Polls show Netanyahu-led bloc best-placed to win elections * PM: I’ve told Trump I won’t evacuate a single settler * S Africa downgrades Israel ties * Seder for survivors

[Visit timesofisrael.com for 24/7 updates]( The Daily Edition Saturday, April 6, 2019 Countdown to April 9 [Good news for Netanyahu: Last pre-election poll puts Likud, Blue and White even]( By [Alexander Fulbright]( [Right-wing, ultra-Orthodox bloc forecast to win majority in all final surveys, leaving Netanyahu well-placed to retain power, though several show Gantz’s party ahead of Likud]( [Ashkenazi: We still hope to join with Levy-Abekasis; Gesher calls it ‘fake news’]( By [TOI staff]( [Kahlon, Feiglin both say won’t enter next coalition without control of treasury]( By [TOI staff]( [Netanyahu: I’ve told Trump I won’t evacuate ‘a single person’ from settlements]( By [TOI staff]( [PM says all communities over the Green Line must be under Israeli sovereignty, vows this will eventually happen; hints at progress, with US support, in his next term]( [Netanyahu claims right-wing rule in danger, urges voters to ‘come home to Likud’]( By [Alexander Fulbright]( [PM: ‘Shame on’ Gantz for suggesting Baumel’s return timed for political gain]( By [TOI staff]( Countdown to April 9 [AFP]( [The winding road to power in Israel: How elections actually work]( [Dozens of parties are competing for 120 Knesset seats, and a would-be PM has to band together a multi-party coalition. But first, the president has to make a decision…]( [‘Start-up nation’ expects no change of course after elections]( By [Stephen WEIZMAN]( [Elections committee rejects request to ban Likud from social media campaigning]( By [TOI staff]( [Emmanuel Macron meets with Yair Lapid four days before Israeli elections]( By [JTA and TOI staff]( [South Africa downgrades Israel ties: FM says it won’t bring ambassador back]( By [TOI staff]( [Lindiwe Sisulu says Pretoria will henceforth maintain liaison office in Tel Aviv with ‘no political mandate, no trade mandate and no development cooperation mandate’]( Analysis [David Crary]( [For American Jews, Trump is key figure in Israeli election]( [Netanyahu’s close alignment with the US leader has troubled liberal Jews, while conservatives have celebrated the fruits of the relationship]( [Netanyahu plays his ‘Trump card’ as elections near]( By [Ilan Ben Zion]( [Once ubiquitous Labor struggles ahead of elections]( By [Jonah Mandel]( [US said set to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as terrorist group]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Decision could come as soon as Monday, but Pentagon and CIA may have reservations about it; Tehran warns it will respond by branding US military a terror group]( [Did Trump administration’s move to shut domestic terror unit hurt US security?]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [IAEA demands safeguards from Saudi Arabia on first nuclear reactor]( By [Shaun Tandon]( [A seder for Holocaust survivors brings joy, food and some good ol’ kvetching]( By [Josefin Dolsten]( [Hamas leader: ‘Our fingers will remain on the trigger to protect our people’]( By [TOI staff]( [Amid ceasefire talks, Yahya Sinwar says he is grateful for efforts by Egypt to ease the blockade on Gaza, but warns Hamas will be the ‘sword and shield’ for its people]( [Over 10,000 Palestinians protest at Gaza border, 70 injured]( By [TOI staff]( [Top negotiator: No true rehabilitation for Gaza until missing Israelis returned]( By [TOI staff]( [Haniyeh: Israeli vote an internal ‘Zionist affair,’ won’t impact Palestinians]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( Interview [Traditions and cultures collide in half-Jewish, half-Palestinian writer’s novel]( By [JP O’ Malley]( Top Ops [Romi Sussman]( [After 37 years, a hug from the land]( [Thursday night, I and many thousands of others finally attended the funeral of a soldier, a student, a son and brother. A child of Israel. Zachary Baumel.]( [Hannah Geller]( [The year I was the stranger at the seder]( [Being Jewish means I trusted the people who took me in as if I was their own, stuffed me with good food, singing, laughing, and making memories together]( [Art examines creation of bogus realities in Haifa’s ‘Fake News’ exhibit]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Liberal NY Orthodox yeshiva stands by decision to deny ordination to gay student]( By [Ben Sales]( [Decision to reject candidate, six months after his public engagement to another man, sparks backlash from community as it tries to welcome LGBTQ Jews]( More Headlines [FBI says New York man threatened to kill Congresswoman Ilhan Omar]( By [AP]( [Columbia University professor says Israel almost identical to Islamic State]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Iranian news site in Latin America: Israel performs medical tests on prisoners]( By [JTA]( [Republican Jewish Coalition calls O’Rourke comments ‘demeaning’ to Holocaust]( By [AP]( [Israel denies Palestinian prisoners’ claims it agreed to concessions in jails]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel activist assaulted near anti-Israel rally in Holland by men yelling ‘Jew’]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [US anti-vaxxers use Holocaust-era yellow stars to promote their agenda]( By [Josefin Dolsten]( [Uber removes London driver who would not take Jews]( By [JTA]( [Democrats reject Republican anti-BDS maneuver in bill opposing war in Yemen]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Clash of cultures / Italian boy goes viral after admonishing anti-Roma protesters]( By [TOI staff]( [15 Jewish college students arrested protesting outside Birthright offices]( By [JTA]( [Keeping up with the K / Kim Kardashian says next trip to Israel in the works]( By [TOI staff]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( © 2019 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, All Rights Reserved