Latvian lawmakers have elected Egils Levits, a judge with the European Court of Justice, to become the Baltic nation’s head of state.
Levits, a 63-year-old lawyer and political scientist educated in Germany, was expelled from the Soviet Union with his Jewish parents in 1972 because the KGB viewed them as a threat to the Communist regime
The family settled in Germany, where Levits obtained law and political science degrees before returning to Latvia a decade later and entering politics. Levits wrote the country’s 1990 declaration of independence following the end of the Soviet occupation and later served as a member of parliament, justice minister and ambassador to Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and Austria.

As the Israeli coalition crisis enters its final hours, Knesset member and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said Wednesday morning during an interview on Israel’s Army Radio that should new elections be held, Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu Party would “disappear.”
Lieberman’s refusal to compromise on his demand for the passing of a bill regulating the military draft among the ultra-Orthodox is the main sticking point in the coalition talks.

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday will make a statement about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Justice Department announced.
The on-camera appearance will be the first time Mueller speaks publicly about the probe since he was named special counsel two years ago. The Justice Department did not elaborate on what he plans to say but said he will not take questions.
The statement will be live starting at 6 P.M.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

Avidgor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party on Wednesday rejected claims that it is responsible for the ongoing political crisis and accused charedi lawmakers of blocking the establishment of a Likud-led government.
With just hours to go before the Wednesday night deadline for forming a new government, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer blasted the Shas and Yahadut HaTorah, blaming them for the stalled coalition talks which could force Israel to new elections just months after the 21st Knesset was voted in.
“Let it be clear, the ones who are blocking the formation of a government are the charedi parties who insist on sticking their finger in the eyes of the public that serves in the army and does reserve duty,” said Forer on Wednesday.

In a new book by Michael Wolff, the author and journalist claims President Donald Trump accused Jewish people of flipping loyalty, especially in reference to his former Jewish associates.
‘The Jews always flip,’ Trump said, according to Wolff’s upcoming book Siege: Trump Under Fire.
According to the excerpt from the book, which was obtained by The Guardian a week before its publication date, Trump made this remark after Michael Cohen, Trump Organization accountant Allen Weisselberg and American Media CEO David Pecker all made cooperating plea deals with Mueller’s team.
All three are of them are Jewish.

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/VID-20190529-WA0093.mp4

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara has signed a plea deal with state prosecutors in a fraud case against her, and will play a fine of NIS 55,000 ($15,000) to state coffers, but will not admit to fraud.
Netanyahu was charged last year with misusing some $100,000 in funds on catered meals at the Prime Minister’s Residence while there was a full-time chef on staff.
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had until late Wednesday to form a new ruling coalition with a recalcitrant ally or face the possible end of a decade of combative leadership of Israel.
As the hours ticked by, there was no sign of a breakthrough in talks with former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Parliament began a full-day debate on a motion to dissolve itself and call a new election if no deal is struck.
Political sources said Netanyahu was seeking agreement with the leaders of parties in the legislature for a mid-September election day.

President Trump on Tuesday offered what appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek defense of his criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden while traveling in Japan, which triggered bipartisan blowback against the president.
“I was actually sticking up for Sleepy Joe Biden while on foreign soil. Kim Jong Un called him a ‘low IQ idiot,’ and many other things, whereas I related the quote of Chairman Kim as a much softer “low IQ individual.’ Who could possibly be upset with that?” the president tweeted.
Biden campaign official Kate Bedingfield called Trump’s attacks “beneath the dignity of the office” and said “to be on foreign soil, on Memorial Day, and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow American and former vice president speaks for itself.”

A crowdfunding effort to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border unveiled its progress over the weekend, quelling skepticism from some supporters of the $22 million fundraising campaign. But the project’s legality is now being questioned by a local mayor, who issued a cease-and-desist order Tuesday.
“Here we go!! Liberals trying to intimidate us!” Brian Kolfage, who launched the viral border wall GoFundMe in December, wrote in a tweet. “SOUND THE ALARM.”
Kolfage seeks to fill gaps along the “porous” southern border, which he says leaves the United States “vulnerable to attack.” When GoFundMe offered refunds in January after Kolfage fell short of his $1 billion goal, he channeled the money to a nonprofit that aims to construct wall segments on private property.