Monday, March 20, 2017

LIEBERMAN THREATENS TO DESTROY SYRIAN AIR DEFENCE SYSTEMS.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.(DAMASCUS FRYED TO A PULP)
11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

Liberman threatens to ‘destroy’ Syrian air defense systems-After Friday’s attempt by Syria to down IAF planes, defense minister says in next incident Israel will have no ‘hesitation’-By AFP March 19, 2017, 2:09 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems after they fired ground-to-air missiles at Israeli warplanes carrying out strikes.“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” Lieberman said on Israeli public radio.Israeli fighter jets hit several targets in Syria on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the strikes targeted weapons bound for the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.Syria’s military claimed it downed one of the Israeli planes and hit another as they were carrying out the predawn strikes near the famed desert city of Palmyra that it recaptured from jihadists this month.The IDF denied that any of its planes were hit. The Syrian government has made similar claims in the past.An Israeli army statement said “several anti-aircraft missiles” were fired following the raid but that none hit their targets.One missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow missile defense battery, military officials said, in the first reported use of the advanced system.It was the most serious incident between the two countries since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.In April 2016, Netanyahu admitted for the first time that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys transporting weapons in Syria destined for Hezbollah, which fought a 2006 war with Israel and is now battling alongside the Damascus regime.Israel does not usually confirm or deny individual raids, but it may have been led to do so this time by the circumstances of the incident.

Netanyahu: Syria raids targeted ‘advanced’ Hezbollah arms-After unprecedented missile clash, PM says Israel will continue to operate against weapons transfers from Assad regime to Shiite terror group-By Steve Weizman March 18, 2017, 3:32 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

AFP — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday the Israeli strikes on several targets in Syria earlier that day targeted weapons bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and that the Jewish State would do the same again if necessary.The Israeli airstrike prompted retaliatory missile launches, in the most serious incident between Syria and the Jewish state since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.Syria’s military said it had downed an Israeli plane and hit another as they were carrying out pre-dawn strikes near the famed desert city of Palmyra that it recaptured from jihadists this month.The Israeli military denied that any planes had been hit. The Syrian government has made similar unfounded claims in the past.“The safety of Israeli civilians or the Israeli air force aircraft was at no point compromised,” Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner told AFP.Netanyahu said in footage aired on Israel’s major television networks: “When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah and we have intelligence and it is operationally feasible, we act to prevent it.“That’s how it was yesterday and that’s how we shall continue to act,” he added.“We are fully determined and the evidence of that it that we are acting. Everybody must take that into account — everybody.”The Israeli air force said earlier that it had carried out several strikes on Syria overnight, but that none of the ground-to-air missiles fired by Syrian forces in response had hit Israeli aircraft.It was an unusual confirmation by the Jewish state of air raids inside Syria.“Overnight… aircraft targeted several targets in Syria,” an Israeli army statement said.“Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and (Israeli) aerial defense systems intercepted one of the missiles,” it said.None of the missiles fired from Syria hit their targets, the army added.One missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow air defense system, Israeli media reported.It would be one of the first times the system has been used.A Jordanian military source said shrapnel from one missile fell in the north of the kingdom without causing any casualties.In April 2016, Netanyahu admitted for the first time that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys transporting weapons in Syria destined for Hezbollah, which fought a devastating 2006 war with Israel and is now fighting alongside the Damascus regime.Israel does not usually confirm or deny each individual raid, but it may have been led to do so this time by the circumstances of the incident.The missile fired from Syria prompted air raid sirens to sound in the Jordan Valley during the night, the Israeli army said.Israel and Syria are still technically at war, though the border had remained largely quiet for decades until 2011 when the Syrian conflict began.Assaf Orion, senior research fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Syria’s response was a “significant” shift.Until now, he said, when Israel attacked Hezbollah convoys there, it “usually went without a response or with an insignificant response from the Syrian side.”“[With this attack] the Syrian regime is trying to tell Israel it can’t stand it any more and those actions will not be free of charge.”President Bashar Assad’s position has been strengthened in recent months with his forces reclaiming all of Syria’s second city Aleppo, as well as enjoying continuing Russian support.Orion said the Syrian leader was feeling emboldened.“He is saying: ‘Don’t push me. I am not as weak as I used to be.'”Yaakov Amidror, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council, said weapons convoys of the Iran-backed Hezbollah remained a “red line” and that Israel would continue to attack them when deemed necessary.The Arrow 3 interceptor, designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, was deployed to Israeli air force ground crews in January after successful testing by Israel and the United States.Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognized by the international community.Israel pays close attention to developments in the Syrian conflict for fear that it could be exploited by its arch-rival Iran to install allies close to the armistice line on the Golan and Israel’s borders.

After Syria airstrike, Hezbollah says Israel fears Islamic State defeat-Zionist Union lawmakers say Russia’s policy concerning Israeli intervention in civil war has shifted, is aligned with Iran-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies March 18, 2017, 5:17 pm

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday criticized Israel’s airstrike in Syria early Friday morning, saying the Jewish state uses “all kinds of excuses” to justify its military operations.The Lebanese Shiite leader was referring to the airstrike which Jerusalem said targeted a weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah. Syrian military forces fired missiles at the Israeli jets that carried out the strikes. One was reportedly intercepted by an Israeli Arrow missile battery.Nasrallah said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “went to marry [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” during his recent trip to Moscow out of fear that the Islamic State would be defeated.Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on March 9, where they discussed the situation in Syria.“If the Islamic State loses, what will you do with Iran in Syria?” the Shiite militia leader asked.He called on Syrian rebel groups to stop fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad because “it serves Israel and the United States.”Netanyahu said Friday that Israel would continue to target weapon convoys.“Our policy is very consistent,” he stated in a Hebrew language video released to the press. “When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah — when we have the intel and the operational capability — we act to prevent it. That’s how we’ve acted and how we will continue to act…and everyone needs to take this into account. Everyone.”Meanwhile in Israel, two lawmakers responded to Russia’s summoning of Israel’s ambassador over the airstrike in Syria. Former general and Zionist Union MK Eyal Ben-Reuven said Russia’s reaction was a major shift in Moscow’s Syria policy, Army Radio reported.“The Russians clarified in the past that they will leave Israel to deal with the problem of Hezbollah, but summoning the ambassador to Moscow for a reprimand at the Foreign Ministry expresses a change in the Russian position,” Ben-Reuven said.Russia summoned the Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Gary Koren, demanding clarifications less than 24 hours after Israel struck targets in Syria.Moscow is heavily involved in Syria and strongly supports the regime of President Bashar Assad, which is allied with Hezbollah.Zionist Union MK Omer Bar Lev said that Israel’s cooperation with Russia is important, “but the minute their interest become different there won’t be any cooperation.”“As of today their interests are with Assad and Iran,” he said.The Syrian Foreign Ministry earlier sent two letters to the UN secretary-general and to the president of the UN Security Council, calling the strikes a violation of international law, of UN resolutions and of Syrian sovereignty.Syria called on the UN to “condemn the blatant Israeli aggression that is considered a violation of international law.”The Israeli military said its aircraft struck several targets in Syria and were back in Israeli-controlled airspace when several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria toward the jets. One incoming missile was shot down by an Arrow defense battery, while two more landed in Israel, causing neither injury nor damage.Assad’s army said the Israeli strikes were conducted to support “[Islamic State] terrorist gangs and in a desperate attempt to raise their deteriorating morale and divert attention away from the victories which Syrian Arab Army is making in the face of the terrorist organizations,” the statement read.It also claimed it had shot down an Israeli warplane and hit a second one, assertions Israel said were false.The firing of missiles from Syria toward Israeli aircraft is extremely rare, though Israeli military officials reported a shoulder-fired missile a few months ago.Jordan, which borders both Israel and Syria, said parts of the missiles fell in its rural northern areas, including the Irbid district. The Jordanian military said the debris came from the Israeli interception of missiles fired from Syria. Radwan Otoum, the Irbid governor, told the state news agency Petra that the missile parts caused only minor damage.Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering mostly sporadic incidents of spillover fire that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Israel has responded to the errant fire with limited reprisals on Syrian positions.The skies over Syria are now crowded, with Russian and Syrian aircraft backing Assad’s forces and a US-led coalition striking Islamic State and al-Qaeda targets.Israel is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on advanced weapons systems in Syria — including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles — as well as Hezbollah positions, but it rarely confirms such operations.

Iran: Israel’s ‘aggression’ in Syria proves it’s aligned with ‘terrorists’-Spokesman for Tehran’s foreign ministry questions timing of Israeli airstrikes just as Assad’s forces ‘have the upper hand’ against rebels-By Times of Israel staff March 18, 2017, 3:23 pm

Iran on Saturday denounced Israeli “aggression” over its airstrikes in Syria early Friday, and claimed Jerusalem’s interests were aligned with those of Syrian “terrorists.”According to a report on Iran’s Press TV news channel, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi questioned the timing of the Israeli operation “at a time when [Syria’s] army and the anti-terror front have the upper hand against bloodthirsty terrorists, driving them back from cities and villages one after another.”This, he said, proved that Israel shared interests with those of rebel groups, which Iran and Syria refer to as terrorists.Qassemi called on the UN to condemn Israel’s “aggression” and to prevent further “acts of violation of peace and security by the aggressive and rogue Zionist regime.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday the Israeli strikes on several targets in Syria early that day targeted weapons bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and that the Jewish State would do the same again if necessary.The Israeli airstrike prompted retaliatory missile launches, in the most serious incident between Syria and the Jewish state since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.Syria’s military said it had downed an Israeli plane and hit another as they were carrying out pre-dawn strikes near the desert city of Palmyra that it recaptured from jihadists this month.The Israeli military denied that any planes had been hit. The Syrian government has made similar unfounded claims in the past.Netanyahu said in footage aired on Israel’s major television networks: “When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah and we have intelligence and it is operationally feasible, we act to prevent it.“That’s how it was yesterday and that’s how we shall continue to act,” he added.The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent two letters to the UN secretary-general and to the president of the UN Security Council, calling the strikes a violation of international law, of UN resolutions and of Syrian sovereignty.Syria called on the UN to “condemn the blatant Israeli aggression that is considered a violation of international law.”Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering mostly sporadic incidents of spillover fire that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Israel has responded to the errant fire with limited reprisals on Syrian positions.The skies over Syria are now crowded, with Russian and Syrian aircraft backing Assad’s forces and a US-led coalition striking Islamic State and al-Qaeda targets.Israel is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on advanced weapons systems in Syria — including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles — as well as Hezbollah positions, but it rarely confirms such operations.Agencies contributed to this report.

MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM

EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)

EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17  And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18  Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19  And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20  Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21  And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

Israeli TV says IAF strike was near to Russian troops-Russia summons Israeli envoy, demands clarifications on Syria strike-Netanyahu says Israel will continue to target weapons convoys to Hezbollah: ‘Our policy is very consistent’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies March 17, 2017, 9:28 pm

Russia summoned the Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Gary Koren to provide clarifications Friday, less than 24 hours after Israel struck targets in Syria, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement explaining the reasoning behind the operation.Moscow is heavily involved in Syria and strongly supports the regime of President Bashar Assad. Assad’s forces fired missiles at the Israeli jets overnight after the latter struck what Jerusalem said was a weapons convoy destined for the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group.Israel’s Channel 2 news reported Saturday night that Moscow was particularly concerned because the Israeli strike was close to areas where Russian troops are deployed.Netanyahu said Israel would continue to target weapon convoys.“Our policy is very consistent,” he stated in a Hebrew language video released to the press. “When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah — when we have the intel and the operational capability — we act to prevent it. That’s how we’ve acted and how we will continue to act…and everyone needs to take this into account. Everyone.”Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on March 9, where they discussed the situation in Syria.The Syrian Foreign Ministry earlier sent two letters to the UN secretary-general and to the director of the UN Security Council calling the strikes a violation of international law, of UN resolutions and of Syrian sovereignty.Syria called on the UN to “condemn the blatant Israeli aggression that is considered a violation of international law.”The Israeli military said its aircraft struck several targets in Syria and were back in Israeli-controlled airspace when several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria toward the jets. One incoming missile was shot down by an Arrow defense battery, while two more landed in Israel, causing neither injury nor damage.Assad’s army said the Israeli strikes were conducted to support “[Islamic State] terrorist gangs and in a desperate attempt to raise their deteriorating morale and divert attention away from the victories which Syrian Arab Army is making in the face of the terrorist organizations,” the statement read.It also claimed it had shot down an Israeli warplane and hit a second one, assertions Israel said were false.The firing of missiles from Syria toward Israeli aircraft is extremely rare, though Israeli military officials reported a shoulder-fired missile a few months ago.Jordan, which borders both Israel and Syria, said parts of the missiles fell in its rural northern areas, including the Irbid district. The Jordanian military said the debris came from the Israeli interception of missiles fired from Syria. Radwan Otoum, the Irbid governor, told the state news agency Petra that the missile parts caused only minor damage.Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering mostly sporadic incidents of spillover fire that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Israel has responded to the errant fire with limited reprisals on Syrian positions.The skies over Syria are now crowded, with Russian and Syrian aircraft backing Assad’s forces and a US-led coalition striking Islamic State and al-Qaeda targets.Israel is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on advanced weapons systems in Syria — including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles — as well as Hezbollah positions, but it rarely confirms such operations.

Iran disputes cap on heavy water under nuclear deal-Tehran argues it should be allowed to hold more than the 130-ton limit as it searches for buyers for the excess material-By Times of Israel staff and AFP March 18, 2017, 8:03 am

Iran has said it may not agree to adhere to limitations on its heavy water stockpile, as stipulated in the nuclear deal reached with world powers in 2015.The accord limits Tehran’s permitted level of heavy water — a modified form of water used in certain types of nuclear reactors — to 130 tons. It says excess heavy water will be exported to international markets.In a new letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran challenged the 130-ton cap, Reuters reported, saying it should be allowed to hold more than the imposed amount as it searches for buyers.In its letter to the IAEA Thursday Tehran insisted that “nothing in the (agreement) requires Iran to ship out the excess heavy water which is made available to the international market but has not yet found an actual buyer to which the heavy water needs to be delivered.”In late February the UN watchdog said Iran was complying with the nuclear deal.The IAEA’s latest report said Iran has not exceeded the permitted level of 130 tons, as it did briefly during previous periods.In November 2016, the atomic watchdog noted that Iran had crept above the 130-ton limit.Tehran shipped out the excess amount and its current stock was just above 124 tons, the latest report said.And Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium — which can be used for peaceful purposes, but when further processed for a nuclear weapon — was 101.7 kilos (225 pounds), well below the agreed level of 300 kilos.Verification has continued as agreed, according to the UN watchdog’s fifth quarterly assessment since the pact was struck.Under the accord, Iran dramatically scaled back nuclear activities to put atomic weapons out of its reach — an aim Tehran always denied having — in exchange for the relief of crippling sanctions.The agreement extends to at least a year the length of time Tehran would need to make one nuclear bomb’s worth of fissile material — up from a few months prior.Steps taken by Iran included slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, cutting its stockpile of uranium and removing the core of the Arak reactor which could have given Iran weapons-grade plutonium.

UN chief's spokesman: He 'cannot accept' officials publishing reports without consultation-Head of UN body resigns as her group’s ‘apartheid Israel’ report is withdrawn-Rima Khalaf quits after Sec.-Gen. rejects document accusing Jewish state of ‘racially dominating’ the Palestinians; Israeli envoy: Her departure was ‘long overdue’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies March 17, 2017, 7:09 pm

The head of a Lebanon-based United Nations agency that promotes development in Arab countries resigned Friday, after the body she led was ordered by the UN secretary-general to remove from its website a controversial report that charged Israel has established an “apartheid regime” guilty of “racial domination” over the Palestinians.Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian who served as executive secretary of the Beirut-based Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), announced her resignation at a hastily arranged press conference in the Lebanese capital.She said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s insistence that the document be removed from the agency’s website led her to quit.“The secretary general asked me yesterday morning to withdraw (the report). I asked him to rethink his decision, he insisted, so I submitted my resignation from the UN,” Khalaf said.“We expected of course that Israel and its allies would put huge pressure on the secretary general of the UN so that he would disavow the report, and that they would ask him to withdraw it,” Khalaf, who had also served as an under-secretary-general to Guterres, added.The report was no longer available on ESCWA’s website as of Friday afternoon.Guterres accepted Khalaf’s resignation. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric explained to media in New York that “The secretary-general cannot accept that an under-secretary-general or any other senior UN official that reports to him would authorize the publication under the UN name, under the UN logo, without consulting the competent departments and even himself,” according to Reuters.The document, published earlier this week by ESCWA, which comprises 18 Arab countries, drew swift and vociferous criticism from US and Israeli officials. “The United States is outraged by the report,” US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a statement. She went on to demand the report be withdrawn.Its authors concluded that “Israel has established an apartheid regime that systematically institutionalizes racial oppression and domination of the Palestinian people as a whole.”Khalaf has long been criticized by Israeli officials for her perceived anti-Israel positions.UN chief Guterres distanced himself from the report on Wednesday, and then requested its removal from ESCWA’s website.Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon welcomed the developments, saying Guterres’s move was “an important step in stopping discrimination against Israel.”In a statement, Danon said “Anti-Israel activists do not belong in the UN. It is time to put an end to practice in which UN officials use their position to advance their anti-Israel agenda.”He added that “Over the years Khalaf has worked to harm Israel and advocate for the BDS movement. Her removal from the UN is long overdue.”US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, who had demanded the report’s withdrawal Wednesday, said in a statement: “When someone issues a false and defamatory report in the name of the US, it is appropriate that the person resign. UN agencies must do a better job of eliminating false and biased work, and I applaud the secretary-general’s decision to distance his good office from it.”Danon said of the report on Wednesday that the “attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”“It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report,” he added in reference to Khalaf. “We call on the Secretary-General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report.”The report, which was published Wednesday, was titled “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” and says that “available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in instruments of international law.”The report further accuses Israel of “practices” that have fragmented Palestinians, arguing that it is the “principal method by which Israel imposes an apartheid regime.”The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor emeritus with a long track record of vehemently anti-Israel rhetoric who previously was the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, and by Virginia Tilley, an American political scientist who authored the book “The One-State Solution” in 2005.Haley described Falk as “a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories.”Eric Cortellessa contributed to this report.

Anatomy of a crisis-Netanyahu throws a wrench into his coalition’s machinery, but is it a masterful move to keep allies in line or the act of a mad king?-By Ilan Ben Zion March 19, 2017, 3:11 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Barely two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was formed, all the papers can talk about on Sunday morning is its apparently imminent demise. A coalition crisis is in full swing, sending Israel’s preeminent pundits scrambling to find people to blame and issues to make the center of the agenda. With all the attention going to the possibility of fresh elections, relatively little attention is given to the Israeli airstrike on Syria early Friday morning and the rocket fire rupturing southern Israel’s weekend calm.To virtually nobody’s surprise, the free daily Israel Hayom is sympathetic to Netanyahu, explaining his position on its front page that the existing public broadcaster would cost less than the proposed new one set to be rolled out. “What do we need it for?” Netanyahu is quoted in the paper’s headline, setting the tone of the rest of the article. It quotes senior Likud official Yariv Levin saying that with 30 seats, the ruling party can stick to its guns despite pressure from its coalition allies.The paper exhibits the most balanced manner of reporting by quoting Likud ministers throughout the first five paragraphs of its main report, only getting around to the Kulanu party’s counterpoint in paragraph six.What others perceive as the premier’s paranoia is what Mati Tuchfeld calls “political sensors on maximum sensitivity,” and when Netanyahu “detects sparks of non-compliance by one of the coalition partners, he projects [the message] that the master of the house is willing to go all-in, come what may.”“It’s not just the broadcaster and it’s not just Kahlon,” he writes, arguing that this whole crisis was a brilliant masterstroke by Netanyahu to keep his coalition partners in line. “It’s also [Jewish Home party leader] Naftali Bennett, who just a couple of days ago said that Netanyahu has neglected religious Zionism. It’s also Liberman, who though he appears Netanyahu’s most trusted partner, nonetheless his comments about closing the yeshiva in [the West Bank settlement of] Eli sent the prime minister down a dead end.”If Israel Hayom takes the defensive stance in Netanyahu’s favor, Yedioth Ahronoth comes out swinging against the prime minister. It dispenses with any semblance of reportage in the opening pages, leading instead with that fearsome duo of twin op-eds by mainstay pundits Nahum Barnea and Sima Kadmon.Like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, Netanyahu has solidified his grip on his party in his fourth term in office but is cursed to “self-destruct,” Barnea expounds. The economy is strong, the country is secure, Likud is joined by right wing parties in ruling the country, and he’s welcomed in Moscow, Beijing and Washington with open arms, Barnea says.“Crises like thse are born on WhatsApp and die on WhatsApp,” he says. “All it needs is intervention by the prime minister.” Netanyahu’s sudden interest in the fates of Israel Broadcasting Authority workers is “the most baseless crisis,” Barnea says.Netanyahu was the one who passed the bill through the Knesset to disband the “corrupt, bloated and unnecessary” IBA that had been under his wing for years. “Kahlon stands against him not because the public broadcaster is dear to his heart or pocket, but because there’s a limit to his willingness to be a mop.”Kadmon likewise calls out Netanyahu for flipflopping on the public broadcasting corporation issue, but says that the broadcaster isn’t the real issue at hand at all. She charges that it’s his wife, Sara Netanyahu, calling the shots because of a personal dislike of certain journalists hired by the new broadcaster. “It’s clear to everyone close to the prime minister that something is going on when Netanyahu is susceptible to the influence of his relatives.”“Ladies and gentlemen, wake up. This is your prime minister. The man making a list of critical decisions, like which response we should take against Gaza, or what to do about Iran’s power in Syria. Is this the man you would let make fateful decisions? Wait, would you buy a car from this man?”Haaretz‘s Chemi Shalev compares Netanyahu to Titus. For destroying Jerusalem? No, because “Netanyahu also has a mosquito buzzing in his head driving him crazy” in the form of the media, he writes. Netanyahu will found and ruin coalitions until he silences the irritating journalists, he charges.“Some analysts connect the flipflop that Netanyahu did over the weekend to his relative’s waverings,” he writes. “Others are certain that it’s an initiative aimed at somehow saving him from an approaching indictment. There are still others who say that Netanyahu is simply puffing out his chest with Moshe Kahlon specifically, and his coalition partners in general, to bring them back into line, with no real intention to go to the polls.”All these things are right, he says, but they miss the point: “Netanyahu’s treatment of the press is irrational and it’s eating him up inside.”

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