Thursday, March 16, 2017

TRUMP TELLS SAUDIS HE HAS STRONG DESIRE FOR ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN (MURDERER ARABS) PEACE

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

Iran sets up underground rocket factories in Lebanon — report-Hezbollah overseeing production, with help of advisers from Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Kuwaiti newspaper says-By Avi Issacharoff March 13, 2017, 11:35 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Iran has established rocket factories in Lebanon that are under the full control of the Hezbollah terror group, a top Iranian general told a Kuwaiti newspaper.Citing one of the deputy heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the al-Jarida newspaper reported Monday that Iran in recent months has established factories for manufacturing both rockets and firearms in Lebanon.The newspaper did not say which of IRGC chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari’s deputies made the assertion.The report came just days after Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, a former brigadier general in the IRGC, said Hezbollah is now capable of producing rockets that can hit any part of Israel. Dehghan offered no details of the new capabilities.The new factories, said to be located underground, have reportedly been in operation for the past three months.Among their staff are advisers from the IRGC, as well as Lebanese experts trained at the Imam Hossein University in Tehran, a key training institution for IRGC personnel. Hundreds have reportedly been trained by the university in rocket manufacturing techniques.The manufacturing sites are located some 50 meters (160 feet) underground, according to the report, and are protected by multiple layers of defenses from potential Israeli aerial bombardment. No facility produces rockets in their entirety; rather, each site produces separate parts that are then collected and assembled into complete rockets.The Iranian general was quoted by al-Jarida as saying that the decision to produce rockets indigenously in Lebanon came after Israel bombed weapons factories in Sudan and supply routes for Iranian rockets via Syria.The new factories would mark a dramatic upgrade in Hezbollah’s ability to acquire more, and more precise, rockets than ever before.Rockets produced by the new facilities have already been used by Hezbollah in battles in Syria, the report said.The development highlights the depth of Iran’s involvement in Syria and Lebanon. During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Moscow last week, he reportedly presented Russian leaders with information acquired by Israel, according to which Iran is seeking to establish a naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, likely in the Latakia area.

Female assailant shot during suspected car-ramming attempt-No Israelis seriously injured as Palestinian teenager drives into bus stop at West Bank’s Etzion Junction-By Judah Ari Gross March 15, 2017, 4:16 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

A Palestinian teenager allegedly attempted to ram her car into a bus stop at the Etzion Junction in the central West Bank on Wednesday, prompting Israeli security forces to shoot and wound her, the army said.No Israelis were seriously injured in the incident, though a 28-year-old Israeli woman in “advanced stages of pregnancy” was taken to the hospital after experiencing a panic attack, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.The 16-year-old Palestinian driver was critically injured from the crash and IDF gunfire, according to Arab media.She received medical treatment from the Israel Defense Forces and was taken to the hospital, MDA said.She was identified by Arabic media as Fatemah Taqatqa from Beit Fajjar, a Palestinian town south of Bethlehem.The incident occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m.Surveillance footage from the scene, first posted on social media and later released by the IDF, showed the car veer across multiple lands of traffic and crash into the metal bollards surrounding the bus stop.According to the military, the teenager specifically targeted the troops stationed at the junction, but both soldiers and civilians could be seen standing at the bus stop.Local Bethlehem media reported that the driver’s cousin, Amjad Taqatqa, was arrested shortly after the attack. The IDF could not immediately confirm the report.The Etzion Junction’s bus stop and hitchhiking post has been the scene of a number of terror attacks in late 2015 and early 2016, including both car-rammings and shootings.The busy junction sits at a major crossroads in the Etzion settlement bloc between Jerusalem and Hebron.The vehicular attacks forced the government to install metal poles around the junction’s bus stop in order to prevent attacks, which have waned over the past year.Though a marked drop has been recorded by security officials in recent months, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Palestinian and an Eritrean national have been killed in the spate of stabbing, car-ramming and shooting attacks that began a year and a half ago.According to AFP figures, some 250 Palestinians, a Jordanian and a Sudanese migrant have also been killed, most of them in the course of carrying out attacks, Israel says, and many of the others in clashes with troops in the West Bank and at the Gaza border, as well as in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks.The spate of Palestinian attacks that began in October 2015 was dubbed the “lone wolf” intifada, as many of the attacks were carried out by individuals who were not connected to any terror group.The attacks were at first attributed to tensions over Palestinian fears that Israel was seeking to change the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a charge Israel has repeatedly and vehemently denied. Palestinian leaders have argued that the primary cause for attacks during this period was despair caused by Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank.The Hamas terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, continues to refer to each attack as a part of a “Jerusalem Intifada.”

Small Israeli drone crashes in northern Gaza — army-IDF investigating what caused Skylark-model UAV to fall out of the sky, in year’s second such incident-By Judah Ari Gross March 15, 2017, 2:56 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

A small Israeli military drone crashed in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, the army said.The drone, a Skylark model, was on a reconnaissance mission when it fell out of the sky east of Gaza City for as-yet unknown reasons.“The incident is being investigated,” a spokesperson said.There did not appear to be a risk that classified information could be retrieved from the device.It was the second time this year that an Israel Defense Forces Skylark drone crashed.In January, a Skylark drone crashed in southern Lebanon, prompting a mad dash by Israeli forces to recover the aircraft. The next day, the Hezbollah terrorist group reported that it had retrieved pieces of the destroyed drone.The “sky rider,” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps. The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.In August 2015, Hamas claimed it captured an Israeli Skylark drone in the Gaza Strip and reassembled it.

Defense minister demands rabbi who disparaged female troops resign-Referencing history of controversial statements, Liberman threatens to cut support for academies under Yigal Levinstein if he doesn’t step down-By Times of Israel staff March 15, 2017, 5:12 pm

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday threatened to sever official recognition of the institutions associated with a rabbi who made a series of offensive statements against women serving in the military, if the rabbi doesn’t resign.Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of a religious pre-army academy and hesder yeshiva in the settlement of Eli, came under fire last week after a video emerged of him saying female soldiers were not Jews and military service had driven them “crazy.”He had been punished for making other statements against women and gays in the past as well.“In light of the fact that it is a constantly repeating issue, and with clear statements that you unquestionably stand behind them, I request that you resign from your position in the pre-army program and in the Hesder Yeshiva,” he said. “If you do not do so, I will be forced to use my authority to end the Defense Ministry’s recognition of the yeshiva in the West Bank town of Eli and will do everything in my power to stop the recognition of the pre-army program in Eli.”Currently, students at the hesder yeshiva can count part of their time at the institution toward mandatory army service. Without recognition, they would lose that ability.Liberman also called on Levinstein to apologize to bereaved families.After footage was broadcast a week ago on Channel 2 news showing Levinstein telling several hundred graduates of a prestigious religious army preparatory academy in the West Bank settlement of Bnei Atzmon that IDF service has “driven our girls crazy,” he responded to an outcry by saying he regretted the way he spoke but stuck by the ideas.In his speech Levinstein said that women who serve in the army leave their religion behind during their time in the military.“They recruit them to the army, where they enter as Jews, but they’re not Jews by the time they leave,” he said. “Not in the genetic sense, but all of their values and priorities have been upset and we must not allow it.”Liberman said that such statements, and similar ones which Levinstein has said many times in the past, against “different groups who serve in the army” show intent to incite and also “represent a loss of sensibility – I don’t know which of the two is worse.”MK Bezalel Smotrich of the right-wing Jewish Home party, rejected Liberman’s call for Levinstein’s resignation.“Liberman’s threats against Rabbi Levinstein and the Eli Academy are populist impertinence and lack all meaning,” Smotrich tweeted. “There is no chance that he can carry out his threat. Enough of this silencing.”Labor MK Mickey Rosenthal rejected Levinstein’s comments, but said that it was wrong of Liberman to call for his resignation because it was an infringement of free speech.However, Liberman was praised by several other politicians, including Labor MK Amir Peretz, Yesh Atid MK Haim Jelin.Levinstein drew censure last year after a speech he gave calling homosexuals “deviants.” He wrote a letter to the Defense Ministry, explaining his comments, but has had many of his activities with the military cut short in light of his controversial remarks.In his televised speech to recruits, Levinstein referenced last summer’s scandal, saying he met recently with an IDF general to smooth things over.In his latest remarks, Levinstein also discussed gay men.“They call them ‘new families,’ with two dads. It’s an insane asylum, simply an insane asylum,” he said, shaking his head.Levinstein responded to the outcry over the speech, telling Channel 2 news last week that his delivery of the remarks in a mocking and sardonic manner was “inappropriate,” and expressed regret for “hurting people in the way I communicated myself.”But asked if he would take back the comments, Levinstein said that the “feminist approach” of the IDF was “incompatible with Jewish law,” and that he would not “retract a single word of what I believe.”Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, praised Levinstein for telling the truth about women in the army.During an interview with Army Radio last week Deri said that “it takes courage to speak [about this] religious ruling and good for him for being brave and speaking [about this] religious ruling,” he said.“I praise him for saying the truth and for not being afraid to say the truth,” he added.Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett last week rejected calls to remove recognition from Levinstein’s institutions, saying the academy will “continue its activities as normal. What needs to be fixed will be fixed, certainly in regard to these outrageous statements, but without unnecessary exaggeration.”But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a clear rebuke of Levinstein last week, saying Israel was “proud” of its history of integrating females into its fighting forces.Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud), who had been a brigadier general in the IDF when she served as the army’s chief spokesperson, also denounced the rabbi’s comments.Hesder yeshivas, of which there are several around the country, enable religious soldiers to combine their national service in the army with time spent studying religious texts in the yeshivas. The soldiers are usually inducted into “hesder units” within the tank and infantry corps, where they are better able to maintain religious practices such as prayers and observing Shabbat, the day of rest.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

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).

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)

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

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.

Trump tells Saudis he has ‘strong desire’ for Israeli-Palestinian peace-Riyadh defense minister meets with president at White House, sides agree to confront Iran’s ‘destabilizing regional activities’ while evaluating and strictly enforcing nuke deal-By Eric Cortellessa March 15, 2017, 5:55 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump expressed a “strong desire” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, in a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said Wednesday.Trump also told the Saudi prince that he wanted to “evaluate and strictly enforce” the Iran nuclear accord struck by his predecessor in the Tuesday meeting.“The President expressed his strong desire to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to continue the two countries’ consultations to help reach solutions for regional issues,” the White House said in a statement.Trump’s statement came as his envoy for Mideast peace, Jason Greenblatt, was on a “listening tour” in the region, trying to arrive at understandings to strike a peace agreement.In the last two days, Greenblatt has met with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.Israeli officials have hinted at a desire for Saudi Arabia to play a role in a regional Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and the US is reportedly also pushing for Riyadh to be involved.A statement by a senior adviser to Salman on the meeting carried by Bloomberg news made no mention of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, beyond accusing Iran of “obstructing of any deal to settle the Palestinian issue.”The adviser also said the two had discussed problems with the Iran nuclear deal.“Prince Mohammed bin Salman has stressed how bad and very dangerous the nuclear deal is on the region and that it is going to hold the Iranian radical regime back for a short period of time in their quest for producing a nuclear weapon. This deal could lead to a more dangerous and continuous armament among the region’s countries that will not accept any Iranian nuclear military capacity,” the statement read.Trump’s meeting and private lunch with the Saudi defense minister was seen as an attempt to warm relations with the country after longstanding tensions over differences in handling the Iranian nuclear threat.During their tete-a-tete Tuesday, Trump and Prince Salman agreed to collaborate in combating Iran’s actions in the region, according to the White House.“The President and the Deputy Crown Prince noted the importance of confronting Iran’s destabilizing regional activities, while continuing to evaluate and strictly enforce the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the US statement read, referring to the nuclear pact by its formal name.As a candidate, Trump often sent mixed signals about how he would handle the Iranian nuclear pact if he was elected. In his address at last year’s AIPAC Policy Conference, he vowed both to rip up the pact and enforce it.“My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran,” Trump said at the conference in March 2016, calling the controversial agreement signed between the P5+1 world powers and Tehran “catastrophic for America, for Israel and for the whole of the Middle East.”Later in the speech he called “at the very least” to implement the deal that lifted international sanctions on Iran in exchange for it curbing its nuclear program.But since Trump’s election in November, his advisers have signaled he would not unilaterally walk away from the agreement unless Tehran violated its terms.Indeed, in a call with King Salman in January, Trump, for the first time, pledged unequivocally to enforce the deal — despite his campaign pledge to dismantle the landmark accord that he has repeatedly called “disastrous” and “one of the dumbest deals” he’s ever seen.Along with Israel, Saudi Arabia has been one of the Middle Eastern countries most opposed to the nuclear deal.

Rivlin meets Trump envoy, offers to ‘assist’ in peace efforts-In Jerusalem, president and US special representative Jason Greenblatt talk regional matters, American-Israeli partnership-By Times of Israel staff March 15, 2017, 1:35 pm

President Reuven Rivlin met with US special peace envoy Jason Greenblatt on Wednesday at the president’s residence in Jerusalem, where the two discussed regional matters, the long-stalled peace process and the Israeli-American partnership.According to a joint statement, Rivlin wished Greenblatt “success on his complex mission” and said his office stands “ready to assist on any issue as requested in order to promote advancement between Israel and the Palestinians.”Greenblatt, meanwhile, “thanked President Rivlin for their in-depth and wide-ranging discussion, and for sharing his views on how Israel and the Palestinians could live in peace and security. Both men reiterated that the security of Israel and its citizens is of fundamental importance,” the readout said.Greenblatt later met with Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai. The two discussed “security challenges and ways to boost (the) Palestinian economy,” according to a Twitter post by Greenblatt.Important meeting with #COGAT Major General Poli Mordechai, discussed Israeli security challenges and ways to boost Palestinian economy. pic.twitter.com/exURhXG7oc— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) March 15, 2017-On Monday, Greenblatt held a five-hour meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The pols discussed opportunities for advancing peace between Israel and its neighbors, and tried to formulate a coordinated approach for the two leaderships on the issue of settlements.Greenblatt told Netanyahu that “enabling the growth of the Palestinian economy and improving the quality of life for Palestinians” were important to Trump. The prime minister replied that he was “fully committed to broadening prosperity for Palestinians,” seeing the issue “as a means of bolstering the prospects for peace.”And on Tuesday Greenblatt visited Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas told the US envoy that he believes a “historic” peace deal with Israel is possible with President Donald Trump in office, according to a US Jerusalem Consulate General communique.Abbas committed to combat Palestinian incitement, the statement said. The Palestinian leader and Greenblatt also discussed building up the PA’s security forces and improving the Palestinian economy.The Israeli government has been adamant that PA-sanctioned media and school curricula are responsible for inciting terrorism.The Palestinian daily al-Quds cited sources in the US Congress who said Greenblatt warned Abbas that US lawmakers are working to condition US aid to the Palestinians — with the exception of security assistance — on ending incitement, including payments to the families of Palestinian terrorists.The US administration is currently said to be weighing how to proceed with a renewed peace effort after Abbas’s visit to Washington. One possibility being considered is a regional summit, to be held in Egypt or Jordan. If such a summit would be substantive, rather than a mere photo opportunity, Trump would be prepared to attend, sources close to the president were quoted by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Sunday as saying. The White House is trying to ascertain whether the Saudis can be drawn into this process, the newspaper said.There had been fears among the Palestinians that Trump would wholeheartedly adopt Israeli positions after he vowed to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv and gave indications he would be more accommodating to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Since taking office on January 20, Trump has spoken by phone with Netanyahu twice and has hosted him at the White House.But the US president has backtracked on a swift relocation of the US Embassy, and publicly urged Netanyahu — during their joint press conference last month — to “hold back” on settlement building.Dov Lieber and agencies contributed to this report.

Ya’alon lays out Mideast vision, which resembles Netanyahu’s-Ex-defense minister says no solution in sight for Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but it’s ‘irrelevant’ given regional upheaval-By Judah Ari Gross March 15, 2017, 2:24 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon laid out a vision for a new Middle East that seemed decidedly similar, if not identical, to the positions of his boss-turned-rival, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Ya’alon described a Middle East in the throes of its “biggest crisis” since the spread of Islam throughout the region in the seventh century.Today, he said, Israel is in the position of being an enemy of several Sunni Arab states’ enemies, making it a de facto ally of those countries.The larger wars and conflicts in the region have also pushed the Palestinian issue down on those Arab countries’ lists of priorities, he said, speaking in the Olive Room of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem at a briefing organized by The Israel Project.Those views are shared by Netanyahu, whom Ya’alon has repeatedly maligned since being ousted from the government in May 2016.Ya’alon served in the Likud from 2009 until earlier this week, when he officially left the ruling right-wing party. He served as defense minister from 2013 until he was dismissed last year following a series of clashes with the prime minister, most notably on the Elor Azaria case, in which an IDF soldier shot dead a disarmed, incapacitated Palestinian assailant.Since leaving the government, Ya’alon has repeatedly accused Netanyahu of acting out of political expediency rather than true leadership, and compared him to a “weather vane,” going whichever way the wind blows.In his resignation speech in May 2016, Ya’alon vowed to return to politics and run for the leadership of the country. In the 10 months since, he has met with a variety of politicians, as well as former defense officials, in a likely bid to either form a new political party or join an existing one.He has remained mum on the particulars of his plans to run against Netanyahu in a future election, but has indicated that all options are on the table.“I believe that I have something to offer,” he said Wednesday, citing his time as chief of staff and experience in government.-Away and at home-In terms of foreign policy, Ya’alon described Israel as sitting pretty in relation to the rest of the Middle East.He warned of three rising “extremist” movements in the region: Shiite Iran and its partners, Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Turkey; and the more extreme Sunni terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.But he indicated that the threat from those groups puts Israel in good company.“We find ourselves in the same boat as the Sunni Arabs. We share common interests because we share common enemies,” he said.That state of affairs is facilitating unprecedented — and still not officially recognized — relationships with Saudi Arabia, Gulf emirates and Muslim countries in Africa, as well as improved ties with already-friendly countries like Egypt and Jordan, he said.Ya’alon also referred to what some describe as the “Arab Spring,” and others the “Islamic Winter” — in which the hope for increased democratization of Arab countries in 2010-2011 turned into sectarian violence in the years that followed — as an opportunity of sorts for the Jewish state.With vicious civil wars in Syria and Yemen, bitter violence in Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State throughout the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has dropped off the international community’s radar, Ya’alon said.“The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is irrelevant for a while,” he said, though it “still exists and we still need to deal with it.”‘The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is irrelevant for a while,’ but it ‘still exists and we still need to deal with it’However, citing the Palestinian education system, which teaches “the young generation to hate Jews and Zionists, [that we are] colonialists and that the biggest settlement is Tel Aviv,” Ya’alon said there will be “no final settlement in the near future.”Israel should therefore shy away from long-shot peace efforts and “manage the conflict,” he said, keeping the situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from boiling over into large-scale violence.In addition, the government should “advance our interests,” while still adhering to Israeli law, he said. To Ya’alon, that means some continued settlement expansion, but not annexation of parts of the West Bank, as Education Minister Nafatali Bennett has proposed in the Knesset.For now, the Palestinians and Israel are like “Siamese twins,” with shared economic and security systems, he said.Palestinians use the Israeli shekel for their currency — “and not by accident.” Israel, meanwhile, relies on Palestinians for cheap labor, legally employing over 100,000 West Bank residents inside Israel proper (along with many, many more who work illegally, without permits) and another 60,000 who work inside Israeli settlements.“Can they survive without our economy?” he asked rhetorically.Israel and the Palestinian Authority also closely cooperate on many security issues in the West Bank. The Palestinian security services often provide intelligence to the Israeli military, while the IDF offers some level of additional protection for the PA.“Can Abu Mazen survive” without the IDF operating in the West Bank? he asked, using the nickname for PA President Mahmoud Abbas.“Let’s avoid slogans,” Ya’alon said. “All slogans are good for are likes on Facebook, but they aren’t policy.”Ya’alon, like Netanyahu and other right-wing politicians, called for increased autonomy for the PA in the West Bank, rather than full statehood, and maintaining the detente with Hamas in Gaza.“We’re not going to reach a final status solution, but I also don’t want to rule [the Palestinians],” he said.

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