JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
UPDATE MAR 19,15-10:00AM
ISRAELI ACTUAL VOTE RESULTS-ELECTION RESULTS MAR 19,2015
LIKUD-30*
ZIONIST UNION-24
HADASH AND ARABS-13
YESH ATID-11*
KATANU-10*
HABAYIT HAYEHUDI-08*
SHAS-07*
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM-06*
YISRAEL BEITEINU-06*
MERETZ-05
YAHAD (HA'AM ITANU)-00
LIKUD TO WIN SEATS BY MY ALIGNMENT * =78 SEATS OF THE 120 IN THE KNESSETE
ISRAELI EXIT POLLS-ELECTION RESULTS GUESS MAR 17,2015
LIKUD-27*
ZIONIST UNION-27
HADASH AND ARABS-13
YESH ATID-12*
KATANU-10*
HABAYIT HAYEHUDI-08*
SHAS-07*
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM-06*
YISRAEL BEITEINU-05*
MERETZ-05
YAHAD (HA'AM ITANU)-00
LIKUD TO WIN MY ALIGNMENT GUESS* =75 SEATS OF THE 120
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU NEVER LOST SEATS-THEY GAINED UNLIKE I HEARD A PERSON ON THE NET SAY-LIKUD AND BENJAMIN LOST AT 2PM.BENJAMIN HAS A GREAT CHANGE TO BECOME ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER AGAIN.
OTHER STORIES ISRAEL-EU-RUSSIA-VATICAN-CERN
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahu-cleans-house-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/obama-whitehouse-back-stabs-israel-and.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/2008-prophecy-benjamin-netanyahu-will.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-58-democrates-who-skipped-benjamin.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/israel-finds-coins-and-jewelty-in-under.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/european-union-get-that-army-together.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/four-fallacies-of-european-union-policy.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/cern-end-of-world-demons-unleashed-from.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/putin-is-ready-and-prepared-for-atomic.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/did-someone-off-putinor-just-another.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/02/russia-arab-muslims-lookout-bird.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/pope-does-not-plan-on-resigning-but.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/jesus-was-cloned-sinless-into-marys.html
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
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)
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
US officials: Washington could back UN resolution on Palestine-Administration says Netanyahu’s campaign statements will have consequences, doesn’t promise to uphold veto policy-By Judah Ari Gross March 19, 2015, 10:50 am Updated: March 19, 2015, 1:13 pm 116-the times of israel
The Obama administration has been describing a weaker and colder relationship between the United States and the Jewish state in light of Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in Israel’s March 17 elections, with some saying the US could support a United Nations resolution setting down principles for Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric — his statements in the days leading up to the election against a two-state solution and his election day comments on Arab voters — particularly angered the administration, prompting officials to say they would examine its future steps.On Netanyahu’s personal Facebook account on Tuesday, the prime minister warned Jewish citizens in a video, “Arab voters are coming in droves to the ballot boxes. Left-wing NGOs are bringing them in buses.”Those election day comments drew ire at home and abroad, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the statements “deeply concerning” on Wednesday.“It is divisive and I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.” Earnest said. “It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.”But more troubling to the White House were Netanyahu’s statements on a two-state solution, which the United States has been pursuing for decades in its effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.In an interview with the NRG news website on March 16, when asked, “If you are prime minister there will be no Palestinian state?” Netanyahu replied, “Indeed.”“I think anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state and to evacuate territory is giving radical Islam a staging ground against the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“We are signaling that if the Israeli government’s position is no longer to pursue a Palestinian state, we’re going to have to broaden the spectrum of options we pursue going forward,” a senior administration official told Politico magazine.“The positions taken by the prime minister in the last days of the campaign have raised very significant substantive questions that go far beyond just optics,” the official said.But the administration made clear that its reconsideration of Israel-US ties was not only due to Netanyahu’s recent comments, which many have claimed were made for the purpose of garnering support from the far right, but rather for his actions throughout the years, which officials say prove the prime minister’s opposition to a Palestinian state.For example, the official referenced Netanyahu’s approval of construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa to block contiguity between Palestinian-majority areas during his first stint as prime minister in the 1990s as proof that Netanyahu truly meant what he said.“It was a way of stopping Bethlehem from moving toward Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said at the time.“To actually come out and say that this construction is actually driven by efforts to undermine a future Palestinian state is fairly dramatic,” said the official.“He’s shown his true colors,” a former senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying.
The New York Times quoted several administration officials as saying that the US could endorse a United Nations Security Council resolution setting down terms for the formation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps.One official told the Los Angeles Times that even if Netanyahu didn’t mean to repudiate the two-state solution in earnest, “Bibi needs to understand that there are policy ramifications for the way he did this. You can’t say all this” about rejecting a two-state solution “and then just say, ‘I was just kidding.’”A senior administration official who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity said that one outcome could be a change in how the relationship between Israel and America is managed. Discourse between the two countries, for instance, would no longer be held between the heads of state directly. Instead, Secretary of State John Kerry and defense officials would act as go-betweens for President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.“The president is a pretty pragmatic person and if he felt it would be useful, he will certainly engage,” said the official. “But he’s not going to waste his time.”Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki implied that although the US still prefers direct negotiations toward an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, she could not promise that the US would continue to defend Israel against unilateral actions in support of Palestinian statehood in either the International Criminal Court or the United Nations.“We are not going to get ahead of any decisions with regard to what the US would do during any vote at the United Nations Security Council,” Psaki said in a press briefing, leaving open the possibility that the US could amend its long-held policy of using its Security Council veto power to block anti-Israel resolutions.With chief PA negotiator with Israel, Saeb Erakat, telling AFP that the Palestinians would “accelerate, continue and intensify” their diplomatic efforts to increase pressure on Israel, such a move by the US could have serious ramifications.Currently, under United States law, any Palestinian bid to bring war crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court will automatically end the $400 million in annual aid America gives to the Palestinian Authority.But that stance could soften or change completely when the Palestinians formally enter the ICC in April.One former official said the change could be less one of policy and more a shift in culture. Israel has always maintained a special relationship with Washington, meeting informally with members of Congress and other playmakers to discuss policy decisions. But that access could be lost if the two governments continue to antagonize one another.Informal contacts have “been one of the most effective ways Israel has gotten what it wants,” another former official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It won’t be the same.”Animosity between Netanyahu and Obama has been growing for years.That crisis only worsened when Netanyahu agreed to speak in a special joint session of Congress on March 3. A senior official told Haaretz then that the “chickenshit” epithet was mild compared to the language used in the White House when news of Netanyahu’s planned speech came in.““There are things you simply don’t do. He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price,” he said.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
After Netanyahu win, Obama takes off the gloves-All aspects of relationship up for reevaluation; coming weeks critical as US waits to hear if PM will dial down anti-two state, anti-Arab rhetoric
By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil March 19, 2015, 2:26 pm 5-the times of israel
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration woke up Wednesday morning to a sobering new reality on the ground in Jerusalem – instead of a weakened or rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington will now face the return of “King Bibi.” The White House has to come to terms with a Netanyahu who, defying the predictions, has been shored up by a strong mandate for his rightward-turning campaign.In the final days before the election, the Obama administration was on good behavior – both the State Department and the White House barely responded to campaign statements by Netanyahu that walked back his previous comments in support of a two-state agreement. They also abided not-very-veiled accusations of US meddling in an effort to undermine Netanyahu’s candidacy. But on Wednesday, the gloves came off.In a set of coordinated messages, the White House and State Department launched their first barrage, mostly focusing on Netanyahu’s comments apparently repudiating his 2009 statements in support of a two-state solution.The coming weeks will be critical for the short-term future of the relationship, at least until 2017. It seems that the Obama administration is waiting to see if Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric will be backed up by a rightist coalition – but in the meantime has few reservations about giving an already teetering relationship a rope with which to hang itself.The morning after the elections found US-Israel relations more shaky than ever before. The State Department made a few things clear. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s call to congratulate Netanyahu was perfunctory and chilly. The two did not talk policy at all, said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.In fact, the message that Washington is conveying is that everything other than the most routine cooperation – security, intelligence, and military – is open to question.The administration broadcast loud and clear that it views a departure from two-state solution orthodoxy as a breach of a longstanding international consensus about the ultimate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If post-elections Netanyahu puts his policy where his mouth is and continues to deny a path toward Palestinian statehood, Washington is signaling that things will get ugly. Uglier, that is.Administration officials have already emphasized that the US will be reevaluating its approach based on Netanyahu’s comments; they have laid down a definitive framework going forward, instead alluding to two likely scenarios.Carefully planted rumors have been circulating around Washington for weeks that the White House and Foggy Bottom are considering presenting a new peace plan, one that bypasses direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and attempts to impose a reality on the ground. The US – if it wants to play rough – certainly has the leverage to try and strong-arm Israel into an agreement, using critical defense allocations as carrot or stick.During last summer’s war in Gaza and immediately afterward, Israel got a taste of what it would feel like if military equipment transfers were slowed – not even halted – and the threat of a slackening of military aid is a palpable one.The pre-elections appointment of Robert Malley as the White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf region puts the right person in the right position to play bad cop. Malley has been the focus of criticism in the past, removed from Obama’s 2008 campaign team because of contacts with Hamas and seen as a Washington insider who is comfortable taking a critical approach to Israel’s policies.The second option – this is the one the administration has been publicly hinting at in the aftermath of the elections – is a reduction of US support for Israel in the United Nations and its affiliated institutions.Psaki said that the US was still “not going to get ahead of any decisions about what the United States would do with regard to potential action at the UN Security Council,” a marked departure from earlier American commitments to veto any attempt at a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence.Asked repeatedly about whether the US would maintain its veto policy, Psaki said simply that “the prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution…but that doesn’t mean that we’ve made a decision about changing our position with respect to the UN.” The statement in itself – a refusal to commit to a veto – is itself a changed position.Later Wednesday, The New York Times quoted several administration officials as saying that the US could endorse a United Nations Security Council resolution setting down terms for the formation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps.Netanyahu’s comments were enough in Washington to strengthen the voices of critics who suggest that he has been negotiating in bad faith the whole time. Rather than simply writing off Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution as campaign rhetoric, the State Department says that “obviously the prime minister’s position has changed.” At the same time, the administration is still in warning phase – waiting to see what comes next.The administration says that it has not yet discussed the implications of the Israeli election with the Palestinian Authority, meaning that there are still options open and that the US has not yet committed to support Palestinian initiatives in the international community.Any action by Netanyahu that is seen to further the ideological turn conveyed in his campaign rhetoric will likely trigger the onset of steps by the US that go beyond the warning. What is not yet clear is if Netanyahu simply does nothing – does not, say, initiate a building project in East Jerusalem but also doesn’t express any real interest in returning to talks with the Palestinians – how long the administration will continue to wait.The ball is in Netanyahu’s court. After years of diplomatic frostiness and walking on the edge of open hostility with Obama, crunch time is now. But with coalition talks underway and a deal with Iran on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether the prime minister has the space, capacity or desire to step back from the edge.
After election blow, defiant Livni says she brought Zionist Union 12 seats-Hatnua leader ‘dismayed’ over voices calling her ‘burden’ on Labor Party, slams PM for stoking electorate’s fear of Arab parties-By Jonathan Beck March 19, 2015, 2:02 pm 1-the times of israel
Two days after a tumultuous general election, party leaders across the spectrum in Israel are beginning to weigh in on the results.Meanwhile the US said it would reconsider its policies on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the end of the campaign he would work against the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.The White House also expressed concern over comments made by Netanyahu on election day when he urged his supporters to get out and vote because Arab citizens were being bused in droves by foreign elements to the ballot boxes.
The Times of Israel is blogging events as they unfold.
15:03-Is Netanyahu preparing an heir to the throne? Haaretz analyst Yossi Werther speculates that the appearance of Yair Netanyahu, the elder son of Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu, in photos during and after the campaign, as well as the prime minister’s lengthy praise of his two sons during his victory speech Tuesday night, hints that he is grooming the young man (21) to succeed him.It is hard to say where the analysis by Werther, who is not a fan of Netanyahu, stands on the spectrum between conspiratorial truth and utter drivel.But here’s a picture of the PM and his kid at the Western Wall:
14:38-Meretz gains, Joint List loses 1 seat-After absentee ballots were counted, Meretz gains a seat in the Knesset, moving up to five, while the Joint (Arab) List loses a seat and drops to 13 seats.Meretz chairman Zahava Gal-On says she’ll stay in her post. Initially Gal-on said she would resign and give up her seat so that Tamar Zandberg, No. 5 on the party’s list, would make it into the Knesset.As the final tally is calculated, United Torah Judaism also loses one seat, dropping to six Knesset seats.
14:12-US to turn colder shoulder after landslide Netanyahu win-The Obama administration is describing a weaker and colder relationship between the US and Israel in light of Netanyahu’s victory in the election, with some saying Washington could support a United Nations resolution setting down principles for Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric — his statements in the days leading up to the election against a two-state solution and his election day comments on Arab voters — particularly angered the administration, prompting officials to say they would examine its future steps.
Meretz chief to stay on after party bags fifth seat-Zahava Gal-on vows to remain in politics a day after saying she’d step down if party dropped to 4 Knesset members-By Avi Lewis March 19, 2015, 12:35 pm-the times of israel
Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-on vowed Thursday to remain at the left-wing party’s helm, a day after she announced that she could relinquish her Knesset seat and quit politics due to lackluster election results.Meretz looked set to win only four seats on Wednesday, which would have been a drop of two from the previous Knesset, prompting Gal-on’s resignation. But after the remaining one percent of votes were tallied Thursday, the party gained a fifth seat and Gal-on declared that she would stay on.“I was deeply moved by the overwhelming support that I received [since announcing my resignation]. We will rebuild Meretz and the Israeli left anew, under my stewardship,” she said.“Meretz received its fifth seat from its young supporters, from IDF soldiers,” she said, adding that the party had “succeeded against all odds.”“We will wave a flag before the right-wing government. [A flag] of peace, social justice, equality and the struggle against racism in parliament and outside it,” she said.Election results featured an upset for left-leaning parties Meretz and the Zionist Union, the latter of which seemed poised, according to polls during the campaign, to beat out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.Gal-on had said that she would take responsibility if her party were to underperform at the ballot.“If, in the final results, it turns out that Meretz got only four seats, then I will resign from the Knesset” to let her seat be filled by Tamar Zandberg, No. 5 on the party’s list, ” she said Wednesday.Despite a strong showing in pre-election polls predicting that the far-left faction would receive between five to six mandates, Meretz officials voiced increasing concern in the final weeks that they may not even pass the new required electoral threshold of 3.25%, according to Channel 2.“Meretz did it against all the odds, standing up to a new electoral threshold and bullies that tried to eradicate us,” Gal-on told supporters Tuesday night following initial election results that indicated the party had won five seats.“We did it [standing] against two major parties that tried to grow at the expense of the ideological parties, and as it appears, the right [wing] truly succeeded,” she said.“As opposed to them, we will stand strong in the next Knesset as well.”
International pressure to grow after election, but sky won’t fall-A hawkish new Netanyahu government will face an angry White House and frustrated EU, yet things might not be as bad as they seem-By Raphael Ahren March 18, 2015, 10:46 pm 46-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
It was no secret that the international community was keeping its fingers crossed, praying for a change to a more dovish government in Israel. Now that these hopes were crushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resounding victory Tuesday, some fear that Europe and the United States will increase pressure on Israel over the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.There’s certainly cause for concern. The European Union has long threatened to punish Israel for what it perceives as foot-dragging, as well as over ongoing settlement construction, which is considered an obstacle to peace. Neither is US President Barack Obama much of a fan of Netanyahu, especially since the latter’s Congress speech earlier this month, in which he ferociously attacked the administration’s policy on Iran.How the international community will react to Israel’s 33rd government will, of course, depend to a large degree on its makeup and the policies it pursues.If Netanyahu opts for a narrow right-wing coalition including his Likud party, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu and the ultra-Orthodox lists — as most observers predict — world leaders will look toward Jerusalem with concern and skepticism. As soon as they start sensing that the new Netanyahu government acts as intransigently as the last one, or even more so, they will likely turn up the heat on Jerusalem.Netanyahu’s assertion that no Palestinian state would come into being on his watch, in an interview on Monday, has already raised consternation in Washington.And yet, the sky won’t fall. While increased pressure on Israel to move toward resuming negotiations and implementing a two-state solution is a given, Israel is not about to become a pariah state, or even be subject to severe punitive measures, as several Israeli officials and analysts have indicated.“It’s clear that it won’t be easy, but I don’t know how bad it will really be,” a senior Israeli diplomatic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Even Netanyahu’s apparent repudiation of Palestinian statehood does not necessarily mean that the international community will turn the screws on Israel.“There’s a difference between things said during an election campaign and actual policy decisions,” the official said.
‘There is negative momentum in the EU and this is going to continue’
Officials in Jerusalem identify the EU as the main potential source of diplomatic trouble in the months and years ahead. Brussels adopted a carrots-and-sticks approach to the peace process: If a final-status agreement is signed, both Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain special membership status at the Union. If the two sides do not make progress, however, some sort of sanctions will soon be on their way, EU officials have indicated time and again.“There is negative momentum in the EU and this is going to continue, but most probably not at an increased pace,” a diplomatic official in Jerusalem said Wednesday. “Rather, it will increase at more or less the same pace. It’s going to get worse, but it’s not going to happen at an increased rate because of the election result.”Also on Wednesday, the EU’s foreign policy czar, Federica Mogherini, said she was committed to working with the incoming Israeli government on the resumption of the peace process. “More than ever, bold leadership is required from all to reach a comprehensive, stable and viable settlement.”In private conversations, European officials are less politically correct, admitting their apprehension at the prospect of trying to advance a two-state solution as long as Netanyahu is in power, especially if he assembles a coalition of partners to whom territorial concessions are anathema.Even Jerusalem’s closest friends in the EU — Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands — would be hard pressed to defend Israel against efforts from others in the Union to turn the heat up on another Netanyahu government, they say. Governments usually supportive of Israel will be “empty-handed” in seeking to deflect such pressure if a right-wing government comes into power and prevents any progress on the peace talks, a senior European official told The Times of Israel recently.But even if Brussels will try the stick in an effort to prod Israel forward on the Palestinian front, it won’t take out a sledgehammer. Indeed, the EU might not be willing or able to apply real pressure on Israel, according to a senior European diplomat serving in Israel.“Right now, Europe’s governments are bothered by the situation in Ukraine, so it is doubtful that they will take the time to create another active front, this one against Israel,” the official told the Al-Monitor website.“While it will be difficult to sell [Jewish Home party leader Naftali] Bennett or [Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor] Liberman as Israel’s defense minister, it is hard to imagine that the various governments in Europe’s capitals will be in any hurry to apply real pressure on Israel.”Indeed, senior officials in Brussels cynically mocked the prospect of the EU actually trying to punish Israel for lack of progress on the peace process, according to the report.The director of the Center for European Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliyah, Dr. Esther Lopatin, concurred, arguing that the fear that mighty Europe is about to exert heavy pressure on Israel has been exaggerated. Rather than alienate Israel, the EU is keen to increase academic, scientific and economic cooperation, she said. “There’s an acknowledgement in Europe that there a lot of smart people here who could help Europe.”More importantly, she continued, political and societal trends within Europe will lead Brussels to take an increasingly benign attitude toward Jerusalem. The European Parliament, for instance, is increasingly dominated by center-right parties sympathetic toward Israel.A case in point: Left-wing parties last year tried to pass a motion calling for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. The center-right lists, however, succeeded in watering down the text of the resolution, adding the provision that such a recognition “should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.”“That was a victory” for Israel, Lopatin said, in that it basically reflects the government’s own position: that a Palestinian state can only come about as the result of negotiations.Furthermore, the arrival on the scene of the Islamic State causes many Europeans to identify with Israel’s plight. Indeed, she argued, threats of homegrown Islamist fundamentalism slowly breed understanding for Jerusalem’s positions on the peace process.“In the past, there was a consensus in Europe, which was to be very critical of Israel and attack it all the time. I see now for the first time the beginning of friction in this camp,” she said.To be sure, senior policymakers in Brussels told her repeatedly that they will “no longer tolerate” Israeli obduracy on the Palestinian front, Lopatin said. “But rhetoric is one thing, and action is something else.” Yes, the EU will continue to try to pressure Jerusalem on the peace process, but mainly by making statements and not by implementing punitive measures, she predicted. “Here and there we’re going to see things. But it’s not going to be very significant.”Wanted: a new ambassador to Washington.What about the incoming Netanyahu government’s relations with the US? Despite assurances from Washington that it’ll work with whoever Israelis elect, ties between the president and the old-new prime minister are liable to remain frosty. Indeed, some observers predict Obama will seek to take revenge on Netanyahu for his defiant speech to Congress, perhaps by trying to impose a peace deal.However, if Netanyahu indeed builds a right-religious coalition, another US-sponsored push at final-status negotiations with the Palestinians seems unlikely, as Washington knows such an effort would be doomed to failure.And yet, Obama may find other ways to get back at Netanyahu. He might, for instance, decide not to veto, or even back, a United Nations Security Council resolution that would enshrine certain principles in international law, such as the need for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. On Wednesday, in initial comments on Netanyahu’s strong election showing, the State Department did not rule out that option.Israeli officials play down the tension between Jerusalem and Washington, but admit that the aforementioned scenario is not impossible.“Relations with the US are fantastic,” an Israeli diplomat said. “Relations between the two heads of government are not brilliant, as everyone knows, but they will live with each other. We will see some prodding here and there, but at the end of day Israel and America are on the same side.” The diplomat admitted that Jerusalem does not rule out a scenario in which the administration would refuse to prevent the passing of a pro-Palestinian Security Council resolution. “We worry by definition. That’s part of our success,” he said.Netanyahu should proactively try to prevent the current friction from developing into a long-term crisis, recommended Eytan Gilboa, an expert on American-Israeli relations at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies.For one, the prime minister should appoint a foreign minister capable of building a new working relationship with Secretary of State John Kerry. Netanyahu should also urgently replace the current ambassador to Washington.“Ron Dermer completely burned himself,” Gilboa said, referring to the Netanyahu confidant’s central role in planning his Congress speech. “Someone who will encounter closed doors at the White House and State Department cannot be effective.”The prime minister should also invite himself to the White House, Gilboa urged. Obama might not be keen on welcoming him, “but there’s no other way,” he said. “Neither the US nor Israel can wait until the end of Obama’s term, which is on January 20, 2017. Both leaders have to move on — it would be foolish to simply disconnect for the next two years.”Either way, Gilboa warned, there is a real chance that the administration might not veto a Security Council resolution on Palestine, as a means to pressure Netanyahu and perhaps also to show him that he cannot challenge the White House and expect business as usual.
UPDATE MAR 19,15-10:00AM
ISRAELI ACTUAL VOTE RESULTS-ELECTION RESULTS MAR 19,2015
LIKUD-30*
ZIONIST UNION-24
HADASH AND ARABS-13
YESH ATID-11*
KATANU-10*
HABAYIT HAYEHUDI-08*
SHAS-07*
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM-06*
YISRAEL BEITEINU-06*
MERETZ-05
YAHAD (HA'AM ITANU)-00
LIKUD TO WIN SEATS BY MY ALIGNMENT * =78 SEATS OF THE 120 IN THE KNESSETE
ISRAELI EXIT POLLS-ELECTION RESULTS GUESS MAR 17,2015
LIKUD-27*
ZIONIST UNION-27
HADASH AND ARABS-13
YESH ATID-12*
KATANU-10*
HABAYIT HAYEHUDI-08*
SHAS-07*
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM-06*
YISRAEL BEITEINU-05*
MERETZ-05
YAHAD (HA'AM ITANU)-00
LIKUD TO WIN MY ALIGNMENT GUESS* =75 SEATS OF THE 120
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU NEVER LOST SEATS-THEY GAINED UNLIKE I HEARD A PERSON ON THE NET SAY-LIKUD AND BENJAMIN LOST AT 2PM.BENJAMIN HAS A GREAT CHANGE TO BECOME ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER AGAIN.
OTHER STORIES ISRAEL-EU-RUSSIA-VATICAN-CERN
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/benjamin-netanyahu-cleans-house-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/obama-whitehouse-back-stabs-israel-and.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/2008-prophecy-benjamin-netanyahu-will.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-58-democrates-who-skipped-benjamin.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/israel-finds-coins-and-jewelty-in-under.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/european-union-get-that-army-together.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/four-fallacies-of-european-union-policy.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/cern-end-of-world-demons-unleashed-from.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/putin-is-ready-and-prepared-for-atomic.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/did-someone-off-putinor-just-another.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/02/russia-arab-muslims-lookout-bird.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/pope-does-not-plan-on-resigning-but.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/03/jesus-was-cloned-sinless-into-marys.html
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
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)
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
US officials: Washington could back UN resolution on Palestine-Administration says Netanyahu’s campaign statements will have consequences, doesn’t promise to uphold veto policy-By Judah Ari Gross March 19, 2015, 10:50 am Updated: March 19, 2015, 1:13 pm 116-the times of israel
The Obama administration has been describing a weaker and colder relationship between the United States and the Jewish state in light of Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in Israel’s March 17 elections, with some saying the US could support a United Nations resolution setting down principles for Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric — his statements in the days leading up to the election against a two-state solution and his election day comments on Arab voters — particularly angered the administration, prompting officials to say they would examine its future steps.On Netanyahu’s personal Facebook account on Tuesday, the prime minister warned Jewish citizens in a video, “Arab voters are coming in droves to the ballot boxes. Left-wing NGOs are bringing them in buses.”Those election day comments drew ire at home and abroad, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the statements “deeply concerning” on Wednesday.“It is divisive and I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.” Earnest said. “It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.”But more troubling to the White House were Netanyahu’s statements on a two-state solution, which the United States has been pursuing for decades in its effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.In an interview with the NRG news website on March 16, when asked, “If you are prime minister there will be no Palestinian state?” Netanyahu replied, “Indeed.”“I think anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state and to evacuate territory is giving radical Islam a staging ground against the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“We are signaling that if the Israeli government’s position is no longer to pursue a Palestinian state, we’re going to have to broaden the spectrum of options we pursue going forward,” a senior administration official told Politico magazine.“The positions taken by the prime minister in the last days of the campaign have raised very significant substantive questions that go far beyond just optics,” the official said.But the administration made clear that its reconsideration of Israel-US ties was not only due to Netanyahu’s recent comments, which many have claimed were made for the purpose of garnering support from the far right, but rather for his actions throughout the years, which officials say prove the prime minister’s opposition to a Palestinian state.For example, the official referenced Netanyahu’s approval of construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa to block contiguity between Palestinian-majority areas during his first stint as prime minister in the 1990s as proof that Netanyahu truly meant what he said.“It was a way of stopping Bethlehem from moving toward Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said at the time.“To actually come out and say that this construction is actually driven by efforts to undermine a future Palestinian state is fairly dramatic,” said the official.“He’s shown his true colors,” a former senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying.
The New York Times quoted several administration officials as saying that the US could endorse a United Nations Security Council resolution setting down terms for the formation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps.One official told the Los Angeles Times that even if Netanyahu didn’t mean to repudiate the two-state solution in earnest, “Bibi needs to understand that there are policy ramifications for the way he did this. You can’t say all this” about rejecting a two-state solution “and then just say, ‘I was just kidding.’”A senior administration official who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity said that one outcome could be a change in how the relationship between Israel and America is managed. Discourse between the two countries, for instance, would no longer be held between the heads of state directly. Instead, Secretary of State John Kerry and defense officials would act as go-betweens for President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.“The president is a pretty pragmatic person and if he felt it would be useful, he will certainly engage,” said the official. “But he’s not going to waste his time.”Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki implied that although the US still prefers direct negotiations toward an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, she could not promise that the US would continue to defend Israel against unilateral actions in support of Palestinian statehood in either the International Criminal Court or the United Nations.“We are not going to get ahead of any decisions with regard to what the US would do during any vote at the United Nations Security Council,” Psaki said in a press briefing, leaving open the possibility that the US could amend its long-held policy of using its Security Council veto power to block anti-Israel resolutions.With chief PA negotiator with Israel, Saeb Erakat, telling AFP that the Palestinians would “accelerate, continue and intensify” their diplomatic efforts to increase pressure on Israel, such a move by the US could have serious ramifications.Currently, under United States law, any Palestinian bid to bring war crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court will automatically end the $400 million in annual aid America gives to the Palestinian Authority.But that stance could soften or change completely when the Palestinians formally enter the ICC in April.One former official said the change could be less one of policy and more a shift in culture. Israel has always maintained a special relationship with Washington, meeting informally with members of Congress and other playmakers to discuss policy decisions. But that access could be lost if the two governments continue to antagonize one another.Informal contacts have “been one of the most effective ways Israel has gotten what it wants,” another former official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It won’t be the same.”Animosity between Netanyahu and Obama has been growing for years.That crisis only worsened when Netanyahu agreed to speak in a special joint session of Congress on March 3. A senior official told Haaretz then that the “chickenshit” epithet was mild compared to the language used in the White House when news of Netanyahu’s planned speech came in.““There are things you simply don’t do. He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price,” he said.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
After Netanyahu win, Obama takes off the gloves-All aspects of relationship up for reevaluation; coming weeks critical as US waits to hear if PM will dial down anti-two state, anti-Arab rhetoric
By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil March 19, 2015, 2:26 pm 5-the times of israel
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration woke up Wednesday morning to a sobering new reality on the ground in Jerusalem – instead of a weakened or rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington will now face the return of “King Bibi.” The White House has to come to terms with a Netanyahu who, defying the predictions, has been shored up by a strong mandate for his rightward-turning campaign.In the final days before the election, the Obama administration was on good behavior – both the State Department and the White House barely responded to campaign statements by Netanyahu that walked back his previous comments in support of a two-state agreement. They also abided not-very-veiled accusations of US meddling in an effort to undermine Netanyahu’s candidacy. But on Wednesday, the gloves came off.In a set of coordinated messages, the White House and State Department launched their first barrage, mostly focusing on Netanyahu’s comments apparently repudiating his 2009 statements in support of a two-state solution.The coming weeks will be critical for the short-term future of the relationship, at least until 2017. It seems that the Obama administration is waiting to see if Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric will be backed up by a rightist coalition – but in the meantime has few reservations about giving an already teetering relationship a rope with which to hang itself.The morning after the elections found US-Israel relations more shaky than ever before. The State Department made a few things clear. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s call to congratulate Netanyahu was perfunctory and chilly. The two did not talk policy at all, said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.In fact, the message that Washington is conveying is that everything other than the most routine cooperation – security, intelligence, and military – is open to question.The administration broadcast loud and clear that it views a departure from two-state solution orthodoxy as a breach of a longstanding international consensus about the ultimate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If post-elections Netanyahu puts his policy where his mouth is and continues to deny a path toward Palestinian statehood, Washington is signaling that things will get ugly. Uglier, that is.Administration officials have already emphasized that the US will be reevaluating its approach based on Netanyahu’s comments; they have laid down a definitive framework going forward, instead alluding to two likely scenarios.Carefully planted rumors have been circulating around Washington for weeks that the White House and Foggy Bottom are considering presenting a new peace plan, one that bypasses direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and attempts to impose a reality on the ground. The US – if it wants to play rough – certainly has the leverage to try and strong-arm Israel into an agreement, using critical defense allocations as carrot or stick.During last summer’s war in Gaza and immediately afterward, Israel got a taste of what it would feel like if military equipment transfers were slowed – not even halted – and the threat of a slackening of military aid is a palpable one.The pre-elections appointment of Robert Malley as the White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf region puts the right person in the right position to play bad cop. Malley has been the focus of criticism in the past, removed from Obama’s 2008 campaign team because of contacts with Hamas and seen as a Washington insider who is comfortable taking a critical approach to Israel’s policies.The second option – this is the one the administration has been publicly hinting at in the aftermath of the elections – is a reduction of US support for Israel in the United Nations and its affiliated institutions.Psaki said that the US was still “not going to get ahead of any decisions about what the United States would do with regard to potential action at the UN Security Council,” a marked departure from earlier American commitments to veto any attempt at a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence.Asked repeatedly about whether the US would maintain its veto policy, Psaki said simply that “the prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution…but that doesn’t mean that we’ve made a decision about changing our position with respect to the UN.” The statement in itself – a refusal to commit to a veto – is itself a changed position.Later Wednesday, The New York Times quoted several administration officials as saying that the US could endorse a United Nations Security Council resolution setting down terms for the formation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps.Netanyahu’s comments were enough in Washington to strengthen the voices of critics who suggest that he has been negotiating in bad faith the whole time. Rather than simply writing off Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution as campaign rhetoric, the State Department says that “obviously the prime minister’s position has changed.” At the same time, the administration is still in warning phase – waiting to see what comes next.The administration says that it has not yet discussed the implications of the Israeli election with the Palestinian Authority, meaning that there are still options open and that the US has not yet committed to support Palestinian initiatives in the international community.Any action by Netanyahu that is seen to further the ideological turn conveyed in his campaign rhetoric will likely trigger the onset of steps by the US that go beyond the warning. What is not yet clear is if Netanyahu simply does nothing – does not, say, initiate a building project in East Jerusalem but also doesn’t express any real interest in returning to talks with the Palestinians – how long the administration will continue to wait.The ball is in Netanyahu’s court. After years of diplomatic frostiness and walking on the edge of open hostility with Obama, crunch time is now. But with coalition talks underway and a deal with Iran on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether the prime minister has the space, capacity or desire to step back from the edge.
After election blow, defiant Livni says she brought Zionist Union 12 seats-Hatnua leader ‘dismayed’ over voices calling her ‘burden’ on Labor Party, slams PM for stoking electorate’s fear of Arab parties-By Jonathan Beck March 19, 2015, 2:02 pm 1-the times of israel
Two days after a tumultuous general election, party leaders across the spectrum in Israel are beginning to weigh in on the results.Meanwhile the US said it would reconsider its policies on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the end of the campaign he would work against the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.The White House also expressed concern over comments made by Netanyahu on election day when he urged his supporters to get out and vote because Arab citizens were being bused in droves by foreign elements to the ballot boxes.
The Times of Israel is blogging events as they unfold.
15:03-Is Netanyahu preparing an heir to the throne? Haaretz analyst Yossi Werther speculates that the appearance of Yair Netanyahu, the elder son of Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu, in photos during and after the campaign, as well as the prime minister’s lengthy praise of his two sons during his victory speech Tuesday night, hints that he is grooming the young man (21) to succeed him.It is hard to say where the analysis by Werther, who is not a fan of Netanyahu, stands on the spectrum between conspiratorial truth and utter drivel.But here’s a picture of the PM and his kid at the Western Wall:
14:38-Meretz gains, Joint List loses 1 seat-After absentee ballots were counted, Meretz gains a seat in the Knesset, moving up to five, while the Joint (Arab) List loses a seat and drops to 13 seats.Meretz chairman Zahava Gal-On says she’ll stay in her post. Initially Gal-on said she would resign and give up her seat so that Tamar Zandberg, No. 5 on the party’s list, would make it into the Knesset.As the final tally is calculated, United Torah Judaism also loses one seat, dropping to six Knesset seats.
14:12-US to turn colder shoulder after landslide Netanyahu win-The Obama administration is describing a weaker and colder relationship between the US and Israel in light of Netanyahu’s victory in the election, with some saying Washington could support a United Nations resolution setting down principles for Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric — his statements in the days leading up to the election against a two-state solution and his election day comments on Arab voters — particularly angered the administration, prompting officials to say they would examine its future steps.
Meretz chief to stay on after party bags fifth seat-Zahava Gal-on vows to remain in politics a day after saying she’d step down if party dropped to 4 Knesset members-By Avi Lewis March 19, 2015, 12:35 pm-the times of israel
Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-on vowed Thursday to remain at the left-wing party’s helm, a day after she announced that she could relinquish her Knesset seat and quit politics due to lackluster election results.Meretz looked set to win only four seats on Wednesday, which would have been a drop of two from the previous Knesset, prompting Gal-on’s resignation. But after the remaining one percent of votes were tallied Thursday, the party gained a fifth seat and Gal-on declared that she would stay on.“I was deeply moved by the overwhelming support that I received [since announcing my resignation]. We will rebuild Meretz and the Israeli left anew, under my stewardship,” she said.“Meretz received its fifth seat from its young supporters, from IDF soldiers,” she said, adding that the party had “succeeded against all odds.”“We will wave a flag before the right-wing government. [A flag] of peace, social justice, equality and the struggle against racism in parliament and outside it,” she said.Election results featured an upset for left-leaning parties Meretz and the Zionist Union, the latter of which seemed poised, according to polls during the campaign, to beat out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.Gal-on had said that she would take responsibility if her party were to underperform at the ballot.“If, in the final results, it turns out that Meretz got only four seats, then I will resign from the Knesset” to let her seat be filled by Tamar Zandberg, No. 5 on the party’s list, ” she said Wednesday.Despite a strong showing in pre-election polls predicting that the far-left faction would receive between five to six mandates, Meretz officials voiced increasing concern in the final weeks that they may not even pass the new required electoral threshold of 3.25%, according to Channel 2.“Meretz did it against all the odds, standing up to a new electoral threshold and bullies that tried to eradicate us,” Gal-on told supporters Tuesday night following initial election results that indicated the party had won five seats.“We did it [standing] against two major parties that tried to grow at the expense of the ideological parties, and as it appears, the right [wing] truly succeeded,” she said.“As opposed to them, we will stand strong in the next Knesset as well.”
International pressure to grow after election, but sky won’t fall-A hawkish new Netanyahu government will face an angry White House and frustrated EU, yet things might not be as bad as they seem-By Raphael Ahren March 18, 2015, 10:46 pm 46-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
It was no secret that the international community was keeping its fingers crossed, praying for a change to a more dovish government in Israel. Now that these hopes were crushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resounding victory Tuesday, some fear that Europe and the United States will increase pressure on Israel over the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.There’s certainly cause for concern. The European Union has long threatened to punish Israel for what it perceives as foot-dragging, as well as over ongoing settlement construction, which is considered an obstacle to peace. Neither is US President Barack Obama much of a fan of Netanyahu, especially since the latter’s Congress speech earlier this month, in which he ferociously attacked the administration’s policy on Iran.How the international community will react to Israel’s 33rd government will, of course, depend to a large degree on its makeup and the policies it pursues.If Netanyahu opts for a narrow right-wing coalition including his Likud party, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu and the ultra-Orthodox lists — as most observers predict — world leaders will look toward Jerusalem with concern and skepticism. As soon as they start sensing that the new Netanyahu government acts as intransigently as the last one, or even more so, they will likely turn up the heat on Jerusalem.Netanyahu’s assertion that no Palestinian state would come into being on his watch, in an interview on Monday, has already raised consternation in Washington.And yet, the sky won’t fall. While increased pressure on Israel to move toward resuming negotiations and implementing a two-state solution is a given, Israel is not about to become a pariah state, or even be subject to severe punitive measures, as several Israeli officials and analysts have indicated.“It’s clear that it won’t be easy, but I don’t know how bad it will really be,” a senior Israeli diplomatic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Even Netanyahu’s apparent repudiation of Palestinian statehood does not necessarily mean that the international community will turn the screws on Israel.“There’s a difference between things said during an election campaign and actual policy decisions,” the official said.
‘There is negative momentum in the EU and this is going to continue’
Officials in Jerusalem identify the EU as the main potential source of diplomatic trouble in the months and years ahead. Brussels adopted a carrots-and-sticks approach to the peace process: If a final-status agreement is signed, both Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain special membership status at the Union. If the two sides do not make progress, however, some sort of sanctions will soon be on their way, EU officials have indicated time and again.“There is negative momentum in the EU and this is going to continue, but most probably not at an increased pace,” a diplomatic official in Jerusalem said Wednesday. “Rather, it will increase at more or less the same pace. It’s going to get worse, but it’s not going to happen at an increased rate because of the election result.”Also on Wednesday, the EU’s foreign policy czar, Federica Mogherini, said she was committed to working with the incoming Israeli government on the resumption of the peace process. “More than ever, bold leadership is required from all to reach a comprehensive, stable and viable settlement.”In private conversations, European officials are less politically correct, admitting their apprehension at the prospect of trying to advance a two-state solution as long as Netanyahu is in power, especially if he assembles a coalition of partners to whom territorial concessions are anathema.Even Jerusalem’s closest friends in the EU — Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands — would be hard pressed to defend Israel against efforts from others in the Union to turn the heat up on another Netanyahu government, they say. Governments usually supportive of Israel will be “empty-handed” in seeking to deflect such pressure if a right-wing government comes into power and prevents any progress on the peace talks, a senior European official told The Times of Israel recently.But even if Brussels will try the stick in an effort to prod Israel forward on the Palestinian front, it won’t take out a sledgehammer. Indeed, the EU might not be willing or able to apply real pressure on Israel, according to a senior European diplomat serving in Israel.“Right now, Europe’s governments are bothered by the situation in Ukraine, so it is doubtful that they will take the time to create another active front, this one against Israel,” the official told the Al-Monitor website.“While it will be difficult to sell [Jewish Home party leader Naftali] Bennett or [Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor] Liberman as Israel’s defense minister, it is hard to imagine that the various governments in Europe’s capitals will be in any hurry to apply real pressure on Israel.”Indeed, senior officials in Brussels cynically mocked the prospect of the EU actually trying to punish Israel for lack of progress on the peace process, according to the report.The director of the Center for European Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliyah, Dr. Esther Lopatin, concurred, arguing that the fear that mighty Europe is about to exert heavy pressure on Israel has been exaggerated. Rather than alienate Israel, the EU is keen to increase academic, scientific and economic cooperation, she said. “There’s an acknowledgement in Europe that there a lot of smart people here who could help Europe.”More importantly, she continued, political and societal trends within Europe will lead Brussels to take an increasingly benign attitude toward Jerusalem. The European Parliament, for instance, is increasingly dominated by center-right parties sympathetic toward Israel.A case in point: Left-wing parties last year tried to pass a motion calling for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. The center-right lists, however, succeeded in watering down the text of the resolution, adding the provision that such a recognition “should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.”“That was a victory” for Israel, Lopatin said, in that it basically reflects the government’s own position: that a Palestinian state can only come about as the result of negotiations.Furthermore, the arrival on the scene of the Islamic State causes many Europeans to identify with Israel’s plight. Indeed, she argued, threats of homegrown Islamist fundamentalism slowly breed understanding for Jerusalem’s positions on the peace process.“In the past, there was a consensus in Europe, which was to be very critical of Israel and attack it all the time. I see now for the first time the beginning of friction in this camp,” she said.To be sure, senior policymakers in Brussels told her repeatedly that they will “no longer tolerate” Israeli obduracy on the Palestinian front, Lopatin said. “But rhetoric is one thing, and action is something else.” Yes, the EU will continue to try to pressure Jerusalem on the peace process, but mainly by making statements and not by implementing punitive measures, she predicted. “Here and there we’re going to see things. But it’s not going to be very significant.”Wanted: a new ambassador to Washington.What about the incoming Netanyahu government’s relations with the US? Despite assurances from Washington that it’ll work with whoever Israelis elect, ties between the president and the old-new prime minister are liable to remain frosty. Indeed, some observers predict Obama will seek to take revenge on Netanyahu for his defiant speech to Congress, perhaps by trying to impose a peace deal.However, if Netanyahu indeed builds a right-religious coalition, another US-sponsored push at final-status negotiations with the Palestinians seems unlikely, as Washington knows such an effort would be doomed to failure.And yet, Obama may find other ways to get back at Netanyahu. He might, for instance, decide not to veto, or even back, a United Nations Security Council resolution that would enshrine certain principles in international law, such as the need for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. On Wednesday, in initial comments on Netanyahu’s strong election showing, the State Department did not rule out that option.Israeli officials play down the tension between Jerusalem and Washington, but admit that the aforementioned scenario is not impossible.“Relations with the US are fantastic,” an Israeli diplomat said. “Relations between the two heads of government are not brilliant, as everyone knows, but they will live with each other. We will see some prodding here and there, but at the end of day Israel and America are on the same side.” The diplomat admitted that Jerusalem does not rule out a scenario in which the administration would refuse to prevent the passing of a pro-Palestinian Security Council resolution. “We worry by definition. That’s part of our success,” he said.Netanyahu should proactively try to prevent the current friction from developing into a long-term crisis, recommended Eytan Gilboa, an expert on American-Israeli relations at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies.For one, the prime minister should appoint a foreign minister capable of building a new working relationship with Secretary of State John Kerry. Netanyahu should also urgently replace the current ambassador to Washington.“Ron Dermer completely burned himself,” Gilboa said, referring to the Netanyahu confidant’s central role in planning his Congress speech. “Someone who will encounter closed doors at the White House and State Department cannot be effective.”The prime minister should also invite himself to the White House, Gilboa urged. Obama might not be keen on welcoming him, “but there’s no other way,” he said. “Neither the US nor Israel can wait until the end of Obama’s term, which is on January 20, 2017. Both leaders have to move on — it would be foolish to simply disconnect for the next two years.”Either way, Gilboa warned, there is a real chance that the administration might not veto a Security Council resolution on Palestine, as a means to pressure Netanyahu and perhaps also to show him that he cannot challenge the White House and expect business as usual.
