Tuesday, August 13, 2013

TODAYS SET FREE MURDERERS 26 DAY IN ISRAEL

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

 ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

The Last Minute: Terror Victims Look to Supreme Court

Terror victims’ group holds on to hope, ‘Supreme Court may prevent terrorists’ release.’
By Maayana Miskin-First Publish: 8/13/2013, 11:10 Aisraelnationalnews

Protester holds picture of the Weiss family
Protester holds picture of the Weiss family-Israel news photo: Flash 90
The Supreme Court may yet intervene to prevent the release of 26 terrorists, which the Israeli goverment has described as a “gesture” to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Attorney Naftali Wertzberger of the Almagor group for victims of terrorism believes.
The court has not yet issued a verdict in Almagor’s appeal against the release, which is unusual, he told IDF Radio (Galei Tzahal). “The very fact that the court has not yet issued a decision leaves room for hope,” he explained.He noted that on Monday it was revealed that the list of terrorists to be freed includes six who were jailed for crimes committed after the Oslo Accords were signed, despite government statements saying only pre-Oslo killers would be freed.“If the court prevents the release of only those six – it will be small comfort,” he said. The release is scheduled to take place Tuesday.Almagor’s problem with the planned terrorist release lies elsewhere. “The problem as we see it is moral. There’s a precedent for releasing members of terrorist groups, but not murderers,” Wertzberger explained.“All these years they’ve said they won’t free people with ‘blood on their hands,’ and now we see them freeing terrorists who murdered people with an axe, who did terrible things, horrific things,” he added.“The question is a moral one and the explanations calling this a diplomatic matter aren’t relevant here. No country on earth would release people like this, under circumstances like this,” he argued.He linked the plan to free terrorists to the death Monday of 98-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect Laszlo Csatary. “The Nazi criminal who died did similar things to those who will be freed. There’s a dissonance between chasing down everyone who murdered people and prisoner release,” he said.Wertzberger’s argument echoed a reaction from Rabbi Eliezer Weiss, whose wife and three young sons were burnt to death in a terrorist attack 22 years ago. The Weiss family’s murderers are expected to go free as part of the prisoner release deal.

High Court Rejects Motion to Block Terror Release

Terror victims’ group held on to hope until the last minute, but High Court said it would not prevent terrorists’ release.-By Maayana Miskin and Gil Ronen-First Publish: 8/13/2013, 11:10 AM-INN

Protester holds picture of the Weiss family
Protester holds picture of the Weiss family-Israel news photo: Flash 90
The High Court rejected a motion by the Almagor group for victims of terrorism, to block the release of Arab terrorists from prison that is scheduled to take place Tuesday night.
"Our hearts are with the family members, whose pain is great," wrote the judges, headed by Supreme Court President Asher Grunis. "We are certain that the authorized elements made their decision with a heavy heart and took into account the families' pain and their opinion."Before the decision, Attorney Naftali Wertzberger, who represents Almagor, said that he believes the release of the 26 terrorists, which the Israeli goverment has described as a “gesture” to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, could still be prevented.The court has not yet issued a verdict in Almagor’s appeal against the release, which is unusual, he told IDF Radio (Galei Tzahal). “The very fact that the court has not yet issued a decision leaves room for hope,” he explained.
He noted that on Monday it was revealed that the list of terrorists to be freed includes six who were jailed for crimes committed after the Oslo Accords were signed, despite government statements saying only pre-Oslo killers would be freed.“If the court prevents the release of only those six – it will be small comfort,” he said. The release is scheduled to take place Tuesday.Almagor’s problem with the planned terrorist release lies elsewhere. “The problem as we see it is moral. There’s a precedent for releasing members of terrorist groups, but not murderers,” Wertzberger explained.“All these years they’ve said they won’t free people with ‘blood on their hands,’ and now we see them freeing terrorists who murdered people with an axe, who did terrible things, horrific things,” he added.“The question is a moral one and the explanations calling this a diplomatic matter aren’t relevant here. No country on earth would release people like this, under circumstances like this,” he argued.He linked the plan to free terrorists to the death Monday of 98-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect Laszlo Csatary. “The Nazi criminal who died did similar things to those who will be freed. There’s a dissonance between chasing down everyone who murdered people and prisoner release,” he said.Wertzberger’s argument echoed a reaction from Rabbi Eliezer Weiss, whose wife and three young sons were burnt to death in a terrorist attack 22 years ago. The Weiss family’s murderers are expected to go free as part of the prisoner release deal.

Ministers Ignored Shin Bet, Added Terrorists to List

Ministers ignored recommendations from Israeli intelligence agents in order to ‘strengthen Abu Mazen.’
By Maayana Miskin-First Publish: 8/13/2013, 9:23 AM-israelnationalnews

Terrorists are released (archive)
Terrorists are released (archive)-Flash 90
Ministers on the committee that voted to release 26 Arab terrorists, who will be freed Tuesday, ignored recommendations from the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, Maariv reports.
The Shin Bet had provided a list of 40 terrorists from which the ministers were to choose the terrorists they wished to release. The list was compiled with the goal of avoiding freeing terrorists who would pose a particularly high threat to Israelis.However, the committee led by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon reportedly decided to replace some names on the list it was given by the Shin Bet with other terrorists’ names, due to “Israel’s wish to strengthen the status of Abu Mazen.”The committee’s new names reflected prisoners’ popularity with the “Arab street,” whose release may improve popular opinion of the Palestinian Authority leadership.Abu Mazen is the kunya (an Arabic honorific form) of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has faced challenges to his legitimacy from within the PA Arab community, primarily due to Hamas’ victory in the last parliamentary elections, the Hamas takeover of Gaza that effectively put over 40 percent of PA Arabs under new leadership, and his own refusal to hold new elections despite his term in office having expired several years ago.Israel is now holding renewed talks with Abbas toward the goal of the creation of a PA Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Hamas has rejected the talks as illegitimate.
The impending terrorist release has been explained as a “good-will gesture” to Abbas in advance of talks. Abbas has vowed to free all Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons.The prisoner release "gesture" has caused significant distress to families of those the terrorists murdered.


And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.

Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Jerusalem Approves 942 New Jewish Homes?

Meretz councilor says new homes have been approved in Gilo, which some leftists see as a “settlement.”
By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 8/13/2013, 10:13 AM-israelnationalnews

Gilo construction (file)
Gilo construction (file)-Israel news photo: Flash 90
Jerusalem's municipality has approved 942 new units in southern Jerusalem, a local official said Tuesday, on the eve of the scheduled resumption of "peace talks" with the Palestinian Authority.
"The Jerusalem municipality has approved a construction plan for 942 homes in Gilo," municipal councillor Yosef Pepe Alalu (Meretz) told AFP. Extreme leftists see the neighborhood as an “illegal settlement” because it was built on land liberated from Jordanian occupation in 1967.The units are in addition to the near 1,200 homes approved by Israel on Sunday, in a move that has angered the PA and drawn fire from the international community.If the report is accurate, the approval Alalu is talking about is probably another phase in the lengthy bureaucratic process that accompanies the construction of homes in Israel.The approval of the same 942 homes in Gilo was already announced over two years ago, when it was reported that Gilo “will expand to the east and south, gaining 942 new housing units, thanks to a committee decision Monday in Jerusalem.”“A zoning decision by the city's Building and Planning Committee may allow an additional 300 housing units in the future as well,” Arutz Sheva reported in April of 2011. “The land where the units are to be built is owned by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and private individuals, according to media reports.”

ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(PLANES) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)

Iron Dome Intercepts Rocket Fired Towards Eilat

At least one rocket was fired towards the Israeli resort city of Eilat and was intercepted by Iron Dome.
By Elad Benari-First Publish: 8/13/2013, 1:33 AM-israelnationalnews

Eilat
Eilat-Flash 90
At least one rocket was fired towards the Israeli resort city of Eilat on Monday night.
Sirens were heard throughout the city shortly before 1:00 a.m. Local residents reported hearing explosions following the sirens.
The Iron Dome anti-missile system, which was just recently deployed near Eilat, reportedly intercepted the rocket before it could explode in a populated area.There were no reports of damages, but three people suffered shock. Two of them were treated by paramedics and the third was taken to the Yoseftal Hospital in the city.The IDF and the police are searching the area to determine whether any rockets exploded inside the city, but so far have not located any remains of rockets.Last week, Israeli authorities shut down Eilat's airport for several hours over unspecified security concerns. An Egyptian source later said that the airport has been shut because Egypt sent a warning about an attack originating in the Sinai.The Iron Dome battery was placed near Eilat in July, after several rockets had been fired at Israel's southernmost city from the restive Sinai.
A few weeks earlier, Israeli security forces located the remains of a Grad missile that was fired towards Eilat.
A Sinai-based jihadist group had “taken credit” for that attack, claiming it fired two Grad missiles towards the city and claimed that the missiles had "frightened Allah's Jewish enemies" and made them run for shelter.

Future soldiers and families join summer of ‘record’ immigration

Over 300 immigrants land in Israel Tuesday, including 125 new IDF recruits, as organization celebrates 50th charter flight from North America

August 13, 2013, 10:24 am 1-The Times of Israel
Members of the Garin Tzabar program saluting before their flight on Monday. (photo credit: Shahar Azran/Nefesh B'nefesh)
Members of the Garin Tzabar program saluting before their flight on Monday. (photo credit: Shahar Azran/Nefesh B'nefesh)
The Israel Defense Forces gained 125 new recruits Tuesday as over 300 immigrants from North America landed in Israel, part of a charter flight organized by the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization.The 125 soldiers-to-be, ranging in ages from 18 to 22, were among 331 new immigrants aboard the flight, the 50th charter journey for Nefesh B’Nefesh since the group was founded 11 years ago.“If I could I would hug and kiss each and every one of you,” said Yehuda Sharf, the Jewish Agency’s director of Aliyah, or Jewish immigration, speaking to the future soldiers in Hebrew before the flight from New York City.The 125 future soldiers fell just shy of the 127 new recruits who came aboard one flight exactly one year ago.Nefesh B’nefesh touted this year’s crop of future soldiers as part of a ”record” number of recruits moving to Israel from North American this summer. The group considers anyone who arrives with the intention of joining the army as a recruit, according to a Nefesh B’Nefesh official.
New immigrants hugging upon arrival to Israel. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich/TimesofIsrael)
New immigrants hugging upon arrival to Israel. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich/Times of Israel)
(Full disclosure: This reporter, along with other members of the press, was flown to New York and back to Israel by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a major Times of Israel advertiser. In 2007, he received a grant of several thousand dollars and other help from the group upon immigrating to Israel. Nefesh B’Nefesh made no requests from the Times of Israel regarding coverage of the flight.)
The International Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport on Monday was a testament to the fact that American Jews, most of them young, are still leaving the US for the Jewish State, with hordes of families surrounding olive-green-T-shirt-clad teens readying to make the journey.“It was a no-brainer,” said Stephanie Nelson, 19, standing with her mother, father, brother and boyfriend at a ceremony. “I felt this was an obligation for me.”Nelson, who lived in Closter, New Jersey, before making the trip, said she had been planning to immigrate to Israel since a trip there in the eighth grade, a fact that helped inure her family to the idea in the intervening years.
From left, mother Amy Nelson, immigrant Stephanie Closter, boyfriend David Strinkofsky, brother Matthew Nelson and father David Nelson before the flight. (photo credit:Joshua Davidovich)
From left, mother Amy Nelson, immigrant Stephanie Nelson, boyfriend David Strinkofsky, brother Matthew Nelson and father David Nelson before the flight. (photo credit:Joshua Davidovich)
“We’re very proud of her,” said her mother, Amy Nelson, though she admitted to some trepidation at her daughter leaving the coop to fight abroad. “I’ll miss her. It feels like yesterday she wasn’t allowed to cross the street.”Nelson, along with most of the other future soldiers, immigrated as part of the Garin Tzabar program, which brings and inducts young immigrants into Israel’s armed forces. The program, an offshoot of the Israeli Scouts youth group, houses participants in groups on kibbutzim before they join the army, giving them specialized Hebrew instruction, pre-army training and additional support.Many participants in the Garin Tzabar program began meeting with cohorts from their region several months before the flight, part of a series of preparatory group-building seminars to ready the new recruits for military life in their new homes.
While other immigrants were spending the last moments with their stateside families, Noam Harari, 18, and Tevel Aroussi, 18, sat together on the terminal floor. The two, both from Southern California, met at one of the pre-immigration seminars and are now both hoping to get into a combat unit.
Noam Harari and Tevel Aroussi before the flight. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich)
Noam Harari and Tevel Aroussi before the flight. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich)
“I have no clue what it’s going to be like, but all I’ve heard is that it’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Harari, whose father and uncles served in the IDF before him.
The head of the Israeli Scouts, Eli Ben Yosef, said in a statement that 70 percent of graduates of the Garin Tzabar program stay in Israel when their service is done, but an informal survey of the new immigrants found many unsure if they would stay after ending their service.“I would rather raise my kids here,” Harari said, referring to the US.A ceremony upon landing at Ben-Gurion airport was attended by over 1,000 well-wishers, singing and dancing as they escorted the new arrivals into the old Terminal 1. Among dignitaries at the event were Absorption Minister Sofa Landver and Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar.“Today you took the biggest and most important decision you could ever take, to immigrate to Israel and build your home in the home of Jewish people,” Sa’ar said, calling the immigrants the “core of Zionism.”“You are making the Jewish nation and the State of Israel stronger. You are making the IDF stronger,” he said.Future soldiers got the bulk of the attention, but the lion’s share of the flight was made up of families and others moving to Israel, including Todd Nye, 51, who along with his wife Sandra, donned a shirt sporting pictures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Theodor Herzl, and the name of the city they will now be calling home, Modiin.
Todd and Sandra Nye with special made T-shirts. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich/Times of Israel)
Todd and Sandra Nye with specially made T-shirts. (photo credit: Joshua Davidovich/Times of Israel)
While the couple’s two teenage sons gave off an air of cool unaffectedness, the Nyes, originally from Bartlett, Illinois, had a hard time concealing their joy at moving to Israel after years of planning, even though they were fully aware of the country’s economic, social and other woes.“Hashem has been preparing us for this for years. We’ve always worked hard in our jobs and we are willing to adjust,” Todd Nye said, using a Jewish name for God. “We’re proud to be going to be with our people. We’re proud to be in our land.”

 LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Poll shows Palestinians evenly split on support for talks

Youth survey reveals backing slightly higher in Gaza than in West Bank; one in three think armed conflict best means to ‘end occupation’

August 13, 2013, 8:44 am 0-The Times of Israel
The poll found that support for a return to negotiations was slightly higher among Gaza youth compared to those who live in the West Bank (48% and 45% respectively.)More than half of those asked (52%) said they oppose a two-state solution that includes East Jerusalem, with 45% saying they are in favor of such a deal.
When asked what approach they preferred to bring about the “end of the occupation,” 62% of respondents chose peaceful methods and 31 chose armed conflict. A further breakdown of the numbers revealed that of those who supported a peaceful end to the conflict, 25% chose direct negotiations, 20% chose a nonviolent popular uprising and 17% chose an international conference imposing a solution on both parties.In the internal Palestinian competition between Fatah and Hamas, Fatah’s approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was more popular among youth (31%) than the Hamas approach of armed resistance (20%). However, most respondents (44%) said neither of the two was preferred. When asked who they would vote for if elections were held now, 45% selected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and 23% selected Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to ease tensions following Israeli announcements of new construction works approved for the West Bank and East Jerusalem on Monday.Kerry said at a news conference Monday in Bogota that he has talked about the announcements with the top Israeli negotiator.Kerry said the US government views the settlements as illegitimate. He added that criticism on the Palestinian side shows the need to get negotiations going quickly.
“I think that what this underscores, actually, is the importance of getting to the table and getting to the table quickly and resolving the questions with respect to settlements, which are best resolved by solving the problems of security and borders,” Kerry said. “Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements.”Kerry urged both parties not to react adversely or to provoke the other side, but to move forward quietly, carefully and deliberately to negotiate the major issues.“With the negotiation of major issues, these kind of hotpoint issues … are eliminated as the kind of flashpoints that they may be viewed today,” he said.Israel on Monday began processing the 26 Palestinian prisoners set to be released in the first phase of a confidence-building measure meant to help restart peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.The prisoners, convicted terrorists, have been transferred to Ayalon Prison in Ramle and have begun a process of identification, medical exams, exit interviews with prison staff and discussions with the Red Cross.Yoel Goldman and AP contributed to this report.

Kerry still hopeful on Mideast peace talks

Top US diplomat say settlements are illegitimate, but newly announced plans to build won’t derail negotiations

August 13, 2013, 2:14 am 0-The times of Israel
Kerry said at a news conference Monday in Bogota that he has talked about the announcements with the top Israeli negotiator. He is also trying to reach Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is recovering from hernia surgery.A State Department spokeswoman in Washington, Marie Harf, said that the US had expressed its “serious concerns” about the announcement Sunday that Israel had approved building nearly 1,200 more settlement homes Sunday — the third in a week. It fueled Palestinian fears of a new Israeli construction spurt under the cover of US-sponsored negotiations.Top US negotiator Martin Indyk has arrived in the region for talks that begin on Wednesday. Palestinian officials already have complained about the settlement announcement, even as Israel released more than 100 Palestinian convicts as part of the deal to resume peace talks.Kerry said the US government views the settlements as illegitimate. He added that criticism on the Palestinian side shows the need to get negotiations going quickly.“I think that what this underscores, actually, is the importance of getting to the table and getting to the table quickly and resolving the questions with respect to settlements, which are best resolved by solving the problems of security and borders,” Kerry said. “Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements.”Kerry urged both parties not to react adversely or to provoke either side, but to move forward quietly, carefully and deliberately to negotiate the major issues.“With the negotiation of major issues, these kind of hotpoint issues … are eliminated as the kind of flashpoints that they may be viewed today,” he said.
Kerry, on his first trip to Colombia as secretary of state, met Monday with Colombian officials negotiating with the nation’s largest guerrilla army to find peace in the South American country for the first time since 1964.Kerry is visiting Colombia and Brazil this week in an attempt to build warmer relations with two US allies in Latin America. But the visits may be hindered by resentment after reports about an American spy program that widely targeted data in emails and telephone calls across the region.Disclosures by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden could chill talks on several fronts. Those include trade, energy, counternarcotics, and discussions about the Oct. 23 state dinner that President Barack Obama is hosting for Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff.Kerry on Monday defended the NSA surveillance program targeting Latin America and downplayed its impact on efforts to deepen relations with the region. Brazil and Colombia, two of the United States’ closest allies in the region, have been rankled by reports of the spying program.Kerry sought to play down the rift during a news conference in Bogota, the Colombian capital, saying the US and Colombia work cooperatively on a huge number of issues and that the NSA surveillance figured only briefly in his talks with Colombian officials.Kerry arrived late Sunday in Bogota at a time when the country is holding peace talks to end a half century-old conflict with the Western Hemisphere’s most potent rebel army, a rebel force diminished in strength thanks in considerable measure to US military and intelligence support.
Kerry met Monday with Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos.Santos said last week that he wanted clarification from Washington on whether US intelligence-gathering in Colombia had overstepped the countries’ joint operations against drug traffickers and illegal armed groups. The United States has supplied Colombia with eavesdropping equipment, technicians and aerial surveillance.Santos said in an interview with The Associated Press that Vice President Joe Biden called him about the issue following revelations by Snowden that US digital snooping has targeted allies as well as foes. Santos said Biden offered a series of technical explanations. Asked if he was satisfied with them, Santos replied, “We are in that process.”
Biden also called Rousseff to express what Brazil’s communications minister, Helena Chagas, said was “his regret over the negative repercussions caused by the disclosures.” Biden invited Brazilian officials to Washington to get details about the spy program.Rousseff told Biden that the privacy of Brazilian citizens and the country’s sovereignty cannot be infringed upon in the name of security, and that Brazil wanted the United States to change its security policies and practices.Brazil’s O Globo newspaper reported last month that citizens of Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and other countries were among the targets of a massive NSA operation to secretly gather information about phone calls and Internet communications worldwide. The reports were based on information provided by Snowden.Last week, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota was at the United Nations with counterparts from other South American nations to express their indignation about the spy program to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.The Obama administration has worked to forge stronger ties with Latin America. In May, Obama took a three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica. Biden has visited Colombia and Brazil, where he said stronger trade ties and closer cooperation in education, science and other fields should usher in a new era of US-Brazil relations this year.Brazil has received much attention in recent months because of Pope Francis’ visit and preparations for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

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