Jerusalem – Benny Gantz, head of the centrist Blue and White party who had challenged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called to congratulate him Friday after Israel’s final election results showed the prime minister poised to win a fifth term. Netanyahu appeared all but certain to form the next government, as the final tally showed his [...]

 
Benny Gantz formally conceded defeat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, calling the incumbent to congratulate him on being re-elected.
“With the end of the vote count and the announcement of final results, I congratulate you on the achievement in the elections, we will continue to serve the citizens of Israel and I wish you and all of Israel a happy holiday,” Gantz told Netanyahu in a phone call.
“Thank you, I wish you a happy holiday. We will restore Israel to calm, each in his own capacity. Have a good Sabbath,” Netanyahu told Gantz.
Netanyahu was declared the winner of the elections on Thursday after the final results revealed Likud had received 36 seats, giving it one more seat than Blue & White.

Washington – The White House considered going after political opponents by pushing U.S. immigration authorities to release detained immigrants into “sanctuary cities,” three sources familiar with the idea confirmed Friday. They told The Associated Press that President Donald Trump considered the proposal amid his ongoing battling Democrats over border wall funding. So-called sanctuary cities are [...]

New Right co-leaders are joined by 9 from Likud, 11 from Labor and 10 other lawmakers who ran in the 2019 elections but failed to make it into 21st Knesset

Tehran – Iranians have rallied against the U.S.’s decision to designate the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization. Thousands of worshippers came out of mosques after Friday prayers and burned flags of both the U.S. and Israel while also chanting traditional anti-U.S. slogans at such rallies of “Death to America” and “Death [...]

With results finalized, Blue and White leader tells prime minister 'we will continue to serve the citizens of Israel'; PM assures rival that they will 'restore Israel to calm'

After Democratic members introduce legislation aimed at repealing president's immigration efforts, liberal groups led by HIAS send letter stating they stand by 'Muslim neighbors'

FULL REMARKS: While meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, President Trump answers reporters’ questions on his relationship with North Korea, the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Attorney General Bill Barr’s testimony that there was spying during the 2016 campaign.
WATCH:

An American Airlines flight attendant says she was mortified when a passenger accidentally bumped her and she dropped a tray of drinks on her boss — CEO Doug Parker.
Maddie Peters says she’d never spilled a drink on a passenger during her four years with Fort Worth-based American.