In 2008, analysts viewed the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States as a sign of the US entering a "post-racial" era, after centuries of dealing with slavery and anti-black laws and discrimination. In 2006, Bolivia, one of the world's only indigenous-plurality countries, elected Evo Morales, an Aymara coca grower as president, spurring talk of a "second founding" for indigenous rights in Bolivia in Latin America.

Video: Celebrations following Mexico's elections / Reuters

Now that Mexico has just elected a Jewish president, technocrat, scientist, and former mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, will her election help address the antisemitism problem in the country and the region?

Latin America is home to approximately 500,000 Jews, including nearly 60,000 in Mexico alone (out of 130 million people).

Though Sheinbaum identifies as a secular Jew like most Mexican Jews, her election could mean a lot for the future of Jews within Latin America. To understand the significance of Sheinbaum's election, we must first look at the scale of antisemitism facing Latin America.

Sheinbaum's ancestry has been attacked, claiming she has dual allegiance and that she may not be Mexican. Antisemitic attacks in Mexico have risen significantly since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.

Vicente Fox, Mexico's former president, accused Sheinbaum, the daughter of Jewish parents, of being "a Jew and foreigner at the same time," reposting a meme that called Sheinbaum a "Bulgarian Jew."

Getty ImagesClaudia Sheinbaum waves at supporters, June 3, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico (Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the outgoing Mexican president, has made comparisons between Israel and the Nazis, even accusing Jewish members of the Mexican opposition of supporting "Hitlerism." AMLO, as he is more commonly known, had even floated the idea of cutting diplomatic ties with Israel altogether, an idea that Bolivia, Chile, and Honduras and Colombia followed through on.

In Mexico, José Vasconselos, one of the founding philosophers of modern Mexico and leaders of the "cosmic race" movement, held deeply antisemitic views. In an op-ed from December by Francisco Ruiz Quirrín, a columnist for the ultra-conservative weekly Primera Plana, he warned, in connection with a Sheinbaum victory, that "the Jewish community is willing to exert whatever pressure is necessary to influence one of its own over any political commitment."

Deeply held public antisemitism is not a unique feature of Mexican politics and society, but of Latin America altogether.

In recent events across Latin America, antisemitism has manifested in various disturbing ways. In Peru, right-wing extremists targeted a prominent Jewish journalist by shouting antisemitic slurs outside his home and displaying posters depicting rats with bags of money. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated and vandalized.

Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, who professes support for Jewish people and Israel, appointed Rodolfo Barra as the lead prosecutor. Barra was previously a member of a right-wing group responsible for numerous antisemitic acts, including attacks on synagogues, a violent riot in a Jewish neighborhood, and the murder of a Jewish lawyer. Despite his history, he will now oversee the prosecution of antisemitism in Argentina.

APSupporters of ruling party presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum celebrate at the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, June 3, 2024 (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)Political leaders across nearly all Latin American countries perpetuate myths about Jewish control over the media, politics, and the economy. Among the supporters of these antisemitic narratives are José Antonio Kast, the son of a Nazi SS lieutenant and a leading candidate in Chile's presidential race, and Daniel Jadue, the mayor of Recoleta with ties to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Additionally, several politicians and groups linked to former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro have propagated antisemitic conspiracies and adopted neo-Nazi symbols.

Historically, this pervasive antisemitism has often escalated to violence. In 1992, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, followed by the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in 1994, resulting in 114 deaths. In 2009, armed vandals attacked Venezuela's oldest synagogue as a protest against Israel, with the Chávez government swiftly expressing support for the attackers rather than protecting its Jewish citizens.

Iran plays a significant role in supporting antisemitic activities in the region, regularly funding operations against Jewish communities. Over the past five years, Iran has signed multiple security agreements with Latin American governments and supports terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, in attacking Jews and Israelis in Latin America. As a result, Israeli diplomats and intelligence operatives in the region frequently face dangerous and sometimes lethal assaults.

Following the October 7th attacks, antisemitic rhetoric intensified. Colombian President Gustavo Petro likened Israel's treatment of Gaza to the Nazis' actions in the Warsaw Ghetto. Brazil's President Lula compared Israeli policies towards Palestine to a "new Holocaust," claiming Israelis are the new Nazis. Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya declared that anyone supporting Israel is not human. Additionally, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro regularly broadcasts dehumanizing rants against Jews and Zionists on national television.

Commonly held antisemitic and ignorant tropes about Jews are also a problem.

Recent polling conducted in Uruguay, Mexico, and other Latin American countries tells us that Jews are seeing a rise in overt antisemitism from their communities and that antisemitic beliefs are commonly held. Conspiracy theories about Jewish global domination or Jewish plots for war are also frequently held by regular people. As a result, an overwhelming majority of Jews in Latin America are fearful for their lives. According to the Anti-Defamation League, 24 percent of Mexicans openly discriminate against Jews or hold antisemitic beliefs, with an average of 33% for all of Latin America.

Hopefully, Sheinbaum can help educate Mexicans and Latin Americans about Jewish life and culture and make antisemitism more socially unacceptable. Sheinbaum could also use her new platform to elevate Jewish voices, educate the public (and leaders), and tackle antisemitism head-on.

That power, however, remains in her hands.

Joseph Bouchard is a freelance journalist and analyst covering geopolitics in the Americas, with reporting experience in Bolivia, Colombia, and Brazil. His articles have appeared in The Diplomat, Mongabay, Le Devoir, La Razón, The Jerusalem Post, and Brazilian Report.

The post Will Mexico having a Jewish president fix antisemitism in Latin America? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory to become Mexico's first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.

Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico's electoral authority. That is set to be the highest vote tally percentage in Mexico's democratic history.

Video: Sheinbaum becomes Mexico's first female president / Reuters

The ruling coalition was also on track for a possible two-thirds super majority in both houses of Congress which would allow the coalition to pass constitutional reforms without opposition support, according to the range of results given by the electoral authority.

Opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez took between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote, preliminary results showed, and Sheinbaum said Galvez had called her to concede. "For the first time in the 200 years of the republic I will become the first woman president of Mexico," Sheinbaum told supporters to loud cheers of "president, president." Victory for Sheinbaum is a major step for Mexico, a country known for its macho culture and home to the world's second biggest Roman Catholic population, which for years pushed more traditional values and roles for women. Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the United States, Mexico or Canada. "I never imagined that one day I would vote for a woman," said 87-year-old Edelmira Montiel, a Sheinbaum supporter in Mexico's smallest state Tlaxcala. "Before we couldn't even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for. Thank God that has changed and I get to live it," Montiel added.

Sheinbaum has a complicated path ahead. She must balance promises to increase popular welfare policies while inheriting a hefty budget deficit and low economic growth. After preliminary results were announced, she told supporters her government would be fiscally responsible and respect the autonomy of the central bank.

The post Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as first female, Jewish president appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who has recently entered the Republican presidential primaries, gave Israel Hayom an exclusive interview on Thursday – the first to an Israeli outlet as an official candidate in the 2024 race. During the interview, he discussed a whole range of issues while attacking the Biden administration over its policies toward Israel and its government.

DeSantis, 44, announced his presidential bid in May, and according to the polls, he currently has the best shot at beating former President Donald Trump in the fight over his party's nomination among all other contenders. His vocal message against woke ideology championed by Democratic progressives had him coast to reelection this past November, and he has vowed that he would run on the same ticket as the Republican standard bearer should he become the nominee.

Gray skies and relentless rain blanketed Tallahassee, Florida's sleepy capital, as I walked into his office. His dual role as a presidential contender and governor means that his schedule is almost beyond what is humanly possible. When he campaigns, he hops between US states and travels thousands of miles in the air. If he is exhausted from the effort, it doesn't show. DeSantis, it seems, has a lot of stamina.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Q: I would like to begin, of course, with the Israel-US ties. It's been six months since the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office, and he is yet to be invited by the Biden administration. How do you view this policy? 

"I think it's disgraceful. The US-Israel relationship should be ironclad. We have no better ally in the Middle East. And we have such strong cultural and religious ties to the State of Israel, for them to be treating Israel really with the back of their hand. I think it's a mistake, but I think it's part and parcel of how this administration sees the world. I mean, they're more interested in kowtowing to Iran than standing by our allies. And so, you know, my view as president would be we're going to have a really strong US-Israel relationship, and that'll be something that Americans can be proud of."

Video: Ron DeSantis speaks with Israel Hayom

Q: When it comes to Israel, our number one priority is Iran. If you become president, what will you do regarding Tehran and its nuclear facilities? 

"Well, the whole Obama-Khamenei deal [2015 nuclear agreement] was a total disaster and Biden is trying to resuscitate that and basically, when you give concessions to the Iranians, they use that money to be able to foment terrorism. They will put that money into weapons development. And so I think squeezing Iran, making sure that they understand that their pursuit of this is going to be bad for them economically, diplomatically, and potentially even militarily, that is the way the only thing that the mullahs understand – strength. You can't try to cozy up to them. It just doesn't work. So we would be supportive of Israel's predicament. And obviously, we would have a much stronger posture against Iran."

Q: As I recall, you had a part in pushing the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem. Would you support Israel applying its sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria or some part of it? 

"So just on the embassy, I don't think Biden's fully committed to keeping the embassy there. He doesn't believe Jerusalem is going to be the undivided capital of Israel, but I think that their [Biden's] view would be pre-1967 and we reject that. I mean, Jerusalem is the indivisible, undivided capital of the Jewish people. And so with me, it would be very clear that that's just the way it's going to ride.

"Now in terms of Judea and Samaria, I've always rejected this idea that it's occupied territory. I mean, these are some of the most historic Jewish lands going all the way back to biblical times. Yes, there was a partition plan with the UN in the 1940s. But the Arabs rejected the Partition Plan. It'd be one thing if they accepted it. Israel was willing to accept, they rejected it. And then they chose to wage war for many decades.

"And so it's not occupied territory. It is disputed territory, and I think Israel's claim is the most superior in terms of anybody else for it. I was the first major elected official as governor in 2019, to do public events in Judea and Samaria. at Ariel University, and we wanted to break the stigma that somehow this is not appropriate to be doing and when we have imposed our anti-BDS sanctions on companies that have targeted Israel, it's usually been they've been targeting Jews living in Judea and Samaria. And so we said that's unacceptable. So whether it was Ben&Jerry's or Airbnb, and then we most recently just did legislation. Morningstar tried to include BDS criteria for ESG. And we said 'Absolutely not, that's not going to fly in the state of Florida'."

Q: So if Israel decided to apply its law on some parts of the Jordan Valley or other parts of Judea and Samaria, would you support it? 

"I think Israel has the strongest claim of right in Judea and Samaria. Of anybody. I do not believe it's occupied territory. I think it's been disputed territory, and I think they have the right to act appropriately."

Q: When you say that only strength works, do you mean military action as well? 

"I think we have a great deterrent capacity, but it's not as good as it used to be. One of the things I'll do as president is rebuild some of our military capacity because – particularly when you look at our ability to project power – we have like 200 navy ships in the Navy. We used to have almost 600 back in [Ronald] Reagan's day. So there's a lot that we need to do. But at the end of the day, I can say this – Iran represents an existential threat to the State of Israel. Now they would love to wipe Israel off the map. They would love to wipe out America, don't get me wrong. I mean, there's no love lost for either.  

"But given Israel's geographic proximity to Iran, Israel's relatively small size, they could potentially – if armed with nuclear weapons – try to completely annihilate Israel in a way that they may not have the capability to go after us yet. So I think for Israel, you don't get a more significant threat.  

"Using a nuclear weapon on another country is something that you would not want to do because you could get a nuclear response so why would you want that mutually assured destruction that kept the nukes in check during the Cold War, and it keeps most civilized countries in check from wanting to do that? However, this Iranian regime with the ayatollahs may view that as positive because it may coincide with their apocalyptic vision for the end of time. So I think from that perspective, Israel has a right to defend itself and the US should be supportive of them taking whatever action they need to defend themselves."  

Q: What is your opinion about the possible nuclear understanding between the US and Iran? 

"First of all, you have to understand, obviously the US has suffered terrorist attacks, 9/11 and whatnot. But if you look at what nation-state has killed more Americans since 1979, Iran has killed more Americans, whether it's the Marine barracks in Beirut, they killed at least 1,000 US troops in Iraq by funding Shia militia, and so the idea that we're going to have some understanding, I just don't see that in the cards."

Q: I know you are a great supporter of the Jewish community here. But people who claim to be your supporters also have flags with swastikas and so forth. What do you tell those people?

"That's a farce though you understand they'll wear masks. The media doesn't investigate who these people are. They are trying to manufacture some association with me. I can tell you, if someone honestly carried around a swastika, I'm the last guy they would want [to support]. I am the most pro-Israel governor in America. We have taken steps to support our Jewish community here, spending a massive amount of money for security for Jewish day schools because they could be targeted with antisemitic attacks. We just passed a bill to help combat some of the property crime antisemitic property crimes. We have the First Amendment you can burn a cross on your yard but you can't put it in front of someone else's property. You can display a swastika if you want. It's protected under the First Amendment, but you can't project that on a synagogue which is private property. So we've been very strong on that. But be very careful about what some of these political people are doing. They're trying to create a narrative as if somehow these people have a foothold in Florida. That is not true. We have more Jewish migration into Florida, particularly Orthodox Jews, who are usually the ones targeted with antisemitic attacks than anybody any place in the United States and so if you see one of those as a journalist, go ask those people. Ask them, 'Who are you? Why do you have your face covered? Why are you doing this?' And the flags will oftentimes be creased, clearly they've never been used before. So they're just being put out, so I'd be very careful and suspicious of that stuff."

Q: America is deeply involved in supporting Ukraine. On the other hand, we see China become more and more involved, primarily in the Middle East. What is more risky for America? Is it Ukraine or China, which I just heard is now preparing to build a base not far from here in Cuba? How do you see all that?

"China is our number one geopolitical threat by far? First of all, they're near-peer competitors, their economy has grown leaps and bounds over the last generation largely because of poor American policy that has allowed them to capture so much manufacturing strength, and our economy, unfortunately, has become very dependent on China for really key ingredients. When COVID hit almost everything we needed had to come from China. Why would you want to put yourself in that position, to have an adversary that you have to rely on? It's not just medical, it's ammunition, it's things for our nuclear weapons. Almost everything that we do in some respects is tied to China. Not a good position for you to be in. What has Xi Jinping done? Xi is the most ideological Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. He has ambitions beyond Mainland China. And you see it obviously, of course in the Pacific, it's discussed, but in our own hemisphere here in the West, what he's done in Central America and now this news about Cuba, putting what an East dropping station, putting something a potential training base there, the US needs to have a 21st century Monroe Doctrine where we're looking out for our backyard, and some of these other hostile powers should not just be able to come in come in here and do that. Why are they doing that though? They're doing it because they know they're not gonna get any pushback from Biden. They flew a spy balloon clear across the continental United States. The US government presumably knew or tracked this; they did nothing about it until it already finished going across the country. And if people had not noticed it, our US government may not have done anything about it. And so when they see stuff like that, that's going to embolden them to project more power, but I think it's very important that we maintain good alliances in the Pacific. South Korea and Japan are now getting along. They almost never get along. I mean, they've had tensions for decades, right, but they're getting along because they both see the mutual threat posed by China."

Q: As Florida governor who may one day be president, what would you do, for example, with such a base so close to Florida?

"Well, I can tell you what I've done as governor. We're limited in what we can do. We recognize the role that Chinese influence has played in the United States. So we eliminated these Confucius Institutes from our universities. We didn't have a lot of them. It's basically propaganda for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) so we got rid of those. We also prohibited CCP-linked businesses and individuals from purchasing land in Florida because they want to gobble up farmland. They want to gobble up land near military bases and other strategic locations. So we said not in Florida, so we've taken really strong action to protect Floridians against it. At the end of the day, when you're talking about something with Cuba. That's something only the president of the United States is going to be able to deal with. I have not heard President Biden sound a peep about this. And I have no idea if he has any plans or if he's just gonna let it happen. But you remember during the 1960s when Kennedy was president, they didn't let the Soviets come and just put nuclear missiles in Cuba. That was viewed as a huge threat to us. So why would you want China to have a military outpost right there 90 miles off our shore? I think it'd be a huge threat to our security."

Q: You are famous for fighting the woke agenda. Why are you so strongly against it?

"It's basically a form of Cultural Marxism in the United States. They're trying to elevate identity politics, at the expense of merit and achievement. And they really are waging a war on truth itself. What is your identity? Where are you in the pecking order? And so for example, Woke is very anti-Israel. Why? Because Israel is a successful country and they buy into a lot of tropes about that. And so it's very nasty in terms of how they view Israel."

Q: Woke is a risk for Israel?

"No question about that. I mean, they would side with Palestinian Arabs over Israel on any issue, they would be very supportive of making concessions to Iran, that mindset 100%. But it also ridiculous things like saying that men can get pregnant, they are saying that in the United States right now. And it's like, wait a minute, is your society rooted in truth or not? You got to be rooted in truth two plus two has to equal four. And so we recognize that it's a threat to just solid thinking, it also affects people's lives in these ways. When woke overtakes the economy with things like ESG, the average person becomes poor as a result of those policies. When woke overtakes education, the average student ends up dumber. As a result of that, when woke overtakes criminal justice, the average family becomes less safe in their communities because, in places like San Francisco, prosecutors let criminals get away with crimes. You can rob someone's house with some of these prosecutors, and they won't bring charges against you; that hollows out those communities. And so as it infects institutions in American life, those institutions really become corrupted. So really, we're fighting back here saying, we need to restore sanity in this country, and we need to return normalcy to our communities and our institutions have to have integrity."

Q: There is a very famous trial going on here against the former president, what is your position about all the charges against him?

"Well, look, I think people are innocent until proven guilty. We've had a problem in this country for many years now, with these Washington, DC agencies pursuing a political agenda, and we've seen it go back 10-12 years, when the IRS was targeting conservative groups. These are small conservative sit groups of citizens, nonprofit groups that the IRS was targeting with disfavored treatment. When Trump became president they [the agencies] concocted the Russia collusion hoax which was a conspiracy theory and it was designed to kneecap his presidency and even drag him out of office. He has obviously professed his innocence; he's innocent until proven guilty. But what my mission is going to be as president...we're going to clean house in those agencies. We are not going to let political power be weaponized against political opponents. We are going to make sure that there's accountability because people have to have confidence in the justice system. Look at Hunter Biden. If he were a Republican he would have been in jail a long time ago and yet he gets a slap on the wrist he basically gets diversion on the gun charge, which usually people are not allowed to get. Why would he be treated that way? Well because he's connected to the DC elite class. That's not right. You can't have two standards of justice and so you know his case. I think we see through that prism of how these agencies have been behaving in these regards."

Q: Your abortion law in Florida, some say is too tough, with the cutoff being roughly six weeks. What do you say about that? 

"In Florida, these are done by legislature In the governor signs. The law restricts abortion when there's a detectable heartbeat for the unborn baby, that's when the protections are for life attached. They did provide exceptions for rape and incest and the life of the mother and victims of human trafficking. But at the end of the day, we want to promote a culture of life. I believe that abortion should not just be a form of birth control. We also take action. Not everyone's born into perfect circumstances. You have people that are poor and so we've done a lot to lift people up. We've provided more health coverage, we've provided more foster and adoption services, we've provided more help for single mothers; that's really making a difference even apart from that whole debate. If a mother feels like she's going to have support, that's going to be something that she's gonna then be able to pursue. So we were able to do that and I think that's something that's going to end up working out very well for us."

Since launching his campaign in a glitch-ridden online conversation on Twitter Space with Elon Musk, DeSantis' standing has been far from ideal among Republican voters, who according to one poll support Trump decisively over his challenger 61% to 23%. 

De Santis was barred from speaking freely about the campaign during the interview because of legal reasons: The conversation was held at the governor's office in Florida. The law prohibits using state resources for campaigning. 

And yet, there is no mistaking the very different tune coming out of DeSantis compared to what we have become used to from President Joe Biden when it comes to Israel. In fact, it looks as though there is almost no difference in the views he and Trump have on Israel. 

"The Left is gonna absolutely destroy this country even more than it is if Biden remains in office," DeSantis has recently warned on the campaign trail.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post DeSantis says Iran 'only understands strength'; backs Israel in 'whatever action' needed to defend itself appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in US history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The Justice Department was expected to make public a seven-count indictment ahead of a historic court appearance next week in the midst of a 2024 presidential campaign punctuated by criminal prosecutions in multiple states.

The indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if Trump's convicted.

But it also has enormous political implications, potentially upending a Republican presidential primary that Trump had been dominating and testing anew the willingness of GOP voters and party leaders to stick with a now twice-indicted candidate who could face still more charges. And it sets the stage for a sensational trial centered on claims that a man once entrusted to safeguard the nation's most closely guarded secrets willfully, and illegally, hoarded sensitive national security information.

The Justice Department did not immediately confirm the indictment publicly. But two people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly said that the indictment included seven criminal counts. One of those people said Trump's lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced Thursday on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted.

Within minutes of his announcement, Trump, who said he was due in court Tuesday afternoon in Miami, began fundraising off it for his presidential campaign. He declared his innocence in a video and repeated his familiar refrain that the investigation is a "witch hunt."

The case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been indicted in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges. But among the various investigations he faces, legal experts – as well as Trump's own aides – had long seen the Mar-a-Lago probe as the most perilous threat and the one most ripe for prosecution. Campaign aides had been bracing for the fallout since Trump's attorneys were notified that he was the target of the investigation, assuming it was not a matter of if charges would be brought, but when.

Appearing Thursday night on CNN, Trump attorney James Trusty said the indictment includes charges of willful retention of national defense information – a crime under the Espionage Act, which polices the handling of government secrets – obstruction, false statements and conspiracy.

The inquiry took a major step forward last November when Attorney General Merrick Garland, a soft-spoken former federal judge who has long stated that no one person should be regarded as above the law, appointed Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor with an aggressive, hard-charging reputation to lead both the documents probe as well as a separate investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

The case is a milestone for a Justice Department that had investigated Trump for years – as president and private citizen – but had never before charged him with a crime. The most notable investigation was an earlier special counsel probe into ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, but prosecutors in that probe cited Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. Once he left office, though, he lost that protection.

The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked classified at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether Trump took steps to obstruct the government's efforts to recover the records.

Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department's investigation. Trump has repeatedly insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House, and has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them.

Court records unsealed last year showed federal investigators believed they had probable cause that multiple crimes had been committed, including the retention of national defense information, destruction of government records and obstruction.

Since then, the Justice Department has amassed additional evidence and secured grand jury testimony from people close to Trump, including his own lawyers. The statutes governing the handling of classified records and obstruction are felonies that could carry years in prison in the event of a conviction.

Even so, it remains unclear how much it will damage Trump's standing given that his first indictment generated millions of dollars in contributions from angry supporters and didn't weaken him in the polls.

The former president has long sought to use his legal troubles to his political advantage, complaining on social media and at public events that the cases are being driven by Democratic prosecutors out to hurt his 2024 election campaign. He is likely to rely on that playbook again, reviving his longstanding claims that the Justice Department – which, during his presidency, investigated whether his 2016 campaign had colluded with Russia – is somehow weaponized against him.

Trump's legal troubles extend beyond the New York indictment and classified documents case.

Smith is separately investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. And the district attorney in Georgia's Fulton County is investigating Trump over alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election in that state.

Signs had mounted for weeks that an indictment was near, including a Monday meeting between Trump's lawyers and Justice Department officials. His lawyers had also recently been notified that he was the target of the investigation, the clearest sign yet that an indictment was looming.

Though the bulk of the investigative work had been handled in Washington, with a grand jury meeting there for months, it recently emerged that prosecutors were presenting evidence before a separate panel in Florida, where many of the alleged acts of obstruction scrutinized by prosecutors took place.

The Justice Department has said Trump repeatedly resisted efforts by the National Archives and Records Administration to get the documents back. After months of back-and-forth, Trump representatives returned 15 boxes of records in January 2022, including about 184 documents that officials said had classified markings on them.

FBI and Justice Department investigators issued a subpoena in May 2022 for classified documents that remained in Trump's possession. But after a Trump lawyer provided three dozen records and asserted that a diligent search of the property had been done, officials came to suspect even more documents remained.

The investigation had simmered for months before bursting into front-page news in remarkable fashion last August. That's when FBI agents served a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago and removed 33 boxes containing classified records, including top-secret documents stashed in a storage room and desk drawer and commingled with personal belongings. Some records were so sensitive that investigators needed upgraded security clearances to review them, the Justice Department has said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The investigation into Trump had appeared complicated – politically, if not legally – by the discovery of documents with classified markings in the Delaware home and former Washington office of President Joe Biden, as well as in the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence. The Justice Department recently informed Pence that he would not face charges, while a second special counsel continues to investigate Biden's handling of classified documents.

But compared with Trump, there are key differences in the facts and legal issues surrounding Biden's and Pence's handling of documents, including that representatives for both men say the documents were voluntarily turned over to investigators as soon as they were found. In contrast, investigators quickly zeroed on whether Trump, who for four years as president expressed disdain for the FBI and Justice Department, had sought to obstruct the inquiry by refusing to turn over all the requested documents.

The post Trump indicted in classified documents case in historic first for former US president appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

As negotiations continue over the highly contested judicial reform, the Coalition offered this week to postpone making changes to the judicial selection committee by a year, Israel Hayom has learned.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Senior Coalition members involved in the talks – led by President Isaac Herzog – said that in exchange, the Opposition were asked to consent to other components of the legislation, such as the one pertaining to the attorney general and reasonableness.

Some of the bills are expected to pass already in the current summer session, and the rest in the next, winter session.

It is unclear whether the proposal will be accepted as the Opposition has asked the Coalition to refrain from making any changes in this regard during the current, 25th Knesset, at all.

According to Knesset rules, the Coalition will announce this week the votes to appoint the Knesset representatives to the judicial selection committee in its old format.

The elections will be held in two weeks, on June 15. The president is said to be working intensively to reach a deal by then.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Coalition offers to postpone changes to judicial selection committee by year appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday he will not enter the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

In an interview with Fox News, the devoted ally and defender of Donald Trump opted out of a contest that would have put him into competition with his former commander in chief.

"The time is not right for me and my family," Pompeo said in a statement later posted to Twitter. "At each stage of my public service – as a soldier, as a member of the US House of Representatives, and then as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and as your Secretary of State – I've been blessed to have the opportunity to advance America in a way that fit the time and the moment. This is not that time or that moment for me to seek elected office again."

Pompeo seemed to leave the door open on a future run.

"To those of you this announcement disappoints, my apologies," Pompeo said. "And to those of you this thrilled, know that I'm 59 years old. There remain many more opportunities for which the timing might be more fitting as presidential leadership becomes even more necessary."

Pompeo would have been the second former Trump Cabinet member to enter the race to challenge the former president for the 2024 GOP nomination, joining former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her campaign in February. Former Vice President Mike Pence is also considering entering the race and has stepped up his travel and activity in early-voting primary and caucus states.

In addition, biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have also announced campaigns. US Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has launched a presidential exploratory committee as he considers his own bid.

President Joe Biden has indicated he will seek reelection, tamping down any major challenges for the Democratic nomination.

Where Haley and Pence have openly expressed differences with Trump, Pompeo has had no public split with Trump and hasn't been rebuked by the former president, as many of his would-be rivals have. Pompeo recently referred to Trump as a "great boss."

The former congressman graduated at the top of his class from the US Military Academy in 1986 before spending five years on active duty, deployed for a time as a cavalry officer commanding tank movements along the border between NATO-backed Western Europe and Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe.

The retired Army captain is a Harvard-educated lawyer who practiced law in Washington and founded two Wichita businesses – an aerospace firm and later a petroleum equipment manufacturer – before entering politics.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Pompeo – a witty and sometimes gruff politician – easily won four consecutive terms in the US House representing southern Kansas. He sat on the House Intelligence Committee as well as the select committee investigating the deadly 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya.

Pompeo counts as among his proudest moments the 2020 Abraham Accords, declarations of support for peaceful relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He also points to the imposition of tariffs on China, direct talks with North Korea and the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement as pillars of Trump's "America First" theme he helped erect.

The 2018 withdrawal from the Iran deal and imposition of crippling sanctions have prompted death threats against Pompeo, who remains under 24-hour security protection provided by the State Department.

In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom in 2020, he criticized the past, saying, "What you can see is the failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to deliver on ensuring Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. We can see it now plain and simple. We know that the resources that were flowing as a result of the JCPOA, the billions of dollars that were flowing to the regime, enabled them to have the resources to do that, not only their terror campaign but to use it for research and development, we have seen this in their missile program. Our efforts have been to put pressure on the regime to change their behavior in ways that are consistent with their obligations to the international community."

The post Former Secretary of State Pompeo not running for president appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

President Isaac Herzog voiced optimism this week that parties would reach a compromise on the government's controversial judicial overhaul plans, saying ongoing negotiations could lead to a "constitutional moment."

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Since the Netanyahu government announced plans in January to reform the judiciary – curbing the Supreme Court's ruling on Basic Laws while also changing the composition of the committee that selects judges – Israel has been gripped by unrest, with Herzog warning of societal collapse. But it has been two weeks since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu temporarily ceased the legislation to allow for negotiations with the Opposition, which Herzog said were gaining momentum toward a consensus.

"It's a potential for a constitutional moment," he told The New York Times. "A moment where we can direct Israel into a stronger and more resilient structure."

"I'm carrying a certain historic burden on my shoulders. I'm perhaps the only element in Israeli public life that all parties can feel free to come and speak to and confide with." Herzog noted that he even hopes a compromise could not only resolve the judiciary debate, but also other constitutional ambiguities that have gone unsolved since Israel's establishment in 1948.

Shortly before Netanyahu paused the reform plan following 12 straight weeks of nationwide protests, Herzog presented a compromise of his own dubbed "The People's Plan," and the month prior submitted a five-point proposal.

In the interview with the Times, Herzog warned Israel's enemies against interpreting the country's internal divisions as a sign of military weakness, likely referring to recent rocket attacks from armed Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, as well as Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis.

He further called on Iran's proxies to not try similar attacks on Friday, when Iranians are expected to mark Quds Day and protest against Israel's existence.

"Don't fool yourselves," Herzog said. "We have always been united when it comes to our defense and security. Israel is extremely strong and is capable of taking action if needed."

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Herzog hopeful for 'constitutional moment' in judicial reform talks appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, a historic reckoning after years of investigations into his personal, political and business dealings and an abrupt jolt to his bid to retake the White House.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The exact nature of the charges was unclear Friday because the indictment remained under seal, but they stem from payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. Prosecutors said they were working to coordinate Trump's surrender, which could happen early next week. They did not say whether they intended to seek prison time in the event of a conviction, a development that wouldn't prevent Trump from seeking and assuming the presidency.

Video: Reuters

The indictment, the first against a former US president, injects a local district attorney's office into the heart of a national presidential race and ushers in criminal proceedings in a city that the ex-president for decades called home. Arriving at a time of deep political divisions, the charges are likely to reinforce rather than reshape dueling perspectives of those who see accountability as long overdue and those who, like Trump, feel the Republican is being targeted for political purposes by a Democratic prosecutor.

Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly assailed the investigation, called the indictment "political persecution" and predicted it would damage Democrats in 2024. In a statement confirming the charges, defense lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said Trump "did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court."

A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney's office confirmed the indictment and said prosecutors had reached out to Trump's defense team to coordinate a surrender. Trump was asked to surrender Friday but his lawyers said the Secret Service needed additional time as they made security preparations, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The people, who couldn't publicly discuss security details, said Trump is expected to surrender early next week.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg left his office Thursday evening without commenting.

The case centers on well-chronicled allegations from a period in 2016 when Trump's celebrity past collided with his political ambitions. Prosecutors for months scrutinized money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, whom he feared would go public with claims that they had extramarital sexual encounters with him.

The timing of the indictment appeared to come as a surprise to Trump campaign officials following news reports that criminal charges were likely weeks away. The former president was at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, on Thursday and filmed an interview with a conservative commentator earlier in the day.

For a man whose presidency was defined by one obliterated norm after another, the indictment sets up yet another never-before-seen spectacle – a former president having his fingerprints and mug shot taken, and then facing arraignment. For security reasons, his booking is expected to be carefully choreographed to avoid crowds inside or outside the courthouse.

The prosecution also means that Trump will have to simultaneously fight for his freedom and political future, while also fending off potentially more perilous legal threats, including investigations into attempts by him and his allies to undo the 2020 presidential election as well as into the hoarding of hundreds of classified documents.

In fact, New York was until recently seen as an unlikely contender to be the first place to prosecute Trump, who continues to face long-running investigations in Atlanta and Washington that could also result in charges. Unlike those inquiries, the Manhattan case concerns allegations against Trump that occurred before he became president and are unrelated to his much-publicized efforts to overturn the election.

The indictment comes as Trump seeks to reassert control of the Republican Party and stave off a slew of one-time allies who may threaten his bid for the presidential nomination. An expected leading rival in the race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, called the indictment "un-American" in a statement Thursday night that pointedly did not mention Trump's name.

In bringing the charges, Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, is embracing an unusual case that was investigated by two previous sets of prosecutors, both of which declined to take the politically explosive step of seeking Trump's indictment. The case may also turn in part on the testimony of a key witness, Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from the hush money payments, including making false statements.

The probe's fate seemed uncertain until word got out in early March that Bragg had invited Trump to testify before a grand jury, a signal that prosecutors were close to bringing charges.

Trump's attorneys declined the invitation, but a lawyer closely allied with the former president briefly testified in an effort to undercut Cohen's credibility.

Trump himself raised anticipation that he would be indicted soon, issuing a statement earlier this month in which he predicted an imminent arrest and called for protests. He did not repeat that call in a fresh statement Thursday, but the New York Police Department told its 36,000 officers to be fully mobilized and ready to respond to any potential protests or unrest.

Late in the 2016 presidential campaign, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to keep her silent about what she says was a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier after they met at a celebrity golf tournament.

Cohen was then reimbursed by Trump's company, the Trump Organization, which also rewarded the lawyer with bonuses and extra payments logged internally as legal expenses. Over several months, Cohen said, the company paid him $420,000.

Earlier in 2016, Cohen also arranged for the publisher of the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer to pay McDougal $150,000 to squelch her story of a Trump affair in a journalistically dubious practice known as "catch-and-kill."

The payments to the women were intended to buy secrecy, but they backfired almost immediately as details of the arrangements leaked to the news media.

Federal prosecutors in New York ultimately charged Cohen in 2018 with violating federal campaign finance laws, arguing that the payments amounted to impermissible help to Trump's presidential campaign. Cohen pleaded guilty to those charges and unrelated tax evasion counts and served time in federal prison.

Trump was implicated in court filings as having knowledge of the arrangements – obliquely referred to in charging documents as "Individual 1" – but US prosecutors at the time balked at bringing charges against him. The Justice Department has a longtime policy against indicting a sitting president in federal court.

Bragg's predecessor as district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., then took up the investigation in 2019. While that probe initially focused on the hush money payments, Vance's prosecutors moved on to other matters, including an examination of Trump's business dealings and tax strategies.

Vance ultimately charged the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer with tax fraud related to fringe benefits paid to some of the company's top executives.

The hush money matter became known around the DA's office as the "zombie case," with prosecutors revisiting it periodically but never opting to bring charges.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Bragg saw it differently. After the Trump Organization was convicted on the tax fraud charges in December, he brought fresh eyes to the well-worn case, hiring longtime white-collar prosecutor Matthew Colangelo to oversee the probe and convening a new grand jury.

Cohen became a key witness, meeting with prosecutors nearly two-dozen times, turning over emails, recordings and other evidence and testifying before the grand jury.

Trump has long decried the Manhattan investigation as "the greatest witch hunt in history." He has also lashed out at Bragg, calling the prosecutor, who is Black, racist against white people.

The criminal charges in New York are the latest salvo in a profound schism between Trump and his hometown – a reckoning for a one-time favorite son who grew rich and famous building skyscrapers, hobnobbing with celebrities and gracing the pages of the city's gossip press.

Trump, who famously riffed in 2016 that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and "wouldn't lose voters," now faces a threat to his liberty in a borough where more than 75% of voters – many of them potential jurors – went against him in the last election.

The post Trump indicted; expected to surrender next week appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will travel to Jerusalem next month and speak at a museum event as Israel faces a spiraling domestic crisis, giving the potential 2024 presidential candidate a stage to tout his foreign policy credentials.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The Jerusalem Post and Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem say DeSantis will deliver a keynote speech at an event that will address the tensions in Israel, a key US ally. The governor's office confirmed the travel plans, noting the visit coincides with the 75th anniversary of Israel's independence.

"At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people," DeSantis is quoted in a press release announcing his visit.

A controversial judicial overhaul plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked waves of unprecedented street protests in Israel. Netanyahu delayed the plans earlier this week, saying he wanted to "avoid civil war," and rival political factions agreed to begin negotiations.

Israeli media have reported that the US was withholding an invitation of a formal White House visit as a sign of displeasure with Netanyahu and his new far-right government. The US ambassador, Tom Nides, said in a radio interview that the White House would soon invite Netanyahu to visit.

The Jerusalem Post says the April 27 visit is "part of a larger Florida/Asian trade delegation." DeSantis says that as a congressman in 2017, he scouted out sites to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to press the Trump administration to deliver on his promise.

DeSantis also traveled to Israel as governor in 2019 for a state visit and says relations between Florida and Israel have been growing stronger.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post DeSantis to visit Israel ahead of expected 2024 presidential bid appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

President Isaac Herzog met with representatives of the Israeli Reform and Conservative movements and the egalitarian group Women of the Wall Wednesday as part of attempts to encourage dialogue, acceptance, and unity among all sectors of Israeli society.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Also present at the meeting were and Blue and White MK Alon Tal, Labor MK Gilad Kariv, who is also a reform rabbi, and Director General of the President's Residence Eyal Shviki.

Following November's clashes at the Western Wall between ultra-Orthodox worshippers and Women of the Wall activists, Herzog instructed Shviki to invite all parties involved in the commotions for a meeting in order to find a solution.

At the gathering, each denomination presented its respective views and proposals. Herzog listened to the representatives and condemned all forms of physical and verbal violence and stressed that "the Western Wall is a sacred place for all of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora and one must act responsibly and with restraint and try to find paths of peace among all groups within our people in Israel and the Diaspora."

Following the meeting, Kariv issued a statement."In our meeting today [Wednesday] with the president of Israel, I clarified that we expect the implementation of the Western Wall outline, which allows all Jewish from the country and the Diaspora to pray at the site according to their custom, without creating unnecessary friction and controversy," he said.

"I stressed that we will not fall for the dangerous and inciting campaign led by Opposition Leader [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his associates, who are trying to stir tension at the Western Wall and sow hatred among Jewish denominations for political and personal reasons."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories! 

The post 'We must strive to find paths of peace for all groups of Jews' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.