Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his allies won 15 of the 16 seats for Tehran in the Assembly of Experts, the state news agency IRNA reported Monday.

The 16th seat went to Ahmad Jannati, a known hardliner.

The Assembly of Experts is the 88-member clerical body tasked with choosing Iran’s next Supreme Leader – the country’s most powerful position.

Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday night, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said,

Hannitty said, “[Israel is] our number one ally in the region, and that alliance has been, well, fractured.”

Trump responded, “Israel is so important. What Obama has done to Israel is a disgrace. How they even talk to us is hard to believe. How do they talk to Obama? You know, I have friends who support Obama, I said, How do you do it? It’s almost like they do it out of habit. They agree he’s been terrible…

“You look at what he’s done to Israel, with just this Iran deal, which is such a terrible deal. He’s been the worst thing that’s ever happened to Israel.

“Now, a lot of my friends that are Jewish do not support him any longer. But I still have some that do. I say, How can you do it?”

Hannity commented, “He’s been horrible to Israel.”

Trump said, “You know what? I think it’s habit. They do it out of habit.”

The data confirm Trump’s notion: In 2008, US Jews voted in droves for Barack Obama, 78-22 over Republican John McCain. That trend has shifted somewhat in 2012, when the vote was 69-30 for Obama over Mitt Romney. The only time in recent history Jews split their vote almost evenly was in 1980, when they gave incumbent Jimmy Carter only 45% of their vote, vs. 39% to Ronald Reagan.

Israel is now reaping the fruits of the IranDeal signed with Tehran by the United States and five other world powers, Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid told a gathering of foreign journalists Monday at the Jerusalem Press Club.

Lapid clearly backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his stance on the Iranian threat to Israel – and U.S. culpability in strengthening that threat.

The former finance minister told reporters that the new flow of funds released in the relief of sanctions against Iran is already threatening Israel. “Secretary of State [John] Kerry said himself last week that some of the sanctions relief will go to funding terrorism. For us this is not theoretical. This money translates itself into rockets aimed at our children,” Lapid said.

“The next conflict in the north or south of Israel is just a matter of time,” he warned. “The provocations, the breaches of international law, the preparations… are already happening every day by Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north. Both with [and result from] Iranian backing.

“When the fighting breaks out, the analysis and reporting shouldn’t start with the first Israeli strike, but with what’s happening on the ground right now,” he told reporters.

He added that although he agrees with his former coalition partner on these points, Lapid said he still intends to run against Netanyahu in the next election – as the alternative candidate for prime minister.

(JNi.media) Donald Trump, whose wealth is estimated at $4 billion, is meeting casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, estimated at just under $29 billion, before Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Politico reported. The debate, will be held at Adelson’s Venetian hotel.

Adelson, who leans towards Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), is meeting privately with several Republican candidates before the debate Tuesday. Adelson is yet to announce his final pick for support, and judging by the 2012 campaign, when he invested $100 million and received nothing in return, having Adelson’s support may not guarantee victory.

According to The Guardian and Politico, Adelson will eventually make a multi-million dollar donation to a Super PAC supporting Rubio. Trump has mocked the senator for not having as much money as he, and so having to sell himself out to the large donors. Trump called Rubio a “perfect little puppet” on Tweeter.

Trump might not receive a favorable response from Adelson, who absolutely loves Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week, after Netanyahu rejected Trump’s plan to visit him in Jerusalem—on account of his anti-Muslim stance—Trump complained that Bibi’s response was “inappropriate.”

Trump continues to reach for the ceiling in the polls, Muslims or no Muslims. An ABC News/Washington Post national poll on Tuesday gave him 38 points over Cruz with 15, Rubio 12, and Carson 12. Trump bested Cruz in Iowa, after having slipped to second place last week. The PPP (D) Iowa Republican poll released Tuesday shows Trump with 28 over Cruz with 25.

In Israel, there is arguably no greater fan of “The Donald” and his campaign for president than Seth Cogan. In his words, a view into the candidacy of Donald Trump:

A few points about Mr. Trump’s campaign that must be considered:

1. The reason Donald Trump resonates with the voter is that they know something is wrong with the way the US political system works and he is able to communicate that in a direct manner. No spin; No filter, Trump’s message is not rehearsed, it is not parsed over by handlers. Mr Trump simply says what he believes and the voter knows to be true.

2. Voters know that the media is not honest in the way they report the news.

3. Voters know that the political class is only interested in the next election and how they can enrich themselves.

4. Trump is funding his entire campaign himself and is not interested in being owned by the political class.

5. He continues to speak his mind and control the news cycle and his audience love him for it.

6. The Republican National Committee (RNC) does not want him, The RNC would even prefer Ted Cruz at this point and that is saying a lot. Ted Cruz is almost as hated as Trump. Cruz is labeled a Tea Party extremist, as if wanting to stand by the Constitution is a negative.

7. The problem is Cruz is not a celebrity, and can not control or dictate the narrative the way Trump can.

8. From the beginning, Trump has set the agenda starting with his salvo about illegal immigration, then saying that he would control ISIS by bombing their oil fields. He was heavily lampooned for this but has anyone notice that we are now bombing the oil. That is Obama who is doing that and Trump was the one who suggested it.

9. His latest comments about pausing our immigration policy until we get an understanding of  how we are vetting these refugees is spot on. He is taking a lot of heat for it but he is 100 percent correct. Our Secretary of Defense has said we are at War, most people agree, and no country takes in insurgents who have said they will exploit the weakness of the host country.

10. What will be needed by our next President, as Trump has pointed out, is competence- NOT being nice or politically correct. America can’t afford that at this time with too many issues that must be dealt with immediately. A national debt that is crippling the economy and diminishing American power in the world. A bankrupt nation cannot dictate or control events. No one will listen. Again I don’t know if anyone can fix this problem, it may be too late. But for sure business as usual as we have seen from new House Speaker  Paul Ryan or Hillary Clinton on the left will just be a continuation of what has not worked.

11. People are fearful that Trump is a  fear-mongering demagogue. Trump is not a true Republican nor a true Democrat. He could easily live out his years with his wealth and not be concerned with the posterity of the country. Like George Washington, the Founding Fathers and great Patriots before him, Trump is willing to risk reputation and treasure to try an make a difference.

12. If he is rebuffed it will be much more painful for the American people then it will be for Trump. We are at a crossroads in the nations history. We have kicked the can down the road as far as we can. We are out of road. It is business as usual or put someone in who has a chance to be different. Again in my opinion he is the only one. May not be every ones cup of tea but generally great leaders are not. I hope we have the courage to make the correct decision.

13. America must be BOLD.

With all that said, my opinions on the Republican Jewish Committee (RJC) statements by Trump stand as expressed below:

In one word it was Fantastic!

Let me tell you why. The RJC represents a moneyed class just as many other PACs that want to control their candidates.  Before Trump even got to the question and answer part of the speech, he already said as much. He said to the audience that he was the best candidate where Israel is concerned and I believe both by money and voice he has earned that title. And then he said to the audience “but you are not going to vote for me because I don’t want your money.” And I think that is the key to this whole election.

Trump has elegantly pointed out to the American voter that politicians are not looking out for their interests in the deals that they make. They serve the political class and those that give politicians money at the expense of the welfare of the country in general. This election can not be business as usual because the country is bankrupt. The US government owes $20 trillion in published debt and with unfunded liabilities that number is closer to a $100 trillion. We can not afford higher interest rates which are coming because of the reckless federal reserve printing trillions of dollars with no evidence that they are willing to stop. This is going to cause a collapse of the dollar and a dramatic drop in the standard of living for all Americans.

That is what is at stake in this election which is what Trump is attempting to mitigate. Frankly it may be to late, but Trump is our only hope in this election which makes it an important election for Israel. Because what is good for America is good for Israel. The problem in the US is not only of Obama’s making he had plenty of help from the economics of the Bush administration and the Federal Reserves easy money supply under Alan Greenspan.

So with that said and all the problems the US is facing the one that most threatens the free world and Israel is the game changer of a financial collapse in the US with a failing dollar. That event will plunge the US into an economic crisis that will make the Great Depression look small. Remember when the great Depression came the US debt was relatively small and the US was a nation of net savers. Now we are the biggest debtor nation in world history.

In summary, what we are have in this election is the opportunity to change the trajectory of the way the Political class spends our money in the US because they are mortgaging future generations on both sides of the isle. This is why Trump is receiving incoming from the right as well as the left. Frankly there is nothing left to mortgage and if that is not changed the US will have a collapse in the dollar.  The world will not continue to send the US its goods for worthless pieces of paper. We desperately need a President that will not be influenced by the Political class which includes the RJC. Our only choice is Trump.

(JNi.media) Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Republican presidential candidate, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, many in the Jewish community have supported his point of view linking the Nazi gun control efforts and the ease with which they were able to round up Jews. After the October 1, 2015 mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, Carson said Hitler would not have attained his goals as easily if the Jews were armed. “There’s a reason these dictatorial people take the guns first,” Carson said, and caught much flak for it.

“Some people will try to take that and, you know, make it into an anti-Jewish thing, which is foolishness,” Carson said, adding that many in the Jewish community have told him he was exactly right.

Carson, who said he would “love” to see abortion becoming illegal nationwide with few exceptions, with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, told NBC’s Chuck Todd: “I’m a reasonable person and if people can come up with a reasonable explanation of why they would like to kill a baby, I’ll listen.”

He did concede possibly allowing abortions to preserve the life of the mother, saying, “That’s an extraordinarily rare situation, but if in that very rare situation it occurred, I believe there’s room to discuss that.”

Carson is leading the Republican field in recent polling. A Friday Des Moines Regisiter/Bloomberg poll shows him with a nine-point lead in Iowa. A Quinnipiac University poll Thursday gives him an eight point lead over Donald Trump in Iowa.

Alluding to the hatchet job much of the media, as well as his chief rival in the race, billionaire Donald Trump, have done on him, Carson said: “As people get to know me, they know that I’m not a hateful, pathological person like some people try to make me out to be. And that will be self-evident. So I don’t really worry about that.”

As to the attack from Trump saying he has “super low energy,” Carson said, “I’m not sure that there’s anybody else running who has spent 18 or 20 hours intently operating on somebody.”

(JNi.media) ormer NY mayor Michael Bloomberg has been receiving phone calls from his Wall Street pals over the summer, according to the NY Times, asking him to run for president.

Bill Ackman, who’s been probed by the FBI for Herbalife stock manipulation (he allegedly tried to ruin the company’s name so he could short its stock), declared at a Bloomberg Markets conference, “He’s all the best of Trump without the worst of Trump,” and, “I would do everything in my power to get this guy elected,” plus a joke about how much the whole thing should cost: “It’s just one quarter’s dividend.”

In September, political consultant Ian Bremmer tweeted: “Word from those that know: Mike Bloomberg now seriously considering Independent run.” To which Bloomberg replied: “Not going to happen.”

“The more uncertain the electoral outlook grows, the more likely it is that people, particularly with money, are going to be talking about Mr Bloomberg running for the White House,” Gary Silverman wrote in the Financial Times. “It happened during the 2008 campaign season when the US was poised to replace a two-term president, George W. Bush, and it is happening again today as the race to succeed Barack Obama gains pace.”

According to Andrew Ross Sorkin, writing for the Times, fat cat Democrats are concerned that Hillary Clinton, egged on by her competitor, Socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, is moving too far to the left on business, regulations and taxes. At the same time, fat cat Republicans are afraid their man, Jeb Bush, is not going anywhere, overshadowed as he is by Donald Trump.

Things have gotten so bad for the moneyed elite, that Rupert Murdoch, not a big fan of the former mayor, tweeted: “With Trump becoming very serious candidate, it’s time for next billionaire candidate, Mike Bloomberg to step into ring. Greatest mayor.”

In other words, the only possible contender who is both acceptable to Wall Street and can beat Trump is Michael Bloomberg.

Ross Sorkin cites one important source who doesn’t believes Bloomberg, 73, the “short, Jewish, divorced billionaire” can be president—Michael Bloomberg himself, who has told friends he can’t run as a Republican—he’s a sworn anti-gun and global warming believer, not the stuff the party of Lincoln is supporting these days. But he also doesn’t think he can run as a Democrat, on account of his being a billionaire—his wealth as of 2015 is estimated at $39 billion (Trump only has $4 billion). And he can’t run as an Independent because, in America, Independent candidates don’t win presidencies. That’s not what the experts are saying, it’s what Michael Bloomberg told New York Magazine in 2013: “I am 100 percent convinced that you cannot in this country win an election unless you are the nominee of one of the two major parties.”

John Fund noted in the National Review that all the hype surrounding the emerging “draft Bloomberg” efforts by the folks who really do “occupy Wall Street” has had “positive side effects. Without spending more than pocket change for polls and research, Bloomberg got magazine cover stories, TV news profiles, and an endless stream of media coverage.”

Bloomberg was the first recipient of the $1 million Genesis Prize, a.k.a. the “Jewish Nobel Prize.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented him with the award at a ceremony in Jerusalem in May, 2013. The award, established by a charity founded by Russian Jewish billionaires, honors “exceptional people whose values and achievements will inspire the next generations of Jews.”

Pro-gun advocates who are also pro-Israel would have to choose between their two loves: Bloomberg is a great supporter of Israel and also has been the most outspoken leader of the movement to curb illegal gun use in America. If you thought President Obama was conspiring to take away your unregistered guns — with Bloomberg you can be sure. Bloomberg has been using his money to support two organizations: Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which merged two years ago. He has been lobbying mayors and police chiefs across America.

“We started this movement as just 15 mayors committed to protecting our cities – and we’ve since been joined by more than 1,000 mayors and more than 1.5 million Americans from big cities, small towns, and all different walks of life,” Michael Bloomberg said in a statement back in 2013. “Gun violence is, unfortunately, an issue that affects every community, and coming together with Moms Demand Action today will strengthen our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and save lives.”

On the other hand, in the summer of 2014, just hours after the US Federal Aviation Administration prohibited domestic airlines from flying to Tel Aviv because of the Gaza war, Bloomberg hitched a flight to Ben Gurion and touted the security of visitors to the Jewish State. The FAA lifted its ban after Bloomberg published an article titled “Why I Flew to Israel.”

“Hamas would like nothing more than to close down Ben-Gurion, isolating Israel from the international community and seriously damaging its economy,” went Bloomberg’s piece. “By prohibiting US carriers from flying into Ben-Gurion, the FAA handed Hamas a significant victory — one that the group will undoubtedly attempt to repeat. The FAA has, regrettably, succeeded only in emboldening Hamas.”

The mayor added: “In times of crisis, acting out of an abundance of caution can be prudent. But closing down access to major infrastructure networks in the face of terrorist threats can be self-defeating.”

Which led, naturally to Bloomberg’s touting of one of his signature achievements, the recovery of the battered city he received from his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani. “This was something I learned as mayor of New York City. After terrorists tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, I went to a restaurant there the following evening for dinner — and invited the world to join me. When terrorist plots to attack the city’s subway emerged, as they would from time to time, I made sure to be seen riding it to work, as usual — and encouraged New Yorkers to keep doing so as well. And we responded to the devastating aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks by opening the streets of Lower Manhattan as quickly as we possibly could.”

All things considered, and given enough coaxing, nay, pleading, from his fellow billionaires, that last paragraph could be the foundation of a great presidential stump speech.