Author: Jagharian Tania

Can This Man Oust Netanyahu?

Jagharian Tania
The New York Times
Thursday
Can This Man Oust Netanyahu?
 
by Bari Weiss
 
 
Yair Lapid, Israel’s consummate centrist, explains why his party can unseat Israel’s prime minister.
 
FULL TEXT
 
TEL AVIV – Imagine if Joe Biden and Colin Powell announced that they were setting aside partisan politics and forming a new centrist party to save the country from Donald Trump. Then imagine that they were so serious about their goal that they promised to share power, rotating the roles of president and secretary of state.
 
Could they win?
 
That is the question Israeli voters are asking themselves. Last month, Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff of the army and a political rookie, and Yair Lapid, a former journalist and finance minister, came together to form Blue and White. (Mr. Gantz would serve as prime minister first, with Mr. Lapid as foreign minister.) The centrist party is named after the colors of the flag; its candidates are an all-star lineup of top military brass; and polls so far have put Blue and White neck and neck with Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud.
 
Over a week, I met many voters who say they will cast their ballot on April 9 for the centrists. Why? To a person, the answer boiled down to two words: Not Bibi.
 
I met Mr. Lapid on Thursday evening for tea at a North Tel Aviv cafe. When I ran this anyone-but-Bibi read of the election past him, he shot back that it was “dead wrong.”
 
In the hour that followed, Mr. Lapid, who calls himself a barometer of the Israeli center, made his case to me.
 
Voters are turning to his party because they are looking for basic morality, he said. While the sitting prime minister faces three charges of corruption, the men of Blue and White (the top eight of the 10 politicians on the list are men) are motivated by “old-fashioned, duty calls politics.” While Mr. Netanyahu’s message is one of division, Blue and White speaks about unity. And while Bibi has forged an alliance with the explicitly anti-Arab party Otzma Yehudit, Mr. Lapid said that a “racist” party “cannot be a part of a government in this country.”
 
The second difference between the men of Blue and White and Bibi, said Mr. Lapid, is how they see the role of Israel in a world in which democracy is on the decline. While Bibi has aligned himself with right-wing populists like Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Viktor Orban of Hungary, Mr. Lapid sees common cause with liberals like France’s Emmanuel Macron and Mark Rutte of the Netherlands. He hopes such politicians represent “a comeback of civil, moderate” leaders who understand “the risks and hazards of populism.”
 
Chief among those hazards is anti-Semitism.
 
Mr. Lapid said he is “very upset” by what he sees happening in Hungary – the country where his father survived the Nazi genocide. Given his concern with Mr. Orban’s historical revisionism, the way the autocrat has demonized the Jewish philanthropist George Soros, and his general xenophobia, what does Mr. Lapid make of the fact that Israel’s current government has cozied up to the Hungarian leader?
 
“A country as small as Israel, facing our magnitude of threats, cannot be that picky about the way other countries decide to govern themselves,” he began. But, he added, “we also have a moral duty. I pushed forward in the last Knesset a recognition of the Armenian Holocaust even though this is not the right practical move opposite the Turks. Because there is a point where you say enough is enough.”
 
He was far more careful when I turned to the subject of Donald Trump. “I am, like any other Israeli, thankful for President Trump. I sat at the opening of the Embassy in Jerusalem with tears in my eyes,” he said.
 
What of Mr. Trump’s recent flurry of statements about how the Democratic Party has become anti-Israel and anti-Jewish? “I’m going to say this as politely as I can,” Mr. Lapid said. “He was wrong. I don’t think you can say that Eliot Engel and Jerry Nadler and Ted Deutch and Chuck Schumer don’t like Israel. They are the most pro-Israel people I know.” Mr. Lapid said one of his priorities if he wins would be to rebuild support for Israel among progressives. “Israel must be a bipartisan issue,” he said.
 
One of the casualties of Israel becoming an increasingly partisan issue has been American Jews themselves, who vote overwhelmingly Democratic and who see Israel’s rightward turn as betraying fundamental liberal values. In other words, American Jews find themselves stuck between B.D.S. – the boycott movement against Israel – and Bibi.
 
“I understand the fact that some kind of gap was opened between Israel and the diaspora,” Mr. Lapid said of this problem. “I think what unites us – culturally, morally – is way bigger than what separates us. And what we need to go back to is this vocabulary of one people.”
 
It is when Mr. Lapid talks about Jewish values and Jewish history that he is the most compelling. Doubly so when it comes to the subject of his father, Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor who built a life in Israel as a journalist and then as a politician, and died in 2008.
 
“My father had a friend in the Budapest ghetto. His name was Thomas Lantos,” Mr. Lapid said. “After the Holocaust, they went to the same pier in the same harbor and Tom took a boat and went left and my dad took a boat and went right.” Mr. Lantos eventually ended up in California, where he became a Democratic member of the House of Representatives and head of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “They always felt that if they took the opposite boat, Tom would be the minister of justice and my father would be the head of the foreign committee.”
 
“We are the revolving door,” he said, an unusual but beautiful metaphor for Jews’ shared sense of history and destiny. “I was once a young journalist in this country. I could have been you and you could have been me. We share something that we don’t totally have the words for. This is what the anti-Semites hate. We have something they don’t understand.”
 
Ultimately, though, what drives Israeli elections is not fine words about Jewish peoplehood, any more than it is marijuana legalization or tax policy. It is security.
 
Anyone who has paid any attention to the past two decades of headlines – the Second Intifada, Hamas’s rise in Gaza, the failed Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war – should understand Israelis’ sense of vulnerability in the region. Mr. Netanyahu’s long experience reassures many voters who still see Mr. Lapid as a former TV personality lacking in real substance and Mr. Gantz as a political novice.
 
Mr. Lapid is aware of this. “Security will be the first demand every Israeli in his right mind will talk to you about,” he told me.
 
“There are several issues in which the majority of Israelis – 70 to 80 percent – think approximately the same,” he said. “We are all students of the disengagement of 2005, in which Israel did what the world asked us to do. We left Gaza. We dismantled the settlements. And I supported it at the time. But you know what? It was a mistake, doing it unilaterally. The only thing that happened is that less than a year later they voted Hamas into power. We left them with 3,000 greenhouses for them to build an economy and instead they built training camps” for jihadis.
 
So where does that leave the West Bank? Can the occupation go on indefinitely?
 
He paused. “It’s a very American question.” Because Americans think “everything is fixable.”
 
“Really, really wanting something or desiring something strongly is just not enough,” he said. “I’m not willing to see one Jew die because someone took an unnecessary risk in the name of values I really cherish. Like peace, like humanity, like people’s need for self-recognition.”
 
“We need to have the vision and the courage Menachem Begin had. But we also need to be very patient waiting for an Anwar Sadat on the other side. And there is no Sadat on the other side right now,” he says, referring to the Egyptian leader who made peace with Israel in 1979 – a cold peace that continues to this day.
 
In a way, this hawkish consensus is the story that Americans have missed about Israel. No serious contender for the prime ministership is talking about peace or an imminent two-state solution. Indeed, the fact that Mr. Lapid believes Blue and White can form “a unity coalition with post-Netanyahu Likud and Labor” shows just how far to the right Israel has shifted.
 
Two hours after I left Mr. Lapid, I heard the deep boom of the Iron Dome intercepting rockets over Tel Aviv. Back at the hotel, the receptionist showed me the bomb shelter, just in case. In the morning, I read that Israel had hit 100 targets in Gaza overnight.
 
“The Hamas rockets shot at Tel Aviv were a gift” to Bibi, a senior Israeli official, who asked for anonymity, told me the next day. “Netanyahu could fire back at a hundred Gazan targets without risking war. Hamas knows just how far it can push him, and he knows how far he can push back. The same cannot be said of Benny Gantz. If Blue and White is elected, he’s sure to be tested by Hamas and others, with untold consequences.”
 
Mr. Lapid thinks he and Mr. Gantz are more than up to the task.
 
“The Holocaust taught us that the only test of moral people is in immoral times,” he said. “This translates in Israel into daily dilemmas. You’re a young officer and someone is shooting at you and your soldiers from inside a hospital. What do you do? Who do you protect? How do you solve this problem? This tension between morality and survival is to me the core of 21st-century Judaism,” he said. “It is true in Pittsburgh. It is true in Tel Aviv. It is true everywhere. And I consider myself the keeper of this dilemma.”

Police reports about 56 cases of crime detected in the territory of Armenia over the past day

Jagharian Tania
Panorama, Armenia

According to the operations reports of Police of Armenia, 56 cases of crime were detected by officers of various police subdivisions in the territory of the republic from March 19 to March 20.

 In particular, 10 cases of infliction of bodily harm, 9 cases of fraud, 7 cases of personal theft, 4 cases of official forgery or official negligence and battery, 3 cases of misappropriation or embezzlement, abuse of official authority and drug detection, 1 case of kidnapping, theft of state or public property, intentional damage to property, counterfeiting, cybercrime, hooliganism, illegal felling of trees, bribery, trafficking or exploitation of people, drug traffic.

According to the source, 2 wanted persons have been detected, 2 others turned themselves in to the Police, 1 missing person has been found, 5 cases of voluntary surrender of arms and ammunition have been registered.

From earlier committed crimes 7 cases of personal theft have been solved.
Over the past 1 day, 9 accidents have been registered in the Republic: 12 people received bodily injuries of different levels of severity.

Leaders of two Armenian republics highlight expanding closer cooperation between Armenia and Artsakh

Jagharian Tania

Leaders of two Armenian republics highlight expanding closer cooperation between Armenia and Artsakh

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20:47,

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan held a meeting in Stepanakert with Premier of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on March 11.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the ARtsakh President’s Office, a wide range of issues concerning the cooperation between the two Armenian republics were on the discussion agenda.

The meeting subsequently continued in an enlarged format with participation of the secretaries of the Security Councils and foreign ministers. Various issues related to the security sphere and foreign policy were touched upon during the meeting. Both sides emphasized the importance of cementing and expanding closer cooperation between Armenia and Artsakh, timely and proper implementation of the envisaged strategic programs.

Vanetsyan: Realizing the programs for settling the southern regions of Artsakh, we send a message the world about the impossibility of territorial concessions

Jagharian Tania
Arminfo, Armenia
March 1 2019
Tatevik Shahunyan

ArmInfo. Statements about the  possible surrender of territories to Azerbaijan are speculations.  Head of the National Security Service of Armenia Artur Vanetsyan  stated this during his visit to the southern districts of Artsakh.

During his visit to the southern regions, Vanetsyan discussed with  the top leadership of the republic a program of settling the  territory along the banks of the Araks River. In particular, it is  planned to build the settlement Araksavan, to develop agriculture  here and to create infrastructures. According to Vanetsyan, the  settlement of these territories is one of the main security  guarantees.

In the context of the discussions, Vanetsyan noted that the  implementation of this project is already a refutation of speculation  that negotiations are underway around possible territorial  concessions.  “Implementing this program, we are sending a clear  message to the world that no one will surrender even a single inch of  land. On the contrary, our compatriots should live in our  territories, live and create,” Vanetsyan said.

Armenian PM, Ayatollah Khamenei share opinion that NK conflict can be settled only through peaceful means

Jagharian Tania

Armenian PM, Ayatollah Khamenei share opinion that NK conflict can be settled only through peaceful means

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20:40,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei in the sidelines of his official visit to Iran.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Ayatollah Khamenei welcomed the visit of PM Pashinyan to Iran and noted that he has been informed on the results of the talks between Pashinyan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.  Ayatollah Khamenei expressed support for the development of Armenian-Iranian multidimensional cooperation. He particularly highlighted the expansion and promotion of the Armenian-Iranian economic partnership.

Nikol Pashinyan thanked for the reception, emphasizing that Armenia is interested in continuous development and expansion of relations with friendly Iran.

During the meeting in warm atmosphere Nikol Pashinyan referred to the political developments in Armenia and the popular revolution.

The Supreme leader of Iran noted that he attentive followed the developments in Armenia that were peaceful and in line with democratic rules.  

During the meeting the interlocutors touched upon various regional issues. Nikol Pashinyan and Ayatollah Khamenei agreed that the comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is possible only through peaceful means.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan




VivaCell-MTS supports release of 9 books dedicated to Armenians worldwide

Jagharian Tania
iTel.am, Armenia
Feb 26 2019

Numerous implemented projects are results of twelve years of collaboration between VivaCell-MTS and the Panarmenian Geographic Association.

One of those projects is a book series, which has been published for nine years in a row, and which has become a unique encyclopedia for Armenian and foreign readers worldwide. The book series was presented at “The Pioneers of Armenian Typography” Hall of the Museum of Typography by the National Library of Armenia.

The Panarmenian Geographic Association has been in charge of creating these culturally significant books with the support of Viva-Cell MTS since 2011. The first four books embrace 800 Armenian monuments of the world, which include a vast, albeit not complete, list of monuments established by Armenians or dedicated to the Armenians of the world.

“The purpose we have had in mind for years has been to know our culture and to celebrate those Armenians who spared no effort to make it known to the world. I must accept that the success of our initiative is a result of both our cooperation and devotion, but equally the glorious lives of each and every one of the renowned Armenians presented in these nine volumes. I want to believe library patrons will enjoy the books, too,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

The lives of the Armenian musicians of the world are presented in the two following volumes. The information gathered owing to the cooperation of the partnering sides lets readers familiarize with the lives and works of renowned Armenian musicians of the world. The people presented in the books have not only garnered recognition for their talents but have also contributed to building a positive national image for Armenia.

The fruitful cooperation has brought about two more volumes, which are devoted to the Armenian painters of the world. The partners have remained committed to presenting the cultural contribution of the talented Armenians who, by a twist of fate, found home in different parts of the world. The eighth edition celebrates the 200th anniversary of the renowned Armenian marine painter Hovhannes Ayvazovsky.

Armenian cinematographers are introduced in the ninth edition published in 2018; this volume is dedicated to the 110th anniversary of William Saroyan. The book tells about the great Armenian masters of film industry, both living and deceased.

The president of the Panarmenian Geographic Association spoke about the idea of the project, its necessity and importance, the process of its implementation, as well as the cooperation between the two organizations.

VivaCell-MTS and the Panarmenian Geographic Association will continue collaboration in 2019 as well.

The book are available.

Asbarez: ARF Offers Condolences on Louise Manoogian Simone’s Passing

Jagharian Tania
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February 22, 2019

Louise Manoogian Simone

We learned with deep sorrow about the passing of well-known philanthropist and community activist Louise Manoogian Simone. The Armenian Nation lost a dedicated servant who remained true to her family’s legacy and lived and worked with the understanding of serving the Armenian people and the homeland.

Her presidency at the AGBU coincided with Armenia’s independence. Manoogian Simone advanced Armenia-centric projects, bridged the Diaspora and the Homeland and established the AGBU headquarters in Armenia.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to Louise Manoogian Simone’s family and relatives, as well as to the members and directors of the Armenian General Benevolent Union on this great loss.

ARF Bureau
February 20, 2019

Parliament approves government’s Action Plan

Jagharian Tania

Parliament approves government’s Action Plan

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15:46,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Armenia approved the government’s Action Plan during today’s session, reports Armenpress.

82 MPs voted in favor of the Action Plan, 37 voted against.

Earlier the Bright Armenia faction head announced that they will vote against the Action Plan.

MP from the Prosperous Armenia faction Naira Zohrabyan said they will vote in favor if their proposals are accepted.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Armenian Church commemorates St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Sons and Grandsons

Jagharian Tania
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 9 2019

Armenian Apostolic church commemorates on Saturday St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Sons and Grandsons – Sts. Aristakes, Vrtanes, Housik, Grigoris and Daniel.

Qahan.am reports that Aristakes was St. Gregory the Illuminator’s youngest son. He led a monastic life from a very early age. He was consecrated a bishop by his father and became one of St. Gregory’s most valued supporters. In 325 A.D. he participated in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, representing the first Catholicos and the entire Armenian Church. Following St. Gregory, the Illuminator, he became Catholicos of All Armenians.

He was killed in 333 A.D. by Arkeghayos, a prince of Greater Armenia, for criticizing some incorrigible behavior of the king, and was buried in the village Til.

Vrtanes was St. Gregory the Illuminator’s elder son. He was married and had two sons – Grigoris and Housik. Following the death of his brother, he ascended to the Catholicosal Throne.

The sons and grandsons of St. Gregory the Illuminator are remembered and commemorated by all Armenian Churches throughout the world for their service to the Church, their faithfulness to Christianity, and their commitment to the Armenian people.