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)
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
NORTH KOREA TESTS 2ND MISSLE IN A WEEK-AMERICA THREATENS TO NUKE NORTH KOREA IN TO OBLIVION
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2016/10/north-korea-tests-2nd-missle-in-week.html
Palestinians seek UN resolution against settlements-PA’s envoy to the world body Riyad Mansour says it must threaten Israel with ‘consequences’-By Edith M. Lederer October 20, 2016, 1:47 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to adopt a resolution with serious measures to compel Israel to halt all settlement activities and threatening “consequences” if it refuses.Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told the council Wednesday that an Israeli cessation of all settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of the West Bank “are imperative for realizing a just, lasting, comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli peace.”Mansour has been sounding out the 15 council members on a new settlements resolution and he is expected to report to the Arab Ministerial Committee which is expected to meet in Cairo before the end of the month to decide on next steps.Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon made no mention of settlements and instead excoriated the UN for its anti-Israel bias.Israel contends that the West Bank was not captured from the Palestinians and the issues of settlements and borders should be decided through negotiations. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Mideast war and says the entire city is its capital, and it has the right to build wherever it wants.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also makes the argument that Arab hatred and attacks go back to long before the 1967 war, and therefore he thinks settlements are not the main cause of the conflict.Danon denounced the Israeli rights group B’Tselem, whose executive director urged council members last Friday to take immediate and decisive action to end Israel’s occupation. He said B’Tselem receives funds from three UN agencies and called on the council “to put an end to UN funding for extremist organizations that seek to harm Israel.”The UN’s special coordinator for Mideast peace, Nickolay Mladenov, warned the council that the Israeli-Palestinian situation is deteriorating.“The absence of progress has led to growing anger and frustration among Palestinians and profound disillusionment among Israelis,” he said. “It has strengthened radicals and weakened moderates on both sides.”“We must all avoid the risk of sleep-walking into another violent conflict at a time when the region as a whole needs moderate forces to unite and stand up to the radicalization that we see in the Middle East,” Mladenov said.He cited recent killings of Israelis and Palestinians, and Israel’s continued settlement planning including its recent promotion of some 300 new housing units in Shilo which opponents say would form a wedge between the northern and southern West Bank, jeopardizing prospects for a contiguous future Palestinian state.Mladenov urged Hamas, which controls Gaza, to pursue reconciliation with Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and agree to the Palestine Liberation Organization principles which include recognition of the state of Israel.In a message clearly directed at Israel, he warned that those who believe the people of Gaza can be punished by closing the strip or restricting entry of construction materials vital for the economy “should know that the temperature in Gaza is rising.”And in a message directed to Hamas, he warned that those building tunnels, firing rockets, smuggling military equipment and profiting from the black market are “dangerous and irresponsible” — and “are stealing from their own people and risk the lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
PM denies he called Obama ‘existential danger’ to settlements, but confirms concerns-TV report claims Netanyahu told Amona residents he fears actions US president may take in span between election and leaving office-By Times of Israel staff October 19, 2016, 8:30 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied telling the residents of the Amona outpost in the West Bank — slated for evacuation in December by court order — that US President Barack Obama poses “an existential danger” to the settlement enterprise.Channel 2 television on Wednesday evening quoted him saying, at a meeting last week: “It isn’t just Amona, in the coming period, between the elections in the United States and the end of Obama’s term, the entire settlement enterprise is in existential danger.”The Prime Minister’s Office swiftly denied the report.“The prime minister did not make the comments attributed to him, but noted that in the past there were presidents who, at the end of their terms, pushed initiatives that were inconsistent with Israeli interests,” a statement from his office said.“The prime minister added that he hopes the situation will not repeat itself and he anticipates that the US will not change its longstanding policy, for decades, to prevent anti-Israel decisions at the UN Security Council.”An unnamed source present at last week’s meeting quoted Netanyahu, slightly differently, as saying that “unwise behavior” by Israel during Obama’s final weeks in office was likely “to endanger the entire settlement enterprise,” Haaretz reported. This report said the meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s Office, lasted two and a half hours, and involved Likud activists, including some from Amona and the nearby settlement of Ofra.The activists, who initiated the meeting and sought options to prevent the dismantling of Amona, were told by Netanyahu that he had to take into account the interests of the entire settlement movement, Haaretz reported, and that the final weeks of the presidency would be a particularly sensitive period. “We have to act wisely,” Netanyahu reportedly said, “and you of all people should understand this.”Israeli government members have been worried that Obama, before leaving office in January, but after a successor is chosen in November, may seek to impose or advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least set out parameters for how it should be solved.Meanwhile, the right-wing government has been posed with a new dilemma with the Amona evacuation, which the High Court of Justice ordered completed by the end of the year and which the attorney general has warned cannot be circumvented.Earlier this month, Jerusalem and Washington sparred publicly over a plan to build some 300 homes for Jews in the West Bank, 98 of which would be reserved for the Amona evacuees.The White House on October 5 accused Israel of a betrayal of trust over the new plans. “We did receive public assurances from the Israeli government that contradict this announcement,” said press secretary Josh Earnest. “I guess when we’re talking about how good friends treat one another, that’s a source of serious concern as well.”In a similarly strongly worded statement, the State Department said Israel’s “recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank.”Invoking the name of Israel’s former president who had died a week earlier, spokesman Mark Toner added: “[I]t is disheartening that while Israel and the world mourned the passing of President Shimon Peres, and leaders from the US and other nations prepared to honor one of the great champions of peace, plans were advanced that would seriously undermine the prospects for the two state solution that he so passionately supported.”An Israel official on October 6 deepened the dispute with the Obama administration over settlement-building by charging that “disproportionate criticism” from Washington over the latest construction plans is “an alibi” to cover plans by Obama to take anti-Israel actions in the final weeks of his presidency.Speaking at the time to Channel 2 news, the unnamed “senior political source” insisted that newly announced plans to build some 300 homes for Jews in the West Bank do not constitute a new settlement, and do not breach any commitments made by Israel to the United States.The TV report stressed that the comments did not constitute an official response from the government, and noted that Netanyahu has not responded to the US criticism.But the senior source told Channel 2 that the building plans breached no commitments, did not constitute a new settlement, and would not bring more settlers into the West Bank, since the construction was for new homes for settlers who are to be evicted from Amona, an illegal outpost scheduled for demolition on the orders of the Supreme Court.The “disproportionate” US criticism “is an alibi for one-sided actions being planned by Obama,” the source was quoted saying, “even though Obama pledged to Netanyahu that he won’t take any one-sided actions concerning Israel” in the final weeks of his presidency.The TV report said cabinet ministers had been taken aback by the ferocity of the US reaction.The US leadership, according to the Channel 2 report, has been particularly infuriated at the announcement of new building so soon after the Obama Administration agreed a record-breaking 10-year military assistance package for Israel, and right after Obama came to Israel, in a show of respect and solidarity, for the funeral of former president Peres last Friday.The TV report also quoted Amona residents saying the planned new housing was no solution for them, since it would take four years to build and they are scheduled to be evicted in just a few months.Israel’s Foreign Ministry earlier rejected the harsh criticism from the United States. “The 98 housing units approved in Shiloh do not constitute a ‘new settlement’,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “This housing will be built on state land in the existing settlement of Shiloh and will not change its municipal boundary or geographic footprint.”Israel on October 1 approved the construction of the new housing units for the homeowners of Amona ahead of its court-ordered evacuation. The plan calls for two phases of construction, with a further 200 units to be approved after a first round of 98 homes is completed.The Foreign Ministry also reiterated Israel’s stance that the settlements are not the main cause of the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.“The real obstacle to peace is not the settlements — a final status issue that can and must be resolved in negotiations between the parties — but the persistent Palestinian rejection of a Jewish state in any boundaries,” the statement said.Agencies contributed to this report.
Israel’s antiquities chief compares UNESCO to Islamic State-UN cultural body’s resolution on Jerusalem akin to jihadist group’s destruction of Palmyra, says Yisrael Hasson-By Ilan Ben Zion October 20, 2016, 12:32 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The director of the Israel Antiquities Authority on Wednesday slammed UNESCO for its resolution on Jerusalem holy sites, comparing the UN cultural body to Islamic State jihadists.Speaking at the opening of the new IAA headquarters in Jerusalem, director Yisrael Hasson said the resolution adopted last week and confirmed on Tuesday put the UN organization in the same league as IS jihadists who have destroyed and looted hundreds of archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq to fund their “caliphate.”“Around us, world heritage treasures are being destroyed… They murdered Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, who tried to protect heritage,” Hasson said recalling the 82-year-old retired head of antiquities in Palmyra who was beheaded by IS militants last year.IS overran Palmyra — a UNESCO world heritage site known as the “Pearl of the Desert” — in May 2015 and used its ancient amphitheater for public executions.The extremist group blew up temples and tower tombs as part of it campaign against pre-Islamic monuments it considers “blasphemous.”“And recently UNESCO in essence joined this system of destruction by diplomatic means. This is essentially the same action by a diplomatic course,” Hasson said.Damascus-born Hasson, a former Knesset member and deputy director of the Shin Bet, is the latest in a string of Israeli officials to slam the UNESCO decision, which Israel says ignores Jewish and Christian historical ties to Jerusalem’s holiest sites.The resolution, passed Thursday in the committee stage at the United Nations cultural body, referred to the Temple Mount and Western Wall only by their Muslim names and condemned Israel as “the occupying power” for various actions taken in both sites.The resolution was confirmed by UNESCO’s executive on Tuesday.The IAA opened its new Jerusalem headquarters Wednesday despite the fact that the massive complex has yet to be completed.Hasson and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a gala dinner replete with singers, dancers, weavers, potters and ethnic-garbed women handing out commemorative coins, but which was held amid exposed wiring, unfinished concrete floors and walls, and empty offices.Part of the reason for showcasing the building, which is to house antiquities from across the country as well as the agency’s laboratories and offices, was to raise the additional funds necessary to finish construction.Once completed, the IAA building will be the home for artifacts currently stored at various warehouses nationwide, as well as the Rockefeller Museum’s rare books library.Since Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, the Antiquities Authority has been headquartered in the Rockefeller Museum, situated near the Old City’s Herod’s Gate.The IAA’s move into its new headquarters was not without controversy. Critics, including the left-leaning archaeology NGO Emek Shaveh, petitioned the High Court of Justice to prevent artifacts from the Rockefeller library being transferred from their East Jerusalem home to the new facility. The appeal was based on the claim that international law bans the removal of cultural property from occupied territories. The court rejected the petition.Despite the court’s ruling, antiquities from the Rockefeller will remain at the historic 1930s building, while the library will be transferred to the new facility.
Defying UNESCO and Ramallah, foreign lawmakers tour Jewish Hebron-Despite intense Palestinian opposition, a group of 15 parliamentarians from across the globe visits the Tomb of the Patriarchs for the first time-By Raphael Ahren October 20, 2016, 12:35 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
HEBRON, West Bank — The UNESCO resolution approved last week did more than shortchange Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem. The text also has a section on the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which it calls a “Palestine site.”While the resolution acknowledges that the building — which it refers to as “Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs” — is of “religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” it declares it to be “an integral part of Palestine.”On Wednesday, one day after UNESCO’s executive board ratified the controversial resolution, 15 Christian parliamentarians from Europe, Africa and Latin America visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs and other parts of Jewish Hebron in a striking affirmation of support for the Jewish claim to the Holy Land.The lawmakers, part of a network of 35 pro-Israel parliamentary caucuses counting over 1,000 members, were treated to a guided tour through Jewish Hebron and were hosted by the community’s spokespeople and other pro-settlement leaders.The foreign dignitaries, who hailed from countries including Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and Uruguay, seemed empathetic. “This land belongs to the Jews, and especially this place,” said Reverend Malani Mtanga, an MP from Malawi. “We respect this land as a place that belongs to Abraham. It was bought by and belongs to Abraham and is to be respected as such and protected as such.”UNESCO’s resolution is not only unfair to the Jews but to the whole world, since it also denies Christianity’s roots in the Holy Land, Mtanga told reporters on the steps leading to the site, revered by Jews as the final resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and by Muslims because of Abraham’s significance as a Quranic prophet. “UNESCO has no power to erase the history of this land.”The foreign MPs were visiting on the sidelines of the annual Israel Allies Foundation conference, which for years has brought Christian and Jewish pro-Israeli lawmakers from various countries to visit the Holy Land during Sukkot, the festival during which, according to Jewish tradition, the nations of the world ascend to Jerusalem. But Wednesday’s trip was the first time a group of foreign parliamentarians visited the Jewish community of Hebron, organizers said.Indeed, the Palestine Liberation Organization tried to block the visit, even lobbying the MPs’ host governments. South African lawmaker Kenneth Meshoe said he felt the Palestinians’ pressure, but insisted he had nothing but bitter scorn for it.In Hebron, South Africa MP said Palestinian pressure not to visit reminded him of apartheid when they restricted his freedom of movement pic.twitter.com/uLTG1ye1tc— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) October 19, 2016-“The Palestinian Authority reminded me of the apartheid days when I was not allowed to travel the way I wanted to,” he said.Like all participants, Meshoe, the president of the African Christian Democratic Party — which currently has three out of 400 seats in the country’s National Assembly — expressed outrage at UNESCO’s Jerusalem resolution and vowed to tell his government that they were hypocritical in supporting it.Why, then, did many Christian countries supported the text despite its distortion of history? “It is difficult to explain,” Meshoe said, adding that “one of the reasons could be cowardice. We have many political leaders who are cowards, who don’t have a backbone, who cannot stand for their convictions. Many political leaders are like dead fish that just flow with the stream. And I think it is high time now that Africa produces leaders who are bold, who will stand for their convictions and not blow with the wind.”Meshoe has been to Israel dozens of times, but never to Hebron. “It strengthens my faith,” he said of the visit, which started with a tour of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The group’s local guide was Noam Arnon, a veteran advocate for Hebron’s Jewish community who is currently writing a doctorate on “the history and the mystery” of the holy site.As the foreign dignitaries pushed their way through masses of Jewish tourists, Arnon spoke of the 2,000-year history of the building and hailed the “miracle” of the Jews’ return to Hebron after the last ones fled Arab violence in the 1936-9 Arab revolt. “This building was erected 700 years before Islam was born,” he said.“This is not Disneyland. This is the foundation of humanity,” exclaimed Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for Hebron’s Jewish community. “Take a moment to be wowed by it.”The lawmakers took selfies with the patriarchs’ cenotaphs (placeholders that look like graves but indicate the tombs’ underground location) and some joined a group of Orthodox men exuberantly dancing in a circle to mark the intermediary days of Sukkot.Speaker after speaker described Hebron as a world wonder — Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi called it “the most complex and intense place in the world” — and stressed that it is possible to walk the city’s streets without fear of attack.After the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the group passed by a street with shuttered Palestinian storefronts. Fleisher, the Jewish community’s international spokesperson, acknowledged that it was “lamentable” that Israeli forces had to close these shops but cited a “sense of danger” due to a “lot of terrorism” that emerged from these places.“They [the shop owners] weren’t evicted; many of them still live here,” he said. “They were all offered compensation; some took it, some didn’t. But it’s not a ghost city that we ethnically cleansed, as the media likes to portray it.”On the way to the next stop — the Tel Rumeida lookout — the lawmakers were shown a staircase built some 4,500 years ago, in the early Bronze Age. When Abraham walked here with his son, said Fleisher, he probably told Isaac, already back then, that this was one of humanity’s most ancient structures.Right across from the staircase lives far-right activist Baruch Marzel, who invited the foreign dignitaries in for refreshments; nobody took him up on the offer.“Not everyone is anti-Semitic,” Marzel told Israeli reporters as the lawmakers passed by his house. “A big part of Europe really is anti-Semitic. Those who are not supporting Israel, automatically.”At the Tel Rumeida lookout point, the lawmakers were shown “Arab Hebron,” which Fleisher described as a vibrant city that has little in common with its international image as a city of divisiveness and conflict. Hebron’s reputation as a city of “Israeli apartheid” is a “myth,” Fleisher said, adding that Hamas is the “predominant political and attitudinal factor here.”(Some 180,000 Palestinians and 10,000 Jews live in the city — 1,000 in Hebron itself and 9,000 in adjacent Kiryat Arba.) Later, during lunch, Efrat mayor Revivi and other speakers showered the visiting MPs with subtle and not-so-subtle messages in support of a one-state solution. Revivi, who is also a senior official in the settlers’ umbrella Yesha Council, spoke of the excellent relationship he has with the Palestinians living in the area, positing that “high fences don’t make good neighbors,” and that all the Palestinians want is better cooperation with Israeli authorities.Josh Reinstein, from the Israel Allies Foundation, said the notion that a Palestinian state without Jews could lead to peace was a “myth.”The lawmakers listened and nodded politely, but asked for their views later, several said they support the creation of a Palestinian state.“I’m in favor of a two-state solution as long as the Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exist in safe and secure borders,” Meshoe, the MP from South Africa, said.Did he realize that throughout the day he had been listening to speakers who firmly oppose Palestinian statehood? “I haven’t engaged many of them,” he replied.
Thousands of women rally for peace outside PM’s home-Jerusalem protest is culmination of two-week march from the north to call for accord with Palestinians-By Times of Israel staff October 20, 2016, 12:02 am
Thousands of women marched through Jerusalem on Wednesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, calling on him to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.The protest was the culmination of a 200-kilometer (about 125-mile), two-week march from the north of the country to Jerusalem, by Women Wage Peace, an organization comprising Jewish and Arab women, formed after Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza.As they reached Jerusalem, the marchers were joined by Liberian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Roberta Gbowee, as well as thousands of other women. Organizers estimated that some 10,000 people took part, while police put the number at a far lower 2,500.“We demand that our leaders work with respect and courage towards a solution to the ongoing violent conflict, with the full participation of women in this process,” the march organizers said in a statement. “Only an honorable political agreement will secure the future of our children and grandchildren.”#HappeningNow huge rally of women in #Jerusalem demanding a political solution now #MarchofHope2016 pic.twitter.com/yxTuHoBhXY-— Sophie Schor (@sophierose724) October 19, 2016-Negotiation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.In the last few days, the group also met with Jordanian women on the Island of Peace in Naharayim on the Jordan River.Thousands of women from Israel & Palestine are marching for peace. They've reached Jerusalem now. Follow #MarchOfHope2016 pic.twitter.com/iarnftErZj— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) October 19, 2016-Gbowee, the Liberian activist, also met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama.Rivlin told Gbowee, who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement, which was instrumental in bringing an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, that her actions were “a true inspiration.”She was awarded the Nobel in 2011.
US, Israel envoys clash over B’Tselem at Security Council forum-Danon says UN funding for NGO ‘directly interferes’ in Jewish state’s democracy, while American counterpart stresses political inclusion-By Tamar Pileggi October 19, 2016, 11:53 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The American and Israeli ambassadors to the United Nations publicly disagreed at a Security Council meeting Wednesday, after Israel’s Danny Danon demanded the United Nations end its support for the B’Tselem human rights group, arguing that it “directly interfered” in Israeli democracy.B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad sparked fury in Israel last week, when he urged the Security Council to take immediate action against Israeli settlements at a special session on the occupation.El-Ad spoke of “invisible, bureaucratic daily violence” that dominates Palestinian life “from cradle to grave,” including Israeli control over entrance and exit from the territories, and farming rights.Speaking at Wednesday’s monthly Security Council session on the Middle East, Danon claimed that UN funding for B’Tselem prevented the organization from presenting reliably objective reports on to the world body’s agencies.Afterwards, with all 15 Council members looking on, US Ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs David Pressman jumped to B’Tselem’s defense, stressing the importance for governments to foster an atmosphere of political inclusion.“We thank these NGOs – B’Tselem and Americans for Peace Now [whose representative also spoke Friday] – for sharing their technical expertise, as we recognize other NGOs around the world who shed light on difficult issues,” Pressman said, according to Haaretz newspaper. “It is vital that all governments protect and create an atmosphere that all voices can be heard.”B’Tselem, along with other left-leaning NGOs in Israel, have been accused in the past of working to undermine Israel’s legitimacy by lobbying international forums.Its director’s remarks Friday drew fierce denunciations from Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed he would bar national service volunteers from working with the organization.But the US lent its support to B’Tselem on Monday, expressing concern about the threats against the organization, while the European Union delegation to Israel tweeted its support for “B’Tselem to maintain human rights of vulnerable Palestinian communities.”During the Wednesday session, Danon also lashed out at the UN’s cultural body UNESCO for adopting an Arab-backed resolution that disregards Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem holy sites.“These attempts to cut us off from our homeland and our heritage will not succeed. We will remain in our land and in our capital of Jerusalem forever,” Danon said. “UNESCO’s resolution, which denies a connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, is an embarrassing stain on the pages of UN history.”He said the lack of UN resolutions regarding Syria and other regional conflicts demonstrated the agency’s bias against the Jewish state.“More people have been killed in Syria in the past few months than in the entire history of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said. “Yet the UN passed six times as many resolutions against Israel than all other countries combined.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
5 Palestinians arrested for shooting at IDF troops-Army says the residents of Ramallah-area village admitted to buying weapons, opening fire on soldiers on eve of Yom Kippur-By Times of Israel staff October 19, 2016, 7:26 pm
Israeli security forces arrested five Palestinians for a shooting attack against IDF troops in the West Bank last week, the army said in a statement Wednesday.The five suspects — all residents of the village of Ni’lin near Ramallah — were arrested in the days following the attack. All five admitted to purchasing weapons from a local arms dealer and carrying out the attack, the army said.The five approached the security fence near Ni’lin last Tuesday, and opened fire on IDF troops before fleeing the scene. No soldiers were injured in the incident.IDF arrest raids in the West Bank have stepped up slightly, as military officials attempt to head off what they fear may be an uptick in violence during the fall holiday season, when tensions have been known to rise.Over the past few months, the IDF, Shin Bet and police have been cracking down on illegal arms manufacturing and weapons smuggling in the West Bank and Israel.Israel in the past year saw a wave of so-called “lone-wolf” Palestinian terror attacks, which have claimed the lives of 35 Israelis and four foreign nationals since October 2015. Some 227 Palestinians have also been killed in the past year, with the Israeli army and police saying that most of those killed were attackers or involved in clashes with security forces.
Ex-army head, Hezbollah ally Aoun tipped for Lebanon presidency-Saad Hariri, former premier and longtime opponent of Shiite terror group, reportedly decides to endorse the appointment-By AFP October 20, 2016, 2:29 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lebanon’s powerful ex-premier Saad Hariri is expected to endorse Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun for president, a post that has been vacant for almost 30 months, a senior politician said Wednesday.Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the mandate of Michel Sleiman expired amid deep rivalries among Christian and Muslim politicians exacerbated by the conflict in Syria.Since then parliament, which has twice extended its mandate, has met on 45 occasions to elect a president but deep rivalries and disagreements saw most deputies boycott the sessions.The assembly is due to convene next week for the 46th time amid high expectations that a president will be elected and that the job will go to Aoun, a Maronite Christian and former army commander.“Since Hariri has decided to endorse him, and save any last minute change, Michel Aoun will be elected by parliament on October 30,” said the senior politician, who declined to be named.Hariri, a former Sunni Muslim prime minister whose party belongs to a Western- and Saudi-backed political bloc, had fiercely opposed Aoun’s candidacy.Aoun is allied with the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has dispatched fighters to neighboring Syria to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.Hariri’s father, former premier Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in February 2005 in Beirut. An international tribunal has accused the Assad regime of carrying out the assassination, which led to mass protests and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country.On Wednesday, Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to Hezbollah, said that Hariri had informed his political bloc and his allies of his decision to endorse Aoun.“All that’s left is to officially announce it,” added Al-Akhbar.Aged 81, the ex-general Aoun is a controversial figure.He served as head of the armed forces and briefly as prime minister during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and was then a staunch opponent of the Syrian military presence in Lebanon.But he shocked many by brokering an alliance with Hezbollah in 2006, a year after his return home from exile in France and after Syria pulled its troops from Lebanon.According to a source close to Hariri, the ex-prime minister struck a deal with Aoun to endorse him in exchange for his return as premier.Under Lebanon’s constitution, the country’s president is elected by parliament, and the post is always reserved for a Maronite Christian under a power-sharing agreement.The post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, while the speaker of the parliament is a Shiite Muslim.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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
NORTH KOREA TESTS 2ND MISSLE IN A WEEK-AMERICA THREATENS TO NUKE NORTH KOREA IN TO OBLIVION
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2016/10/north-korea-tests-2nd-missle-in-week.html
Palestinians seek UN resolution against settlements-PA’s envoy to the world body Riyad Mansour says it must threaten Israel with ‘consequences’-By Edith M. Lederer October 20, 2016, 1:47 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to adopt a resolution with serious measures to compel Israel to halt all settlement activities and threatening “consequences” if it refuses.Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told the council Wednesday that an Israeli cessation of all settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of the West Bank “are imperative for realizing a just, lasting, comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli peace.”Mansour has been sounding out the 15 council members on a new settlements resolution and he is expected to report to the Arab Ministerial Committee which is expected to meet in Cairo before the end of the month to decide on next steps.Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon made no mention of settlements and instead excoriated the UN for its anti-Israel bias.Israel contends that the West Bank was not captured from the Palestinians and the issues of settlements and borders should be decided through negotiations. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Mideast war and says the entire city is its capital, and it has the right to build wherever it wants.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also makes the argument that Arab hatred and attacks go back to long before the 1967 war, and therefore he thinks settlements are not the main cause of the conflict.Danon denounced the Israeli rights group B’Tselem, whose executive director urged council members last Friday to take immediate and decisive action to end Israel’s occupation. He said B’Tselem receives funds from three UN agencies and called on the council “to put an end to UN funding for extremist organizations that seek to harm Israel.”The UN’s special coordinator for Mideast peace, Nickolay Mladenov, warned the council that the Israeli-Palestinian situation is deteriorating.“The absence of progress has led to growing anger and frustration among Palestinians and profound disillusionment among Israelis,” he said. “It has strengthened radicals and weakened moderates on both sides.”“We must all avoid the risk of sleep-walking into another violent conflict at a time when the region as a whole needs moderate forces to unite and stand up to the radicalization that we see in the Middle East,” Mladenov said.He cited recent killings of Israelis and Palestinians, and Israel’s continued settlement planning including its recent promotion of some 300 new housing units in Shilo which opponents say would form a wedge between the northern and southern West Bank, jeopardizing prospects for a contiguous future Palestinian state.Mladenov urged Hamas, which controls Gaza, to pursue reconciliation with Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and agree to the Palestine Liberation Organization principles which include recognition of the state of Israel.In a message clearly directed at Israel, he warned that those who believe the people of Gaza can be punished by closing the strip or restricting entry of construction materials vital for the economy “should know that the temperature in Gaza is rising.”And in a message directed to Hamas, he warned that those building tunnels, firing rockets, smuggling military equipment and profiting from the black market are “dangerous and irresponsible” — and “are stealing from their own people and risk the lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
PM denies he called Obama ‘existential danger’ to settlements, but confirms concerns-TV report claims Netanyahu told Amona residents he fears actions US president may take in span between election and leaving office-By Times of Israel staff October 19, 2016, 8:30 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied telling the residents of the Amona outpost in the West Bank — slated for evacuation in December by court order — that US President Barack Obama poses “an existential danger” to the settlement enterprise.Channel 2 television on Wednesday evening quoted him saying, at a meeting last week: “It isn’t just Amona, in the coming period, between the elections in the United States and the end of Obama’s term, the entire settlement enterprise is in existential danger.”The Prime Minister’s Office swiftly denied the report.“The prime minister did not make the comments attributed to him, but noted that in the past there were presidents who, at the end of their terms, pushed initiatives that were inconsistent with Israeli interests,” a statement from his office said.“The prime minister added that he hopes the situation will not repeat itself and he anticipates that the US will not change its longstanding policy, for decades, to prevent anti-Israel decisions at the UN Security Council.”An unnamed source present at last week’s meeting quoted Netanyahu, slightly differently, as saying that “unwise behavior” by Israel during Obama’s final weeks in office was likely “to endanger the entire settlement enterprise,” Haaretz reported. This report said the meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s Office, lasted two and a half hours, and involved Likud activists, including some from Amona and the nearby settlement of Ofra.The activists, who initiated the meeting and sought options to prevent the dismantling of Amona, were told by Netanyahu that he had to take into account the interests of the entire settlement movement, Haaretz reported, and that the final weeks of the presidency would be a particularly sensitive period. “We have to act wisely,” Netanyahu reportedly said, “and you of all people should understand this.”Israeli government members have been worried that Obama, before leaving office in January, but after a successor is chosen in November, may seek to impose or advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least set out parameters for how it should be solved.Meanwhile, the right-wing government has been posed with a new dilemma with the Amona evacuation, which the High Court of Justice ordered completed by the end of the year and which the attorney general has warned cannot be circumvented.Earlier this month, Jerusalem and Washington sparred publicly over a plan to build some 300 homes for Jews in the West Bank, 98 of which would be reserved for the Amona evacuees.The White House on October 5 accused Israel of a betrayal of trust over the new plans. “We did receive public assurances from the Israeli government that contradict this announcement,” said press secretary Josh Earnest. “I guess when we’re talking about how good friends treat one another, that’s a source of serious concern as well.”In a similarly strongly worded statement, the State Department said Israel’s “recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank.”Invoking the name of Israel’s former president who had died a week earlier, spokesman Mark Toner added: “[I]t is disheartening that while Israel and the world mourned the passing of President Shimon Peres, and leaders from the US and other nations prepared to honor one of the great champions of peace, plans were advanced that would seriously undermine the prospects for the two state solution that he so passionately supported.”An Israel official on October 6 deepened the dispute with the Obama administration over settlement-building by charging that “disproportionate criticism” from Washington over the latest construction plans is “an alibi” to cover plans by Obama to take anti-Israel actions in the final weeks of his presidency.Speaking at the time to Channel 2 news, the unnamed “senior political source” insisted that newly announced plans to build some 300 homes for Jews in the West Bank do not constitute a new settlement, and do not breach any commitments made by Israel to the United States.The TV report stressed that the comments did not constitute an official response from the government, and noted that Netanyahu has not responded to the US criticism.But the senior source told Channel 2 that the building plans breached no commitments, did not constitute a new settlement, and would not bring more settlers into the West Bank, since the construction was for new homes for settlers who are to be evicted from Amona, an illegal outpost scheduled for demolition on the orders of the Supreme Court.The “disproportionate” US criticism “is an alibi for one-sided actions being planned by Obama,” the source was quoted saying, “even though Obama pledged to Netanyahu that he won’t take any one-sided actions concerning Israel” in the final weeks of his presidency.The TV report said cabinet ministers had been taken aback by the ferocity of the US reaction.The US leadership, according to the Channel 2 report, has been particularly infuriated at the announcement of new building so soon after the Obama Administration agreed a record-breaking 10-year military assistance package for Israel, and right after Obama came to Israel, in a show of respect and solidarity, for the funeral of former president Peres last Friday.The TV report also quoted Amona residents saying the planned new housing was no solution for them, since it would take four years to build and they are scheduled to be evicted in just a few months.Israel’s Foreign Ministry earlier rejected the harsh criticism from the United States. “The 98 housing units approved in Shiloh do not constitute a ‘new settlement’,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “This housing will be built on state land in the existing settlement of Shiloh and will not change its municipal boundary or geographic footprint.”Israel on October 1 approved the construction of the new housing units for the homeowners of Amona ahead of its court-ordered evacuation. The plan calls for two phases of construction, with a further 200 units to be approved after a first round of 98 homes is completed.The Foreign Ministry also reiterated Israel’s stance that the settlements are not the main cause of the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.“The real obstacle to peace is not the settlements — a final status issue that can and must be resolved in negotiations between the parties — but the persistent Palestinian rejection of a Jewish state in any boundaries,” the statement said.Agencies contributed to this report.
Israel’s antiquities chief compares UNESCO to Islamic State-UN cultural body’s resolution on Jerusalem akin to jihadist group’s destruction of Palmyra, says Yisrael Hasson-By Ilan Ben Zion October 20, 2016, 12:32 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The director of the Israel Antiquities Authority on Wednesday slammed UNESCO for its resolution on Jerusalem holy sites, comparing the UN cultural body to Islamic State jihadists.Speaking at the opening of the new IAA headquarters in Jerusalem, director Yisrael Hasson said the resolution adopted last week and confirmed on Tuesday put the UN organization in the same league as IS jihadists who have destroyed and looted hundreds of archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq to fund their “caliphate.”“Around us, world heritage treasures are being destroyed… They murdered Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, who tried to protect heritage,” Hasson said recalling the 82-year-old retired head of antiquities in Palmyra who was beheaded by IS militants last year.IS overran Palmyra — a UNESCO world heritage site known as the “Pearl of the Desert” — in May 2015 and used its ancient amphitheater for public executions.The extremist group blew up temples and tower tombs as part of it campaign against pre-Islamic monuments it considers “blasphemous.”“And recently UNESCO in essence joined this system of destruction by diplomatic means. This is essentially the same action by a diplomatic course,” Hasson said.Damascus-born Hasson, a former Knesset member and deputy director of the Shin Bet, is the latest in a string of Israeli officials to slam the UNESCO decision, which Israel says ignores Jewish and Christian historical ties to Jerusalem’s holiest sites.The resolution, passed Thursday in the committee stage at the United Nations cultural body, referred to the Temple Mount and Western Wall only by their Muslim names and condemned Israel as “the occupying power” for various actions taken in both sites.The resolution was confirmed by UNESCO’s executive on Tuesday.The IAA opened its new Jerusalem headquarters Wednesday despite the fact that the massive complex has yet to be completed.Hasson and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a gala dinner replete with singers, dancers, weavers, potters and ethnic-garbed women handing out commemorative coins, but which was held amid exposed wiring, unfinished concrete floors and walls, and empty offices.Part of the reason for showcasing the building, which is to house antiquities from across the country as well as the agency’s laboratories and offices, was to raise the additional funds necessary to finish construction.Once completed, the IAA building will be the home for artifacts currently stored at various warehouses nationwide, as well as the Rockefeller Museum’s rare books library.Since Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, the Antiquities Authority has been headquartered in the Rockefeller Museum, situated near the Old City’s Herod’s Gate.The IAA’s move into its new headquarters was not without controversy. Critics, including the left-leaning archaeology NGO Emek Shaveh, petitioned the High Court of Justice to prevent artifacts from the Rockefeller library being transferred from their East Jerusalem home to the new facility. The appeal was based on the claim that international law bans the removal of cultural property from occupied territories. The court rejected the petition.Despite the court’s ruling, antiquities from the Rockefeller will remain at the historic 1930s building, while the library will be transferred to the new facility.
Defying UNESCO and Ramallah, foreign lawmakers tour Jewish Hebron-Despite intense Palestinian opposition, a group of 15 parliamentarians from across the globe visits the Tomb of the Patriarchs for the first time-By Raphael Ahren October 20, 2016, 12:35 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
HEBRON, West Bank — The UNESCO resolution approved last week did more than shortchange Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem. The text also has a section on the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which it calls a “Palestine site.”While the resolution acknowledges that the building — which it refers to as “Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs” — is of “religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” it declares it to be “an integral part of Palestine.”On Wednesday, one day after UNESCO’s executive board ratified the controversial resolution, 15 Christian parliamentarians from Europe, Africa and Latin America visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs and other parts of Jewish Hebron in a striking affirmation of support for the Jewish claim to the Holy Land.The lawmakers, part of a network of 35 pro-Israel parliamentary caucuses counting over 1,000 members, were treated to a guided tour through Jewish Hebron and were hosted by the community’s spokespeople and other pro-settlement leaders.The foreign dignitaries, who hailed from countries including Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and Uruguay, seemed empathetic. “This land belongs to the Jews, and especially this place,” said Reverend Malani Mtanga, an MP from Malawi. “We respect this land as a place that belongs to Abraham. It was bought by and belongs to Abraham and is to be respected as such and protected as such.”UNESCO’s resolution is not only unfair to the Jews but to the whole world, since it also denies Christianity’s roots in the Holy Land, Mtanga told reporters on the steps leading to the site, revered by Jews as the final resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and by Muslims because of Abraham’s significance as a Quranic prophet. “UNESCO has no power to erase the history of this land.”The foreign MPs were visiting on the sidelines of the annual Israel Allies Foundation conference, which for years has brought Christian and Jewish pro-Israeli lawmakers from various countries to visit the Holy Land during Sukkot, the festival during which, according to Jewish tradition, the nations of the world ascend to Jerusalem. But Wednesday’s trip was the first time a group of foreign parliamentarians visited the Jewish community of Hebron, organizers said.Indeed, the Palestine Liberation Organization tried to block the visit, even lobbying the MPs’ host governments. South African lawmaker Kenneth Meshoe said he felt the Palestinians’ pressure, but insisted he had nothing but bitter scorn for it.In Hebron, South Africa MP said Palestinian pressure not to visit reminded him of apartheid when they restricted his freedom of movement pic.twitter.com/uLTG1ye1tc— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) October 19, 2016-“The Palestinian Authority reminded me of the apartheid days when I was not allowed to travel the way I wanted to,” he said.Like all participants, Meshoe, the president of the African Christian Democratic Party — which currently has three out of 400 seats in the country’s National Assembly — expressed outrage at UNESCO’s Jerusalem resolution and vowed to tell his government that they were hypocritical in supporting it.Why, then, did many Christian countries supported the text despite its distortion of history? “It is difficult to explain,” Meshoe said, adding that “one of the reasons could be cowardice. We have many political leaders who are cowards, who don’t have a backbone, who cannot stand for their convictions. Many political leaders are like dead fish that just flow with the stream. And I think it is high time now that Africa produces leaders who are bold, who will stand for their convictions and not blow with the wind.”Meshoe has been to Israel dozens of times, but never to Hebron. “It strengthens my faith,” he said of the visit, which started with a tour of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The group’s local guide was Noam Arnon, a veteran advocate for Hebron’s Jewish community who is currently writing a doctorate on “the history and the mystery” of the holy site.As the foreign dignitaries pushed their way through masses of Jewish tourists, Arnon spoke of the 2,000-year history of the building and hailed the “miracle” of the Jews’ return to Hebron after the last ones fled Arab violence in the 1936-9 Arab revolt. “This building was erected 700 years before Islam was born,” he said.“This is not Disneyland. This is the foundation of humanity,” exclaimed Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for Hebron’s Jewish community. “Take a moment to be wowed by it.”The lawmakers took selfies with the patriarchs’ cenotaphs (placeholders that look like graves but indicate the tombs’ underground location) and some joined a group of Orthodox men exuberantly dancing in a circle to mark the intermediary days of Sukkot.Speaker after speaker described Hebron as a world wonder — Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi called it “the most complex and intense place in the world” — and stressed that it is possible to walk the city’s streets without fear of attack.After the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the group passed by a street with shuttered Palestinian storefronts. Fleisher, the Jewish community’s international spokesperson, acknowledged that it was “lamentable” that Israeli forces had to close these shops but cited a “sense of danger” due to a “lot of terrorism” that emerged from these places.“They [the shop owners] weren’t evicted; many of them still live here,” he said. “They were all offered compensation; some took it, some didn’t. But it’s not a ghost city that we ethnically cleansed, as the media likes to portray it.”On the way to the next stop — the Tel Rumeida lookout — the lawmakers were shown a staircase built some 4,500 years ago, in the early Bronze Age. When Abraham walked here with his son, said Fleisher, he probably told Isaac, already back then, that this was one of humanity’s most ancient structures.Right across from the staircase lives far-right activist Baruch Marzel, who invited the foreign dignitaries in for refreshments; nobody took him up on the offer.“Not everyone is anti-Semitic,” Marzel told Israeli reporters as the lawmakers passed by his house. “A big part of Europe really is anti-Semitic. Those who are not supporting Israel, automatically.”At the Tel Rumeida lookout point, the lawmakers were shown “Arab Hebron,” which Fleisher described as a vibrant city that has little in common with its international image as a city of divisiveness and conflict. Hebron’s reputation as a city of “Israeli apartheid” is a “myth,” Fleisher said, adding that Hamas is the “predominant political and attitudinal factor here.”(Some 180,000 Palestinians and 10,000 Jews live in the city — 1,000 in Hebron itself and 9,000 in adjacent Kiryat Arba.) Later, during lunch, Efrat mayor Revivi and other speakers showered the visiting MPs with subtle and not-so-subtle messages in support of a one-state solution. Revivi, who is also a senior official in the settlers’ umbrella Yesha Council, spoke of the excellent relationship he has with the Palestinians living in the area, positing that “high fences don’t make good neighbors,” and that all the Palestinians want is better cooperation with Israeli authorities.Josh Reinstein, from the Israel Allies Foundation, said the notion that a Palestinian state without Jews could lead to peace was a “myth.”The lawmakers listened and nodded politely, but asked for their views later, several said they support the creation of a Palestinian state.“I’m in favor of a two-state solution as long as the Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exist in safe and secure borders,” Meshoe, the MP from South Africa, said.Did he realize that throughout the day he had been listening to speakers who firmly oppose Palestinian statehood? “I haven’t engaged many of them,” he replied.
Thousands of women rally for peace outside PM’s home-Jerusalem protest is culmination of two-week march from the north to call for accord with Palestinians-By Times of Israel staff October 20, 2016, 12:02 am
Thousands of women marched through Jerusalem on Wednesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, calling on him to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.The protest was the culmination of a 200-kilometer (about 125-mile), two-week march from the north of the country to Jerusalem, by Women Wage Peace, an organization comprising Jewish and Arab women, formed after Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza.As they reached Jerusalem, the marchers were joined by Liberian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Roberta Gbowee, as well as thousands of other women. Organizers estimated that some 10,000 people took part, while police put the number at a far lower 2,500.“We demand that our leaders work with respect and courage towards a solution to the ongoing violent conflict, with the full participation of women in this process,” the march organizers said in a statement. “Only an honorable political agreement will secure the future of our children and grandchildren.”#HappeningNow huge rally of women in #Jerusalem demanding a political solution now #MarchofHope2016 pic.twitter.com/yxTuHoBhXY-— Sophie Schor (@sophierose724) October 19, 2016-Negotiation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.In the last few days, the group also met with Jordanian women on the Island of Peace in Naharayim on the Jordan River.Thousands of women from Israel & Palestine are marching for peace. They've reached Jerusalem now. Follow #MarchOfHope2016 pic.twitter.com/iarnftErZj— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) October 19, 2016-Gbowee, the Liberian activist, also met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama.Rivlin told Gbowee, who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement, which was instrumental in bringing an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, that her actions were “a true inspiration.”She was awarded the Nobel in 2011.
US, Israel envoys clash over B’Tselem at Security Council forum-Danon says UN funding for NGO ‘directly interferes’ in Jewish state’s democracy, while American counterpart stresses political inclusion-By Tamar Pileggi October 19, 2016, 11:53 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The American and Israeli ambassadors to the United Nations publicly disagreed at a Security Council meeting Wednesday, after Israel’s Danny Danon demanded the United Nations end its support for the B’Tselem human rights group, arguing that it “directly interfered” in Israeli democracy.B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad sparked fury in Israel last week, when he urged the Security Council to take immediate action against Israeli settlements at a special session on the occupation.El-Ad spoke of “invisible, bureaucratic daily violence” that dominates Palestinian life “from cradle to grave,” including Israeli control over entrance and exit from the territories, and farming rights.Speaking at Wednesday’s monthly Security Council session on the Middle East, Danon claimed that UN funding for B’Tselem prevented the organization from presenting reliably objective reports on to the world body’s agencies.Afterwards, with all 15 Council members looking on, US Ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs David Pressman jumped to B’Tselem’s defense, stressing the importance for governments to foster an atmosphere of political inclusion.“We thank these NGOs – B’Tselem and Americans for Peace Now [whose representative also spoke Friday] – for sharing their technical expertise, as we recognize other NGOs around the world who shed light on difficult issues,” Pressman said, according to Haaretz newspaper. “It is vital that all governments protect and create an atmosphere that all voices can be heard.”B’Tselem, along with other left-leaning NGOs in Israel, have been accused in the past of working to undermine Israel’s legitimacy by lobbying international forums.Its director’s remarks Friday drew fierce denunciations from Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed he would bar national service volunteers from working with the organization.But the US lent its support to B’Tselem on Monday, expressing concern about the threats against the organization, while the European Union delegation to Israel tweeted its support for “B’Tselem to maintain human rights of vulnerable Palestinian communities.”During the Wednesday session, Danon also lashed out at the UN’s cultural body UNESCO for adopting an Arab-backed resolution that disregards Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem holy sites.“These attempts to cut us off from our homeland and our heritage will not succeed. We will remain in our land and in our capital of Jerusalem forever,” Danon said. “UNESCO’s resolution, which denies a connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, is an embarrassing stain on the pages of UN history.”He said the lack of UN resolutions regarding Syria and other regional conflicts demonstrated the agency’s bias against the Jewish state.“More people have been killed in Syria in the past few months than in the entire history of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said. “Yet the UN passed six times as many resolutions against Israel than all other countries combined.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
5 Palestinians arrested for shooting at IDF troops-Army says the residents of Ramallah-area village admitted to buying weapons, opening fire on soldiers on eve of Yom Kippur-By Times of Israel staff October 19, 2016, 7:26 pm
Israeli security forces arrested five Palestinians for a shooting attack against IDF troops in the West Bank last week, the army said in a statement Wednesday.The five suspects — all residents of the village of Ni’lin near Ramallah — were arrested in the days following the attack. All five admitted to purchasing weapons from a local arms dealer and carrying out the attack, the army said.The five approached the security fence near Ni’lin last Tuesday, and opened fire on IDF troops before fleeing the scene. No soldiers were injured in the incident.IDF arrest raids in the West Bank have stepped up slightly, as military officials attempt to head off what they fear may be an uptick in violence during the fall holiday season, when tensions have been known to rise.Over the past few months, the IDF, Shin Bet and police have been cracking down on illegal arms manufacturing and weapons smuggling in the West Bank and Israel.Israel in the past year saw a wave of so-called “lone-wolf” Palestinian terror attacks, which have claimed the lives of 35 Israelis and four foreign nationals since October 2015. Some 227 Palestinians have also been killed in the past year, with the Israeli army and police saying that most of those killed were attackers or involved in clashes with security forces.
Ex-army head, Hezbollah ally Aoun tipped for Lebanon presidency-Saad Hariri, former premier and longtime opponent of Shiite terror group, reportedly decides to endorse the appointment-By AFP October 20, 2016, 2:29 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lebanon’s powerful ex-premier Saad Hariri is expected to endorse Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun for president, a post that has been vacant for almost 30 months, a senior politician said Wednesday.Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the mandate of Michel Sleiman expired amid deep rivalries among Christian and Muslim politicians exacerbated by the conflict in Syria.Since then parliament, which has twice extended its mandate, has met on 45 occasions to elect a president but deep rivalries and disagreements saw most deputies boycott the sessions.The assembly is due to convene next week for the 46th time amid high expectations that a president will be elected and that the job will go to Aoun, a Maronite Christian and former army commander.“Since Hariri has decided to endorse him, and save any last minute change, Michel Aoun will be elected by parliament on October 30,” said the senior politician, who declined to be named.Hariri, a former Sunni Muslim prime minister whose party belongs to a Western- and Saudi-backed political bloc, had fiercely opposed Aoun’s candidacy.Aoun is allied with the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has dispatched fighters to neighboring Syria to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.Hariri’s father, former premier Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in February 2005 in Beirut. An international tribunal has accused the Assad regime of carrying out the assassination, which led to mass protests and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country.On Wednesday, Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to Hezbollah, said that Hariri had informed his political bloc and his allies of his decision to endorse Aoun.“All that’s left is to officially announce it,” added Al-Akhbar.Aged 81, the ex-general Aoun is a controversial figure.He served as head of the armed forces and briefly as prime minister during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and was then a staunch opponent of the Syrian military presence in Lebanon.But he shocked many by brokering an alliance with Hezbollah in 2006, a year after his return home from exile in France and after Syria pulled its troops from Lebanon.According to a source close to Hariri, the ex-prime minister struck a deal with Aoun to endorse him in exchange for his return as premier.Under Lebanon’s constitution, the country’s president is elected by parliament, and the post is always reserved for a Maronite Christian under a power-sharing agreement.The post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, while the speaker of the parliament is a Shiite Muslim.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
