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)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
France announces global summit on Israel-Palestinian peace process-Israel, PA not invited to May 30 preparatory talks; Paris admits ‘two sides are further apart than ever’ but says ‘we have to act’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP April 21, 2016, 10:19 pm
France will host a meeting of ministers from 20 countries on May 30 to try and relaunch the Israel-Palestinian peace process, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on Thursday. He told the international press, however, that Israel and the Palestinian officials would not be invited to the meeting, which will take place in Paris.Ayrault said the aim was to prepare an international summit in the second half of 2016, which would include the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.“The two sides are further apart than ever,” he admitted. But he said: “There is no other solution to the conflict than establishing two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, living side by side in peace and safety with Jerusalem as a shared capital.“We cannot do nothing,” Ayrault said. “We have to act before it’s too late.” He added: “I am not naive, I am perfectly sincere… There is no alternative — the other option is fatalism and I reject that.”He said the discussions would be based on the 2002 Saudi peace initiative — approved by the Arab League but not Israel — which called on the Jewish state to withdraw from Palestinian territory captured in the 1967 Six Day War, including East Jerusalem, in exchange for a normalization of ties with Arab countries. It also outlined the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and envisaged a “just solution” of the refugee issue.“In Israel, the government is more and more ambiguous on the issue of a two-state solution and the Palestinians are more and more divided,” Ayrault said. “We have to explain to the Israelis that settlement activity is a dangerous process and that it puts their own security in danger.”The initiative was announced in February by Ayrault’s predecessor Laurent Fabius. A former French ambassador to Washington, Pierre Vimont, has been given the job of preparing the meetings.US Secretary of State John Kerry, who brokered a previous round of Israel-Palestinian peace talks that collapsed in April 2014, gave the French proposal a guarded welcome when he visited Paris in March.“Not any one country or one person can resolve this. This is going to require the global community, it will require international support,” Kerry said.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told French President Francois Hollande during a meeting last Friday night in Paris that the Palestinians fully back France’s initiative.“France plays an important role in efforts to establish a fair, comprehensive and durable peace in accordance with international resolutions,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said after the two met.Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US initiative collapsed two years ago.Israel is in the midst of a wave of Palestinian stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks that has killed 29 Israelis and 4 foreign nationals since October of last year. Some 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to the Israeli authorities. On Monday, a Hamas terrorist carried out a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, injuring 20 people.Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly expressed interest in meeting with each other over the last several weeks, but neither side has made a public move to jump-start negotiations.AFP contributed to this report
France to convene summit to restart Israel-Palestinian peace process-April 21, 2016 12:05pm-YAHOONEWS
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The French government announced it will convene a summit of foreign ministers in Paris next month as a start to renewing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.The meeting on May 30 will not include representatives of Israel and the Palestinians, Haaretz reported Thursday.Prior to the meeting, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he would come to Israel, on May 12, Israel Independence Day, to discuss the upcoming summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Invitations for the May 30 summit will be sent to dozens of foreign ministers on Friday.The summit is set to be the run up to an international peace conference to be held in Paris this summer.The Palestinians have been supportive of the idea of an international peace conference.French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault angered Israel in January for threatening to recognize a Palestinian state if the Paris-hosted conference failed to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Ayrault backtracked on his statements last month, saying the conference would not “automatically spur any action.”
Fearing terror attacks, IDF closes West Bank, Gaza ahead of Passover-Israel announces second closure in a month in wake of Jerusalem suicide bombing and amid concerns Hamas may strike again-By Judah Ari Gross April 21, 2016, 10:56 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel will close off the West Bank and Gaza Strip for 48 hours beginning Friday, amid fears of attacks by the Hamas terror group during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Friday night, the army announced Thursday.The closure will begin at 12:00 a.m. on Friday and is expected to end at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, the army said. However, the reopening will be subjected to a “situational assessment.”Entering and exiting the West Bank and Gaza will be forbidden for Palestinians during those two days, with the exception of “humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases,” according to an IDF statement.Those special cases will require the approval of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of the Government’s Activities in the Territories.According to Israeli media, security services have “warnings, although not concrete,” of plans for terror attacks in the coming days.On Monday, a Hamas terror cell carried out a suicide bombing attack on a Jerusalem city bus, security forces revealed on Thursday as a gag order on the case was partially lifted.Several members of the cell responsible were arrested in the Bethlehem area, following the attack.The bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.He was one of 21 people injured in the attack. Abu Srour was severely wounded and died of his injuries on Wednesday.Last month, the army imposed a similar shut-down on the West Bank’s checkpoints for Palestinians ahead of the Purim holiday, also for fear of terror attacks, the army said.Though closures of this type are not necessarily used for every holiday, they are not unheard of during periods of heightened security threats.No such closure was imposed on the West Bank and Gaza during the beginning of Passover last year, but there were shut-downs in the preceding four years.The closure will affect the thousands of Palestinians who legally work in Israel every day, most of them in construction and maintenance. However, as the closure will be in place during a holiday weekend, the impact should be lesser than if it were mid-week.Within the West Bank, Palestinians will be able to enter Jewish settlements to work during the closure, an army spokesperson said.Monday’s attack marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.On Thursday night, Israel’s Channel 10 showed celebrations in Al-Ayda, the refugee camp in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank where Monday’s teenage bomber lived. Youths there chanted that there would be more attacks, and candies were handed out in celebration of the bombing.While Israel faces the prospect of a new Hamas bid to carry out major terror attacks against its population, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot maintains that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is making a real effort to fight terrorism. Abbas’s Fatah movement, which was ejected from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in a bloody 2007 coup, is in control of the West Bank, where Hamas is apparently making an effort to foster terrorism. According to Channel 2, Eisenkot praised the PA for its increased effort in clamping down on terrorist activity.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF to Passover hikers: Beware mines in firing zones-Army warns that while some closed military areas will be open to the public, caution must be taken-By Daniel Douek April 21, 2016, 6:25 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit on Thursday issued guidelines for Israelis hiking in military firing zones during the Passover holiday.The guidelines said that some firing zones in the north, center and south of Israel will be open over Passover, but the army stressed that hikers must first coordinate with the IDF before entering any such area, and receive written confirmation from the authorities.The guidelines also urge hikers to remain “vigilant and aware” of their surroundings, so as not to accidentally enter closed firing zones.Many firing zones contain fenced-off areas marked as mine fields with signs bearing red triangles. The guidelines warn hikers not to cross such fences for any reason, and to be on the look out for signs warning of the presence of mines.Some of the most popular hiking destinations in Israel are situated in firing zones or in close proximity to mine fields, including in the Negev Desert in the south and in the Golan Heights in the north.In February 2010, 10-year-old Daniel Yuval lost a leg after stepping on a mine in the Golan Heights during a hiking trip with his family, highlighting the importance of remaining vigilant while hiking in firing zones.
Netanyahu hails ‘very successful’ meeting with Putin-PM says military officials from both countries discussed coordination, to assure IDF’s freedom of movement-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 9:19 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday labeled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day as “very successful,” adding that the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.“I set the goal of the meeting as strengthening coordination between Russia and Israel to prevent mishaps,” Netanyahu said. “I think we clarified some matters, and that is very important.”The issues of the Syrian civil war and the ownership of the Golan had been expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar Assad since September of last year. And although Moscow recently announced it would withdraw many of its troops from the war-torn country, Russian planes still regularly fly sorties there.Netanyahu said that Israeli and Russian military officials had also discussed coordination between their armies.“I think [such coordination] is crucial because we have to keep the freedom of movement for the army and the air force in the places that are important to us in terms of our security, and I think that this essential,” he said.Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also been the topic of previous high-level meetings between Moscow and Jerusalem. A number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah.The prime minister announced he will return to Russia on June 7.During the meeting, Netanyahu informed Putin of his “red lines” regarding the security of Israel’s northern borders, and stressed that the Jewish state was determined to maintain its control of the Golan Heights.“I have come to Russia to step up coordination on security matters, to prevent mistakes, misunderstandings,” Netanyahu said as the two leaders met. “We are not going back to the days when rockets were fired at our communities and our children from the top of the Golan… and so, with an agreement or without, the Golan Heights will remain part of [Israel’s] sovereign territory.”The prime minister stressed that Israel would do “everything” in its power to block Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah from obtaining advanced weapons, and was working to assure that no new “terror front” appeared on the Golan Heights.Israel is interested in making sure that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed terror groups are not able to use a power vacuum on the Syrian side of the Golan to set up a base near the border for attacks against Israel.
Obama, Gulf allies meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss security-Gathering reflects effort by White House to reassure Mideast countries that US remains committed to them-By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and Adam Schreck April 21, 2016, 5:59 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Barack Obama met Thursday with top officials from six Arab nations in a push to coordinate efforts in the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and to press Gulf allies to step up their role in the fight against the Islamic State.In a morning session of talks, the leaders expressed cautious optimism about a nascent ceasefire in Yemen and the prospects for peace talks opening in Kuwait Thursday, the White House said. The US views the talks between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Iran-supported Shi’ite rebels as a moment of “particular promise and opportunity” that could allow the US and Gulf allies refocus attention on the fight against the al-Qaeda affiliate that has thrived amid the conflict, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.Rhodes said Obama also pressed the Arab allies to increase their support for the besieged Iraqi government as it battles the IS fighters and to increase contributions, particularly special operations mission, to the US-led campaign.The meetings in Riyadh are meant to build on a similar summit convened last year at Camp David, the American president’s Maryland retreat. They reflect an effort by the White House to reassure and coordinate with important but wary Mideast allies that harbor serious doubts about Obama’s outreach to Iran and US policy toward the grinding civil war in Syria.Obama and officials from the US-allied countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council opened up talks Thursday morning by posing for a group photo. The leaders, meeting around a circular table in an ornate meeting room in the Diriyah Palace, made polite conversation and smiled for cameras, but offered no remarks.Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and CIA Director John Brennan also attended the meeting.The summit follows bilateral talks that Obama held with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday shortly after arriving in the kingdom. Besides Saudi Arabia, the GCC includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.The White House has said the summit meeting will include three sessions. One is aimed at fostering regional stability and another at counterterrorism efforts including efforts to defeat al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. A third session will focus on Iran, which Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states see as a destabilizing rival in the region.Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and other Gulf countries share the US view that IS poses a threat, and have joined the US-led bombing campaign against the group. But they want the US to do more to attempt to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.The Gulf states are also deeply skeptical of Obama’s willingness to negotiate with Shiite powerhouse Iran, and fear that last year’s nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic will lead to a rebalancing of regional stances at their expense.Several of the Sunni-ruled Gulf states view Tehran’s backing of Shiite militias in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq as the main driver of sectarianism and instability in the region.Disputes over Iran were a major part of Obama’s talks with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday. US officials said the president restated his belief that the Saudis and Iranian should be looking for ways to defuse tensions, standing by his recent comments suggesting the two learn to “share the neighborhood.” Obama’s remark in an Atlantic magazine article has helped fuel tensions in the US-Saudi relationship.“There has to be an opening to have a political resolution to these conflicts,” Rhodes said, adding that the Saudis expressed “openness” to increasing engagement with Tehran, but remained skeptical.Still, Rhodes said the two-hour meeting was useful.“I think they both agreed that it was good to have this opportunity to clear the air,” he said.Obama also held direct talks Wednesday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the powerful crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. US military aircraft are based in the Emirates, the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, and its Jebel Ali port in Dubai frequently hosts visiting Navy warships.A UN-brokered ceasefire that started earlier this month has been repeatedly breached — by the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by the Shiite rebels and their allies.The Saudi effort has sought to drive the Shiite rebels from the capital and other parts of the deeply impoverished country. The US is not carrying out airstrikes in that campaign but has provided refueling and other logistical help.Following his meetings with Gulf leaders, Obama planned to depart Saudi Arabia late Thursday for Britain and Germany, the final two stops on his trip.
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Palestinians to hold off on UN move against Israeli settlements-Resolution to be shelved, focus will instead be on French peace initiative to push ahead with two-state solution-By AFP and AP April 22, 2016, 12:03 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday that a push for a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion will be put on hold to focus instead on a French proposal for a peace conference.The draft resolution was circulated to Arab countries and to some members of the Security Council earlier this month as part of a drive for UN action in support of the two-state solution.Al-Maliki said the draft would be shelved to focus instead on the French initiative, which provides for a first ministerial meeting in Paris on May 30, without the Israelis and Palestinians, ahead of a summit including the parties later in the year.“We have agreed that our move at the Security Council should not jeopardize in any way the French initiative,” Maliki told reporters in New York following talks between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who chairs the council this month.“We should really sail smoothly in a way that the French initiative will continue,” he said, adding that the Palestinians would decide on formally presenting the draft text at a later time.Maliki told reporters the Palestinians were expecting a phone call shortly from French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault confirming the date of the ministerial meeting.“We welcome that, and we are looking forward really to help to see that such initiative and such meeting in Paris will provide the right parameters in order, really, to move forward towards the international conference,” Malki said.He said the Palestinians were not upset that neither they nor the Israelis would be invited to the initial ministerial meeting, just to later stages.Diplomats said that France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had discouraged the Palestinians from moving ahead with the proposed measure that would have put pressure on the United States to resort to a veto.The Security Council failed in 2011 to adopt a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the United States vetoed it.Earlier this month, Abbas said there was an “urgent” need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements to salvage the two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine would be both recognized.French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in Paris that the May meeting will prepare an international summit to be held in the second half of 2016, which would include the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
Russian, Israeli jets said to cross paths over Syria-Accounts of incident differ, with some claiming Russian fighters were scrambled to intercept Israelis. However, no confrontation took place-By Times of Israel staff April 22, 2016, 1:47 am
An irregular aerial incident occurred in recent days when Israeli fighter jets encountered Russian warplanes along the Syrian frontier, Hebrew media reported.Information regarding the alleged incident was limited, and reports Thursday were conflicting.According to one account on the Ynet news website, a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli military aircraft operating along the northern border. The report stated that it was unclear why the Russian fighter was launched. It noted that the two planes did not make contact and that the Israeli fighter continued on its course unobstructed.A second report on Channel 2 news claimed that the incident occurred between Russian and Israeli squadrons, as Israeli jets flew along the Syrian coastline. The two fighter groups reportedly approached each other, and very nearly confronted each other. However, contacts between Israeli and Russian officials through a coordination body set up last year prevented a more serious incident.Finally, Channel 10 military reporter Alon Ben-David appeared to combine the two accounts, tweeting Thursday that a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli squadron over the Syrian coast. He too noted that the incident never became a full-blown confrontation, and that none of the planes had locked onto each other throughout the event.Whatever the details of the occurrence, it appeared to have taken place several days before Thursday’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which focused in part on coordination between the two militaries along the Syrian border, and which the Israeli premier called “very successful.”Netanyahu said the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.“I set the goal of the meeting as strengthening coordination between Russia and Israel to prevent mishaps,” Netanyahu said. “I think we clarified some matters, and that is very important.”The issues of the Syrian civil war and the ownership of the Golan had been expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar Assad since September of last year. And although Moscow recently announced it would withdraw many of its troops from the war-torn country, Russian planes still regularly fly sorties there.In November Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said a Russian jet had breached Israeli airspace, and that the matter was “immediately fixed through communications channels” between the two countries. And late last month King Abdullah of Jordan told American lawmakers that Israeli and Jordanian jets together confronted Russian warplanes in January over southern Syria and warned them away from crossing their shared border.Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli and Russian military officials had discussed coordination between their armies.“I think [such coordination] is crucial because we have to keep the freedom of movement for the army and the air force in the places that are important to us in terms of our security, and I think that this essential,” he said.Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also been the topic of previous high-level meetings between Moscow and Jerusalem. A number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah.The prime minister announced he will return to Russia on June 7.During the meeting, Netanyahu informed Putin of his “red lines” regarding the security of Israel’s northern borders, and stressed that the Jewish state was determined to maintain its control of the Golan Heights.“I have come to Russia to step up coordination on security matters, to prevent mistakes, misunderstandings,” Netanyahu said as the two leaders met. “We are not going back to the days when rockets were fired at our communities and our children from the top of the Golan… and so, with an agreement or without, the Golan Heights will remain part of [Israel’s] sovereign territory.”The prime minister stressed that Israel would do “everything” in its power to block Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah from obtaining advanced weapons, and was working to assure that no new “terror front” appeared on the Golan Heights.Israel is interested in making sure that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed terror groups are not able to use a power vacuum on the Syrian side of the Golan to set up a base near the border for attacks against Israel.
Jerusalem bus bombing was suicide attack organized by Hamas-Monday’s blast marks 1st suicide attack of current terror wave; cell members in Bethlehem arrested; terrorist Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, died Wednesday of his wounds-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 6:26 pm
The bus bombing in Jerusalem on Monday was a suicide terror attack orchestrated by Palestinian terror group Hamas, and several members of the cell responsible have been arrested in the West Bank, security forces revealed on Thursday as a gag order on the case was partially lifted.The bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.The bomber was one of 21 people injured in the attack. He was severely wounded and died of his injuries on Wednesday.The Shin Bet said several Hamas members from Bethlehem have been arrested in connection with the attack after an intensive manhunt by the security service, police and the IDF.The attack marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.The father of the bomber told Channel 2 on Thursday that he “knew nothing about his affiliation” with Hamas.The bomber came from a well-known Bethlehem clan, some of whose members have a history of terrorism and violence against Israel.The announcement came a day after Hamas said the bomber was a member. Israel had placed the details of his identity under a gag order.The Hamas announcement fell short of a full claim of responsibility for the attack.The terror attack broke weeks of relative calm in the city after a six-month wave of Palestinian stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks seemed to be subsiding, and raised fears of a return to a type of violence not seen in Jerusalem for years.Bus bombings were common during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, but Monday’s attack was the first bomb targeting a bus in Jerusalem since 2011, when a British tourist was killed by a bomb planted next to a bus stop.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night promised to “find whoever prepared this explosive device.”“We’ll settle the score with these terrorists,” he said.Judah Ari Gross and AFP contributed to this report.
Israel nabs suspect in 2015 Hebron stabbing attack-Security forces arrest Palestinian alleged to have seriously injured an Israeli man in Kiryat Arba terror attack-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 6:04 pm
Israeli security forces on Thursday arrested a Palestinian suspected of stabbing and seriously injuring an Israeli in a West Bank terror attack last October.The unnamed suspect had been on the loose for nearly six months after stabbing Meir Pavlovsky, 30, in Kiryat Arba and fleeing the scene.Police at the time said the suspect had fled into nearby Hebron.Pavlovsky, originally from Ukraine, was stabbed in the stomach and back and was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in serious condition. He underwent several surgeries to stabilize his condition.Three weeks after the stabbing, Pavlovsky got engaged to his girlfriend, according to media reports.The stabbing attack occurred on October 8, 2015, one of four such attacks that day in which a total of nine people were injured.The attacks came near the beginning of a wave of terror assaults which have included stabbing, shootings, car-rammings and, most recently, a bus bombing in Jerusalem in which 20 people were injured. The bomber was the only casualty in the attack.Twenty-nine Israelis and four non-Israelis have been killed in the recent terror wave. More than 180 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
France announces global summit on Israel-Palestinian peace process-Israel, PA not invited to May 30 preparatory talks; Paris admits ‘two sides are further apart than ever’ but says ‘we have to act’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP April 21, 2016, 10:19 pm
France will host a meeting of ministers from 20 countries on May 30 to try and relaunch the Israel-Palestinian peace process, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on Thursday. He told the international press, however, that Israel and the Palestinian officials would not be invited to the meeting, which will take place in Paris.Ayrault said the aim was to prepare an international summit in the second half of 2016, which would include the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.“The two sides are further apart than ever,” he admitted. But he said: “There is no other solution to the conflict than establishing two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, living side by side in peace and safety with Jerusalem as a shared capital.“We cannot do nothing,” Ayrault said. “We have to act before it’s too late.” He added: “I am not naive, I am perfectly sincere… There is no alternative — the other option is fatalism and I reject that.”He said the discussions would be based on the 2002 Saudi peace initiative — approved by the Arab League but not Israel — which called on the Jewish state to withdraw from Palestinian territory captured in the 1967 Six Day War, including East Jerusalem, in exchange for a normalization of ties with Arab countries. It also outlined the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and envisaged a “just solution” of the refugee issue.“In Israel, the government is more and more ambiguous on the issue of a two-state solution and the Palestinians are more and more divided,” Ayrault said. “We have to explain to the Israelis that settlement activity is a dangerous process and that it puts their own security in danger.”The initiative was announced in February by Ayrault’s predecessor Laurent Fabius. A former French ambassador to Washington, Pierre Vimont, has been given the job of preparing the meetings.US Secretary of State John Kerry, who brokered a previous round of Israel-Palestinian peace talks that collapsed in April 2014, gave the French proposal a guarded welcome when he visited Paris in March.“Not any one country or one person can resolve this. This is going to require the global community, it will require international support,” Kerry said.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told French President Francois Hollande during a meeting last Friday night in Paris that the Palestinians fully back France’s initiative.“France plays an important role in efforts to establish a fair, comprehensive and durable peace in accordance with international resolutions,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said after the two met.Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US initiative collapsed two years ago.Israel is in the midst of a wave of Palestinian stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks that has killed 29 Israelis and 4 foreign nationals since October of last year. Some 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to the Israeli authorities. On Monday, a Hamas terrorist carried out a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, injuring 20 people.Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly expressed interest in meeting with each other over the last several weeks, but neither side has made a public move to jump-start negotiations.AFP contributed to this report
France to convene summit to restart Israel-Palestinian peace process-April 21, 2016 12:05pm-YAHOONEWS
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The French government announced it will convene a summit of foreign ministers in Paris next month as a start to renewing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.The meeting on May 30 will not include representatives of Israel and the Palestinians, Haaretz reported Thursday.Prior to the meeting, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he would come to Israel, on May 12, Israel Independence Day, to discuss the upcoming summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Invitations for the May 30 summit will be sent to dozens of foreign ministers on Friday.The summit is set to be the run up to an international peace conference to be held in Paris this summer.The Palestinians have been supportive of the idea of an international peace conference.French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault angered Israel in January for threatening to recognize a Palestinian state if the Paris-hosted conference failed to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Ayrault backtracked on his statements last month, saying the conference would not “automatically spur any action.”
Fearing terror attacks, IDF closes West Bank, Gaza ahead of Passover-Israel announces second closure in a month in wake of Jerusalem suicide bombing and amid concerns Hamas may strike again-By Judah Ari Gross April 21, 2016, 10:56 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel will close off the West Bank and Gaza Strip for 48 hours beginning Friday, amid fears of attacks by the Hamas terror group during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Friday night, the army announced Thursday.The closure will begin at 12:00 a.m. on Friday and is expected to end at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, the army said. However, the reopening will be subjected to a “situational assessment.”Entering and exiting the West Bank and Gaza will be forbidden for Palestinians during those two days, with the exception of “humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases,” according to an IDF statement.Those special cases will require the approval of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of the Government’s Activities in the Territories.According to Israeli media, security services have “warnings, although not concrete,” of plans for terror attacks in the coming days.On Monday, a Hamas terror cell carried out a suicide bombing attack on a Jerusalem city bus, security forces revealed on Thursday as a gag order on the case was partially lifted.Several members of the cell responsible were arrested in the Bethlehem area, following the attack.The bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.He was one of 21 people injured in the attack. Abu Srour was severely wounded and died of his injuries on Wednesday.Last month, the army imposed a similar shut-down on the West Bank’s checkpoints for Palestinians ahead of the Purim holiday, also for fear of terror attacks, the army said.Though closures of this type are not necessarily used for every holiday, they are not unheard of during periods of heightened security threats.No such closure was imposed on the West Bank and Gaza during the beginning of Passover last year, but there were shut-downs in the preceding four years.The closure will affect the thousands of Palestinians who legally work in Israel every day, most of them in construction and maintenance. However, as the closure will be in place during a holiday weekend, the impact should be lesser than if it were mid-week.Within the West Bank, Palestinians will be able to enter Jewish settlements to work during the closure, an army spokesperson said.Monday’s attack marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.On Thursday night, Israel’s Channel 10 showed celebrations in Al-Ayda, the refugee camp in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank where Monday’s teenage bomber lived. Youths there chanted that there would be more attacks, and candies were handed out in celebration of the bombing.While Israel faces the prospect of a new Hamas bid to carry out major terror attacks against its population, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot maintains that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is making a real effort to fight terrorism. Abbas’s Fatah movement, which was ejected from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in a bloody 2007 coup, is in control of the West Bank, where Hamas is apparently making an effort to foster terrorism. According to Channel 2, Eisenkot praised the PA for its increased effort in clamping down on terrorist activity.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF to Passover hikers: Beware mines in firing zones-Army warns that while some closed military areas will be open to the public, caution must be taken-By Daniel Douek April 21, 2016, 6:25 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit on Thursday issued guidelines for Israelis hiking in military firing zones during the Passover holiday.The guidelines said that some firing zones in the north, center and south of Israel will be open over Passover, but the army stressed that hikers must first coordinate with the IDF before entering any such area, and receive written confirmation from the authorities.The guidelines also urge hikers to remain “vigilant and aware” of their surroundings, so as not to accidentally enter closed firing zones.Many firing zones contain fenced-off areas marked as mine fields with signs bearing red triangles. The guidelines warn hikers not to cross such fences for any reason, and to be on the look out for signs warning of the presence of mines.Some of the most popular hiking destinations in Israel are situated in firing zones or in close proximity to mine fields, including in the Negev Desert in the south and in the Golan Heights in the north.In February 2010, 10-year-old Daniel Yuval lost a leg after stepping on a mine in the Golan Heights during a hiking trip with his family, highlighting the importance of remaining vigilant while hiking in firing zones.
Netanyahu hails ‘very successful’ meeting with Putin-PM says military officials from both countries discussed coordination, to assure IDF’s freedom of movement-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 9:19 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday labeled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day as “very successful,” adding that the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.“I set the goal of the meeting as strengthening coordination between Russia and Israel to prevent mishaps,” Netanyahu said. “I think we clarified some matters, and that is very important.”The issues of the Syrian civil war and the ownership of the Golan had been expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar Assad since September of last year. And although Moscow recently announced it would withdraw many of its troops from the war-torn country, Russian planes still regularly fly sorties there.Netanyahu said that Israeli and Russian military officials had also discussed coordination between their armies.“I think [such coordination] is crucial because we have to keep the freedom of movement for the army and the air force in the places that are important to us in terms of our security, and I think that this essential,” he said.Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also been the topic of previous high-level meetings between Moscow and Jerusalem. A number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah.The prime minister announced he will return to Russia on June 7.During the meeting, Netanyahu informed Putin of his “red lines” regarding the security of Israel’s northern borders, and stressed that the Jewish state was determined to maintain its control of the Golan Heights.“I have come to Russia to step up coordination on security matters, to prevent mistakes, misunderstandings,” Netanyahu said as the two leaders met. “We are not going back to the days when rockets were fired at our communities and our children from the top of the Golan… and so, with an agreement or without, the Golan Heights will remain part of [Israel’s] sovereign territory.”The prime minister stressed that Israel would do “everything” in its power to block Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah from obtaining advanced weapons, and was working to assure that no new “terror front” appeared on the Golan Heights.Israel is interested in making sure that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed terror groups are not able to use a power vacuum on the Syrian side of the Golan to set up a base near the border for attacks against Israel.
Obama, Gulf allies meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss security-Gathering reflects effort by White House to reassure Mideast countries that US remains committed to them-By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and Adam Schreck April 21, 2016, 5:59 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Barack Obama met Thursday with top officials from six Arab nations in a push to coordinate efforts in the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and to press Gulf allies to step up their role in the fight against the Islamic State.In a morning session of talks, the leaders expressed cautious optimism about a nascent ceasefire in Yemen and the prospects for peace talks opening in Kuwait Thursday, the White House said. The US views the talks between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Iran-supported Shi’ite rebels as a moment of “particular promise and opportunity” that could allow the US and Gulf allies refocus attention on the fight against the al-Qaeda affiliate that has thrived amid the conflict, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.Rhodes said Obama also pressed the Arab allies to increase their support for the besieged Iraqi government as it battles the IS fighters and to increase contributions, particularly special operations mission, to the US-led campaign.The meetings in Riyadh are meant to build on a similar summit convened last year at Camp David, the American president’s Maryland retreat. They reflect an effort by the White House to reassure and coordinate with important but wary Mideast allies that harbor serious doubts about Obama’s outreach to Iran and US policy toward the grinding civil war in Syria.Obama and officials from the US-allied countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council opened up talks Thursday morning by posing for a group photo. The leaders, meeting around a circular table in an ornate meeting room in the Diriyah Palace, made polite conversation and smiled for cameras, but offered no remarks.Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and CIA Director John Brennan also attended the meeting.The summit follows bilateral talks that Obama held with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday shortly after arriving in the kingdom. Besides Saudi Arabia, the GCC includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.The White House has said the summit meeting will include three sessions. One is aimed at fostering regional stability and another at counterterrorism efforts including efforts to defeat al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. A third session will focus on Iran, which Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states see as a destabilizing rival in the region.Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and other Gulf countries share the US view that IS poses a threat, and have joined the US-led bombing campaign against the group. But they want the US to do more to attempt to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.The Gulf states are also deeply skeptical of Obama’s willingness to negotiate with Shiite powerhouse Iran, and fear that last year’s nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic will lead to a rebalancing of regional stances at their expense.Several of the Sunni-ruled Gulf states view Tehran’s backing of Shiite militias in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq as the main driver of sectarianism and instability in the region.Disputes over Iran were a major part of Obama’s talks with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday. US officials said the president restated his belief that the Saudis and Iranian should be looking for ways to defuse tensions, standing by his recent comments suggesting the two learn to “share the neighborhood.” Obama’s remark in an Atlantic magazine article has helped fuel tensions in the US-Saudi relationship.“There has to be an opening to have a political resolution to these conflicts,” Rhodes said, adding that the Saudis expressed “openness” to increasing engagement with Tehran, but remained skeptical.Still, Rhodes said the two-hour meeting was useful.“I think they both agreed that it was good to have this opportunity to clear the air,” he said.Obama also held direct talks Wednesday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the powerful crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. US military aircraft are based in the Emirates, the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, and its Jebel Ali port in Dubai frequently hosts visiting Navy warships.A UN-brokered ceasefire that started earlier this month has been repeatedly breached — by the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by the Shiite rebels and their allies.The Saudi effort has sought to drive the Shiite rebels from the capital and other parts of the deeply impoverished country. The US is not carrying out airstrikes in that campaign but has provided refueling and other logistical help.Following his meetings with Gulf leaders, Obama planned to depart Saudi Arabia late Thursday for Britain and Germany, the final two stops on his trip.
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Palestinians to hold off on UN move against Israeli settlements-Resolution to be shelved, focus will instead be on French peace initiative to push ahead with two-state solution-By AFP and AP April 22, 2016, 12:03 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday that a push for a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion will be put on hold to focus instead on a French proposal for a peace conference.The draft resolution was circulated to Arab countries and to some members of the Security Council earlier this month as part of a drive for UN action in support of the two-state solution.Al-Maliki said the draft would be shelved to focus instead on the French initiative, which provides for a first ministerial meeting in Paris on May 30, without the Israelis and Palestinians, ahead of a summit including the parties later in the year.“We have agreed that our move at the Security Council should not jeopardize in any way the French initiative,” Maliki told reporters in New York following talks between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who chairs the council this month.“We should really sail smoothly in a way that the French initiative will continue,” he said, adding that the Palestinians would decide on formally presenting the draft text at a later time.Maliki told reporters the Palestinians were expecting a phone call shortly from French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault confirming the date of the ministerial meeting.“We welcome that, and we are looking forward really to help to see that such initiative and such meeting in Paris will provide the right parameters in order, really, to move forward towards the international conference,” Malki said.He said the Palestinians were not upset that neither they nor the Israelis would be invited to the initial ministerial meeting, just to later stages.Diplomats said that France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had discouraged the Palestinians from moving ahead with the proposed measure that would have put pressure on the United States to resort to a veto.The Security Council failed in 2011 to adopt a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the United States vetoed it.Earlier this month, Abbas said there was an “urgent” need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements to salvage the two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine would be both recognized.French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in Paris that the May meeting will prepare an international summit to be held in the second half of 2016, which would include the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
Russian, Israeli jets said to cross paths over Syria-Accounts of incident differ, with some claiming Russian fighters were scrambled to intercept Israelis. However, no confrontation took place-By Times of Israel staff April 22, 2016, 1:47 am
An irregular aerial incident occurred in recent days when Israeli fighter jets encountered Russian warplanes along the Syrian frontier, Hebrew media reported.Information regarding the alleged incident was limited, and reports Thursday were conflicting.According to one account on the Ynet news website, a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli military aircraft operating along the northern border. The report stated that it was unclear why the Russian fighter was launched. It noted that the two planes did not make contact and that the Israeli fighter continued on its course unobstructed.A second report on Channel 2 news claimed that the incident occurred between Russian and Israeli squadrons, as Israeli jets flew along the Syrian coastline. The two fighter groups reportedly approached each other, and very nearly confronted each other. However, contacts between Israeli and Russian officials through a coordination body set up last year prevented a more serious incident.Finally, Channel 10 military reporter Alon Ben-David appeared to combine the two accounts, tweeting Thursday that a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli squadron over the Syrian coast. He too noted that the incident never became a full-blown confrontation, and that none of the planes had locked onto each other throughout the event.Whatever the details of the occurrence, it appeared to have taken place several days before Thursday’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which focused in part on coordination between the two militaries along the Syrian border, and which the Israeli premier called “very successful.”Netanyahu said the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.“I set the goal of the meeting as strengthening coordination between Russia and Israel to prevent mishaps,” Netanyahu said. “I think we clarified some matters, and that is very important.”The issues of the Syrian civil war and the ownership of the Golan had been expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar Assad since September of last year. And although Moscow recently announced it would withdraw many of its troops from the war-torn country, Russian planes still regularly fly sorties there.In November Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said a Russian jet had breached Israeli airspace, and that the matter was “immediately fixed through communications channels” between the two countries. And late last month King Abdullah of Jordan told American lawmakers that Israeli and Jordanian jets together confronted Russian warplanes in January over southern Syria and warned them away from crossing their shared border.Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli and Russian military officials had discussed coordination between their armies.“I think [such coordination] is crucial because we have to keep the freedom of movement for the army and the air force in the places that are important to us in terms of our security, and I think that this essential,” he said.Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also been the topic of previous high-level meetings between Moscow and Jerusalem. A number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah.The prime minister announced he will return to Russia on June 7.During the meeting, Netanyahu informed Putin of his “red lines” regarding the security of Israel’s northern borders, and stressed that the Jewish state was determined to maintain its control of the Golan Heights.“I have come to Russia to step up coordination on security matters, to prevent mistakes, misunderstandings,” Netanyahu said as the two leaders met. “We are not going back to the days when rockets were fired at our communities and our children from the top of the Golan… and so, with an agreement or without, the Golan Heights will remain part of [Israel’s] sovereign territory.”The prime minister stressed that Israel would do “everything” in its power to block Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah from obtaining advanced weapons, and was working to assure that no new “terror front” appeared on the Golan Heights.Israel is interested in making sure that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed terror groups are not able to use a power vacuum on the Syrian side of the Golan to set up a base near the border for attacks against Israel.
Jerusalem bus bombing was suicide attack organized by Hamas-Monday’s blast marks 1st suicide attack of current terror wave; cell members in Bethlehem arrested; terrorist Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, died Wednesday of his wounds-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 6:26 pm
The bus bombing in Jerusalem on Monday was a suicide terror attack orchestrated by Palestinian terror group Hamas, and several members of the cell responsible have been arrested in the West Bank, security forces revealed on Thursday as a gag order on the case was partially lifted.The bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.The bomber was one of 21 people injured in the attack. He was severely wounded and died of his injuries on Wednesday.The Shin Bet said several Hamas members from Bethlehem have been arrested in connection with the attack after an intensive manhunt by the security service, police and the IDF.The attack marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.The father of the bomber told Channel 2 on Thursday that he “knew nothing about his affiliation” with Hamas.The bomber came from a well-known Bethlehem clan, some of whose members have a history of terrorism and violence against Israel.The announcement came a day after Hamas said the bomber was a member. Israel had placed the details of his identity under a gag order.The Hamas announcement fell short of a full claim of responsibility for the attack.The terror attack broke weeks of relative calm in the city after a six-month wave of Palestinian stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks seemed to be subsiding, and raised fears of a return to a type of violence not seen in Jerusalem for years.Bus bombings were common during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, but Monday’s attack was the first bomb targeting a bus in Jerusalem since 2011, when a British tourist was killed by a bomb planted next to a bus stop.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night promised to “find whoever prepared this explosive device.”“We’ll settle the score with these terrorists,” he said.Judah Ari Gross and AFP contributed to this report.
Israel nabs suspect in 2015 Hebron stabbing attack-Security forces arrest Palestinian alleged to have seriously injured an Israeli man in Kiryat Arba terror attack-By Times of Israel staff April 21, 2016, 6:04 pm
Israeli security forces on Thursday arrested a Palestinian suspected of stabbing and seriously injuring an Israeli in a West Bank terror attack last October.The unnamed suspect had been on the loose for nearly six months after stabbing Meir Pavlovsky, 30, in Kiryat Arba and fleeing the scene.Police at the time said the suspect had fled into nearby Hebron.Pavlovsky, originally from Ukraine, was stabbed in the stomach and back and was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in serious condition. He underwent several surgeries to stabilize his condition.Three weeks after the stabbing, Pavlovsky got engaged to his girlfriend, according to media reports.The stabbing attack occurred on October 8, 2015, one of four such attacks that day in which a total of nine people were injured.The attacks came near the beginning of a wave of terror assaults which have included stabbing, shootings, car-rammings and, most recently, a bus bombing in Jerusalem in which 20 people were injured. The bomber was the only casualty in the attack.Twenty-nine Israelis and four non-Israelis have been killed in the recent terror wave. More than 180 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.
