JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Muslims avoid Temple Mount over Israeli security measures-Virtually no worshipers enter Jerusalem holy site as Waqf continues protests against metal detectors installed in wake of terror attack-By Judah Ari Gross and AFP July 17, 2017, 8:05 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
For the second consecutive day, Muslims on Monday largely avoided entering the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, instead preferring to protest outside the ultra-sensitive compound where Israeli authorities installed metal detectors, following a terror attack that killed two policemen.According to police, only “several hundred” people visited the Temple Mount during the day, most of them non-Muslims, who were allowed back to the site for the first time since Friday’s attack.Virtually no Muslims entered the site, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the site remained largely empty.Several hundred Muslims could be seen praying outside two different entrances to the site.There were protests after the prayer, with crowds shouting: “Aqsa mosque, we sacrifice our souls and our blood.” Police later sought to move them back.“We will not break the solidarity of the people,” said Jamal Abdallah, a Palestinian who now lives in the US state of Arizona and was planning to visit Al-Aqsa, but changed his mind when he was told of the situation.Friday’s terror attack near the holy site saw three Arab Israelis kill two Druze Arab police officers.They then fled into the compound, where they were shot and killed by security forces.It was among the most serious incidents in Jerusalem in recent years and heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.Jews revere the site, where the two Jewish temples stood in biblical times, as the Temple Mount. It is the holiest site in Judaism, and the nearby Western Wall, a retaining wall of Second Temple, is the holiest place where Jews can pray.Muslims regard the same hilltop compound as the Noble Sanctuary. Home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, it is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.Israel took the highly unusual decision of closing the compound for Friday prayers after the attack, triggering anger from Muslims and Jordan, the holy site’s custodian. It was the first time in decades that the site was closed.The site remained closed on Saturday, and parts of Jerusalem’s Old City were also under lockdown.Israeli authorities said the closure was necessary to carry out security checks, adding that the assailants had come from within the holy site to commit the attack. In searches, police discovered many weapons on the site, though no other guns.They began reopening it on Sunday to Muslims only, but with metal detectors in place, while security cameras were also being installed in the area. On Monday, two more gates were opened, one of which allows access to Jews and non-Muslims.Officials from the Muslim Waqf, which administers the site, have refused to enter and have called on worshipers to do the same.In a statement, the Waqf called on the faithful not to enter the mosque by passing through the metal detectors, adding, “If the metal detectors continue to be imposed, we call upon the people to pray in front of the gates of the mosque and in the streets of Jerusalem.”Under the status quo established after Israel captured the site in 1967, the site is managed by the Waqf, an Islamic foundation under the auspices of Jordan, and Israel controls access.Palestinians view the new measures as Israel asserting further control over the site.Crowds chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) as they gathered nearby, outside the Lions’ Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, on Sunday.On Sunday night, skirmishes broke out between Israeli police and worshipers outside the entrance, with the Red Crescent reporting 17 people wounded.-Netanyahu order-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the decision to install the metal detectors and cameras following a meeting with security officials on Saturday.He also spoke by phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday night before leaving on a trip to France and Hungary.Abdullah condemned the attack, but also called on Netanyahu to reopen the compound and stressed the need to “avoid any escalation at the site.”Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed a similar message to Netanyahu when the two spoke by phone on Friday in the wake of the attack.Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip and Abbas’s rival, has welcomed the attack, calling it “a natural response to the Zionist terrorism and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque.”On Monday, in a joint statement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad called for demonstrations over Al-Aqsa.“We call for an end to all the Zionist measures and for the extremist government to take its hands off the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque,” it said.Proposals to change security measures at the compound have sparked controversy in the past.A plan developed in 2015 between Israel and Jordan to install cameras at the site itself fell apart amid disagreement over how they would be operated.Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.
Worshipers protest metal detectors as Israel reopens Temple Mount-Waqf officials hold prayer outside site to protest new security arrangements set up in wake of Friday’s lethal terror attack; some 600 Muslims enter compound-By Judah Ari Gross July 16, 2017, 1:39 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel partially reopened the Temple Mount complex on Sunday after a brutal terror attack two days earlier, allowing in only Jerusalem’s Muslim residents. A comparatively small number of worshipers actually entered the site, while others stayed outside in protest of new metal detectors set up at the entrances.According to police, approximately 200 Muslims entered the Temple Mount as of 1:00 p.m., an hour after it opened on Sunday, a far cry from the thousands that were expected to visit the site. By 5 p.m., the number was up to 600.The holy site had been closed since Friday, when three Arab Israeli terrorists opened fire at a group of police officers, killing two of them, using guns that had apparently been stashed earlier on the Temple Mount.The closure was the first time Israel had shuttered the compound on a Friday, Islam’s holy day, in nearly 50 years.At noon on Sunday, Israel reopened one of the entrances to the Mount to all Muslim residents of Jerusalem, regardless of age or gender. However, metal detectors were installed at the gate, which Israel had set up in the past but later removed, in order to improve security.Waqf officials, who oversee the religious management of the Temple Mount, refused to enter the site and instigated a protest outside the entrance, with dozens of worshipers conducting their afternoon prayers next to the gate. “We will not accept security checks at Al-Aqsa… Don’t go through the gates,” one official shouted to the crowd outside the gate, who responded with cries of “Allahu Akbar.”Police said the the Waqf officials were not required to pass through the sensors. Channel 2 reported that Waqf officials initially entered the compound by a side entrance, without being required to go through the metal detectors, but later came back out and instigated protests against the new arrangements.No non-Muslim visitors were allowed to enter the site on Sunday.Israeli officials noted that all entrants to the Western Wall Plaza and Western Wall, beneath the Temple Mount compound, have for many years been required to go through metal detectors.Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who is responsible for police, said in a tweet that the Waqf officials’ protest was “opposition to the very existence of the metal detectors.”The decision to install the detectors came Saturday night from the Prime Minister’s Office Saturday night, which is seeking more effective security arrangements at the compound. Officials had previously refrained from using them out of fear of protests from Jordan, which opposes any change to the delicate status quo at the site.Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy head of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, told Palestinian media on Sunday that posting metal detectors at the Temple Mount was “illegitimate,” and security would only be ensured at the site by preventing the entry of “settlers” and removing “Israeli soldiers” — a reference to Border Police officers stationed at the site — from the compound.The Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news outlet also reported on Sunday that Israel had banned several Waqf officials from going up to the Temple Mount. This could not be immediately confirmed by Israeli officials.Over the weekend, multiple Waqf officials were arrested — mostly for inciting speech against Israel’s decision to close the Temple Mount — but were released after interrogation.On Sunday morning, Israeli forces conducted a security sweep and began installing the detectors. Given the large number of worshipers expected to enter the site, the new measures could slow movement and spark tensions.Erdan said in an interview with Army Radio Sunday morning: “Right now, we can only screen [for firearms] at some of the gates, even if it’s only with a hand-held [detector], but we hope to place metal detection gates at all the entrances to the Mount and reach a point where everyone who enters gets checked,” he said.After a Saturday night consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a gradual reopening of the site to Muslim worshipers starting Sunday at noon.The closure, which drew furious complaints from the Jordanian-appointed Waqf Muslim trust that administers the compound, was the first time the site was closed since 1969. Jordan, a custodian of the sacred compound, called for its immediate reopening. Netanyahu acted quickly to allay Muslim fears, saying that the status quo at the Muslim-administered site “will be preserved.” But Gaza’s Hamas rulers called the act a “religious war” and urged Palestinians to carry out more attacks.The reopening, Erdan said, will be accompanied by heightened security measures, a response to the fact that the shooters had managed to smuggle their guns into the compound before the attack.Only the Mughrabi Gate entrance, used by Jews and foreign visitors, had a metal detector before Sunday, Erdan said.According to the daily Israel Hayom, Israel has not had metal detectors at all nine gates into the Temple Mount since 2000, when they were removed at Jordan’s insistence. A police plan in 2014 called for them to be reinstated, but they were only placed at some gates, given the issue’s sensitivity.Netanyahu’s office announced the lifting of the closure late Saturday, saying in a statement, “It was decided to gradually reopen the site tomorrow to worshipers, visitors and tourists.”The statement added that sensors and detectors would be set up at all gates leading into the site, along with “further additional security measures.” Cameras would be set up outside the gates, the statement added.Erdan said no decision had yet been taken to add security cameras inside the compound, a proposal opposed in the past by Jordan.Any changes to the flashpoint holy site required coordination, he said. “We have to remember that any action that changes the situation on the Mount requires the approval of the political echelon, because this usually has to be coordinated with Jordan and other international actors.”But in the end, he insisted, the decision would be Israel’s. “Israel is the sovereign at the Mount, no matter what other states think. If we decide that an action has certain advantages, we’ll act.”Erdan acknowledged the practical challenges that would have to be overcome.“On Fridays and during Ramadan tens of thousands of people, and sometimes over 100,000, enter in just a few hours,” he said. “There is a concern that [metal detectors] will create long lines, and that those operating the detectors will become targets for terror attacks. There is also an issue with checking women entering the Mount. This is a project that presents many dilemmas both at the political level and at the operational one.”Avi Issacharoff and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Iran army chief threatens US bases if sanctions imposed-General Baghari says designating Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization could destabilize the entire region-By Times of Israel staff July 17, 2017, 7:46 pm
Iran’s top army chief on Monday threatened attacks on US military bases in the Middle East in the event that Washington imposes sanctions on the regime.Iran’s chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, said that designating the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps a terrorist organization would be a huge miscalculation, and threatened the consequences of doing so, saying it could destabilize the entire region, Iranian media reported.“Drawing an analogy between the IRGC and terrorist groups and imposing the same sanctions on the IRGC would be a big risk to the US and its bases and forces stationed in the region,” Bagheri told a group of military commanders in Mashhad.Bagheri also said the US should be wary of imposing new sanctions on the country to stop its missile program.“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s missile power is defensive and is never negotiable at any level,” he said.In June, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to strengthen sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile testing and other non-nuclear provocations.Passed by a vote of 98-2, the Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 is supposed to impose new mandatory sanctions against persons and entities involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington have insisted on responding to Iran’s provocative ballistic missile tests for months, but reportedly waited until after the recent Iran election to vote on this legislation.The bill still has to go to the House of Representatives. If it passes there, it will go to the president’s desk.Eric Cortellessa contributed to this report.
What do we have to do with it? They are three guys and we are a town of 60,000 people'-In tense Umm al-Fahm, Jerusalem attack and its aftermath ‘are all mistakes’-Relatives of the three killers from this northern Israeli town have been instructed to keep quiet until the bodies come home-By Dov Lieber July 16, 2017, 6:51 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
UMM Al-FAHM —The Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm is on edge. Residents are hesitant to talk about the attack on Friday, in which three locals, cousins from the Jabarin clan, carried out a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem, killing two Israeli policemen.Members of the Jabarin family are mostly concentrated into one neighborhood. Journalists on Saturday were not welcome there. One cousin of the attackers who agreed to an interview was threatened and then quickly shooed away by family members.On the advice of their lawyers, members of the family said they would not speak to the press until the bodies of the attackers have been returned.Israeli police usually hold onto the bodies of terrorists until the families agree to hold small funerals. In the past, burials of attackers have become launching pads for more violence.Locals in the area are aware that Israeli police have taken down the traditional mourning tent for the attackers. The families, they said, are accepting people into their homes rather than in tents.“I’m against the violence. They made a big mess for Umm al-Fahm,” said 20-year-old Sa’id Muhammad, a worker in one of the local malls.When asked if he thought there was support in his town for the attack, he said he thought there might be some, but he couldn’t say how much.However, among those who were willing to talk to The Times of Israel — many refused — there was a clear consensus summed up more than once in the phrase: “it was all wrong.”None of the interviewees supported the attack; they also believed the Israeli measure of closing down the Temple Mount after the attack was wrong. That was the view, too, of one person from the Jabarin family working in the mall, who also said he was not able to talk on the record.Israel closed off the Temple Mount to worshipers on Friday — the day that usually tens of thousands throng to the site — for what police said was a security measure to search if there were any more weapons, and for other evidence relating to the attack. The compound remained closed through Saturday, and was set to reopen on Sunday.It was not immediately known how the terrorists brought the guns they used into the holy site. Hebrew media reports Saturday said they had been hidden at the compound days earlier. Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount complex go through a less rigorous security check than non-Muslim visitors who enter through the Mughrabi Bridge.Muhammad Hamad Abdel Latif Jabarin, 19, the youngest of the three killers, had a number of posts on his personal Facebook page that showed he was interested in “freeing” Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli control.One post from July 2016 shows a picture of the leader of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, next to the Temple Mount.The post reads: “Every year and the Al Aqsa Mosque is closer to freedom.”Salah, who has been in and out of jail for incitement and links to terrorism, often propagates the idea that Israel is threatening to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque.The preacher was also once the mayor of Umm al-Fahm and his northern Islamic movement is still based here but has gone underground.Muhammad Abdul Latif, the owner of a mall in the city, said of the attack, in which two Druze police officers were killed, “The most important thing is to say it was wrong.”“Believe me, there is deep anger in our hearts over this attack,” he added.Latif did not believe it was the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch that was to blame. He cited social media for the radicalization of the shooters, two of whom were 19-years-old and the other was 29. He pointed out that all over the world young people were being radicalized online.Latif also said the police share responsibility for the attack because they have failed to deal with the spread of illegal weapons in Arab municipalities, and the gun violence that has rocked Arab citizens because of it.“There are more weapons here than before the Nashat Milhem attack,” he said, referring to the Arab-Israeli from a nearby town who killed three people on January 1, 2016, in Tel Aviv.After Milhem’s attack, Israeli police vowed to root out the well-known phenomenon of illegal weapons in Arab towns and villages.Commenting on the closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Latif said it was “a big mistake that crossed all lines.”While he condemned the attack, he and the four other men in his office held the idea that the Al Aqsa mosque was in danger from Israeli religious radicals who seek to hasten the building of the Third Jewish Temple on the site where the biblical Jewish temples stood.They also criticized Israel’s policy of preventing unmarried Muslims, or those under 50, from praying at the site at certain times. Latif said he had twice been prevented from praying there while on trips with his family.And while Latif thought closing the mosque was “collective punishment,” he argued, too, that the way Arab Israelis are called upon to answer for the radicals among them was also a form of collective punishment.“What do we have to do with it?” he asked. “They are three guys and we are a town of 60,000 people. There are radicals in every society.”
Ban on MKs visiting Temple Mount ‘likely’ to be extended-Seven-day trial period was set to start next week; Likud MK who petitioned High Court against restriction calls on PM to ‘fulfill promises’ to open site-By Raoul Wootliff July 16, 2017, 12:13 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The planned lifting of a ban on Israeli lawmakers visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem may be delayed following a terror attack at the flashpoint site last week, a Knesset member fighting against the restriction warned Sunday, while calling on the government to fulfill its commitment to ease the constraints on lawmakers.The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Times of Israel that no decision had been made yet, indicating that the possibility of pushing off the measure was being discussed.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Jewish and Muslim lawmakers off the site a year and a half ago, after the outbreak in October 2015 of a wave of Palestinian violence and terror attacks centered around claims that Israel was attempting to take control of the Temple Mount compound.Last week, following discussions with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the prime minister decided that the ban would be lifted on July 23 for a period of seven days to assess the fallout from the move.But in light of Friday’s terror attack at the Temple Mount in which three Arab-Israeli Muslims shot dead two Israeli police officers, it “appears likely” that the plan will be delayed and the site will remain closed to MKs, a spokesperson for MK Yehuda Glick, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said Sunday. Glick is an activist for the right to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, and was reacting to reports that police were considering keeping the restrictions intact.A spokesperson for the police declined to comment on the ban on Knesset members or possible plans to push off lifting it.The Temple Mount compound was closed to the public after the Friday morning terror attack. After a Saturday night consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a gradual reopening of the site to Muslim worshipers starting Sunday at noon.The closure, which drew furious complaints from the Jordanian-appointed Waqf Muslim trust that administers the compound, was the first time the site was closed since 1969.The decision to allow MKs back at the site came after Glick, who has campaigned for Jewish rights at the site and was a frequent visitor there until the ban was enforced, filed a High Court of Justice court petition against the ban.Speaking to the Times of Israel Sunday, Glick said that last week’s terror attack was no justification to keep the ban in place.“I can’t see a reason why it shouldn’t be opened. I think the decision to stop MKs entering the Temple Mount was a mistake in the first place,” Glick said. “If the Temple Mount is not opened for MKs, a new status quo will be determined where MKs are not allowed to go on the Mount at all – a status quo that is very dangerous.”Glick, who in November 2014 before becoming a member of parliament, was shot by a Palestinian assailant due to his campaigning for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, called on Netanyahu “to fulfill his promises to open the Temple Mount to MKs.”The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam. High-profile visits by Israeli officials and rumors of changes to the status quo have preceded outbursts of violence.In September 2015, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians escalated into near-daily attacks amid false speculation that Israel sought to change the status quo at the Temple Mount, under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the site. Israel has repeatedly denied seeking any change to arrangements which have been in place since 1967. The site is managed by an Islamic foundation under the auspices of Jordan — the Waqf — but Israel controls access.In October 2016 police advised that Jewish and Arab MKs could renew visits to the site.The opinion was based on a review presented by the Jerusalem region police to Commissioner Roni Alsheich and Public Security Minister, GIlad Erdan. Police listed 14 conditions for MKs to visit, including notifying ahead of time that they plan to visit, visiting in morning hours only, and arriving without a security detail or media accompaniment. Police also demanded that MKs not make any speeches at the site.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hundreds in Jordan protest Temple Mount closure-Demonstration in Amman in wake of terror attack follows Friday’s protest in Turkey outside Israeli consulate-By Times of Israel staff July 15, 2017, 9:05 pm
Hundreds of people on Saturday protested in the Jordanian capital of Amman against Israel’s closure of the Temple Mount following a terror attack in which two police officers were killed.At the demonstration, protesters condemned the “Arab silence” over the decision to close the holy site and also issued calls of support for the “warriors of the conquered city,” the Ynet news site reported.Many of the protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans.The protest in Amman followed a demonstration on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, in which dozens of people waved Turkish and Palestinian flags and called Israel “cursed,” Channel 2 reported.Since Friday’s attack, in which three Israeli-Arabs killed two Israeli Druze police officers near Lions Gate just outside the Temple Mount complex, tensions have been steadily increasing, with Muslim leaders calling for Israel to reopen the site.In addition to Jordan, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — an umbrella group of 57 nations — have all condemned the closure.The Waqf — the Jordan-based Muslim organization that administers the Temple Mount — has also called for the site to be reopened and on Saturday charged that it had completely lost control over the compound.In addition, the Hamas terror group on Saturday described the closure of the site as a “religious war” and called for attacks against Israelis.After the shooting attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took the rare step of sealing the site amid security sweeps. Israel said the killers emerged from the Temple Mount compound with automatic weapons, in what Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called a “defiling” of the holy site.Israel closed the compound for the first time since 1969, saying it was carrying out security checks, including for further weaponry.Netanyahu instructed the site be gradually reopened starting Sunday, and dismissed allegations that he was seeking to change the long-held status quo at the site.Despite his assurances, anger has continued to build in the Muslim world over the closure to the Temple Mount and the restrictions on entering the Old City, with the widespread condemnations often making little or no mention of the actual attack.AFP contributed to this report.
MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM
EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Jewish Home MK mocks Muslim worshipers-Bezalal Smotrich accuses critics of hypocrisy, following uproar over his tweet saying Temple Mount visitors bowing to Jews-By Alexander Fulbright July 17, 2017, 7:06 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A controversial lawmaker from the right-wing Jewish Home party came under fire on Monday after sharing a meme implying Muslim worshipers were bowing down to Jews in Jerusalem.On Twitter, Bezalel Smotrich posted a photo of Muslims prostrated in prayer outside the Temple Mount in front of a number of Border Police officers. The prayers were held outside one of the entrances to the site, in protest of the decision to install metal detectors there, following Friday’s terror attack, in which two police officers were killed.The photo was accompanied by a biblical verse, “Nations shall serve you and kingdoms shall bow down to you,” from the book of Genesis, while Smotrich wrote above the photo “Viral on the internet and reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah: ‘And the children of your oppressors shall go to you bent over, and those who despised you shall prostrate themselves at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you ‘the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ (Isaiah 60:14).”After receiving a number of condemnations from social media users over the tweet, Smotrich accused his critics of hypocrisy for not reacting similarly to jokes about Judaism.“The hysterical responses here to this humorous tweet are incredible. Of course all those who are shocked will respond the same way the next time [comedian] Guri Alfi belittles Jewish customs. #hypocrisy,” he tweeted.“Or for example the 13 [Joint (Arab) List] MKs that claim there was never a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. It is okay for you to belittle us. I forgot…”Also criticizing Smotrich was Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi, who wrote on Twitter in response: “Here is Bezelal, your fascist from the coalition.”In response, Smotrich blasted Tibi for not condemning Friday’s shooting at the Temple Mount, which was carried out by three residents of the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm and killed two Druze Israeli police.“Ahmed, remind me — did you condemn the terror attack? [Are you] prepared to hear that there was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. You are the last person that I need to receive a grade from,” he tweeted.In addition to Tibi, Smotrich was criticized by fellow coalition lawmaker Michael Ben Ari (Kulanu), who tweeted that despite the “excellent legislation” he forwards in the Knesset, the “unnecessary and dark tweet overshadows all your parliamentary work.”Smotrich has previously found himself in hot water over a number of controversial remarks he made, including encouraging draft-dodging, in protest of the IDF’s “radical feminist” agenda, comparing the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost to a “brutal rape” and for saying that “illiterate” Arabs are granted university admission thanks to affirmative action.
Russia: Israel’s security needs were taken into account in south Syria truce-After Netanyahu warns deal will create a long-term Iranian threat on northern border, Moscow’s foreign envoy Lavrov says Jewish state’s concerns were given full consideration-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies July 17, 2017, 4:51 pm
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that a ceasefire deal in southern Syria brokered by Washington and Moscow took into consideration Israel’s security needs, despite Israeli concerns that it will enable an increased Iranian presence on Israel’s northern border.Lavrov spoke to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russian Tass news agency reported.“I can guarantee that the American side and we did the best we can to make sure that Israel’s security interests are fully taken into consideration,” he said.On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he opposed the deal for an open-ended ceasefire in southern Syria, saying it does not sufficiently address Iranian military ambitions in the area.Placing himself at odds with US President Donald Trump on the issue, Netanyahu told journalists in Paris that the agreement perpetuates Iranian plans to set up a disruptive long-term presence on Israel’s northern border, something he has repeatedly vowed that the Jewish state wouldn’t tolerate.Channel 2 reported Monday that Israel “apparently wasn’t consulted” by the Trump Administration over the ceasefire terms.The ceasefire, announced after a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg earlier this month, was the first initiative by the Trump administration in collaboration with Russia to bring some stability to war-torn Syria.“Israel is aware of Iran’s expansionist goals in Syria,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said. The prime minister added that he had brought up the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting earlier in the day.He said that while the plan aims to keep Iran 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the Israeli border, it does not address Iran’s plans to cement its presence in Syria, which, he said, included the establishment of a naval and air force bases.The premier’s comments Sunday were his first remarks explicitly condemning the ceasefire, after having gingerly endorsed the deal as it came into effect earlier this month.Maj.-Gen. (res) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser of Netanyahu, said Monday that the new arrangements in southern Syria “were done without taking into consideration the need of Israel to defend itself.” In a briefing, he added that “Israel tried to make everyone understand its interests.”Apprehensions over Iranian designs in the region were stoked by recent movements of Shiite Muslim militias — loyal to Iran and fighting alongside Syrian government forces — toward Jordan’s border with Syria, and to another strategic area in the southeast, close to where the two countries meet Iraq.The advances are part of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s push to regain territory from rebel groups, some backed by the West, in the southern Daraa province, and from Islamic State extremists in the southeast, near the triangle with Iraq.But Syria’s neighbors suspect that Iran is pursuing a broader agenda, including carving out a land route through Syria that would create a territorial continuum from Iran and Iraq to Lebanon.The ceasefire for southern Syria is meant to keep all forces pinned to their current positions, said Jordan’s government which participated in the talks. This would prevent further advances by forces under Iran’s command, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.“Having a direct corridor on land form Baghdad to Damascus would bring the Iranians, for the first time in history, a direct land corridor from Tehran… to the Mediterranean,” said Amidror. “That would allow the Iranians to be much more involved around Israel.“It’s a long line, but it’s still very easy to move forces, capabilities — anything the Iranians want to build around Israel,” he added.Ceasefires have repeatedly collapsed in Syria’s six-year-old civil war, and it’s not clear if this one will last. The southern Syria truce is separate from so far unsuccessful efforts by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up “de-escalation zones” in Syria, including in the south.Israel is expected to watch for truce violations.Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to set up a permanent presence in Syria. Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria against suspected shipments of “game-changing” weapons bound for Hezbollah.“We will not let the Iranians and Hezbollah be the forces who win from the long and brutal war in Syria,” Amidror said, threatening that if Israel’s interests were not taken into account, “that might lead the IDF to intervene and to destroy every attempt to build infrastructure in Syria.”A Jordanian official said the international community, regional powers and Jordan would not tolerate the creation of a “land line all the way from Tehran to Beirut.”Such a “Shiite crescent” would disrupt the regional balance and be considered a “super red line,” he said, referring to rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim political camps led by Saudi Arabia and Iran, respectively.Conflicts between the camps have escalated in recent years, including in proxy wars in Syria and Yemen. Predominantly Sunni Jordan is a US ally and maintains discrete security ties with Israel.Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxies gain strength in Syria’s south. In recent weeks, US forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces as well as Iranian-made drones.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
After getting boot from Qatar, Hamas looks to Algeria – report-Palestinian terror group said seeking to scatter its leaders to avoid having too large a presence in any one country-By Stuart Winer July 17, 2017, 5:42 pm
The Palestinian terror movement Hamas, which has been trying to relocate senior officials who were asked to leave Qatar, has asked Algerian authorities for permission to open an office there, the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported Monday.Palestinian sources said that Hamas made a formal request several months ago to open an office in the African country’s capital, Algiers, but has yet to receive a response.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri is currently in Algeria and confirmed that his movement has asked to establish a bureau in the country. Zuhri plans to set up a presence in Algiers and then later bring other Hamas officials to join him, according to the sources.The request was apparently made before the recent crisis between moderate Sunni states in the Persian Gulf and Qatar broke out in June. Saudi Arabia and its allies have cut off ties with Qatar, one of the few foreign backers of Hamas, after accusing the gas-rich state of supporting extremism across the region.Days before the conflict erupted, Qatar had asked several top Hamas officials to leave for Lebanon, Turkey and Malaysia. Qatari officials reportedly told Hamas at the time that it was under pressure to expel its members.“On a personal level I applied for a stay in Algeria. The Algerian authorities promised to study the request and consider it,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Zuhri as saying recently.Palestinian sources said Hamas’s leadership is now scattered across the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Malaysia, with a few officials still in Qatar.The group was said to be adopting a strategy of spreading its senior members around to prevent pressuring any single country with its presence. The movement doesn’t want its political base in any other location, preferring instead to keep it in Gaza, which it controls.Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was appointed in May, resides in Gaza, making the Palestinian enclave the focal point of the organization.The Islamist terror group seized Gaza in a violent clash with forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. The two factions have been at loggerheads ever since.
State opposition to same-sex couple adoptions sparks ire, including key minister’s-Gay pop star Harel Skaat calls on youth to stop serving in army, paying taxes-By Stuart Winer July 17, 2017, 3:48 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The government’s declared opposition Sunday to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children in Israel prompted an avalanche of criticism on Monday, including from one of its own key ministers.In a submission from the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs in response to a petition, the state told the High Court that it opposes allowing same-sex couples to adopt because of the “additional burden” this would place on the child, though it said it would for the first time allow common-law couples that have been together for at least three years to adopt.Leading a chorus of criticism of the government’s position, gay Israeli pop star Harel Skaat targeted Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, accusing her of perpetuating stigmas for young children and treating homosexuals as second-rate citizens.In a bitter post on his Facebook page Sunday, Skaat called on young members of the LGBT community to refuse to serve in the army and to stop paying taxes in protest over the government’s declared opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. On Monday, directly criticizing Shaked (of the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party), Skaat charged in an Army Radio interview: “She is only perpetuating the differentiation… All of your rights are taken away. You want to have children? Sorry, you aren’t good enough for that, you are a second-class citizen. Shaked is making children who go to kindergarten look at the children of gay parents in a different way.”Harel said he and his partner were currently working on conceiving a child via a surrogate mother.The government’s response Sunday to the High Court petition was submitted jointly by Shaked’s Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs. The petition was filed by the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers and the Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform movement.The government told the court that “the professional opinion of the Child Welfare Services supports preserving the existing situation” that the adopting couple be a man and a woman. This “takes into account the reality of Israeli society and the difficulty it may entail with regard to the child being adopted,” it noted.Bizarrely, Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Haim Katz (Likud) on Monday criticized the state’s response, saying it had not been correctly formulated and should not have been submitted. The minister “does not intend to deny this or that group from the ability to adopt,” his ministry said in a statement. Rather, it said, Katz supports a position that had been agreed with the Justice Ministry that provides for “a wide-ranging reform in adoption services.”In an Army Radio interview earlier Monday, Orna Hirschfeld, the official at the ministry responsible for adoption services, had backed the state’s position, saying there was concern at the difficulties children adopted by same-sex couples might face.Zvi Fischler, the head of the Association of Israeli Psychiatrists, said Monday there was no evidence to support the government’s claim of an “additional burden” for the child and that the state’s position was “motivated by factors others than the well-being of the child.” Even in the most enlightened societies, he told Army Radio, “there can be sectors of the populace that are less accepted, and the child can deal with these things.”Several lawmakers on Sunday condemned the government’s decision.Meretz’s Michal Rozin, who heads the Knesset’s LGBT lobby; Yael German of Yesh Atid; Merav Michaeli of the Zionist Union; and Kulanu’s Merav Ben Ari said in a statement that the decision was homophobic and showed the government’s cynical exploitation of the homosexual community.“This is a foolish and discriminatory decision that is accompanied by unprecedented homophobia,” they said. “The Israeli government is again abandoning the gay community and this highlights government’s cynical use of the community: In English they boast about [being a gay-friendly country], but in Hebrew they deny basic rights.”After meeting with gay youth in Beersheba, Skaat wrote on his Facebook page that “the day will come in a few years’ time when you will need to join the army and do your bit…as an Israeli who is crazy about his country and proud to be Jewish and talks about that on any platform around the world, that proudly served in the army, whose partner is a major in the IDF and serves nearly a month [reserve duty] every year to this day, I call on you to not join the army! And you know what, also don’t pay any taxes on the money you are going to earn, and in general anything that the country asks you to do simply don’t give a shit. That is what it is doing to you in everything regarding the equal rights (!!!) that you deserve.”Skaat lashed out at Shaked and “the other cowardly politicians like you. You don’t deserve us. If only the millions of people who attended the last gay pride in Tel Aviv so that you could glorify yourselves before the enlightened world with your false acceptance will become an alternative force and toss you out already. There is a new generation here that won’t bear that hypocrisy much longer.”Opposition MK Nachman Shai of the Zionist Union tweeted his support Monday for Skaat, writing “Harel is right. A sweeping protest against the prohibition on adoption.”While gay couples cannot adopt in Israel, they frequently travel overseas to adopt children.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Muslims avoid Temple Mount over Israeli security measures-Virtually no worshipers enter Jerusalem holy site as Waqf continues protests against metal detectors installed in wake of terror attack-By Judah Ari Gross and AFP July 17, 2017, 8:05 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
For the second consecutive day, Muslims on Monday largely avoided entering the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, instead preferring to protest outside the ultra-sensitive compound where Israeli authorities installed metal detectors, following a terror attack that killed two policemen.According to police, only “several hundred” people visited the Temple Mount during the day, most of them non-Muslims, who were allowed back to the site for the first time since Friday’s attack.Virtually no Muslims entered the site, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the site remained largely empty.Several hundred Muslims could be seen praying outside two different entrances to the site.There were protests after the prayer, with crowds shouting: “Aqsa mosque, we sacrifice our souls and our blood.” Police later sought to move them back.“We will not break the solidarity of the people,” said Jamal Abdallah, a Palestinian who now lives in the US state of Arizona and was planning to visit Al-Aqsa, but changed his mind when he was told of the situation.Friday’s terror attack near the holy site saw three Arab Israelis kill two Druze Arab police officers.They then fled into the compound, where they were shot and killed by security forces.It was among the most serious incidents in Jerusalem in recent years and heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.Jews revere the site, where the two Jewish temples stood in biblical times, as the Temple Mount. It is the holiest site in Judaism, and the nearby Western Wall, a retaining wall of Second Temple, is the holiest place where Jews can pray.Muslims regard the same hilltop compound as the Noble Sanctuary. Home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, it is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.Israel took the highly unusual decision of closing the compound for Friday prayers after the attack, triggering anger from Muslims and Jordan, the holy site’s custodian. It was the first time in decades that the site was closed.The site remained closed on Saturday, and parts of Jerusalem’s Old City were also under lockdown.Israeli authorities said the closure was necessary to carry out security checks, adding that the assailants had come from within the holy site to commit the attack. In searches, police discovered many weapons on the site, though no other guns.They began reopening it on Sunday to Muslims only, but with metal detectors in place, while security cameras were also being installed in the area. On Monday, two more gates were opened, one of which allows access to Jews and non-Muslims.Officials from the Muslim Waqf, which administers the site, have refused to enter and have called on worshipers to do the same.In a statement, the Waqf called on the faithful not to enter the mosque by passing through the metal detectors, adding, “If the metal detectors continue to be imposed, we call upon the people to pray in front of the gates of the mosque and in the streets of Jerusalem.”Under the status quo established after Israel captured the site in 1967, the site is managed by the Waqf, an Islamic foundation under the auspices of Jordan, and Israel controls access.Palestinians view the new measures as Israel asserting further control over the site.Crowds chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) as they gathered nearby, outside the Lions’ Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, on Sunday.On Sunday night, skirmishes broke out between Israeli police and worshipers outside the entrance, with the Red Crescent reporting 17 people wounded.-Netanyahu order-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the decision to install the metal detectors and cameras following a meeting with security officials on Saturday.He also spoke by phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday night before leaving on a trip to France and Hungary.Abdullah condemned the attack, but also called on Netanyahu to reopen the compound and stressed the need to “avoid any escalation at the site.”Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed a similar message to Netanyahu when the two spoke by phone on Friday in the wake of the attack.Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip and Abbas’s rival, has welcomed the attack, calling it “a natural response to the Zionist terrorism and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque.”On Monday, in a joint statement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad called for demonstrations over Al-Aqsa.“We call for an end to all the Zionist measures and for the extremist government to take its hands off the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque,” it said.Proposals to change security measures at the compound have sparked controversy in the past.A plan developed in 2015 between Israel and Jordan to install cameras at the site itself fell apart amid disagreement over how they would be operated.Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.
Worshipers protest metal detectors as Israel reopens Temple Mount-Waqf officials hold prayer outside site to protest new security arrangements set up in wake of Friday’s lethal terror attack; some 600 Muslims enter compound-By Judah Ari Gross July 16, 2017, 1:39 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel partially reopened the Temple Mount complex on Sunday after a brutal terror attack two days earlier, allowing in only Jerusalem’s Muslim residents. A comparatively small number of worshipers actually entered the site, while others stayed outside in protest of new metal detectors set up at the entrances.According to police, approximately 200 Muslims entered the Temple Mount as of 1:00 p.m., an hour after it opened on Sunday, a far cry from the thousands that were expected to visit the site. By 5 p.m., the number was up to 600.The holy site had been closed since Friday, when three Arab Israeli terrorists opened fire at a group of police officers, killing two of them, using guns that had apparently been stashed earlier on the Temple Mount.The closure was the first time Israel had shuttered the compound on a Friday, Islam’s holy day, in nearly 50 years.At noon on Sunday, Israel reopened one of the entrances to the Mount to all Muslim residents of Jerusalem, regardless of age or gender. However, metal detectors were installed at the gate, which Israel had set up in the past but later removed, in order to improve security.Waqf officials, who oversee the religious management of the Temple Mount, refused to enter the site and instigated a protest outside the entrance, with dozens of worshipers conducting their afternoon prayers next to the gate. “We will not accept security checks at Al-Aqsa… Don’t go through the gates,” one official shouted to the crowd outside the gate, who responded with cries of “Allahu Akbar.”Police said the the Waqf officials were not required to pass through the sensors. Channel 2 reported that Waqf officials initially entered the compound by a side entrance, without being required to go through the metal detectors, but later came back out and instigated protests against the new arrangements.No non-Muslim visitors were allowed to enter the site on Sunday.Israeli officials noted that all entrants to the Western Wall Plaza and Western Wall, beneath the Temple Mount compound, have for many years been required to go through metal detectors.Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who is responsible for police, said in a tweet that the Waqf officials’ protest was “opposition to the very existence of the metal detectors.”The decision to install the detectors came Saturday night from the Prime Minister’s Office Saturday night, which is seeking more effective security arrangements at the compound. Officials had previously refrained from using them out of fear of protests from Jordan, which opposes any change to the delicate status quo at the site.Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy head of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, told Palestinian media on Sunday that posting metal detectors at the Temple Mount was “illegitimate,” and security would only be ensured at the site by preventing the entry of “settlers” and removing “Israeli soldiers” — a reference to Border Police officers stationed at the site — from the compound.The Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news outlet also reported on Sunday that Israel had banned several Waqf officials from going up to the Temple Mount. This could not be immediately confirmed by Israeli officials.Over the weekend, multiple Waqf officials were arrested — mostly for inciting speech against Israel’s decision to close the Temple Mount — but were released after interrogation.On Sunday morning, Israeli forces conducted a security sweep and began installing the detectors. Given the large number of worshipers expected to enter the site, the new measures could slow movement and spark tensions.Erdan said in an interview with Army Radio Sunday morning: “Right now, we can only screen [for firearms] at some of the gates, even if it’s only with a hand-held [detector], but we hope to place metal detection gates at all the entrances to the Mount and reach a point where everyone who enters gets checked,” he said.After a Saturday night consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a gradual reopening of the site to Muslim worshipers starting Sunday at noon.The closure, which drew furious complaints from the Jordanian-appointed Waqf Muslim trust that administers the compound, was the first time the site was closed since 1969. Jordan, a custodian of the sacred compound, called for its immediate reopening. Netanyahu acted quickly to allay Muslim fears, saying that the status quo at the Muslim-administered site “will be preserved.” But Gaza’s Hamas rulers called the act a “religious war” and urged Palestinians to carry out more attacks.The reopening, Erdan said, will be accompanied by heightened security measures, a response to the fact that the shooters had managed to smuggle their guns into the compound before the attack.Only the Mughrabi Gate entrance, used by Jews and foreign visitors, had a metal detector before Sunday, Erdan said.According to the daily Israel Hayom, Israel has not had metal detectors at all nine gates into the Temple Mount since 2000, when they were removed at Jordan’s insistence. A police plan in 2014 called for them to be reinstated, but they were only placed at some gates, given the issue’s sensitivity.Netanyahu’s office announced the lifting of the closure late Saturday, saying in a statement, “It was decided to gradually reopen the site tomorrow to worshipers, visitors and tourists.”The statement added that sensors and detectors would be set up at all gates leading into the site, along with “further additional security measures.” Cameras would be set up outside the gates, the statement added.Erdan said no decision had yet been taken to add security cameras inside the compound, a proposal opposed in the past by Jordan.Any changes to the flashpoint holy site required coordination, he said. “We have to remember that any action that changes the situation on the Mount requires the approval of the political echelon, because this usually has to be coordinated with Jordan and other international actors.”But in the end, he insisted, the decision would be Israel’s. “Israel is the sovereign at the Mount, no matter what other states think. If we decide that an action has certain advantages, we’ll act.”Erdan acknowledged the practical challenges that would have to be overcome.“On Fridays and during Ramadan tens of thousands of people, and sometimes over 100,000, enter in just a few hours,” he said. “There is a concern that [metal detectors] will create long lines, and that those operating the detectors will become targets for terror attacks. There is also an issue with checking women entering the Mount. This is a project that presents many dilemmas both at the political level and at the operational one.”Avi Issacharoff and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Iran army chief threatens US bases if sanctions imposed-General Baghari says designating Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization could destabilize the entire region-By Times of Israel staff July 17, 2017, 7:46 pm
Iran’s top army chief on Monday threatened attacks on US military bases in the Middle East in the event that Washington imposes sanctions on the regime.Iran’s chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, said that designating the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps a terrorist organization would be a huge miscalculation, and threatened the consequences of doing so, saying it could destabilize the entire region, Iranian media reported.“Drawing an analogy between the IRGC and terrorist groups and imposing the same sanctions on the IRGC would be a big risk to the US and its bases and forces stationed in the region,” Bagheri told a group of military commanders in Mashhad.Bagheri also said the US should be wary of imposing new sanctions on the country to stop its missile program.“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s missile power is defensive and is never negotiable at any level,” he said.In June, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to strengthen sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile testing and other non-nuclear provocations.Passed by a vote of 98-2, the Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 is supposed to impose new mandatory sanctions against persons and entities involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington have insisted on responding to Iran’s provocative ballistic missile tests for months, but reportedly waited until after the recent Iran election to vote on this legislation.The bill still has to go to the House of Representatives. If it passes there, it will go to the president’s desk.Eric Cortellessa contributed to this report.
What do we have to do with it? They are three guys and we are a town of 60,000 people'-In tense Umm al-Fahm, Jerusalem attack and its aftermath ‘are all mistakes’-Relatives of the three killers from this northern Israeli town have been instructed to keep quiet until the bodies come home-By Dov Lieber July 16, 2017, 6:51 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
UMM Al-FAHM —The Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm is on edge. Residents are hesitant to talk about the attack on Friday, in which three locals, cousins from the Jabarin clan, carried out a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem, killing two Israeli policemen.Members of the Jabarin family are mostly concentrated into one neighborhood. Journalists on Saturday were not welcome there. One cousin of the attackers who agreed to an interview was threatened and then quickly shooed away by family members.On the advice of their lawyers, members of the family said they would not speak to the press until the bodies of the attackers have been returned.Israeli police usually hold onto the bodies of terrorists until the families agree to hold small funerals. In the past, burials of attackers have become launching pads for more violence.Locals in the area are aware that Israeli police have taken down the traditional mourning tent for the attackers. The families, they said, are accepting people into their homes rather than in tents.“I’m against the violence. They made a big mess for Umm al-Fahm,” said 20-year-old Sa’id Muhammad, a worker in one of the local malls.When asked if he thought there was support in his town for the attack, he said he thought there might be some, but he couldn’t say how much.However, among those who were willing to talk to The Times of Israel — many refused — there was a clear consensus summed up more than once in the phrase: “it was all wrong.”None of the interviewees supported the attack; they also believed the Israeli measure of closing down the Temple Mount after the attack was wrong. That was the view, too, of one person from the Jabarin family working in the mall, who also said he was not able to talk on the record.Israel closed off the Temple Mount to worshipers on Friday — the day that usually tens of thousands throng to the site — for what police said was a security measure to search if there were any more weapons, and for other evidence relating to the attack. The compound remained closed through Saturday, and was set to reopen on Sunday.It was not immediately known how the terrorists brought the guns they used into the holy site. Hebrew media reports Saturday said they had been hidden at the compound days earlier. Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount complex go through a less rigorous security check than non-Muslim visitors who enter through the Mughrabi Bridge.Muhammad Hamad Abdel Latif Jabarin, 19, the youngest of the three killers, had a number of posts on his personal Facebook page that showed he was interested in “freeing” Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli control.One post from July 2016 shows a picture of the leader of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, next to the Temple Mount.The post reads: “Every year and the Al Aqsa Mosque is closer to freedom.”Salah, who has been in and out of jail for incitement and links to terrorism, often propagates the idea that Israel is threatening to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque.The preacher was also once the mayor of Umm al-Fahm and his northern Islamic movement is still based here but has gone underground.Muhammad Abdul Latif, the owner of a mall in the city, said of the attack, in which two Druze police officers were killed, “The most important thing is to say it was wrong.”“Believe me, there is deep anger in our hearts over this attack,” he added.Latif did not believe it was the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch that was to blame. He cited social media for the radicalization of the shooters, two of whom were 19-years-old and the other was 29. He pointed out that all over the world young people were being radicalized online.Latif also said the police share responsibility for the attack because they have failed to deal with the spread of illegal weapons in Arab municipalities, and the gun violence that has rocked Arab citizens because of it.“There are more weapons here than before the Nashat Milhem attack,” he said, referring to the Arab-Israeli from a nearby town who killed three people on January 1, 2016, in Tel Aviv.After Milhem’s attack, Israeli police vowed to root out the well-known phenomenon of illegal weapons in Arab towns and villages.Commenting on the closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Latif said it was “a big mistake that crossed all lines.”While he condemned the attack, he and the four other men in his office held the idea that the Al Aqsa mosque was in danger from Israeli religious radicals who seek to hasten the building of the Third Jewish Temple on the site where the biblical Jewish temples stood.They also criticized Israel’s policy of preventing unmarried Muslims, or those under 50, from praying at the site at certain times. Latif said he had twice been prevented from praying there while on trips with his family.And while Latif thought closing the mosque was “collective punishment,” he argued, too, that the way Arab Israelis are called upon to answer for the radicals among them was also a form of collective punishment.“What do we have to do with it?” he asked. “They are three guys and we are a town of 60,000 people. There are radicals in every society.”
Ban on MKs visiting Temple Mount ‘likely’ to be extended-Seven-day trial period was set to start next week; Likud MK who petitioned High Court against restriction calls on PM to ‘fulfill promises’ to open site-By Raoul Wootliff July 16, 2017, 12:13 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The planned lifting of a ban on Israeli lawmakers visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem may be delayed following a terror attack at the flashpoint site last week, a Knesset member fighting against the restriction warned Sunday, while calling on the government to fulfill its commitment to ease the constraints on lawmakers.The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Times of Israel that no decision had been made yet, indicating that the possibility of pushing off the measure was being discussed.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Jewish and Muslim lawmakers off the site a year and a half ago, after the outbreak in October 2015 of a wave of Palestinian violence and terror attacks centered around claims that Israel was attempting to take control of the Temple Mount compound.Last week, following discussions with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the prime minister decided that the ban would be lifted on July 23 for a period of seven days to assess the fallout from the move.But in light of Friday’s terror attack at the Temple Mount in which three Arab-Israeli Muslims shot dead two Israeli police officers, it “appears likely” that the plan will be delayed and the site will remain closed to MKs, a spokesperson for MK Yehuda Glick, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said Sunday. Glick is an activist for the right to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, and was reacting to reports that police were considering keeping the restrictions intact.A spokesperson for the police declined to comment on the ban on Knesset members or possible plans to push off lifting it.The Temple Mount compound was closed to the public after the Friday morning terror attack. After a Saturday night consultation with security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a gradual reopening of the site to Muslim worshipers starting Sunday at noon.The closure, which drew furious complaints from the Jordanian-appointed Waqf Muslim trust that administers the compound, was the first time the site was closed since 1969.The decision to allow MKs back at the site came after Glick, who has campaigned for Jewish rights at the site and was a frequent visitor there until the ban was enforced, filed a High Court of Justice court petition against the ban.Speaking to the Times of Israel Sunday, Glick said that last week’s terror attack was no justification to keep the ban in place.“I can’t see a reason why it shouldn’t be opened. I think the decision to stop MKs entering the Temple Mount was a mistake in the first place,” Glick said. “If the Temple Mount is not opened for MKs, a new status quo will be determined where MKs are not allowed to go on the Mount at all – a status quo that is very dangerous.”Glick, who in November 2014 before becoming a member of parliament, was shot by a Palestinian assailant due to his campaigning for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, called on Netanyahu “to fulfill his promises to open the Temple Mount to MKs.”The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam. High-profile visits by Israeli officials and rumors of changes to the status quo have preceded outbursts of violence.In September 2015, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians escalated into near-daily attacks amid false speculation that Israel sought to change the status quo at the Temple Mount, under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the site. Israel has repeatedly denied seeking any change to arrangements which have been in place since 1967. The site is managed by an Islamic foundation under the auspices of Jordan — the Waqf — but Israel controls access.In October 2016 police advised that Jewish and Arab MKs could renew visits to the site.The opinion was based on a review presented by the Jerusalem region police to Commissioner Roni Alsheich and Public Security Minister, GIlad Erdan. Police listed 14 conditions for MKs to visit, including notifying ahead of time that they plan to visit, visiting in morning hours only, and arriving without a security detail or media accompaniment. Police also demanded that MKs not make any speeches at the site.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hundreds in Jordan protest Temple Mount closure-Demonstration in Amman in wake of terror attack follows Friday’s protest in Turkey outside Israeli consulate-By Times of Israel staff July 15, 2017, 9:05 pm
Hundreds of people on Saturday protested in the Jordanian capital of Amman against Israel’s closure of the Temple Mount following a terror attack in which two police officers were killed.At the demonstration, protesters condemned the “Arab silence” over the decision to close the holy site and also issued calls of support for the “warriors of the conquered city,” the Ynet news site reported.Many of the protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans.The protest in Amman followed a demonstration on Friday outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, in which dozens of people waved Turkish and Palestinian flags and called Israel “cursed,” Channel 2 reported.Since Friday’s attack, in which three Israeli-Arabs killed two Israeli Druze police officers near Lions Gate just outside the Temple Mount complex, tensions have been steadily increasing, with Muslim leaders calling for Israel to reopen the site.In addition to Jordan, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — an umbrella group of 57 nations — have all condemned the closure.The Waqf — the Jordan-based Muslim organization that administers the Temple Mount — has also called for the site to be reopened and on Saturday charged that it had completely lost control over the compound.In addition, the Hamas terror group on Saturday described the closure of the site as a “religious war” and called for attacks against Israelis.After the shooting attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took the rare step of sealing the site amid security sweeps. Israel said the killers emerged from the Temple Mount compound with automatic weapons, in what Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called a “defiling” of the holy site.Israel closed the compound for the first time since 1969, saying it was carrying out security checks, including for further weaponry.Netanyahu instructed the site be gradually reopened starting Sunday, and dismissed allegations that he was seeking to change the long-held status quo at the site.Despite his assurances, anger has continued to build in the Muslim world over the closure to the Temple Mount and the restrictions on entering the Old City, with the widespread condemnations often making little or no mention of the actual attack.AFP contributed to this report.
MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM
EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Jewish Home MK mocks Muslim worshipers-Bezalal Smotrich accuses critics of hypocrisy, following uproar over his tweet saying Temple Mount visitors bowing to Jews-By Alexander Fulbright July 17, 2017, 7:06 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A controversial lawmaker from the right-wing Jewish Home party came under fire on Monday after sharing a meme implying Muslim worshipers were bowing down to Jews in Jerusalem.On Twitter, Bezalel Smotrich posted a photo of Muslims prostrated in prayer outside the Temple Mount in front of a number of Border Police officers. The prayers were held outside one of the entrances to the site, in protest of the decision to install metal detectors there, following Friday’s terror attack, in which two police officers were killed.The photo was accompanied by a biblical verse, “Nations shall serve you and kingdoms shall bow down to you,” from the book of Genesis, while Smotrich wrote above the photo “Viral on the internet and reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah: ‘And the children of your oppressors shall go to you bent over, and those who despised you shall prostrate themselves at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you ‘the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ (Isaiah 60:14).”After receiving a number of condemnations from social media users over the tweet, Smotrich accused his critics of hypocrisy for not reacting similarly to jokes about Judaism.“The hysterical responses here to this humorous tweet are incredible. Of course all those who are shocked will respond the same way the next time [comedian] Guri Alfi belittles Jewish customs. #hypocrisy,” he tweeted.“Or for example the 13 [Joint (Arab) List] MKs that claim there was never a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. It is okay for you to belittle us. I forgot…”Also criticizing Smotrich was Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi, who wrote on Twitter in response: “Here is Bezelal, your fascist from the coalition.”In response, Smotrich blasted Tibi for not condemning Friday’s shooting at the Temple Mount, which was carried out by three residents of the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm and killed two Druze Israeli police.“Ahmed, remind me — did you condemn the terror attack? [Are you] prepared to hear that there was a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. You are the last person that I need to receive a grade from,” he tweeted.In addition to Tibi, Smotrich was criticized by fellow coalition lawmaker Michael Ben Ari (Kulanu), who tweeted that despite the “excellent legislation” he forwards in the Knesset, the “unnecessary and dark tweet overshadows all your parliamentary work.”Smotrich has previously found himself in hot water over a number of controversial remarks he made, including encouraging draft-dodging, in protest of the IDF’s “radical feminist” agenda, comparing the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost to a “brutal rape” and for saying that “illiterate” Arabs are granted university admission thanks to affirmative action.
Russia: Israel’s security needs were taken into account in south Syria truce-After Netanyahu warns deal will create a long-term Iranian threat on northern border, Moscow’s foreign envoy Lavrov says Jewish state’s concerns were given full consideration-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies July 17, 2017, 4:51 pm
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that a ceasefire deal in southern Syria brokered by Washington and Moscow took into consideration Israel’s security needs, despite Israeli concerns that it will enable an increased Iranian presence on Israel’s northern border.Lavrov spoke to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russian Tass news agency reported.“I can guarantee that the American side and we did the best we can to make sure that Israel’s security interests are fully taken into consideration,” he said.On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he opposed the deal for an open-ended ceasefire in southern Syria, saying it does not sufficiently address Iranian military ambitions in the area.Placing himself at odds with US President Donald Trump on the issue, Netanyahu told journalists in Paris that the agreement perpetuates Iranian plans to set up a disruptive long-term presence on Israel’s northern border, something he has repeatedly vowed that the Jewish state wouldn’t tolerate.Channel 2 reported Monday that Israel “apparently wasn’t consulted” by the Trump Administration over the ceasefire terms.The ceasefire, announced after a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg earlier this month, was the first initiative by the Trump administration in collaboration with Russia to bring some stability to war-torn Syria.“Israel is aware of Iran’s expansionist goals in Syria,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said. The prime minister added that he had brought up the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting earlier in the day.He said that while the plan aims to keep Iran 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the Israeli border, it does not address Iran’s plans to cement its presence in Syria, which, he said, included the establishment of a naval and air force bases.The premier’s comments Sunday were his first remarks explicitly condemning the ceasefire, after having gingerly endorsed the deal as it came into effect earlier this month.Maj.-Gen. (res) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser of Netanyahu, said Monday that the new arrangements in southern Syria “were done without taking into consideration the need of Israel to defend itself.” In a briefing, he added that “Israel tried to make everyone understand its interests.”Apprehensions over Iranian designs in the region were stoked by recent movements of Shiite Muslim militias — loyal to Iran and fighting alongside Syrian government forces — toward Jordan’s border with Syria, and to another strategic area in the southeast, close to where the two countries meet Iraq.The advances are part of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s push to regain territory from rebel groups, some backed by the West, in the southern Daraa province, and from Islamic State extremists in the southeast, near the triangle with Iraq.But Syria’s neighbors suspect that Iran is pursuing a broader agenda, including carving out a land route through Syria that would create a territorial continuum from Iran and Iraq to Lebanon.The ceasefire for southern Syria is meant to keep all forces pinned to their current positions, said Jordan’s government which participated in the talks. This would prevent further advances by forces under Iran’s command, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.“Having a direct corridor on land form Baghdad to Damascus would bring the Iranians, for the first time in history, a direct land corridor from Tehran… to the Mediterranean,” said Amidror. “That would allow the Iranians to be much more involved around Israel.“It’s a long line, but it’s still very easy to move forces, capabilities — anything the Iranians want to build around Israel,” he added.Ceasefires have repeatedly collapsed in Syria’s six-year-old civil war, and it’s not clear if this one will last. The southern Syria truce is separate from so far unsuccessful efforts by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up “de-escalation zones” in Syria, including in the south.Israel is expected to watch for truce violations.Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to set up a permanent presence in Syria. Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria against suspected shipments of “game-changing” weapons bound for Hezbollah.“We will not let the Iranians and Hezbollah be the forces who win from the long and brutal war in Syria,” Amidror said, threatening that if Israel’s interests were not taken into account, “that might lead the IDF to intervene and to destroy every attempt to build infrastructure in Syria.”A Jordanian official said the international community, regional powers and Jordan would not tolerate the creation of a “land line all the way from Tehran to Beirut.”Such a “Shiite crescent” would disrupt the regional balance and be considered a “super red line,” he said, referring to rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim political camps led by Saudi Arabia and Iran, respectively.Conflicts between the camps have escalated in recent years, including in proxy wars in Syria and Yemen. Predominantly Sunni Jordan is a US ally and maintains discrete security ties with Israel.Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxies gain strength in Syria’s south. In recent weeks, US forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces as well as Iranian-made drones.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
After getting boot from Qatar, Hamas looks to Algeria – report-Palestinian terror group said seeking to scatter its leaders to avoid having too large a presence in any one country-By Stuart Winer July 17, 2017, 5:42 pm
The Palestinian terror movement Hamas, which has been trying to relocate senior officials who were asked to leave Qatar, has asked Algerian authorities for permission to open an office there, the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported Monday.Palestinian sources said that Hamas made a formal request several months ago to open an office in the African country’s capital, Algiers, but has yet to receive a response.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri is currently in Algeria and confirmed that his movement has asked to establish a bureau in the country. Zuhri plans to set up a presence in Algiers and then later bring other Hamas officials to join him, according to the sources.The request was apparently made before the recent crisis between moderate Sunni states in the Persian Gulf and Qatar broke out in June. Saudi Arabia and its allies have cut off ties with Qatar, one of the few foreign backers of Hamas, after accusing the gas-rich state of supporting extremism across the region.Days before the conflict erupted, Qatar had asked several top Hamas officials to leave for Lebanon, Turkey and Malaysia. Qatari officials reportedly told Hamas at the time that it was under pressure to expel its members.“On a personal level I applied for a stay in Algeria. The Algerian authorities promised to study the request and consider it,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Zuhri as saying recently.Palestinian sources said Hamas’s leadership is now scattered across the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Malaysia, with a few officials still in Qatar.The group was said to be adopting a strategy of spreading its senior members around to prevent pressuring any single country with its presence. The movement doesn’t want its political base in any other location, preferring instead to keep it in Gaza, which it controls.Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was appointed in May, resides in Gaza, making the Palestinian enclave the focal point of the organization.The Islamist terror group seized Gaza in a violent clash with forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. The two factions have been at loggerheads ever since.
State opposition to same-sex couple adoptions sparks ire, including key minister’s-Gay pop star Harel Skaat calls on youth to stop serving in army, paying taxes-By Stuart Winer July 17, 2017, 3:48 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The government’s declared opposition Sunday to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children in Israel prompted an avalanche of criticism on Monday, including from one of its own key ministers.In a submission from the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs in response to a petition, the state told the High Court that it opposes allowing same-sex couples to adopt because of the “additional burden” this would place on the child, though it said it would for the first time allow common-law couples that have been together for at least three years to adopt.Leading a chorus of criticism of the government’s position, gay Israeli pop star Harel Skaat targeted Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, accusing her of perpetuating stigmas for young children and treating homosexuals as second-rate citizens.In a bitter post on his Facebook page Sunday, Skaat called on young members of the LGBT community to refuse to serve in the army and to stop paying taxes in protest over the government’s declared opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. On Monday, directly criticizing Shaked (of the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party), Skaat charged in an Army Radio interview: “She is only perpetuating the differentiation… All of your rights are taken away. You want to have children? Sorry, you aren’t good enough for that, you are a second-class citizen. Shaked is making children who go to kindergarten look at the children of gay parents in a different way.”Harel said he and his partner were currently working on conceiving a child via a surrogate mother.The government’s response Sunday to the High Court petition was submitted jointly by Shaked’s Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs. The petition was filed by the Association of Israeli Gay Fathers and the Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform movement.The government told the court that “the professional opinion of the Child Welfare Services supports preserving the existing situation” that the adopting couple be a man and a woman. This “takes into account the reality of Israeli society and the difficulty it may entail with regard to the child being adopted,” it noted.Bizarrely, Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Haim Katz (Likud) on Monday criticized the state’s response, saying it had not been correctly formulated and should not have been submitted. The minister “does not intend to deny this or that group from the ability to adopt,” his ministry said in a statement. Rather, it said, Katz supports a position that had been agreed with the Justice Ministry that provides for “a wide-ranging reform in adoption services.”In an Army Radio interview earlier Monday, Orna Hirschfeld, the official at the ministry responsible for adoption services, had backed the state’s position, saying there was concern at the difficulties children adopted by same-sex couples might face.Zvi Fischler, the head of the Association of Israeli Psychiatrists, said Monday there was no evidence to support the government’s claim of an “additional burden” for the child and that the state’s position was “motivated by factors others than the well-being of the child.” Even in the most enlightened societies, he told Army Radio, “there can be sectors of the populace that are less accepted, and the child can deal with these things.”Several lawmakers on Sunday condemned the government’s decision.Meretz’s Michal Rozin, who heads the Knesset’s LGBT lobby; Yael German of Yesh Atid; Merav Michaeli of the Zionist Union; and Kulanu’s Merav Ben Ari said in a statement that the decision was homophobic and showed the government’s cynical exploitation of the homosexual community.“This is a foolish and discriminatory decision that is accompanied by unprecedented homophobia,” they said. “The Israeli government is again abandoning the gay community and this highlights government’s cynical use of the community: In English they boast about [being a gay-friendly country], but in Hebrew they deny basic rights.”After meeting with gay youth in Beersheba, Skaat wrote on his Facebook page that “the day will come in a few years’ time when you will need to join the army and do your bit…as an Israeli who is crazy about his country and proud to be Jewish and talks about that on any platform around the world, that proudly served in the army, whose partner is a major in the IDF and serves nearly a month [reserve duty] every year to this day, I call on you to not join the army! And you know what, also don’t pay any taxes on the money you are going to earn, and in general anything that the country asks you to do simply don’t give a shit. That is what it is doing to you in everything regarding the equal rights (!!!) that you deserve.”Skaat lashed out at Shaked and “the other cowardly politicians like you. You don’t deserve us. If only the millions of people who attended the last gay pride in Tel Aviv so that you could glorify yourselves before the enlightened world with your false acceptance will become an alternative force and toss you out already. There is a new generation here that won’t bear that hypocrisy much longer.”Opposition MK Nachman Shai of the Zionist Union tweeted his support Monday for Skaat, writing “Harel is right. A sweeping protest against the prohibition on adoption.”While gay couples cannot adopt in Israel, they frequently travel overseas to adopt children.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
