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
Netanyahu announces first-ever visit of an Israeli PM to Fiji-PM also plans trips to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Australia and West Africa in bid to combat UN’s automatic anti-Israel majority-By Raphael Ahren November 15, 2016, 9:20 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced an upcoming trip to the Republic of Fiji, which he explained as part of an ongoing bid to bolster Israel’s standing in international forums such as the United Nations.“Why am I going to Fiji? Because fifteen countries, fifteen islands that each one has a vote in the UN are coming to that meeting,” Netanyahu said, without elaborating.Addressing American Jewish leaders via videoconference, Netanyahu indicated that his trip to the tiny island nation — which has some 910,000 inhabitants, slightly more than Jerusalem — will take place in the framework of his planned visit to Singapore and Australia in February.No sitting Israeli prime minister has ever visited any of these countries.“I’m telling you that it will be no more than a decade, and possibly a lot sooner, that the automatic majority against Israel in the UN will collapse, and Israel will actually find a fair hearing there. Now It’s not going to happen tomorrow. But it’ll happen, and sooner rather than later.”Fiji, which is located 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) northeast of New Zealand, has provided troops to UN peacekeeping operations on the Israeli-Syrian border and in Lebanon, in the Golan Heights and in Egypt and Iraq, since 1978.Earlier this month, Netanyahu hosted Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama in Jerusalem and thanked him for his country’s support for Israel in multilateral organizations.“There is a bond between our two peoples. We’re not gigantic peoples but we aim big and we are glad that we have the opportunity to cooperate with you in a variety of efforts,” Netanyahu said.“As Fijians, we have always regarded the people of Israel as friends, as very good friends, just as we do the citizens of its neighbors,” Bainimarama said. “We are here to help, we are here to keep the peace and that commitment will continue now and in the years ahead.”In December, Netanyahu will also visit Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, two Muslim-majority countries. He also said he plans a trip to West Africa “soon.”Speaking to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Washington, DC, Netanyahu also addressed concerns that the outgoing US administration could back a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.“If you try to impose peace from the outside it never works,” Netanyahu said. “It’s important to understand that the reason we’ll object to such efforts is that a) it will harden the Palestinian positions and b) it will harden the Palestinian positions, it will push peace back. It could push peace back decades.”Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan weathered many storms because they were the results of direct bilateral relations and were not imposed from the outside.“The only way you really get a workable and enduring peace is one that both parties agree to,” the prime minister said.“There may possibilities that emerge in the Middle East as result of the different appreciation that many in the region have for Israel’s role in resisting the twin forces of militant Islam led by Iran and ISIS,” he continued. “And that may open up the prospects for peace and probably will help us move toward some kind of resolution with the Palestinians.But one thing is certain: trying to impose peace from the outside won’t.”Netanyahu said he hopes that outgoing US President Barack Obama will adhere to his declared policy of opposing one-sided resolutions at the Security Council.“I look forward also to working with President-elect Donald Trump, when he becomes president, and his administration, to further the twin interests of peace and security,” Netanyahu said.
Israel okays Palestinian village master plan in Area C-Go-ahead for Palestinian construction rare in part of West Bank where focus is on Jewish settlements-By Sue Surkes November 15, 2016, 11:35 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
In a rare move, Israel recently approved a master plan for a Palestinian village in the part of the West Bank where Israeli settlements are located, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported Tuesday.Ti’anik, population around 1,000, will be able to obtain building permits for existing houses and new ones, and avoid having to face Israeli demolitions for illegal construction.“The legal recognition of the village will allow for future development,” a statement from the Civil Administration, Israel’s governing body in the West Bank, said.Ti’anik is located near Jenin in the northern West Bank. The master plan was submitted by the village’s local council and dignitaries, according to Ma’an.Eight days ago, the Civil Administration issued building permits to retroactively legalize parts of two schools, one in Bethlehem and the other in Hebron, the website reported.All the permits apply to Area C, a stretch of land accounting for 60 percent of the West Bank over which Israel has control under the terms of the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians in September 1995.In September, Israel’s security cabinet voted to authorize a series of construction plans for Palestinians there, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported.Haaretz said the decision was the first of its kind in years, and was kept under wraps so as not to provoke Jewish settlers from trying to stop it.It was put to the vote by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman as part of what he called his carrot and stick approach to the Palestinians.In August, Liberman proposed allowing additional construction of an industrial park near Nablus, an economic corridor between Jericho and Jordan, and some other general construction in the Palestinian cities that have not been the hometowns of terrorists, In July, a representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Israel of creating miserable humanitarian conditions in Area C.Speaking at a conference in the Knesset organized by lawmakers on the Israeli Left, Natalie Grove said Israel was making it “virtually impossible” for Palestinians to build homes legally in Area C, forcing them to build illegally and risk having their homes demolished.EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen told the conference that 70% of Area C had been designated Israeli state land, with 30% left for Palestinians.He charged that only one building permit was granted to Palestinians in 2014 and none in 2015. Out of 2,000 applications lodged between 2009 to 2013, only 34 building permits were granted, he said.Furthermore, since 2009, approximately 170 EU-funded structures worth €300,000 (NIS 1.23, or $322,000) have been demolished or confiscated and approximately 600 structures, worth over € 2.3 million (NIS 9.5 million or $2.5 million), have been served with demolition, stop-work or eviction orders and are therefore under threat of demolition.During the first six months of 2016, Israel razed 91 houses built with “support of the European Union,” up from 70 in all of 2015.Several powerful ministers in the current right-wing government are pushing for the annexation of Area C, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains formally committed to a diplomatic process that would eventually see the Palestinians take control of most of the territory.
Finance minister threatens to halt outpost-saving bill-Moshe Kahlon says his party will not back legislation if it is damaging to the High Court; Jewish Home warns of repurcussions-By Stuart Winer and Times of Israel staff November 15, 2016, 10:05 pm
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon on Tuesday said his party would not back a controversial bill that seeks to legitimize illegal West Bank outposts if the legislation is seen to undermine the Supreme Court’s authority.The warning came as the national-religious Jewish Home party planned to present the so-called Regulation Bill to the Knesset for a first reading on Wednesday in an effort to save the Amona outpost, which faces a court-ordered demolition by December 25.Speaking at a press conference in the southern city of Eilat, Kahlon, who also leads the Kulanu party, said “if it turns out that it will be damaging to the High Court we won’t support it. The law will never happen.”Without the 10 seats that Kulanu holds in the Knesset, the bill could struggle to find a majority in the plenum, coalition sources told the media Tuesday night.Before making a final decision, Kahlon was set to confer in the evening with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who has already weighed in calling the bill indefensible.In response to Kahlon’s comments, the Jewish Home party threatened to block legislation that Kahlon supports, such as levying new taxes on owners of three apartments, or the budget, Walla news reported.Jewish Home party chair MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli said “the Jewish Home could also not keep to its coalition agreements and not vote for the budget.”“The parties in the coalition have a commitment to vote for the Regulation Bill, like other matters, and it is a shame to be drawn into needless battles,” she added.The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a request by the government to postpone Amona’s demolition and evacuation. Some coalition lawmakers, in an effort to prevent the evacuation, have been advancing the bill that would recognize certain illegal building in the West Bank even if it is on private Palestinian land.Kulanu party sources indicated that while publicly saying it would vote for the bill, the Likud party — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — would prefer to see the legislation stopped and is pressuring Kulanu to halt it, the report said.The Amona outpost, founded in 1995, is home to about 40 families. It is the largest of about 100 unauthorized outposts — built without permission but generally tolerated by the government — that dot the West Bank. A partial evacuation a decade ago sparked violent clashes between residents and security forces and it is feared a new evacuation could trigger another showdown.AP contributed to this report.
IDF to invest NIS 50 million in enlarging key checkpoints-Move to upgrade two crossings north and south of Jerusalem aims to ease conditions, boost security, efficiency-By Sue Surkes November 15, 2016, 9:26 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Israel Defense Forces was to invest NIS 50 million ($1.3 million) into enlarging two West Bank crossings into Israel to ease passage for Palestinians and improve security, Channel 10 news reported Tuesday.The crossings are at Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, and Rachel’s Tomb near the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the south.The move comes after a pledge by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in July to streamline passage through checkpoints.Problems at the crossings had “clear solutions, both administrative and infrastructural,” he said.“Everyone suffers equally here, Jews and Palestinians, and this situation cannot continue.”Qalandiya is the main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of Palestinians — including East Jerusalem residents cut off from the city by Israel’s security barrier — pass through daily on foot and by car to get to work, school, medical checkups and the like.The crossing’s dreadful conditions have received much Israeli media attention over the years.In April, Channel 2 presented “Like Animals”, a [Hebrew language] report showing hundreds of men, young and old, as they arrive at the crossing at 4 a.m. to ensure they can get to their workplaces in Israel on time.The reporters followed the men as they passed through a small, narrow, metal passageway to reach Israel. A journey that should take half an hour can sometimes stretch to three or four hours due to procedures at the crossing, the report said.The Qalandiya crossing has been a tinderbox for tensions between Palestinians and Israeli border police.In July, a Palestinian man died as security forces faced off against some 1,000 Palestinians rioting at the site.In April, civilian security guards at the crossing shot dead Maram Hassan Abu Ismail, 23, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16 — both from the central West Bank village of Surif. The guards said they suspected the two of planning a stabbing attack.In July 2015, an Israeli colonel shot dead a Palestinian teenager who had thrown a rock at his vehicle at the checkpoint.The colonel, Yisrael Shomer, was cleared of all charges by the IDF prosecutor’s office in April.The second checkpoint due for expansion is Checkpoint 300 outside the West Bank city of Bethlehem, near the Jewish pilgrimage site of Rachel’s Tomb. This is a key crossing into Jerusalem from the south and has also been a flash point for Israeli-Palestinian tensions.In May, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced a two-year multi-million-shekel plan to upgrade West Bank crossings, in a bid to make the checkpoints more efficient and more secure.Ya’alon said the program, expected to cost some NIS 300 million ($77 million), would decrease the waiting time at crossings by 30 to 50 percent and increase the amount of goods that could be transferred by some 30 percent.“The plan is designed to increase the number of Palestinian workers who go through the checkpoints, as well as improving their conditions and standing up to the tests of quality and service,” Ya’alon said in a statement.This plan would also “upgrade the technological level of the [security] measures found at the crossings,” he said.
There are still so many men who don’t understand'-Angel investors seeking the ‘invisible’ next big thing find women key to Israel’s tech growth-Targeting female demographic, Birthright Excel encourages young Jewish business leaders to interface with Israelis and then act as ambassadors abroad-By Cathryn J. Prince November 15, 2016, 4:51 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
NEW YORK — When the Knicks city dancers took center court at the New York Knickerbockers’ season opener, the incongruity of it all left angel investor Joanne Wilson feeling a bit gobsmacked.“When I see those Knicks city dancers out there in skimpy outfits that could easily be seen at a pole dancing bar, I wonder where are the men dancing along side them with their skimpy body-enhancing outfits?” Wilson wrote in a recent post on her blog Gotham Gal titled “I Am Over Male Power.”“I am not opposed to the entertainment, but why is it the women who are parading around and not the men in the same look?” wrote Wilson.An angel investor with a portfolio of over 85 companies, Wilson said she found the performance a perfect metaphor for the double standard many women in the business world face daily. It spoke to the idea that women are often viewed as accessories, or there just to cheer on their male colleagues. Women aren’t yet viewed as deserving of a seat at the board table, an office in the C-Suite, or equal pay for equal time.“You want to think it’s over, but it’s not, there are still so many men who don’t understand,” Wilson said, sitting down with The Times of Israel during Birthright Excel’s retreat in New York City November 5-6 at the Park Central Hotel.Now in its seventh year, Birthright Excel helps create a network of young Jewish business leaders around the world while also introducing future entrepreneurs to Israel as a place for business opportunities. The program is geared for college sophomores, juniors and select seniors. Participants are assigned an internship at a prominent global company in Israel where professional mentors guide them at work. Fellows are also paired with an Israeli student to acclimate them to Israeli society.“The participants are 19- and 20-year-olds, and I am constantly impressed with how passionate they are. They want to have fun, but they are also so serious about what they want to do. They are not just looking for a good company, they are really looking for a company that does good,” said Ifat Bechor, Executive Director of Birthright Israel Excel.Since the program began in 2009 there have been 450 participants. Each summer the number of fellows breaks down to about 40% women and 60% men. The percentages reflect the ratio of women to men in US business schools, Bechor said.“In terms of programs we encourage as many women as possible, especially in tech and finance where there are less women,” she said.‘They are not just looking for a good company, they are really looking for a company that does good’To that end, many young women were eager to hear Wilson speak about the risks and opportunities in early-stage investment as well as what it’s like navigating the business world as a woman.After Wilson changed tracks from real estate to investing she decided to make women founders one of her criteria when weighing whether to invest in a business.“It was always important to me to invest in women and minorities. When I started a decade ago, no one was investing in women and they felt they had no one to connect with,” she said, adding that there was, and is, a winning strategy in investing in what nobody else seems to see.Her investments include Food52, Catchafire, Vengo, Nestio, Captureproof, Makers Row, Le Tote, and Little Borrowed Dress. She’s also invested in several real estate transactions, restaurants and education projects and served as chairperson at the non-profit Hot Bread Kitchen, which is dedicated to increasing access to the culinary industry for woman and minority entrepreneurs.Aside from helping fellows hone their business skills, Birthright Excel also strives to deepen the ties participants from abroad feel toward Israel. One of the project’s aims is to enable fellows entering the business world to preserve the identity, heritage, and welfare of the Jewish community and improve the way the global business community views Israel.Lofty goals to be sure, but ones Birthright Excel alumni Galit Krifcher and Lisa Wallace said attracted them to the program.Krifcher, 23, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in economics, spent her 10-week fellowship working with Giza Venture Capital in Tel Aviv. Now an analyst at the Boston-based venture capital firm Battery Ventures, Krifcher credits Birthright Excel with helping shape her career trajectory.‘We often hear the term “Start Up Nation” but I didn’t know exactly what that meant until I spent time there’-“We often hear the term ‘Start Up Nation’ but I didn’t know exactly what that meant until I spent time there,” said the Potomac, MD native. “Spending so much time in Israel gives me a chance to explain why BDS is bad, and why non-Jews should care about Israel. It’s a formidable player in tech, it’s seen as a quality investment around the world.”As for Wallace, spending time working with former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat gave her a chance to work in a mission-oriented environment. The Stanford University graduate now works at Qadium. Founded in 2012 with seed money from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the San Francisco-based firm provides global internet sensing for the private and public sectors, including healthcare, defense and finance.And while she and Krifcher said women clearly have made tremendous strides in business, it can still be an incredibly tough area to navigate.“As Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her new book, ‘It’s okay to be a little deaf sometimes.’ There are virtually no women in cyber-security so you just have to remember why you’re there and what your goals are,” Wallace said.It’s a sentiment Krifcher shares. After all, she works in a sector where, according to Fortune, fewer than six percent of decision-makers at US venture capital firms are women. In the magazine’s April, 2016 study of the 906 decision-makers, only 52 were women.“I go to industry events and there are maybe four or five women. I show up in a room and it’s unexpected I’m going to be there. Many of the men passively assume I’m in marketing, or that I’m someone’s secretary,” Krifcher said. “I like to say the learning curve isn’t a curve at all, but a vertical wall. Sometimes opening the door requires a bit of brute force.”
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
Netanyahu announces first-ever visit of an Israeli PM to Fiji-PM also plans trips to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Australia and West Africa in bid to combat UN’s automatic anti-Israel majority-By Raphael Ahren November 15, 2016, 9:20 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced an upcoming trip to the Republic of Fiji, which he explained as part of an ongoing bid to bolster Israel’s standing in international forums such as the United Nations.“Why am I going to Fiji? Because fifteen countries, fifteen islands that each one has a vote in the UN are coming to that meeting,” Netanyahu said, without elaborating.Addressing American Jewish leaders via videoconference, Netanyahu indicated that his trip to the tiny island nation — which has some 910,000 inhabitants, slightly more than Jerusalem — will take place in the framework of his planned visit to Singapore and Australia in February.No sitting Israeli prime minister has ever visited any of these countries.“I’m telling you that it will be no more than a decade, and possibly a lot sooner, that the automatic majority against Israel in the UN will collapse, and Israel will actually find a fair hearing there. Now It’s not going to happen tomorrow. But it’ll happen, and sooner rather than later.”Fiji, which is located 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) northeast of New Zealand, has provided troops to UN peacekeeping operations on the Israeli-Syrian border and in Lebanon, in the Golan Heights and in Egypt and Iraq, since 1978.Earlier this month, Netanyahu hosted Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama in Jerusalem and thanked him for his country’s support for Israel in multilateral organizations.“There is a bond between our two peoples. We’re not gigantic peoples but we aim big and we are glad that we have the opportunity to cooperate with you in a variety of efforts,” Netanyahu said.“As Fijians, we have always regarded the people of Israel as friends, as very good friends, just as we do the citizens of its neighbors,” Bainimarama said. “We are here to help, we are here to keep the peace and that commitment will continue now and in the years ahead.”In December, Netanyahu will also visit Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, two Muslim-majority countries. He also said he plans a trip to West Africa “soon.”Speaking to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Washington, DC, Netanyahu also addressed concerns that the outgoing US administration could back a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.“If you try to impose peace from the outside it never works,” Netanyahu said. “It’s important to understand that the reason we’ll object to such efforts is that a) it will harden the Palestinian positions and b) it will harden the Palestinian positions, it will push peace back. It could push peace back decades.”Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan weathered many storms because they were the results of direct bilateral relations and were not imposed from the outside.“The only way you really get a workable and enduring peace is one that both parties agree to,” the prime minister said.“There may possibilities that emerge in the Middle East as result of the different appreciation that many in the region have for Israel’s role in resisting the twin forces of militant Islam led by Iran and ISIS,” he continued. “And that may open up the prospects for peace and probably will help us move toward some kind of resolution with the Palestinians.But one thing is certain: trying to impose peace from the outside won’t.”Netanyahu said he hopes that outgoing US President Barack Obama will adhere to his declared policy of opposing one-sided resolutions at the Security Council.“I look forward also to working with President-elect Donald Trump, when he becomes president, and his administration, to further the twin interests of peace and security,” Netanyahu said.
Israel okays Palestinian village master plan in Area C-Go-ahead for Palestinian construction rare in part of West Bank where focus is on Jewish settlements-By Sue Surkes November 15, 2016, 11:35 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
In a rare move, Israel recently approved a master plan for a Palestinian village in the part of the West Bank where Israeli settlements are located, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported Tuesday.Ti’anik, population around 1,000, will be able to obtain building permits for existing houses and new ones, and avoid having to face Israeli demolitions for illegal construction.“The legal recognition of the village will allow for future development,” a statement from the Civil Administration, Israel’s governing body in the West Bank, said.Ti’anik is located near Jenin in the northern West Bank. The master plan was submitted by the village’s local council and dignitaries, according to Ma’an.Eight days ago, the Civil Administration issued building permits to retroactively legalize parts of two schools, one in Bethlehem and the other in Hebron, the website reported.All the permits apply to Area C, a stretch of land accounting for 60 percent of the West Bank over which Israel has control under the terms of the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians in September 1995.In September, Israel’s security cabinet voted to authorize a series of construction plans for Palestinians there, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported.Haaretz said the decision was the first of its kind in years, and was kept under wraps so as not to provoke Jewish settlers from trying to stop it.It was put to the vote by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman as part of what he called his carrot and stick approach to the Palestinians.In August, Liberman proposed allowing additional construction of an industrial park near Nablus, an economic corridor between Jericho and Jordan, and some other general construction in the Palestinian cities that have not been the hometowns of terrorists, In July, a representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Israel of creating miserable humanitarian conditions in Area C.Speaking at a conference in the Knesset organized by lawmakers on the Israeli Left, Natalie Grove said Israel was making it “virtually impossible” for Palestinians to build homes legally in Area C, forcing them to build illegally and risk having their homes demolished.EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen told the conference that 70% of Area C had been designated Israeli state land, with 30% left for Palestinians.He charged that only one building permit was granted to Palestinians in 2014 and none in 2015. Out of 2,000 applications lodged between 2009 to 2013, only 34 building permits were granted, he said.Furthermore, since 2009, approximately 170 EU-funded structures worth €300,000 (NIS 1.23, or $322,000) have been demolished or confiscated and approximately 600 structures, worth over € 2.3 million (NIS 9.5 million or $2.5 million), have been served with demolition, stop-work or eviction orders and are therefore under threat of demolition.During the first six months of 2016, Israel razed 91 houses built with “support of the European Union,” up from 70 in all of 2015.Several powerful ministers in the current right-wing government are pushing for the annexation of Area C, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains formally committed to a diplomatic process that would eventually see the Palestinians take control of most of the territory.
Finance minister threatens to halt outpost-saving bill-Moshe Kahlon says his party will not back legislation if it is damaging to the High Court; Jewish Home warns of repurcussions-By Stuart Winer and Times of Israel staff November 15, 2016, 10:05 pm
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon on Tuesday said his party would not back a controversial bill that seeks to legitimize illegal West Bank outposts if the legislation is seen to undermine the Supreme Court’s authority.The warning came as the national-religious Jewish Home party planned to present the so-called Regulation Bill to the Knesset for a first reading on Wednesday in an effort to save the Amona outpost, which faces a court-ordered demolition by December 25.Speaking at a press conference in the southern city of Eilat, Kahlon, who also leads the Kulanu party, said “if it turns out that it will be damaging to the High Court we won’t support it. The law will never happen.”Without the 10 seats that Kulanu holds in the Knesset, the bill could struggle to find a majority in the plenum, coalition sources told the media Tuesday night.Before making a final decision, Kahlon was set to confer in the evening with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who has already weighed in calling the bill indefensible.In response to Kahlon’s comments, the Jewish Home party threatened to block legislation that Kahlon supports, such as levying new taxes on owners of three apartments, or the budget, Walla news reported.Jewish Home party chair MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli said “the Jewish Home could also not keep to its coalition agreements and not vote for the budget.”“The parties in the coalition have a commitment to vote for the Regulation Bill, like other matters, and it is a shame to be drawn into needless battles,” she added.The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a request by the government to postpone Amona’s demolition and evacuation. Some coalition lawmakers, in an effort to prevent the evacuation, have been advancing the bill that would recognize certain illegal building in the West Bank even if it is on private Palestinian land.Kulanu party sources indicated that while publicly saying it would vote for the bill, the Likud party — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — would prefer to see the legislation stopped and is pressuring Kulanu to halt it, the report said.The Amona outpost, founded in 1995, is home to about 40 families. It is the largest of about 100 unauthorized outposts — built without permission but generally tolerated by the government — that dot the West Bank. A partial evacuation a decade ago sparked violent clashes between residents and security forces and it is feared a new evacuation could trigger another showdown.AP contributed to this report.
IDF to invest NIS 50 million in enlarging key checkpoints-Move to upgrade two crossings north and south of Jerusalem aims to ease conditions, boost security, efficiency-By Sue Surkes November 15, 2016, 9:26 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Israel Defense Forces was to invest NIS 50 million ($1.3 million) into enlarging two West Bank crossings into Israel to ease passage for Palestinians and improve security, Channel 10 news reported Tuesday.The crossings are at Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, and Rachel’s Tomb near the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the south.The move comes after a pledge by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in July to streamline passage through checkpoints.Problems at the crossings had “clear solutions, both administrative and infrastructural,” he said.“Everyone suffers equally here, Jews and Palestinians, and this situation cannot continue.”Qalandiya is the main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of Palestinians — including East Jerusalem residents cut off from the city by Israel’s security barrier — pass through daily on foot and by car to get to work, school, medical checkups and the like.The crossing’s dreadful conditions have received much Israeli media attention over the years.In April, Channel 2 presented “Like Animals”, a [Hebrew language] report showing hundreds of men, young and old, as they arrive at the crossing at 4 a.m. to ensure they can get to their workplaces in Israel on time.The reporters followed the men as they passed through a small, narrow, metal passageway to reach Israel. A journey that should take half an hour can sometimes stretch to three or four hours due to procedures at the crossing, the report said.The Qalandiya crossing has been a tinderbox for tensions between Palestinians and Israeli border police.In July, a Palestinian man died as security forces faced off against some 1,000 Palestinians rioting at the site.In April, civilian security guards at the crossing shot dead Maram Hassan Abu Ismail, 23, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16 — both from the central West Bank village of Surif. The guards said they suspected the two of planning a stabbing attack.In July 2015, an Israeli colonel shot dead a Palestinian teenager who had thrown a rock at his vehicle at the checkpoint.The colonel, Yisrael Shomer, was cleared of all charges by the IDF prosecutor’s office in April.The second checkpoint due for expansion is Checkpoint 300 outside the West Bank city of Bethlehem, near the Jewish pilgrimage site of Rachel’s Tomb. This is a key crossing into Jerusalem from the south and has also been a flash point for Israeli-Palestinian tensions.In May, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced a two-year multi-million-shekel plan to upgrade West Bank crossings, in a bid to make the checkpoints more efficient and more secure.Ya’alon said the program, expected to cost some NIS 300 million ($77 million), would decrease the waiting time at crossings by 30 to 50 percent and increase the amount of goods that could be transferred by some 30 percent.“The plan is designed to increase the number of Palestinian workers who go through the checkpoints, as well as improving their conditions and standing up to the tests of quality and service,” Ya’alon said in a statement.This plan would also “upgrade the technological level of the [security] measures found at the crossings,” he said.
There are still so many men who don’t understand'-Angel investors seeking the ‘invisible’ next big thing find women key to Israel’s tech growth-Targeting female demographic, Birthright Excel encourages young Jewish business leaders to interface with Israelis and then act as ambassadors abroad-By Cathryn J. Prince November 15, 2016, 4:51 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
NEW YORK — When the Knicks city dancers took center court at the New York Knickerbockers’ season opener, the incongruity of it all left angel investor Joanne Wilson feeling a bit gobsmacked.“When I see those Knicks city dancers out there in skimpy outfits that could easily be seen at a pole dancing bar, I wonder where are the men dancing along side them with their skimpy body-enhancing outfits?” Wilson wrote in a recent post on her blog Gotham Gal titled “I Am Over Male Power.”“I am not opposed to the entertainment, but why is it the women who are parading around and not the men in the same look?” wrote Wilson.An angel investor with a portfolio of over 85 companies, Wilson said she found the performance a perfect metaphor for the double standard many women in the business world face daily. It spoke to the idea that women are often viewed as accessories, or there just to cheer on their male colleagues. Women aren’t yet viewed as deserving of a seat at the board table, an office in the C-Suite, or equal pay for equal time.“You want to think it’s over, but it’s not, there are still so many men who don’t understand,” Wilson said, sitting down with The Times of Israel during Birthright Excel’s retreat in New York City November 5-6 at the Park Central Hotel.Now in its seventh year, Birthright Excel helps create a network of young Jewish business leaders around the world while also introducing future entrepreneurs to Israel as a place for business opportunities. The program is geared for college sophomores, juniors and select seniors. Participants are assigned an internship at a prominent global company in Israel where professional mentors guide them at work. Fellows are also paired with an Israeli student to acclimate them to Israeli society.“The participants are 19- and 20-year-olds, and I am constantly impressed with how passionate they are. They want to have fun, but they are also so serious about what they want to do. They are not just looking for a good company, they are really looking for a company that does good,” said Ifat Bechor, Executive Director of Birthright Israel Excel.Since the program began in 2009 there have been 450 participants. Each summer the number of fellows breaks down to about 40% women and 60% men. The percentages reflect the ratio of women to men in US business schools, Bechor said.“In terms of programs we encourage as many women as possible, especially in tech and finance where there are less women,” she said.‘They are not just looking for a good company, they are really looking for a company that does good’To that end, many young women were eager to hear Wilson speak about the risks and opportunities in early-stage investment as well as what it’s like navigating the business world as a woman.After Wilson changed tracks from real estate to investing she decided to make women founders one of her criteria when weighing whether to invest in a business.“It was always important to me to invest in women and minorities. When I started a decade ago, no one was investing in women and they felt they had no one to connect with,” she said, adding that there was, and is, a winning strategy in investing in what nobody else seems to see.Her investments include Food52, Catchafire, Vengo, Nestio, Captureproof, Makers Row, Le Tote, and Little Borrowed Dress. She’s also invested in several real estate transactions, restaurants and education projects and served as chairperson at the non-profit Hot Bread Kitchen, which is dedicated to increasing access to the culinary industry for woman and minority entrepreneurs.Aside from helping fellows hone their business skills, Birthright Excel also strives to deepen the ties participants from abroad feel toward Israel. One of the project’s aims is to enable fellows entering the business world to preserve the identity, heritage, and welfare of the Jewish community and improve the way the global business community views Israel.Lofty goals to be sure, but ones Birthright Excel alumni Galit Krifcher and Lisa Wallace said attracted them to the program.Krifcher, 23, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in economics, spent her 10-week fellowship working with Giza Venture Capital in Tel Aviv. Now an analyst at the Boston-based venture capital firm Battery Ventures, Krifcher credits Birthright Excel with helping shape her career trajectory.‘We often hear the term “Start Up Nation” but I didn’t know exactly what that meant until I spent time there’-“We often hear the term ‘Start Up Nation’ but I didn’t know exactly what that meant until I spent time there,” said the Potomac, MD native. “Spending so much time in Israel gives me a chance to explain why BDS is bad, and why non-Jews should care about Israel. It’s a formidable player in tech, it’s seen as a quality investment around the world.”As for Wallace, spending time working with former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat gave her a chance to work in a mission-oriented environment. The Stanford University graduate now works at Qadium. Founded in 2012 with seed money from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the San Francisco-based firm provides global internet sensing for the private and public sectors, including healthcare, defense and finance.And while she and Krifcher said women clearly have made tremendous strides in business, it can still be an incredibly tough area to navigate.“As Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her new book, ‘It’s okay to be a little deaf sometimes.’ There are virtually no women in cyber-security so you just have to remember why you’re there and what your goals are,” Wallace said.It’s a sentiment Krifcher shares. After all, she works in a sector where, according to Fortune, fewer than six percent of decision-makers at US venture capital firms are women. In the magazine’s April, 2016 study of the 906 decision-makers, only 52 were women.“I go to industry events and there are maybe four or five women. I show up in a room and it’s unexpected I’m going to be there. Many of the men passively assume I’m in marketing, or that I’m someone’s secretary,” Krifcher said. “I like to say the learning curve isn’t a curve at all, but a vertical wall. Sometimes opening the door requires a bit of brute force.”
