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
Israel becomes a gas exporter with first delivery to Jordan-Delek Drilling says it started implementing 2014 agreement to export gas in deal worth $771 million-By AFP March 2, 2017, 5:55 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
An Israeli company said Thursday it has started exporting gas from an offshore field to Jordan, marking the country’s first ever exports of natural gas.The exports to Jordan began in January, Delek Drilling — part of a consortium leading the development of Israel’s offshore gas reserves — told AFP.There was no formal announcement at the time but it is the first time Israel has ever exported natural gas, a company spokeswoman said.Jordanian firms Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine signed a deal in 2014 to import 2 billion cubic metres (around 70 billion cubic feet) of gas from Israel’s Tamar field over 15 years.At the time reports said the deal was worth $771 million.Jordan is one of only two Arab countries to have a peace deal with Israel but the 1994 agreement is unpopular among Jordanians — almost half of whom are of Palestinian origin.Detractors of the gas deal, including Jordan’s main opposition Islamist party, reject any cooperation with a country they regard as an enemy.However, the resource-poor Arab country has few alternatives to tackle shortages.Israel historically had few natural resources but has discovered a series of offshore gas fields in recent years.In September 2016, a larger deal worth an estimated $10 billion was signed to export gas from the Leviathan offshore field to Jordan.In the face of protests, Jordanian Information Minister Mohamed Momani defended the deal, telling state television it would cut $600 million a year from the state’s energy bill.Deliveries from Leviathan are expected to begin in 2019.
Bad name-Gaza dad tries to call baby Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas says no-Authorities say son can be named either Abbas or Mahmoud, but not both together-By Dov Lieber March 2, 2017, 7:02 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Hamas authorities reportedly prevented a Gazan father from naming his baby after the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying the name was “forbidden” in Gaza.Gaza resident Fayiz Badran, 32, wanted to name his newborn after Abbas due to his “love and appreciation” for the president, the Palestinian news site Wattan24, affiliated with Abbas’s Fatah party, reported Thursday.However, when Badran recently took his baby to Hamas’s interior ministry headquarters in the north of the enclave, authorities told him the name Mahmoud Abbas is “rejected and forbidden in the Gaza Strip.”According to the report, Badran said the authorities told him he could name his son either Abbas or Mahmoud, but not both together.Badran, who the report noted is an employee of the PA, reportedly remains steadfast in his quest to name his child after the PA president.Hamas ousted Abbas’ Fatah party from Gaza in 2007 and numerous attempts to reconcile the rival parties have failed.The Gazan father accused Hamas of hypocrisy, claiming that in recent days the authorities in Gaza had allowed children to be name after Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, former Hamas spiritual leader Ahmad Yassin, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Islamic State looting uncovers ancient palace beneath Jonah’s Tomb-Archaeologists in Iraq find residence of biblical kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon in IS-dug tunnels beneath ruined shrine, according to report-By Times of Israel staff and AFP February 28, 2017, 12:29 pm
Archaeologists in Iraq say they have made an unexpected discovery under a site destroyed by Islamic State traditionally thought to hold the tomb of the biblical prophet Jonah.Under a mound covering the ancient city of Nineveh, beneath a shrine destroyed by IS, they found a previously undiscovered palace built in the seventh century BCE for the Biblical Assyrian King Sennacherib and renovated by his son Esarhaddon.The Nabi Younus shrine in Mosul — which was built on the reputed burial site of a prophet known in the Koran as Yunus and in the Bible as Jonah — was a popular pilgrimage site.In July 2014, weeks after overrunning Mosul and much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland, IS militants rigged the shrine and blew it up, sparking global outrage.In mid-January, Iraqi troops in Nineveh liberated the site.“(It is) far more damaged than we expected,” Culture Minister Salim Khalaf said.But IS also dug tunnels beneath the shrine searching for artifacts to plunder.Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih told Britain’s Daily Telegraph that in the tunnels she discovered a “marble cuneiform inscription of King Esarhaddon thought to date back to the Assyrian empire in 672 BCE.”Although Esarhaddon’s name does not appear, the king is described in terms that were only used to refer to him, referencing his rebuilding of Babylon after his father’s death.Chapters 18 and 19 of the biblical book of II Kings describe Sennacherib’s unsuccessful attempt to conquer Jerusalem. Upon his return to his palace he was murdered by two of his sons, who then fled, leaving Esarhaddon to take over the kingdom.“And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead,” reads verse 19:37 in Kings II.Eleanor Robson, head of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, said the terror group’s destruction had opened the way to a “fantastic find.”“The objects don’t match descriptions of what we thought was down there,” she said, according to a Telegraph report. “There’s a huge amount of history down there, not just ornamental stones. It is an opportunity to finally map the treasure-house of the world’s first great empire, from the period of its greatest success.”However, IS plundered many of the items that were in the palace. Khalaf estimated that more than 700 items have been looted from the site to be sale on the black market.-Searching for lost treasures-Iraq is turning to Interpol and other world agencies to track down the lost treasures. Under UN Security Council resolution 2199, all trade in cultural artifacts from Iraq and Syria is illegal.“We believe they took many of the artifacts, such as pottery and smaller pieces, away to sell. But what they left will be studied and will add a lot to our knowledge of the period,” she said.However, she also warned that the tunnels were not built professionally and were at risk of collapse within weeks.The city of Mosul is intertwined with human history, tracing its roots to 4,400 years ago when civilization rose in fabled, fertile Mesopotamia.Today, as Iraqi forces backed by an international coalition inch forward in their fight to recover Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group, historians are looking at how to save, repair or retrieve precious heritage after the jihadists’ three-year reign.At a meeting in Paris last week, Iraqi officials and dozens of experts from around the world agreed to coordinate efforts to restore Iraq’s cultural treasure.But, they admitted, the road ahead will be hard and long.“The main challenge is for Iraqis to deal with this task by themselves. It is important to empower the people,” said Stefan Simon, director of global cultural heritage initiatives at Yale university.“It is a heartbreaking situation,” he added. “Rehabilitation will take a very long time. They need patience. ”In 2014, at the zenith of IS’ self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, more than 4,000 Iraqi archaeological sites were under the heel of the Sunni fanatics.In the Mosul region alone in northern Iraq, “at least 66 sites were destroyed, some were turned into parking lots, Muslim and Christian places of worship suffered massive destruction and thousands of manuscripts disappeared,” Iraq’s deputy minister for culture, Qais Rashid, said at the conference, hosted by UNESCO.The most grievous blow has been suffered by the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, believed to be named after the biblical hunter Nimrod.Eighty percent of the site has been destroyed, by jihadists driving bulldozers and detonating explosives.Nineveh, once the largest city in the world, has been 70% destroyed.-‘Idolatry’-As for Mosul itself, historians are quailing at the likely fate of the city’s museum, the second largest in Iraq and a treasure house of ancient artifacts.After suffering looting during the 2003 Iraq War, the museum was on the point of reopening in 2014 when IS took over.The jihadists immediately set about destroying objects from the Assyrian and Greek period, which they claimed promoted “idolatry.”Grim discoveries by the Iraqi army in its advance towards the jihadists’ bastion of west Mosul have prompted some specialists to fear the worst.“Daesh tried but will never erase our culture, identity, diversity, history and the pillars of civilization,” Iraqi Education Minister Mohammad Iqbal Omar said, referring to another name for IS.France Desmarais, of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a professional museum group, said there was a long and tragic history of trafficking in cultural objects from northern Iraq.However, “successive wars in Iraq since 2003 have created additional opportunities” for the trade, Desmarais said.-Universal values-The long-term needs of preserving Iraq’s ancient history are many. They start with securing and monitoring sites, drawing up an inventory of items that are safe or missing, restoring and digitizing manuscripts — a task that is dozens of years in the making, and with a bill to match.But culture embodies universal values, and there is a deep well of goodwill for this venture.“Culture implies more than just monuments and stones -– culture defines who we are,” says Unesco chief Irina Bokova.That’s a point of view shared by Najeeb Michaeel, an Iraqi Dominican monk who saved hundreds of manuscripts from the 13th to 18th century, spiriting them to safety in Kurdistan just before IS began its destructive grip on the plain of Nineveh.“We have to save both man and culture,” Michaeel said. “You cannot save the tree without saving its roots.”
EU lawmakers vote to pull plug on racist talk-Controversial new measure allows debate chair at European Parliament to cut live broadcast of a speech deemed ‘defamatory, racist or xenophobic’-By LORNE COOK February 27, 2017, 6:26 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BRUSSELS (AP) — With the specter of populism looming over a critical election year in Europe, the European Parliament has taken an unusual step to crack down on racism and hate speech in its own house.In an unprecedented move, lawmakers have granted special powers to the president to pull the plug on live broadcasts of parliamentary debate in cases of racist speech or acts and the ability to purge any offending video or audio material from the system.Trouble is, the rules on what is considered offensive are none too clear. Some are concerned about manipulation. Others are crying censorship.“This undermines the reliability of the Parliament’s archives at a moment where the suspicion of ‘fake news’ and manipulation threatens the credibility of the media and the politicians,” said Tom Weingaertner, president of the Brussels-based International Press Association.After Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, the rising popularity of anti-immigrant candidates like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands or far-right Marine Le Pen in France is worrying Europe’s political mainstream. Le Pen, who is running for the French presidency this spring, has promised to follow Britain’s lead.At the European Parliament, where elections are due in 2019, many say the need for action against hate speech, and strong sanctions for offenders, is long overdue.The assembly — with its two seats; one in the Belgian capital of Brussels, and the other in Strasbourg in northeast France — is often the stage for political and sometimes nationalist theater. Beyond routine shouting matches, members occasionally wear T-shirts splashed with slogans or unfurl banners. Flags adorn some lawmakers’ desks.Yet more and more in recent years, lawmakers have gone too far.“There have been a growing number of cases of politicians saying things that are beyond the pale of normal parliamentary discussion and debate,” said British EU parliamentarian Richard Corbett, who chaperoned the new rule through the assembly.“What if this became not isolated incidents, but specific, where people could say: ‘Hey, this is a fantastic platform. It’s broad, it’s live-streamed. It can be recorded and repeated. Let’s use it for something more vociferous, more spectacular,'” he told The Associated Press.In a nutshell, rule 165 of the parliament’s rules of procedure allows the chair of debates to halt the live broadcast “in the case of defamatory, racist or xenophobic language or behavior by a member.” The maximum fine for offenders would be around 9,000 euros ($9,500).Under the rule, not made public by the assembly but first reported by Spain’s La Vanguardia newspaper, offending material could be “deleted from the audiovisual record of proceedings,” meaning citizens would never know it happened unless reporters were in the room. Weingaertner said the IPA was never consulted on that.A technical note seen by the AP outlines a procedure for manually cutting off the video feed, stopping transmission on in-house TV monitors and breaking the satellite link to halt broadcast to the outside world. A videotape in four languages would be kept running to serve as a legal record during the blackout. A more effective and permanent system was being sought.It is also technically possible to introduce a safe-guard time delay so broadcasts appear a few seconds later. This means they could be interrupted before offending material is aired.But the system is unwieldy. Lawmakers have the right to speak in any of the European Union’s 24 official languages. An offending act could well be over before the assembly’s President Antonio Tajani even has a chance to hit the kill switch. Misunderstandings and even abuses could crop up.During a debate in December, Gerolf Annemans, from Belgium’s Flemish independence party Vlaams Belang, expressed concern that the rule “can be abused by those who have hysterical reactions to things that they qualify as racist, xenophobic, when people are just expressing politically incorrect views.”Even those involved in the move acknowledge that it’s a sensitive issue.Helmut Scholz, from Germany’s left-wing Die Linke party, said EU lawmakers are elected — indeed the EU parliament is the bloc’s only popularly elected institution — and must be able to express their views about how Europe should work.“You can’t limit or deny this right,” he said.He worries about fake news too, but of the kind made from selective extracts of debates.“If you are following the whole debate that is one thing, but if you have certain media who are taking out individual sentences you could falsify the whole issue,” he said.Still, Nazi rallying cries and racist obscenities are relatively rare but not unheard of.“We need an instrument against that, to take it out of the record, to stop distribution of such slogans, such ideas,” Scholz said.
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Gaza gunfire hits IDF vehicle, prompting tank shelling-After third attack in four days, Israeli army strikes two Hamas positions in the northern Strip-By Judah Ari Gross March 2, 2017, 3:12 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israeli troops operating near the Gaza security fence came under fire north of the Strip on Thursday, in the third attack in four days, the army said.No soldiers were reported injured, but an army engineering vehicle was hit by gunfire, according to the Israel Defense Forces.The military responded to the attack by striking two Hamas positions in the northern Gaza Strip.“In response to the gunfire, An IDF force attacked and destroyed two Hamas positions using [Israeli] Air Force crafts and tank fire,” the army said in a statement.The Gaza health ministry said it had not received any reports of Palestinian injuries.According to the Gaza-based Shehab news agency, the targets were Hamas observation posts, north of Beit Lahiya.Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ma’an news reported that Israeli troops fired shots toward “lands and homes” in the northern Gaza Strip. An IDF spokesperson said she was “not familiar” with the incident.The Palestinian outlet also reported that Israeli vehicles had operated on the Gaza side of the security fence on Thursday morning.The exchange came less than a day after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck an open field south of the coastal city of Ashkelon, causing neither injury nor damage. The IDF did not immediately respond to the rocket attack with artillery shelling or airstrikes, as it has done in the past.Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told the Ynet news site in an interview on Thursday that the army was not required to react in the same way after every incident.“We don’t have to dance to Hamas’s tune,” he said.The projectile struck the Hof Ashkelon region shortly after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said. Israeli troops located fragments of the rocket on Thursday morning. No terrorist groups immediately took credit for the attack.Recent weeks have seen a rise in the number of rocket attacks. On Monday, a rocket was launched from Gaza toward the Sha’ar Hanegev region, striking an open field. Hours later, Israeli Air Force jets bombed multiple targets in the Gaza Strip.In early February, after a rocket attack that drew Israeli strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not tolerate a “drizzle” of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip “without a response.”“My policy is to respond strongly to any rocket fire,” Netanyahu said. “We are firm in this response.”Most rocket attacks since the 2014 war have been carried out by radical Salafist groups, not by Hamas. However, Israel holds Hamas, the Sunni terror group that has ruled the coastal enclave for the past 10 years, as ultimately responsible for any rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip.Hamas’s military wing threatened Tuesday to retaliate against Israel should it strike Gaza.“The enemy only understands the language of force, and sometimes silence is interpreted as weakness by the enemy. Therefore, any aggression along the lines of what happened yesterday, the resistance, headed by the Qassam Brigades, will have their say,” Abu Obeida, the official spokesperson of Hamas’s military wing the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades told the terror group’s Al Aqsa TV station.Dov Lieber contributed to this report.
French teacher in machete attack says he now hides his kippa-Traumatized victim of Marseille assault speaks before trial in Paris juvenile court of first minor accused of jihad-By JTA and Times of Israel staff March 2, 2017, 7:30 pm
On the eve of a landmark trial for terrorism in France, the Jewish victim of a violent machete attack said he has begun concealing his kippah from fear.Benjamin Amsellem told the news website 20 Minutes on Tuesday about how his life was turned upside down following last year’s incident in Marseille, when police say a radicalized youth of Turkish descent lightly wounded the city teacher using a machete.Having moved to the Paris region as part of his therapy, Amsellem said he now prefers “to wear a hat instead of the kippah in places where I don’t feel safe.” He said he never feared wearing a kippah in Marseille.The interview was published one day before the opening of his alleged attacker’s trial which began Wednesday in a Paris juvenile court.Amsellem was wearing his kippah when he attended the start of the trial.According to the AFP news agency, which defined the trial as “a sad precedent,” this is the first time that a minor under the age of 18 is being tried in France for a jihadist attack. The youth, whose name was not published in the media, was 15 when he allegedly attacked Amsellem and fled the scene after the victim fought him off using a Bible to shield his body from the knife.The attack, in January 2016, was particularly shocking to Amsellem’s community in Marseille, France’s second largest city with a population of 852,000, because it had seen proportionately fewer anti-Semitic attacks than in Paris, where hundreds are recorded annually. The city has a Jewish population of 80,000.Amsellem is still undergoing therapy to deal with the psychological effects of the attack. While the trial has brought back “something I try not to think of,” he decided to talk to the media to say that “it exists, it can happen and one needs to be careful, one needs to take precautions to save one’s life.”According to the defendant’s lawyer, Merabi Murgulia, the defendant has confessed to committing the actions for which he is standing trial and regrets them profoundly.Following the attack a source close to the investigation told local media the boy had said he was “ashamed” that he did not manage to kill Amsellem.The teenager, an ethnic Kurd from Turkey, told police he did not regret the assault, and that he was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.In the wake of the attack a debate began in France’s Jewish community over whether men and boys should stop wearing the skullcap identifying their religion.Zvi Ammar, the leader of Marseille’s Jewish community, urged male Jews to stop wearing the kippah “until better days,” because of fears for their safety.At the time French President Francois Hollande rejected as “intolerable” the idea that fear of attack would prompt French Jews to “hide.”“It is intolerable that in our country citizens should feel so upset and under assault because of their religious choice that they would conclude that they have to hide,” Hollande said.The local representative of France’s CRIF umbrella Jewish group said that to take off skullcaps would be akin “to stopping being Jewish” and noted that “Jews have been in France for generations before Muslims.”The Chief Rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, also opposed the idea, tweeting that “we must not cede to emotion.”Roger Cukierman, the head of CRIF, agreed, saying the call reflected “a defeatist attitude”.The attack led several ministers and other politicians spoke out on the issue, with Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem saying of the idea of shunning kippahs: “It’s certainly not the advice I would give, personally.”Joel Mergui, president of France’s Israelite Central Consistory, said: “If we have to give up wearing any distinctive sign of our identity, it clearly would raise the question of our future in France.”Brice Hortefeux of the opposition, center-right Republicans party agreed with the chief rabbi that “giving up (the kippah) is giving in”. But he said it was impossible “not to modify your behaviour in the face of these unspeakable acts.”
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.
Palestinians more pessimistic about peace with Israel under Trump — poll-Majority of Gaza, West Bank residents express doubt peace agreement with Israel can be secured under auspices of new US administration-By Times of Israel staff March 2, 2017, 4:53 pm
The majority of Palestinians have become increasingly pessimistic at the prospect of reaching a peace deal with Israel since the election of US President Donald Trump, a new poll published on Thursday indicated.According to a survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) of 1,199 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 53.7 percent of respondents said they were less hopeful a peace deal could be struck under the auspices of the new US administration, while only 4.7% reported feeling more optimistic.In comparison, a similar poll carried out after the election of former US president Barack Obama in 2009, 18.9% of Palestinians reported feeling pessimistic regarding peace prospects, while 28.1% expressed hope.The rest foresaw no change due the election of an American president.Trump’s election has provoked deep concern among Palestinians, who have repeatedly denounced the US president’s support of Israeli settlement policies and his campaign promise to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.While Trump has recently signaled a shift from his previous blanket support of Israeli policies, the JMCC poll indicated a vast majority Palestinians remained concerned by the prospective embassy move and support retaliatory measures against Israel and the US in response.Some 23.4% said the best response would be the cancellation of the Palestinian recognition of Israel, 19.7% said they supported a boycott of the US Embassy, 18.7% backed lodging a complaint against the US at the UN and 16.5% supported the removal of the US as a sponsor of the peace process.The poll comes amid reports the Trump administration is considering withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, reportedly in part over the body’s bias against Israel.US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley last month accused the UN Human Rights Council of “breathtaking double standards” and “outrageously biased resolutions” against Israel and US diplomat Erin Barclay called on the body to drop its “consistent, unfair and unbalanced focus” on Israel, which she said “deeply troubled” Washington.In a leaked recording from a Likud faction meeting held earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he suggested the US withdraw from the UNHRC during his February meeting with Trump in Washington.
Jerusalem told the Americans it refused to free Israeli citizens convicted by its own courts... Kerry nonetheless promised this to Abbas'-In politely devastating critique, Israeli negotiator skewers Kerry for dooming peace talks-Secretary was determined and committed, writes Michael Herzog, who then details a series of instances where Obama’s top diplomat fostered confusion, misunderstanding, mistrust-By Raphael Ahren March 2, 2017, 3:57 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The 2013-14 effort at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking was doomed to fail because of the unrealistic goals set by the United States at its inception, according to a new Israeli insider account. And the inevitable collapse was expedited by grave mistakes made during the negotiations by their American sponsors, and especially by secretary of state John Kerry, veteran Israeli peace negotiator Michael Herzog writes.In a lengthy article published this week, Herzog says Jerusalem, Ramallah and Washington all contributed to the breakdown of negotiations in April 2014. “All parties made mistakes, each exacerbating the others’ and contributing to a negative dynamic.”But he apportions devastating blame to Kerry, who initiated and headed the talks. He writes that Kerry “definitely does not deserve the slander directed at him by some Israelis,” but nonetheless highlights Kerry’s over-confidence and lack of sensitivity, says Kerry caused confusion from the start, cites instances where Kerry misrepresented Israel’s positions to the Palestinians, and suggests the US team led by the former secretary might have deliberately misled the parties.After insistently launching negotiations with the unattainable goal of reaching a final-status agreement in less than a year, Kerry then mismanaged the talks as they proceeded, charges Herzog, who was a member of the Israeli negotiating team headed by then-justice minister Tzipi Livni. (Herzog, brother of Labor leader Isaac and son of former president Chaim, is a retired brigadier-general who formerly headed the IDF’s strategic planning division and served as chief of staff to the defense minister; he stresses that he has never been politically affiliated.)-Kerry failed to fully understand “the psychology of the parties or the delicate nuances of their relations,” writes Herzog, who has participated in most of Israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians, Syrians, and Jordanians since 1993.“At times he appeared more eager than they were, pushed them beyond their limits, set unrealistic goals and timeframes, and shouldered some burdens better left alone or to the parties — in the belief that his own powers of personal persuasion could overcome any obstacle.”For instance, the former secretary of state misinformed Ramallah about Israel’s firm opposition to releasing Palestinian security prisoners, one of the key misunderstandings that led to the talks’ breakdown, according to Herzog.Kerry also insisted on merging the negotiations he presided over publicly with a “back channel” track, destroying tangible progress that had been quietly made between the sides.-A waste of time and energy-“Reaching a deal in nine months was clearly unrealistic, given the very significant gaps and mistrust between the parties. This should have been realized from the outset,” Herzog writes in The American Interest magazine in an article titled “Inside the Black Box of Israeli-Palestinian Talks.”And yet, Kerry stuck to the “titanic goal” of reaching agreement on all core issues within this framework. “The result was a waste of precious time and energy in the first phase of talks.” Rather, the parties should have first tried to agree on guidelines for negotiating and resolving the core issues, according to Herzog.Kerry set ground rules for the talks with both parties separately, which became a source of serious confusion and misunderstanding, eventually causing the process to collapse, Herzog charges.Before agreeing to enter negotiations, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas insisted that Israel release a number of Palestinian security prisoners, among them several Arab-Israelis. Jerusalem told the Americans that it refused to free Israeli citizens convicted by its own courts. But the Israeli side was “soon surprised to find out that Kerry had nonetheless promised this to Abbas, later claiming a misunderstanding with Israel,” according to Herzog.Furthermore, Kerry’s ground rules allowed Israel to determine the terms of the prisoners’ release. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the advice of his security chiefs, thus delayed the release of prisoners likely to return to terrorism to the fourth and last round. He also insisted that 10 out of the total of 108 prisoners be expelled to Gaza, Jordan or elsewhere and not be allowed to return to the West Bank.“Yet the Palestinians claimed there was an agreement between Abbas and Kerry that all prisoners would be released ‘to their homes’ — a claim later affirmed to us by the US team,” Herzog writes. “One of Kerry’s aides apologetically explained that in his meeting with Abbas, ‘the Secretary was not aware of this nuance.’”Jerusalem’s eventual refusal to release the last batch of prisoners at the planned date led Abbas on April 1, 2014, to sign documents to join 15 international bodies, violating a commitment not to take unilateral steps to advance the bid to have “Palestine” recognized as a state. Israel reacted by reissuing tenders for 708 housing units in East Jerusalem, a move which critics — including Kerry — inaccurately pinpointed for the talks’ breakdown.Netanyahu had never promised to freeze settlement construction for the duration of the talks, Herzog notes. In fact, the Israelis had told Kerry they would announce construction of 1,200-1,500 housing units beyond the Green Line to coincide with every phase of prisoner releases.“Kerry was careful not to provide a formal stamp of approval to a policy that the US government officially objected to, but in reality he went along given the context of conflict-ending negotiations,” Herzog wrote. “He conveyed the picture to the Palestinian side; however, it is not clear what exact language and tone he used.”-Deliberate confusion?-Of the US handling of the talks, Herzog writes that whenever Israelis or Palestinians were presented by an American negotiator with a certain position, neither side knew whether this position represented Washington or the other side. The Americans might have sowed confusion deliberately to “allow the US side more maneuvering space between the parties,” he suggests, “but instead each developed suspicions that the US side did not necessarily share identical content with both parties.”Particularly detrimental to the process, he goes on, was Kerry’s insistence on launching the talks in parallel to existing back channel negotiations that were well underway and promised to yield substantive results.Herzog describes informal talks conducted discreetly by private individuals who acted on behalf of their respective leaders. Before Kerry publicly launched his talks between the two sides — headed by Livni and Saeb Erekat, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization — US president Barack Obama had called the secret back channel “the only game in town.”But Kerry pushed for a front channel of negotiations. “His position triggered a debate within the Obama Administration: Should it invest political capital in a parallel public channel, which many thought carried low chances of success, or should it just wait and give the back channel a chance? Kerry insisted and had his way,” Herzog writes.From July to December 2013, the two tracks ran parallel to each other. “What emerged was a predictable competition. As expected, once participants in the public channel became aware of the back channel and its contents, they objected to being a side-show or serving as cover,” Herzog recalls.“With time, I formed the impression that Kerry quietly fostered the competition, as if splitting his investment and waiting to see which of the tracks would yield more. I warned him that this approach would ultimately destroy the unprecedented progress made over more than two years of meticulous efforts. It did.”Abandoning the back channel for the public one “was a major mistake,” Herzog judges.In March 2014, as the nine months allotted for the talks neared their conclusion, the Israeli negotiators sought to directly engage with their Palestinian counterparts to salvage the faltering process. They were shocked to discover that the Americans had apparently given false information to the Palestinians about an upcoming vote in Israel’s cabinet.“While comparing notes, we were told by the Palestinians how on nine separate occasions in recent days the US side had given them specific hours at which Israel’s cabinet would meet to vote on the prisoner release,” Herzog recalled. “Our jaws dropped. Nobody on our side ever determined a specific hour for the cabinet meeting… To this day, I am bewildered by this episode.”Still, Herzog allows, despite the many missteps that doomed the talks, Kerry deserves praise “for his commitment, determination, and intelligence, and for his indispensable role in propelling the process.”Writes Herzog: “He definitely does not deserve the slander directed at him by some Israelis. His mission was unenviable in that he was struggling to negotiate simultaneously with Israelis, Palestinians, and the White House.”-The framework document-Efforts to save the talks eventually resulted in a framework document, meant to enshrine whatever progress had been made in discussing the core issues. Herzog does not divulge the document’s exact terms but provides a glimpse into how far each side was willing to go.Regarding security arrangements, the Palestinians, for instance, were willing to accept an Israeli military presence in parts of the West Bank for five years, which was to be followed by an indefinite deployment of foreign forces. Israel rejected that, requiring a long-term Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley. “Netanyahu thought in terms of decades,” according to Herzog.“Ultimately, the U.S. and Israeli sides agreed that the timeframe should be based on specific criteria. The debate over which criteria and who would judge them was never fully resolved in this phase,” he reports.While rejecting the Palestinians’ demand for a “right of return” for refugees, Israel and the US considered allowing “admitting some Palestinians to Israel on an individual, humanitarian basis and at Israel’s sole discretion.”Washington also appeared positively disposed to Jerusalem’s request that a peace deal acknowledge the suffering of Jews who fled Arab countries after the State of Israel was founded, and to create a mechanism for compensation.The issue of Jerusalem remained entirely unresolved, Herzog writes, in part because Ramallah insisted, with American approval, to have Israel explicitly recognize a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.
French Jewish teacher conceals his kippah after machete attack-US Jewish leadership group welcomes Trump repudiation of anti-Semitic vandalism; IDF strikes two Hamas posts in Gaza after gunfire hits army patrol-By Times of Israel staff March 2, 2017, 2:35 pm
19:12-Israel said to again deny entry to Human Rights Watch official-Human Rights Watch official Omar Shakir has again been denied entry into Israel, despite assurances by Israeli officials he could enter the country on a tourist visa, the group says Thursday.Shakir is the Israel and Palestine director of the organization’s Middle East and North Africa Division.The Israeli government views the New York-based group with suspicion, arguing its reports on Israel are heavily influenced by pro-Palestinian politics rather than a close adherence to a human rights agenda.The group counters that Israel’s attempts to exclude the group’s officials from the country “impedes our ability to document abuses by all sides and to engage the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and partners to improve the human rights situation for all.”19:09-Al-Qaeda confirms coalition strike kills top leader-BEIRUT, Lebanon – Al-Qaeda confirms that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed to be the organization’s number two, is killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition in Syria.In a statement, two branches of the jihadist group, including the powerful Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), called Masri a “hero” and said he was killed “during a Crusader drone strike” in Syria.“All of al-Sham (Syria) will bear witness to the latest crime of America and the Crusader alliance,” the statement dated Wednesday says, in reference to the US-led coalition bombing jihadists in Syria and Iraq.It also expresses its condolences to al-Qaeda’s current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.Masri is a son-in-law of the group’s founder Osama bin Laden and is believed to be Zawahiri’s deputy.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said earlier this week that a February 26 coalition raid on the town of Mastumah in Idlib province had killed Masri.Egypt-born al-Masri, 59, was one of the most prominent figures in Al-Qaeda to have roots in the era before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Soufan Group, a private security and intelligence consultancy.— AFP-18:07-Egypt appeals court acquits Mubarak over protester killings-CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s top appeals court on Thursday acquits ex-president Hosni Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade reign, a judicial official says.Mubarak had been sentenced to life in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.Thursday’s ruling by the Court of Cassation is final.The trial was Mubarak’s final one, after prosecutors leveled various charges against him following his February 2011 resignation.He was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during the 18-day revolt, in which about 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators.Mubarak, 88, has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011.— AFP-18:06-Sweden introduces military draft for men and women-COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s left-leaning government introduces a military draft for both men and women Thursday because of what its defense minister calls a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden.Sweden abolished compulsory military service for men in 2010 because there were enough volunteers to meet its military needs. It has never had a military draft for women.The government says “the all-volunteer recruitment hasn’t provided the Armed Forces with enough trained personnel. The re-activating of conscription is needed for military readiness.”In September, non-NATO-member Sweden stationed permanent troops on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist described the move as sending a signal after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its “increasing pressure” on the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.There have also been reports of airspace violations by Russia’s military aircraft in the Baltics and a military buildup in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which sits across the Baltic Sea from Sweden.— AP-18:05-Young woman found dead on beach near Haifa-A young woman in her 20s is found dead Thursday on the beach north of Atlit, near Haifa.The woman’s identity is not yet known. Police launch an investigation.-18:05-Palestinian teen caught throwing rocks at cars east of Jerusalem-A 17-year-old Palestinian boy is caught throwing rocks at cars on the main road from Jerusalem to the nearby settlement city of Maale Adumim, just northeast of the capital.A police patrol that sees the boy throwing the rocks chases after him and arrests him.His parents are also called to the station.— Judah Ari Gross-17:48-Montreal police investigate second anti-Semitic sermon at mosque-MONTREAL — Police are asked for the second time in three weeks to investigate a newly found video showing a hate sermon against Jews coming from the same Montreal mosque.Only this time the imam is different.The video, released online Tuesday by the Middle East Media Research Institute, shows Sheikh Wael Al-Ghitawi in November 2014 delivering a sermon at the Al Andalous Islamic Center in the St. Laurent borough against the “people who slayed the prophets, shed their blood, and cursed the Lord…”Rabbi Reuben Poupko of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA, tells the National Post, “This is a bizarre strain of radical propaganda.”Early last month, a video from August 2014 released on YouTube shows a different imam from the mosque calling on Allah to “destroy the accursed Jews” and that they be killed “one by one.”In reaction to that video, the mosque characterized the imam’s phrasing as “clumsy” and “unacceptable.”— JTA-17:47-Donors pledge $190m after Trump’s anti-abortion move-BRUSSELS — Donor countries on Thursday pledge 181 million euros ($190 million) for charities providing access to safe abortion in response to President Donald Trump’s bar on US funding, organizers say.The donations come at a “She Decides” conference in Brussels which is attended by 50 countries including Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.“I think that the Trump administration decision is a wrong decision, and I’ve never seen any evidence that supports that decision,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo says as he opens the conference.“You see almost 50 countries here saying we think that this is important and we want to continue working on this.”In one of his first acts as president, Trump reintroduced the global gag rule, enacted by Ronald Reagan in 1984, which prohibits foreign charities from using US federal funding to provide abortion services, information, counseling or referrals.— AFP-17:47-Hamas refuses to let a Gaza dad name his baby Mahmoud Abbas-Hamas authorities reportedly prevent a Gazan father from naming his baby boy after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying the name is “forbidden” in Gaza.The Palestinian news site Wattan24, affiliated with Abbas’s Fatah party, reports Thursday that 32-year-old Gaza resident Fayiz Badran wants to name his newborn after Abbas due to his “love and appreciation” for the president.However, when Badran recently took his baby to Hamas’s interior ministry headquarters in the north of the enclave, officials told him the name Mahmoud Abbas is “rejected and forbidden in the Gaza Strip.”Badran, who the report notes is an employee of the PA, reportedly remains steadfast in his quest to name his child after the PA president.— Dov Lieber-17:33-French Jewish teacher conceals his kippah after machete attack-On the eve of a landmark trial for terrorism in France, the alleged victim of the teenage defendant says he has begun concealing his kippah following the suspected attack.Benjamin Amsellem, a teacher from Marseilles, tells the news website 20 Minutes on Tuesday about how his life was turned upside down following last year’s incident, in which police say a radicalized youth of Turkish descent lightly wounded Amsellem using a machete in Marseille.Having moved to the Paris region as part of his therapy, Amsellem, who says he never used to fear wearing a kippah in Marseille, now prefers “to wear a hat instead of the kippah in places where I don’t feel safe,” he says during the interview, which is published one day before the opening of his alleged attacker’s trial Wednesday in a Paris juvenile court.According to the AFP news agency, which defined the trial as “a sad precedent,” it is the first time that a minor under the age of 18 is being tried in France for allegedly committing a jihadist attack. The youth, whose name was not published in the media, was 15 when he allegedly attacked Amsellem in January 2016 and fled the scene of the incident after Amsellem fought him off using a Hebrew bible book to shield his body from the knife.— JTA-17:29-US Jewish leadership group welcomes Trump repudiation of anti-Semitic vandalism-An American Jewish umbrella group welcomes US President Donald Trump’s condemnation of anti-Semitic vandalism in his speech to Congress Tuesday night.“It is significant that President Trump chose to open his first address to Congress and the nation by clearly identifying and strongly condemning the recent acts of anti-Semitism targeting Jewish communal facilities, cemeteries and organizations across the country,” a statement by Conference of Presidents chair Stephen Greenberg and executive vice chair Malcolm Hoenlein says on Thursday.“By reaffirming America’s strong commitment to speaking out against hate, President Trump sent an important message of support to the American Jewish community at a very difficult time and set an example for other political, religious and civic leaders to follow.”They add: “We trust that law enforcement officials will vigorously investigate these heinous acts, identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice and we look forward to working with the Trump administration to turn back the rising tide of anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. We also express appreciation for President Trump’s reaffirmation of the US commitment to Israel.”-17:27-Kremlin: Sessions controversy an impediment to new relations-MOSCOW — The intense attention being given to the new US attorney general’s meetings with Russia’s ambassador could obstruct improved Washington-Moscow relations, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Thursday.The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, tells reporters he did not know about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Jeff Sessions, who at that time was a US senator. Sessions also was a policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s campaign.News of the two meetings has added fuel to the controversy over whether Russia was improperly involved with Trump’s campaign. It spurred calls in Congress for Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election.Peskov says it is normal for Russian diplomats to meet with US lawmakers. Sessions’ office has said the meetings were in his capacity as a senator rather than as a Trump campaign adviser.He characterizes the reaction to the news of the Sessions meetings as “an emotional atmosphere (that) leads to resistance to the idea of some kind of US-Russia dialogue.”— AP-17:15-Local churches come to support threatened North Carolina JCC-Tami Gross, mother of Times of Israel military affairs reporter Judah Ari Gross, is an employee of the Asheville, North Carolina, JCC that was among the centers evacuated this week due to a bomb threat.She writes on Thursday: “We were greeted this morning by 20+ reps from local churches with flowers coffee pastries donuts chocolates signs pins – basically support. It was really something to see”-My mom works at @AshevilleJCC, which got a bomb threat this week. With her OK, I'm sharing a message she sent to our family WhatsApp group. pic.twitter.com/HymiwOh0w0— Judah Ari Gross (@JudahAriGross) March 2, 2017-— Judah Ari Gross-16:55-30,000 eggs, 1,100 lbs of meat caught in West Bank smuggling sting-Israeli agriculture inspectors catch 30,000 eggs that were being smuggled from the Palestinian Authority into Israel in recent days, along with some 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of beef.The items were not produced with any known veterinary oversight, officials say.-16:07-Court delays Azaria prison sentence due to appeal-The Jaffa Military Court grants IDF soldier Elor Azaria a delay in serving out his sentence until after his appeal.Azaria was set to start his 18-month prison sentence on Sunday, March 5, after he was convicted of manslaughter last month in the shooting death of a Palestinian assailant last year in Hebron.-15:49-In first, Israel begins gas exports to Jordan-An Israeli company says Thursday it has started exporting gas from an offshore field to Jordan, the country’s first ever exports of natural gas.The exports to Jordan began in January, Delek Drilling — part of a consortium leading the development of Israel’s offshore gas reserves — tells AFP.There was no formal announcement at the time but it is the first time Israel has ever exported natural gas, a company spokeswoman says.Jordanian firms Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine signed a deal in 2014 to import 2 billion cubic meters (around 70 billion cubic feet) of gas from Israel’s Tamar field over 15 years.At the time reports said the deal was worth $771 million.Jordan is one of only two Arab countries to have a peace deal with Israel but the 1994 agreement is unpopular among Jordanians — almost half of whom are of Palestinian origin.However, the resource-poor Arab country has few alternatives to tackle shortages.In September 2016, a larger deal worth an estimated $10 billion was signed to export gas from the Leviathan offshore field to Jordan.In the face of protests, Jordanian Information Minister Mohamed Momani defended the deal, telling state television it would cut $600 million a year from the state’s energy bill.Deliveries from Leviathan are expected to begin in 2019.— AFP-15:41-Le Pen loses EU immunity over IS atrocity tweets-BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Parliament on Thursday lifts French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s immunity from prosecution over her tweeting of images of Islamic State atrocities.The move paves the way for France to pursue a case against the far right National Front leader, after prosecutors launched a probe in 2015 over the graphic pictures, which included the decapitated body of US journalist James Foley.“The result is clear, a big majority is in favor of the lifting of immunity,” acting parliament speaker Dimitrios Papadimoulis said.The ruling is effective immediately for Le Pen, a National Front MEP, European Parliament officials tell AFP.But the decision concerns only the tweets, and not a separate probe into allegations that Le Pen misused public funds when hiring a parliamentary aide, they say.The development is the latest twist in France’s dramatic presidential election campaign, coming a day after rightwing candidate Francois Fillon vows to continue his bid for power despite the fact he is to be charged over his own fake jobs scandal.— AFP-15:41-Merkel in Egypt to reduce migrant flows-CAIRO — German Chancellor Angela Merkel lands in Cairo Thursday on a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia, in a push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya.Turmoil exploited by people smugglers since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi has made Libya the main gateway for African migrants seeking to make dangerous Mediterranean crossings.Merkel, who faces elections in September, is under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015.Her government urges the North African states to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.Merkel is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi on Thursday, followed by meetings with Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Egypt’s top Muslim cleric.She will depart to Tunisia on Friday to meet Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.— AFP-15:37-Syrian Kurds call for buffer with Turkish forces-US-backed Syrian Kurdish troops say Russia has brokered an agreement between them and Turkish-backed opposition fighters. The deal seeks to avoid clashes between the two mutually hostile rivals, both fighting the Islamic State group in northern Syria.The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, says that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line as rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River.This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tells reporters in Ankara there was no such agreement between Russia and the Syrian Kurds.Kurdish-led forces captured the northern town of Manbij from IS last August, prompting Turkey to deploy troops into northern Syria.Turkey considers the Kurdish forces a terrorist organization, linked to its home-grown Kurdish insurgency.— AP-15:12-IDF strikes 2 Hamas posts in Gaza with planes, tanks-Palestinian media reports say the IDF fires two tank shells at a Hamas surveillance post near the border fence not far from the Gazan town of Beit Lahiya in the northern part of the Strip.The army clarifies that it is striking two positions, not one, and the fire includes both shells and airstrikes.The shooting is seen by both sides as a response to gunfire that struck an IDF patrol on the Israeli side of the Gaza border fence a short time earlier.No one is hurt in any of the incidents, according to both Israeli and Palestinian reports.-15:00-Arabic media reports IDF shelling in Gaza after shots fired at Israel-Arabic media reports IDF forces are shelling Hamas positions in Gaza after troops come under fire near the security fence.There is no word yet on damage or casualties.— Judah Ari Gross-14:56--EU threatens fines for failing to take in refugees-BRUSSELS, Belgium — The EU on Thursday steps up warnings that countries could be punished if they fail to share the burden of mainly Syrian refugees stranded in Greece and Italy.Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos says member states have until September to take in 160,000 Syrian and other refugees from the two countries, which have been on the frontline of the migration crisis.So far only 13,500 have been relocated in a process bogged down by general inertia and resistance from Eastern European states which oppose Muslim immigration.“If we don’t have tangible efforts by September… the commission will not hesitate to make use of its power,” Avramopoulos, who is Greece’s EU commissioner, tells a news conference.The EU has been trying to convince members states “to do their duty,” he says.— AFP-14:55-Shots fired at IDF force on Gaza border, none hurt-Shots are fired at IDF forces stationed near the border fence with Gaza, the army says.No one is hurt in the incident, but bullets holes are identified in a vehicle belonging to the IDF force.— Judah Ari Gross-14:51-Moderately strong quake hits southeastern Turkey-ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish government agency says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 has hit southeastern Turkey.The government crisis management center says the earthquake was centered in the town of Samat, in Adiyaman province.The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6 and said the quake was very shallow at around 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep.It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.— AP-14:50-Man moderately wounded in E. Jerusalem gunfireA 45-year-old man was moderately wounded from gunfire in East Jerusalem.Magen David Adom rescue service medics took him to the Shaare Zedek hospital in the city.There is no immediate word on the circumstances of the gunfire.14:49-Germany arrests 2 Syrian extremists, 1 accused of war crimes-BERLIN — German authorities arrest two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, one of whom is alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians.The federal prosecutor’s office said Thursday that 35-year-old Abdalfatah H.A. is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013. The statement says he carried out “so-called Shariah death sentences.”A spokeswoman for the prosecutors’ office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum-seeker.The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman A.A., belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah H.A. and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013.Prosecutors say the Nusra Front unit the men belonged to also included Abd Arahman A. K., a Syrian in his early 30s who was arrested in Germany last June on suspicion of being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Duesseldorf.— AP-14:43-IDF investigating reports of shooting toward kibbutz near Gaza-The IDF is investigating reports of shots fired toward Kibbutz Karmiya, north of the Gaza Strip.An army spokesperson says the military has heard about the incident, but is still verifying the information.— Judah Ari Gross-14:42-Defense minister: ‘No pardon’ for Hebron shooter soldier Azaria-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says he opposes a military pardon for Hebron shooting soldier Elor Azaria, sentenced last month to 18 months in prison by the Jaffa Military Court.Azaria shot and killed Palestinian Abdel Fattah al-Sharif last March, a few minutes after Sharif had stabbed an IDF soldier from Azaria’s unit and was lying wounded on the ground.The court ruled that Azaria had violated military rules of engagement and convicted him of manslaughter.“First of all, no pardon,” Liberman tells the Ynet news site, apparently contradicting calls from many right-wing politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to grant Azaria such a pardon. “You can shorten [the sentence], but only after a sentence is given, 16 days from its announcement,” Liberman says.The defense minister says he opposes a pardon once a court issues a conviction and sentence for manslaughter for an IDF soldier, but suggested he would have preferred a disciplinary, rather than a criminal, process for handling the incident in the first place.He tells Ynet: “I’ve said more than once that this whole legal track, appeal after appeal, was the wrong path, but that’s what the family decided.”Under law, Azaria has two possible tracks for obtaining a pardon, either from the IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, who has already vehemently criticized Azaria’s actions and so is considered an unlikely target for a pardon appeal, or the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin.
