ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IN DISTRESS

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather. 3-Israeli premier defies calls to resign. 4-Ancient sect marks Passover sacrifice. 5-Venezuela pulling out of IMF, World Bank. 6-Colombia nets record cocaine seizure. 7-Canada March factory prices jump 1.3 pct. 8-Israel: Obstacle or Key to Jewish Identity? 9-JERUSALEM PRAYER TEAM NEEDS DONATIONS. 10-Olmert Tells Peretz to Expel Migron Within 2 Months. 11-Beleaguered Olmert Seeks Refuge, Plans to Uproot Yesha Outposts. 12-First Post-Winograd Resignation: Minister Eitan Cabel of Labor. 13-Gaydamak Announces Candidacy for Mayor of Jerusalem. 14-Lawmakers Want US to Honor 12-Year-Old Jerusalem Embassy Law.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Tue May 1 1:41 PM EDT

MAY 1,07
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.6 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAP 3.9 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.8 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA

APR 30,07
MAP 5.0 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.0 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.6 BOUVET ISLAND REGION
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 NORTHERN QINGHAI, CHINA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 OFF THE COAST OF HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
MAP 4.5 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 VANUATU

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Tue May 1, 6:14 AM ET

Rain was expected across much of the nation on Tuesday, and forecasters said tornadoes and hail with damaging winds were possible in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic. A low-pressure system in the upper Mississippi Valley was expected to move eastward through the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, southern New England and northern Mid-Atlantic, bringing widespread rain.Scattered showers and thunderstorms were forecast for the Southern Plains and the lower Mississippi Valley, where large hail and tornadoes were possible. Storms were also likely over the Four Corners and the High Plains.

A storm system approaching the West Coast was expected to spread rain across the Pacific Northwest. Snow showers could develop in higher elevations.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Monday ranged from a low of 25 degrees at Embarrass, Minn., to a high of 107 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

WE ALL HAVE TO PRAY FOR OLMERT AND THE ISRAELI LEADERS NOW, THEY ARE GOING THROUGH TRIBULATION. ON TV I HEARD HIS PERCENTAGE IS 0% RIGHT NOW TO BE ELECTED. ALSO PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM AND THAT ALL ISRAELIS COME TO THE TRUTH OF THE TRUE MESSIAH JESUS.

Israeli premier defies calls to resign By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer MAY 1,07

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced an onslaught of calls for his resignation and the first cracks in his coalition Tuesday following a government commission's harsh criticism of his handling of Israel's war last summer in Lebanon. Olmert defiantly declared he would not quit after the panel's report was released Monday, despite the inquiry's conclusion he showed flawed judgment in ordering and directing the attack on Hezbollah guerrillas.

His job appears secure at least for the moment. Despite the public uproar, he remains at the head of a broad coalition government whose members appear reluctant to risk their own jobs by holding new elections.Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said Tuesday that the prime minister was confident he could recover his eroded authority.

He has complete awareness of the lack of public confidence, but he feels that rather than go into a period of turmoil, he must be the one to fix the problems, Eisin said. He thinks that through his actions, (public) support will come.But newspaper editorials and commentators demanded that he step down, saying he had lost the confidence of the Israeli people.

The report contains not even one lenient word to which the prime minister could cling in order to prolong his term, the Haaretz newspaper said in an editorial. On the Way Out, said the lead headline in the Maariv daily.Opinion polls predict the opposition Likud Party led by hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would sweep to victory if a vote were held.Olmert confidants have said only mass protests could force him to quit. He also might face an uprising within his Kadima Party that might force him out of office.Should he resign, he could either dissolve parliament and call early elections, or keep parliament intact and let the country's ceremonial president tap another candidate to put together a new coalition.

Olmert's popular foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, is considered a top possibility.

The only way to get Olmert out of office now is for his Kadima Party to show him the door or for the public to mount such public protests that Kadima will be forced to show him the door, said Reuven Hazan, a political science professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Olmert called an emergency Cabinet meeting for Wednesday to discuss the war probe. The Knesset, or parliament, also scheduled a special session for Thursday.In recent weeks, Olmert has been working hard to shore up support within his government.In a first crack in that backing, Cabinet minister Eitan Cabel of the Labor Party resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday and called on the prime minister to follow suit.He must bear responsibility, Cabel said at a news conference. I can no longer sit in a government led by Ehud Olmert.Later Tuesday, Kadima lawmaker Marina Solodkin also urged Olmert to resign — the first member of his party to publicly do so. Solodkin is not a major force in the party, however, and it was not clear whether others would follow. Kadima and Labor are the coalition's two biggest factions.

Olmert aides said the prime minister stayed up all night reading the results of the investigation. At an official event Tuesday, Olmert looked haggard, appearing to nod off several times while waiting to address the audience. On the dais, he was jocular and composed, but pointedly made no reference to the war probe.Olmert was only months in the job when the war broke out after Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon killed three soldiers and captured two others in a July 12 cross-border raid. Olmert laid out two main objectives: to retrieve the soldiers and crush Hezbollah. Neither goal was reached during 34 days of fighting, and Israel was traumatized by nearly 4,000 rockets that bombarded northern communities. Between 1,035 and 1,191 Lebanese civilians and combatants were killed in the fighting, as were 119 Israeli soldiers and 39 civilians, according to official figures from the two sides.

A U.N.-brokered cease-fire pushed Hezbollah away from Israel's border. But Israeli intelligence officials say the group is rearming with the help of its Iranian and Syrian backers. The inconclusive outcome of the war cracked apart the solid support that Olmert initially enjoyed. The criticism was stoked by reports from returning troops of confused orders, and shortages in food and supplies.

Olmert's opponents have scheduled a mass rally in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Small groups of demonstrators across the country began marches to Tel Aviv on Tuesday ahead of the rally. A poll commissioned by Israel Radio shortly after the war probe was released showed that 69 percent of those questioned thought Olmert should quit. Nearly nine months after the war ended, it's not clear how far the public uproar will go. The report's findings restated widespread criticisms of the wartime
leadership's performance. What was more surprising was the harsh language. The prime minister made up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one, the commission found. All of these add up to a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence.

The inquiry analyzed the first six days of the war, as well as the six years leading up to the fighting, beginning with Israel's 2000 pullout from Lebanon. A full report on the entire war is scheduled for release this summer. The report also criticized Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a former union chief, for his inexperience and said wartime military chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz acted impulsively, misrepresented the army's readiness and suppressed dissenting opinions. Halutz resigned in January, while Peretz is expected to leave office after his party holds primaries on May 28. Polls indicate Peretz will not be re-elected as Labor leader, and he has said if he wins, he will demand a different Cabinet post.

Ancient sect marks Passover sacrifice MAY 1,07

MT. GERIZIM, West Bank - Dressed in white and spattered in blood, members of the tiny Samaritan sect gathered until the early hours of Tuesday for one of the Holy Land's most colorful religious ceremonies — the nighttime Passover sacrifice. The entire Samaritan community, which totals just over 700 people, was present for the sacrifice at the sect's holiest place, the West Bank hilltop of Mt. Gerizim, near the city of Nablus.Like the Jewish holiday of Passover, which was celebrated in early April, the Samaritan holiday marks the Israelite exodus from Egypt as recounted in the Old Testament. The Samaritans practice a religion closely linked to Judaism and venerate a version of the Old Testament, but are not Jews, and have a different religious calendar.The sect's high priest opened the ceremony with a prayer in the Samaritan tongue, a dialect of ancient Hebrew. Then ritual
slaughterers killed sheep, skinned them, and roasted them in large ovens. According to tradition, the meat must be ready in the middle of the night the time that the Angel of Death killed the Egyptian firstborn in the biblical story and the Samaritans eat it in haste along with unleavened bread, emulating the ancient Israelites.

Named for Samaria, a region in the northern West Bank, the Samaritans believe themselves to be the remnants of Israelites exiled from the Holy Land by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. They are probably best known for the parable of the Good Samaritan in the New Testament's Book of Luke.In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Samaritan population is thought to have topped 1.5 million, but religious persecution and economic hardship nearly erased it by the early 20th century. Half live in the West Bank, and the other half live in the Israeli city of Holon, near Tel Aviv.

Venezuela pulling out of IMF, World Bank By JORGE RUEDA, Associated Press Writer MAY 01,07

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez announced Monday he would pull Venezuela out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a largely symbolic move because the nation has already paid off its debts to the lending institutions. We will no longer have to go to Washington nor to the IMF nor to the World Bank, not to anyone, said the leftist leader, who has long railed against the Washington-based lending institutions.

Venezuela, one of the world's top oil exporters, recently repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule, saving $8 million. It paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.Chavez, who says he wants to steer Venezuela toward socialism, made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders that Latin America would be better off without the U.S.-backed World Bank or IMF. He has often blamed their lending policies for perpetuating poverty.

Chavez wants to set up a new lender run by Latin American nations and has pledged to support it with Venezuela's booming oil revenues. The regional lender, which he has called Bank of the South, would dole out financing for state projects across Latin America.Chavez has criticized past Venezuelan governments for signing agreements with the IMF to restructure the economy plans blamed for contributing to racing inflation.Under former President Carlos Andres Perez in 1989, violent protests broke out in Caracas in response to IMF austerity measures that brought a hike in subsidized gasoline prices and public transport fares.

Enraged people took the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people and possibly many more. The riots came to be known as the Caracazo, and Chavez often refers to it as a rebellion against the status quo.During Sunday's talks with leaders from Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, Chavez predicted that sooner or later, those institutions will fall due to their own weight.They will wear away the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and all those institutions, Chavez said.

Bolivian President Evo Morales raised complaints about a World Bank body that mediates disputes between governments and foreign investors. He said governments never seem to win their disputes against transnational companies at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Chavez suggested that Latin countries could instead create their own arbitration body for disputes with big companies.Venezuela is not the only country in the region distancing itself from international lenders.Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Sunday that he hopes to get out of that prison of IMF debt and that we are negotiating with the Fund to leave the Fund.Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, recently asked the World Bank's representative there to leave and said the country paid off its debt to the IMF. Argentina also has paid back billions of dollars to the IMF.

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Colombia nets record cocaine seizure By CARLOS GONZALEZ, Associated Press Writer MAY 01,07

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's navy made the largest drug seizure in the nation's history when it uncovered up to 27 tons of cocaine buried along the Pacific coast, the defense minister said Monday.

The cocaine, with a wholesale value of more than $500 million, was found Sunday buried in 1,000 packages of 55 pounds each near the coastal town of Pizarro, 250 miles west of Bogota, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told a news conference. Later, Navy Adm. Guillermo Barrera told The Associated Press by telephone that 919 packages of cocaine had been found. The different numbers could not be immediately explained. The figures put the cocaine seizure between 24 tons to 27 tons.

Santos said the seizure was the result of eight months of undercover police work and he called it the biggest in the history of Colombia.The cocaine was buried near an estuary accessible only by sea, he said.There were no arrests in the operation, but the drugs were believed to belong to Colombia's biggest drug trafficking organization, the Norte del Valle cartel, which operates near the area.

The seizure came as President Alvaro Uribe travels to Washington on Tuesday to shore up support on Capitol Hill and the White House for the U.S.-backed Plan Colombia, an anti-narcotics and counterinsurgency program that has cost American taxpayers more than $5 billion since 2000.

Colombia is the world's leading cocaine producer, producing annually more than 500 tons of cocaine that represents 90 percent of the drug consumed in the United States.Most of the cocaine leaves the country by sea, on go-fast boats that transport the drugs up along the Central American coast for their eventual smuggling into the United States overland through Mexico.Although drug seizures are an everyday affair, they rarely reach such large numbers. Last October, Colombia's navy made headlines when it found 9.3 tons of cocaine on three go-fast boats near the Pacific coastal port city of Buenaventura its biggest seizure of the year.

Canada March factory prices jump 1.3 pct Tue May 1, 8:40 AM ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Higher prices for petroleum, coal and primary metals boosted Canadian producer prices for the fifth straight month in March, beating forecasts by a wide margin with a 1.3 percent gain from February, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. The jump in prices matched that of December 2006, which was the biggest since May 2004. However, excluding petroleum and coal, the price of goods at the factory gate crept up just 0.4 percent on the month. Raw materials prices increased 1.3 percent, thanks to gains in non-ferrous metals.Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected, on average, a 0.8-percent monthly rise in the producer price index and a 1.2 percent increase in raw materials prices.Compared with a year earlier, producer prices climbed 4.8 percent, the sharpest advance since October 2004, and raw materials prices jumped 9.7 percent.Prices for petroleum and coal rose 8.9 percent in March, the biggest leap in 11 months, while primary metal products increased
3.8 percent, Statscan said.

Israel: Obstacle or Key to Jewish Identity?
by Moshe Feiglin

On the morning of the recent Holocaust Memorial Day, Israel announced that it would allow the transfer of fifty million dollars worth of weapons to the personal security force of PA President Abu Mazen. Does anyone doubt that these weapons will ultimately be used against us? Reality has proven time and again that Jews are murdered as a result of these weapons transfers.

So why do we allow them to continue? How did the Jews of the Holocaust era allow the Germans to do what they did? the brave Israelis arrogantly proclaimed. After all, those Jews knew where they were being led. And what about us? We clearly understand that Jews will be killed with these weapons. What are we doing about it? It seems that as we mark the 59th year of Israel 's independence, the blood of the Jewish People is still cheap. The prevailing thought is that It is only natural that the Arabs of Gaza must be supplied with weapons and that in half a year or so those weapons will kill Jews. Then we will supply them with more weapons to protect us from the weapons that we gave them today, that were supposed to protect us from the weapons that we gave them yesterday. That's just the way it is; we have no control over it. We must come to terms with this Russian roulette and absolve ourselves of any responsibility and hope that we or our loved ones will not pay the price.

Luckily, we can still demonstrate. And there actually were demonstrations just before Holocaust Memorial Day. They were even stormy. However, these demonstrations were only about the rise in university tuition. Were there demonstrations against the weapons being transferred to Gaza ? About the Jews that will die? No. Why demonstrate? It is a fact of life that a certain percentage of Jews will be killed in terrorist attacks.

It is like the sun that rises in the east. Have you ever seen a demonstration against the rising of the sun? After Israel 's news announced the weapons transfer, Holocaust survivor and former Knesset Speaker Dov Shilanski was interviewed. For me, he said, the State of Israel is the guarantee that the Holocaust will never happen again. I deeply respect Dov Shilanski, but I can not understand the basis of his opinion: Israel 's military strength? That has turned out to be disappointing, at the very least. Anyone who can't figure out why should drive over to Sderot and watch the Arab rockets falling like rain every day. And what about the exile mentality that has supposedly ended? It has only gotten worse. We have recently encountered a new Iranian mass-murderer who unabashedly announces his intentions to destroy Israel : Why do the Arabs have to pay the price of your Holocaust? And the brave, new Israelis have no answer. They are helpless.

According to all logic, Shilanski is wrong. The State of Israel that denies its own heritage is leading us toward another Holocaust. If I did not believe in G-d, I would get my family out of Israel post haste. But I believe in the G-d of Israel and His Nation. I believe that G-d's will is that we remain in Israel . I believe in the Torah and in the prophecies that reassure us that the final redemption will be eternal.

The question is not if we will survive, but what will be the price. And that depends on us. When we flee our Jewish identity and destiny, our enemies flourish. I believe that when we connect to our national identity, new, fresh forces of life awaken within our Nation. It is then that we will understand the importance and power of our State. We will understand that although the State of Israel has been used to deny our Jewish destiny, it is actually the tool that will express it. When we connect to our destiny, we will do much more than merely exist or survive. We will thrive. And no one will dare dream of destroying Israel .To learn more about Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) and to read their plan for Israel 's future, visit www.jewishisrael.org . Manhigut Yehudit is the largest faction inside the Likud Party in Israel. It strives to turn Israel from The State of the Jews into The Jewish State.

JERUSALEM PRAYER TEAM NEEDS DONATIONS. MAY 1,07

When I sent the last email asking for 9 more Jerusalem Prayer Team members to give $91 to help the Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center in Holland, I was not going to ask for anything else. However, the burden of this pure work is so heavy on my heart. No one associated with the Center has ever been paid a dime. It is as pure as was Corrie and her family.This is the greatest witness of God’s love to the nation of Israel. If God speaks to your heart, I will buy a full-page ad in the Jerusalem Post to tell the story worldwide and ask Christians to pray. It will cost quite a bit, but what a great witness of Christian giving – their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust and get them to the Bible land.

In 1844, the ten Boom family began a prayer meeting that ended in 1944, when they were arrested and taken to the concentration camps for saving the lives of 800 Jews. With your financial help, I will ask Christians worldwide to join in an Esther Prayer Appeal.I am going to fast and pray for 24 hours and ask God for 300 to give $91 to help us with this open door.

To make your donation to the Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center.
https://www.donation-net.net/donate/gift1.cfm?dn=1032&source=8&id=256310&commid=59632342&CFID=3160688&CFTOKEN=60741998

Millions of praying saints (Daniels and Esthers) can reverse the curse:

If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this? (Esther 4:14) Iran’s leadership is set on obtaining nuclear weapons and advancing its missile technology so that it has the power to destroy Israel and cripple the United States and Europe. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be within one strike of doing what he has claimed for years ought to be done: wiping Israel off the map as the first step toward the world he envisions as ideal—a world without Zionism and America. Most leaders do not believe he could ever really succeed, but they know that a dirty bomb the size of a refrigerator planted in Tel Aviv or New York could kill as many as a million Jews and/or Americans.

Thank you,
Mike Evans The Jerusalem Prayer Team.

Olmert Tells Peretz to Expel Migron Within 2 Months
13 Iyar 5767, May 1, '07

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Defense Minister Amir Peretz to move ahead with his plan to expel residents from the Samaria community of Migron within the next two months. A brief filed by the state prosecutor’s office in the High Court of Justice described the petition by the Prime Minister which includes a request to the Defense Minister to proceed with expulsion of illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria.

Beleaguered Olmert Seeks Refuge, Plans to Uproot Yesha Outposts
by Hillel Fendel 13 Iyar 5767, May 1, '07 (1NN)

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has asked Defense Minister Amir Peretz - both of whom are under heavy pressure to resign - to prepare an organized plan to destroy small Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. News of Olmert's request was included in a State response submitted to the Supreme Court today (Tuesday). The suit in question, submitted last year by Peace Now and a group of Arabs, charges that the community of Migron is illegal and must be destroyed. Olmert has asked that the plan be ready within two months. He has thus apparently changed his policy regarding the destruction of unauthorized outposts. In the past, he has frozen plans to do so, explaining that the timing was not right in light of the diplomatic situation with the Palestinian Authority.

Migron: Strategically Situated

Situated atop a strategic hill, north of Jerusalem, between Beit El, Psagot, and Michmash, Migron is included in Olmert's request for destruction plans. Peace Now, the radical left-wing organization working tirelessly to destroy the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria [Yesha], claims that most of land on which Migron was built belongs to Arabs. Migron residents, however, say Peace Now worked hard to find the Arabs in question and convinced them to file the suit against the Jewish town.

Peace Now and Israel's Enemies

Binyamin Regional Council head Pinchas Wallerstein said that Peace Now worked together with Defense Minister Amir Peretz for their common political goals: The government's position, as explained by Defense Minister Peretz, is that there is no longer any need for time to find a compromise [with the residents]. Peretz apparently feels that the main thing is his bid to win his party's primaries [later this month] - even if it means that several dozen more families will be thrown out of their homes.... He was advised to call off talks with us, because it would not look good for his primaries campaign if he comes to an agreement with us. It's very sad to see a man who puts his own personal interests ahead of those of the nation.Wallerstein explained Migron's critical strategic importance, in that it overlooks the highway leading to many Jewish communities in the Shomron: A few years ago, former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer [of Labor] agreed that this place must remain [settled by Jews]. Very sadly, Peace Now reminds me of other dark times in Jewish history when Jews would join up with their enemies against their own people...

Even ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared that Migron was strategically vital, Wallerstein said: He told us, the members of the Yesha Council, that he had informed the Americans that he insists that this place and three other outposts must remain, despite other previous commitments that might have been.In this spirit, Wallerstein continued, the Defense Minister agreed that Migron would not be removed, and all Central Commanders since then have also demanded that this location remain as is.

Furthermore, many different government offices have helped Migron with infrastructures, and it was even decided in the Defense Ministry to begin with planning the permanent community.Wallerstein said that Peace Now has other court suits coming up against the community of Haresha and against a neighborhood in Eli.

Modern-Day Zionism

One resident of Migron, Aviva W., told Arutz-7, When we arrived here, it was clear that the land had no claimants and no one working on it... We are a continuation of the Zionist enterprise and the Zionist dream - just like all the pioneers who came to the Land of Israel over the centuries, starting with the students of the Gaon of Vilna [early 19th century], and later the First Aliyah [1882-1903], and the Second Aliyah [1904 - 1914], etc. - there is no difference. If anything, we are more in the heart of the Land of Israel than Tel Aviv is.

The only difference is political - an arbitrary difference made based on what is convenient for different politicians at different times - but we are doing the same thing that Land of Israel pioneers have done for generations.Founded in March 2002, Migron (mentioned in Samuel I 14,2 and Isaiah 10, 28) grew quickly, reaching 42 families after only a year and a half - at which point the government abruptly clamped down on further growth. Over 200 people, including well over 100 children, now live there. The synagogue and two homes are in permanent structures, while most of the residents live in caravans (mobile homes without wheels). Six government ministries, the Civil Administration, the Electric Company, Mekorot Water Company and other official bodies have all taken part in establishing infrastructures for the community.

Olmert now proposes a series of criteria to decide which outposts will be destroyed and when. The

criteria include:
* the level of expected resistance to the destruction
* the legal status of the outpost and whether it can be evacuated immediately or not
* the amount of families living in the outpost
* the legal status of the land on which it was built.

Olmert's top aides can be faxed at 02-6546717, 6705475 and 6513955.

First Post-Winograd Resignation: Minister Eitan Cabel of Labor
by Hillel Fendel MAY 1,07

Minister Without Portfolio Eitan Cabel of Labor, who has been saying for weeks that he is considering leaving politics, announced his resignation from the Cabinet this morning (Tuesday). He said that the Winograd Commission had found Ehud Olmert personally responsible for the failures of the Second Lebanon War, and I can no longer sit in a government headed by Ehud Olmert.The Winograd Commission's interim conclusions, released yesterday (Monday), chiefly blamed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and ex-Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.(ret.) Dan Halutz - but also apportioned blame to the entire government. Cabel did not deny that the Winograd Commission apportioned blame to the entire government, including himself - but did not note this as his reason for resigning. He said he hopes his resignation will lead to a chain reaction of resignations by other ministers in the government. This does not appear to be the case, however. Shas head Eli Yishai and Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman met today and agreed that Olmert need not resign at this point. Cabel, the Secretary-General of the Labor Party, has been re-considering his political path over the past weeks and months. He has told press interviewers that he is tired of the fact that everything in politics is personal.

Cabel Against Arutz-7 and Har-Shefi

In the past, Cabel led the campaign against the Knesset's legalization of Arutz-7, and filed a petition in the Supreme Court against President Moshe Katzav's pardon for Margalit Har-Shefi.His resignation from the government does not necessarily mean he will quit the Knesset, however, or his position in the Labor Party. Labor is facing internal primaries for party leader four weeks from now - a campaign that has brought internal rivalries to the fore. Cabel said today he hopes that the new leader - he personally supports Ehud Barak - will remove the party from an Olmert-led coalition.Olmert and Peretz have announced that they do not intend to quit. It would not be right to quit, Olmert said last night, and it is not my intention to do so. He said he would convene a special Cabinet session on Wednesday, at which he will propose a team to decide on the implementation of the Winograd findings and recommendations.

Protests and Demands for Olmert's Resignation

The Security for Sderot Task Force plans to begin a march from Sderot to Tel Aviv, beginning this afternoon (Tuesday). The march is timed to end on Thursday afternoon, just as the large anti-Olmert protest, called by a large group of Lebanon War reservists and others, will be starting at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.We are the proof that Olmert and Peretz have failed and continue to fail every day in the way they deal with the threat from Gaza, says Alon Davidi of Sderot. We wish to add our voices to the demand for their immediate resignations.Reservists organizing the Thursday protest say that the findings released yesterday are merely the tip of the iceberg. Every day that Olmert and Peretz continue in their jobs, they endanger the citizens of Israel.

Supreme Court Petition

The Supreme Court has already received one petition demanding Olmert's resignation. Atty. Yosef Fuchs, of the Land of Israel Legal Forum, filed the suit. Fuchs explained that the Kahn Commission investigating the Sabra and Shatila massacres of 1982 found that one who is found to bear ministerial responsibility for a grave security or political fiasco, must resign or be fired. It will be recalled that then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was found to be responsible for the fact that the defense establishment did not succeed in preventing the Sabra and Shatila massacres, and ended his job on the spot. The Chabad-affiliated Rabbinical Council for the Nation and Land said that the Winograd Commission failed in not noting that Israel's war failure stemmed from the Disengagement from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. The Disengagement brought the army's functioning and readiness to an unprecedented low, the group's statement said. An army that deals with expelling Jews and building a
terror state in Gaza cannot defeat its enemies.

Gaydamak Announces Candidacy for Mayor of Jerusalem
by Hana Levi Julian MAY 1,07 (INN)

Russian Israeli business tycoon Arkadi Gaydamak has announced his candidacy for the mayoralty of Jerusalem in next years elections. Using the platform of the recently-formed Social Justice movement, Gaydamak claimed he would focus his leadership of the capital on strengthening the city not only from the economic point of view, but to also turn it into a symbol of the Jewish spirit.

Sources close to Gaydamak said he made the decision to join the race some ten days ago. The billionaire was reportedly outraged when Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski criticized the annual march of Russian veterans of World War II through the capital. Mayor Lupolianski said the march, which was funded by Gaydamak disturbed city workers. Gaydamak fumed, The Jewish vets, old men in their eighties, who fought the Nazis were denied by Jerusalem City Hall the right to brandish their medals and ribbons once a year on the streets of Jerusalem they defended and saved.. The billionaire, also the owner of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, pointed out that the city had no problem supporting the right of homosexuals to parade through the streets of the capital last year, despite the furor caused by the decision.

Gaydamak and Netanyahu Working on a Winning Combination

Gaydamaks party will also reportedly act as an ally to the well-established Likud party -- and more specifically to its Chairman and Knesset opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Initial media reports repeatedly quoted Gaydamak as claiming that he did not plan to become a candidate himself, but wanted simply to raise the issues of social and economic justice in Israeli society. The partys platform would appear to be a counterpoint to MK Netanyahus financial policies during his term as Finance Minister, thus garnering support that would otherwise be denied to the Likud faction. Gaydamak has been a consistent supporter of the former Prime Ministers bid to regain the top job, appearing together with him for interviews in the Russian-language media. The close association and mutual compliments in public appearances have paid off: polls in February showed that Netanyahus popularity rose by 17% among Russian immigrants after the interviews.

Social Justice or Politics on the Heels of Goodwill Funding?

Gaydamak spent millions of dollars last year on goodwill projects throughout the country that politicians complained were designed more to raise his popularity with the general public than relieve the stress on traumatized Israelis.

The business tycoon has paid for vacations for northern refugees fleeing the Second Lebanon War, a free weekend in Eilat for children traumatized by life in rocket-battered Sderot, and a whopping public party in Tel Aviv this year on Independence Day. These projects did indeed raise his popularity level with a public that has seen one government official after another fall under the shadow of various suspicions of embezzlement, corruption, bribery, fraud, rape, sexual misconduct and breach of trust.

Shadows of Doubt May Darken Political Prospects

Gaydamak is not free of suspicion either. One week after he announced, on February 21, that he was forming his new party, a storm of allegations of money laundering, fraud and bribery began to swirl around him. French courts asked Israel less than a week later to extradite the international business mogul to face charges of tax evasion and involvement in illegal arms deals with the Angolan government.

Israel has refused the request. A week after the extradition request, the Israel Police anti-fraud unit in Bat Yam began questioning Gaydamak in a separate investigation on allegations he falsified documents issued by the Justice Ministry. A spokesman for Gaydamak's office informed Arutz-7 that Gaydamak in fact came on his own volition to the anti-fraud unit in Bat Yam and produced evidence that the documents in question were genuine.He was also questioned on suspicion of having gifted Tax Authority officials with tickets to a soccer game played by his Beitar Jerusalem team. Gaydamak's spokesman told Arutz-7 that police have since closed the case.In March, a Tel Aviv judge ruled that the state could continue its freeze on $4.9 million owned by Gaydamak because there was reason to believe he might be indicted on charges of money laundering. Gaydamak and his growing cadre of supporters have accused the police and other officials of persecuting him in order to sideline his new political party.

Optimistic Despite Obstacles

Asked in February on his way to the anti-fraud unit if he thought the government was afraid of him, Gaydamak said, It is too late. They are afraid of the opinions of the public, but the majority of the public is already with me.At the time, Gaydamak assured reporters that he had no intention of being prime minister or of taking any other [political] position -- a stance he changed two months later. Now he says he expects to ride into the Jerusalem Mayors seat in a landslide victory at the polls a year from now. I have not doubt that the entire city will vote for me, he claimed in his announcement, adding that he wants to turn the city of Jerusalem into a symbol of peace and Judaism.

Lawmakers Want US to Honor 12-Year-Old Jerusalem Embassy Law
Julie Stahl Jerusalem Bureau Chief MAY 1,07

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Two U.S. lawmakers have submitted a resolution in honor of the upcoming 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule, challenging the Bush administration to uphold U.S. law and move the American Embassy to Jerusalem.The resolution introduced by Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) says Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 40 years.Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is understood to be sponsoring a similar resolution in the Senate.

The 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act requires the U.S. to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's disputed capital by 1999, but former President Clinton and President Bush have signed successive six-month security waivers to avoid the controversial move.The new resolution calls on the president and secretary of state to repeatedly affirm publicly, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel.

It also strongly urges President Bush to discontinue the waiver contained in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and begin the process of moving the mission to Jerusalem.Every sovereign country has the right under international law and custom to designate its own capital, the congressmen argue.In 1947, the U.N. approved a partition plan to divide the then-British mandated area into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem to be an international city under U.N. administration.

The Arabs rejected the U.N. plan and attacked the nascent state of Israel in 1948. The war ended with Jerusalem divided between an Israeli-controlled western sector and an eastern sector - including the historic Old City and Temple Mount - under Jordanian control.

The city was divided by barbed wire and concrete walls, and Jordan denied Israelis access to holy sites including the most revered location in Judaism, the Temple Mount.As a result of the 1967 Six-Day war, Jerusalem was reunited under Israeli control. Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, located on the Temple Mount, is the third holiest site in Islam, and the Palestinians want the city for the capital of a future Palestinian state.In 1980, Israel passed a law designating Jerusalem its united, eternal capital. In response most countries, including the U.S., withdrew their embassies from the city in protest.The Bush administration is backing the
creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Embassy move

Near the end of Clinton's term in office, amid speculation that the embassy move might happen, Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah threatened to turn the embassy into rubble and return your diplomats in coffins.A Palestinian Islamic cleric made similar threats two years ago.

But Yoram Ettinger, a former Israeli diplomatic liaison to Congress at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said the assumption that relocating the U.S. Embassy to West Jerusalem would agitate the Middle East and prompt anti-American terrorism is incorrect.Not moving the embassy sends the message that pressure and threats from radicals in the Arab world pay off, he argued.Ettinger told Cybercast News Service that relocating the embassy, on the other hand, would send the message that pressure will not prevent the U.S. from complying with American law and American values.It would relay the message that Americans do not see Jerusalem as part of the bargaining process and that the Arab world should focus on obtaining what is attainable, he added.

Freedom of access

Wilson and Pence in their resolution observe that Jerusalem has been the focus of Jewish religious devotion for 3,000 years (since the Biblical King David declared the city his capital) and that there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the city since then.Since 1967, Israel has guaranteed freedom of access to adherents of all religions to their holy places, they said. Israel turned over day-to-day
administration of the Temple Mount to the Palestinian Authority 12 years ago, and Jews are generally not permitted to visit the area.The congressmen also note that the 2003 Foreign Relations Authorization Act directs the secretary of state that the birth of any U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem should be recorded as Jerusalem, Israel upon the request of the citizen or his or her guardian.That requirement has never been implemented. Birth records for U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem record the city only, without a country designation.