Marking the 40th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic: A paper in the New England Journal of Medicine

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Research News

 

June 5, 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the first report of AIDS cases and the onset of the American AIDS epidemic. In a new, thought-provoking paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, Professor Ronald Bayer and co-author Gerald Oppenheiner capture the experiences of the physicians who were central to the AIDS epidemic. In the words of the doctors, they relay what it meant to look back after 40 years and how they "aged together."

The doctors called their experiences extraordinary and the conditions demanding, under which they performed their duties and treated their patients. They speak of their work as "in the trenches," giving their careers immediate meaning and value that they never expected. As several physicians expressed, "The epidemic changed me in about every considerable way possible." And for some, their lives in medicine were bookended by another extraordinary moment in global health - the COVID-19 epidemic.

Dr. Ronald Bayer, professor of Sociomedical Sciences and co-director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, focuses his research on issues of social justice and ethical matters related to AIDS, tuberculosis, illicit drugs, and tobacco. An elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, he has served on its committees dealing with the social impact of these issues in addition to vaccine safety and the Ryan White Care Act. Dr. Bayer has been a consultant to the World Health Organization on ethical issues related to public health surveillance, HIV and tuberculosis.

###

The Commentary is titled "Marking the 40th Anniversary of the AIDS Epidemic: American Physicians Look Back." A co-author is Valentina Parisi.

Oil and gas stocks carry $126 billion cost for Norway's sovereign fund - research
By Tom Arnold and Gwladys Fouche 

 Reuters/Gwladys Fouche FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Norwegian central bank, where Norway's sovereign wealth fund is situated, in Oslo

LONDON/OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund missed out on $125.8 billion in potential returns over a three year period by investing in oil and gas rather than green stocks, according to research from Global SWF, an industry data specialist.

The results showed oil and gas equities held by the $1.3 trillion sovereign fund, the world's largest, lost 11% over the three-years to Dec. 31, 2020, while its green stock holdings earned a return of 316%.

That equates to an opportunity cost of $125.8 billion, according to the analysis by Global SWF and non-governmental organisation Framtiden of the 198 so-called black stocks and 91 green stocks the fund held as of Dec. 31, 2020.

Norges Bank Investment Management's (NBIM) balance sheet would be 10% larger today if the fund had fully divested from oil and gas stocks and reinvested the money into renewables in Nov. 2017, the research found.

"Financial profitability has stopped and must stop being an excuse for not investing in green energy," Global SWF wrote in a report released this week.

"There is no reason for NBIM not to divest from its (still very significant) portfolio of fossil fuels stocks and use the proceeds to invest more in companies engaged in renewable energy, both listed and private."

NBIM, which invests Norway's revenues from oil and gas production for future generations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fund in 2017 proposed dropping oil and gas companies from its benchmark index, an announcement that sent energy stocks worldwide lower at the time.

Although it cited a reduction in the exposure of the country's wealth to the risk of a permanent drop in oil prices, environmental campaigners seized on it as example of an investor turning away from the oil industry. The proposal would have affected some 6% of the fund's equity holdings for a then-value of $37 billion.

It was rejected by the Norwegian finance ministry which instead put forward a different plan, limited to removing only dedicated oil and gas explorers and producers from the fund's benchmark index.

Parliament voted in 2019 in favour of that plan, which affected 1.2% of the fund's overall equity holdings.

Many lawmakers were concerned that Norway would be perceived at not having faith in the future of its biggest industry, including Equinor, the oil firm that is majority-owned by the Norwegian state.

(Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Mining rig maker Canaan argues against wholesale crackdown on bitcoin mining in China

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - A major Chinese maker of bitcoin mining machines argued against an indiscriminate crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in China, saying the business helps make better use of electricity and contributes to employment and the local economy

© Reuters/Dado Ruvic FILE PHOTO: Picture illustration of small toy figurines and representations of the Bitcoin virtual currency displayed in front of an image of China's flag

Zhang Nangeng, CEO of Nasdaq-listed Canaan Inc, told an earnings conference call that although cryptomining activities using fossil-fuel power hampers Beijing's green efforts, those powered by clean energy should be spared from the crackdown.


"For-profit miners prefer regions with low electricity prices that indicate oversupply, and likely energy waste," Zhang said.

In addition, "bitcoin miners also help create jobs in impoverished regions and contribute to fiscal coffers."

Zhang's comments come after China's State Council, last month, ordered a crackdown on energy intensive bitcoin mining and trading, and Inner Mongolia, a major mining centre, proposed measures to root out the practice.

Energy regulators in southwest Sichuan - a province rich in hydropower - met local power generators on Wednesday to probe cryptomining in China's second-biggest bitcoin production hub.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are created or "mined" by high-powered computers competing to solve complex mathematical puzzles in an energy-intensive process that often relies on fossil fuels, particularly coal.

Canaan makes machines, or rigs, to mine bitcoins.

Zhang said policy uncertainty is prodding domestic miners to move overseas, and causing some clients to hold off placing new orders for mining equipment.

Beijing's crackdown is also prompting some miners to "undersell" mining equipment, helping knock-down prices, Zhang said.

Spot prices of bitcoin mining machines are down 20%-30% from roughly a month ago, hurt by falling bitcoin prices.

To reduce business uncertainty, Canaan is accelerating overseas expansion, securing long-term contracts, and setting up its own offshore bitcoin mining business.

Canaan, which on Tuesday reported a nearly 500% surge in first-quarter sales to 402.8 million yuan ($63.12 million), said overseas markets now contributes to 78.4% of its total revenues. That compares with just 4.9% in the first quarter of 2020.

Orders from overseas clients, including Canada's Hive Blockchain Technologies, and U.S. crypto player Core Scientific, also account for more than 70% of total orders.

Canaan is also expanding into bitcoin mining itself, having set up an office in Singapore, and is preparing to launch a cryptomining business in Kazakhstan, in central Asia.

"Just as it took a long time for bitcoin to be recognized by the market, there will also be a (long) process for bitcoin, and cryptomining, to be recognized by regulators" in China, Zhang said.

($1 = 6.3820 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Alun John; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Bitcoin is copper, not gold, Goldman Sachs claims
CryptocurrencyJun 02, 2021




© Reuters. Bitcoin is copper, not gold, Goldman Sachs c

The global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Jeff Currie, has dismissed claims that Bitcoin could replace gold as a store of value.

During a recent appearance of CNBC international, Currie explained that neither Bitcoin nor any other cryptocurrency stands a chance at beating gold, a narrative that is becoming quite popular in crypto cycles. He said:

The digital currencies…they are not substitutes to gold. If anything, they would be a substitute to copper…They are pro-risk, risk-on assets.The Goldman exec also argues that Bitcoin is a risk-on asset based on his firm’s trading history. Meanwhile, he considers gold to be a risk-off asset that hedges bad inflation.

If anything, you would argue that Bitcoin substitutes against risk-on inflation hedges, not risk-off inflation hedges.While Currie’s claims are definitely up for debate, gold outperformed Bitcoin in May. Following Tesla’s announcement that it was no longer going to accept Bitcoin as a payment option for its cars in May, the leading digital asset began to drop. This was further exacerbated by reports that China was planning to crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading. Consequently, Bitcoin saw its third-biggest monthly drop in May. Gold, on the other hand, is up by seven percent within the same period.

Continue reading on BTC Peers

JBS Foods ransomware gang: White House 'engaging directly' with Russia about attack on massive meat producer

Aussie cops start probe and FBI and USDA lend a hand

Matthew Hughes

Wed 2 Jun 2021 

Australian police are investigating a ransomware attack at the facilities of JBS Foods — one of the largest producers of meat in the world – as the White House fingers Russia-based cybercriminals.

The attack has forced the Brazilian-owned business, which operates 47 facilities across Australia, with others located in Brazil, the US, and Canada, to stop production in some units. It’s not currently known how many factories in total have been forced to halt operations.

JBS said on 31 May that it had been the "target of an organized cybersecurity attack, affecting some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems." This was "determined" on the 30 May, it added.

The food processing company had "suspen[ded] all affected systems, notifying authorities and activating the company's global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation. The company’s backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an incident response firm to restore its systems as soon as possible."

Facilities in Michigan and Iowa were temporarily shuttered, according to the Wall Street Journal.

JBS Foods was also running at a drastically reduced capacity in Australia, with some facilities entirely suspended, and others operating at a limited level. Operations in the UK and Mexico were not affected.

The company said yesterday that its "systems are coming back online" and the "vast majority" of its beef, pork, poultry and prepared food plants" would be operational from today.

"The company is not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised," it added.

It is not yet known what the attackers have demanded, nor their origin.

The White House revealed in a statement:

JBS notified the administration that the ransom demand came from a criminal organization likely based in Russia.

The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals.

Australian law enforcement has sought assistance from other international partner agencies, according to David Littleproud MP, who serves as the federal minister for agriculture, drought, and emergency management.

According to White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, both the FBI and Department of Agriculture are assisting their counterparts in Australia.

The incident comes weeks after Colonial Pipeline fell victim to a devastating ransomware attack, which disrupted the supply of fuel to the US's East Coast, resulting in higher prices and widespread shortages.

Colonial supplies 2.5 million barrels of fuel each day, including diesel, petrol, and jet fuel. The company ultimately reportedly resolved the situation by paying the attackers a $4.4m ransom.

Some analysts have expressed fears the attack on JBS Foods may result in shortages of meat in some markets. In a research note, the Steiner Consulting Group told investors that a single day of disruption will “significant impact the beef market and wholesale beef prices.”

Littleproud is less bearish, telling CNN Business he didn’t believe Australia would experience a meat shortage.

Arthur Dell, head of Technology for Emerging Regions at Veritas Technologies, suggested the recent trend for ransomware attacks appear to be designed to “damage the symbols of Western success” — namely the food and energy sectors.

“This raises questions about the true motivation for some of these more recent ransomware attacks: are they for profit or for pride? The danger for businesses is, if it’s not about the money, then paying up isn’t necessarily going to get their data back,” he said.

"Fortunately, for JBS, the company has stated that their backups were unaffected and we trust their systems will be up and running again soon. In the meantime, the global focus will shift to national governments to monitor their responses. When it comes to keeping citizens warm and fed, whose job is it to protect that infrastructure and, more importantly, how?" ®

SCHADENFREUDE TOO
Donald Trump’s new blog lasted less than a month

Blogging is hard.

By Sara Morrison Jun 2, 2021, VOX

Trump has waved good-bye to blogging after less than a month. James Devaney/GC Images

Donald Trump’s “communications platform” — also known as a web log or “blog” — will join the Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Magazine, Trump Vodka, and Trump 2020 on the list of Trump-branded flops.

“From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” a section of Trump’s website, launched last month and featured tweet-style posts from the former president — which he could no longer place on the actual social media sites he used to dominate because he was banned from them. But now, just like his social media accounts, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” is no more.

The short-lived site was a letdown from the start. For months, Trump’s team said that Trump would launch his own social media platform after being kicked off Twitter and Facebook. But when “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” went live on May 4, it was not the Twitter competitor some expected, but rather a section of his website that basically functioned as a blog.

Trump posted his thoughts about current events, and fans could then share them on their own social media accounts. There was also a “heart” option with limited functionality. Initially, it didn’t work at all, and then it didn’t allow people who hearted a post to un-heart it — but there was no way for the viewer to see how many others had also hearted the post.

And now, there will be no hearts at all, for the blog has been shuttered and wiped from the internet. The blog page now redirects to a page urging visitors to sign-up for “EXCLUSIVE updates” from Trump via email and phone (it’s mandatory to provide both — these are contact information harvesting operations, after all).

Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed to CNBC that the blog section of the site is indeed gone and won’t be back, then hinted on Twitter that Trump will be joining another social media platform — without specifying which one.

As for why Trump’s virtual desk disappeared, the Washington Post noted that it never really caught on — it certainly didn’t get nearly the kind of attention Trump’s social media posts did — and that Trump was upset about its low readership and high number of people mocking it. As many bloggers well know and Trump apparently just discovered, blogging is hard and it can take time to find an audience.

As noted above, the Trump team is still insisting that he will either create his own social media platform or join another one (so far, he has resisted using Gab or Parler, either of which would be happy to have him). If that’s true, we’ll see if that foray lasts longer than his month of blog posts did.

Trump closes his ‘beacon of freedom’ website a month after launching it

Jason Miller, senior aide to former president, confirms closing of the ‘From the Desk of Donald J Trump’ online communication tool
 

Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on 28 February 2021. Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters

Richard Luscombe
@richlusc

THE GUARDIAN
Wed 2 Jun 2021 20.18 BST

Donald Trump has discontinued the blog-type website he launched in a fanfare less than a month ago as “a beacon of freedom” and “a place to speak freely and safely”.

Jason Miller, a senior aide to the former US president, confirmed the closing of the “From the Desk of Donald J Trump” online communication tool in a statement to CNBC on Wednesday, just weeks after billing the venture as “a great resource” for his boss’s musings.

Miller offered no explanation for the closure, and it remains unclear if it was a voluntary move or was imposed by a third party of some kind, like Trump’s removal from social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook for inciting the deadly 6 January Capitol insurrection.

But in a tweeted reply to a Republican activist questioning if the move was “a precursor to him joining another social media platform”, Miller said: “Yes, actually, it is. Watch this space.”

In the statement to CNBC, Miller attempted to paint the short-lived project as “auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on”.

The Trump blog, a mouthpiece for his false claims about a rigged 2020 presidential election, failed to gain traction and on 21 May the Washington Post reported it had attracted a “staggeringly small audience”.

Last weekend, the website mysteriously crashed after Trump posted more falsehoods about the bizarre election “audit” in Arizona that the former president says provides proof that Joe Biden’s victory was “stolen”, despite the failure of many dozens of lawsuits challenging the result, and local, state and national officials declaring that 2020’s was the most secure election in US history.

Meanwhile, without evidence, Trump insisted that there were “broken seals on boxes, ballots missing, and worse” in Arizona. Shortly after the entry was posted, the website reported a URL processing error, and the blog page went dark completely.

Visitors to the donaldjtrump.com website on Wednesday found only an archive of Trump’s media statements dating back to January and a link to an online shop for Trump merchandise.

Trump and his acolytes have long railed against social media platforms for their perceived bias against him, and despite the apparent one-time popularity of his posts. When Trump’s account was permanently suspended from Twitter he had almost 90 million followers.

Facebook’s oversight committee, meanwhile, ruled last month that his ban should not be lifted, but left the door open for “a final decision” within six months.

The closure of his blog comes as Trump, who is mulling a second presidential run in 2024, prepares to return to campaign-style rallies for the first time since he incited a mob of supporters to overrun the US Capitol building on 6 January in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

On Saturday he will speak at the North Carolina Republicans’ state convention in Greenville, and is planning a series of public events over the summer in other battleground states, including Florida and Ohio.

INDIAN REFINER SEEKING HELP WITH SANCTIONS TAPS FORMER BIDEN AIDE:

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO
POLITICO
06/02/2021

 Reliance Industries, an Indian conglomerate and oil refiner, has retained a former Senate aide to President Joe Biden, Ankit Desai of ABI Associates. Desai will work as a subcontractor to Eversheds Sutherland, which Reliance has retained since 2019, and will lobby the administration to relax restrictions on companies receiving Venezeulan crude oil in exchange for diesel fuel, according to a disclosure filing.

— Bloomberg News reported in January that officials from Reliance and oil giant Chevron were set to meet with State Department officials not long after Biden was sworn in, in an attempt to get the new administration to let up on restrictions on Venezuelan oil put in place during the Trump administration, though apparently those discussions weren’t fruitful.

— “Reliance is basing its request to resume oil swaps on the argument that the operations do not provide cash to the Venezuelan government but rather help lessen the humanitarian crisis there,” Bloomberg’s Lucia Kassai wrote at the time. “Diesel is used in power generation, public transportation, agriculture and to deliver food and medicine.”

— Desai worked for Biden in the Senate in 2005, before working as a fundraiser for now-Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Va.) PAC and then heading to the private sector. He’s the first new lobbyist for Reliance since it hired Eversheds Sutherland’s Virginia Faulk and Jacob Dweck after not actively lobbying in Washington for the better part of a decade, according to lobbying disclosures.

— The timing coincided with new sanctions on the state-run Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., handed down by the Trump administration as part of a renewed push to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office by choking off oil revenues. According to Bloomberg, “while some companies were still allowed to engage in limited dealings with the South American country,” crude-for-diesel swaps “were nixed last October.”

READ MORE HERE 

Indian refiner hires Biden aide to lobby for relaxed Venezuelan sanctions - POLITICO

Muslim Lives Matter
It is incumbent on Muslims to learn from the Black Lives Matter movement

Shahjhan Malik June 02, 2021

A Palestinian woman argues with an Israeli border policeman in the West Bank. PHOTO: REUTERS

May 25, 2021 was the first death anniversary of George Floyd. His murder at the hands of the Minneapolis police department has been memorialised in the United States and around the world. His death began a movement which posed direct and difficult questions regarding the structure of white supremacy in America and elsewhere. “Black Lives Matter” is a rallying cry that has echoed across every corner of the globe: it not only encompasses the plight of African Americans, it also applies to minorities in Europe and Australia.

While it’s important to note that “Racism” should be scrawled on George Floyd’s death certificate as the cause of his untimely demise, there is another form of discrimination which is proving deadly too. It’s time to say just as loudly, Muslim Lives Matter.

It’s been difficult to escape the recent images coming from Gaza. What is at the root of the conflict between Hamas and Israel? While land is certainly a major part of it, why were the Palestinians moved off that land? It was because their presence, as Arabs and mainly Muslim, precluded the possibility of the Jewish state that Israel’s founders wished to build. The walls that Israel builds around Palestinian territories is further evidence of this exclusionary policy: yes, there are Israeli Arabs and they have political parties. However, their participation in Israeli political life is the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, Palestinians lead different lives on the same land. The figures around coronavirus vaccination make this particularly clear: according to Reuters, only 5.1% of the population of the Palestinian territories have been vaccinated. Israel, in contrast, has vaccinated 58.3% according to the same source.

Israel is one example, however, it’s worth looking at recent trends. Remember, one of the first actions of the Trump Administration was to ban travellers to the United States from predominantly Muslim countries. On March 17, 2021 the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) cited a report from the UN Human Rights Council which stated that Islamophobia had risen to “epidemic” proportions. We have seen France turn on Muslim communities’ practices and beliefs in the name of secularism. We bear witness to on-going prejudices deeply embedded in Western societies. There is a patronising assumption among many in the West that because Muslim women wear scarves as a symbol of our faith, that we are somehow downtrodden and need to be liberated to be just like Westerners. We would choose this, the assumption goes, if only we had the ability to make that selection.

The bafflement and misunderstanding of some politicians leads directly into dehumanisation: witness Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s remarks that women who don the veil look like letterboxes. It’s not altogether clear that he has repented these remarks: he recently was visited by Hungary’s Prime Minister, Victor Orban, whose government has decidedly Islamophobic views.

So long as there is incomprehension and arrogance, there will be bigotry, stretching all the way from Israel to across the Atlantic, to the furthest corners of the globe. Bigotry leads to “othering”, the process by which the views and lives of an entire group are discounted. This discounting is the route to maltreatment, or worse.

The Muslim community in Great Britain and elsewhere does do outreach programmes: I am aware of open-door events, whereby people from other communities are invited into the mosque or to share Iftar during Ramadan. I appreciate the non-Muslims who go to these events: they may be catalysts for a better society. I just don’t believe there are enough of them. Boris Johnson can say what he likes, and yet not suffer terrible consequences in the polls: this makes Islamophobia appear to be the last acceptable form of overt bigotry.

I believe it is incumbent on Muslims to learn from the Black Lives Matter movement. We should record the toll that Islamophobia has taken, memorialise its victims, talk about our lives and the discrimination we face. We should stand up for our values too. For example, I wear a headscarf not because I feel oppressed, but because when it comes to the Western game of chasing their standards of beauty, I have opted out. I have decided to follow the dictates of my God. I want to be valued for my intellectual contributions, not judged on how my hair looks on any particular day. I am free: I choose modesty. So long as that is my choice, that should inspire neither pity nor condescension. Nor should any of the choices that Muslims make, whether that is refraining from alcohol or pork, be seen through any other lens. None of this means Islam is not compatible with modernity: I myself have advanced degrees and a career. Thus, there should be no “othering”, rather, there should be tolerance, understanding, and the equality of consideration that flows from both.

Too often, however, I see Muslims apologising: whenever there are extremists in our midst, we feel compelled to denounce them to be good citizens. It is right that we do so. However, have the religious right in America denounced those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th? If we are to denounce extremism, surely there must be equality in this too. Surely, we should say so.

I believe that God created the world for all of us, regardless of faith, race, or creed. I believe He made us to serve Him and each other. We do not serve anything except the darker corners of our nature if we exclude and denigrate. That, in my opinion, is not in His plan. Most faiths and ethical frameworks hold the equality of mankind to be sacrosanct: these state Muslim Lives Matter. We should say so too, via the way we live our lives, live proudly in our faith, and continue to push at the barriers which exclude us from any corner of mainstream society. Until we do, bigotry will persist, as it is a convenient crutch for those who want to blame others for those who want to explain away difficulty in their lives. We should not let it.


WRITTEN BY:
Shahjhan Malik
The writer is a practicing solicitor in England. She is a Dual Qualified Lawyer, independent business woman, Human Rights and Women’s Rights Activist from Lahore, Pakistan. She presently resides and works in the United Kingdom. She tweets @SHAHJHAN_MALIKK.

Bennett will oust Netanyahu as Israeli PM under reported deal

Rightwinger Naftali Bennett, 49, who boasted of killing Arabs, will replace Benjamin Netanyahu under a deal reached tonight with centrist Yair Lapid, Israeli media are reporting.

BY MONDOWEISS EDITORS JUNE 2, 2021

YAIR LAPID, NAFTALI BENNETT AND MANSOUR ABBAS IN IMAGE PURPORTING TO SHOW THEM REACHING A DEAL. JUNE 2, 2021.

Right-winger Naftali Bennett is to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister under a power-sharing deal announced by centrist Yair Lapid just ahead of a midnight deadline tonight in Israel.

Netanyahu has served as prime minister since 2009, the longest term of any Israeli p.m. He has so far survived a series of four elections in two years as Israeli politics stalemated.

The deal would give Bennett, 49– who has adamantly opposed a Palestinian state, pushed for annexation of West Bank lands, and bragged of killing Arabs — a wide-ranging coalition of political support from Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, which has 17 seats in the Israeli parliament, to right-wing New Hope party, a breakaway from Netanyahu’s party, to Labor and Meretz on the center-left.

But Jewish parties only get Bennett to 58 votes, and Bennett needs 61 votes. The deal also depends on three Palestinian members of parliament in the rightwing Islamist party, the United Arab List, or Ra’am. Ra’am head Mansour Abbas reportedly sought promises from the Jewish leaders– and all Israeli government coalitions are made of Jewish parties to the exclusion of Palestinians — not to demolish Palestinian villages inside Israel. Abbas reportedly also wanted regressive promises regarding LGBTQ freedoms. i24 News says Abbas signed on to the government without the details of his cooperation being hammered out.

Israeli media say the deal– which includes a rotation agreement in which Lapid would take over as prime minister later — won’t be final till there is an actual vote of the Knesset in a week’s time in favor of the leadership. Benjamin Netanyahu is sure to pull as many political strings as he can to make the deal fall apart. Axios is reporting that Bennett would be sworn in next week if the deal holds.

YAIR LAPID CALLS ISRAELI PRESIDENT RIVLIN AT 11:22 P.M. ON JUNE 2 TO SAY HE HAS REACHED A DEAL TO FORM A GOVERNMENT, WITH NAFTALI BENNETT, LEFT. IMAGE APPEARED ON I24 NEWS.

Bennett served as a minister in Netanyahu’s government. He and other right-wingers have now betrayed the PM. The son of American Jews who immigrated to Israel under its Jewish “law of return” that discriminates against Palestinians, Bennett made a fortune in high-tech in the U.S. before entering politics in Israel.

“Tonight we begin a new beginning,” Labor Leader Merav Michaeli announced minutes ago. “Tonight we succeeded… The Change government is something that so many citizens of Israel were wanting. We have a long way to go.”

Michaeli indicated to her own voters that she had compromised. A sticking point had been her appointment as Justice Minister. Michaeli reportedly gave way to right-winger Ayelet Shaked of Bennett’s Yamina (rightwards) party on the ministry and even on a judicial appointments committee in order to facilitate the deal.

MERAV MICHAELI OF LABOR ANNOUNCING THE DEAL. TEL AVIV, JUNE 2, 2021. PHOTO OF I24 NEWS SHOT.

The left has made many concessions to get the deal, says Owen Alterman of i24 News; and its voters have accepted them quietly in order to get rid of Netanyahu.

One potential opening for Netanyahu is the opposition to the new government by a right-wing member of Naftali Bennett’s party, Uri Ohrbach. But he had reportedly agreed not to block the deal.

Lapid forms coalition government in Israel, ending Netanyahu era

Sara Lemel, Sebastian Engel and Stefanie Jaerkel

 Jun 2, 2021

Tel Aviv (dpa) - Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party formed a coalition government with the help of the small Arab party Ra'am shortly before a midnight deadline, concluding the era of long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After weeks of talks among the various parties, Lapid will officially announce his success to President Reuven Rivlin later Wednesday, his spokesperson said.

"The chairperson of Ra’am, Mansour Abbas, signed a document which allows the chairperson of Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, to inform the president he has succeeded in forming a government after agreements were reached," Lapid's spokesman said.

"Mansour Abbas and Yair Lapid signed a coalition agreement to form a unity government."

The agreement came shortly before a deadline passed for Lapid to form a government, as his 28-day mandate to forge a working majority was to end at 2100 GMT.

Coming more than two months after Israel's elections, it followed high-pressure efforts to bring together eight parties, some of them far apart on the political spectrum.

The new government is expected to be sworn in on June 14.

Lapid, until now opposition leader, needs the support of a simple majority of the 120 lawmakers in the Knesset.

His coalition will include the ultra-right Yamina (Rightwards) party, according to local media reports. It was seen as kingmaker following the vote.

Yamina head Naftali Bennett and Lapid agreed to rotate the role of prime minister, with Bennett taking on the post for the first two years, before he is replaced by Lapid, according to reports.

Lapid would begin in the role of foreign minister.

His party is in the political centre, and was the second strongest force in the March election after Netanyahu's right-wing conservative Likud.

Lapid entered politics after a career as a television host, and served as finance minister in a previous Netanyahu government.

Netanyahu has led the country since 2009, and had already served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, making him Israel's longest-serving head of government.

The seven small parties united under Lapid's Yesh Atid (There is a Future) were joined above all by their rejection of Netanyahu, who is the subject of a corruption trial.

Otherwise they have divergent political goals.

Bennett's pro-settler Yamina differs widely from other coalition partners such as Meretz, the Labour Party and Ra'am, which support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state - differences which could complicate the work of Lapid's coalition.

Earlier, Yesh Atid and Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White alliance announced they had successfully concluded coalition negotiations the previous night.

In early May, 56 lawmakers voted that Lapid should form a government, after Netanyahu had previously failed to do so.

The formation follows an extended political crisis, with four elections held in two years, each failing to produce a clear majority.

Lapid announces: I have succeeded in forming a government

Naftali Bennett will be Prime Minister for the first two years and then Yair Lapid will serve as Prime Minister. Rivlin: I expect the Knesset to convene as soon as possible to approve the government as required.

Elad Benari , Jun 02 , 2021 

Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett
Spokesperson


In accordance with paragraph 13(b) of Basic Law: The Government (2001), Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid informed President Reuven Rivlin that he has been able to form a government.

Lapid conveyed his message at 11:22 p.m. on Wednesday evening, by telephone and e-mail.

Lapid spoke to the president on the phone and informed him that the government will comprise Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, Labor, Yisrael Beytenu, New Hope, Meretz and Ra’am.

Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett will be Prime Minister and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid will be Alternate Prime Minister.

After approximately two years there will be a changeover, after which Lapid will become Prime Minister and Bennett will become Alternate Prime Minister.

The President thanked Lapid and said, “I congratulate you and the heads of the parties on your agreement to form a government. We expect the Knesset will convene as soon as possible to ratify the government, as required.”

Lapid said, "I commit to you Mr. President, that this government will work to serve all the citizens of Israel including those who aren't members of it, will respect those who oppose it, and do everything in its power to unite all parts of Israeli society."

After a conversation with President Rivlin and in accordance with the Basic Law: The Government, Lapid also informed the Speaker of the Knesset of his message to the President and of the fact that he has succeeded in forming a government.

Lapid called upon the Speaker of the Knesset to fulfil the legal responsibility incumbent upon him and call a special session of the plenary as soon as possible during which he will inform the Knesset that Yesh Atid Chairperson, Yair Lapid, has succeeded in forming a government.

The chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, blasted the formation of the new government: “Get this through your heads: Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Matan Kahana, Nir Orbach, Idit Silman and Abir Kara signed, for the first time in the history of Israel, a coalition agreement with an anti-Zionist party and a supporter of terrorism. It was possible to form a right-wing government and they torpedoed it and consciously preferred the left and supporters of terrorism. We will not forget nor forgive.”

MK Miki Zohar, chairman of the Likud Knesset faction, said, “The left is celebrating, but this is a very sad day for the State of Israel. Bennett, Sa’ar and Shaked should be ashamed.”