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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)
THE 12TH IMAM MAHDI DEATH WORLD CULT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCPd9uoqChA
OTHER ISRAEL-NETANYAHU STORIES ABOUT TRIP TO AMERICA
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-biggest-threat-now-is-apocalyptic.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahus-speeches-at.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/i-wish-our-canadian-prime-minister.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/02/benjamin-netanyahu-canada-is-with-you.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahu-arrives-in.html
Netanyahu tells Senate leadership he is ‘moved’ by support-After speech to Congress, PM meets with legislators, emphasizing than any nuclear agreement must include more restrictions-By Lazar Berman March 4, 2015, 1:14 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
After his speech to the joint houses of Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with the bipartisan leadership of the US Senate, saying he was “moved” by the response from both parties.Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had invited Netanyahu to the meeting.“I do want to thank the leadership of the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, both sides of the aisle, for inviting me here, giving me an opportunity to state Israel’s concern about an issue that could be the most important issue of our times,” Netanyahu told the senators.“I was very moved by the attention and the responses to the speech from both sides of the aisle, and it’s very clear to me and it was clear in that hall to anyone who was there that the support for Israel is strongly bipartisan, that there is a very broad support of the American people and its representative for the Jewish state and I’m very, very grateful for that,” he added.Netanyahu said that an agreement with Iran must not automatically expire, but should lift restrictions only after Tehran stops supporting terrorism, halts aggression against neighboring countries, and ceases its promises to annihilate Israel. He also called for greater restrictions on Iran under the agreement. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), John McCain (R-Arizona), Al Franken (D-Minnesota), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Charles Schumer (D-New York), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) and Bob Corker (D-Tennessee) were also in attendance.Earlier in the day, Netanyahu warned in his landmark address that the nuclear deal taking shape between Iran and Western powers “paves the path for Iran” to a nuclear arsenal, rather than blocking it, and urged American leaders to walk away from what he called “a very bad deal.”The emerging agreement, he told the assembled congressmen and senators, would leave Tehran with “a vast nuclear infrastructure” that placed it dangerously close to the ability to break out to a nuclear bomb. It “will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It will all but guarantee that Iran will get nuclear weapons and a lot of them.”“Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,” no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. “This is a bad deal, it’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”
In blistering speech, PM warns ‘bad’ deal ‘paves path’ to Iranian nukes-Netanyahu evokes upcoming holiday of Purim in accusing Tehran of seeking to annihilate the Jewish people; Congress responds with enthusiastic applause-By Itamar Sharon and Marissa Newman March 3, 2015, 6:48 pm Updated: March 3, 2015, 8:02 pm 52-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday in a landmark address to the joint houses of Congress that a nuclear deal taking shape between Iran and Western powers “paves the path for Iran” to a nuclear arsenal, rather than blocking it, and urged American leaders to walk away from what he called “a very bad deal.”The emerging agreement, he told the assembled congresspeople and senators, would leave Tehran with “a vast nuclear infrastructure” that placed it dangerously close to the ability to break out to a nuclear bomb. It “will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It will all but guarantee that Iran will get nuclear weapons and a lot of them.”“Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,” no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. “This is a bad deal, it’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”Netanyahu spoke shortly after Secretary of US State John Kerry met for more than two hours in Switzerland with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the hopes of completing an international framework agreement later this month to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.But Netanyahu said that while the emerging agreement did place certain limitations on Iran’s nuclear program, they would not be enough to prevent a nuclear breakout within “about a year by US assessment, a bit shorter by Israel’s.”He further criticized the reported clause that would see many of the limitations placed on Iran lifted after a period of 10 years. A decade, he said, was “a blink of an eye” for a nation.Netanyahu also dismissed the effectiveness of United Nations inspections on Iran’s nuclear sites, saying, “Inspectors document violations, they don’t stop them. Inspectors knew when North Korea broke out to the bomb but that didn’t stop (the North Koreans).”“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” he said. He predicted that the agreement, as it stands, would change the region for the worse, create a nuclear arms race and turn the Middle East into a “nuclear tinderbox.”In the two years since the P5+1 nations began their negotiations with Tehran, Netanyahu claimed, Tehran had not moderated but had in fact been emboldened and radicalized.While negotiating, Iran was backing terrorism against Israel as well as threatening American interests throughout the Middle East.He said that with the concessions the United States was prepared to make, Iran would not only gain nuclear weapons, but also eventually become free of international economic sanctions. As a result, he said, it would be emboldened to finance even more terrorism around the Middle East and the world.The result for Iran, he said, would be “aggression abroad and prosperity at home.”The world should insist “Iran change its behavior,” Netanyahu pleaded. “If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country.”The US, the prime minister insisted, must keep up pressure “on a very vulnerable regime,” particularly given dropping oil prices. If Iranians walk away from the negotiations, he said, they’ll come back, “because they need the deal a lot more than you do.”“History has placed us at a fateful crossroads,” Netanyahu said. The world, he asserted, must choose between a path that will lead to “a nuclear-armed Iran whose unbridled aggression will inevitably lead to war” and a more difficult path that will, in the long run, prevent Tehran from becoming a regional aggressor.He stressed that the alternative to a bad deal was not war: “It’s a much better deal.”Instead, he called for a deal that would keep restrictions in place “until Iran’s aggression ends,” that wouldn’t “give Iran an easy path to the bomb.” He called for a deal that Israel may not love, “but with which we can live — literally.”Before lifting sanctions, he said, the world should demand Iran cease its attacks against other countries in the region, stop supporting terrorism around the world, and “stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state.”Evoking the holiday of Purim, which commemorates the Jewish people’s survival of a Persian plot to destroy them, the prime minister said: “Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy it. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with new technology. He tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed.”Netanyahu likened the Iranian threat to that posed by Islamic State and warned that Iran’s actions against IS (also known as ISIS) did not make it an ally of the US. “Don’t be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn’t turn Iran into a friend of America,” he said. Both, he maintained, were competing to be the flag-bearers of radical Islam.“The difference is that ISIS is armed with butcher knives, captured weapons and YouTube while Iran may soon be armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads,” he declared. “When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.”The Israeli leader’s appeal to Congress at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner — but without coordination with the administration — triggered a political furor in the United States. It put Israel on a collision course with the Obama administration as it negotiates with Iran over its nuclear program. Additionally, with only two weeks to go before Netanyahu faces general elections in Israel, the speech has also sparked accusations at home that he was insisting on the speech and defying the White House chiefly in order to boost his appeal with right-wing voters.The White House expressed its displeasure with the appearance by word and deed, dispatching Vice President Joe Biden on an overseas trip that meant he did not fill his customary seat behind the House rostrum during the speech. Nor did Obama meet at the White House with Netanyahu on his trip to the United States.More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event, a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the two allies — but one that many complained Netanyahu had forced upon them by making them choose between Israel’s leader and their president.During his speech, the prime minister said he was keenly aware of the controversy created by his address and said it was not at all his intention.Netanyahu took great pains to express his gratitude to Obama for his continued support to Israel. He said he was “deeply humbled” by the opportunity to speak for a third time to “the most important legislative body in the world,” and thanked it for its support of Israel “year after year, decade after decade.”“I know that no matter on which side of the aisle you sit, you stand with Israel,” he said. The “remarkable alliance” between the US and Israel “has always been above politics, and it must always remain above politics.”“It was never [his] intention” that his address to Congress would be conceived as political, Netanyahu said. But he believed he had “a profound obligation” to come, because he felt the Iranian nuclear program could threaten the Jewish state.Netanyahu received a decidedly warm reception from the assembled members of Congress. The prime minister was greeted with a roaring welcome as he walked down the same center aisle of the House chamber that presidents tread before their annual State of the Union speeches. Republicans applauded Netanyahu’s remarks frequently, rising to their feet. Democratic lawmakers were far more restrained, although they cheered the Israeli leader’s praise for Obama. In all, he received 25 standing ovations.Despite Democratic stayaways, the chamber and galleries were filled to capacity. Netanyahu singled out Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel, a world-renowned author, academic and activist.“I wish I could promise you, Elie, that the lessons of history have been learned,” he said, to cheers.A few moments later, he added, the applause swelling, “The days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies are over.”“Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand,” he vowed, although he quickly added: “I know that Israel does not stand alone. I know that America stands with Israel. I know that you stand with Israel.”– AP and Times of Israel staff contributed
Netanyahu bashes Iran deal, but no longer demands zero enrichment-PM failed to offer concrete proposals how to curb nuclear threat, but hinted he would back agreement Israel ‘may not like, but could live with’By Raphael Ahren March 4, 2015, 1:59 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The speech had everything you’d expect: A solid case against letting Israel’s “genocidal enemies” anywhere near nuclear weapons, a cut and dried rejection of Western rapprochement with Iran, tributes to the unbreakable bond between Israel and the United States, Purim references, Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust, and even Moses. But major surprises there were few.In his controversial address to a joint meeting of Congress Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not reveal any hitherto unknown details from the nuclear negotiations with Iran, as some had feared. He also did not present the world with a concrete and pragmatic policy proposal outlining how the Islamic Republic’s march toward nuclearization could be stopped, as some had hoped.US President Barack Obama said “there was nothing new” in the speech. True, that Netanyahu would vehemently oppose the currently discussed deal was as clear as his Iran-North Korea comparison. It is noteworthy, nevertheless, that Netanyahu did not repeat his much-stated position that Iran may not retain any uranium enrichment, a maximalist demand US National Security Advisor Susan Rice Monday called “neither realistic nor achievable.”Rather, Netanyahu seemed somewhat pragmatic when he hinted that Israel was willing to consider even an imperfect deal, as long as it’s not as imperfect as the one currently on the table.Netanyahu’s speech was masterly, less because of the abundant rhetorical shtick (such as the awkward line saying the Iran deal would be “a farewell to arms control”) but because he delivered a concise point-by-point argumentation of why the prospective agreement is so bad for Israel and world peace.Despite the friendly and ostensibly moderate face that the Iranian government puts on for the world, Netanyahu said, at its core, it is still the same murderous, freedom-hating regime that wants to wipe Israel and American off the map.“Last year, [Iranian Foreign Minister Javad] Zarif who charms Western diplomats laid a wreath at the grave of [slain Hezbollah commander] Imad Mughniyeh,” Netanyahu said, in a thinly veiled attack against US Secretary of State John Kerry, who at the time of speech was meeting with said Zarif trying to finalize the deal. “Imad Mughniyeh is the terrorist mastermind who spilled more American blood than any other terrorist besides Osama bin Laden. I’d like to see someone ask him a question about that.”The first major concession of the prospective deal is that it leaves Iran with thousands of centrifuges, Netanyahu lamented. That would allow the regime to attempt a breakout toward the bomb in a very short time, and even the toughest inspection regime would be powerless to do anything about it, he argued.“True, certain restrictions would be imposed on Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s adherence to those restrictions would be supervised by international inspectors. But here’s the problem. You see, inspectors document violations; they don’t stop them.” Iran, he added, not only defies inspectors, “it also plays a pretty good game of hide-and-cheat with them.”Citing leaked details about the deal, Netanyahu then railed against the so-called sunset clause of the developing agreement, which stipulates that after a decade the deal expires, “Iran would then be free to build a huge nuclear capacity that could product many, many nuclear bombs,” the prime minister warned. This concession, he noted, was even worse than leaving Iran with uranium enrichment capability.In another swipe at Kerry, Netanyahu quoted the secretary of state as saying that Iran could “legitimately possess” massive centrifuge capacity after the agreement ends. “Now I want you to think about that,” Netanyahu said. “The foremost sponsor of global terrorism could be weeks away from having enough enriched uranium for an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons and this with full international legitimacy.”Netanyahu’s bottom line: this deal doesn’t prevent Iran from getting the bomb, it practically hands Iran the bomb on a silver plate.But the prime minister didn’t suffice with attacking the contours of the prospective deal. He went on to assail the very idea that Iran could be welcomed back into the family of nations — a notion that guides the current administration’s various Middle East policies.The ayatollahs have been ruling in Tehran for over a generation and there is no reason to hope for regime change, Netanyahu posited. Worse, this deal would only increase its “voracious appetite for aggression.”Iran needs to fulfill three conditions before the international community can lift any sanctions, Netanyahu demanded: Halt its aggression against Sunni states in the Middle East, cease supporting terrorism around the world, and stop threatening to annihilate Israel.“If the world powers are not prepared to insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal is signed, at the very least they should insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal expires,” he said.Despite having warned of the regime’s fanatical nature and lack of trustworthiness, in this segment he appeared to signal that if the world already wants to sign a deal, it should at least try to get as much out of it as possible.The alternative to the current deal is not war, Netanyahu asserted, but a superior agreement that could be obtained if only the West applied more pressure on Iran. “A better deal that doesn’t leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure and such a short breakout time.” In other words, a deal in which Iran can keep not a “vast” but a perhaps a medium- or small-sized nuclear infrastructure, would be a different story. Not a short but a somewhat longer breakout wouldn’t be great, but it might be something we can talk about, he appeared to intimate.To be sure: Netanyahu opposed the interim deal with Iran and will vehemently reject any agreement he deems dangerous to Israel — and as can be seen from his position regarding security arrangements in a possible peace deal with the Palestinians, he will be very difficult to satisfy. And yet, in his speech, Netanyahu said he hoped for a “better deal that Israel and its neighbors may not like, but with which we could live.” Such a deal might very well be impossible, but Netanyahu appears to indicate that he is willing to consider a deal that is less bad, and that he realized his zero enrichment demand is indeed, as Susan Rice said, an “unachievable ideal.” Whether making all these points — the unambiguous rejection of the current deal and the subtle indication that a still imperfect but better deal might be acceptable — was worth risking Jerusalem’s relations with Washington is a matter of partisan dispute.The way with which American and Israeli politicos reacted to the speech hence also didn’t shock anyone. As Israeli political communications experts Gadi Wolfsfeld predicted last week, the speech was a classic example of a Rorscharch test. Those sympathetic to the prime minister felt he convincingly made the case against the prospective nuclear agreement and masterfully deconstructed the American administration’s talking points on why the offer currently on the table would be a good deal.Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi after the speech indicated that it might have actually moved Congress into actively opposing the prospective nuclear deal with Iran, and Republican lawmakers, in their initial reactions, demanded that “Congress must assert its role and responsibility as a co-equal branch in the safety of America and Israel,” as Doug Lamborn of Colorado put it.Those on the other side of the argument agreed with Obama that the much-hyped speech offered little new, indicating that the fuss was for nothing. For a nice but eventually ineffective speech, Netanyahu caused untold damage to Israel’s strategically important partnership with the US, they opined.“I was near tears throughout the prime minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States” and its negotiating partners, “and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation,” Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu’s rival for the premiership, said regardless of how eloquent the speech was, it failed to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, or even to slow them down one bit, to which Netanyahu’s Likud party responded that the left puts cheap political shots over national security.Now that Netanyahu’s historic speech is history, it’s back to politics as usual.
Obama dismisses Netanyahu’s Congress speech as ‘nothing new’-Minority leader Pelosi says PM’s Iran deal criticism ‘condescending’ toward Americans’ intelligence, but some Democrats speak out in support of Israeli leader-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil and AFP March 3, 2015, 10:22 pm 99-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama said Tuesday afternoon that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “didn’t offer any viable alternatives” to the current negotiations with Iran in his speech to Congress earlier in the day.The White House had said Obama would likely not watch the entire address but the president said he had read a transcript of Netanyahu’s speech.“As far as I can tell, there was nothing new,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.In his speech, Netanyahu assailed an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and told Congress that the negotiations between the two countries would “all but guarantee” that Tehran gets nuclear weapons to the detriment of the entire world. The invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress, extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, has triggered a political furor in the United States. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s opponents in Israel accused him of staging the speech as an campaign ploy.The president said Netanyahu made almost the same speech when he warned against an interim deal reached with Iran. He maintained that the interim deal had resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran’s nuclear program.Obama added that Netanyahu’s alternative to talks amounted to no deal at all. That, he noted, would lead Iran to redouble its efforts to build a nuclear bomb.“We don’t yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he said.“On the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives,” he said.Taking a thinly veiled swipe at the prime minister, whose address appeared aimed at persuading legislators to block a deal if it comes to the Senate floor for a vote, Obama noted that the US has a system of government where “foreign policy runs through the executive branch and the president, not through other channels.”Other officials also accused the prime minister of lacking any innovation and merely criticizing others’ plans.An unnamed senior US official told CNN that the prime minister’s speech has “literally not one new idea; not one single concrete alternative; all rhetoric, no action.”“Without a deal, Iran will certainly advance its program — installing advanced centrifuges, fueling its plutonium reactor and reducing or eliminating its breakout timeline. That would leave us with the choice of accepting a nuclear-threshold Iran or taking military action,” the official said.“Simply demanding that Iran completely capitulate is not a plan, nor would any country support us in that position,” the official added. “The prime minister offered us no concrete action plan.” Netanyahu faced still harsher criticism from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Illinois), who said that she was “near tears” during Netanyahu’s speech.Describing Netanyahu’s speech as an “insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5+1 nations,” Pelosi said that she was “saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.”Pelosi, who was an early and outspoken opponent of the prime minister’s speech, reiterated that “the unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests” and emphasized that “ours is a deep and abiding friendship that will always reach beyond party.”Pelosi was notably cold and visibly disinterested throughout the speech, capping her indignation by standing up immediately to leave the room before Netanyahu made his way outside through the throngs of applauding legislators.Other Democratic congressmen agreed.The speech was “fear-mongering” that was “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook,” Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) told reporters, referring to the hawkish Bush-era vice president.Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), one of about 60 Democratic congresspeople who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, said the Israeli leader has time and again gruffly pushed the United States towards war.“I’ve listened to his alarmist predictions. I listened to him cheerlead for the United States’ greatest single blunder in our history, the Iraq war,” Blumenauer said. In Tuesday’s address, he added, Netanyahu “gave no alternative path forward, just…a series of demands.”Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) too, bristled at Netanyahu’s approach.“What I heard today felt to me like an effort to stampede the United States into war once again,” Schakowsky said.Not all Democrats, however, shared such an acerbic take on the speech.Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York) and fellow New Yorker Rep. Eliot Engel were among the Democrats who defended the prime minister’s position while treading a delicate balance to avoid criticizing Obama.Engel, a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, defended Netanyahu’s speech as reflective of a bipartisan consensus. “Netanyahu’s speech showed that there remain serious and urgent concerns about the nuclear negotiations with Iran,” he wrote after the address. “These are not new — and many of them are shared by Republicans and Democrats, including officials in the Obama administration.”Engel asserted that “I expect that Democrats and Republicans will move forward together in the interest of our national security and strengthening the US-Israel relationship.”Lowey, the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a statement that “Prime Minister Netanyahu made a powerful presentation to members of Congress regarding the threat of a nuclear Iran.”Lowey noted that she “shares the prime minister’s concerns regarding the P5+1 negotiations,” calling on the United States and Israel to “jointly confront the Iranian challenge.”At the House chamber Netanyahu received a decidedly warm reception. Republicans applauded Netanyahu’s remarks frequently, rising to their feet. Democratic lawmakers were far more restrained, although they cheered the Israeli leader when he praised Obama’s efforts on Israel’s behalf. In all, the premier received 25 standing ovations.“I am encouraged by the bipartisan reception given to the prime minister, and hope all Americans focus on the substance of the prime minister’s concerns,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said afterwards.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a press briefing following the address that the US did not believe that there was a real possibility of getting Iran to sign a better deal than the draft agreement as leaked over the past few days.“The president has made as his priority resolving the broader international community’s concerns with their nuclear program. Military actions, we know, would fall far short of that,” he said.“The strategy that the president has laid out is the best possibility,” Earnest added, referring to the plan by which Iran would be at least one year away from breaking out to a nuclear bomb.Earnest once again insisted that the fact that Obama wouldn’t meet Netanyahu during his visit was purely due to the fact that Netanyahu was heading for an election and “does not reflect a change in policy” regarding US-Israeli relations.On Monday, in response to reports that Netanyahu could reveal sensitive details of the Iran talks during his very public speech, Obama administration officials including National Security Adviser Susan Rice issued dire warnings against revealing too much information during the speech before Congress.Reports have indicated the US is seeking a deal that would keep Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon for 10 years, before allowing Tehran to ramp enrichment back up.But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that his country would never give in to the “greedy demands” of other countries, rebuffing comments from Obama on a 10-year curb of nuclear activities as “unacceptable.”Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.
THE 12TH IMAM MAHDI DEATH WORLD CULT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCPd9uoqChA
OTHER ISRAEL-NETANYAHU STORIES ABOUT TRIP TO AMERICA
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-biggest-threat-now-is-apocalyptic.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahus-speeches-at.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/i-wish-our-canadian-prime-minister.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/02/benjamin-netanyahu-canada-is-with-you.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahu-arrives-in.html
Netanyahu tells Senate leadership he is ‘moved’ by support-After speech to Congress, PM meets with legislators, emphasizing than any nuclear agreement must include more restrictions-By Lazar Berman March 4, 2015, 1:14 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
After his speech to the joint houses of Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with the bipartisan leadership of the US Senate, saying he was “moved” by the response from both parties.Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had invited Netanyahu to the meeting.“I do want to thank the leadership of the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, both sides of the aisle, for inviting me here, giving me an opportunity to state Israel’s concern about an issue that could be the most important issue of our times,” Netanyahu told the senators.“I was very moved by the attention and the responses to the speech from both sides of the aisle, and it’s very clear to me and it was clear in that hall to anyone who was there that the support for Israel is strongly bipartisan, that there is a very broad support of the American people and its representative for the Jewish state and I’m very, very grateful for that,” he added.Netanyahu said that an agreement with Iran must not automatically expire, but should lift restrictions only after Tehran stops supporting terrorism, halts aggression against neighboring countries, and ceases its promises to annihilate Israel. He also called for greater restrictions on Iran under the agreement. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), John McCain (R-Arizona), Al Franken (D-Minnesota), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Charles Schumer (D-New York), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) and Bob Corker (D-Tennessee) were also in attendance.Earlier in the day, Netanyahu warned in his landmark address that the nuclear deal taking shape between Iran and Western powers “paves the path for Iran” to a nuclear arsenal, rather than blocking it, and urged American leaders to walk away from what he called “a very bad deal.”The emerging agreement, he told the assembled congressmen and senators, would leave Tehran with “a vast nuclear infrastructure” that placed it dangerously close to the ability to break out to a nuclear bomb. It “will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It will all but guarantee that Iran will get nuclear weapons and a lot of them.”“Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,” no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. “This is a bad deal, it’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”
In blistering speech, PM warns ‘bad’ deal ‘paves path’ to Iranian nukes-Netanyahu evokes upcoming holiday of Purim in accusing Tehran of seeking to annihilate the Jewish people; Congress responds with enthusiastic applause-By Itamar Sharon and Marissa Newman March 3, 2015, 6:48 pm Updated: March 3, 2015, 8:02 pm 52-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday in a landmark address to the joint houses of Congress that a nuclear deal taking shape between Iran and Western powers “paves the path for Iran” to a nuclear arsenal, rather than blocking it, and urged American leaders to walk away from what he called “a very bad deal.”The emerging agreement, he told the assembled congresspeople and senators, would leave Tehran with “a vast nuclear infrastructure” that placed it dangerously close to the ability to break out to a nuclear bomb. It “will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It will all but guarantee that Iran will get nuclear weapons and a lot of them.”“Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,” no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting such weapons, he said. “This is a bad deal, it’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”Netanyahu spoke shortly after Secretary of US State John Kerry met for more than two hours in Switzerland with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the hopes of completing an international framework agreement later this month to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.But Netanyahu said that while the emerging agreement did place certain limitations on Iran’s nuclear program, they would not be enough to prevent a nuclear breakout within “about a year by US assessment, a bit shorter by Israel’s.”He further criticized the reported clause that would see many of the limitations placed on Iran lifted after a period of 10 years. A decade, he said, was “a blink of an eye” for a nation.Netanyahu also dismissed the effectiveness of United Nations inspections on Iran’s nuclear sites, saying, “Inspectors document violations, they don’t stop them. Inspectors knew when North Korea broke out to the bomb but that didn’t stop (the North Koreans).”“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” he said. He predicted that the agreement, as it stands, would change the region for the worse, create a nuclear arms race and turn the Middle East into a “nuclear tinderbox.”In the two years since the P5+1 nations began their negotiations with Tehran, Netanyahu claimed, Tehran had not moderated but had in fact been emboldened and radicalized.While negotiating, Iran was backing terrorism against Israel as well as threatening American interests throughout the Middle East.He said that with the concessions the United States was prepared to make, Iran would not only gain nuclear weapons, but also eventually become free of international economic sanctions. As a result, he said, it would be emboldened to finance even more terrorism around the Middle East and the world.The result for Iran, he said, would be “aggression abroad and prosperity at home.”The world should insist “Iran change its behavior,” Netanyahu pleaded. “If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country.”The US, the prime minister insisted, must keep up pressure “on a very vulnerable regime,” particularly given dropping oil prices. If Iranians walk away from the negotiations, he said, they’ll come back, “because they need the deal a lot more than you do.”“History has placed us at a fateful crossroads,” Netanyahu said. The world, he asserted, must choose between a path that will lead to “a nuclear-armed Iran whose unbridled aggression will inevitably lead to war” and a more difficult path that will, in the long run, prevent Tehran from becoming a regional aggressor.He stressed that the alternative to a bad deal was not war: “It’s a much better deal.”Instead, he called for a deal that would keep restrictions in place “until Iran’s aggression ends,” that wouldn’t “give Iran an easy path to the bomb.” He called for a deal that Israel may not love, “but with which we can live — literally.”Before lifting sanctions, he said, the world should demand Iran cease its attacks against other countries in the region, stop supporting terrorism around the world, and “stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state.”Evoking the holiday of Purim, which commemorates the Jewish people’s survival of a Persian plot to destroy them, the prime minister said: “Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy it. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with new technology. He tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed.”Netanyahu likened the Iranian threat to that posed by Islamic State and warned that Iran’s actions against IS (also known as ISIS) did not make it an ally of the US. “Don’t be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn’t turn Iran into a friend of America,” he said. Both, he maintained, were competing to be the flag-bearers of radical Islam.“The difference is that ISIS is armed with butcher knives, captured weapons and YouTube while Iran may soon be armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads,” he declared. “When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.”The Israeli leader’s appeal to Congress at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner — but without coordination with the administration — triggered a political furor in the United States. It put Israel on a collision course with the Obama administration as it negotiates with Iran over its nuclear program. Additionally, with only two weeks to go before Netanyahu faces general elections in Israel, the speech has also sparked accusations at home that he was insisting on the speech and defying the White House chiefly in order to boost his appeal with right-wing voters.The White House expressed its displeasure with the appearance by word and deed, dispatching Vice President Joe Biden on an overseas trip that meant he did not fill his customary seat behind the House rostrum during the speech. Nor did Obama meet at the White House with Netanyahu on his trip to the United States.More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event, a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the two allies — but one that many complained Netanyahu had forced upon them by making them choose between Israel’s leader and their president.During his speech, the prime minister said he was keenly aware of the controversy created by his address and said it was not at all his intention.Netanyahu took great pains to express his gratitude to Obama for his continued support to Israel. He said he was “deeply humbled” by the opportunity to speak for a third time to “the most important legislative body in the world,” and thanked it for its support of Israel “year after year, decade after decade.”“I know that no matter on which side of the aisle you sit, you stand with Israel,” he said. The “remarkable alliance” between the US and Israel “has always been above politics, and it must always remain above politics.”“It was never [his] intention” that his address to Congress would be conceived as political, Netanyahu said. But he believed he had “a profound obligation” to come, because he felt the Iranian nuclear program could threaten the Jewish state.Netanyahu received a decidedly warm reception from the assembled members of Congress. The prime minister was greeted with a roaring welcome as he walked down the same center aisle of the House chamber that presidents tread before their annual State of the Union speeches. Republicans applauded Netanyahu’s remarks frequently, rising to their feet. Democratic lawmakers were far more restrained, although they cheered the Israeli leader’s praise for Obama. In all, he received 25 standing ovations.Despite Democratic stayaways, the chamber and galleries were filled to capacity. Netanyahu singled out Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel, a world-renowned author, academic and activist.“I wish I could promise you, Elie, that the lessons of history have been learned,” he said, to cheers.A few moments later, he added, the applause swelling, “The days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies are over.”“Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand,” he vowed, although he quickly added: “I know that Israel does not stand alone. I know that America stands with Israel. I know that you stand with Israel.”– AP and Times of Israel staff contributed
Netanyahu bashes Iran deal, but no longer demands zero enrichment-PM failed to offer concrete proposals how to curb nuclear threat, but hinted he would back agreement Israel ‘may not like, but could live with’By Raphael Ahren March 4, 2015, 1:59 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The speech had everything you’d expect: A solid case against letting Israel’s “genocidal enemies” anywhere near nuclear weapons, a cut and dried rejection of Western rapprochement with Iran, tributes to the unbreakable bond between Israel and the United States, Purim references, Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust, and even Moses. But major surprises there were few.In his controversial address to a joint meeting of Congress Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not reveal any hitherto unknown details from the nuclear negotiations with Iran, as some had feared. He also did not present the world with a concrete and pragmatic policy proposal outlining how the Islamic Republic’s march toward nuclearization could be stopped, as some had hoped.US President Barack Obama said “there was nothing new” in the speech. True, that Netanyahu would vehemently oppose the currently discussed deal was as clear as his Iran-North Korea comparison. It is noteworthy, nevertheless, that Netanyahu did not repeat his much-stated position that Iran may not retain any uranium enrichment, a maximalist demand US National Security Advisor Susan Rice Monday called “neither realistic nor achievable.”Rather, Netanyahu seemed somewhat pragmatic when he hinted that Israel was willing to consider even an imperfect deal, as long as it’s not as imperfect as the one currently on the table.Netanyahu’s speech was masterly, less because of the abundant rhetorical shtick (such as the awkward line saying the Iran deal would be “a farewell to arms control”) but because he delivered a concise point-by-point argumentation of why the prospective agreement is so bad for Israel and world peace.Despite the friendly and ostensibly moderate face that the Iranian government puts on for the world, Netanyahu said, at its core, it is still the same murderous, freedom-hating regime that wants to wipe Israel and American off the map.“Last year, [Iranian Foreign Minister Javad] Zarif who charms Western diplomats laid a wreath at the grave of [slain Hezbollah commander] Imad Mughniyeh,” Netanyahu said, in a thinly veiled attack against US Secretary of State John Kerry, who at the time of speech was meeting with said Zarif trying to finalize the deal. “Imad Mughniyeh is the terrorist mastermind who spilled more American blood than any other terrorist besides Osama bin Laden. I’d like to see someone ask him a question about that.”The first major concession of the prospective deal is that it leaves Iran with thousands of centrifuges, Netanyahu lamented. That would allow the regime to attempt a breakout toward the bomb in a very short time, and even the toughest inspection regime would be powerless to do anything about it, he argued.“True, certain restrictions would be imposed on Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s adherence to those restrictions would be supervised by international inspectors. But here’s the problem. You see, inspectors document violations; they don’t stop them.” Iran, he added, not only defies inspectors, “it also plays a pretty good game of hide-and-cheat with them.”Citing leaked details about the deal, Netanyahu then railed against the so-called sunset clause of the developing agreement, which stipulates that after a decade the deal expires, “Iran would then be free to build a huge nuclear capacity that could product many, many nuclear bombs,” the prime minister warned. This concession, he noted, was even worse than leaving Iran with uranium enrichment capability.In another swipe at Kerry, Netanyahu quoted the secretary of state as saying that Iran could “legitimately possess” massive centrifuge capacity after the agreement ends. “Now I want you to think about that,” Netanyahu said. “The foremost sponsor of global terrorism could be weeks away from having enough enriched uranium for an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons and this with full international legitimacy.”Netanyahu’s bottom line: this deal doesn’t prevent Iran from getting the bomb, it practically hands Iran the bomb on a silver plate.But the prime minister didn’t suffice with attacking the contours of the prospective deal. He went on to assail the very idea that Iran could be welcomed back into the family of nations — a notion that guides the current administration’s various Middle East policies.The ayatollahs have been ruling in Tehran for over a generation and there is no reason to hope for regime change, Netanyahu posited. Worse, this deal would only increase its “voracious appetite for aggression.”Iran needs to fulfill three conditions before the international community can lift any sanctions, Netanyahu demanded: Halt its aggression against Sunni states in the Middle East, cease supporting terrorism around the world, and stop threatening to annihilate Israel.“If the world powers are not prepared to insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal is signed, at the very least they should insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal expires,” he said.Despite having warned of the regime’s fanatical nature and lack of trustworthiness, in this segment he appeared to signal that if the world already wants to sign a deal, it should at least try to get as much out of it as possible.The alternative to the current deal is not war, Netanyahu asserted, but a superior agreement that could be obtained if only the West applied more pressure on Iran. “A better deal that doesn’t leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure and such a short breakout time.” In other words, a deal in which Iran can keep not a “vast” but a perhaps a medium- or small-sized nuclear infrastructure, would be a different story. Not a short but a somewhat longer breakout wouldn’t be great, but it might be something we can talk about, he appeared to intimate.To be sure: Netanyahu opposed the interim deal with Iran and will vehemently reject any agreement he deems dangerous to Israel — and as can be seen from his position regarding security arrangements in a possible peace deal with the Palestinians, he will be very difficult to satisfy. And yet, in his speech, Netanyahu said he hoped for a “better deal that Israel and its neighbors may not like, but with which we could live.” Such a deal might very well be impossible, but Netanyahu appears to indicate that he is willing to consider a deal that is less bad, and that he realized his zero enrichment demand is indeed, as Susan Rice said, an “unachievable ideal.” Whether making all these points — the unambiguous rejection of the current deal and the subtle indication that a still imperfect but better deal might be acceptable — was worth risking Jerusalem’s relations with Washington is a matter of partisan dispute.The way with which American and Israeli politicos reacted to the speech hence also didn’t shock anyone. As Israeli political communications experts Gadi Wolfsfeld predicted last week, the speech was a classic example of a Rorscharch test. Those sympathetic to the prime minister felt he convincingly made the case against the prospective nuclear agreement and masterfully deconstructed the American administration’s talking points on why the offer currently on the table would be a good deal.Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi after the speech indicated that it might have actually moved Congress into actively opposing the prospective nuclear deal with Iran, and Republican lawmakers, in their initial reactions, demanded that “Congress must assert its role and responsibility as a co-equal branch in the safety of America and Israel,” as Doug Lamborn of Colorado put it.Those on the other side of the argument agreed with Obama that the much-hyped speech offered little new, indicating that the fuss was for nothing. For a nice but eventually ineffective speech, Netanyahu caused untold damage to Israel’s strategically important partnership with the US, they opined.“I was near tears throughout the prime minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States” and its negotiating partners, “and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation,” Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu’s rival for the premiership, said regardless of how eloquent the speech was, it failed to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, or even to slow them down one bit, to which Netanyahu’s Likud party responded that the left puts cheap political shots over national security.Now that Netanyahu’s historic speech is history, it’s back to politics as usual.
Obama dismisses Netanyahu’s Congress speech as ‘nothing new’-Minority leader Pelosi says PM’s Iran deal criticism ‘condescending’ toward Americans’ intelligence, but some Democrats speak out in support of Israeli leader-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil and AFP March 3, 2015, 10:22 pm 99-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama said Tuesday afternoon that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “didn’t offer any viable alternatives” to the current negotiations with Iran in his speech to Congress earlier in the day.The White House had said Obama would likely not watch the entire address but the president said he had read a transcript of Netanyahu’s speech.“As far as I can tell, there was nothing new,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.In his speech, Netanyahu assailed an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and told Congress that the negotiations between the two countries would “all but guarantee” that Tehran gets nuclear weapons to the detriment of the entire world. The invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress, extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, has triggered a political furor in the United States. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s opponents in Israel accused him of staging the speech as an campaign ploy.The president said Netanyahu made almost the same speech when he warned against an interim deal reached with Iran. He maintained that the interim deal had resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran’s nuclear program.Obama added that Netanyahu’s alternative to talks amounted to no deal at all. That, he noted, would lead Iran to redouble its efforts to build a nuclear bomb.“We don’t yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he said.“On the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives,” he said.Taking a thinly veiled swipe at the prime minister, whose address appeared aimed at persuading legislators to block a deal if it comes to the Senate floor for a vote, Obama noted that the US has a system of government where “foreign policy runs through the executive branch and the president, not through other channels.”Other officials also accused the prime minister of lacking any innovation and merely criticizing others’ plans.An unnamed senior US official told CNN that the prime minister’s speech has “literally not one new idea; not one single concrete alternative; all rhetoric, no action.”“Without a deal, Iran will certainly advance its program — installing advanced centrifuges, fueling its plutonium reactor and reducing or eliminating its breakout timeline. That would leave us with the choice of accepting a nuclear-threshold Iran or taking military action,” the official said.“Simply demanding that Iran completely capitulate is not a plan, nor would any country support us in that position,” the official added. “The prime minister offered us no concrete action plan.” Netanyahu faced still harsher criticism from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Illinois), who said that she was “near tears” during Netanyahu’s speech.Describing Netanyahu’s speech as an “insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5+1 nations,” Pelosi said that she was “saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.”Pelosi, who was an early and outspoken opponent of the prime minister’s speech, reiterated that “the unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests” and emphasized that “ours is a deep and abiding friendship that will always reach beyond party.”Pelosi was notably cold and visibly disinterested throughout the speech, capping her indignation by standing up immediately to leave the room before Netanyahu made his way outside through the throngs of applauding legislators.Other Democratic congressmen agreed.The speech was “fear-mongering” that was “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook,” Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) told reporters, referring to the hawkish Bush-era vice president.Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), one of about 60 Democratic congresspeople who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, said the Israeli leader has time and again gruffly pushed the United States towards war.“I’ve listened to his alarmist predictions. I listened to him cheerlead for the United States’ greatest single blunder in our history, the Iraq war,” Blumenauer said. In Tuesday’s address, he added, Netanyahu “gave no alternative path forward, just…a series of demands.”Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) too, bristled at Netanyahu’s approach.“What I heard today felt to me like an effort to stampede the United States into war once again,” Schakowsky said.Not all Democrats, however, shared such an acerbic take on the speech.Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York) and fellow New Yorker Rep. Eliot Engel were among the Democrats who defended the prime minister’s position while treading a delicate balance to avoid criticizing Obama.Engel, a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, defended Netanyahu’s speech as reflective of a bipartisan consensus. “Netanyahu’s speech showed that there remain serious and urgent concerns about the nuclear negotiations with Iran,” he wrote after the address. “These are not new — and many of them are shared by Republicans and Democrats, including officials in the Obama administration.”Engel asserted that “I expect that Democrats and Republicans will move forward together in the interest of our national security and strengthening the US-Israel relationship.”Lowey, the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a statement that “Prime Minister Netanyahu made a powerful presentation to members of Congress regarding the threat of a nuclear Iran.”Lowey noted that she “shares the prime minister’s concerns regarding the P5+1 negotiations,” calling on the United States and Israel to “jointly confront the Iranian challenge.”At the House chamber Netanyahu received a decidedly warm reception. Republicans applauded Netanyahu’s remarks frequently, rising to their feet. Democratic lawmakers were far more restrained, although they cheered the Israeli leader when he praised Obama’s efforts on Israel’s behalf. In all, the premier received 25 standing ovations.“I am encouraged by the bipartisan reception given to the prime minister, and hope all Americans focus on the substance of the prime minister’s concerns,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said afterwards.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a press briefing following the address that the US did not believe that there was a real possibility of getting Iran to sign a better deal than the draft agreement as leaked over the past few days.“The president has made as his priority resolving the broader international community’s concerns with their nuclear program. Military actions, we know, would fall far short of that,” he said.“The strategy that the president has laid out is the best possibility,” Earnest added, referring to the plan by which Iran would be at least one year away from breaking out to a nuclear bomb.Earnest once again insisted that the fact that Obama wouldn’t meet Netanyahu during his visit was purely due to the fact that Netanyahu was heading for an election and “does not reflect a change in policy” regarding US-Israeli relations.On Monday, in response to reports that Netanyahu could reveal sensitive details of the Iran talks during his very public speech, Obama administration officials including National Security Adviser Susan Rice issued dire warnings against revealing too much information during the speech before Congress.Reports have indicated the US is seeking a deal that would keep Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon for 10 years, before allowing Tehran to ramp enrichment back up.But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that his country would never give in to the “greedy demands” of other countries, rebuffing comments from Obama on a 10-year curb of nuclear activities as “unacceptable.”Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.
