PM thanks US president for his support of Israel, including recognition of Golan and strong stance against Iran

The number of ballots cast for parties that will not pass the electoral threshold necessary to win any seats in Israel’s 21st Knesset could be the highest in Israeli history—approximately 325,000—the equivalent of 10 parliamentary seats.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party appears to have edged out former Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party, and is expected to have sufficient support from center and right-wing parties to form a coalition government.
Far down the list, former head of the Jewish Home Party Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s New Right Party was reported to have garnered 127,000 votes—just 4,300 shy of 4 Knesset seats by midday on Wednesday.

President Trump on Wednesday said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection victory increases the chances for a Mideast peace deal.
“Everybody said you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think we have a chance and I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won.”
Later Wednesday, Netanyahu said he received a congratulatory call from Trump while the president flew aboard Air Force One to Texas.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

German police on Wednesday raided offices belonging to Islamic organizations suspected of financing the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is on the European Union’s terrorism blacklist, the interior ministry said.
The ministry said the main targets of the raids were WorldWide Resistance-Help and Ansaar International which are believed to have collected funds for Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, under the guise of humanitarian aid.
The organizations say on their websites that they collect donations for people in Gaza, Somalia, Syria and other countries.

Attorney General William Barr said that he’s starting his own inquiry into counterintelligence decisions that may have amounted to political “spying,” including actions taken during the probe of the Trump campaign in 2016.
“I think spying did occur,” Barr told a Senate Appropriations panel on Wednesday. “But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated.” He added: “I need to explore that.”
The comments, confirming a report by Bloomberg News, indicate that Barr is looking into allegations that Republican lawmakers have been pursuing for more than a year — that the investigation into President Donald Trump and possible collusion with Russia was tainted at the start by anti-Trump bias in the FBI and Justice Department.

Kichol Lavan leader Benny Gantz, the main challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, conceded defeat Wednesday in the country’s election as results showed the premier was on track for victory.
“We respect the decision of the people,” Gantz told journalists, acknowledging his Kichol Lavan alliance had failed to unseat Netanyahu in Tuesday’s poll.
Gantz’s party won 35 Knesset seats in yesterday’s election, the same as the ruling Likud party. Both parties received over one million votes. However, the right-wing bloc received significantly more votes than the left-wing bloc and is currently projected to win 65 Knesset seats, giving Netanyahu the victory.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.

Washington – The head of the IRS, overseeing the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code in three decades, says the average refund in this year’s tax-filing season, $2,833, worked out to be close to last year’s. Taxes and returns for 2018 are due on Monday. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress [...]

Washington – In a White House where no secret is safe for long, one development has remained stubbornly confidential – the contents of a Middle East peace plan authored by President Donald Trump’s advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt. With Trump having delighted Israelis and angered Palestinians by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 [...]

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania lawmakers solemnly remembered Wednesday the 11 worshippers killed in an anti-Semitic attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue last fall, expressing horror at what one speaker called “unimaginable evil,” and two rabbis recited prayers in English and Hebrew. The rare joint session in the chambers of the state’s House of Representatives was attended [...]