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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Netanyahu Coalition Cracks

Netanyahu Coalition Cracks

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Breaking from WaPo:

Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz announced on Sunday his resignation from the government — a move that could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on the coalition that leads it.

Gantz, of the National Unity party, said last month that he would leave if Netanyahu did not come forward with a postwar plan by Saturday. None materialized, but on Saturday, Israeli forces carried out a bloody raid on a central Gaza refugee camp to rescue four hostages. Gantz delayed his scheduled news conference until Sunday.

Netanyahu was already struggling to keep his coalition together.

Gantz was one of the three voting members of the war cabinet, along with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who are both Likud party members.

“The snowball has started to roll,” Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at Hebrew University, told The Washington Post before the announcement. “Gantz’s move is not going to directly put an end to this coalition, but the coalition is beginning to collapse in on itself.”

I’ll believe Netanyahu is toast when he’s served up with a schmear. But if this departure changes the hideous status quo, maybe something better can emerge? We’ll see.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  3. 3.

    bjacques

    Gantz is nobody’s sweetheart, but he was the acceptable face of the Israeli government. Now it’s Bibi and his fellow thieves, thugs, fixers, and plug-uglies. There’s nobody left that any apologists can point to as restraining the government’s worst impulses. 4 hostages rescued at a cost of 200 Palestinians dead. At this rate, they’ll have wiped Hamas many times over, assuming of course all the dead were Hamas, and not just random families ordered to keep an eye on their respective hostages, or else.

  6. 6.

    Ruckus

    People normally stick with leaders till they see first hand how bad they are. Many of us saw that in SFB, many long before he was elected the first time. What we have to hope is that many more now see that he has gone full on to a level of never vote for this crap in a million years.

    Netanyahu really is no better than djt. That leaves 2 countries with a choice.

    1. Rabid stupidity, racism, genderism, war, greed, general destruction…

    OR

    2. Rational leadership, enlightenment, a future for all citizens…

    It seems pretty clear to me, but then that’s just one vote.

    So…

    Work towards better. Far Better. Look closely at what is required of a leader – knowledge, experience, a recognition of inclusion of all, regardless of race, sex, age, in not only all of us but especially in our leaders.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    Gantz brought his 12 Knesset members into an emergency government formed October 12. Gideon Saar led 3 other MKs National MKs into opposition a few weeks ago, and now Gantz is subtracting  8 more.

    That leaves “Bibi” with a 64-56 Knesset majority, distributed (I think) among his Likud Party (32), Shas (11), United Torah (7) and the the toxic Smotrich, Ben-Gvir and their followers (14).

  8. 8.

    Frankensteinbeck

    As I said in the last thread, Netenyahu is as popular as syphilis, even in his own party.  The Israeli electorate takes national security very seriously, and everyone knows Netenyahu ignored the threat and let October 7th happen.  He’s been avoiding an election by dragging out the war, because nobody really wanted to change governments in the middle.  Sounds like that excuse is wearing thin.​

  9. 9.

    MazeDancer

    Ali Velshi tweeted:

    Israeli Minister Gadi Eisenkot, Gantz’s partner in the National Unity party, has resigned from the Israeli unity government. Eisenkot’s youngest son was killed in battle in early December

  10. 10.

    cain

    I never understand these far right people – these ultra-orthodox Jews are out there putting their nose into the Torah every day, mumbling to themselves. It’s like they read it and compartmentalize the entire thing – it’s not applicable to their daily lives or how they treat each other and other people. They read it, but they don’t live it.

    Then again, every time I take a dive into Christian/Muslim/Judaism and run across the old testament/commandments – I just get more perplexed by the actions of Jehovah. I think we have a much more nuanced version of moralism in the modern day and the contradictions tend to really stand out for me. It’s why we have new translations of the texts.

    But from ultradox point of view – I suppose they think the Palestinians are Amalek: (myjewishlearning.com/article/genocide-in-the-torah/)
    Invoking Amalek
    Even if most people would not invoke the commandment to destroy Amalek today, there are certainly those, like Rabbi Riemer, who have ventured to do so. And there has been no dearth of similar, violent invocations in reference to the Palestinians, as well. For example, Benzi Lieberman, the chairman of the Council of Settlements said in no uncertain terms: “The Palestinians are Amalek! We will destroy them. We won’t kill them all. But we will destroy their ability to think as a nation. We will destroy Palestinian nationalism.”

    Ignoring the fact that they shoved themselves into the land where all religions lived in relative harmony till western powers  carved out a space. I mean, one could argue it is the Europeans that are the enemy – 8 million Jews killed.

  11. 11.

    Geminid

    @MazeDancer: Gantz was calling for an election by the fall, but that was some weeks ago. Last week his party filed a motion calling for an election now.

    Opposition party leaders Lapid, Lieberman and Saar are coordinating strategy and tactics to collapse this government, and Gantz will join in.

    Netanyahu hopes to hold on until July 28. That’s when this Knesset session is set to adjourn. But the weight of public opinion is now substantially on the side of immediate elections and he and/or his partners might not withstand it. This rotten government was unpopular before last October 7, and now most Israelis are extremely fed up with it.

  12. 12.

    Frank Wilhoit

    If Netanyahu loses a confidence vote, then it will play out just as it did the last time: Netanyahu and his appointees stay on as a caretaker Government through multiple rounds of elections, after each of which no one can get 61, so after several months, the process repeats.  Last time, it took (if memory serves) four elections spread over two years.  This time, given the stakes, it could go on literally forever.  This is the downfall of scrutin de liste when the threshold for Party representation is too low.

  13. 13.

    cain

    @Geminid:

    Netanyahu hopes to hold on until July 28, when this Knesset session is set to adjourn, but the weight of public opinion is now substantially on the side of immediate elections and he and/or his partners might not withstand it. This rotten government was unpopular before last October 7, and now most Israelis are really fed up with it.

    As they should be – rank incompetence, loss of prestige in the world, and divisive internal politics. Never mind, how they’ve handled Palestinians.

    There needs to be a fresh way and perhaps find a way to make inroads directly with the Palestinian people although I don’t know how that will be given the ratio of death.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    @cain:

    rank incompetence, loss of prestige in the world, and divisive internal politics

     
    The hallmarks of right wing governments around the world.

  15. 15.

    Geminid

    @Frank Wilhoit: I think that if and when there is an election, Gantz will form a new government without a problem. It will likely be along the lines of the Lapid/Bennett government that lasted from June 2021 through 2022, but with a more substantial majority

    Ed. The opposition has got to find a way (or ways) to force an election though.

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: Bibi was invited to address a joint session of Congress on July 24.  It would be great if he were gone before then, but we can’t count on that…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  17. 17.

    suzanne

    I hope to see the back of Netanyahu, like, twenty minutes ago. I was happy to see four of the hostages be freed yesterday. Tempered by the knowledge that many likely innocent Palestinians died in the service of that goal.

    But I will just have to take what I can get, and if this helps bring down Netanyahu, that’s good news.

    Both Palestinians and Israelis deserve better leadership and representation than they have.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: As I’ve joked, someone ought to print up some T-shirts for the event with “Benjamin Netanyahu Farewell Tour.”

    He’ll likely still be Prime Minister on July 24, but very possibly in a caretaker roll with elections pending.

  20. 20.

    Cacti

    Gantz openly opposes Palestinian statehood and supports ongoing illegal settlement of the West Bank.

    I’m not seeing the big improvement if he’s the new face of the Zionist project.

    But when he follows the same policies of Netanyahu, I do see the western press saying “look how unreasonable the Palestinians are for not kissing the boot of the very moderate Benny Gantz.”

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    @Cacti: AFAIK, Gantz didn’t spend part of his childhood growing up in the Philly suburbs.  Maybe that’s a plus??  🤪

    Bibi has been a disaster for US interests in the region, and for Israel’s future.  Maybe Gaetz will be as well, but Bibi needs to go.

    Here’s hoping that voters there make decent choices.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    cain

    @Cacti:

    I don’t know who the Israeli folks are going to elect – but they’ve been consistently voting people who are having this platform.

  26. 26.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I’ll believe Netanyahu is toast when he’s served up with a schmear.

    Speed the day!

  29. 29.

    Chris

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Holy WTF.

    Yeah, I saw the FN was the winner of the European elections (I voted for Glucksmann, for all the good it did me). I have no idea how this is supposed to help, though. Hope he knows what he’s doing.

  30. 30.

    NobodySpecial

    Gantz is a cipher. He runs nothing, he leads nothing, nothing he does has effect. he’s a helium balloon floating in the corner of the room at the party. Why anyone thinks what he does means anything is baffling, considering he can’t beat Bibi in an election and he’s spent half his public service being joined at the hip to him.

  31. 31.

    suzanne

    @Villago Delenda Est: It’s outright admission of genocide, as far as I am concerned. They are straight-up saying that they want to kill enough Palestinians to destroy their national character and identity.

  32. 32.

    Geminid

    @cain: Gantz grew up on an agricultural cooperative in south-central Israel. His parents were born in Hungary but survived the death camps and met each other in Israel.

    Gantz joined the IDF in 1977 and served as IDF Chief of Staff from 2011 to 2015. He entered politics in 2018, leading the newly-formed National Resilience Party. Gantz served as Defence Minister in the two governments preceding this one.

  33. 33.

    VFX Lurker

    @suzanne: Both Palestinians and Israelis deserve better leadership and representation than they have.

    This, times 100.

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    @NobodySpecial: One of the reasons people think Gantz means something is that polls consistently show his party winning the most Knesset members if an election were to be held. That’s been the case in every poll taken since last October.

  37. 37.

    NutmegAgain

    Since it’s an open thread, I’ll just share that the nazi party, aka AfD, came in second in the elections in Germany. Sucks!!  Here’s an article from the news outlet that is pretty much like NPR, only German.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Geminid: The thing is, give the utter wackiness of Israel’s version of the Westminster system, tiny religious parties often are kingmakers, and the price is to impose their bronze age bullshit on everyone.

  41. 41.

    Chris

    @Baud:

    Well, the French embassy in Washington DC isn’t exactly representative of most polling places, but at least there, no, there were quite a few people. I was actually surprised to see that many for a non-presidential election: I’ve seen it much worse.

  42. 42.

    Another Scott

    @NutmegAgain:

    Here’s a take from Tendar (a German who does lots of news aggregation about the Ukraine situation):

    (((Tendar)))
    @Tendar
    4h

    The first prognostications of the European elections in Germany are released and the results are:

    – CDU/CSU wins decisively –> Congratulations!
    – Catastrophic losses for the Green Party (minus 8%).
    – Also losses for SPD
    – FDP, interestingly, lost less than I expected
    – Pro-Russian AfD has some gains but is way below what they wanted (above 20%) and what polls were showing.
    – Pro-Russian BSW is with 6% a footnote and the Left with 3% not worth talking about
    – Volt is a small party and with 3% and the low budget they have, it is still ok

    Overall, it was a good election for Europe, for the West and for NATO. The losses for the Greens are the most remarkable development and the clearest sign that the government coalition is at its logical end. It is all the fault of the Green leadership for not standing up to Scholz and his timid response in regard to Ukraine.

    [ bar graph ]

    Jun 9, 2024 · 4:12 PM UTC

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    @Jeffro: I’m pondering the metaphor as applied to summertime Palestine but yeah, roll on Likud snowball, roll on.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @Another Scott:

    Thanks.

    Really want to know what’s going on with the left around the world. So few places they are power players.  They control nothing in the US, unless you consider California and Massachusetts left, and I don’t think even the left does.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott: Man, do I miss Merkel. Scholz is way too timid WRT Russia and Ukraine.

    But, framed that way the election seems not so bad for Deutschland, going forward. Bannon probably haz a sad.

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:Europe is going right because of immigration.

    Yup.  And immigration/border issues are only going get more intense over the next 20 30 who knows how many years with climate refugees.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Sure, it varies. But on a country by country basis, whatever passes for the left seems to be flailing.

    We have a two party system for better or worse, so I don’t expect the American left to be the largest players nationally, but they’re not competitive anywhere. It didn’t used to be like that.

  53. 53.

    The Pale Scot

    Netanyahu is toast when he’s served up with a schmear.

    Oh Betty, ur really a Cracker? ‘Cause SNAP girlfriend, I think yous from NYC

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: My nickel picture is that the Right had the opportunity of a lifetime in the bursting of the housing bubble / Great Recession / etc., and they ran with it.  The same way they did during/after the Great Depression.  They saw their chance, grabbed it with a death grip, and it’s very hard to break them loose when they have enough of the levers of power.

    We were, and are, amazingly lucky to have Biden and sensible Democrats in power after TCFFG.

    Moving back left (or even back toward the center) is a struggle after the RWNJs have power and history tells us that it always will be.  We have to fight for every gettable vote and make sure people know the stakes.  Because the monsters are always out there…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  58. 58.

    jimmiraybob

    @Villago Delenda Est: “The “left” that the MAGAts bitch about are “center-right” in Europe.”

    The “left” that the MAGAts bitch about include conscientious former conservative Republicans in America.

  59. 59.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Baud:

    Sure, it varies. But on a country by country basis, whatever passes for the left seems to be flailing.

    I think it’s because whatever passes for the left is a group of varying clusters that are not really coherent. On economic policy they range from people who support modest government policies to ameliorate the harsher features of a market system to those who still dream of a socialist paradise. On foreign/military policy there are those who believe fighting fascism everywhere is necessary and those who do not support any military actions at all.

    Among the many things I’d like to see die, the right-left continuum is high on the list.

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    @Villago Delenda Est: At 18 total out of 120 Knesset members, the Ultra-Orthodox parties are not exactly tiny. With 11, Shas is the 3rd largest party after Likud (32) and Yesh Atid (24?).

    The Ultra-Orthodox parties swing a lot of weight in this government. They can be a pain in the ass for a coalition leader, though.  A few years ago, Netanyahu’s new Transportation minister decreed that transit system maintenance would no longer be done on the Sabbath. But the trains and buses are in constant use the six other days and Saturday’s the only day crews can work on them, so Netanyahu switched the minister out for one less scrupulous.

  62. 62.

    TBone

    Open thread roundup of reaching out to the youngs advertising campaign and new PAC (videos at link)

    This one is funny

    The Biden campaign welcomes Trump to Vegas by taking over the home page of the newspaper owned by major Trump donor Miriam Adelson.

    digbysblog.net/2024/06/09/the-ad-game/

    The hope, officials involved with the super PAC say, is that ads that are crafted for and by a younger, online audience can more effectively reach nonpolitical voters under 30. And for that reason, the group plans to avoid the crutch that other politics-meets-Hollywood ventures have deployed: splashy celebrity videos meant to go viral online.
    “There’s a big difference between putting a celebrity on camera and having them say, ‘if you liked me in “Madame Web,” then you’re going to love voting,’ versus what we’re doing,” said Travis Helwig, a former head writer for Crooked Media who is now leading the super PAC’s writers’ room. “We’re taking the best young writers and directors, who are the age and demographics of the people we’re targeting, using poll-tested messaging, and shaping it in a way that will resonate with young people and get them excited.”

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @Baud:

    I just remembered the left seems to be doing well in Mexico.  At least the news calls them left.  That’s something I guess.

  64. 64.

    tam1MI

    In other depressing news, the assholes of Judicial Watch are trying the “use laws passed to help Black people to attack Black people” strategy again:

    Evanston’s groundbreaking reparations program challenged by lawsuit from a conservative activist group

    The nation’s first government program providing cash reparations to Black residents in response to past discriminatory housing practices is being challenged in court by Judicial Watch, a conservative activist group.

    The lawsuit, filed last month, against the city of Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, alleges the program’s requirement that applicants state whether they and their ancestors identify as Black or African American “violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

  65. 65.

    Elizabelle

    Do you think the coalition might be splintering over negotiating the cease-fire?

    I know so little about the situation on the ground in Israel. Thanks to you all for the explanations.

  66. 66.

    Another Scott

    @Baud:

    Meanwhile, …

    Riku Voipio
    @[email protected]

    In Finland big unexpected far left victory. Vote rise from 8% to 18% becoming the second largest party for this election. Racist party gets a beating, falling from 13% down to 6.7% #eu #elections #europarlament

    Jun 09, 2024, 01:38 PM

    A reply cautions that counting is still going on, but still, seems to be good news.

    [ society.oftrolls.com – [ chef’s kiss ] ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Mexico‘s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, sounds awesome.

    We kind of did elect a woman president. In 2016. But the slaveholders’ electoral college thwarted the will of the majority of voters.

  70. 70.

    Jay C

    @suzanne:

    @Villago Delenda Est: It’s outright admission of genocide, as far as I am concerned. They are straight-up saying that they want to kill enough Palestinians to destroy their national character and identity.

    And what a lot of (too many) outside commentators fail to see is that this attitude is vastly more prevalent with the Israeli public (or at least those motivated to vote their convictions), than might be imagined from the “conventional” media coverage of the issue.

  72. 72.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: A lot of BJP windbags were shown the door in the election. They have lost big in the 2 biggest states UP and Maharashtra were they won big in 2019.

    There is still long ways to go but the spell of BJP’s invincibility is broken. This election was Modi’s Stalingrad.

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: True.  I am excited to see such a well prepared woman win the presidency in Mexico. And I’m tired of some of the reporting and punditry that slams us for being so far behind, because, except for the electoral college, we would have been spared Trump.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle:

     I am excited to see such a well prepared woman win the presidency in Mexico

     
    The key is that she wasn’t over prepared.

  81. 81.

    lowtechcyclist

    @TBone: ​
     

    Had to click through to find out who Rooty Tooty was.
    (Rudy Giuliani, to save others the trouble)

  83. 83.

    jayne

    @jimmiraybob

    If the Ghost of Richard Nixon was running on his original platform, the MAGAts would call him “woke.”

  85. 85.

    CaseyL

    @Another Scott: ​
     

    I’m seeing commentary that despite the Rightist surge in the EU, they didn’t win as many seats as they hoped, and the centrist coalitions are holding. Fingers crossed.

    Also, Orban’s government isn’t doing very well in Hungary, though I’m not at all informed on what the insurgency against him consists of. Its leader is a former Orbanite.

    Meanwhile, the UK looks ready to kick the Tory Right to the curb pretty decisively.

    So far the 2024 elections globally are a mixed bag. Hope here, less hope there. The fascist “wave” so far doesn’t seem to be much of a one, but a fascist victory in the US will be, shall we say, extremely destabilizing globally.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    Via Reddit

    Curtis Bashaw, a pro-choice gay Republican and hotel developer, has secured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Bashaw’s victory in Tuesday’s primary election over Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, signals a significant shift within the state’s political landscape.

  88. 88.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @CaseyL:

    So far the 2024 elections globally are a mixed bag.

    If the media can’t find some numbers they can represent as an international Far Right surge, they can’t ask whether this means Biden will lose.  MSNBC was pushing just that when I walked past the living room.

  90. 90.

    zhena gogolia

    Can someone tell me what anyone sees in Glen Powell? He’s all over every magazine and I just don’t see it.

  94. 94.

    Citizen Alan

    @Baud: So, a self-loathing gay man who doesn’t want to pay taxes and is smart enough to lie about his views on abortion in a blue state.

  95. 95.

    Ken

    @Baud: Curtis Bashaw, a pro-choice gay Republican

    Wouldn’t this be more appropriate for the “Leopards Eating People’s Faces” post below?

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    @cain:

    France24.com:

    In an address to the nation, the French president said he could not ignore the warning from voters, noting that in total far-right parties in France had won almost 40 percent of the vote. He said elections for the National Assembly would be called for June 30, with a second-round vote on July 7.

    “This is an essential time for clarification,” he said. “I have heard your message, your concerns and I will not leave them unanswered … France needs a clear majority to act in serenity and harmony.”

    The 2nd round has saved France in the past, we’ll see this time.

    For the country’s fractious left, the European polls provided another sobering reminder of the pitfalls of division, just two years after the NUPES alliance came second in parliamentary polls behind Macron’s ruling coalition – raising hopes of an end to the factionalism and bickering that has hampered left-wing candidates over the years.

    Those hopes were dashed in the run-up to the EU polls, leaving five separate lists to fight over a diminishing share of the electorate. At roughly 33 percent, their combined tally is three points shy of the far right’s cumulative score.

    Tellingly, the main casualties of division were the Greens, the first party to announce it would stand alone rather than under the banner of the NUPES. That decision backfired spectacularly, with the Greens now projected to win just 5.5 percent of the vote, down from 13 percent in 2019, thus barely passing the 5% threshold to send lawmakers to Brussels.

    I’m reminded of Join, or Die.

    The Greens lost pretty big in Germany, according to Tendar.

    Yeah, intellectually it’s appealing to have a variety of political parties where one can look at slight differences in views and policies and choose. But, ultimately, government is about having a majority. And a bunch of tiny parties that are tuned to the tails of the gaussian distribution make building a working majority that can actually get things done that need to be done difficult, or impossible. [ Insert related comments about Israel here. ]

    Macron not fighting with giant Yellow Vests protests now is probably good for him. But voters will have to decide…

    To be clear – I’m not a huge Macron fan, and I think he needs to work on improving his relationship with labor (to the extent that that’s possible). But France swinging hard to the Right is not a good thing.

    Fingers crossed.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Never underestimate how crazy the fear of brown-skinned people can make some white-skinned people. Look how the election of Obama made so many Americans lose their minds.

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    The common clay wish to warn you about witchcraft and cetera. Mind those school board elections, folks.

    Auburn Union School District Board Trustee Jayson Wedge, the subject of a recall effort among district parents and teachers, delivered bizarre, vaguely threatening remarks to the Auburn City Council during a public comment period Tuesday night.

    Wedge first addressed Auburn Mayor Rachel Radell-Harris and the city’s four council members about the concerns they voiced earlier this year about the state of the school district. Wedge and AUSD Board President Greg Holt became subjects of the recall effort after they supported an abrupt decision to close Rock Creek Elementary School and transition all other schools in the district to TK-8 schools, despite widespread concern from district parents and local elected officials, such as Radell-Harris.

    “I was really disappointed” with the council, Wedge said. “You guys find yourself in almost the same situation coming up, and I encourage you, this isn’t to threaten you or anything … now is the time to take swift actions, to pass the buck down the road, and try to come up with alternate solutions. You guys need to cut budgets.”

    He then pivoted to the topic of Pride Month, admonishing the board for recognizing it after Radell-Harris opened the meeting Tuesday with a Proclamation declaring June as Pride Month in the city of Auburn. City Councilwoman Michelle Sierra-Sammons also wore a Pride shirt to the meeting. Wedge took issue with both.

    “As elected officials, we are not elected to take part in social or political movements,” Wedge said. “And with this Pride Month, this was a social and political movement that you guys took part in, and I would like to make my own statement on that.”

    Wedge heads the Placer County chapter of the group Freedom Coalition, a right-wing group of “freedom advocates” who promote the conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 public health lockdowns were a way for the U.S. government to install more 5G towers across the country to control the electorate.

    “I’ve been attacked, I’ve been called a racist, I’ve been called a bigot, I’ve been attacked for the love that I have for Jesus Christ, and recently, I’ve been slandered as being a part of anti-government groups. So I really hope you guys don’t support any of that.”

    In a sudden turn of tone, Wedge sought to declare his own proclamation instead: “Any forms of witchcraft, any forms of idolatry, any forms of child sacrifice will not be tolerated, and your days are numbered.” He then left the podium without elaborating on any such cases of witchcraft, idolatry or child sacrifice.

    sacbee.com/news/local/education/article289181439.html#storylink=cpy

    I’m unable to comment on any time-traveling used to deliver this story, given it’s midday Tuesday. However, there is certainly idolatry in this metroplex believe you me.

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