Nancy Pelosi has announced that her time in Congress will come to an end when her current term concludes, closing a remarkable forty-year run in national politics and marking the retirement of one of the most influential figures in Democratic Party history.
“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know I will not be seeking re-election to Congress,” Pelosi, 85, declared in a recorded message directed to her longtime supporters and constituents.
The decision confirms widespread speculation that had swirled throughout the week, with many in Washington and California anticipating that Pelosi was preparing to formally step away from elected office after Tuesday’s off-year elections.
Her tenure reshaped the role of women in American politics. Pelosi served as the Democratic leader in the House from 2002 until 2022, holding the gavel as Speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023 — becoming the first woman in U.S. history to occupy that powerful post.
{Matzav.com}
Mark Levin speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Leadership Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, in one of the most potent speeches you’ll ever hear.
WATCH:
In a fiery interview Wednesday night on Radio Galei Yisrael, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat deflected responsibility for Israel’s skyrocketing cost of living, instead blaming a series of other government bodies — including the Finance Ministry, the Competition Authority, and the Israel Land Authority (ILA).
“The Competition Authority is interfering with us,” Barkat declared during the wide-ranging 30-minute segment on the program The System. “The Finance Ministry has no interest in dismantling monopolies. Period.”
Barkat argued that the very agencies tasked with curbing the cost of living are the ones standing in the way of progress. “The authorities that are supposed to help reduce prices are delaying the necessary actions,” he charged.
When asked about dysfunction within his own ministry — particularly regarding the Competition Authority — Barkat revealed, “I asked the director of the Competition Authority to resign, but the attorney general blocked the process.”
He further claimed that the Finance Ministry itself derailed his efforts to control prices during wartime. “We tried to advance legislation to restrain prices during the war, and the finance minister vetoed it,” he said.
Addressing his flagship reform initiative, promoted under the slogan “What’s good for Europe is good for Israel,” Barkat insisted that deeply entrenched monopolies are deliberately trying to sabotage progress. “The monopolies in Israel are strong and are attempting to obstruct the reform,” he said.
Turning to Israel’s housing crisis, the minister pinned the blame squarely on the Israel Land Authority. “The Israel Land Authority is speculating with land,” Barkat said, when asked why young Israelis remain perpetual renters.
Concluding the interview, Barkat called for a radical restructuring of how land is managed in the country. “I call to dismantle the Israel Land Authority, divide its powers into two parts, and transfer the management of industrial zones to my ministry,” he said, adding that “the Accountant General in the Finance Ministry is an enthusiastic supporter of dismantling the Israel Land Authority.”
{Matzav.com}
