family ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Negev Bedouins and the Druze tend to identify more as Israelis than other Arab citizens of Israel. They have the right to apply for citizenship, are entitled to municipal services, how to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel is a highly politicized issue and there are a number of self-identification labels used by members of this community. According to The New York Times, most prefer now to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs, the New York Times uses both Palestinian Israelis and Israeli Arabs to refer to the same population. Common practice in academic literature is to identify this community as Palestinian as it is how the majority self-identify. There are, however, individuals from among the Arab citizenry who reject the term Palestinian altogether, a minority of Israels Arab citizens include Israeli in some way in their self-identifying label, the majority identify as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. The Israeli establishment prefers Israeli Arabs or Arabs in Israel, and also uses the terms the minorities and these labels have been criticized for denying this population a political or national identification, obscuring their Palestinian identity and connection to Palestine. The term Israeli Arabs in particular is viewed as a construct of the Israeli authorities and it is nonetheless used by a significant minority of the Arab population, reflecting its dominance in Israeli social discourse. Other terms used to refer to this population include Palestinian Arabs in Israel, Israeli Palestinian Arabs, and the Arabs inside the Green Line. The latter appellation, among others listed above, are not applied to the East Jerusalem Arab population or the Druze in the Golan Heights, as these territories were occupied by Israel in 1967. In the aftermath of the 1948 war, British Mandate of Palestine was de facto divided into three parts, the State of Israel, the Jordanian-held West Bank, and the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip. Of the estimated 950,000 Arabs that lived in the territory that became Israel before the war, Benny Morris says, Most of Palestines 700,000 refugees fled their homes because of the flail of war. But it is true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla. The other 20%, some 156,000, remained, Arab citizens of Israel today are largely composed of the people who remained and their descendants
8.
Knesset
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The Knesset is the unicameral national legislature of Israel. As the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister, approves the cabinet, in addition, the Knesset elects the State Comptroller. The Prime Minister may also dissolve the Knesset, however, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. The Knesset is located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem, as the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the president, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government through its committees. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, the Knesset is presided over by a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. The Knesset is divided into committees, which amend bills on the appropriate subjects, Committee chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee, to further their deliberations, they invite government ministers, senior officials, and experts in the matter being discussed. There are four types of committees in the Knesset, permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with the Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller. Special committees function in a manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having national importance. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a members right to vote. The Knesset numbers 120 members, a subject which has often been a cause for proposed reforms and this proposed law has also been favoured by other politicians, including Benjamin Netanyahu. The 120 members of the Knesset are popularly elected from a single electoral district to concurrent four-year terms. All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote in legislative elections, Knesset seats are allocated among the various parties using the DHondt method of party list proportional representation. A party or electoral alliance must pass the threshold of 3. 25% of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list, thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate. The electoral threshold was set at 1% from 1949 to 1992, then 1. 5% from 1992 to 2003
9.
Hadash
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It currently has five members, as part of the Joint List, in the 120-seat Knesset. The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah, the non-partisans included some members of the Black Panthers and other left-wing non-communist groups. Within the Hadash movement, Rakah has retained its independent status, in its first electoral test, Hadash won five seats, an increase of one on Rakahs previous four. However, in the elections in 1981 the party was reduced to four seats. It maintained its four seats in the 1984 elections, gaining another MK when Mohammed Wattad defected from Mapam in 1988. The 1988 election resulted in another four-seat haul, though the party lost a seat when Charlie Biton broke away to establish Black Panthers as an independent faction on 25 December 1990, the 1992 elections saw the party remain at three seats. In the 1996 elections the party ran a joint list with Balad, together they won five seats, but split during the Knesset term, with Hadash reduced to three seats. The 1999 elections saw them three seats, with Barakeh and Issam Makhoul replacing Ahmad Sad and Saleh Saleem. In the 2003 elections Hadash ran on another joint list, this time with Ahmed Tibis Taal, the list won three seats, but again split during the parliamentary session, leaving Hadash with two MKs, Barakeh and Makhoul. In the 2006 elections Hadash won three seats, with Hana Sweid and Dov Khenin entering the Knesset alongside Barakeh, the party won an additional seat in the 2009 elections, taken by Afu Agbaria. In January 2015, former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg joined Hadash, Hadash is a left-wing party that supports a communist economy and workers rights. It emphasizes Jewish–Arab cooperation, and its leaders were among the first to support a two-state solution and its voters are principally middle class and secular Arabs, many from the north and Christian communities. It also draws 6, 000–10,000 far-left Jewish voters during national elections and it also supports the right of return or compensation for Palestinian refugees. In addition to issues of peace and security, Hadash is also known for being active on social and environmental issues. In keeping with socialist ideals, Hadashs environmental platform, led by Maki official Dov Khenin, calls for the nationalization of Israels gas, mineral, Hadash defines itself as a non-Zionist party, originally in keeping with Marxist opposition to nationalism. It calls for recognition of Palestinian Arabs as a minority within Israel. Despite its Marxist–Leninist roots, Hadash has in recent times included elements of Arab nationalism in its platform, Hadash shifted to a more Arab nationalist appeal after running on a joint list with Taal in 2003. Avirama Golan of Haaretz wrote in 2007 that Hadash had succumbed to the separatist-nationalist and populist stream, and chosen to turn its back on a social and civil agenda in favor of questions related to Palestinian nationalism
10.
Ta'al
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Taal is an Israeli Arab political party in Israel led by Ahmad Tibi. The party was part of the Joint List in the 2015 election, taal was founded by Tibi in the mid 1990s. It ran in the 1996 elections under the name Arab Union, for the 1999 elections it ran as part of the Balad list. Tibi won a seat, and broke away from Balad on 21 December that year, in the 2003 elections the party ran on a joint list with Hadash, with Tibi retaining his seat. On 7 February 2006 Tibi left the alliance with Hadash, for the 2006 elections the party ran on a joint list with the United Arab List, running as Raam-Taal. On 12 January 2009, the Raam-Taal list was disqualified from the 2009 elections by the Central Elections Committee,21 committee members voted in favor of its disqualification, with eight members voting against and two members abstaining. Tibi said the decision was related to Operation Cast Lead, claiming this is a racist country and he said he would appeal to the Israeli High Court of Justice. On 21 January the High Court of Justice overturned the Committees decision unanimously, Tibi welcomed the decision and said, We have beaten fascism. This fight is over but the battle is not, racism has become a trend in Israel. The courts decision has righted a wrong by Kadima and Labor, the list won four seats, with Tibi retaining his place in the Knesset
11.
Kababir
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Kababir is a mixed neighbourhood of Jews and Ahmadi Muslim Arabs in Haifa, Israel. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was founded in the 19th century, originating in India, most of the families who were displaced to Kababir are originally from the village of Nilin near Jerusalem. One of the biggest and most well known family is the Odehs family and they built the neighbourhoods first mosque on Mount Carmel in 1931, and a larger grand mosque in the 1980s. The grand mosque has two white minarets standing 34 metres tall, which dominate the skyline of the residential neighbourhoods on the ridges nearby. In the beginning, the neighbourhood was managed as a commune in which every working male contributed a fee to a mutual account, some of the men joined the Turkish army, while some worked in the oil refinery in the city of Haifa. Others worked building the Port of Haifa
12.
Israeli legislative election, 2009
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Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, had Olmert remained in office or had Livni formed a coalition government, the elections would have been scheduled for 2010 instead. On 17 September 2008, Kadima held an election, which was won by Tzipi Livni. Following Livnis victory, former party leader Ehud Olmert resigned as Prime Minister, Livni was given six weeks to form a coalition, but set a deadline of 26 October for parties to agree to join the new government. Although the Labor Party agreed to join, current coalition members Shas rejected the opportunity and it was reported that Shas had rejected almost one billion shekels in child allowances offered to them as part of the coalition negotiations. Gil and United Torah Judaism had both rejected offers to join negotiations with Meretz-Yachad were still ongoing. On 26 October, Livni recommended to President Shimon Peres that early elections be held, the election would have to be held within 90 days after the end of that period. Ehud Olmert was to remain the caretaker Prime Minister until a new government was formed after the elections, the traditional distinction between the Israeli left and the right had become blurred, with both the voters and the main candidates gravitating toward the center. Israelis, who had always been highly politicized, were switching affiliations more easily, on the Palestinian front, stark differences among the parties still remained. Kadima was committed to continuing talks for a two-state solution, Labor did not believe that bilateral Israeli–Palestinian negotiations could succeed under the current circumstances and advocated a more comprehensive, regional approach to peace. Likud said it would promote a peace with the Palestinians and also hold political negotiations. Elections to the Knesset allocate 120 seats by party-list proportional representation, the election threshold for the 2006 election was set at 2%, which is a little over two seats. After official results are published, the President delegates the task of forming a government to the member of Knesset with the best chance of assembling a majority coalition. That member has up to 42 days to negotiate with the different parties, once the government is approved, he or she becomes Prime Minister. Balad and Taal were also disqualified from the 2003 election, on 21 January 2009, the Supreme Court again revoked the ban. The Labor–Meimad alliance, in existence since 1999, was ended prior to the elections, Labor ran on its own, and Meimad ran a joint list with the new Green Movement. The anti-West Bank barrier movement Tarabut has merged into Hadash, the religious Zionist Ahi party, previously part of the National Union alliance, merged into Likud in late December 2008. Ultra-orthodox parties Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah agreed to continue their alliance, United Torah Judaism, several political parties have been established since the 2006 elections
13.
Israeli legislative election, 2013
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Early elections for the nineteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 22 January 2013. Public debate over the Tal Law had nearly led to elections in 2012. The elections were called in early October 2012 after failure to agree on the budget for the 2013 fiscal year. The elections saw the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu alliance emerge as the largest faction in the Knesset, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu formed the countrys thirty-third government after establishing a coalition with Yesh Atid, the Jewish Home and Hatnuah, which between them held 68 seats. The stability of the government increased after a split in the Labor Party when five of its members led by Ehud Barak left to establish the Independence Party. Whilst the Labor Party subsequently left the coalition, Independence remained within it, however, a decline in the popularity of Netanyahu and his government occurred in summer 2011 following the protests about social justice. In addition, Netanyahus popularity was increased after the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange was approved and these events led to the highest level of public support Netanyahu had received since the start of his term in office. The dissolution of parliament would force an automatic extension of the law, due to expire on 1 August, Netanyahu said a new law should make the burden more equal and fair. Yisrael Beiteinu said the dissolution should have been postponed so that its proposed Equal National Service for All bill could be voted upon. Similarly, Kadimas Shaul Mofaz told the Suckers Camp protesters outside Likuds political convention that this was an opportunity to clean the moral stain that is the Tal Law. He also said that the motion to dissolve the legislature at this state was a stinky political trick by Netanyahu, Yacimovich, Kadimas chairwoman Dalia Itzik also reiterated calls to have a new law before the election. On 17 July, after the failure of parties to reach a compromise on the issue, the coalition did, however, still have a majority of seats even without Kadima. Since the term of the 17th Knesset ended prematurely, the term of the 18th Knesset is four years plus eight more months. The expected date for an election was to be on 22 October 2013. Likuds coalition chairman MK Zeev Elkin wanted the election to be scheduled for 4 September 2012 and he got support for the motion from Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and Labor, however, Kadima wanted the election 16 September. Meretz, Labor and Elkin submitted different motions for dissolution, Netanyahu told the Likud party on 7 May that he would like an early election saying that he does not want there to be a year-and-a-half of political instability accompanied by blackmail and populism. Id prefer a short campaign of four months that will ensure political stability. I would have very happy if we could have completed the term, which was also my goal, but it is no secret that with the start of the governments fourth year
14.
Mohammad Barakeh
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Mohammad Barakeh is an Israeli Arab politician. A former leader of Hadash, he served as a member of the Knesset for the party between 1999 and 2015, born in Shefa-Amr, Barakeh studied mathematics at Tel Aviv University. In that time, he had formed extensive political partnerships and personal friendships with Jewish fellow students and he was first elected to the Knesset in 1999, and was re-elected in 2003, after which he became Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. Marzel wrote that Barakehs vote in favor of expelling Jews from their homes in Gaza, Barakeh was re-elected again in 2006 and 2009. At least one human rights group posited that the charges were politically motivated, adalah, the Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel, declared that the indictment against Barakeh was based on false testimony which Barakeh completely denied. Barakeh was eventually fined 400 NIS and ordered to pay the assault victim 250 NIS, in 2010 Barakeh joined an Israeli delegation visiting World War II-era concentration camps. The visit drew criticism from Israeli Arabs who said the timing was inappropriate due to Israeli-Palestinian tensions, everything is mixed into a human catastrophe. Barakeh commented on the piles of childrens shoes displayed at the museum and said, children are a nationality of their own, a nationality of innocence, and I cannot grasp how human beings could do such an atrocious thing
15.
The Times of Israel
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The Times of Israel is an Israeli-based news website launched in 2012. It was co-founded by journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, the online English website covers developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world, according to the sites nameplate. It also covers news related to the American Jewish community, the website also publishes Arabic, French, Chinese and Persian editions. In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the hosts a multi-author blog platform. In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million, in 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million. The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012, both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform. In announcing the Arabic edition, Horovitz suggested, The Times of Israel may have created the first Arabic blog platform that draw articles from across the spectrum of opinion. Were inviting those of our Arabic readers with something of value that they want to say to blog on our pages, respecting the parameters of legitimate debate, in February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million. In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million, in March 2016, The New York Jewish Week announced a partnership with The Times of Israel. Other partnerships with the paper include Britains Jewish News, the New Jersey Jewish Standard. According to co-founder David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be apolitical, yehuda Avner, a former Israeli ambassador and adviser to several Israeli prime ministers, was a member of the editorial board until his death in March 2015. In addition to the newspaper, The Times of Israel hosts an open blog platform for any writer who applies and is approved to become a blogger on the site. He put the nub of his argument, as it related to the headline, what other way is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely. The writer soon issued a public apology, the article was posted by an unknown individual using the bogus name Dinah Silverstein and a picture of columnist Nancy Goldstein. The article was deleted and the blogger banned, but the incident led to The Times of Israel being criticized for not verifying the identities of its bloggers. On 9 April 2015, an article titled Understanding the Idea of Israeli Land Under Talmudic Law was posted on The Times of Israels blog platform, the article described in great detail how Israel should exterminate the Palestinians, who were described as cockroaches and vermin. The article was submitted by a person who had impersonated Australian lawyer Josh Bornstein, the Times of Israel later scrubbed the article and issued an apology. Bornstein would later write an article in The Guardian describing the affair, the Times of Israel competes for readership with The Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva, Haaretz, Israel Hayom and The Forward
16.
Bedouin
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The term contrasts against Hathar which refers to the city or town dwellers in the Arabic language. Bedouin means Badiyah dwellers in the Arabic language, as Badyah means literally the visible land, the Bedouins identify themselves as Arabs or by the names of their tribes. City dwellers in Arabia who descended from known tribes refer to themselves as Bedouins to recognize their origin to Arabia. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the sands of the Middle East. They are traditionally divided into tribes, or clans and share a culture of herding camels. The Bedouin form a part of, but are not synonymous with, Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Qedarites in the Old Testament and Arabaa by the Assyrians. They are referred to as the Araab in the Koran, traditions like camel riding and camping in the deserts are also popular leisure activities for urbanised Bedouins who live within close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas. The term Bedouin derives from a form of the Arabic word badu. The Arabic term badu literally translates in Arabic as Badiyah dwellers, the word bādiyah means visible land such as plain or desert. The term Bedouin therefore means those in bādiyah or those in the desert, in English usage, however, the form Bedouin is commonly used for the singular term, the plural being Bedouins, as indicated by the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition. The term Bedouin also uses the root word as the Arabic noun for the beginning, بداية. The Arabs believe the Bedouins to be the predecessors to the settled Arabs, disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are maintained by means of this frame, according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility. The individual family unit typically consisted of three or four adults and any number of children, when resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. These groups were linked by patriarchal lineage, but were just as likely linked by marriage, acquaintance, or no clearly defined relation. The next scale of interaction within groups was the ibn ʿamm or descent group, whilst the phrase descent group suggests purely a lineage-based arrangement, in reality these groups were fluid and adapted their genealogies to take in new members. The largest scale of tribal interactions is the tribe as a whole, the tribe often claims descent from one common ancestor—as mentioned above. The tribal level is the level that mediated between the Bedouin and the governments and organizations. Distinct structure of the Bedouin society leads to lasting rivalries between different clans
17.
Negev
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The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The regions largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba, in the north, at its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort city of Eilat. It contains several development towns, including Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon, as well as a number of small Bedouin cities, including Rahat and Tel as-Sabi and Lakyah. There are also several kibbutzim, including Revivim and Sde Boker, the origin of the word negev is from the Hebrew root denoting dry. In the Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction south, during the British Mandate it was called Beersheba sub-district. The Negev covers more than half of Israel, over some 13,000 km² or at least 55% of the land area. It forms a triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features, among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim, which are unique to the region, Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, and Makhtesh Katan. The Negev is a rocky desert and it is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions, northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau, the northern Negev, or Mediterranean zone, receives 300 mm of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils. The western Negev receives 250 mm of rain per year, with light, sand dunes can reach heights of up to 30 metres here. The high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev stands between 370 metres and 520 metres above sea level with temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets 100 mm of rain per year, with inferior, the Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 180 km from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely 50 mm of rain annually and it has inferior soils in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives. Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima. A small population of Arabian leopards, an animal in the Arabian peninsula. The Negev Tortoise is a endangered species that currently lives only in the sands of the western. The Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae found only in Israel, hyphaene thebaica or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev
18.
Avigdor Lieberman
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Avigdor Lieberman is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who serves as the Defense Minister of Israel. He served as Israels Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2012 and he has also served as member of the Knesset and as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. He is the founder and leader of the secular-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, as a result of the arrival in Israel during the 1990s of more than one million Russian-speaking immigrants, Yisrael Beiteinu has regularly played the king-maker role in Israels coalition governments. Lieberman was born to a Russian-speaking family on 5 July 1958 in Kishinev and his father Lev was a writer, who had served in the Red Army and spent seven years in a Siberian exile under Joseph Stalins rule, where he met Evets mother Esther. His parents embued him with a strong secular Jewish identity and consciously taught him only Yiddish up to the age of three, inheriting a love of Russian literature from his father, Lieberman had dreamed of becoming a poet. Lieberman attributes his forthright personality to his youth in the large Jewish community of 1970s Kishinev, saying and we were more affluent, better educated, and we showed it. The Jews of Moldova have this no-nonsense streak, after high school, Lieberman enrolled at the Chișinău Agriculture Institute with a hydrological land improvement major. As a student in Moldova, he won first prize for a play he wrote, Lieberman and his family immigrated to Israel in 1978, and Lieberman changed his first name to Avigdor. He was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces and served in the Artillery Corps, after his military service, he enrolled in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and political science. During his studies he was active in the student group, Kastel, relations between Kastel and Arab student groups were tense and often deteriorated into violence. According to Maariv, based on the testimony of a witness who was a student at the time, Lieberman said that he was involved in two. Haaretz wrote that Lieberman was briefly involved with the Kach party of Rabbi Meir Kahane shortly after his immigration to Israel. The membership claims were based on the testimony of two activists in the movement, Avigdor Eskin and Yosef Dayan, who said that Lieberman was a member of the party for a short-term period, Lieberman rejected the story, and called the publication an orchestrated provocation. Kach was barred from participating in the election in 1988 under the revised Knesset Elections Law banning parties that incited racism and was declared a terrorist organization in 1994. While studying at the Hebrew University, Lieberman worked as a bouncer at the student club Shablul, a year later, Lieberman was promoted to general manager, responsible for all the activities at the club. In 1988, he started working with Benjamin Netanyahu, from 1993 to 1996, following Netanyahus election as party leader, Lieberman served as Director-General of the Likud party. After Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister, Lieberman served as Director-General of the Prime Ministers Office from 1996 to 1997, in 1999, Lieberman formed the Yisrael Beiteinu party to create a platform for Soviet immigrants who supported a hard line in negotiations with the Palestinians. The party ran for the Knesset during the 1999 legislative election, and ran on a joint list with Aliyah, a party formed by Michael Nudelman and Yuri Stern, the new party won four seats, one of which was taken by Lieberman
19.
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, with the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, on October 14,1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, in the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D. C. to be called the Poor Peoples Campaign, Kings death was followed by riots in many U. S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, hundreds of streets in the U. S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, King was born on January 15,1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther, King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather, as well as African ancestry. King was a child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. His mother was an accomplished organist and choir leader, and she took him to various churches to sing and he received attention for singing I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus. King later became a member of the choir in his church. King said that his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen, King saw his fathers proud and fearless protests against segregation, such as King Sr. When King was a child, he befriended a boy whose father owned a business near his familys home. When the boys were six, they started school, King had to attend a school for African Americans, King lost his friend because the childs father no longer wanted the boys to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life, in his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the racial humiliation that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South
20.
Mizrahi Jews
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Yemeni Jews are sometimes also included, but their history is separate from Babylonian Jewry. The use of the term Mizrahi can be somewhat controversial, before the establishment of the State of Israel, Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate Jewish subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi, as follow the traditions of Sephardic Judaism. From the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, as of 2005, over 61% of Israeli Jews are of at least partial Mizrahi ancestry. Mizrahi is literally translated as Oriental, Eastern, מזרח, Hebrew for east, in the past the word Mizrahim, corresponding to the Arabic word Mashriqiyyun, referred to the natives of Syria, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa. In medieval and early times the corresponding Hebrew word maarav was used for North Africa. In Talmudic and Geonic times, however, this word maarav referred to the land of Israel as contrasted with Babylonia, for this reason many object to the use of Mizrahi to include Moroccan and other North African Jews. In modern Israeli usage, it refers to all Jews from Central and West Asian countries, the term came to be widely used more by Mizrahi activists in the early 1990s. Since then in Israel it has become an accepted semi-official and media designation, most of the Mizrahi activists actually originated from North African Jewish communities, traditionally called Westerners, rather than Easterners. g. Moroccan Jew, or prefer to use the old term Sephardic in its broader meaning, today, many identify all non-Ashkenazi rite Jews as Sephardic - in modern Hebrew Sfaradim, mixing ancestral origin and religious rite. This broader definition of Sephardim as including all, or most, the reason for this classification of all Mizrahim under Sephardic rite is that most Mizrahi communities use much the same religious rituals as Sephardim proper due to historical reasons. The prevalence of the Sephardic rite among Mizrahim is partially a result of Sephardim proper joining some of Mizrahi communities following the 1492 expulsion from Sepharad. Even before this assimilation, the rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi one. Many of the Sephardic Jews exiled from Spain resettled in greater or lesser numbers in many Arabic-speaking countries, such as Syria, in Syria, most eventually intermarried with and assimilated into the larger established communities of Arabic-speaking Jews and Mizrahi Jews. In some North African countries such as Morocco, Sephardic Jews came in greater numbers, in Arab nations, Mizrahim most often speak Arabic, although Arabic is now mainly used as a second language, especially by the older generation. Most of the many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Jews in Spain, North Africa, Neo-Aramaic is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. It is identified as a Jewish language, since it is the language of major Jewish texts such as the Talmud and Zohar, traditionally, Aramaic has been a language of Talmudic debate in yeshivoth, as many rabbinic texts are written in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. The current alphabet used for Hebrew, known as Assyrian lettering or the script, was in fact borrowed from Aramaic
21.
Arab Jews
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Arab Jews is a term referring to Jews living in the Arab World. This term is proposed by cultural studies scholar Ella Shohat to refer to populations commonly termed Mizrahim or Sephardim, though the latter term particularly refers to the Ladino-speaking descendants of the Spanish expulsion who dispersed mainly to Western Europe and the Balkans. Jews living in Arab lands speak Arabic, using one of the many Arabic dialects as their primary community language, many aspects of their culture are Arabic or influenced by Arabic culture. They usually follow Sephardi Jewish liturgy, making one of the largest groups among Mizrahi Jews. The term was not commonly used until the modern era, other public figures who refer to themselves as Arab Jews include Sasson Somekh, professor at Tel Aviv University, in a recent memoir. Ilan Halevi described himself as 100% Jewish and 100% Arab, today the term is sometimes used by newspapers and official bodies in some countries, to express the belief that Jewish identity is a matter of religion rather than ethnicity or nationality. However, some Mizrahi activists, particularly those not born in Arab countries or who emigrated from them at a young age. Notable proponents of such an identity include Naeim Giladi, Ella Habiba Shohat, Sami Shalom Chetrit, on this view, the correct distinction is between Jews, Muslims, Christians and other religious groups, rather than between groups such as Jews and Arabs. However, the use of the term Arab to define Christian Copts, Maronites, others may regard Arab Jews as simply shorthand for Jews of Arab lands or Arabic-speaking Jews, and identify as Arab Jews while definitely not regarding themselves as Arabs. The term Arab Jews has become part of the language of post-Zionism, the term was introduced by Ella Shohat. To insure homogeneity Zionist focused on religious commonality and a romanticized past and she argues that the use of the term Mizrahim is in some sense a Zionist achievement in that it created a single unitary identity separated from the Islamic world. Which replaced older multifaceted identities each linked to the Islamic world, including and she argues that when Sephardi express hostility towards Arabs it is often due to self-hatred. Another argument that Shohat makes is that Israel is already demographically an Arab country, yehouda Shenhav’s works are also considered to be among the seminal works of post-Zionism. Shenhav, an Israeli sociologist, traced the origins of the conceptualization of the Mizrahi Jews as Arab Jews and he interprets Zionism as an ideological practice with three simultaneous and symbiotic categories, Nationality, Religion and Ethnicity. In order to be included in the national collective they had to be de-Arabized, according to Shenhav, Religion distinguished between Arabs and Arab Jews, thus marking nationality among the Arab Jews. David Rabeeya argues that while the Zionist movement succeed in creating a Jewish state it did irreparable harm to Arab Jews and he argues that Israel has already entered a post-Zionist era in which the influence of Zionist Ashkenazim has declined. With many Jews of European origin choosing to leave the country as Israel becomes less Western and he writes that Arab Jews, like Arab Muslims and Arab Christians, were culturally Arab with religious commitments to Judaism. David Tal argues that Shohat and her students faced great resistance from Mizrahim with few choosing to identify as Arab Jews and he argues that Shohat in a sense tried to impose an identity in the same way in which she criticized the Ashkenazi for doing
22.
Leila Murad
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Layla Murad was an Egyptian singer and actress, and one of the most prominent superstars in the Arabic-speaking world in her era. Born Lillian Zaki Murad Mordechai to a Jewish Family in Al Daher District, Cairo, Egypt, Layla married three times and converted to Islam in 1964. Layla Murad was born in Cairo on February 17,1918 to Ibrahim Zaki Mordechai and her father was a respected singer, musician, and religious Jewish cantor. Her mother was a Jewish Egyptian of Polish origins, one of her brothers, Mounir Mourad, was an actor and composer. She made her first stage appearance, aged nine, at the Saalat Badia, the theatre had been founded in 1926 by the actress and dancer Badia Masabni, who became Mourads patron. Her first film appearance, aged fifteen, was in the 1932 al-Dahaya which had originally made as a silent film. Her song, The Day of Departure, was added as part of the transformation of the production into a talkie and she was trained by her father and Dawood Hosni, who was also Jewish. Hosni had composed the first Operetta in the Arabic language, further success came when the prominent Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab heard her singing and gave her a role in his film Yahia el Hob in 1938. In the six following the success of Yahia el Hob she made five best selling films with director Togo Mizrahi. In 1945 she made Layla Bint al-Fuqara directed by Anwar Wagdi whom she married shortly after and she went on to make a further 20 films of which the most outstanding is Ghazal al-Banat, also directed and co-starring Wagdi. It also featured Nagib al-Rihani and Abdel Wahab in their last appearances on film, in 1953, she was selected, over Umm Kulthum, as the official singer of the Egyptian revolution. Shortly thereafter, a rumor that Mourad had visited Israel, where she had family and she denied these allegations and when called for judicial investigations, maintained her innocence all along, declaring, I am an Egyptian Muslim. No proof was found that she had contributed money to Israels military, but there was no mention of the fact that she did not contribute to Israel as a country, or at least send money to her relatives in Israel. Some historians claim that Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser insisted that Syria end their boycott of her songs, despite the immense popularity of her films her singing career was over-shadowed by Um Kulthum who dominated Egypts musical landscape and, in 1949, had become president of the Musicians Union. In the early 1950s other singers also popular with audiences, such as Abdel al Halim Hafez. Leila Mourads relationship with her family was not an easy one, between 1967 and 1970, hundreds of Egyptian Jewish males were deported to the prisons of Abu Zaabal and Tura, including Leilas brother, Isak Zaki. Families of the detainees were allowed to visit beginning in 1968, Leila Mourad died in a hospital in Cairo in 1995. Leila Mourad married Anwar Wagdi, over the objection of her father and they were married and divorced three times
23.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
24.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
25.
Shin Bet
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The Israel Security Agency, better known by the acronym Shabak or the Shin Bet, is Israels internal security service. Its motto is Magen veLo Yerae and it is one of three principal organizations of the Israeli intelligence community, alongside Aman and the Mossad. Its special forces unit is Yamas, Shabak is believed to have three operational wings, The Arab Affairs Department, responsible primarily for Arab-related counterterrorism activities in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The Non-Arab Affairs Department, responsible for security issues and cooperation with foreign security agencies. The Protective Security Department, responsible for protecting individuals and locations in the country such as government officials, embassies, airports. Although a security agency, it is not a part of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with the Israeli declaration of independence in 1948, the Shabak was founded as a branch of the Israel Defense Forces and was initially headed by Isser Harel. Responsibility for Shabak activity was moved from the IDF to the office of the prime minister. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, Shabaks responsibilities included only internal security affairs, in February 1949, its responsibilities were extended to counter-espionage. One of the Shabaks leading successes was obtaining a copy of the speech made by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956. A Polish edition of the speech was provided to the Israeli embassy in Warsaw by the boyfriend of the secretary of a Polish communist official, the Shabaks Polish liaison officer conveyed the copy to Israel. The Israeli government then decided to share the information with the United States, a notable achievement in counter-espionage was the 1961 capture of Israel Beer, who was revealed to be a Soviet spy. Beer was a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves, a senior security commentator and close friend of Ben-Gurion, Beer was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison, where he died. A year before, Kurt Sitte, a Christian German from the Sudetenland, in 1967, an Egyptian-Israeli double agent, Rifat al Gamal/Jacques Bitton, gave Egypt false information about Israels battle plans, claiming it would begin with ground operations. The Egyptians thus left their aircraft on open runways, which enabled the Israel Air Force to knock out Egypts air force three hours of the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Operation Yated, as it was known, is considered one of the most successful deceptions in Israeli intelligence history. After the war, monitoring terrorist activity in the West Bank, during 1984–1986, Shabak experienced a major crisis following the Kav 300 affair in which four Palestinian militants hijacked a bus. Following the affair, Shabak head Avraham Shalom was forced to resign, among the practices authorised were keeping prisoners in excruciatingly uncomfortable postures, covering their heads with filthy and malodorous sacks and depriving them of sleep. Human rights groups in Israel maintained that this amounts to torture, a 1995 official report by Miriam Ben-Porat, made public in 2000, showed that Shin Bet routinely went beyond the moderate physical pressure authorised by the Landau Commission
26.
The New Yorker
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The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It is published by Condé Nast, started as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is now published 47 times annually, with five of these issues covering two-week spans. Although its reviews and events listings often focus on the life of New York City. The New Yorker debuted on February 21,1925 and it was founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, a New York Times reporter. Ross wanted to create a humor magazine that would be different from perceivably corny humor publications such as Judge. Ross partnered with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann to establish the F-R Publishing Company, the magazines first offices were at 25 West 45th Street in Manhattan. Ross edited the magazine until his death in 1951, during the early, occasionally precarious years of its existence, the magazine prided itself on its cosmopolitan sophistication. Ross famously declared in a 1925 prospectus for the magazine, It has announced that it is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque, although the magazine never lost its touches of humor, it soon established itself as a pre-eminent forum for serious fiction literature and journalism. Shortly after the end of World War II, John Herseys essay Hiroshima filled an entire issue, D. Salinger, Irwin Shaw, James Thurber, John Updike, Eudora Welty, Stephen King, and E. B. White. Publication of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery drew more mail than any story in the magazines history. In its early decades, the magazine published two or even three short stories a week, but in recent years the pace has remained steady at one story per issue. Kurt Vonnegut said that The New Yorker has been an instrument for getting a large audience to appreciate modern literature. Vonneguts 1974 interview with Joe David Bellamy and John Casey contained a discussion of The New Yorkers influence, No other art requires the audience to be a performer. You have to count on the readers being a good performer and those writers you mentioned and myself are teaching an audience how to play this kind of music in their heads. Its a learning process, and The New Yorker has been a good institution of the sort needed. They have an audience, and they come out every week, and people finally catch on to Barthelme, for instance. The non-fiction feature articles cover an array of topics. Recent subjects have included eccentric evangelist Creflo Dollar, the different ways in which humans perceive the passage of time, the magazine is notable for its editorial traditions
27.
Israel Police
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The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety. It is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Public Security, the Israel Police operates throughout Israel, and the Area C of the West Bank, in all places in which Israel has civilian control. There are no local or municipal police departments in Israel, the National Headquarters of the Israel Police are located at the Government offices named after Begin in Jerusalem. In an emergency, the police can be reached by dialing 100 from any telephone in Israel, the Israel Police are a professional force, with some 35,000 persons on the payroll. There are also 70,000 Civil Guard volunteers who contribute time to assist officers in their own communities, the Border Police has both professional officers on payroll and Israel Defense Forces conscripts who serve in the Border Police as their mandatory three-year service in the IDF. The Yamam is the police elite counter terror hostage rescue unit and it is known as one of the most experienced and specialized in the world. The unit has taken part in hundreds of operations in and outside the borders of Israel, the Yasam is the on-call counter-terror unit in each district. The units, originally started as Riot Police, were called upon to assist with counter-terror operations and it has gained a reputation of being the most elite force on call and ready at any time, although charged by both Israeli settlers and Palestinians of using excess brutality. The Yassam has sub-units of Rapid Response Motorcycle Units, each policeman is armed with a pistol which he or she usually also carries while off-duty. Also, each car must have at least one long-arm. Police volunteers are armed with an M1 Carbine, which they return to the polices armory after they finish their duty. Common pistols owned and carried by volunteers include Glock and CZ-75 designs, specialized armaments such as automatic rifles, bolt action rifles and non-lethal weapons are assigned according to activity and not on personal basis. Border Guard policemen, however, carry an M16 or M4 rifle as a personal weapon. In October 2010 the elite unit YAMAM of the Israeli Police won the Urban Shield SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriffs Office setting a new record in the competition. In October 2011 the elite unit YAMAM of the Israeli Police won the Urban Shield SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriffs Office again, five police at the rank of major general have resigned in the preceding 18 months amid scandal. Haaretz also notes the lack of equality in the Israel Police, given that 30% of police are women. Lahav 433 Palestinian Civil Police Force Administration of Border Crossings, Population and Immigration Law enforcement by country English website Diagram – organizational structure
28.
Abu Kabir Forensic Institute
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L. Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine also known as Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, is an Israeli forensic research laboratory located in the Abu Kabir neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. Administratively it reports to Assaf HaRofeh Hospital, the Abu Kabir Institute is the only facility in Israel and the occupied territories authorized to conduct autopsies in cases of unnatural death. The lab at Abu Kabir conducts forensic examination in cases of rape, homicide, suicide and it also identifies victims of terror attacks. Israel said that activity stopped in 2000. In 2009, Abu Kabir was mentioned in an article in Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet by Donald Boström. Boström accused the institute of being part of an organ trafficking ring in which Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted Palestinians to harvest their organs. Boström later admitted having no evidence, I have a personal opinion, Boström told Israel Radio. It concerns me to the extent that I want it to be investigated, but whether its true or not - I have no idea, I have no clue. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Boström said his allegations were based on hearsay, so they think Im accusing the IDF of stealing organs. I just recorded the Palestinian families saying that, the ministry says that for the past decade, procedures carried out at Abu Kabir have conformed with ethics and Jewish law, and all organ removal is done with permission. She described the involvement of the IDF as a secret in Israel. However, Scheper-Hughes made it clear she does not believe Israel murdered Palestinians for organs, the Attorney General of Israel dropped criminal charges against Hiss. He was fired in 2012 and replaced by Dr. Hen Kugel
29.
Ministry of Public Security (Israel)
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The Ministry of Public Security, also Ministry of Internal Security, is a government agency of Israel. It is the law enforcement agency and oversees the Israel Police, the Israel Prison Service. The current Minister of Public Security is Gilad Erdan, the Minister of Public Security is the political head of the ministry. Until 1995 the position was known as Minister of Police, the post was abolished after Menachem Begin became Prime Minister in 1977, but was reinstated in 1984 when Shimon Peres became PM. There is occasionally a Deputy Minister of Public Security
30.
Gilad Erdan
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Gilad Menashe Erdan is an Israeli politician who serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud and the Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information. He formerly held the posts of Minister of Environmental Protection, Minister of Communications, gilad Menashe Erdan was born in Ashkelon. He attained the rank of Captain during his service in the Adjutant Corps of the IDF. After being discharged from the army, he studied Law at Bar-Ilan University, gaining an LL. B, Erdan lives in Savyon and is married with four children. Erdan worked as an advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and was director of the Department for Public Petitions to the Prime Ministers office between 1996 and 1998 and he also worked as an advisor to Likud MK Ariel Sharon in the 1990s. Erdan was first elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections and he retained his seat in the 2006 elections despite Likuds collapse from 40 to 12 seats, after winning fourth place on the list in the partys primaries. In the party held on 8 December 2008, he won third place on the list. He was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection, and the Minister in charge of coordinating between the Cabinet and the Knesset in the Netanyahu cabinet, upon the government taking office in 2009, he expressed support for Avigdor Liebermans speech opposing the Annapolis Conference and international pressure. He commented that Israel does not take orders from Obama and that citizens of Israel have decided that they not become the fifty first US state. Prior to submitting the latter bill, Erdan was involved in a spat with Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara. in reference to Bisharas trip there the previous summer, Bishara responded by saying Why dont you just go fuck yourself. Creating an uproar in the committee, in 2011, Erdan turned down an offer to become Israeli ambassador to the United Nations citing his commitment to the environment and desire to further environmental reforms. In November 2014 he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs following Gideon Saars resignation, on 24 May 2015, Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed Erdan as Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Information. The Knesset confirmed him in a 58–55 vote the following day, Erdans appointment came eleven days after he initially refused to join Netanyahus new government as he deemed the Prime Ministers initial ministerial offers as insufficient. Two ministers, Yariv Levin and Zeev Elkin, surrendered their portfolios, the law has been criticized for bypassing current legislation in which a court first must decide whether specific content matches the accusations. Outside the Knesset, Erdan is chairman of Al Sam, an organisation dealing with drug issues, Erdan is also a member of the Israel Broadcasting Authoritys General Assembly. Gilad Erdan on the Knesset website
31.
Associated Press
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The Associated Press is an American multinational nonprofit news agency headquartered in New York City that operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. The AP is owned by its contributing newspapers and radio and television stations in the United States, all of which stories to the AP. Most of the AP staff are members and are represented by the Newspaper Guild, which operates under the Communications Workers of America. As of 2007, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,000 television, the photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The AP operates 243 news bureaus in 120 countries and it also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, as part of their cooperative agreement with the AP, most member news organizations grant automatic permission for the AP to distribute their local news reports. The AP employs the inverted pyramid formula for writing that enables the news outlets to edit a story to fit its available publication area without losing the storys essentials. Cutbacks at rival United Press International in 1993 left the AP as the United States primary news service, although UPI still produces and distributes stories and photos daily. Other English-language news services, such as the BBC, Reuters, some historians believe that the Tribune joined at this time, documents show it was a member in 1849. The New York Times became a member shortly after its founding in September 1851, initially known as the New York Associated Press, the organization faced competition from the Western Associated Press, which criticized its monopolistic news gathering and price setting practices. The revelations led to the demise of the NYAP and in December 1892, when the AP was founded, news became a salable commodity. The invention of the press allowed the New York Tribune in the 1870s to print 18,000 papers per hour. During the Civil War and Spanish–American War, there was a new incentive to print vivid, Melville Stone, who had founded the Chicago Daily News in 1875, served as AP General Manager from 1893 to 1921. He embraced the standards of accuracy, impartiality, and integrity, the cooperative grew rapidly under the leadership of Kent Cooper, who built up bureau staff in South America, Europe and, the Middle East. He introduced the telegraph typewriter or teletypewriter into newsrooms in 1914, in 1935, AP launched the Wirephoto network, which allowed transmission of news photographs over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. This gave AP a major advantage over other media outlets. While the first network was only between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, eventually AP had its network across the whole United States, in 1945, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Associated Press v. The decision facilitated the growth of its main rival United Press International, AP entered the broadcast field in 1941 when it began distributing news to radio stations, it created its own radio network in 1974
32.
Haaretz
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It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently still in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International New York Times, both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet. In North America, it out as a weekly newspaper. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic, as of 2016, the newspaper had a weekday exposure rate of 3. 9% in Israel, significantly lower than the countrys other national newspapers. Haaretz was first published in 1918 as a newspaper sponsored by the British military government in Palestine, in 1919, it was taken over by a group of socialist-oriented Zionists, mainly from Russia. The newspaper was established on 18 June 1919 by a group of businessmen including prominent philanthropist Isaac Leib Goldberg, later, the name was shortened to Haaretz. The literary section of the paper attracted leading Hebrew writers of the time, the newspaper was initially published in Jerusalem. From 1919 to 1922, the paper was headed by a succession of editors and it was shut down briefly due to a budgetary shortfall and reopened in Tel Aviv at the beginning of 1923 under the editorship of Moshe Glickson, who held the post for 15 years. The Tel Aviv municipality granted the financial support by paying in advance for future advertisements. Salman Schocken, a wealthy German Jewish Zionist who owned a chain of department stores in Germany and his son, Gershom Schocken, became the chief editor in 1939 and held that position until his death in 1990. Until August 2006, the Schocken family owned 100% of the Haaretz Group, the deal was negotiated with the help of former Israeli ambassador to Germany, Avi Primor. This deal was seen as controversial in Israel as DuMont Schaubergs father, Kurt Neven DuMont, was member of the German Nazi party, while his publishing house promoted Nazi ideology. On 12 June 2011, it was announced that Russian-Israeli businessman Leonid Nevzlin had purchased a 20% stake in the Haaretz Group, buying 15% from the family and this means that the Schocken family now owns 60% and M. DuMont Schauberg and Leonid Nevzlin have 20% each. In October 2012, a union strike mobilized to protest planned layoffs by the Haaretz management, as a consequence, both the Haaretz newspaper and its TheMarker business supplement were not printed for one day. According to Israel Radio, it was the first time since 1965 that a newspaper did not go to press on account of a strike, the newspapers editorial policy was defined by Gershom Schocken, who was editor-in-chief from 1939 to 1990. Schocken was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Hanoch Marmari, in 2004 David Landau replaced Marmari and was succeeded by Dov Alfon in 2008. The current editor-in-chief of the newspaper is Aluf Benn, who replaced Alfon in August 2011, charlotte Halle became editor of the English Print Edition in February 2008. Haaretz describes itself as having a liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs
33.
Israeli Central Elections Committee
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The Israeli Central Elections Committee is the body charged under the Knesset Elections Law of 1969 to carry out the elections for the upcoming Knesset. The committee is composed of Knesset members representing various groups and is chaired by a Supreme Court Justice. Tasks for the committee include the authorization of party lists running for the Knesset, election financing, in 1985, the Knesset approved a law which, for the first time, allowed the committee to disqualify a party list on the grounds of its ideological platform. The first provision, dealing with the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, has been the most controversial since it is possible that parties favoring a one-state solution could be banned under it. The committee decided to ban the Progressive List for Peace and the Kach Party in 1988, the former was banned for allegedly negating the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the later party was banned because of incitements to racism. In 2003, Likud MK Michael Eitan initiated a move to ban the Taal Party from participating in that years Knesset elections, the Central Election Committee proceeded to vote by a one-vote majority to disqualify Balad and Taal lists from the elections. The bans were appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, where the Court unanimously overturned the bans on the Taal list, the Court also overturned the ban on Balad and party leader Azmi Bishara by a 7-4 majority. On 12 January 2009 the Committee voted to ban two Arab political parties, Balad and the United Arab List—Taal, from participating in the February elections, the vote passed 26-3 with one abstention to ban Balad from the elections and 21-3 with eight abstentions to disqualify UAL—Taal. The measure was proposed by the National Union and Yisrael Beiteinu parties, Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, stated that The next step is to declare Balad illegal because its a terror organisation that seeks to hurt Israel. The leaders of the Arab parties denied the charges and appealed the decision to the Supreme court, Tibi described the vote as a political trial led by a group of fascists and racists who are willing to see the Knesset without Arabs and want to see the country without Arabs. Jamal Zahalka, chairman of Balad, warned that the decision would lead to a crisis between Israels Jewish and Arab citizens. On 21 January 2009, the Supreme Court overturned the ban, english language page of official website
34.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
35.
Newsweek
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Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine founded in 1933. It was published in four English language editions and 12 global editions written in the language of the circulation region, between 2008 and 2012, Newsweek underwent internal and external contractions designed to shift the magazines focus and audience while improving its finances. Instead, losses accelerated, revenue dropped 38 percent from 2007 to 2009, in November 2010, Newsweek merged with the news and opinion website The Daily Beast, forming The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, after negotiations between the owners of the two publications. Tina Brown, The Daily Beasts editor-in-chief, served as the editor of both publications, Newsweek was jointly owned by the estate of the late Harman and the diversified American media and Internet company IAC. Newsweek ceased print publication with the December 31,2012, issue and transitioned to an all-digital format, IBT Media relaunched a print edition of Newsweek on March 7,2014. In 2003, worldwide circulation was more than 4 million, including 2.7 million in the U. S, Newsweek publishes editions in Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish, Rioplatense Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish, as well as an English language Newsweek International. Russian Newsweek, published since 2004, was shut in October 2010, the Bulletin incorporated an international news section from Newsweek. Based in New York City, the magazine claimed 22 bureaus in 2011, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago/Detroit, Dallas, Miami, Washington, D. C. Boston and San Francisco, and others overseas in London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, South Asia, Cape Town, Mexico City and Buenos Aires. News-Week was launched in 1933 by Thomas J. C. Martyn and he obtained financial backing from a group of U. S. stockholders which included Ward Cheney, of the Cheney silk family, John Hay Whitney, and Paul Mellon, son of Andrew W. Mellon. Paul Mellons ownership in Newsweek apparently represented the first attempt of the Mellon family to function journalistically on a national scale, the group of original owners invested around $2.5 million. Other large stockholders prior to 1946 were public utilities investment banker Stanley Childs, journalist Samuel T. Williamson served as the first editor-in-chief of Newsweek. The first issue of the magazine was dated 17 February 1933, seven photographs from the weeks news were printed on the first issues cover. In 1937 News-Week merged with the weekly journal Today, which had founded in 1932 by future New York Governor and diplomat W. Averell Harriman. In 1937 Malcolm Muir took over as president and editor-in-chief and he changed the name to Newsweek, emphasized interpretive stories, introduced signed columns, and launched international editions. Over time the magazine developed a spectrum of material, from breaking stories and analysis to reviews. The magazine was purchased by The Washington Post Company in 1961, osborn Elliott was named editor of Newsweek in 1961 and became the editor in chief in 1969. The women won, and Newsweek agreed to allow women to be reporters, edward Kosner became editor from 1975 to 1979 after directing the magazine’s extensive coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974
36.
The Jerusalem Post
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The Jerusalem Post is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, publishing only English and French editions. It was founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post, in 2004, the paper was bought by Mirkaei Tikshoret, a diversified Israeli media firm controlled by investor Eli Azur. In April 2014, Eli Azur acquired the newspaper Maariv, formerly regarded as left-wing, the paper underwent a noticeable shift to the right in the late 1980s. From 2004, under then editor-in-chief David Horovitz, the took a more centrist position. In April 2016, Linde stepped down as editor-in-chief and was replaced by Yaakov Katz, an antecedent paper, The Palestine Bulletin was founded in January 1925 by Jacob Landau of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. It was owned by the Palestine Telegraphic Agency, which was in part of the JTA even though it was legally separate. On 1 November 1931, editorship of the Bulletin was taken over by American journalist Gershon Agronsky, in March 1932, a dispute arose between Landau and Agronsky, which Agronsky resolved to settle by establishing an independent newspaper. However, Landau and Agronsky instead came to an agreement to transform the Bulletin into a new jointly owned newspaper, accordingly, the Palestine Bulletin published its last issue on 30 November 1932 and the The Palestine Post Incorporating The Palestine Bulletin appeared the following day,1 December 1932. On 25 April 1933, the masthead was reduced to just The Palestine Post, according to one commentator, Zionist institutions considered the newspaper one of the most effective means of exerting influence on the British authorities. The building also contained other newspaper offices, the British press censor, the Jewish settlement police, three persons died in the bombing, a newspaper typesetter and two people who lived in a nearby block of flats. Dozens of others were injured and the press was destroyed. The morning paper came out in a format of two pages, printed up at a small print shop nearby. In 1950, two years after the State of Israel was declared, the paper was renamed The Jerusalem Post, the broadsheet newspaper is published from Sunday to Friday, with no edition appearing on Saturday and Jewish religious holidays. Regular opinion columnists write on subjects such as religion, foreign affairs, as of 2016 the managing editor is David Brinn. Some of the material is translated and included in the free Hebrew daily Israel Post, in January,2008, the paper announced a new partnership with The Wall Street Journal, including joint marketing and exclusive publication in Israel of The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Jerusalem Post also publishes a magazine titled IVRIT edited by Dr. Sarit Yalov. Its target audience is people learning Hebrew language and it is described as an easy-Hebrew publication and it uses the vowel notation system to make comprehension of the Hebrew alphabet abjad simpler. The Jerusalem Report edited by Ilan Evyatar, is a fortnightly print, until 1989, the paper supported the forerunners of the Labor Party
37.
Cabinet of Israel
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The Government of Israel exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister, the composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset. Under Israeli law, the minister may dismiss members of the government, but must do so in writing. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio, most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the designated acting prime minister are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice prime ministers, unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law and it meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it, the prime minister convenes these meetings. The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the Government of Israel and this is in accordance to the normal translation of its Hebrew name. Another term in use is the Kitchen Cabinet, a collection of senior officials and it was formed as the Peoples Administration on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the legislative body set up at the same time. This government has 21 ministers and seven deputy ministers, deri resigned his post as economy minister reportedly in protest of a gas monopoly deal. Netanyahu took the portfolio himself and promised to speed up the deal, Basic Law, The Government List of female cabinet ministers of Israel Current and past cabinets—Knesset website Basic Law, The Government —Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
38.
Likud
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The Likud, officially the Likud–National Liberal Movement, is a major center-right to right-wing political party in Israel. A secular party, it was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing, Likuds landslide victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the countrys political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a party won the plurality of the votes. However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, nevertheless, Likuds candidate Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. Netanyahus government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in 1999, in 2001, Likuds Ariel Sharon, who replaced Netanyahu following the 1999 election, defeated Barak in an election called by the Prime Minister following his resignation. After the party recorded a win in the 2003 elections. This resulted in Likud slumping to fourth place in the 2006 elections, Netanyahu has been Prime Minister since and Likud has been the leading vote-getter in each election. A member of the party is called a Likudnik. Herut had been the nations largest right-wing party since growing out of the Irgun in 1948 and it had already been in coalition with the Liberals since 1965 as Gahal, with Herut as the senior partner. Herut remained the senior partner in the new grouping, which was given the name Likud, meaning Consolidation and it worked as a coalition under Heruts leadership until 1988, when the member parties merged into a single party under the Likud name. From its establishment in 1973, Likud enjoyed great support from blue-collar Sephardim who felt discriminated against by the ruling Alignment, Likud made a strong showing in its first elections in 1973, reducing the Alignments lead to 12 seats. The party went on to win the 1977 elections, finishing 11 seats ahead of the Alignment, Begin was able to form a government with the support of the religious parties, consigning the left-wing to opposition for the first time since independence. A former leader of the hard-line paramilitary Irgun, Begin helped initiate the process with Egypt, which resulted in the 1978 Camp David Accords. Likud was reelected with a reduced mandate in 1981. Likud has long been an alliance between politicians committed to different and sometimes opposing policy preferences and ideologies. Begin resigned in October 1983 and was succeeded as Likud leader, although Shamir lost the 1984 election, the Alignment was unable to form a government on its own. Likud and the Alignment thus formed a unity government, with Peres as Prime Minister. After two years, Peres and Shamir switched posts and this government remained in power through 1990, when the Alignment pulled out and Shamir stitched together a right-wing coalition that held on until its defeat in 1992 by Labor
39.
Benjamin Netanyahu
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Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu also currently serves as a member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Likud party, born in Tel Aviv to secular Jewish parents, Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister born in Israel after the establishment of the state. Netanyahu joined the Israel Defense Forces shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967, Netanyahu took part in many missions, including Operation Inferno, Operation Gift and Operation Isotope, during which he was shot in the shoulder. Netanyahu achieved the rank of captain before being discharged, after graduating from MIT with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees, Netanyahu was recruited as an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. Netanyahu returned to Israel in 1978 to found the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute, named after his brother Yonatan Netanyahu, Netanyahu served as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. Netanyahu became the leader of Likud in 1993, Netanyahu won the 1996 elections, becoming Israels youngest ever Prime Minister, serving his first term from June 1996 to July 1999. Netanyahu moved from the arena to the private sector after being defeated in the 1999 election for prime minister by Ehud Barak. As Minister of Finance, Netanyahu engaged in a reform of the Israeli economy. Netanyahu retook the Likud leadership in December 2005, after Sharon left to form a new party, in December 2006, Netanyahu became the official Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset and Chairman of Likud. Following the 2009 parliamentary election, in which Likud placed second and right-wing parties won a majority, after the victory in the 2013 elections, he became the second person to be elected to the position of Prime Minister for a third term, after Israels founder David Ben-Gurion. In March 2015, Netanyahu was elected to his term as prime minister. Netanyahu has been elected Prime Minister of Israel four times, matching David Ben-Gurions record, Netanyahu is the only prime minister in Israels history to have been elected three times in a row. Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv, Israel, to an Israeli mother, Tzila Segal and a Warsaw-born father, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, Netanyahu is of mixed Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish heritage. He was initially raised and educated in Jerusalem, where he attended Henrietta Szold Elementary School, to this day, he speaks fluent English, with a noticeable Philadelphia accent. After graduating from school in 1967, Netanyahu returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. He trained as a soldier and served for five years in an elite special forces unit of the IDF. He took part in numerous cross-border assault raids during the 1967–70 War of Attrition and he was wounded in combat on multiple occasions. He was involved in other missions, including Operation Inferno
40.
Yuli-Yoel Edelstein
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Yuli-Yoel Edelstein is an Israeli politician. One of the most prominent refuseniks in the Soviet Union, he has been Speaker of the Knesset since 2013, Yuli Edelstein was born in Chernivtsi in the Soviet Union to a Jewish family. His mother, Anita Edelstein was Jewish, while his father, Yuri Edelstein, is the son of a Jewish father, both converted to Christianity, and Yuri is now a Russian Orthodox priest in Karabanovo of Kostroma Oblast named Father Georgy. While his parents taught at universities in the countryside, Edelstein was raised by his maternal grandparents and his grandfather had taught himself Hebrew at the age of 70 and used to listen to the Voice of Israel on a shortwave radio. When Edelsteins grandfather died, Yuli began to study Hebrew and read books such as Exodus by Leon Uris, in 1977, during his second year of university, Edelstein applied for an exit visa to immigrate to Israel. Turned down, he began to associate with a group of Hebrew teachers who held classes in their apartments. In 1979, he was expelled from the university and suffered harassment by the KGB, during this time, he found odd jobs as a street cleaner, security guard, and more. In 1984, he and other Hebrew teachers were arrested on fabricated charges, Edelstein himself being charged with possession of drugs and he was then sent to Siberian gulags and did hard labor, first in Buryatia and then in Novosibirsk. He broke several bones after falling from a construction tower and he was due to be transferred back to Buryatia, but his wife, Tanya, threatened to go on hunger strike if he was returned there. Edelstein was released in May 1987, on the eve of Israeli Independence Day and he did his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, attaining the rank of Corporal. Initially a member of the National Religious Party and a vice-president of Zionist Forum and he was elected to the Knesset in 1996, and was appointed Minister of Immigrant Absorption in Benjamin Netanyahus Likud-led government. He was re-elected in 1999, and was appointed Deputy Immigrant Absorption Minister by Ariel Sharon in 2001 and he retained his seat in the 2003 elections, shortly after which Yisrael BaAliyah merged into Likud. Although Edelstein lost his seat in the 2006 elections, in which Likud was reduced to 12 seats and he retained his seat in the 2009 elections after being placed twelfth on the partys list, and was appointed Minister of Information and Diaspora in the Netanyahu government. Following the 2013 elections, he became Speaker of the Knesset, in December 2014, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Edelstein warned world leaders against creating a Palestinian state that he thought would go to war with Israel. In the same interview, Edelstein stated that he believes in Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, in 2014, he was one of several Members of the Knesset who submitted complaints against Arab-Israeli Haneen Zoabi for supporting Hamas, which led to her six-month suspension. “I have been in the Knesset for almost 19 years, ” Edelstein said, “I remember Arab MKs joining me at the March of the Living and proposing social-oriented legislation with me. I believe in coexistence and fighting against those who harm it and I think that Zoabi’s words, People hear her and think all Arabs must hate us and want to kill us. That is unhealthy, and we have to put an end to it. ”He was married to Tatiana, or Tanya Edelstein and they met in the Soviet Union when she attended a Hebrew class he was teaching
41.
Yisrael Katz (politician, born 1955)
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He was drafted into the IDF in 1973. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade and he served as a soldier and a squad leader. In 1976 he became an officer after completing Officer Candidate School. After his discharge in 1977, he graduated with a BA, Katz won 34th place on the Likud-Gesher-Tzomet list for the 1996 elections, but missed out on a place in the Knesset when the alliance won only 32 seats. However, he entered the Knesset in November 1998 as a replacement for Ehud Olmert and he was re-elected in 1999 and 2003, and was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Ariel Sharons government in 2003. Katz left the cabinet in January 2006 after the Likud-Kadima split, in January 2004, Katz announced a plan to substantially increase the number of settlers in the Golan Heights. In the same period, he lobbied, together with the World Zionist Organization, in March 2007, the Israel Police recommended indicting Katz on charges of fraud and breach of trust linked to political appointments at the Ministry of Agriculture during his tenure as minister. The report found 24 seasonal ministry employees were members of the Likud Central Committee or were children of committee members, the police transferred their investigative material to the central district prosecution, which subsequently declined to prosecute. In the 2009 elections and after winning 11th place on the Likud list, Katz, undertaking to implement the recommendations, responded that the buses could carry signs suggesting that gender segregation was voluntary. The Haredi community considered this failure of enforcement a victory, judges from the High Court of Justice criticized Katzs decision to allow continued operation of sex-segregated buses. In July 2011, Katz confirmed that the state subsidizes bus tickets within West Bank settlements, Katz was re-elected in 2013 and remained Minister of Transportation in the new government. After being placed fourth on the Likud list, he was re-elected in 2015, after which he was appointed Minister of Intelligence in the new government, on peace and security matters, Katz is considered to be a hardliner in the Israeli government. He opposes the two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state in any form, instead, Katz favors the creation of an autonomous Palestinian entity with Jordanian civil and political affiliation, and connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt. He opposes any territorial retreat from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six Day War, deeming it a part of Israel and vital for its security. The Jerusalem Post quoted Katz as saying that, The first rule of war is know your enemy, and Europe and the current American government are unwilling to define this war as against Islamist terrorism. The chocolate-eating Belgians remark was widely quoted in the Western media and ridiculed on Twitter, the measure received broad support from the ruling coalition and key opposition MKs. In March 2016, Katz argued that Israel should employ targeted civil eliminations against leaders of Boycott, Divestment, the expression puns on the Hebrew word for targeted assassinations. Katz is married and has two children, yisrael Katz on the Knesset website
42.
Miri Regev
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Miriam Miri Regev is an Israeli politician and a former Brigadier-general in the Israel Defense Forces, in which she served as IDF Spokeswoman. She is currently a member of the Knesset for Likud and Minister of Culture, Regev was born in Kiryat Gat in 1965 to a Moroccan Jewish father and a Spanish Jewish mother. In 1983 she joined the Gadna, where she became a platoon commander and she has a Masters Degree in Business and a Bachelors Degree in Informal Education. She is married and has three children and she then began serving as the IDF Spokespersons representative in the Israeli Southern Command. Regev was promoted to a Colonel rank for the position of Deputy IDF Spokesperson in 2002, in 2003, she was appointed coordinator of the national public relations efforts at the Israeli Prime Ministers Office in preparation for the Iraq War. After a short stint as the Chief Press and Media Censor, she was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and she served in this position during Israels disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the 2006 Lebanon War. In 2007, she was discharged and was succeeded by Avi Benayahu, in November 2008, Regev joined the Likud party, saying that she had been a supporter of the partys platform for many years. She won twenty-seventh place on the partys list for the 2009 elections, in May 2012, Regev participated in an anti-immigration protest and called illegal Sudanese immigrants a cancer in our body. She later said that the quote was misrepresented, and apologized for seeming to compare human beings to cancer, Regev was re-elected in the 2015 elections after being placed fifth on the Likud list. She was subsequently appointed Minister of Culture and Sport in the new government, in July 2016, Regev announced that she would not participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies, because they take place on Shabbat. In her position as Minister of Culture, Regev has argued that state-funded artists or organisations must show loyalty to the Israeli state. She has called this a Loyalty in Culture initiative, and has proposed legislation making support for a cultural institution dependent on its loyalty to the state of Israel. She has said the group Breaking the Silence hurts Israels image, Regev says of this, In the political world they don’t know how to swallow me, because I am a colorful person and different. Who decided that social activists have to be leftists, sorry, but people on the right also embrace the gay community. ”Miri Regev on the Knesset website
43.
Ze'ev Elkin
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Zeev Elkin is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud and as Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Minister of Environmental Protection. Elkin was born in Kharkiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union and he was active in the Bnei Akiva movement, becoming its general secretary of the Soviet Union branch in 1990. In December that year he immigrated to Israel and he studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gaining a BA in history and mathematics in 1994 and an MA in history in the same year. Later Zeev Elkin was involved in academic Jewish and medieval studies, in particular, studied the works of Saadia Gaon, Elkin was elected to the 17th Knesset in 2006 as a member of Kadima and chaired the subcommittee on the absorption of immigrant children and youth. In November 2008 he decided to quit Kadima, as he considered it to have become a left-wing party and he subsequently joined Likud, and won twentieth place on its list for the 2009 elections. He retained his seat as Likud won 27 mandates, in November 2012 he released an election video for his Likud primaries campaign that went viral, earning 250,000 views in only a matter of days. He was subsequently re-elected again in 2013 and he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs between March 2013 and June 2014, and then became Chairman of the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Elkin was placed eighth on the Likud list for the 2015 elections, after the elections, he was appointed Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Strategic Affairs in the new government. Elkin demanded the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs portfolio as compensation for losing Strategic Affairs, Netanyahu met his demand, breaking an election promise to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who had wanted Netanyahu to retain the portfolio himself. On 30 May 2016 he lost the portfolio of Minister of Immigrant Absorption to Sofa Landver of Yisrael Beiteinu, however, on 1 August he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection, succeeding Avi Gabai. Zeev Elkin on the Knesset website
44.
Yariv Levin
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Yariv Gideon Levin is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He currently serves as a member of Knesset for Likud and Minister of Tourism, Levin studied at Boyar High School in Jerusalem. During his national service he joined the IDF Intelligence Corps as an Arabic translator, in 1995 he published a dictionary of economic terms translated between Hebrew-Arabic-English, Arabic-Hebrew-English and English-Arabic-Hebrew. Levin gained an LLB from the Hebrew University and worked as a lawyer in the field of civil-commercial law and he married Yifat, daughter of former Knesset Member Yaakov Shamai. They have three children and live in Modiin, Levin began his public activities in Likuds student faction at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he served as Spokesman and later as deputy chairman of the faction. In 1997, he headed a team established the Likud branch in Modiin and in 2003. Levin, who headed the Faction list, was elected Member of the National Council of the Association, in the National Council elections, Levin was elected Vice Chairman of the Israel Bar Association. Levin was also appointed Head of the Bar Associations salaried lawyers committee, in the 2003 elections for the Bar Associations institutions, the New Young Lawyers Faction increased their power and Levin was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Bar Association. During his work in the Bar Association he took part in its legal aide project Sachar Mitzvah, Levin was among the initiators of the survey examining the conduct of judges in the courtrooms. The Bar Association published the results of the survey, in the Likud primaries prior to the 2009 Knesset elections, Levin was elected to represent the central region. He was placed in the twenty-first seat on the Likud list and he was re-elected in 2013 after winning seventeenth place on the joint Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list. On August 3,2009 Levin was appointed Chairman of the Knesset House Committee and this bill states that a referendum must be conducted in the event of a plan to relinquish sovereign land. The bill passed second and third readings in November 2010 and became a law, on the 18th of March 2013 Levin was chosen to serve as the head of the coalition and leader of the Likud – Yisrael Beiteinu faction. On the 3rd of June 2013 he was elected again as the Knesset’s representative on the committee to locate candidates for the position of Attorney General, Levin serves as the Chairman of the Land of Israel Lobby in the Knesset along with MK Orit Strock. Levin also serves as the Knesset representative to the committee for selecting candidates for Attorney General,28 bills proposed by MK Levin have been approved thus far in the 19th Knesset, passing a second and third reading and entering into law. In February 2014, a bill, sponsored by Levin, was approved that officially recognised Christian Arabs as a legal minority in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed Levin to as Minister of Public Security and he gave up his Public Security portfolio after 11 days when Netanyahu appointed Gilad Erdan to the post. Levin holds hawkish views with respect to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and he opposes the creation of a Palestinian State and believes in the right of Jews to remain in all parts of the land of Israel
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