REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
COVID 19 WORLD TOTALS AS OF THU DEC 10, 2020. CASES - 69,462,751 AND DEATHS - 1,579,776
UK probes possible allergic reactions to COVID-19 shot after 2 adverse responses-Medical official warns those with significant history of allergic reactions not to get Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine after first day of inoculation drive-By AP and TOI STAFF-9 December 2020, 3:36 pm
LONDON — UK regulators said Wednesday that people who have a “significant history” of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program.Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service in England, said health authorities were acting on a recommendation from the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.“As is common with new vaccines the MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday,” Powis said in a statement. “Both are recovering well.”The comments came as Dr. June Raine, head of the MHRA, told a Parliamentary committee that regulators had received reports of two allergic reactions from the vaccine.“We know from the very extensive clinical trials that this wasn’t a feature,” she said. “But if we need to strengthen our advice, now that we have had this experience with the vulnerable populations, the groups who have been selected as a priority, we get that advice to the field immediately.”Raine’s comments came as part of a general discussion of how her agency will continue to monitor people who receive the vaccine authorized for emergency use last week.The development came as Israel took delivery of its first batch out of an order for millions of the same Pfizer vaccine for its own mass vaccination program.A plane landed from Brussels carrying a cargo of between 3,000 and 4,000 doses of the vaccine in an initial delivery, with hundreds of thousands more set to arrive on Thursday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech at Ben Gurion Airport, said that he would be the first person in Israel to receive the coronavirus vaccine as part of a campaign to encourage inoculation.“What’s important to me is that people of Israel get vaccinated. I believe in this vaccine. I want the people of Israel to get vaccinated and so I will be first,” Netanyahu said.Netanyahu announced last month that Israel had signed a deal with Pfizer to purchase eight million doses of the vaccine, enough to inoculate four million Israelis. Last week, it was reported that Israel was set to receive up to four million doses by the end of this month.The first vaccine shipments are arriving as Israel is dealing with ballooning infections, and are unlikely to affect overall policy on the pandemic in the short term.The US Food and Drug Administration will review Pfizer’s trial data later this week. If it approves the vaccine for use, Israeli officials are expected to give it their okay.
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)
MATTHEW 18:6
6 But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)
EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)
REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Amid virus, 2020 on track for fewest security-related deaths in Israel’s history-In year-end briefing, IDF chief says military driving Iran out of Syria, maintaining calm in Gaza; ‘We successfully fulfilled the primary mission of the IDF: providing defense’By JUDAH ARI GROSS-dec 10,20-Today, 5:00 pm
The year 2020 has seen the lowest number of Israelis killed in terrorism or combat in the country’s history — quite likely as a result of the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic.According to Israel Defense Forces figures, two Israelis — one civilian and one soldier — have been killed this year: Rabbi Shai Ohayon, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian man in a terror attack outside Tel Aviv in August; and Sgt. First Class Amit Ben-Ygal, who was killed when a Palestinian man threw a rock at his head during an arrest raid in the West Bank in May.
In 2019 — a that which had previously seen the lowest number of security-related deaths — Israel had nine deaths: two soldiers and seven civilians. Sixteen people were killed the year before that.“We are ending a year in which we successfully fulfilled the primary mission of the IDF: providing defense and security. We thwarted every attempt to infiltrate into Israel and we saw a drop in the number of casualties and in the number of rockets fired at Israel,” IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi told reporters in a year-end briefing this week.According to IDF figures, 174 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel by December 2020, the majority of them in February during a two-day round of fighting between the IDF and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza. This amounts to a roughly seven-fold decrease from the previous two years, when 1,296 and 1,164 projectiles were fired, respectively.An Israeli police officer inspects the damage to a home after it was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot on August 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)-The three years following the 2014 Gaza war were far calmer than 2020 and remain some of the calmest in Israel’s history, however, with fewer than 45 projectiles being fired at Israel each year during that period. The IDF’s figures for 2020 also do not include the hundreds of balloon-borne incendiary and explosive devices launched into Israel from Gaza during the month of August, which caused many destructive fires in and around Israeli communities surrounding the Strip.In turn, the number of IDF strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip has also gone down considerably in the past year.A tunnel that Israel believes was dug by the Hamas terror group from Gaza into southern Israel, which was uncovered on October 22, 2020. (Israel Defense Forces)-In addition, Israel is nearing completion of the underground barrier surrounding the Gaza Strip, which is aimed at finding and blocking tunnels dug from the enclave into Israel. In October, the sensor-studded barrier identified one such passage, a two-kilometer-long tunnel tens of meters deep, in what the military said was the first successful use of the new system.‘Operating on six fronts’While Kohavi, who will mark two years in his position as head of the IDF next month, credited these record low numbers of deaths and attacks to the military’s proactive actions and to the deterrence it has built up over the years, the coronavirus pandemic also appears to have played a major role. Lockdowns and other coronavirus-related measures likely had a part in limiting terror attacks from the West Bank. And enemy nations like Iran, as well as terror groups like Hamas, have put more of their resources and energy into fighting the virus rather than Israel.At the same time, the IDF has continued conducting operations to counter Iran, particularly against its goal of establishing a permanent base of operations in Syria, which would give it another front from which to attack Israel in addition to Lebanon.In total, the military has struck some 500 targets over the past year — more in some areas and fewer in others compared to 2019 — and has “carried out many covert operations,” Kohavi said.“We are operating on six fronts intensively. There are fronts where we operate on a day-to-day basis and those where we operate on a weekly or monthly basis,” Kohavi said. The army chief did not list those six areas, though they likely include the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon.“The Middle East is the most fragmented, divided and violent region in the world,” the army chief said.“Most of the countries surrounding Israel have areas that are ungoverned,” he added. Kohavi explained that this allowed Iran and terror groups to operate freely in those regions and made it more difficult to get the governments that are meant to control those areas to rein them in, forcing Israel to do so itself.Iran scales back in Syria-In Syria, the IDF has adopted a dual approach, both directly targeting Iranian bases and warehouses, as well as Syrian military infrastructure — mostly the air defense systems that fire at Israeli jets — in order to exact a price from Damascus for hosting Iranian forces in the country, with the goal of driving a wedge between the two.This could be seen most clearly last month when the IDF launched a large wave of airstrikes against Iranian and Syrian military targets in Syria in response to a failed plot to attack Israeli soldiers with anti-personnel mines in the Golan Heights.According to Kohavi, these operations — referred to generally as the “campaign between campaigns” or by its Hebrew acronym mabam — have yielded results.“Iranian entrenchment in Syria is in a clear trend of slowing down as a direct result of IDF activities, though we still have a way to go to reach our goals on this front,” the army chief said.In the past year the IDF has seen a marked drop over the previous two years in the number of fighters inside Syria from Iran and its proxies, as well as the closing of Iranian military bases in the country and a significant decrease in the amount of weaponry being transported into and through Syria.Though Israeli defense officials have largely credited the “campaign between campaigns” with causing the Iranians to abandon their plans for Syria, at least some of this decrease in the number of Iranian-backed fighters, bases and weapons in Syria can be attributed to victories by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on the battlefield two years ago, which meant he no longer required the same amount of military support from Iran and its proxies, leading them to return home.The army chief also praised the growing trend of Arab countries normalizing ties with Israel, which has so far seen signed agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as stated intentions by Sudan to make peace with the Jewish state. Other countries in the Middle East and North Africa are also reportedly considering the move.“The normalization steps in the Middle East have a positive influence on our alliances and on security aspects in the Middle East,” Kohavi said.
Israeli space chief says aliens may well exist, but they haven’t met humans-After retired space pioneer Haim Eshed claims aliens visited Earth, made deals with people, Isaac Ben-Israel says he went too far, but fascination with extraterrestrial life legit-By NATHAN JEFFAY-DEC 09,230-Today, 2:33 pm
The chances of extraterrestrial life are high and an Israeli defense expert who is claiming aliens have landed on Earth took things too far but shouldn’t be dismissed as a crank, according to the head of Israel’s space agency.Haim Eshed, who headed Israel’s space security programs for 30 years, has been in the spotlight in recent days, after claiming that aliens exist, that Israel and the US have long been in contact with them, and that Donald Trump was going to blab but the extraterrestrial beings of the “Galactic Federation” stopped him.Eshed said aliens conduct experiments on Earth, and there is a joint base underground on Mars where they collaborate with American astronauts. “They asked that we don’t publicize they are here because humanity isn’t ready,” he said.His ideas on space, including on aliens, are outlined in a new book that written by the author Hagar Yanai, called “The Universe Beyond the Horizon: Conversations With Prof. Haim Eshed.”Haim Eshed pictured on the cover of The Universe Beyond the Horizon: Conversations With Haim Eshed, by Hagar Yanai.According to Isaac Ben-Israel, chairman of the Israel Space Agency, Eshed went too far with his claims, which were published in a interview with the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, but his seriousness shouldn’t be questioned and his standing as a leader in his field remains intact. “If I would have to choose one person to be called the father of Israel’s space capabilities, it would be Haim Eshed,” Ben-Israel told The Times of Israel on Thursday.Ben-Israel said it has become entirely acceptable over the last decade for serious scientists to believe in aliens, as knowledge of space has increased. ““Is there intelligent life outside [Earth]? 10 years ago most scientists believed chances are very low. We now believe chances are significant,” he said.“This doesn’t mean there’s a ‘Galactic Federation’ and they landed on earth — this is too much — but much of the scientific community believes the chance of detecting life in outer space is considerable, not small,” he said.Asked for his own view, Ben-Israel said: “I also think the probability is quite large. Still, in my interpretation, I don’t believe there were any physical encounters between us and aliens.”Another Israeli space expert, Dan Blumberg, said that Eshed remains a serious figure, though he has given a “bizarre” twist to a broadly legitimate discussion about aliens.“I know Haim Eshed well, and have enormous respect for him,’ said Blumberg, head of the Earth and Planetary Image Facility at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. “It’s a viable and legitimate discussion, but it has been taken to a completely bizarre place by the article.”While jokes have been made questioning the state of octogenarian Eshed’s mind, Ben-Israel said he has been talking about aliens for decades, and it never compromised his academic integrity. “I’ve known Haim Eshed for 40 to 50 years, and he was always a visionary and very creative.“Without his capacity for long-term vision you couldn’t have dreamed Israel would be one of very few countries with independent space capability,” he said. “But sometimes creativity comes with ideas that are not accepted by others. One of these relates to UFOs and intelligent extraterrestrial creatures.”He thinks that Eshed arrived at his theory invoking real information, including records of non-coherent signals from space, but interpreted it wrongly.“There is a lot of information gathered by Americans and it’s a matter of interpretation,” said Ben-Israel. “Most people including myself interpret everything reported as natural phenomena; some people interpret it as something different. If you have a very creative mind, you push toward the second option.”
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM
Netanyahu could reverse decision to tap Erdan as dual UN, US envoy – report-PM said to want current UN ambassador to choose 1 of the 2 roles, while another Likud member, Yuval Steinitz, will get the other; premier’s office issues denial-By TOI STAFF-DEEC 09,20-Today, 3:13 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reconsidering his decision to tap Israel’s new UN ambassador Gilad Erdan as, in addition to his current role, envoy to the United States, and is considering another candidate, a report said Thursday.The report by the Walla news site, which was denied by the premier’s office, said that Netanyahu had held a rare private meeting with Erdan and quoted two unnamed senior sources assessing that he wants to tap Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz as the ambassador in Washington instead.The sources said the change stemmed from the US election results and the upcoming Joe Biden presidency.The move requires Erdan’s okay, followed by a cabinet decision. The report said Netanyahu would let Erdan choose whether he wants to remain UN envoy or switch to being the US ambassador, with Steinitz taking the role Erdan doesn’t pick.The Prime Minister’s Office commented that “the prime minister doesn’t want Erdan to give up the position in Washington and there is no change in his status.”In May, Netanyahu announced that Erdan, until then a top minister in his Likud party, would be appointed ambassador both to the United Nations and to the United States.“I’ve known Gilad for many years. I’m familiar with his skill, experience, expertise, and commitment to defend the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said at the time alongside Erdan, until then the public security minister, in a video statement from his office in Jerusalem.Netanyahu said Erdan would only take over as the envoy in Washington after the US presidential elections, leaving the prime minister’s longtime aide Ron Dermer in place as ambassador, presumably until the January inauguration.Erdan’s nomination has since been approved by the cabinet, meaning a new appointment would require another cabinet vote.The only person to previously serve as ambassador to the US and the UN at the same time was Abba Eban, who is viewed as one of Israel’s greatest diplomats.
Rouhani says Iran ready for swift return to nuclear deal compliance-But Iranian president says Tehran will only do so if pact’s other signatories ‘resume all of their commitments’; hints he won’t sign bill to increase uranium enrichment to 20%-By AFP-Today, 4:54 pm
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is ready to return to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers as soon as the other parties honor their commitments, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday.The agreement between Iran and major powers has teetered on the brink of collapse since outgoing US President Donald Trump pulled out of it in 2018 and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.US President-elect Joe Biden has expressed readiness to return to the agreement but over the past 18 months Iran has suspended the implementation of some of its own obligations, including key limits to its uranium enrichment program.“Just as soon as the 5+1 or 4+1 resume all of their commitments, we will resume all of ours,” Rouhani said.He was referring to the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany with whom Iran reached the nuclear deal.“I’ve said it before — it doesn’t take time, it’s just a question of willing,” he said in comments to his cabinet aired by state televisionDefying criticism from Iran’s ultra-conservatives, Rouhani reiterated his determination to seize the “opportunity” presented by the change of US president in January.Parliament, which has been controlled by conservatives since a February election marred by record low turnout, passed a bill last week that threatens the prospects for a thaw in relations with Washington.The bill, which still has to be signed into law by Rouhani, would relaunch Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity and threaten other future measures that would likely sound the death knell of the nuclear deal.In a blow to the president, the Guardian Council, which arbitrates disputes between parliament and the government, approved the bill last week.But in his comments on Wednesday, Rouhani appeared to suggest that he would withhold his signature from the bill.“It is vital that we speak with a single voice,” the president told ministers.“People voted for a platform… and they want four years of action,” said Rouhani, who won re-election in 2017 with more than 57 percent of the vote.Rouhani said Iran remained unable to purchase COVID-19 vaccines because banks were unwilling to process the transaction for fear of falling foul of US sanctions.Iran is the Middle Eastern country hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic with more than 51,000 deaths from nearly 1.1 million cases, according to official figures.Vaccines and other humanitarian goods are supposed to be exempt from the US sanctions but in practice few if any banks are willing to take the chance.“We want to buy the vaccine… the money is… ready but no bank will handle the transaction,” Rouhani told ministers.
UN rights chief predicts US will be ‘much better’ under Biden-Michelle Bachelet says she hopes America will rejoin the Human Rights Council, which Trump quit in part over its alleged anti-Israel bias-By AP-Today, 9:05 pm
GENEVA, Switzerland — The UN human rights chief said she expects the US administration of President-elect Joe Biden will be “much, much better” when it comes to human rights, and warned of shrinking “democratic space” in Hong Kong — saying her office will be monitoring the rights situation there.Michelle Bachelet spoke to reporters in Geneva in a catch-all news conference to recap the year and look ahead to 2021. She cited concerns about the inequalities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism like that highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.Bachelet hailed “a series of promising pledges” by Biden, on issues like increasing the number of refugees resettled in the United States, an end to construction of the wall on the US-Mexico border and “an overhaul of the asylum system.” She said she hoped the US would return to the UN-backed Human Rights Council, from which the Trump administration pulled out amid allegations of anti-Israel bias and an excessive acceptance of governments with dismal human rights records.“For human rights. I think it (the Biden administration) will be much, much, much better,” said Bachelet, noting that she knew Biden “very well” from his time as US vice president and her tenure as president of Chile. “I’m really hopeful on that.”Bachelet also expressed concerns about “the rapidly shrinking civic and democratic space” in Hong Kong since the passage of a national security law in China last year. She said more people have been arrested and charges with offenses like unauthorized assembly.“Recent convictions of activists for protests that took place last year risk causing a wider, chilling effect on the exercise of fundamental freedoms,” she said. “We believe that peaceful protest should never be criminalized.”“We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Bachelet added.
Israel rebukes Russian envoy for harsh interview; he claims words were distorted-Foreign Ministry summons Anatoly Viktorov for dressing down after he supposedly said Israel-Arab conflict destabilizing Middle East, while Iran isn’t-By TOI STAFF-DEC 10,20-Today, 6:49 pm
The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Russia’s ambassador to Israel to rebuke him for supposedly saying the Jewish state’s conflict with the Palestinians and other Arab entities was the main cause of instability in the Middle East, rather than Iran.Russia’s embassy on Wednesday night claimed Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov’s comments had been taken out of context and distorted by the Jerusalem Post. The embassy said it had sent a letter of complaint to the Post’s editor and had held constructive dialog with Israeli officials on the matter.The Post said it stood by its reporting.In the interview with the Post published Tuesday, Viktorov was quoted as criticizing Israel for targeting arms shipments for Hezbollah and questioning whether the Lebanese terror group had truly dug tunnels under the Israel-Lebanon border as Israel has alleged.The Russian mission said the newspaper’s correspondent has “added personal commentary” to the quotes, which themselves had been “taken out of the context” while distorting the main essence of the conversation.It called the incident “annoying,” but maintained it would not affect friendly ties between Moscow and Jerusalem.The Foreign Ministry earlier said Viktorov was “seriously reprimanded” for his comments by Alon Bar, the ministry’s political director.“Bar rejected out of hand the comments published in the interview and emphasized that they are inconsistent with the reality in the Middle East,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.Bar also said regional issues, “especially the Iranian threat and terror groups who do Iran’s bidding, particularly Hezbollah,” should be discussed through diplomatic channels, “with reference to the reality and threats which Israel is dealing with and not outrageous and dangerous false visions,” according to the statement.The Foreign Ministry also noted that Viktorov had told Bar that he intended to send a letter to the Jerusalem Post, claiming some of the quotes attributed to him weren’t accurate.In the interview, Viktorov was quoted as accusing Israel of fueling violence, referring to airstrikes in Syria that have targeted Iranian military positions and arms convoys heading to Hezbollah.“Israel is attacking Hezbollah, Hezbollah is not attacking Israel,” he said, adding that Israel should not attack “the territories of sovereign UN members.”Viktorov was also quoted as rejecting the idea that Israel coordinates such attacks with Russia, saying any warning Jerusalem gives Moscow on such attacks is about the safety of Russian forces in Syria — there to support the regime as it quells a lingering civil war.Israel has a channel of communication with Russia to prevent the two countries’ militaries from clashing in the Syria arena. However, in 2018, Russia blamed Israel when Syrian air defenses accidentally shot down a Russian plane during an airstrike, killing all 15 crew members.Israel, which rarely admits to carrying out the strikes, has kept up a determined campaign aimed at keeping Iran-backed fighters from gaining a foothold in Syria.The campaign has included thousands of airstrikes on targets linked to Iran and alleged weapons convoys, according to reports and accounts from officials speaking anonymously.Regarding tunnels found by the Israel Defense Forces last year under the northern border and which the IDF said were dug by Hezbollah in preparation for a major future assault on the country, Viktorov was quoted as saying there was “no proof Hezbollah created the tunnels.”Viktorov also blamed the US for the unraveling of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that removed sanctions from Iran in return for the dismantling of its nuclear program.The deal, still supported by the other signatories — including Russia — is crumbling as the Trump administration reimposed harsh sanctions and Iran has increased its uranium enrichment.On a more positive note, he said Russia supports the recent US-brokered normalization deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as the moves towards a similar agreement with Sudan.But he said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must still be addressed with the aim of reaching a two-state solution.“We strongly believe that the Palestinian question should not be put aside,” he said. “The normalization should not replace a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, because this problem will remain and will continue to endanger not only the countries and peoples of the region but also many others around the globe,” he said.Viktorov reiterated Russia’s offer to host Israeli-Palestinian talks in Moscow.
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).
EEK 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 11:21-2321 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)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
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, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
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)
VISIT COULD REPORTEDLY BE SCRAPPED DUE TO MEDIA LEAKS-Netanyahu said set to meet Sissi in first official visit to Egypt in a decade-Israeli reports quote Egyptian officials as saying that if trip goes ahead, leaders will discuss regional alliance against Iran, peace talks with Palestinians-By TOI STAFF-DEC 09,20-Today, 10:09 am
Preparations are underway for an official visit to Egypt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coming days, in what would be the first such trip by an Israeli leader in a decade, according to several Hebrew-language media reports.The reported visit would include a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as part of an attempt to improve ties between the countries in light of the upcoming US presidency of Joe Biden and the Iranian threat, as well as following Israel’s recent landmark normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with the Jewish state in 1979, but it has remained a cold peace, with anti-Israeli sentiment prevalent among Egyptians and ties between the countries mostly conducted in non-public channels.The last official visit by Netanyahu to Egypt was in January 2011, when he met then-president Hosni Mubarak, though he reportedly paid a secret, unofficial visit in 2018. An official visit had reportedly been set to go ahead in 2016 but was canceled after Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Egypt had taken action — at Israel’s request — to seal a cross-border tunnel from Gaza built by the Hamas terror group.Last week, the Maariv newspaper cited unnamed diplomatic sources as saying Israeli and Egyptian officials were holding talks over a potential visit by Netanyahu in Cairo, with the report saying the visit would focus on improving the economic and trade ties between the countries.On Thursday, the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom daily reported that senior Egyptian sources, including in the country’s Foreign Ministry, had confirmed that Sissi has extended an invitation to Netanyahu and that he is set to go in the coming days.The President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt concerning the renewal of the negotiations with the Palestinians, January 6, 2011. (GPO)-However, the sources reportedly didn’t rule out the possibility that the visit could be postponed or scrapped altogether since it has been leaked to the media. The report noted the recent media leaks about Netanyahu’s secret visit to Saudi Arabia, which were said to have angered Riyadh.The Israel Hayom report said the Netanyahu-Sissi talks would extend beyond economic issues and discuss strengthening the security and diplomatic ties between the countries in light of the regional threat posed by Iran and the possibility that the Biden administration will seek to sign a new deal on Tehran’s nuclear program, a scenario vehemently opposed by Netanyahu.Cairo reportedly fears the Biden administration will be hostile to it and that a new Iran pact would cause regional instability.The sources were quoted as saying Egypt views Israel’s new alliance with Sunni countries in the region as extremely important.They added that the meeting would also discuss the possibility of renewing long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinians and efforts to reach an arrangement regarding the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas and is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Israel and Gazan terror groups have seen regular flareups of violence over the past few years.A senior Egyptian Foreign Ministry official told Israel Hayom that if the visit goes ahead, Sissi will personally welcome Netanyahu at the airport in an official ceremony, with Israeli and Egyptian flags placed next to each other.The report said it wasn’t clear whether the visit would be held in Cairo or in the Sinai resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where several high-profile meetings were held in the past.Netanyahu secretly traveled to Egypt and met Sissi in May 2018, Channel 10 news reported at the time, accompanied by a very small team of advisers and security personnel. He was only in Cairo for a few hours, and joined Sissi in eating the iftar meal concluding the days Ramadan fast before flying back to Jerusalem, the report said, adding that most ministers in the security cabinet had not been aware of the meeting between the leaders.Netanyahu and Sissi have held several public meetings in New York, typically on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Israel scouting out sites to set up embassy in Bahrain before year’s end-Foreign Ministry representatives were in capital this week to look for suitable temporary property; 3 missions to be established in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates by year’s end-By STUART WINER-9 December 2020, 7:11 pm
Foreign Ministry representatives visited Bahraini capital Manama this week to look for potential locations to set up an Israeli embassy.Israel plans to set up three temporary missions in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates by the end of the year, the Foreign Ministry said in a press briefing Tuesday.There are plans for two missions in the UAE — a temporary embassy in the capital Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai. Another temporary mission is planned for Manama, the ministry said.The eventual permanent embassy in Abu Dhabi will be one of the largest Israel has anywhere in the world, with office space for representatives of several government ministries.During a November visit to Israel by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, the two countries announced plans to establish mutual embassies by the end of the year.In September Israel signed the so-called Abraham Accords, US-brokered agreements that normalized relations with the UAE and Bahrain.Israel has embassies in two other Arab countries with which it has peace treaties, Egypt and Jordan.Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.
Reclaiming Israel as a bipartisan issue in American politics-Pigeon-holing Israel as an exclusively Republican commodity poses a clear threat – Netanyahu must pull back from his provocative policies-DEC 8, 2020, 3:33
Even though the Trump administration attempted to use it to bolster its appeal in the eyes of conservative and evangelical voters, Israel played no significant role in the 2020 presidential elections. Voters were far more concerned about the economy, COVID-19, healthcare, and racial relations than they were about foreign policy. Still, the elections were critical for the future of US-Israel relations, and more specifically, for the framing of Israel as a partisan issue.Israel became a wedge issue in American politics during the presidency of Barack Obama, and this reality was further solidified during Donald Trump’s term in office. The shift reflects a change in the composition of the Democratic Party and the rise of its progressive faction and, in contrast, the growing influence of Evangelical Christians within the Republican Party. As political and social polarization in the US grew in the last few years, President Trump proactively and repeatedly attempted to make Israel an exclusively Republican commodity. He aligned himself with the positions of Obama’s nemesis, hardliner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was fighting for his political future in a series of national elections and was also embroiled in several corruption scandals. Netanyahu’s domestic initiatives eroded Israel’s democratic norms and institutions, and his calls to annex parts of the West Bank to bolster his electability among right-wing voters threatened to undermine the democratic character of the State of Israel.President Trump supported these initiatives directly or indirectly because they benefitted him politically and, to a large extent, replicated some of his own provocative domestic and foreign policies. Furthermore, Trump openly assisted Netanyahu politically by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem, defunding the Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), closing the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and more recently facilitating the signing of the Abraham Accords.Netanyahu, for his part, reciprocated by supporting Trump’s efforts to attract American Jewish voters and reaffirm the president’s staunch pro-Israel image. For example, at Trump’s urging, Netanyahu prevented Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two Democratic members of Congress, from visiting Israel arguing they backed the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Netanyahu also met Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a couple of months before the 2020 elections as part of the Secretary’s Middle East diplomatic tour, and Pompeo delivered an address to the Republican National Convention (RNC), recorded while in Jerusalem. Only a few days prior to the elections, Secretary Pompeo announced Jerusalem-born US citizens will be able to choose to enter Israel or Jerusalem as their birthplace. This was but another attempt to score political points for the president in a series of pro-Israel policy shifts.The outcome of the elections shattered this idyllic and symbiotic relationship between the two leaders. Netanyahu was quite hesitant to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden at first and risk alienating Trump who still yields the power of the presidency. Even after Netanyahu congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris via Twitter, the Israeli prime minister did not address Biden as “president-elect” nor did he point out that Biden had, in fact, won the elections. To soften the blow somewhat, and hedge his bet on Trump just in case, Netanyahu immediately followed-up with a second tweet and thanked the president for his support for Israel and the prime minister personally.To complicate things, Netanyahu and Pompeo’s meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in the city of Neom as well as the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist attributed to Israel and possibly supported by the US last week were clear signals to the incoming Biden administration to refrain from rejoining the Iran nuclear agreement. Certainly, this is not the best way to engage the new administration, especially if there is already considerable tension between the two leaders.It is difficult to see how Israel can resume its role as a partisan issue in American politics given the changes in the Democratic and Republican electorate and the policies introduced by the Trump administration in support of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his anti-democratic conduct as well as his hawkish agenda towards the Palestinians and Iran. However, repositioning Israel above any partisan politics in the US and working with both parties is an interest of all sides and, for the Israeli government, it is a vital interest. A strong US-Israel alliance built on renewed American leadership, and reinforced by bipartisan support, can potentially advance the efforts to broker peace across the Middle East and increase regional stability while placating any concerns Israel may have about the Palestinians or the Iranians.Netanyahu must take the first step and work to untangle the partisanship associated with Israel in contemporary American politics by rescinding his objectionable domestic and foreign policies. If this transpires, Biden should respond in kind after taking office for the greater good of both countries. Resentment is not a substitute for pragmatic statesmanship and the restoration of Israel as a bipartisan issue will be a sign of genuine leadership on both sides.ABOUT THE AUTHOR-Dr. Ilai Z. Saltzman is a member at Mitvim – the Israel Institute of Foreign Regional Policy
Israel and Morocco to establish full ties, foster economic, cultural cooperation-President Trump’s decision to recognize Rabat’s claim over Western Sahara paves way for North African kingdom to agree to open embassy in Tel Aviv and allow direct flights-By JACOB MAGID and AP-DEC 10,20-Today, 6:53 pm
Israel and Morocco have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, US President Donald Trump announced Thursday, marking the fourth Arab-Israel agreement in four months.As part of the announcement, Trump said that the US would recognize Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region.As his time in office winds down, Trump said Israel and Morocco would restore diplomatic and other relations, including the immediate opening of liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv and the eventual opening of embassies. US officials said it would also include joint overflight rights for airlines.Channel 13 news reported that the White House is aiming to hold an official ceremony to make the agreement official before Trump leaves office on January 20.In their first reactions to Trump’s announcement later Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Moroccan King Mohammed VI lauded the latest normalization agreement.“This will be a very warm peace. On this Hannukah, the light of peace has never shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” said Netanyahu at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the Western Wall.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and US Ambassador David Friedman at the Western Wall on December 10, 2020, the first night of Hanukkah. Netanyahu hailed the “light” of US President Donald Trump’s announcement that Morocco and Israel are to establish full relations, issued hours earlier. (screen capture: Youtube/GPO)-“I always believed in this peace, and now it’s happening before our eyes. I want to thank President Trump for his extraordinary efforts to expand peace to bring peace to Israel and the Middle East,” he said while standing alongside US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Netanyahu said direct flights between the countries would move ahead soon.King Mohammed said in a statement that Morocco would take three moves in the near future to advance relations.Moroccan King Mohammed VI flanked (with Crown Prince Moulay Hassan) waves to the crowd as he arrives for the opening session of the Moroccon Parliament in Rabat, on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar)-First, there would be moves to facilitate direct flights to transport Jews of Moroccan origin and Israeli tourists to and from Morocco, he said.Second, the North African nation will also seek to “resume official bilateral ties and diplomatic relations [with Israel] as soon as possible.”Morocco will also seek “to develop innovative relationships in the economic and technological fields. As part of this goal, there will be work on renewing liaison offices in the two countries, as was the case in the past for many years, until 2002,” King Mohammed said.The king thanked Trump for recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed region of Western Sahara.Explaining the decision to normalize, King Mohammed cited among other reasons “the historical role that Morocco has played in bringing the peoples of the region together and supporting security and stability in the Middle East, and given the special ties that bind the Jewish community of Moroccan origin, including those in Israel, to the person of His Majesty the King.”Israel and Morocco established low-level diplomatic relations during the 1990s following Israel’s interim peace accords with the Palestinians, but those ties were suspended after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. Since then, however, the informal ties have continued, and an estimated 50,000 Israelis travel to Morocco each year on trips, learning about the Jewish community and retracing family histories.Announcing the breakthrough, the White House said Trump and King Mohammed VI had agreed in a conversation that Morocco would “resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability.”In a separate but likely closely-tied statement, the US said it would recognize Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara, the former Spanish North African territory which has been the focus of a long-running dispute that has confounded international negotiators for decades.In a subsequent briefing with reporters, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said the decision on Western Sara was a “recognition of an inevitability” after there had “quite frankly… been no progress” for decades.He expressed hope that the move would make the region more stable, calling the Moroccan Kingdom a “tolerant society.”Morocco is the fourth Arab nation to recognize Israel as the administration seeks to expand its “Abraham Accords” framework, which began over the summer with an agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates.Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit and administration officials have also been trying to bring Saudi Arabia into the fold.“The president reaffirmed his support for Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory and as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory,” the White House said.Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi also welcomed the move in a statement, thanking Trump for “promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and supporting Israel.”“This is another great day for Israeli diplomacy — a day of light — as befits the holiday of Hanukkah,” he added, referencing the Jewish holiday that began on Thursday evening.According to Channel 13, Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Benny Gantz were updated regarding progress on the deal several weeks ago, but only by the White House and not Netanyahu’s office. Channel 12 said Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Gantz earlier Thursday, and did not mention the imminent announcement.The two Blue and White ministers were also kept out of the loop ahead of the normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, which they only learned about after the fact.Kushner told reporters that Israel and Morocco would “reopen their liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv immediately with the intention to open embassies.“And they are going to promote economic cooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies,” he added.“Through this historic step, Morocco is building on its longstanding bond with the Moroccan Jewish community living in Morocco and throughout the world, including in Israel. This is a significant step forward for the people of Israel and Morocco,” he said.Kushner also insisted that it was only a matter of time before Saudi Arabia would agree to follow suit.“Israel and Saudi Arabia coming together and having full normalization at this point is an inevitability, but the timeframe, obviously, will come — is something that has to be worked out,” Kushner told reporters, adding that it would require “strong US leadership in the region.”“If you look at where we’ve come in last six months, the region has essentially gone from a solid to a liquid and it feels like there’s a lot more fluidity,” he said.White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, right, looks on during a meeting between US President Donald Trump, left, and leaders at the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center, Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP/Evan Vucci)-Asked during the briefing to address alleged human rights abuses in the countries the US has pushed to agree to normalization agreements with Israel, Kushner said” “We recognize that some of these countries share our values more than others do.”He went on to argue that in forging better relations with such countries, the US is in a better position “to get what we want” on other issues while pointing out that the Islamic State “was not too good with human rights” either.The Freedom house labels Morocco as “partly free,” pointing out that while the country holds parliamentary elections, “King Mohammed VI maintains dominance through a combination of substantial formal powers and informal lines of influence in the state and society. Many civil liberties are constrained in practice.”While the deal is expected to be welcomed warmly in Israel, it was not immediately clear how the Moroccan public would react. In September, hundreds demonstrated in Rabat against the normalization deals with the “treacherous countries” UAE and Bahrain.
KING MOHAMMED VI: DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS 'AS SOON AS POSSIBLE' Israel, Morocco to establish full ties, Trump announces; PM: ‘A very warm peace’President’s decision to recognize Rabat’s claim over Western Sahara paves way for North African kingdom to agree to open embassy in Tel Aviv and allow direct flights-By JACOB MAGID and AP-Today, 6:53 pm
Israel and Morocco have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, US President Donald Trump announced Thursday, marking the fourth Arab-Israel agreement in four months.As part of the announcement, Trump said that the US would recognize Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region.As his time in office winds down, Trump said Israel and Morocco would restore diplomatic and other relations, including the immediate opening of liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv and the eventual opening of embassies. US officials said it would also include joint overflight rights for airlines.In their first reactions to Trump’s announcement later Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Moroccan King Mohammed VI lauded the latest normalization agreement.“This will be a very warm peace. On this Hannukah, the light the peace has never shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” said Netanyahu at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the Western Wall.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and US ambassador David Friedman at the Western Wall on December 10, 2020. Lighting the Hanukkah menorah, Netanyahu hailed the announcement of resuming Israeli diplomatic relations with Morocco.(screen capture: Youtube/GPO)-“I always believed in this peace, and now it’s happening before our eyes. I want to thank President Trump for his extraordinary efforts to expand peace to bring peace to Israel and the Middle East,” he said while standing alongside US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.King Mohammed said in a statement that Morocco would take three moves in the near future.First, facilitating direct flights to transport Jews of Moroccan origin and Israeli tourists too and from Morocco. Second, the North African nation will also seek to “resume official bilateral ties and diplomatic relations [with Israel] as soon as possible.”Morocco will also seek “to develop innovative relationships in the economic and technological fields. As part of this goal, there will be work on renewing liaison offices in the two countries, as was the case in the past for many years, until 2002,” King Mohammed said.The king thanked Trump for recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed region of Western Sahara.Explaining the decision to normalize, King Mohammed cited among other reasons “the historical role that Morocco has played in bringing the peoples of the region together and supporting security and stability in the Middle East, and given the special ties that bind the Jewish community of Moroccan origin, including those in Israel, to the person of His Majesty the King.”Israel and Morocco established low-level diplomatic relations during the 1990s following Israel’s interim peace accords with the Palestinians, but those ties were suspended after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. Since then, however, the informal ties have continued, and an estimated 50,000 Israelis travel to Morocco each year on trips, learning about the Jewish community and retracing family histories.The White House said Trump and King Mohammed VI had agreed in a conversation that Morocco would “resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability.”In a separate but likely closely-tied statement, the US said it will recognize Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara, the former Spanish North African territory which has been the focus of a long-running dispute that has confounded international negotiators for decades.In a subsequent briefing with reporters, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said the decision on Western Sara was a “recognition of an inevitability” after there had “quite frankly… been no progress” for decades.He expressed hope that the move would make the region more stable, calling the Moroccan Kingdom a “tolerant society.”Morocco is the fourth Arab nation to recognize Israel as the administration seeks to expand its “Abraham Accords” framework, which began over the summer with an agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates.Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit and administration officials have also been trying to bring Saudi Arabia into the fold.“The president reaffirmed his support for Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory and as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory,” the White House said.Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi also welcomed the move in a statement, thanking Trump for “promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and supporting Israel.”“This is another great day for Israeli diplomacy — a day of light — as befits the holiday of Hanukkah,” he added, referencing the Jewish holiday that began on Thursday evening.Kushner told reporters that Israel and Morocco would “reopen their liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv immediately with the intention to open embassies.“And they are going to promote economic cooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies,” he added.“Through this historic step, Morocco is building on its longstanding bond with the Moroccan Jewish community living in Morocco and throughout the world, including in Israel. This is a significant step forward for the people of Israel and Morocco,” he said.Kushner insisted that it was only a matter of time before Saudi Arabia would agree to follow suit.“Israel and Saudi Arabia coming together and having full normalization at this point is an inevitability, but the timeframe, obviously, will come — is something that has to be worked out,” Kushner told reporters, adding that it would require “strong US leadership in the region.”“If you look at where we’ve come in last six months, the region has essentially gone from a solid to a liquid and it feels like there’s a lot more fluidity,” he said.White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, right, looks on during a meeting between US President Donald Trump, left, and leaders at the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center, Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP/Evan Vucci)-Asked during the briefing to address alleged human rights abuses in the countries the US has pushed to agree to normalization agreements with Israel, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner says, “we recognize that some of these countries share our values more than others do.”He went on to argue that in forging better relations with such countries, the US is in a better position “to get what we want” on other issues while pointing out that the Islamic State “was not too good with human rights” either.The Freedom house labels Morocco as “partly free,” pointing out that while the country holds parliamentary elections, “King Mohammed VI maintains dominance through a combination of substantial formal powers and informal lines of influence in the state and society. Many civil liberties are constrained in practice.”While the deal is expected to be welcomed warmly in Israel, it was not immediately clear how the Moroccan public would react. In September, hundreds demonstrated in Rabat against the normalization deals with the “treacherous countries” UAE and Bahrain.
‘This will be a very warm peace’: Netanyahu hails Israel’s new ties with Morocco-At Western Wall Hannuka ceremony, PM notes historic friendship between Moroccans and Jews, says working toward establishing full diplomatic relations ‘as rapidly as possible’-By RAPHAEL AHREN-Today, 8:16 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed the news of Israel establishing diplomatic ties with Morocco, saying that the relationship of the peoples of both countries has long been characterized by “sympathy, respect, fondness and love.”Two hours after US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that the North African kingdom and the Jewish state had agreed to normalize relations, Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman met for their traditional candle-lighting ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.“This will be a very warm peace. On this Hanukkah, the light of peace has never shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “I’ve always believed that this historic day would come; I’ve always worked for it.”He thanked Trump for brokering the Jerusalem-Rabat agreement, which apparently involved Washinton recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the contested Western Sahara territory.“President Trump, the people of Israel will be forever indebted to you for your magnificent efforts on our behalf.”Netanyahu also thanked Moroccan King Mohammed VI for his “historic decision to bring a historic peace” between the two nations“The people of Morocco and the Jewish people had a warm relationship in the modern period,” he went on. “Everybody knows the tremendous friendship shown by the kings of Morocco and the people of Morocco to the Jewish community there. And hundreds of thousands of these Moroccan Jews came to Israel and they form a human bridge between our two countries and our two peoples — of sympathy, of respect, of fondness and love,” he said.Israel and Morocco will soon open mutual “liaison offices” and then work towards establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel “as rapidly as possible,” according to the announcements.In 1996, after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel and Morocco had so-called liaison offices in each other’s countries, but they were closed after the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.The two countries will also establish direct aviation links, “giving this bridge of peace an even more solid foundation,” the prime minister said.Speaking after the traditional Hanukkah lighting ceremony, Friedman delivered brief remarks as well.“What a perfect night to celebrate the normalization and the light of peace between Israel and Morocco on the festival of lights at a time when the world has been in a dark place for this past year, and we’re all searching for light,” he said.The Israel-Morocco agreement marked the dawn of a “new era of peace,” the envoy said.
Moroccan king tells Abbas he is committed to two-state solution-DEC 10,20
Moroccan King Mohammad VI has spoken on the phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday evening, the Moroccan royal court announces in a statement.Mohammad informed Abbas about his talks with US President Donald Trump on normalization with Israel and stressed his support for “the two-state solution, and his belief that negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides are the only way to reach a final, lasting and comprehensive solution to this conflict,” the statement says.“His Highness, may God preserve him, told the Palestinian President that his position was unshakeably supportive of the Palestinian cause. He told the Palestinian President that he had inherited it from his father Hassan II, may God have mercy on his soul,” the statement says.The king also invoked Morocco’s historic ties with its Jewish community in the phone call.“The King of Morocco has a special status, and he has distinguished relations with the Jewish community of Moroccan origin, including hundreds of thousands of Moroccan Jews in Israel,” the king told Abbas, according to the statement.Ramallah has so far issued no comment on the normalization deal or the phone call.— Aaron Boxerman
8:06 pm-DEC 10,20-Gantz and Ashkenazi learned about Morocco talks from White House
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi appears to confirm reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not keep his senior partners from the Blue and White party informed about talks with Morocco.“Defense Minister Gantz and Foreign Minister Ashkenazi were updated a few weeks ago by the White House about contacts toward a deal with Morocco. Today they were updated on the deal coming together by the White House ahead of President Trump’s announcement,” the spokesperson says in a statement to journalists.
31min ago-DEC 10,20
Israel does not rule out recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara-Asked if Israel will follow the lead of the US and recognize Morocco’s control of Western Sahara, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry says it is too early to say.Only a handful of countries recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the territory, which is claimed by both Morocco and Polisario Front pro-independence rebels who recently revived their three-decade struggle in the former Spanish territory.Members of the Polisario Front, the organization disputing sovereignty over Western Sahara with Morocco, mourn their leader, Mohamed Abdelaziz, during his funeral held in the Rabouni refugees camp, in south-western Algeria, Friday, June 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Sidali Djarboub)-The United Nations says its position is “unchanged” on the disputed region.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes “the solution to the question can still be found based on Security Council resolutions,” his spokesman says.The UN deploys a peacekeeping mission called MINURSO mission to the region to monitor a ceasefire and supposedly to organize a referendum on the territory’s status.— with AFP
