Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his governing coalition would survive until the scheduled November 2019 elections but his coalition partner and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon begged to differ, saying there would likely be an early election in March of 2019. The coalition’s razor-thin 61-59 majority in the Knesset was showing signs of strain as early as Monday evening, losing a vote on a critical bill while Kahlon announced his opposition to another key piece of legislation.

The movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel celebrated some rare successes on Tuesday as the internet portal Airbnb announced it is caving in to demands that it de-list locations in Israeli communities in the West Bank. “Anti-Israel boycott organizations do not distinguish between the State of Israel and Judea and Samaria. As far as they are concerned, and have openly declared, the entire State of Israel has no right to exist,” said Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, adding that Airbnb was singling out Israeli communities while continuing to list communities in other disputed territories around the world.

Israel’s national high school debate team celebrated its victory at the EurOpen debate competition last Wednesday in Stuttgart, Germany, topping teams from 37 other countries. “This generation of debaters is very talented,” said assistant coach Miriam Kalman. “We are looking forward to more success at the World Schools Debating Championships in 2019.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul this week to discuss various issues and celebrate progress being made on the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, which Putin said is proceeding ahead of schedule. The pipeline meant to bring billions of cubic meters of natural gas from Russia, through the Black Sea and into Turkey, with a fair amount being available for further distribution to markets in southern and eastern Europe, could potentially have an impact on Israeli plans to move its own surplus natural gas supplies to those same markets.

In Gaza, the NGO network is closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the European “Red-Green” alliance, comprised of the European Left and the Muslim Brotherhood. In the last Palestinian Legislative Council elections in 2006, the leftist parties won only meager percentages and barely qualified for the Palestinian parliament. They maintain their political power thanks only to the NGO frameworks, which are buttressed by European money.

The appointment of General John Abizaid as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia comes at a time there are so many tensions over Khashoggi and Yemen that it may seem like mission impossible. Nevertheless, Ambassador Abizaid may well be the right man for the worst time, and may still be able to heal a strategic partnership at a critical time.

In yesterday’s top news headline we said that the US had abstained in a UN General Assembly vote condemning Israel over the matter of the Golan Heights. The US voted against the measure. We apologize for any confusion this incorrect headline caused our readers.