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)
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
In long-shot Paris peace bid, France sees nothing to lose-Why is a lame-duck French president hosting a peace summit without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US administration? To send a message-By Angela Charlton January 15, 2017, 2:25 am-the times of israel
PARIS (AP) — It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US government.But the French organizers say that’s the whole point. They want Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump to see that most of the world wants a two-state solution and is fed up with decades of conflict.With chances for a Mideast peace deal lower than in years — perhaps a generation — French President Francois Hollande figures there’s nothing to lose.French diplomats fear that Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the US Embassy to contested Jerusalem.So more than 70 foreign ministers and other top envoys are gathering Sunday in Paris to urge the establishment of a Palestinian state.Netanyahu says the conference is “rigged” against Israel and declined an invitation to a special meeting afterward. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris has been postponed.Even the organizers know it’s symbolic; no one expects a breakthrough. It’s aimed at presenting Trump with a collective international push for peace once he takes office Friday.For Obama’s outgoing government, Sunday’s meeting marks the bitter, disappointing end of eight years of failed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Days before leaving office, Secretary of State John Kerry will headline the Paris event — yet he’s participating only to ensure that America’s interest in a two-state solution is preserved.According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians “to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution.” It also will affirm that the international community “will not recognize” changes to Israel’s pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.Hollande’s government has been trying for years to revive peace-making, pointing to diplomatic successes like the 2015 Paris climate agreement, its improved relations with Israel over the past decade and hard line against Israeli rivals Iran and Syria.But with Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trump’s administration “reserved” about it, according to a French diplomat, Sunday’s gathering looks increasingly like an effort to isolate Israel, not entice it to the negotiating table.Pro-Israel demonstrators plan a protest Sunday in Paris.Hollande too is a lame duck, leaving office in May — and his government has made no plans to follow up Sunday’s conference with enforcement measures or outreach to Trump’s team.The final declaration may warn Trump against moving the embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after decades of insisting that the city’s status must be determined by direct negotiations.The sides haven’t negotiated even indirectly since a failed US peace effort in 2014.
In Paris, the world will try one more time to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict-By William Booth January 12 at 7:15 PM-washington post
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Poor, belittled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has pulled off a remarkable feat.On Sunday, top diplomats from as many as 70 nations are gathering in Paris to show their support for the creation of a Palestinian state.Abbas hasn’t won his people a sovereign nation. Not even close.But with all the challenges facing the world, the international community has accepted the invitation of French President François Hollande to come together again and urge Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hammer out a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.Abbas and his little proto-state of Palestine, with its population split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, have muscled their way back onto the world stage for at least one more encore.The Israelis are howling in protest.Just days before he is to be replaced as secretary of state, John F. Kerry will spend his last hours in office in Paris negotiating a consensus document on how Israelis and Palestinians can live as two peoples, side by side, in peace and security.This, even after Kerry spent nine months of his tenure shuttling between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Arab capitals in a failed attempt to strike a final peace accord.And less than a week after Sunday’s Paris conference, the Palestinian leader will face a new American president who has expressed nothing but support for Israel and nominated an ambassador who has been openly hostile to the Palestinian cause.The Israeli government will boycott the Paris conference, and its leaders have expressed disdain for the effort and for Abbas.“It’s a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians, under French auspices, to adopt additional anti-Israel stances,” Netanyahu said Thursday.Signaling his exasperation with the Obama administration, the prime minister called the French initiative “a relic of the past. It’s a last gasp of the past before the future sets in.”Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said the Paris conference “is like a wedding with neither bride nor groom.” She said the Palestinians don’t really want peace. They “venerate death and destruction,” she told foreign reporters Wednesday.Hotovely stressed that “the conference won’t bring peace. On the contrary, it will distance peace. Israel achieved peace with Egypt and Jordan through direct talks.”Netanyahu has often boasted that he is prepared to meet with Abbas “anywhere, anytime” to talk peace “without preconditions.”But the Israeli leader reportedly turned down a French invitation to travel to Paris after the conference to discuss its conclusions.Abbas has accepted Hollande’s invite and will go to Paris later this month.On Saturday, Abbas will meet the pope in Rome. The Vatican has not only recognized the “State of Palestine” but has agreed to allow the Palestinians to open an embassy at the Holy See.If history is any guide, there is no reason to think that the Paris conference will move Israelis and Palestinians closer to a final peace. Similar efforts over the past 25 years have failed.Hollande, who is also on the way out of office in May, told his diplomatic corps that the objective of the conference was to reaffirm the support of the international community for a two-state solution that is withering “on the ground and in the minds,” according to a Reuters report.An early draft of a resolution sought in Paris, and obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, calls for both sides “to take urgent steps in order to reverse the current negative trends on the ground and to start meaningful, direct negotiations.”“I am realistic about what this conference can achieve,” Hollande said. “Peace will only be done by the Israelis and Palestinians and by nobody else. Only bilateral negotiations can succeed.”Still, in the waning days of President Obama’s term, Abbas and the Palestinians have been on a roll.In a surprise move, the United Nations Security Council last month passed a resolution demanding that Israel cease Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. The Obama administration abstained rather than using its veto as it has reliably done in past votes.A few days later, Kerry harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying their growth threatens to destroy the viability of a future Palestinian state. In his 70-minute speech, Kerry called the current Israeli government the most right-wing in the country’s history and said it is driven by an extremist settler agenda inimical to a two-state agreement.Abbas remains unpopular at home. He has failed to give his people a state and many are tired of his leadership and those of his aged comrades. Recent polls showed that two-thirds of Palestinians think he should resign.But with elections repeatedly delayed, there are few obvious alternatives. Abbas tightened his grip on power in December at his Fatah Party’s congress, where he and his allies purged rivals and reasserted control.The message: The 81-year-old Abbas is not going anywhere.Grant Rumley, who is writing a biography of the Palestinian leader, said “The Paris conference is a victory for Abbas.”“Any move on the conflict where the international community — rather than the United States — is the primary arbiter is a net positive for him, even if it means aggravating his relationship with the incoming administration,” Rumley said.Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official and former peace negotiator, agreed that it was remarkable that the Palestinian cause was again drawing world attention.But Shtayyeh said the Palestinian leadership worried what the Trump administration would bring.“All indications are negative,” he said.Two hours before Kerry spoke last month and blamed Jerusalem, in part, for the absence of a peace deal, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted, “Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”Carol Morello contributed from Washington.
Paris draft: 2-state solution best for Israel, Palestinians-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-January 13, 2017
JERUSALEM — In a strong message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries are expected this weekend to reiterate their opposition to Israeli settlements and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "the only way" to ensure peace in the region.France is hosting more than 70 countries on Sunday at a Mideast peace summit, in what will be a final chance for the Obama administration to lay out its positions for the region.According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.The draft says that participants will affirm "that a negotiated solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is the only way to achieve enduring peace."Israel has settled some 600,000 of its citizens in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.The summit comes on the heels of a U.N. Security Council resolution last month that condemned the settlements as illegal. The resolution passed 14-0 after the United States declined to use its traditional veto power and instead abstained.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is attending Sunday's summit as one of his last international appearances in official capacity, said in a farewell speech last month that Israel's continued settlement growth threatens the possibility of a two-state solution. He also criticized Palestinian attacks on civilians and incitement to violence.On Sunday, a Palestinian truck driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd of Israeli soldiers at a popular Jerusalem tourist spot, killing four people and wounding 17 others in the deadliest single attack of more than a year of violence.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, and many members of his nationalist coalition oppose Palestinian independence and support expanded settlements.Netanyahu has rejected the U.N. resolution and accuses the Obama administration of conspiring behind Israel's back. Israel has refused to participate in the French conference, which Netanyahu on Thursday claimed was "rigged" against his country.The Palestinians, who also are not invited to this weekend's conference, have welcomed the French initiative. In recent years, they have campaigned for the international community to assume a greater role in resolving the conflict.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit France in the coming weeks to follow up on the conference.Netanyahu rejects international attempts to "impose" a solution and says peace can only be reached through direction negotiations.On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande said the conference aims at ensuring the support of the international community for the two-state solution as a reference for future direct negotiations."I cannot accept the status quo, letting people think that the conflict would resolve itself. It is not true. That is why France took the initiative of a conference on Middle East," Hollande said. "The objective is to reaffirm the support of the international community to the two-state solution and ensure that this solution remains the reference. But I see that has weakened, on the ground and in the minds (of the people). If we let it decay, it would be a risk for the security of Israel."French diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media about the event, said the timing of the conference — days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration — is intentional and meant to present him with a collective international push for peace once he takes office.Trump has not yet laid out a clear policy for the region, but has signalled he will be more sympathetic to Israel's hard-line right than previous administrations. While indicating an eagerness to broker a peace agreement, his election platform did not mention a Palestinian state.In a possible sign of that new approach, the West Bank settlers' council said Friday it has been invited to send a delegation to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration next week. It said that Oded Revivi, chairman of the Yesha settlers' council, will lead the delegation. He will be joined by Benny Kasriel, mayor of Maaleh Adumim, a large settlement next to Jerusalem.Revivi said the invitation is a "clear indication" that the new administration understands the importance of his group. He says he is looking forward to working "with our new friends in the White House."Trump has appointed David Friedman, a Jewish-American lawyer with close ties to the settlement movement, as his ambassador to Israel. Trump also has vowed to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step the Palestinians strongly oppose.In their confirmation hearings, Trump's Cabinet picks have voiced mixed messages. His nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said a two-state solution is "the dream that everyone is in pursuit of," but he also questioned its feasibility.___Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.Josef Federman, The Associated Press.
Abbas at Vatican: Peace could suffer if US embassy moves-After meeting with Pope Francis, PA chief formally inaugurates the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See-By AP January 14, 2017, 2:19 pm-the times of israel
VATICAN CITY — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Abbas made the comments as he inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See following an audience with Pope Francis.Speaking through an Italian translator, Abbas said he had only heard of the proposal by US President-elect Donald Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem, and couldn’t comment officially unless and until it happens.But he added: “If this is the decision, to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem, it will not help peace and we hope it doesn’t happen.”The Palestinians strongly oppose the move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city.Trump hasn’t yet laid out a clear Mideast policy, but has signaled he will be more sympathetic to Israel’s hard-line right than previous administrations. He has also vowed to move the US embassy.Abbas has written to Trump warning of the risks of such a move and asked him to reconsider, while also flagging the concern to Arab and other world leaders, said the Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad Malki.The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character. It was unclear if the Vatican would want to wade into the issue by mentioning Jerusalem in its post-audience communique.During the meeting, Abbas presented Francis with gifts recalling Christianity’s birthplace in the Holy Land, including a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and documentation about the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.After the papal meeting, Abbas formally inaugurated the new Palestinian embassy across the street from one of the main gates of Vatican City: He pulled back a curtain revealing a plaque and extended the Palestinian flag from a flagpole outside a window.The embassy, located in the same building as the embassies of Peru, Ecuador and Burkina Faso, is a fruit of recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the “State of Palestine.”In his comments to reporters, Abbas said he hoped other countries would follow the Vatican’s example and recognize the Palestinian state.
Security Council set to meet on Tuesday on Israeli-Palestinian conflict-Israel fears fresh UN initiative two days after Paris conference-Ambassador Danon says Security Council may adopt new anti-Israel measures, but interim Swedish president says no such plans exist-By AFP January 13, 2017, 9:31 pm-the times of israel
UNITED NATIONS, United States — Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday raised concern over what he said were moves at the Security Council to adopt a new measure to build on the Paris Middle East conference.Sweden’s Ambassador Olof Skoog, who holds this month’s presidency of the Security Council, said however that there were no immediate plans for council action.“We are witnessing an attempt to promote a last-minute initiative before the new US administration takes office,” Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement.“Supporters of the Palestinians are looking for further anti-Israel measures at the Security Council.”The council is planning to meet on Tuesday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its first meeting since the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to the construction of settlements on territory the Palestinians claim for a future state.Asked about discussions on council action, Skoog said “I don’t think that’s correct.”“Let’s see where we are next Tuesday. The main event now is Sunday’s conference in Paris.”Around 70 countries and international organizations meet in Paris on Sunday to reaffirm support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just days before Donald Trump takes office.The Paris meeting aims to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process, amid fears of fresh violence if Trump implements a pledge to recognize the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the Paris meeting as “a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances.”Israel reacted with fury after the United States refrained from using its veto at the council, allowing the anti-settlements resolution to be adopted by a vote of 14-0.
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
In long-shot Paris peace bid, France sees nothing to lose-Why is a lame-duck French president hosting a peace summit without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US administration? To send a message-By Angela Charlton January 15, 2017, 2:25 am-the times of israel
PARIS (AP) — It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US government.But the French organizers say that’s the whole point. They want Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump to see that most of the world wants a two-state solution and is fed up with decades of conflict.With chances for a Mideast peace deal lower than in years — perhaps a generation — French President Francois Hollande figures there’s nothing to lose.French diplomats fear that Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the US Embassy to contested Jerusalem.So more than 70 foreign ministers and other top envoys are gathering Sunday in Paris to urge the establishment of a Palestinian state.Netanyahu says the conference is “rigged” against Israel and declined an invitation to a special meeting afterward. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris has been postponed.Even the organizers know it’s symbolic; no one expects a breakthrough. It’s aimed at presenting Trump with a collective international push for peace once he takes office Friday.For Obama’s outgoing government, Sunday’s meeting marks the bitter, disappointing end of eight years of failed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Days before leaving office, Secretary of State John Kerry will headline the Paris event — yet he’s participating only to ensure that America’s interest in a two-state solution is preserved.According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians “to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution.” It also will affirm that the international community “will not recognize” changes to Israel’s pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.Hollande’s government has been trying for years to revive peace-making, pointing to diplomatic successes like the 2015 Paris climate agreement, its improved relations with Israel over the past decade and hard line against Israeli rivals Iran and Syria.But with Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trump’s administration “reserved” about it, according to a French diplomat, Sunday’s gathering looks increasingly like an effort to isolate Israel, not entice it to the negotiating table.Pro-Israel demonstrators plan a protest Sunday in Paris.Hollande too is a lame duck, leaving office in May — and his government has made no plans to follow up Sunday’s conference with enforcement measures or outreach to Trump’s team.The final declaration may warn Trump against moving the embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after decades of insisting that the city’s status must be determined by direct negotiations.The sides haven’t negotiated even indirectly since a failed US peace effort in 2014.
In Paris, the world will try one more time to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict-By William Booth January 12 at 7:15 PM-washington post
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Poor, belittled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has pulled off a remarkable feat.On Sunday, top diplomats from as many as 70 nations are gathering in Paris to show their support for the creation of a Palestinian state.Abbas hasn’t won his people a sovereign nation. Not even close.But with all the challenges facing the world, the international community has accepted the invitation of French President François Hollande to come together again and urge Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hammer out a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.Abbas and his little proto-state of Palestine, with its population split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, have muscled their way back onto the world stage for at least one more encore.The Israelis are howling in protest.Just days before he is to be replaced as secretary of state, John F. Kerry will spend his last hours in office in Paris negotiating a consensus document on how Israelis and Palestinians can live as two peoples, side by side, in peace and security.This, even after Kerry spent nine months of his tenure shuttling between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Arab capitals in a failed attempt to strike a final peace accord.And less than a week after Sunday’s Paris conference, the Palestinian leader will face a new American president who has expressed nothing but support for Israel and nominated an ambassador who has been openly hostile to the Palestinian cause.The Israeli government will boycott the Paris conference, and its leaders have expressed disdain for the effort and for Abbas.“It’s a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians, under French auspices, to adopt additional anti-Israel stances,” Netanyahu said Thursday.Signaling his exasperation with the Obama administration, the prime minister called the French initiative “a relic of the past. It’s a last gasp of the past before the future sets in.”Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said the Paris conference “is like a wedding with neither bride nor groom.” She said the Palestinians don’t really want peace. They “venerate death and destruction,” she told foreign reporters Wednesday.Hotovely stressed that “the conference won’t bring peace. On the contrary, it will distance peace. Israel achieved peace with Egypt and Jordan through direct talks.”Netanyahu has often boasted that he is prepared to meet with Abbas “anywhere, anytime” to talk peace “without preconditions.”But the Israeli leader reportedly turned down a French invitation to travel to Paris after the conference to discuss its conclusions.Abbas has accepted Hollande’s invite and will go to Paris later this month.On Saturday, Abbas will meet the pope in Rome. The Vatican has not only recognized the “State of Palestine” but has agreed to allow the Palestinians to open an embassy at the Holy See.If history is any guide, there is no reason to think that the Paris conference will move Israelis and Palestinians closer to a final peace. Similar efforts over the past 25 years have failed.Hollande, who is also on the way out of office in May, told his diplomatic corps that the objective of the conference was to reaffirm the support of the international community for a two-state solution that is withering “on the ground and in the minds,” according to a Reuters report.An early draft of a resolution sought in Paris, and obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, calls for both sides “to take urgent steps in order to reverse the current negative trends on the ground and to start meaningful, direct negotiations.”“I am realistic about what this conference can achieve,” Hollande said. “Peace will only be done by the Israelis and Palestinians and by nobody else. Only bilateral negotiations can succeed.”Still, in the waning days of President Obama’s term, Abbas and the Palestinians have been on a roll.In a surprise move, the United Nations Security Council last month passed a resolution demanding that Israel cease Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. The Obama administration abstained rather than using its veto as it has reliably done in past votes.A few days later, Kerry harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying their growth threatens to destroy the viability of a future Palestinian state. In his 70-minute speech, Kerry called the current Israeli government the most right-wing in the country’s history and said it is driven by an extremist settler agenda inimical to a two-state agreement.Abbas remains unpopular at home. He has failed to give his people a state and many are tired of his leadership and those of his aged comrades. Recent polls showed that two-thirds of Palestinians think he should resign.But with elections repeatedly delayed, there are few obvious alternatives. Abbas tightened his grip on power in December at his Fatah Party’s congress, where he and his allies purged rivals and reasserted control.The message: The 81-year-old Abbas is not going anywhere.Grant Rumley, who is writing a biography of the Palestinian leader, said “The Paris conference is a victory for Abbas.”“Any move on the conflict where the international community — rather than the United States — is the primary arbiter is a net positive for him, even if it means aggravating his relationship with the incoming administration,” Rumley said.Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official and former peace negotiator, agreed that it was remarkable that the Palestinian cause was again drawing world attention.But Shtayyeh said the Palestinian leadership worried what the Trump administration would bring.“All indications are negative,” he said.Two hours before Kerry spoke last month and blamed Jerusalem, in part, for the absence of a peace deal, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted, “Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”Carol Morello contributed from Washington.
Paris draft: 2-state solution best for Israel, Palestinians-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-January 13, 2017
JERUSALEM — In a strong message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries are expected this weekend to reiterate their opposition to Israeli settlements and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "the only way" to ensure peace in the region.France is hosting more than 70 countries on Sunday at a Mideast peace summit, in what will be a final chance for the Obama administration to lay out its positions for the region.According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.The draft says that participants will affirm "that a negotiated solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is the only way to achieve enduring peace."Israel has settled some 600,000 of its citizens in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.The summit comes on the heels of a U.N. Security Council resolution last month that condemned the settlements as illegal. The resolution passed 14-0 after the United States declined to use its traditional veto power and instead abstained.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is attending Sunday's summit as one of his last international appearances in official capacity, said in a farewell speech last month that Israel's continued settlement growth threatens the possibility of a two-state solution. He also criticized Palestinian attacks on civilians and incitement to violence.On Sunday, a Palestinian truck driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd of Israeli soldiers at a popular Jerusalem tourist spot, killing four people and wounding 17 others in the deadliest single attack of more than a year of violence.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, and many members of his nationalist coalition oppose Palestinian independence and support expanded settlements.Netanyahu has rejected the U.N. resolution and accuses the Obama administration of conspiring behind Israel's back. Israel has refused to participate in the French conference, which Netanyahu on Thursday claimed was "rigged" against his country.The Palestinians, who also are not invited to this weekend's conference, have welcomed the French initiative. In recent years, they have campaigned for the international community to assume a greater role in resolving the conflict.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit France in the coming weeks to follow up on the conference.Netanyahu rejects international attempts to "impose" a solution and says peace can only be reached through direction negotiations.On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande said the conference aims at ensuring the support of the international community for the two-state solution as a reference for future direct negotiations."I cannot accept the status quo, letting people think that the conflict would resolve itself. It is not true. That is why France took the initiative of a conference on Middle East," Hollande said. "The objective is to reaffirm the support of the international community to the two-state solution and ensure that this solution remains the reference. But I see that has weakened, on the ground and in the minds (of the people). If we let it decay, it would be a risk for the security of Israel."French diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media about the event, said the timing of the conference — days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration — is intentional and meant to present him with a collective international push for peace once he takes office.Trump has not yet laid out a clear policy for the region, but has signalled he will be more sympathetic to Israel's hard-line right than previous administrations. While indicating an eagerness to broker a peace agreement, his election platform did not mention a Palestinian state.In a possible sign of that new approach, the West Bank settlers' council said Friday it has been invited to send a delegation to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration next week. It said that Oded Revivi, chairman of the Yesha settlers' council, will lead the delegation. He will be joined by Benny Kasriel, mayor of Maaleh Adumim, a large settlement next to Jerusalem.Revivi said the invitation is a "clear indication" that the new administration understands the importance of his group. He says he is looking forward to working "with our new friends in the White House."Trump has appointed David Friedman, a Jewish-American lawyer with close ties to the settlement movement, as his ambassador to Israel. Trump also has vowed to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step the Palestinians strongly oppose.In their confirmation hearings, Trump's Cabinet picks have voiced mixed messages. His nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said a two-state solution is "the dream that everyone is in pursuit of," but he also questioned its feasibility.___Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.Josef Federman, The Associated Press.
Abbas at Vatican: Peace could suffer if US embassy moves-After meeting with Pope Francis, PA chief formally inaugurates the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See-By AP January 14, 2017, 2:19 pm-the times of israel
VATICAN CITY — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Abbas made the comments as he inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See following an audience with Pope Francis.Speaking through an Italian translator, Abbas said he had only heard of the proposal by US President-elect Donald Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem, and couldn’t comment officially unless and until it happens.But he added: “If this is the decision, to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem, it will not help peace and we hope it doesn’t happen.”The Palestinians strongly oppose the move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city.Trump hasn’t yet laid out a clear Mideast policy, but has signaled he will be more sympathetic to Israel’s hard-line right than previous administrations. He has also vowed to move the US embassy.Abbas has written to Trump warning of the risks of such a move and asked him to reconsider, while also flagging the concern to Arab and other world leaders, said the Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad Malki.The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character. It was unclear if the Vatican would want to wade into the issue by mentioning Jerusalem in its post-audience communique.During the meeting, Abbas presented Francis with gifts recalling Christianity’s birthplace in the Holy Land, including a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and documentation about the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.After the papal meeting, Abbas formally inaugurated the new Palestinian embassy across the street from one of the main gates of Vatican City: He pulled back a curtain revealing a plaque and extended the Palestinian flag from a flagpole outside a window.The embassy, located in the same building as the embassies of Peru, Ecuador and Burkina Faso, is a fruit of recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the “State of Palestine.”In his comments to reporters, Abbas said he hoped other countries would follow the Vatican’s example and recognize the Palestinian state.
Security Council set to meet on Tuesday on Israeli-Palestinian conflict-Israel fears fresh UN initiative two days after Paris conference-Ambassador Danon says Security Council may adopt new anti-Israel measures, but interim Swedish president says no such plans exist-By AFP January 13, 2017, 9:31 pm-the times of israel
UNITED NATIONS, United States — Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday raised concern over what he said were moves at the Security Council to adopt a new measure to build on the Paris Middle East conference.Sweden’s Ambassador Olof Skoog, who holds this month’s presidency of the Security Council, said however that there were no immediate plans for council action.“We are witnessing an attempt to promote a last-minute initiative before the new US administration takes office,” Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement.“Supporters of the Palestinians are looking for further anti-Israel measures at the Security Council.”The council is planning to meet on Tuesday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its first meeting since the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to the construction of settlements on territory the Palestinians claim for a future state.Asked about discussions on council action, Skoog said “I don’t think that’s correct.”“Let’s see where we are next Tuesday. The main event now is Sunday’s conference in Paris.”Around 70 countries and international organizations meet in Paris on Sunday to reaffirm support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just days before Donald Trump takes office.The Paris meeting aims to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process, amid fears of fresh violence if Trump implements a pledge to recognize the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the Paris meeting as “a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances.”Israel reacted with fury after the United States refrained from using its veto at the council, allowing the anti-settlements resolution to be adopted by a vote of 14-0.
