Netanyahu Slams Agreement between Gantz, Lieberman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Slams Agreement between Gantz, Lieberman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he doesn’t rule out the formation of an expanded government that would basically include Likud party’s “natural partners,” right-wing and Haredi parties.

Netanyahu’s comments appear to be part of a front-line arrangement against Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu and Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) announcement on Tuesday of signing a surplus vote agreement ahead of Israel's September 17 election.

The Premier slammed the agreement, noting that Lieberman is working on the formation of a left-wing government.

“Lapid and Gantz signed with Lieberman, it is in fact a new thing,” Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page, mocking the situation.

Likud slammed the two parties for the deal they struck. “Lieberman signed a surplus vote agreement with Lapid and Gantz after declaring openly that he would support them should they gain the premiership,” a statement by the party said.

“Whoever wants Netanyahu to head the next government should vote only for the Likud,” the statement added.

Lieberman described the agreement as a mere technical measure, not an alliance or coalition between the two political groups.

However, Israeli media said the agreement was ultimately aimed at recommending Gantz as prime minister, after Lieberman demanded that Netanyahu form a government that would include his party, Likud and Blue and White.

Beiteinu, meanwhile, called the agreement a “mere technical matter” and stated that they “will not risk losing a Knesset seat.”

“This agreement is normal and whoever criticizes it doesn’t have the right after surrendering to the reality imposed by the factions in Gaza and paying money to Hamas,” referring to Netanyahu and Likud.

Netanyahu has earlier refused the idea of a unified government along with Gantz, who said he would accept it if it doesn’t include Netanyahu.

This agreement boosts a possible post-election alliance between Gantz and Lieberman, whose party would balance between the right-wing Likud-led and other Blue and White parties.

The electoral race in Israel has been raging between Likud and Blue and White.

Opinion polls show that Likud and Blue and White retain their positions with a single seat in favor of Likud party.



Chinese Vessels Collide While Pursuing Philippine Boat in South China Sea

This screen grab released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the Monday incident between a Chinese Navy vessel (L) and a China Coast Guard ship. Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP
This screen grab released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the Monday incident between a Chinese Navy vessel (L) and a China Coast Guard ship. Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP
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Chinese Vessels Collide While Pursuing Philippine Boat in South China Sea

This screen grab released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the Monday incident between a Chinese Navy vessel (L) and a China Coast Guard ship. Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP
This screen grab released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the Monday incident between a Chinese Navy vessel (L) and a China Coast Guard ship. Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP

A Chinese navy vessel collided with one from its own coast guard while chasing a Philippines patrol boat in the South China Sea on Monday, Manila said, releasing dramatic video footage of the confrontation.

The incident occurred near the contested Scarborough Shoal as the Philippine coast guard escorted boats distributing aid to fishermen in the area, spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said in a statement.

Video released by Manila showed a China Coast Guard ship and a much larger vessel bearing the number 164 on its hull colliding with a loud crash.

"The (China Coast Guard vessel) CCG 3104, which was chasing the (Filipino coast guard vessel) BRP Suluan at high speed, performed a risky maneuver from the (Philippine) vessel's starboard quarter, leading to the impact with the PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy warship," Tarriela said.

"This resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel's forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy," he said.

Gan Yu, a Chinese coast guard spokesperson, confirmed that a Monday confrontation had taken place without mentioning the collision.

"The China Coast Guard took necessary measures in accordance with the law, including monitoring, pressing from the outside, blocking and controlling the Philippine vessels to drive them away," he said in a statement.

The reported collision is the latest in a series of confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.

More than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes through the disputed waterway.

Speaking at a morning news conference, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said the country's patrol vessels would "continue to be present" in the area to defend, as well as exercise Manila's sovereign rights over, what it considers to be part of its territory.

The Scarborough Shoal -- a triangular chain of reefs and rocks -- has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

It was unclear if anyone was hurt in Monday's incident.

Tarriela told AFP the Chinese crew "never responded" to the Filipino ship's offer of assistance.

Earlier in the confrontation, the BRP Suluan was "targeted with a water cannon" by the Chinese but "successfully" evaded it, Tarriela's statement said.