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
Pope calls for ‘moderation’ after Jerusalem shrine violence-Without apportioning blame, pontiff says he is following ‘with trepidation the grave tensions and violence’-By AP July 23, 2017, 4:54 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has appealed for moderation after the deadly violence over the Temple Mount.Francis told faithful Sunday in St. Peter’s Square that he was following “with trepidation the grave tensions and violence” unleashed at the contested shrine.Francis said: “I feel the need to express a distressed appeal for moderation and dialogue.” He invited others to pray with him so people would aim for reconciliation and peace.Israel installed upgraded security, including metal detectors and cameras at the entrances to the holy site, following a deadly terror attack on July 14 in which three Arab terrorists emerged from the compound and shot dead two Israeli police officers, having earlier stashed their weapons at the site.Most worshipers since have refused to go through metal detectors, installed in the wake of the attack, at the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims. Clashes with police in and around Jerusalem have been intensifying daily, with five Palestinians killed on Friday and Saturday, including one who died when a Molotov cocktail he was about to throw caught fire prematurely.On Friday night, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death three Israelis at their Shabbat dinner table in the West Bank settlement of Halamish.Israel Police overnight Saturday-Sunday installed new surveillance measures near the Lions Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, the main access point for Muslim worshipers to the adjacent Temple Mount compound.A police spokesperson said that the force was continuing to update security measures around the Temple Mount and in the Old City, but would not give any further specific details.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
In first, Abbas halts security cooperation meetings with Israel-As part of general freeze of contacts with Jerusalem over Temple Mount metal detectors, Palestinian sources say PA president suspending security ties for first time since he took office a decade ago-By Avi Issacharoff and Times of Israel staff July 23, 2017, 8:55 am
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled security coordination meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials protesting the installation of metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.The open-ended suspension of security cooperation was part of the more general freeze in contacts with Israel that Abbas announced late Friday, Palestinian sources said, despite initial assessments the PA president would refrain from severing the military ties.Abbas has not ordered a severance of security ties since he was elected nearly a decade ago. Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces to maintain calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.In announcing the break in contacts with Israel on Friday, Abbas castigated the deployment of the metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound — placed there by Israel after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers with guns they had smuggled into the holy site. Abbas called the measures “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”There were varying reports on the extent of the halt in security meetings and the effect it would have on the ground in the West Bank where Israeli and Palestinian security forces coordinate operations to thwart terror attacks and other violence. Some sources said the freeze includes all government offices and all security coordination.At Abbas’s instruction, individual humanitarian incidents that require coordination with Israel will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at regional coordination centers.Abbas has in the past stressed the importance of security cooperation and in 2014 told a group of Israeli peace activists that the security ties are “sacred.”Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night.Meanwhile, the PA and the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian body that administers the Temple Mount — conveyed to Israel via Jordan that they were not prepared to negotiate any compromise on security arrangements at the Jerusalem holy site before the metal detectors were removed, sources said.Four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Friday over the Temple Mount metal detectors, and another was killed Saturday when a petrol bomb he was planning to throw at Israeli security forces exploded prematurely.On Friday night, three members of the Salamon family were stabbed to death in the Halamish settlement in the West Bank. The lethal terror attack unfolded when a 19-year-old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst into their home armed with a large knife and began stabbing the family members, who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a grandson.The sharp escalation in violence came a week after the two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by Arab Israeli terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.Sources said Palestinians officials were particularly annoyed by the metal detectors since they had received Israel assurances that once the compound reopened there would be no change in the status quo.Muslim leaders say the metal detectors mark a change to the status quo at the site. Israel says the July 14 attack showed an imperative for reinforced security measures.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Liberman: Israel can manage without Palestinian security cooperation-Apparently confirming reports Abbas put coordination on ice, defense minister says arrangement benefits Palestinians-By Avi Issacharoff and Times of Israel staff July 23, 2017, 11:24 am
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday said Israel will manage without security coordination with the Palestinian Authority, apparently confirming reports the Palestinians have suspended their joint efforts with Israel to prevent terror attacks.“We’ve managed for many years without security cooperation, we’ll manage now as well,” Liberman told the Ynet news website.The defense minister stressed, however, that the security ties were in the Palestinians’ best interest.“It’s their decision,” he added. “It’s not that the security coordination is an Israeli need. Before our needs, it’s a Palestinian need first and foremost, and therefore if they want it, it will continue, if they don’t want it, they won’t. It’s their decision.”Earlier Sunday, Palestinian sources said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had frozen the security ties in protest of the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the escalating violent clashes between Muslim worshipers and Israel Police that followed.Abbas announced Friday night that he was suspending all contact with Israel. Palestinian sources later said the ban extended to a freeze on meetings between PA security officials and their Israeli counterparts at all levels, despite initial assessments the PA president would refrain from severing the military ties.Abbas has not ordered a severance of security ties since he was elected nearly decade ago. Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces to maintain calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.In announcing the break in contacts with Israel on Friday, Abbas castigated the deployment of the metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound — placed there by Israel after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the holy site. Abbas called the measures “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”On Saturday night, Liberman urged Abbas to publicly condemn a terror attack at the West Bank settlement of Halamish in which a Palestinian armed with a knife stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family during their Sabbath eve dinner. Although Abbas did condemn the Temple Mount attack that killed two Druze policemen, he has not condemned the carnage in Halamish.There were varying reports on the extent of the halt in security meetings and the effect it would have on the ground in the West Bank where Israeli and Palestinian security forces coordinate operations to thwart terror attacks and other violence. Some sources said the freeze includes all government offices and all security coordination.At Abbas’s instruction, individual humanitarian incidents that require coordination with Israel will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at regional coordination centers.Abbas has in the past stressed the importance of security cooperation and in 2014 told a group of Israeli peace activists that the security ties are “sacred.”Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night.Four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Friday over the Temple Mount metal detectors, and another was killed Saturday when a petrol bomb he was planning to throw at Israeli security forces exploded prematurely.The sharp escalation in violence came a week after the two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by Arab Israeli terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.On Friday night, three members of the Salamon family were stabbed to death in the Halamish settlement in the West Bank. The lethal terror attack unfolded when a 19-year-old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst into their home armed with a large knife and began stabbing the family members, who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a grandson.Muslim leaders say the metal detectors mark a change to the status quo at the site. Israel says the July 14 attack showed an imperative for reinforced security measures.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Fatah says ‘campaign for Jerusalem has begun’-PA ruling party calls for ongoing struggle ‘to take control of Al-Aqsa’ and defeat ‘racist Israeli plot’ on Temple Mount-By Times of Israel staff July 22, 2017, 11:21 am
The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party called Saturday for a continued struggle “to take control of the Al-Aqsa mosque.”In a statement sent to supporters, the movement of PA President Mahmoud Abbas said the “campaign for Jerusalem has effectively begun, and will not stop until a Palestinian victory and the release of the holy sites from Israeli occupation,” the Walla news site reported.Fatah commended Palestinian protesters who rioted in the streets of Jerusalem on Friday against the deployment of metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound, with three reportedly killed by Israeli security forces in the violence and some 200 others wounded.The party hailed those demonstrators’ “initifada (or armed struggle) against the enemy,” their “acts for the protection of Al-Aqsa and their struggle against the Israeli plans, while sacrificing souls and blood.”Th group called for three days of mourning as well as a general strike in honor of the dead protesters.Four East Jerusalem residents were arrested overnight Friday on suspicion of involvement in the riots, police said.Israel placed the metal detector gates at entrances to the Mount after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the holy site.But Fatah claimed the Israeli move was a “racist” plot to “Jewify and take over Al-Aqsa” and said no solution was acceptable other than a return to the previous state of affairs on the Mount.Abbas announced late Friday he was freezing all contacts with Israel until it “commits to canceling all the measures against our Palestinian people in general and Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque in particular.”Abbas said the installation of the metal detectors was “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”“The steps taken by Israel are leading to a religious confrontation and an evasion from a diplomatic process,” Abbas was also quoted by Haaretz as saying.Abbas said he had spoken with several heads of state, including from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and asked them to intervene in the Temple Mount conflict.The PA president said the Palestinian Authority would finance all costs of treating those wounded of Friday’s clashes. “We will spend $25 million supporting the Palestinians of Jerusalem,” he reportedly said.He also called on Hamas to rally around the cause of the Temple Mount and reconcile with his own party.The drastic escalation on Friday came a week after two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.After the attack last week, Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone and Abbas condemned the violence but also demanded the compound be immediately reopened.Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night. It was not clear whether the PA president’s statement on ceasing “all contacts” included security coordination between the IDF and Palestinian Authority security forces. The PA’s security forces and the IDF have been working closely to stem terror attacks and other violence.Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces in maintaining calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war, but allowed the Jordanian-appointed Waqf to continue to administer its Muslim holy sites there under overall Israeli security control. Jews are allowed to visit but not to pray there.
Israel demands UN condemn Halamish attack, Palestinian incitement-Danny Danon says ‘hateful incitement’ by PA directly responsible for deadly stabbing; secretary-general condemns terror attack after Israeli complaint-By Times of Israel staff July 22, 2017, 3:57 am
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Friday called on the Security Council to condemn the terror attack in Halamish, in which three members of an Israeli family were stabbed to death by a Palestinian assailant who broke into their home.“The Security Council must immediately condemn this despicable terror attack,” Danon said in a statement.He also called for international condemnation of the Palestinian Authority’s “hateful incitement” against Israel, saying the West Bank-based government was directly responsible for the deaths of the Israelis.“The international community must demand that [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and the PA put an end to these heinous attacks and stop their ongoing encouragement of violence,” Danon said. “The hateful incitement and glorification of violence by the Palestinian Authority has led to the murder of innocent Israelis, stabbed to death in their home.”Earlier on Friday evening, a Palestinian in his late teens from a local village sneaked into the settlement of Halamish armed with a knife, broke into one of the homes, and began stabbing an Israeli family as they ate their Shabbat dinner.Paramedics said the victims, a father in his 60s, his son in his 40s, and his daughter in her 40s, died of their wounds. The mother, in her 60s, was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in serious condition.An IDF soldier on leave in a nearby home heard the screams and shot and wounded the terrorist through the window, according to paramedics.In initial questioning, the assailant said he bought the knife two days ago, wanting to commit a terror attack because of events surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Earlier on Friday, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in protests against the new security measures taken at the Temple Mount in the wake of the July 14 terror attack there in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers outside the Temple Mount compound.In a statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he “deeply deplores” the death of Palestinian protesters, and called on all political, religious and community leaders “to help reduce tension.”UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres also called for the killings of the Palestinians “to be fully investigated.”Several hours later Guterres’s office released an additional statement in which the secretary-general “strongly condemned” the terror attack in Halamish.
Islamic Movement official: Israel ‘using chemicals’ to corrode Al-Aqsa Mosque-Sheikh Kamal Khatib claims clandestine effort has been going on for 22 years-By Times of Israel staff July 21, 2017, 8:53 pm
The deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel told an Al-Jazeera interviewer this week that Israel uses chemicals to clandestinely harm the infrastructure of Al-Aqsa Mosque.In the July 16 interview, transcribed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Sheikh Kamal Khatib said that Israel has been injecting chemical substances into the walls of the mosque in order to cause its corrosion. He explained that the substances he claimed Israel was using have a delayed effect, enabling Israel to claim that the cracks and fissures in the mosque structure are naturally caused by the passage of time.The clip can be viewed here.“Twenty-two years ago, we said that the Aqsa Mosque was in danger. At the time, we said that throughout the excavations, the occupation used chemical substances that have a long-term effect. These substances could eat away at the rocks and pillars, but its effect would not show immediately, and afterwards they would be able to claim that the cracks in Al-Aqsa [walls],” said Khatib.“It has happened. There are fissures and sinkholes in some places. [The Israelis’ plan was that] they would be able to claim that it was the working of nature. It seems… Actually, I shouldn’t say ‘seems'” he told the Qatari station.When the interviewer asked whether Israel wanted to “execute this secret scheme” again recently, when the mosque was closed following the July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israel police officers just outside the Temple Mount compound, Khatib said: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I fear — I am almost convinced — that the goal of Israel in closing the mosque was not just to search for weapons, as the [Israelis] claimed. They know that there are no weapons inside the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”The terrorists who perpetrated the attack last Friday — all from the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm — has smuggled the weapons used in the attack into the Temple Mount and stashed it at the site prior to the shooting.Israel then briefly closed the compound to search for more weapons and installed new security measures at entrances to the Temple Mount, including metal detectors and cameras before reopening it on Sunday.Daily protests have ensued in Jerusalem and in the West Bank against the new security measures.The Temple Mount — known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif houses the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock sanctuary. It is the third-holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina, and the holiest in Judaism, revered as the site of the two biblical Temple.Under the status quo in place since Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank following the Six Day War in 1967, Israel is responsible for security at the site while a Jordanian trust — the Waqf — administers it.Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but are forbidden to pray there. It is a focal point for clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.In 2015, Israel banned the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, citing incitement and support for terror actions, including on the Temple Mount.The northern branch funds a group called the Mourabitun, whose protests against Jewish visitors at the Temple Mount have occasionally turned violent. In September 2015, Israel banned the group from the Mount.The northern branch rejects the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and boycotts national elections on the grounds that they give legitimacy to the institutions of the Jewish state.Founded in the 1970s, it is a political organization, religious outreach group and social service provider rolled into one. The movement’s overarching goal is to make Israeli Muslims more religious and owes much of its popularity to providing services often lacking in Israel’s Arab communities. Today the group runs kindergartens, colleges, health clinics, mosques and even a sports league – sometimes under the same roof.The movement split two decades ago. The more moderate southern branch began fielding candidates for Israel’s Knesset in 1996 and is now part of the Joint List, an alliance of several Arab-Israeli political parties. Three of the Joint List’s 13 current Knesset members are part of the movement.
As Temple Mount tensions persist, where’s Donald Trump?-US officials are said to be making behind-the-scenes efforts to restore calm. Might the president’s own intervention be more effective?-By Raphael Ahren July 23, 2017, 2:14 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
With violence between Israelis and Palestinians threatening to spiral out of control, and amid many calls for restraint from the international community, one person has remained conspicuously silent: Donald Trump.Two days after a terror attack in Halamish in which a grandfather and two of his children were stabbed to death, and after a week of clashes over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount that have seen several Palestinian protesters killed, the US president has yet to comment. Some of his closest confidants are said to be involved in ongoing efforts to calm the situation, but Trump himself has not yet made any public effort to help restore calm.The White House is holding talks with Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and other regional players in a bid to quell the current wave of violence, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday night, quoting Israeli and Arab officials.Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, who reportedly discussed the matter last week with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, is said to be leading the US effort, together with Trump’s special envoy to the peace process, Jason Greenblatt, his ambassador in Tel Aviv, David Friedman, and the US consul-general in Jerusalem, Donald Blome.But Kushner’s team is working behind the scenes.On Wednesday, the State Department issued a statement saying the US was “very concerned about tensions” surrounding the Temple Mount, and calling on Israel and Jordan to “find a solution that assures public safety and the security of the site and maintains the status quo.”But the statement was vague, and did not indicate how the administration viewed Israel’s decision to install metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount following the July 14 attack in which three Arab Israelis shot dead two on-duty Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mount’s Waqf Muslim authority has successfully discouraged worshipers from walking through the gates, and they have instead prayed outside. Numerous Arab leaders have demanded that Israel remove the metal detectors.On Saturday night, the Middle East Quartet released a statement strongly condemning “acts of terror,” and, noting the “particular sensitivities surrounding the holy sites in Jerusalem,” urging all sides to “demonstrate maximum restraint, refrain from provocative actions and work towards de-escalating the situation.”Though his name was not mentioned in the statement, Greenblatt represents the US in the Quartet, and would have been party to its drafting. But the vague statement carries less weight than clear US intervention would.Trump has declared his intention to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and has invested considerable time and effort trying to bring the two sides closer together. He has established good relations with all key players in the region and potentially holds considerable influence over them. To date, in this crisis, he has chosen not to use it.It’s not as though he’s been hesitant to make his voice heard on Israeli-Palestinian issues: Trump has already spoken out on such abidingly sensitive matters as settlements and Palestinian incitement.Trump’s advisers would likely urge him to proceed with caution, cognizant that any crisis surrounding the Temple Mount can snowball from a local affair into a religious war that sets the region ablaze. The White House would also seek to tread carefully lest it be seen as biased toward either party, thus jeopardizing its declared interest in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.Careful diplomacy would therefore seem wise. But careful need not mean private. The prospects of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only recede further so long as the current Temple Mount crisis rumbles on, whereas the US president weighing in constructively might have an immediate cooling effect.Thus far, nothing is known about how the president feels about the current situation. He was likely briefed on it, but has kept his silence.With passions so high, it is difficult to predict how a clear-cut US presidential statement assigning blame and/or defining a solution would be received by the sides.If the president were to declare flat out that it was absolutely legitimate for Israel to have installed metal detectors to secure the holy site, and that such a move does not constitute a change to the sensitive status quo there, that might alienate Arab and Muslim leaders. Or it might move the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, to lower the volume of their protest, allowing it to gradually quieten down.Were he to firmly declare the metal detectors an unnecessary infringement on worshipers’ rights, and publicly urge Israel to reinstate the status quo ante, he might infuriate Israel. Or possibly provide Netanyahu with an urgent imperative to find an alternate arrangement.A more subtle intervention, though, could reasonably be expected to be welcomed by all sides. Were the president to personally urge the various parties to seek a mutually acceptable solution, and offer American good offices to help achieve that, it is hard to imagine that anybody would reject him.When the leader of the free world speaks, the Middle East does sometimes listen. The more so when the leader of the free world is unpredictable, and when many of the parties involved in this crisis share an interest in staying on his good side.
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
Pope calls for ‘moderation’ after Jerusalem shrine violence-Without apportioning blame, pontiff says he is following ‘with trepidation the grave tensions and violence’-By AP July 23, 2017, 4:54 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has appealed for moderation after the deadly violence over the Temple Mount.Francis told faithful Sunday in St. Peter’s Square that he was following “with trepidation the grave tensions and violence” unleashed at the contested shrine.Francis said: “I feel the need to express a distressed appeal for moderation and dialogue.” He invited others to pray with him so people would aim for reconciliation and peace.Israel installed upgraded security, including metal detectors and cameras at the entrances to the holy site, following a deadly terror attack on July 14 in which three Arab terrorists emerged from the compound and shot dead two Israeli police officers, having earlier stashed their weapons at the site.Most worshipers since have refused to go through metal detectors, installed in the wake of the attack, at the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims. Clashes with police in and around Jerusalem have been intensifying daily, with five Palestinians killed on Friday and Saturday, including one who died when a Molotov cocktail he was about to throw caught fire prematurely.On Friday night, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death three Israelis at their Shabbat dinner table in the West Bank settlement of Halamish.Israel Police overnight Saturday-Sunday installed new surveillance measures near the Lions Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, the main access point for Muslim worshipers to the adjacent Temple Mount compound.A police spokesperson said that the force was continuing to update security measures around the Temple Mount and in the Old City, but would not give any further specific details.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
In first, Abbas halts security cooperation meetings with Israel-As part of general freeze of contacts with Jerusalem over Temple Mount metal detectors, Palestinian sources say PA president suspending security ties for first time since he took office a decade ago-By Avi Issacharoff and Times of Israel staff July 23, 2017, 8:55 am
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled security coordination meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials protesting the installation of metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.The open-ended suspension of security cooperation was part of the more general freeze in contacts with Israel that Abbas announced late Friday, Palestinian sources said, despite initial assessments the PA president would refrain from severing the military ties.Abbas has not ordered a severance of security ties since he was elected nearly a decade ago. Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces to maintain calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.In announcing the break in contacts with Israel on Friday, Abbas castigated the deployment of the metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound — placed there by Israel after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers with guns they had smuggled into the holy site. Abbas called the measures “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”There were varying reports on the extent of the halt in security meetings and the effect it would have on the ground in the West Bank where Israeli and Palestinian security forces coordinate operations to thwart terror attacks and other violence. Some sources said the freeze includes all government offices and all security coordination.At Abbas’s instruction, individual humanitarian incidents that require coordination with Israel will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at regional coordination centers.Abbas has in the past stressed the importance of security cooperation and in 2014 told a group of Israeli peace activists that the security ties are “sacred.”Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night.Meanwhile, the PA and the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian body that administers the Temple Mount — conveyed to Israel via Jordan that they were not prepared to negotiate any compromise on security arrangements at the Jerusalem holy site before the metal detectors were removed, sources said.Four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Friday over the Temple Mount metal detectors, and another was killed Saturday when a petrol bomb he was planning to throw at Israeli security forces exploded prematurely.On Friday night, three members of the Salamon family were stabbed to death in the Halamish settlement in the West Bank. The lethal terror attack unfolded when a 19-year-old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst into their home armed with a large knife and began stabbing the family members, who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a grandson.The sharp escalation in violence came a week after the two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by Arab Israeli terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.Sources said Palestinians officials were particularly annoyed by the metal detectors since they had received Israel assurances that once the compound reopened there would be no change in the status quo.Muslim leaders say the metal detectors mark a change to the status quo at the site. Israel says the July 14 attack showed an imperative for reinforced security measures.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Liberman: Israel can manage without Palestinian security cooperation-Apparently confirming reports Abbas put coordination on ice, defense minister says arrangement benefits Palestinians-By Avi Issacharoff and Times of Israel staff July 23, 2017, 11:24 am
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday said Israel will manage without security coordination with the Palestinian Authority, apparently confirming reports the Palestinians have suspended their joint efforts with Israel to prevent terror attacks.“We’ve managed for many years without security cooperation, we’ll manage now as well,” Liberman told the Ynet news website.The defense minister stressed, however, that the security ties were in the Palestinians’ best interest.“It’s their decision,” he added. “It’s not that the security coordination is an Israeli need. Before our needs, it’s a Palestinian need first and foremost, and therefore if they want it, it will continue, if they don’t want it, they won’t. It’s their decision.”Earlier Sunday, Palestinian sources said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had frozen the security ties in protest of the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the escalating violent clashes between Muslim worshipers and Israel Police that followed.Abbas announced Friday night that he was suspending all contact with Israel. Palestinian sources later said the ban extended to a freeze on meetings between PA security officials and their Israeli counterparts at all levels, despite initial assessments the PA president would refrain from severing the military ties.Abbas has not ordered a severance of security ties since he was elected nearly decade ago. Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces to maintain calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.In announcing the break in contacts with Israel on Friday, Abbas castigated the deployment of the metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound — placed there by Israel after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the holy site. Abbas called the measures “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”On Saturday night, Liberman urged Abbas to publicly condemn a terror attack at the West Bank settlement of Halamish in which a Palestinian armed with a knife stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family during their Sabbath eve dinner. Although Abbas did condemn the Temple Mount attack that killed two Druze policemen, he has not condemned the carnage in Halamish.There were varying reports on the extent of the halt in security meetings and the effect it would have on the ground in the West Bank where Israeli and Palestinian security forces coordinate operations to thwart terror attacks and other violence. Some sources said the freeze includes all government offices and all security coordination.At Abbas’s instruction, individual humanitarian incidents that require coordination with Israel will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis at regional coordination centers.Abbas has in the past stressed the importance of security cooperation and in 2014 told a group of Israeli peace activists that the security ties are “sacred.”Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night.Four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Friday over the Temple Mount metal detectors, and another was killed Saturday when a petrol bomb he was planning to throw at Israeli security forces exploded prematurely.The sharp escalation in violence came a week after the two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by Arab Israeli terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.On Friday night, three members of the Salamon family were stabbed to death in the Halamish settlement in the West Bank. The lethal terror attack unfolded when a 19-year-old Palestinian, Omar al-Abed, from a nearby village, burst into their home armed with a large knife and began stabbing the family members, who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a grandson.Muslim leaders say the metal detectors mark a change to the status quo at the site. Israel says the July 14 attack showed an imperative for reinforced security measures.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Fatah says ‘campaign for Jerusalem has begun’-PA ruling party calls for ongoing struggle ‘to take control of Al-Aqsa’ and defeat ‘racist Israeli plot’ on Temple Mount-By Times of Israel staff July 22, 2017, 11:21 am
The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party called Saturday for a continued struggle “to take control of the Al-Aqsa mosque.”In a statement sent to supporters, the movement of PA President Mahmoud Abbas said the “campaign for Jerusalem has effectively begun, and will not stop until a Palestinian victory and the release of the holy sites from Israeli occupation,” the Walla news site reported.Fatah commended Palestinian protesters who rioted in the streets of Jerusalem on Friday against the deployment of metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound, with three reportedly killed by Israeli security forces in the violence and some 200 others wounded.The party hailed those demonstrators’ “initifada (or armed struggle) against the enemy,” their “acts for the protection of Al-Aqsa and their struggle against the Israeli plans, while sacrificing souls and blood.”Th group called for three days of mourning as well as a general strike in honor of the dead protesters.Four East Jerusalem residents were arrested overnight Friday on suspicion of involvement in the riots, police said.Israel placed the metal detector gates at entrances to the Mount after a July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the holy site.But Fatah claimed the Israeli move was a “racist” plot to “Jewify and take over Al-Aqsa” and said no solution was acceptable other than a return to the previous state of affairs on the Mount.Abbas announced late Friday he was freezing all contacts with Israel until it “commits to canceling all the measures against our Palestinian people in general and Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque in particular.”Abbas said the installation of the metal detectors was “falsely presented as a security measure to take control over Al-Aqsa mosque.”“The steps taken by Israel are leading to a religious confrontation and an evasion from a diplomatic process,” Abbas was also quoted by Haaretz as saying.Abbas said he had spoken with several heads of state, including from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and asked them to intervene in the Temple Mount conflict.The PA president said the Palestinian Authority would finance all costs of treating those wounded of Friday’s clashes. “We will spend $25 million supporting the Palestinians of Jerusalem,” he reportedly said.He also called on Hamas to rally around the cause of the Temple Mount and reconcile with his own party.The drastic escalation on Friday came a week after two Israeli Border Police officers were killed by terrorists at the Temple Mount. In the wake of the attack, Israel closed the site for 48 hours as it searched for more weapons, and then installed metal detector gates at entrances to the compound.The Islamic Waqf, Jordanian custodians of the holy site, opposed the presence of the metal detectors and called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs not to enter the site to pray there.After the attack last week, Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone and Abbas condemned the violence but also demanded the compound be immediately reopened.Israel did not immediately respond to Abbas’s announcement on Friday night. It was not clear whether the PA president’s statement on ceasing “all contacts” included security coordination between the IDF and Palestinian Authority security forces. The PA’s security forces and the IDF have been working closely to stem terror attacks and other violence.Although Israel and the PA have not held peace talks for three years, cooperation between the respective security forces in maintaining calm in the West Bank has been ongoing.The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples. It is the third holiest site in Islam, where it is known as the Al-Aqsa compound or Noble Sanctuary, as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war, but allowed the Jordanian-appointed Waqf to continue to administer its Muslim holy sites there under overall Israeli security control. Jews are allowed to visit but not to pray there.
Israel demands UN condemn Halamish attack, Palestinian incitement-Danny Danon says ‘hateful incitement’ by PA directly responsible for deadly stabbing; secretary-general condemns terror attack after Israeli complaint-By Times of Israel staff July 22, 2017, 3:57 am
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Friday called on the Security Council to condemn the terror attack in Halamish, in which three members of an Israeli family were stabbed to death by a Palestinian assailant who broke into their home.“The Security Council must immediately condemn this despicable terror attack,” Danon said in a statement.He also called for international condemnation of the Palestinian Authority’s “hateful incitement” against Israel, saying the West Bank-based government was directly responsible for the deaths of the Israelis.“The international community must demand that [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and the PA put an end to these heinous attacks and stop their ongoing encouragement of violence,” Danon said. “The hateful incitement and glorification of violence by the Palestinian Authority has led to the murder of innocent Israelis, stabbed to death in their home.”Earlier on Friday evening, a Palestinian in his late teens from a local village sneaked into the settlement of Halamish armed with a knife, broke into one of the homes, and began stabbing an Israeli family as they ate their Shabbat dinner.Paramedics said the victims, a father in his 60s, his son in his 40s, and his daughter in her 40s, died of their wounds. The mother, in her 60s, was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in serious condition.An IDF soldier on leave in a nearby home heard the screams and shot and wounded the terrorist through the window, according to paramedics.In initial questioning, the assailant said he bought the knife two days ago, wanting to commit a terror attack because of events surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Earlier on Friday, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in protests against the new security measures taken at the Temple Mount in the wake of the July 14 terror attack there in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israeli police officers outside the Temple Mount compound.In a statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he “deeply deplores” the death of Palestinian protesters, and called on all political, religious and community leaders “to help reduce tension.”UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres also called for the killings of the Palestinians “to be fully investigated.”Several hours later Guterres’s office released an additional statement in which the secretary-general “strongly condemned” the terror attack in Halamish.
Islamic Movement official: Israel ‘using chemicals’ to corrode Al-Aqsa Mosque-Sheikh Kamal Khatib claims clandestine effort has been going on for 22 years-By Times of Israel staff July 21, 2017, 8:53 pm
The deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel told an Al-Jazeera interviewer this week that Israel uses chemicals to clandestinely harm the infrastructure of Al-Aqsa Mosque.In the July 16 interview, transcribed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Sheikh Kamal Khatib said that Israel has been injecting chemical substances into the walls of the mosque in order to cause its corrosion. He explained that the substances he claimed Israel was using have a delayed effect, enabling Israel to claim that the cracks and fissures in the mosque structure are naturally caused by the passage of time.The clip can be viewed here.“Twenty-two years ago, we said that the Aqsa Mosque was in danger. At the time, we said that throughout the excavations, the occupation used chemical substances that have a long-term effect. These substances could eat away at the rocks and pillars, but its effect would not show immediately, and afterwards they would be able to claim that the cracks in Al-Aqsa [walls],” said Khatib.“It has happened. There are fissures and sinkholes in some places. [The Israelis’ plan was that] they would be able to claim that it was the working of nature. It seems… Actually, I shouldn’t say ‘seems'” he told the Qatari station.When the interviewer asked whether Israel wanted to “execute this secret scheme” again recently, when the mosque was closed following the July 14 terror attack in which three Arab-Israelis shot dead two Israel police officers just outside the Temple Mount compound, Khatib said: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I fear — I am almost convinced — that the goal of Israel in closing the mosque was not just to search for weapons, as the [Israelis] claimed. They know that there are no weapons inside the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”The terrorists who perpetrated the attack last Friday — all from the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm — has smuggled the weapons used in the attack into the Temple Mount and stashed it at the site prior to the shooting.Israel then briefly closed the compound to search for more weapons and installed new security measures at entrances to the Temple Mount, including metal detectors and cameras before reopening it on Sunday.Daily protests have ensued in Jerusalem and in the West Bank against the new security measures.The Temple Mount — known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif houses the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock sanctuary. It is the third-holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina, and the holiest in Judaism, revered as the site of the two biblical Temple.Under the status quo in place since Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank following the Six Day War in 1967, Israel is responsible for security at the site while a Jordanian trust — the Waqf — administers it.Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but are forbidden to pray there. It is a focal point for clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.In 2015, Israel banned the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, citing incitement and support for terror actions, including on the Temple Mount.The northern branch funds a group called the Mourabitun, whose protests against Jewish visitors at the Temple Mount have occasionally turned violent. In September 2015, Israel banned the group from the Mount.The northern branch rejects the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and boycotts national elections on the grounds that they give legitimacy to the institutions of the Jewish state.Founded in the 1970s, it is a political organization, religious outreach group and social service provider rolled into one. The movement’s overarching goal is to make Israeli Muslims more religious and owes much of its popularity to providing services often lacking in Israel’s Arab communities. Today the group runs kindergartens, colleges, health clinics, mosques and even a sports league – sometimes under the same roof.The movement split two decades ago. The more moderate southern branch began fielding candidates for Israel’s Knesset in 1996 and is now part of the Joint List, an alliance of several Arab-Israeli political parties. Three of the Joint List’s 13 current Knesset members are part of the movement.
As Temple Mount tensions persist, where’s Donald Trump?-US officials are said to be making behind-the-scenes efforts to restore calm. Might the president’s own intervention be more effective?-By Raphael Ahren July 23, 2017, 2:14 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
With violence between Israelis and Palestinians threatening to spiral out of control, and amid many calls for restraint from the international community, one person has remained conspicuously silent: Donald Trump.Two days after a terror attack in Halamish in which a grandfather and two of his children were stabbed to death, and after a week of clashes over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount that have seen several Palestinian protesters killed, the US president has yet to comment. Some of his closest confidants are said to be involved in ongoing efforts to calm the situation, but Trump himself has not yet made any public effort to help restore calm.The White House is holding talks with Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and other regional players in a bid to quell the current wave of violence, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday night, quoting Israeli and Arab officials.Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, who reportedly discussed the matter last week with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, is said to be leading the US effort, together with Trump’s special envoy to the peace process, Jason Greenblatt, his ambassador in Tel Aviv, David Friedman, and the US consul-general in Jerusalem, Donald Blome.But Kushner’s team is working behind the scenes.On Wednesday, the State Department issued a statement saying the US was “very concerned about tensions” surrounding the Temple Mount, and calling on Israel and Jordan to “find a solution that assures public safety and the security of the site and maintains the status quo.”But the statement was vague, and did not indicate how the administration viewed Israel’s decision to install metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount following the July 14 attack in which three Arab Israelis shot dead two on-duty Israeli police officers there with guns they had smuggled into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mount’s Waqf Muslim authority has successfully discouraged worshipers from walking through the gates, and they have instead prayed outside. Numerous Arab leaders have demanded that Israel remove the metal detectors.On Saturday night, the Middle East Quartet released a statement strongly condemning “acts of terror,” and, noting the “particular sensitivities surrounding the holy sites in Jerusalem,” urging all sides to “demonstrate maximum restraint, refrain from provocative actions and work towards de-escalating the situation.”Though his name was not mentioned in the statement, Greenblatt represents the US in the Quartet, and would have been party to its drafting. But the vague statement carries less weight than clear US intervention would.Trump has declared his intention to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and has invested considerable time and effort trying to bring the two sides closer together. He has established good relations with all key players in the region and potentially holds considerable influence over them. To date, in this crisis, he has chosen not to use it.It’s not as though he’s been hesitant to make his voice heard on Israeli-Palestinian issues: Trump has already spoken out on such abidingly sensitive matters as settlements and Palestinian incitement.Trump’s advisers would likely urge him to proceed with caution, cognizant that any crisis surrounding the Temple Mount can snowball from a local affair into a religious war that sets the region ablaze. The White House would also seek to tread carefully lest it be seen as biased toward either party, thus jeopardizing its declared interest in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.Careful diplomacy would therefore seem wise. But careful need not mean private. The prospects of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only recede further so long as the current Temple Mount crisis rumbles on, whereas the US president weighing in constructively might have an immediate cooling effect.Thus far, nothing is known about how the president feels about the current situation. He was likely briefed on it, but has kept his silence.With passions so high, it is difficult to predict how a clear-cut US presidential statement assigning blame and/or defining a solution would be received by the sides.If the president were to declare flat out that it was absolutely legitimate for Israel to have installed metal detectors to secure the holy site, and that such a move does not constitute a change to the sensitive status quo there, that might alienate Arab and Muslim leaders. Or it might move the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, to lower the volume of their protest, allowing it to gradually quieten down.Were he to firmly declare the metal detectors an unnecessary infringement on worshipers’ rights, and publicly urge Israel to reinstate the status quo ante, he might infuriate Israel. Or possibly provide Netanyahu with an urgent imperative to find an alternate arrangement.A more subtle intervention, though, could reasonably be expected to be welcomed by all sides. Were the president to personally urge the various parties to seek a mutually acceptable solution, and offer American good offices to help achieve that, it is hard to imagine that anybody would reject him.When the leader of the free world speaks, the Middle East does sometimes listen. The more so when the leader of the free world is unpredictable, and when many of the parties involved in this crisis share an interest in staying on his good side.
