Israel’s 21st Knesset voted to disperse itself on May 30, just one month after its inauguration. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to piece together a government and chose to call for new elections rather than give another Knesset member the opportunity to try.
What does the new election—Israel’s second in six months—mean for the country?
According to Deputy Minister Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, while the September elections will come with a hefty price tag, their greatest cost will not be financial in nature.

Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman on Saturday said that the Likud party has become a personality cult around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is no longer a party of the right.
When asked about the disagreements between himself and the premier, Liberman charged: “Netanyahu wants to turn everything into a personality cult. The whole of the Likud is a personality cult.
“We have already said that we have no interest in joining the Likud party. It is a populist, half-charedi party, one that sanctifies a personality cult,” Liberman said.
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Monday that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) should be removed from the committee for her anti-Semitic remarks.
When asked by Michelle Makori of i24 News at the annual summit by Christians United for Israel whether the freshman congresswoman should be kicked off the committee, McCaul said that decision is up to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—an answer that elicited jeers from the CUFI crowd before McCaul could finish his answer.
“But as for me, I think Omar has to go,” he said, eliciting wild applause and a standing ovation from the audience.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that President Trump cannot block Twitter users from his official account, finding that the practice is discriminatory.
The ruling upholds a lower court ruling that also found Trump cannot block the Twitter users.
The judges wrote “that the First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees.”
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

Urgent Tehillim is needed after a rebbi/counselor at a day camp in Norfolk, Virginia was swept out to sea this afternoon.
WVEC reports that crews were trying to find the counselor, Reuven Tzvi ben Esther Baila, who went missing in the water off False Cape State Park.
Emergency dispatchers received a call reporting a drowning at the park, located at 4001 Sandpiper Road in Virginia Beach. The caller said two people had been in the water. One was 35 years old. The other was an 11-year-old student.
The counselor was with a group of 20 campers when he saw one of the struggling in the water so he went into help. The student was able to get out, but the counselor has not been located yet.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu warned Iran on Tuesday that it would be within range of Israeli airstrikes.
Speaking at an Israeli air force base, Netanyahu cited Iran’s threats against Israel, according to Reuters.
“Iran recently has been threatening Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said. “It should remember that these planes can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran, and certainly Syria.”
He also reportedly viewed F-35 warplanes at the base.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

The Palestinian Authority is mulling reconciliation with the United States and “setting a new course” with President Donald Trump’s administration after breaking off official contacts, the Israel Hayom daily reported Tuesday.
A senior Palestinian official told the paper that back channel conciliatory messages have been sent between Ramallah and Washington in recent weeks in an effort to mend a rupture between the two administrations since the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
According to the report, a delegation led by Majid Faraj, head of the PA security services, is expected to depart for Washington soon for discussions with senior US officials.

World powers will not be able to negotiate a better deal with Iran than the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, Iran‘s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday.
Iran threatened on Monday to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity as its next potential big moves away from the agreement that Washington abandoned last year.
“#B_Team sold @realDonaldTrump on the folly that killing #JCPOA thru #EconomicTerrorism can get him a better deal,” Zarif wrote, referring to the nuclear deal by its acronym, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“As it becomes increasingly clear that there won’t be a better deal, they’re bizarrely urging Iran‘s full compliance. There’s a way out, but not with #B_Team in charge.”