Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 26 July 2019

Former PM Barak, others join forces before Israeli elections

By ARON HELLER seen in years." The three
Associated Press leaders all spoke of "regime
JERUSALEM (AP) — A trio of change" and ousting Ne-
forces on the Israeli left — tanyahu from office.
including former Prime Min- With Labor announcing a
ister Ehud Barak — united joint run focused on social
on Thursday ahead of the and economic issues with
country's upcoming elec- the small Gesher party,
tions, looking to pose a "Democratic Israel" looks
powerful contrast to Prime to have seized the mantle
Minister Benjamin Netan- of peacemaking with the
yahu's conservative ruling Palestinians and is poised
Likud party. to reintroduce an agenda
The newly formed "Demo- that has long been missing
cratic Union" said in a joint from the Israeli political dis-
statement it would be course.
made up of Barak's "Dem- Meretz lawmaker Tamar
ocratic Israel" faction, the Ehud Barak, left, Tamar Zandberg, and Stav Shaffir. announce their joint faction "The Democratic Zandberg, a former party
dovish Meretz party and se- Camp" for the upcoming elections in Israel, in Tel Aviv, Thursday, July 25, 2019. leader, called the new alli-
nior Labor Party official Stav Associated Press ance a "dramatic move to
Shaffir. build an alternative gov- with the stated ambition of candidate to replace Ne- strengthen the left" and a
With just a week left to ernment, he dissolved par- toppling Netanyahu again tanyahu himself. "significant boost to justice
present the final lists for the liament and forced an un- by helping opposition forc- The joint list will be head- and equality as an alter-
September balloting, all precedented new election es create a large enough ed by Nitzan Horowitz, the native to the corrupt and
sides were concerned they campaign. bloc to unseat Likud. newly elected, openly gay messianic right."
might not get enough votes Netanyahu's various ri- However, his new faction leader of Meretz. Shaffir, a The move appeared to be
by themselves to cross the vals have been seeking to has so far failed to make rising star in Labor, bolted facilitated by Barak's apol-
electoral threshold. seize on the rare opportu- much of a splash in the from the venerable party to ogy earlier this week for the
The move comes amid nity to unseat him by put- polls. The former military be second on the new list, killing of 13 Arab protest-
a flurry of machinations ting their own differences chief's main contribution while Barak will be placed ers by Israeli police in 2000
ahead of the "do-over" aside. Barak, who in 1999 seemed to be getting un- in the tenth slot. while he was prime minister.
election in September, af- became prime minister by der the skin of Netanyahu At a press conference in Meretz relies heavily on sup-
ter Netanyahu failed to becoming the only person and his family. Though Tel Aviv with Shaffir and port among Israel's Arab
form a parliamentary ma- to date to defeat Netan- Barak is headlining the ma- Barak, Horowitz said the minority and one of their
jority following his victory in yahu in a head-on show- neuver, the 77-year-old will party aimed to "create sig- prominent Arab lawmak-
April's vote. To avoid giving down, dramatically came not lead the new list and nificant political power the ers had called on Barak to
his opponents a chance to out of retirement last month does not appear to be a likes of which the left hasn't apologize. q

Afghan capital hit by 3 bombings,

at least 10 killed

up in front of a bus carrying
Ministry of Mines employ-
ees, said Nasrat Rahim, a
spokesman for the Interior
Ministry. The coalition told
The Associated Press that its
forces were not involved in
the Kabul explosions.
The third blast was a smaller
magnetic explosive device
left near the scene of the
bus attack, which caused
no deaths, the Interior Min-
istry spokesman said.
At least 41 people were also
wounded in the attacks in
A damaged bicycle is seen at the site of a suicide attack in the capital, said Wahidul-
Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 25, 2019. lah Mayar, a spokesman for
Associated Press country's health ministry.
Associated Press Gen. Joseph Dunford, was The Taliban claimed respon-
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — visiting the capital to meet sibility for the attacks. The
Three bombings struck the with Afghan President insurgents control around
Afghan capital on Thurs- Ashraf Ghani, according to half the country and have
day, killing at least 10 peo- a statement from the presi- continued to launch daily
ple including five women dent's office. assaults, mainly targeting
and one child, officials said. The morning's first attack in security forces, even while
The attacks occurred while Kabul was carried out by a holding negotiations with
the chairman of the U.S. suicide bomber on a mo- the U.S. aimed at ending
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine torcycle who blew himself the 18-year war.q