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Top Israeli Police Officials Reject New Security Minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party (Reuters)
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Top Israeli Police Officials Reject New Security Minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party (Reuters)

Top police officials said they are fearful of the repercussions of Amir Ohana being appointed public security minister, and launched a popular campaign to overturn the decision.

Israel’s new government will be sworn in on Thursday, with Ohana expected to receive the security ministry portfolio.

In formal letters to Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz, as the Knesset speaker, and President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially announced Wednesday that he succeeded in forming a new government.

According to the coalition agreement, the new government will see Gantz replace Netanyahu as prime minister after 18 months.

The government will include 34 ministers, half of whom are from the right-wing, while the rest from Gantz’ coalition that includes Blue and White, and the Labor party.

Police officials fear that as public security minister, Ohana will seek to remove the current police leader and appoint an outsider to lead the force.

They are also concerned that Ohana could move to curtail the work of the investigation unit, which focuses on fraud and corruption, and has led the probes against Netanyahu.

Former Jerusalem District police chief Aryeh Amit announced that Ohana was behind a coup in the public prosecution against its chiefs who wanted to file an indictment against Netanyahu. Ohana later removed a number of them.

Amit believes Ohana intends to repeat the same scenario with the police, and “must be stopped.”

Former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon claimed that Netanyahu wants to appoint Ohana as Minister in order to thwart investigations against him.

He added that Ohana destroyed the Ministry of Justice and ran a fierce attack against the government's attorney general.

“We have gone from a democratic system to one that is close to a dictatorship, where Netanyahu controls everything. This is dangerous.”

Yaalon revealed there are cases that have not been investigated yet and have been postponed due to elections. He added that if the government was formed, the legal advisor will launch an investigation into several corruption cases, some of which include Netanyahu and figures close to him.

Netanyahu carried out several illegal actions during the elections, such as wiretapping and spying on a number of rival party leaders, according to Yaalon.

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Biden Makes Appeals to Donors as Concerns Persist over His Presidential Debate Performance

US President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, US, June 29, 2024. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, US, June 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Biden Makes Appeals to Donors as Concerns Persist over His Presidential Debate Performance

US President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, US, June 29, 2024. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, US, June 29, 2024. (Reuters)

President Joe Biden looked to recapture his mojo and reassured donors at a Saturday fundraiser that he is fully up to the challenge of beating Donald Trump.

"I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to be fighting harder," Biden told attendees at the home of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. "Donald Trump is a genuine threat to the nation," he emphasized, saying that his predecessor would undermine democracy if returned to the White House and his economic ideas would worsen inflation.

The 81-year-old's troubling performance at the first presidential debate Thursday rattled many Democrats, who see Trump as a continuing danger after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Biden's meandering answers and struggles to respond to Trump prompted The New York Times editorial board to declare Friday that he should exit the race and that staying in would be a "reckless gamble."

A White House official said Saturday that Biden had preplanned time at Camp David on Sunday and Monday for a family photo, disputing the premise of an NBC News report suggesting that Biden would be discussing the future of his reelection campaign with his family. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss Biden family matters.

Biden was seen talking by phone with Jon Meacham, the historian, on his way Saturday night to Camp David.

Biden and his wife, Jill, earlier attended an afternoon campaign event in East Hampton, New York, the Long Island beach town where the real estate firm Zillow prices the median home at $1.9 million. Based on public records, the event that was closed to the news media was at the home of Avram Glazer, an owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team.

The couple then went to a second event in East Hampton at the home of investor Barry Rosenstein, whose wife, Lizanne, said the president was "a role model for what it is to get knocked down over and over and over again and get up."

"We can waste time comparing debate nights," she continued. "But you know what? It’s more meaningful to compare presidencies."

Addressing the gathering, Biden tore into Trump over his presidential record including his treatment of veterans and pointed to Trump's own poor performance on Thursday night.

Biden contended that the polling he’s seen shows that Democrats moved up after the debate, saying of Trump: "The big takeaway was his lies."

In the aftermath of that debate, Biden flashed more vigor in speeches in North Carolina and New York on Friday, saying he believes with "all my heart and soul" that he can do the job of the presidency.

The Biden campaign said it has raised more than $27 million on Thursday and Friday.

Jill Biden told supporters Friday that he said to her after the debate, "You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great." The first lady then said she responded to him, "Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president."

The Democratic president still needs to allay the fears stirred by the debate as it seeped into the public conscience with clips and memes spreading on the internet and public pressure for him to bow out of the race.

Democratic donors across New York, Southern California and Silicon Valley privately expressed deep concerns about the viability of Biden’s campaign in the wake of his debate performance.

In a series of text message chains and private conversations, they discussed the short list of possible replacements, a group that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris.

But on Friday, there was no formal push to pressure Biden to step aside and some suspected there never would be given the logistical challenges associated with replacing the presumptive nominee just four months before Election Day.

Some donors noted they were going to pause their personal giving. They said receipts from Biden’s weekend fundraiser would almost certainly be strong because the tickets were sold and paid for before the debate.