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)
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Netanyahu on Iran deal: The more you read it, the worse it gets-Inspections clause is farcical, sanctions snap-back clause is incomprehensible, and a major Iranian terror chief, Qassem Soleimani, has been removed from the terror list, PM protests-By Avi Lewis July 15, 2015, 3:50 pm 70-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that perusal of the previous day’s nuclear deal with Iran yields a picture that grows ever bleaker.The agreement is “filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said, scolding world leaders for caving in to Iran’s “charm offensive” and crediting Israel with leading the fight against an Iranian bomb.He called on the Knesset to present a united front in the fight against the “bad in every respect” pact. “The agreement that was signed in Vienna is not the final word. We will continue to fight,” Netanyahu pledged.Iran and the world powers signed an agreement Tuesday in Vienna that mandates the Islamic Republic scale back some of its nuclear capabilities in exchange for a rollback of economic sanctions.“When we examine this agreement — which is bad in every aspect — when we read this agreement, the picture becomes more bleak and we discover it’s filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said.“For example, the agreement gives Iran 24 days’ [notice] before an inspection; it’s like giving a criminal organization that produces drugs a 24-hour warning before performing a search,” he said.“In addition, the sanction snap-back mechanism is so complicated and serpentine that one needs a PhD to understand it. One clause creates a huge incentive to invest in Iran because it says that the reinstatement of sanctions will not apply to agreements that have [already taken place]. Another section includes the people that were removed from the sanctions list, one of them being Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s global terror arm. It is absurd, terror [meets] nuclear [power],” he said, referring to the commander of Iran’s elite Quds force.According to Netanyahu, Western leaders were too easily beguiled by the Iranian regime, and if not for Israel’s efforts, Tehran would already possess a bomb.“There is a willingness in the West to accept despotic regimes and seek peace at any price. Not all of them have internalized the lessons of history. Even today, the powers are won over by a charm offensive. I am not saying that we are in 1938 for two reasons; firstly, back then, no precedent existed for what was to occur, while today that [precedent] exists; secondly, today we have a state, while then we didn’t, and its purpose is to to act against those that threaten it,” Netanyahu said.“If not for the efforts made by Israel, Iran would have already had the ability to arm itself with nuclear bombs. We exposed the Iranian issue on the international stage. We led the implementation of biting sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table. We set before Iran a red line on the issue of uranium enrichment which it has not yet crossed,” he said.“One who speaks truth about this agreement is the president of Iran, who said that Iran has achieved all its objectives,” Netanyahu said, referring to President Hassan Rouhani who said Tuesday following the deal that “all the four objectives have been achieved.”“We are not committed to this agreement and will continue to oppose it. For existential [threats] there is no coalition or opposition. We need a united front to ensure our survival,” Netanyahu said.
US presents draft Iran resolution to Security Council-Diplomats say vote to back new deal could come Monday or Tuesday, would pass easily with support of permanent members-By AFP July 16, 2015, 12:49 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The United States Wednesday put forward a draft resolution to the UN Security Council seeking backing for a historic deal curtailing Iran’s nuclear program as a first step for international approval of the accord.The draft text seeks formal UN endorsement for the hard-won, ground-breaking agreement reached in Vienna on Tuesday after 18 straight days of talks which capped almost two years of momentous negotiations.The new resolution would also replace the existing framework of seven sets of Security Council sanctions imposed since 2006 on Iran, enshrining a new set of restrictions.“We have now formally introduced this Iran resolution into the Security Council,” a US diplomat said.Under the deal, hammered out by six world powers and Iran, a web of sanctions will be gradually lifted as Tehran takes steps to dismantle and mothball much of its nuclear program to ensure it cannot build a bomb.A vote on the resolution could come as early as Monday or Tuesday, a diplomat said.But a UN embargo on conventional arms sales and exports is to stay in place for five years, while trade in ballistic missiles capable of being armed with a nuclear warhead will remain for eight years.The draft resolution should pass with little difficulty since the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — were among those countries which negotiated the Vienna accord.“It was negotiated. All of them know and supported every element of it. There is no uncertainty,” a US official familiar with the dossier said.The draft text was put forward by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power during closed door talks on Wednesday.In order to lift the sanctions, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will have to report that Iran is meeting its commitments under the deal, and that it has fully answered concerns that prior to 2003, and perhaps later, it may have sought nuclear arms.However, the deal also sets out a so-called “snapback” mechanism to put the old sanctions back in place. It establishes a joint commission which would examine any complaints if world powers feel Iran has not met its commitments under the Vienna deal.If a protest is made via the joint commission, then the UN Security Council would have to vote on whether to continue the sanctions lifting.“It seems counterintuitive, but if we veto that resolution, sanctions will snapback and all the past resolutions would come back into force,” the diplomat said.Once the UN Security Council resolution is agreed, that will start the clock ticking on the first deadline known as Adoption Day, some 90 days after the UN endorses the agreement.Under the deal, all parties from that day must begin to make the necessary legal and administrative preparations to implement the full deal later on.
In Iran deal, Obama sees validation for diplomatic gamble-Success of curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions with diplomacy and economic pressure will shape president’s legacy-By Julie Pace July 16, 2015, 3:15 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON (AP) — To President Barack Obama, the historic nuclear accord with Iran is a validation of an arduous, politically fraught diplomatic gamble, one he foreshadowed before winning the White House and one that will shape his legacy long after he leaves.The deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program may prevent Tehran from developing a bomb or being the target of US military action during Obama’s presidency. But whether the agreement succeeds in stemming Iran’s nuclear ambitions after his tenure is a far murkier question.The sheer amount of time and political capital Obama invested in the Iran talks has fueled speculation that he had too much at stake to walk away from the negotiating table, no matter the compromises in a final deal. Obama authorized secret talks with Iran in 2012, followed by nearly two years of formal negotiations alongside Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. His rapprochement with Iran sent US relations with Israel plummeting to near-historic lows and deepened tensions with CongressEven with the high-stakes implications of an Iranian nuclear program, the talks over time seemed to represent more than just the quest for a deal. They were a referendum on Obama’s belief that even America’s most ardent enemies can be brought in line by wielding diplomacy and economic pressure instead of military might.“It represents the core of who he is and what his presidency stands for,” said Julianne Smith, a former Obama White House and Pentagon official. “He needs it to validate that approach.”With the deal now in hand, one of Obama’s top priorities is selling its virtues to skeptical lawmakers and world leaders, as well as the American public. He spent much of Tuesday calling leaders in Europe and the Middle East, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu, a fierce opponent of the deal, said his country is not bound by the terms of the agreement and “will reserve our right to defend ourselves against all of our enemies.” Obama was also poised to defend the deal in a news conference Wednesday, while dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to Congres to meet with House Democrats.“I’m here to answer questions and explain what the deal is and I’m confident they’ll like it when they understand it all,” Biden told reporters as he entered the closed-door session.Senior US officials say Obama is sensitive to the perception he was desperate for a deal. With big gaps remaining as a June 30 deadline neared for a final agreement, officials said the president urged his team to send clear messages to Iran both publicly and privately that the US was ready to end the talks without an agreement.“He did not want people to have the impression that this is something we needed to have,” one official said, adding that Obama was frequently among the most pessimistic members of his national security team about the prospects for a deal.Officials also pointed to a video conference Obama convened with Kerry and other negotiators last week as an example of his willingness to forgo a deal. With momentum for an agreement building in Vienna and a deadline to limit congressional oversight looming, officials said Obama essentially rejected the deal at hand because timetables for keeping restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and a UN arms embargo in place were insufficient.The officials insisted on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the president’s thinking.Obama first planted the seeds for engagement with Iran as a presidential candidate, saying in a 2007 Democratic primary debate that he would be willing to meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions.The president’s opening months in office included public and private overtures to Tehran, all with a more conciliatory tone aimed at signaling a shift from predecessor George W. Bush, who cast Iran as part of an “axis of evil.”Obama has taken a similar approach — clandestine diplomacy, prioritizing negotiations over military action — to other foreign policy challenges, with mixed results. Plans to negotiate an end to Syria’s bloody civil war have gone nowhere. A resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba after a half-century of hostilities is moving along largely as planned.-The Associated Press.
Obama: Netanyahu yet to provide alternative to Iran deal-President says agreement prevents Iranian nuke, which would compound Israel’s ‘legitimate’ concerns; skewers PM for saying Tehran seeks to ‘take over the world’-By Daniel Bernstein July 15, 2015, 9:40 pm Updated: July 15, 2015, 10:49 pm 56-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday delivered a detailed defense of the world powers’ landmark nuclear accord with Iran, and lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other vociferous critics inside the US for what he said was their failure to present a viable alternative to it.Taking a direct jab at Netanyahu, Obama said some critics claim Iran wants to “take over the world,” referencing a speech the prime minister made earlier in the month in which he claimed Iran has “the ultimate true aim of taking over the world.” This was “news to the Iranians,” Obama quipped during a press conference on the deal with reporters in the White House.But Obama agreed that “Israel has legitimate concerns about its security relative to Iran.” The regime in Tehran, he noted, “has proclaimed that Israel shouldn’t exist… has denied the Holocaust… has financed Hezbollah, and as a consequence there are missiles that are pointed toward Tel Aviv.”Therefore, he said, “I think there are very good reasons why Israelis are nervous about Iran’s position in the world generally, and I’ve said this to Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’ve said it directly to the Israeli people.”Still, he continued, “all those threats are compounded if Iran gets a nuclear weapon.There really are only two alternatives here: either the issue of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through negotiation, or it’s resolved through force, through war’Under the deal announced Tuesday, Iran’s nuclear program will be scaled back and closely monitored as the US and world powers seek to cut off its ability to develop an atomic weapon. In exchange, Iran will see biting economic sanctions gradually lifted, freeing up tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen assets. But Netanyahu and other critics say the deal should have neutralized and dismantled Iran’s military nuclear facilities, and warn that the deal paves Iran’s path to the bomb and will send billions into its coffers which it will use to promote its violent agenda in the region and beyond.Obama said he had been hearing that it is a “bad deal, a historically bad deal” — Netanyahu had branded it just that on Tuesday — “that this will threaten Israel, the world and the United States.” Said Obama: “What I haven’t heard is what is your preferred alternative?”“If 99 percent of the world’s community and the majority of nuclear experts look at this thing and they say this will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, and you are arguing either that it does not, or that even if it does, it’s temporary, or that because they’re going to get a [financial] windfall… they’ll cause more problems,” said Obama, “then you have to have some alternative to present.”In fact, he asserted, “I haven’t heard that, and the reason is because there really are only two alternatives here: either the issue of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through negotiation, or it’s resolved through force, through war. Those are the options.”Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu reiterated his biting critique of the agreement, claiming it is “filled with absurdities,” and scolded world leaders for caving in to Iran’s “charm offensive.” Addressing the Knesset, he insisted Israel was not bound by the agreement, suggesting it could still take military action against Iran’s nuclear program even if the deal proceeds. Obama urged critics Wednesday to read the deal before attacking it; Netanyahu had said hours earlier that he had read, and that the more he read, the worse it got.But Obama asserted that a so-called “better deal” — as repeatedly demanded by Netanyahu — was unrealistic. “You’ll hear some critics say, well, we could have negotiated a better deal. Okay, what does that mean?” he asked.“I think the suggestion among a lot of the critics has been that a better deal, an acceptable deal, would be one in which Iran has no nuclear capacity, peaceful or otherwise. The problem with that position is that there is nobody who thinks that Iran would or could ever accept that, and the international community does not take the view that Iran can’t have a peaceful nuclear program. They agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”The US, he said, does not have “diplomatic leverage to eliminate every vestige of a peaceful nuclear program in Iran. What we do have the leverage to do is to make sure they don’t have a weapon. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”If the alternative sought by the deal’s opponents “is that we should bring Iran to heel by military force,” he said, speaking directly to some Congressional Republican critics, “then those critics should say so, and that would be an honest debate.”The president addressed specific Israeli objections to the agreement, noting that sanctions and other measures targeting Iran’s support for the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah movement are “still in place.”He further insisted that criticism of the accord was based only on “speculation” and “misinformation.”But while the president maintained that the nuclear accord would make the world more secure, he said “profound differences” with the Islamic Republic will remain, and that “unlike the Cuba situation, we’re not normalizing diplomatic relations here.” Obama said he hoped the deal would encourage the Iranian regime to “behave differently” and stop sponsoring terrorist actors in the Middle East, but noted that he wasn’t “betting on it.”In the absence of a deal, however, the international economic sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table would have unraveled, he said, and the world community would not have been able to put the sanctions regime back together.Responding to criticism of the deal’s provisions on inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Obama said Iran will be subject to a more vigorous inspection regime than before the nuclear deal, and “will not be in a position to develop a nuclear bomb,” but would still pose challenges to Western interests and values.Still, he added, “this is not something that you hide in the closet or you wheel off somewhere. If there is nuclear material on that site, your high school physics will remind us that that leaves a trace, so we’ll know that in fact there is a violation of the agreement.”In the absence of a deal, he contended, the region — which he termed “the most dangerous in the world” — would see “even more war” and a nuclear arms race in the short term, as “other countries in the Middle East would feel compelled to develop their own nuclear weapons.”His remarks were aimed in good part at Congress, where lawmakers are discussing legislation to try to stop the deal’s implementation. “I expect the debate to be robust, and that’s how it should be,” Obama said, imploring lawmakers skeptical of the deal to “remember the alternative.”The United States Wednesday presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council asking it to endorse the historic deal, which could be voted on as early as Monday or Tuesday, diplomats said.The draft text seeks formal UN approval for the agreement and would also replace the existing framework of Security Council sanctions with the restrictions set out in the deal, under which Iran has dismantle or mothball much of its nuclear industry.Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP contributed to this report.
AIPAC tells Congress to reject Iran deal; J Street to support it-Pro-Israel lobbying group says lawmakers should oppose ‘bad deal'; liberal rival says it serves security interests of US and Israel alike-By Ron Kampeas July 16, 2015, 2:00 am 4-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON (JTA) — AIPAC called on Congress to reject the Iran nuclear deal, saying it does not meet critical markers that the influential pro-Israel lobby outlined in recent weeks. But the liberal Jewish Middle East lobby J Street announced a multimillion-dollar campaign to support the agreement.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee made its case against in a statement Wednesday delivered after President Barack Obama conducted a news conference of more than an hour defending the deal achieved a day earlier.“We strongly believe that the alternative to this bad deal is a better deal,” AIPAC said in its statement. “Congress should reject this agreement, and urge the administration to work with our allies to maintain economic pressure on Iran while offering to negotiate a better deal that will truly close off all Iranian paths to a nuclear weapon.”Under the law, Congress may disapprove the deal. AIPAC’s call to reject the agreement achieved between six world powers and Iran will make it likelier that Congress will send Obama a “no,” although it is unlikely that opponents will have the numbers to override the veto that Obama has pledged to deliver. Disapproval requires a simple majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate; overriding a veto requires two-thirds majorities in both chambers.On Tuesday, AIPAC had expressed skepticism about the deal, but held back from calling for its rejection until its details became clearer. A number of other major Jewish groups have expressed reservations about the pact, but only a handful have come out absolutely on either side.Israel rejected the deal immediately and plans to lobby the Congress to reject it. In a show of national unity, Yitzhak Herzog, the leader of the opposition Zionist Union party, is coming to Washington next week to lobby against the deal.AIPAC said the deal did not meet key markers that it has circulated since June. Among other complaints, AIPAC noted that the agreement does not grant inspectors immediate access to sites, lifts restrictions as early as eight years, does not require the dismantling of centrifuges and allows sanctions relief before compliance, although Obama administration officials have said that sanctions will not be lifted until Iran meets certain markers.The lobby appeared to challenge claims by Obama – made as recently as his Wednesday news conference – that the likeliest alternative to the deal was war.“Proponents of the proposed agreement will argue that the only alternative to this agreement is military conflict,” AIPAC said. “In fact, the reverse is true. A bad agreement such as this will invite instability and nuclear proliferation. It will embolden Iran and may encourage regional conflict.”J Street, announcing its campaign on Wednesday, said it will make the case to lawmakers that the agreement “advances both US and Israeli security interests.” The lobby has raised $2 million thus far for the drive, a source said.“J Street wants Congress to know that, despite some loud opposition to the deal coming from Jewish organizational leaders, our polling suggests that a clear majority of Jewish Americans agrees with us and backs the deal,” the group said in a statement.The campaign will launch this week with a 30-second TV advertisement highlighting the unprecedented inspections and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear and military sites under the agreement, along with more broadcast and print ads over the next 60 days.Obama in his news conference asked lawmakers not to heed lobbyists in considering the deal. Earlier Wednesday, his vice president, Joe Biden, had met Democratic lawmakers in a closed session to persuade them to back a deal. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the deal.The president seemed eager to counter criticism of the deal.“With this deal we cut off every one of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program,” he said.
Air raid sirens blare in South as rocket fired from Gaza-Projectile hits open area, no injuries or damage confirmed; IDF investigating incident-By Times of Israel staff July 16, 2015, 2:12 am 1
Rocket alert sirens rang out early Thursday morning in towns near the Gaza Strip after a missile was fired from the Palestinian territory.The IDF said one rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck an open area of southern Israel after Code Red alerts went off in the southern city of Ashkelon and in communities nearby. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. IDF soldiers were scouring the area for remains of the projectile and were investigating the incident.It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the rocket fire.Earlier this week, rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel in what turned out to be a false alarm. Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of false alarms in recent weeks in which sirens sounded in southern Israel and the Golan Heights.The rocket was the latest to hit southern Israel. Earlier this month, an Islamic State-affiliated group fired three rockets into southern Israel from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, causing no injuries or damage.
Turkey to build stadium in Gaza-15 July 2015 08:15 (Last updated 15 July 2015 08:16)-Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) plans to build 20,000-seat stadium in Gaza Strip
GAZA, Palestine- Turkey will build a 20,000-seat stadium according to international standard in the Gaza Strip to support sports in Palestine, officials revealed on Tuesday.A member of the Higher Council of Youth and Sports in the Gaza Strip, Abd al-Salam Haniyeh, said the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) would build the stadium. "The approval for the stadium's construction by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the best contributions Turkey has provided to Palestinian sports," he said. Haniyeh added the stadium would be named Erdogan Stadium.Haniyeh said, earlier on Sunday, that TIKA held an iftar (breaking of fast) program for 700 Palestinian athletes and donated $225,000 to the Palestinian sports institutes. According to the data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Sports, a total of 30 sports facilities were destroyed and 32 athletes were killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza last summer. Over 2,160 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the onslaught – mostly civilians – while hundreds of homes and broad swathes of infrastructure were reduced to rubble across the territory, according to the UN.At least 73 Israelis – 68 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed during the 51-day conflict.
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Netanyahu on Iran deal: The more you read it, the worse it gets-Inspections clause is farcical, sanctions snap-back clause is incomprehensible, and a major Iranian terror chief, Qassem Soleimani, has been removed from the terror list, PM protests-By Avi Lewis July 15, 2015, 3:50 pm 70-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that perusal of the previous day’s nuclear deal with Iran yields a picture that grows ever bleaker.The agreement is “filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said, scolding world leaders for caving in to Iran’s “charm offensive” and crediting Israel with leading the fight against an Iranian bomb.He called on the Knesset to present a united front in the fight against the “bad in every respect” pact. “The agreement that was signed in Vienna is not the final word. We will continue to fight,” Netanyahu pledged.Iran and the world powers signed an agreement Tuesday in Vienna that mandates the Islamic Republic scale back some of its nuclear capabilities in exchange for a rollback of economic sanctions.“When we examine this agreement — which is bad in every aspect — when we read this agreement, the picture becomes more bleak and we discover it’s filled with absurdities,” Netanyahu said.“For example, the agreement gives Iran 24 days’ [notice] before an inspection; it’s like giving a criminal organization that produces drugs a 24-hour warning before performing a search,” he said.“In addition, the sanction snap-back mechanism is so complicated and serpentine that one needs a PhD to understand it. One clause creates a huge incentive to invest in Iran because it says that the reinstatement of sanctions will not apply to agreements that have [already taken place]. Another section includes the people that were removed from the sanctions list, one of them being Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s global terror arm. It is absurd, terror [meets] nuclear [power],” he said, referring to the commander of Iran’s elite Quds force.According to Netanyahu, Western leaders were too easily beguiled by the Iranian regime, and if not for Israel’s efforts, Tehran would already possess a bomb.“There is a willingness in the West to accept despotic regimes and seek peace at any price. Not all of them have internalized the lessons of history. Even today, the powers are won over by a charm offensive. I am not saying that we are in 1938 for two reasons; firstly, back then, no precedent existed for what was to occur, while today that [precedent] exists; secondly, today we have a state, while then we didn’t, and its purpose is to to act against those that threaten it,” Netanyahu said.“If not for the efforts made by Israel, Iran would have already had the ability to arm itself with nuclear bombs. We exposed the Iranian issue on the international stage. We led the implementation of biting sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table. We set before Iran a red line on the issue of uranium enrichment which it has not yet crossed,” he said.“One who speaks truth about this agreement is the president of Iran, who said that Iran has achieved all its objectives,” Netanyahu said, referring to President Hassan Rouhani who said Tuesday following the deal that “all the four objectives have been achieved.”“We are not committed to this agreement and will continue to oppose it. For existential [threats] there is no coalition or opposition. We need a united front to ensure our survival,” Netanyahu said.
US presents draft Iran resolution to Security Council-Diplomats say vote to back new deal could come Monday or Tuesday, would pass easily with support of permanent members-By AFP July 16, 2015, 12:49 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The United States Wednesday put forward a draft resolution to the UN Security Council seeking backing for a historic deal curtailing Iran’s nuclear program as a first step for international approval of the accord.The draft text seeks formal UN endorsement for the hard-won, ground-breaking agreement reached in Vienna on Tuesday after 18 straight days of talks which capped almost two years of momentous negotiations.The new resolution would also replace the existing framework of seven sets of Security Council sanctions imposed since 2006 on Iran, enshrining a new set of restrictions.“We have now formally introduced this Iran resolution into the Security Council,” a US diplomat said.Under the deal, hammered out by six world powers and Iran, a web of sanctions will be gradually lifted as Tehran takes steps to dismantle and mothball much of its nuclear program to ensure it cannot build a bomb.A vote on the resolution could come as early as Monday or Tuesday, a diplomat said.But a UN embargo on conventional arms sales and exports is to stay in place for five years, while trade in ballistic missiles capable of being armed with a nuclear warhead will remain for eight years.The draft resolution should pass with little difficulty since the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — were among those countries which negotiated the Vienna accord.“It was negotiated. All of them know and supported every element of it. There is no uncertainty,” a US official familiar with the dossier said.The draft text was put forward by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power during closed door talks on Wednesday.In order to lift the sanctions, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will have to report that Iran is meeting its commitments under the deal, and that it has fully answered concerns that prior to 2003, and perhaps later, it may have sought nuclear arms.However, the deal also sets out a so-called “snapback” mechanism to put the old sanctions back in place. It establishes a joint commission which would examine any complaints if world powers feel Iran has not met its commitments under the Vienna deal.If a protest is made via the joint commission, then the UN Security Council would have to vote on whether to continue the sanctions lifting.“It seems counterintuitive, but if we veto that resolution, sanctions will snapback and all the past resolutions would come back into force,” the diplomat said.Once the UN Security Council resolution is agreed, that will start the clock ticking on the first deadline known as Adoption Day, some 90 days after the UN endorses the agreement.Under the deal, all parties from that day must begin to make the necessary legal and administrative preparations to implement the full deal later on.
In Iran deal, Obama sees validation for diplomatic gamble-Success of curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions with diplomacy and economic pressure will shape president’s legacy-By Julie Pace July 16, 2015, 3:15 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON (AP) — To President Barack Obama, the historic nuclear accord with Iran is a validation of an arduous, politically fraught diplomatic gamble, one he foreshadowed before winning the White House and one that will shape his legacy long after he leaves.The deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program may prevent Tehran from developing a bomb or being the target of US military action during Obama’s presidency. But whether the agreement succeeds in stemming Iran’s nuclear ambitions after his tenure is a far murkier question.The sheer amount of time and political capital Obama invested in the Iran talks has fueled speculation that he had too much at stake to walk away from the negotiating table, no matter the compromises in a final deal. Obama authorized secret talks with Iran in 2012, followed by nearly two years of formal negotiations alongside Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. His rapprochement with Iran sent US relations with Israel plummeting to near-historic lows and deepened tensions with CongressEven with the high-stakes implications of an Iranian nuclear program, the talks over time seemed to represent more than just the quest for a deal. They were a referendum on Obama’s belief that even America’s most ardent enemies can be brought in line by wielding diplomacy and economic pressure instead of military might.“It represents the core of who he is and what his presidency stands for,” said Julianne Smith, a former Obama White House and Pentagon official. “He needs it to validate that approach.”With the deal now in hand, one of Obama’s top priorities is selling its virtues to skeptical lawmakers and world leaders, as well as the American public. He spent much of Tuesday calling leaders in Europe and the Middle East, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu, a fierce opponent of the deal, said his country is not bound by the terms of the agreement and “will reserve our right to defend ourselves against all of our enemies.” Obama was also poised to defend the deal in a news conference Wednesday, while dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to Congres to meet with House Democrats.“I’m here to answer questions and explain what the deal is and I’m confident they’ll like it when they understand it all,” Biden told reporters as he entered the closed-door session.Senior US officials say Obama is sensitive to the perception he was desperate for a deal. With big gaps remaining as a June 30 deadline neared for a final agreement, officials said the president urged his team to send clear messages to Iran both publicly and privately that the US was ready to end the talks without an agreement.“He did not want people to have the impression that this is something we needed to have,” one official said, adding that Obama was frequently among the most pessimistic members of his national security team about the prospects for a deal.Officials also pointed to a video conference Obama convened with Kerry and other negotiators last week as an example of his willingness to forgo a deal. With momentum for an agreement building in Vienna and a deadline to limit congressional oversight looming, officials said Obama essentially rejected the deal at hand because timetables for keeping restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and a UN arms embargo in place were insufficient.The officials insisted on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the president’s thinking.Obama first planted the seeds for engagement with Iran as a presidential candidate, saying in a 2007 Democratic primary debate that he would be willing to meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions.The president’s opening months in office included public and private overtures to Tehran, all with a more conciliatory tone aimed at signaling a shift from predecessor George W. Bush, who cast Iran as part of an “axis of evil.”Obama has taken a similar approach — clandestine diplomacy, prioritizing negotiations over military action — to other foreign policy challenges, with mixed results. Plans to negotiate an end to Syria’s bloody civil war have gone nowhere. A resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba after a half-century of hostilities is moving along largely as planned.-The Associated Press.
Obama: Netanyahu yet to provide alternative to Iran deal-President says agreement prevents Iranian nuke, which would compound Israel’s ‘legitimate’ concerns; skewers PM for saying Tehran seeks to ‘take over the world’-By Daniel Bernstein July 15, 2015, 9:40 pm Updated: July 15, 2015, 10:49 pm 56-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday delivered a detailed defense of the world powers’ landmark nuclear accord with Iran, and lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other vociferous critics inside the US for what he said was their failure to present a viable alternative to it.Taking a direct jab at Netanyahu, Obama said some critics claim Iran wants to “take over the world,” referencing a speech the prime minister made earlier in the month in which he claimed Iran has “the ultimate true aim of taking over the world.” This was “news to the Iranians,” Obama quipped during a press conference on the deal with reporters in the White House.But Obama agreed that “Israel has legitimate concerns about its security relative to Iran.” The regime in Tehran, he noted, “has proclaimed that Israel shouldn’t exist… has denied the Holocaust… has financed Hezbollah, and as a consequence there are missiles that are pointed toward Tel Aviv.”Therefore, he said, “I think there are very good reasons why Israelis are nervous about Iran’s position in the world generally, and I’ve said this to Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’ve said it directly to the Israeli people.”Still, he continued, “all those threats are compounded if Iran gets a nuclear weapon.There really are only two alternatives here: either the issue of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through negotiation, or it’s resolved through force, through war’Under the deal announced Tuesday, Iran’s nuclear program will be scaled back and closely monitored as the US and world powers seek to cut off its ability to develop an atomic weapon. In exchange, Iran will see biting economic sanctions gradually lifted, freeing up tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen assets. But Netanyahu and other critics say the deal should have neutralized and dismantled Iran’s military nuclear facilities, and warn that the deal paves Iran’s path to the bomb and will send billions into its coffers which it will use to promote its violent agenda in the region and beyond.Obama said he had been hearing that it is a “bad deal, a historically bad deal” — Netanyahu had branded it just that on Tuesday — “that this will threaten Israel, the world and the United States.” Said Obama: “What I haven’t heard is what is your preferred alternative?”“If 99 percent of the world’s community and the majority of nuclear experts look at this thing and they say this will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, and you are arguing either that it does not, or that even if it does, it’s temporary, or that because they’re going to get a [financial] windfall… they’ll cause more problems,” said Obama, “then you have to have some alternative to present.”In fact, he asserted, “I haven’t heard that, and the reason is because there really are only two alternatives here: either the issue of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through negotiation, or it’s resolved through force, through war. Those are the options.”Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu reiterated his biting critique of the agreement, claiming it is “filled with absurdities,” and scolded world leaders for caving in to Iran’s “charm offensive.” Addressing the Knesset, he insisted Israel was not bound by the agreement, suggesting it could still take military action against Iran’s nuclear program even if the deal proceeds. Obama urged critics Wednesday to read the deal before attacking it; Netanyahu had said hours earlier that he had read, and that the more he read, the worse it got.But Obama asserted that a so-called “better deal” — as repeatedly demanded by Netanyahu — was unrealistic. “You’ll hear some critics say, well, we could have negotiated a better deal. Okay, what does that mean?” he asked.“I think the suggestion among a lot of the critics has been that a better deal, an acceptable deal, would be one in which Iran has no nuclear capacity, peaceful or otherwise. The problem with that position is that there is nobody who thinks that Iran would or could ever accept that, and the international community does not take the view that Iran can’t have a peaceful nuclear program. They agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”The US, he said, does not have “diplomatic leverage to eliminate every vestige of a peaceful nuclear program in Iran. What we do have the leverage to do is to make sure they don’t have a weapon. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”If the alternative sought by the deal’s opponents “is that we should bring Iran to heel by military force,” he said, speaking directly to some Congressional Republican critics, “then those critics should say so, and that would be an honest debate.”The president addressed specific Israeli objections to the agreement, noting that sanctions and other measures targeting Iran’s support for the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah movement are “still in place.”He further insisted that criticism of the accord was based only on “speculation” and “misinformation.”But while the president maintained that the nuclear accord would make the world more secure, he said “profound differences” with the Islamic Republic will remain, and that “unlike the Cuba situation, we’re not normalizing diplomatic relations here.” Obama said he hoped the deal would encourage the Iranian regime to “behave differently” and stop sponsoring terrorist actors in the Middle East, but noted that he wasn’t “betting on it.”In the absence of a deal, however, the international economic sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table would have unraveled, he said, and the world community would not have been able to put the sanctions regime back together.Responding to criticism of the deal’s provisions on inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Obama said Iran will be subject to a more vigorous inspection regime than before the nuclear deal, and “will not be in a position to develop a nuclear bomb,” but would still pose challenges to Western interests and values.Still, he added, “this is not something that you hide in the closet or you wheel off somewhere. If there is nuclear material on that site, your high school physics will remind us that that leaves a trace, so we’ll know that in fact there is a violation of the agreement.”In the absence of a deal, he contended, the region — which he termed “the most dangerous in the world” — would see “even more war” and a nuclear arms race in the short term, as “other countries in the Middle East would feel compelled to develop their own nuclear weapons.”His remarks were aimed in good part at Congress, where lawmakers are discussing legislation to try to stop the deal’s implementation. “I expect the debate to be robust, and that’s how it should be,” Obama said, imploring lawmakers skeptical of the deal to “remember the alternative.”The United States Wednesday presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council asking it to endorse the historic deal, which could be voted on as early as Monday or Tuesday, diplomats said.The draft text seeks formal UN approval for the agreement and would also replace the existing framework of Security Council sanctions with the restrictions set out in the deal, under which Iran has dismantle or mothball much of its nuclear industry.Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP contributed to this report.
AIPAC tells Congress to reject Iran deal; J Street to support it-Pro-Israel lobbying group says lawmakers should oppose ‘bad deal'; liberal rival says it serves security interests of US and Israel alike-By Ron Kampeas July 16, 2015, 2:00 am 4-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON (JTA) — AIPAC called on Congress to reject the Iran nuclear deal, saying it does not meet critical markers that the influential pro-Israel lobby outlined in recent weeks. But the liberal Jewish Middle East lobby J Street announced a multimillion-dollar campaign to support the agreement.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee made its case against in a statement Wednesday delivered after President Barack Obama conducted a news conference of more than an hour defending the deal achieved a day earlier.“We strongly believe that the alternative to this bad deal is a better deal,” AIPAC said in its statement. “Congress should reject this agreement, and urge the administration to work with our allies to maintain economic pressure on Iran while offering to negotiate a better deal that will truly close off all Iranian paths to a nuclear weapon.”Under the law, Congress may disapprove the deal. AIPAC’s call to reject the agreement achieved between six world powers and Iran will make it likelier that Congress will send Obama a “no,” although it is unlikely that opponents will have the numbers to override the veto that Obama has pledged to deliver. Disapproval requires a simple majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate; overriding a veto requires two-thirds majorities in both chambers.On Tuesday, AIPAC had expressed skepticism about the deal, but held back from calling for its rejection until its details became clearer. A number of other major Jewish groups have expressed reservations about the pact, but only a handful have come out absolutely on either side.Israel rejected the deal immediately and plans to lobby the Congress to reject it. In a show of national unity, Yitzhak Herzog, the leader of the opposition Zionist Union party, is coming to Washington next week to lobby against the deal.AIPAC said the deal did not meet key markers that it has circulated since June. Among other complaints, AIPAC noted that the agreement does not grant inspectors immediate access to sites, lifts restrictions as early as eight years, does not require the dismantling of centrifuges and allows sanctions relief before compliance, although Obama administration officials have said that sanctions will not be lifted until Iran meets certain markers.The lobby appeared to challenge claims by Obama – made as recently as his Wednesday news conference – that the likeliest alternative to the deal was war.“Proponents of the proposed agreement will argue that the only alternative to this agreement is military conflict,” AIPAC said. “In fact, the reverse is true. A bad agreement such as this will invite instability and nuclear proliferation. It will embolden Iran and may encourage regional conflict.”J Street, announcing its campaign on Wednesday, said it will make the case to lawmakers that the agreement “advances both US and Israeli security interests.” The lobby has raised $2 million thus far for the drive, a source said.“J Street wants Congress to know that, despite some loud opposition to the deal coming from Jewish organizational leaders, our polling suggests that a clear majority of Jewish Americans agrees with us and backs the deal,” the group said in a statement.The campaign will launch this week with a 30-second TV advertisement highlighting the unprecedented inspections and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear and military sites under the agreement, along with more broadcast and print ads over the next 60 days.Obama in his news conference asked lawmakers not to heed lobbyists in considering the deal. Earlier Wednesday, his vice president, Joe Biden, had met Democratic lawmakers in a closed session to persuade them to back a deal. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the deal.The president seemed eager to counter criticism of the deal.“With this deal we cut off every one of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program,” he said.
Air raid sirens blare in South as rocket fired from Gaza-Projectile hits open area, no injuries or damage confirmed; IDF investigating incident-By Times of Israel staff July 16, 2015, 2:12 am 1
Rocket alert sirens rang out early Thursday morning in towns near the Gaza Strip after a missile was fired from the Palestinian territory.The IDF said one rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck an open area of southern Israel after Code Red alerts went off in the southern city of Ashkelon and in communities nearby. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. IDF soldiers were scouring the area for remains of the projectile and were investigating the incident.It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the rocket fire.Earlier this week, rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel in what turned out to be a false alarm. Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of false alarms in recent weeks in which sirens sounded in southern Israel and the Golan Heights.The rocket was the latest to hit southern Israel. Earlier this month, an Islamic State-affiliated group fired three rockets into southern Israel from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, causing no injuries or damage.
Turkey to build stadium in Gaza-15 July 2015 08:15 (Last updated 15 July 2015 08:16)-Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) plans to build 20,000-seat stadium in Gaza Strip
GAZA, Palestine- Turkey will build a 20,000-seat stadium according to international standard in the Gaza Strip to support sports in Palestine, officials revealed on Tuesday.A member of the Higher Council of Youth and Sports in the Gaza Strip, Abd al-Salam Haniyeh, said the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) would build the stadium. "The approval for the stadium's construction by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the best contributions Turkey has provided to Palestinian sports," he said. Haniyeh added the stadium would be named Erdogan Stadium.Haniyeh said, earlier on Sunday, that TIKA held an iftar (breaking of fast) program for 700 Palestinian athletes and donated $225,000 to the Palestinian sports institutes. According to the data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Sports, a total of 30 sports facilities were destroyed and 32 athletes were killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza last summer. Over 2,160 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the onslaught – mostly civilians – while hundreds of homes and broad swathes of infrastructure were reduced to rubble across the territory, according to the UN.At least 73 Israelis – 68 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed during the 51-day conflict.
