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
Jewish Home vows no Palestinian state while it’s in government-As Netanyahu, Liberman voice support for Arab Peace Initiative, Shaked and Bennett say Palestine won’t happen on their watch-By Times of Israel staff May 31, 2016, 10:35 pm
The Jewish Home party on Tuesday said there would be no Palestinian state while it is in the government, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman voiced some support for an Arab peace proposal and a two-state solution.In a dramatic move, Netanyahu on Monday partially endorsed the Arab Peace Initiative, offering to negotiate with the Arab world regarding the parameters of the plan, which promises Israel full diplomatic ties with 57 Arab and Muslim states in return for cementing a peace accord with the Palestinians.But Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked from the religious-nationalist Jewish Home vowed there would be no such dramatic moves on her watch.“I will say the obvious: As long as we are in the government, there will be no Palestinian state, there will be no settlement evacuations and we will not give any land to our enemies,” Shaked said during a tour of the West Bank Binyamin region on Tuesday.The leader of the right-wing party, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, added that “everyone who is opposed to dividing Jerusalem and building a Palestinian state… don’t worry: we’re here.”The Jewish Home proclamations came less than 48-hours after a coalition crisis between the party and the Likud was resolved over Bennett’s demands for security cabinet reform.The Arab proposal was first put forward by Riyadh in 2002, but has languished since, with Israel regarding the peace plan as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition it couldn’t possibly embrace.In 2013, the Arab League showed some flexibility in allowing that, to reach a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps could be possible.On Monday night, Netanyahu said the plan “contains positive elements that could help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,” going further than he has before in showing support for the initiative.The statement came after months of Netanyahu and other Jerusalem officials hinting at closer ties with moderate Sunni states in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal, saying those states could help broker an arrangement with the Palestinians.“We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in our region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said Monday night, making his statement first in Hebrew and then repeating it in English.Standing next to Netanyahu, incoming Defense Minister Liberman said he fully endorsed the prime minister’s statement, including his call for an agreement leading to two states for two peoples.His party, Yisrael Beytenu, has long supported Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, in which he for the first time accepted, in principle, the idea of Palestinian statehood, Liberman said. “President Sissi’s speech was important; it creates a genuine opportunity that obligates us to pick up the gauntlet.“I certainly agree that in the Arab Peace Initiative there are some very positive elements that will enable us to conduct serious dialogue with our neighbors in the region.”Earlier in the month, Sissi made a rare call for Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative, seen at the time as an unsuccessful attempt to push Netanyahu toward accepting dovish Zionist Union party leader Isaac Herzog as a coalition partner instead of Liberman, considered a hard-liner.“There is a real chance to make peace with Israel, and that it can exist naturally in the region, if it accepts the Arab Peace Initiative,” Sissi said on May 13.Liberman’s addition to the coalition has been met with skepticism in the international community and his Monday speech accepting the two-state solution was seen by many as an attempt to calm fears.According to a senior Israeli official cited in daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu’s speech had been coordinated with Sissi in order to lay the groundwork for a regional peace conference.On Friday, several foreign ministers are expected to meet in Paris to push forward a multilateral French peace initiative. Israel, which along with the Palestinian Authority is not invited, has rejected the French plan.Raphael Ahren and Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.
Abbas: I’ll judge Liberman by his ‘stance on peace,’ not his politics-PA president says he doesn’t reject Israelis based on their ‘national affiliation,’ notes that right-wing leaders have made peace-By Times of Israel staff June 1, 2016, 12:04 am
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he won’t pre-judge Israel’s right-wing leadership Tuesday, pointing to previous hawkish governments that reached peace agreements and apparently signaling support for statements made in Jerusalem seemingly backing a two-state solution.Abbas’s statement to Israeli municipal officials visiting Ramallah came a day after newly installed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lent partial support to the Arab Peace Initiative, and seemed to contradict a top Palestinian official’s dismissal of the Israeli overtures as just a PR campaign.“You don’t need to judge a man by his national affiliation or by his views, but only by his stance on the peace process,” said Abbas, according to accounts carried in Hebrew- and Arabic-language press. “The Israeli right has the ability to initiate the peace process, but we ask that all Israelis believe in peace with the Palestinian people.”The PA leader noted that former prime minister Menachem Begin, a leader of the right-wing Likud party, made peace with Egypt.Liberman, a brash hardliner who has accused Abbas in the past of being a “diplomatic terrorist,” was sworn into office Monday, speaking out in favor of a two-state solution in a speech interpreted by many as an attempt to calm consternation about his appointment.On Tuesday, he told army brass that national unity was more important that holding onto territory, as he vowed to prevent unnecessary future conflicts and end ongoing “wars of attrition.”“I’ve said this before: When there is a clash of values between the unity of the people and territorial integrity, the people are more important,” he said.Earlier on Tuesday, chief Palestinian negotiator and top Abbas aide Saeb Erekat rejected the comments by Netanyahu and Liberman.A statement from Erekat’s office described the position adopted by “war minister” Liberman and Netanyahu as “new public relations strategies promoted by the occupying government to shield Israel from having to adhere to the will of the international community and distract from its continued settler-colonial policies and rejectionist positions.”Abbas also spoke out in favor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which was first put forward by Riyadh in 2002, but has languished since, with Israel regarding the peace plan as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition it couldn’t possibly embrace.In 2013, the Arab League showed some flexibility in allowing that, to reach a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps could be possible.On Monday night, Netanyahu said the plan “contains positive elements that could help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,” going further than he has before in showing support for the initiative.“We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in our region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said Monday night, making his statement first in Hebrew and then repeating it in English.Standing next to Netanyahu Monday night, Liberman said he fully endorsed the prime minister’s statement, including his call for an agreement leading to two states for two peoples.“I certainly agree that in the Arab Peace Initiative there are some very positive elements that will enable us to conduct serious dialogue with our neighbors in the region.”On Friday, a French peace conference, to which the Israelis and Palestinians were not invited in its first stage, will convene in Paris. Israel has rejected the Paris peace push, calling for direct talks with the Palestinians.The Palestinians have backed both the French initiative and efforts by Egypt to revive talks.
Israel's settlement drive is becoming irreversible, diplomats fear-[Reuters]-By Luke Baker-May 31, 2016-YAHOONEWS
MITZPE YERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) - In the hills east of Jerusalem, overlooking the Palestinian city of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, stands a religious Jewish settlement whose red-tile roofs, neat gardens and brightly colored playgrounds give the sense of permanence.Mitzpe Yericho has stood on this escarpment close to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on earth - since 1978. It is one of more than 230 settlements Israelis have built on occupied land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past half-century.Diplomats and international monitors are increasingly concerned that the drive, which has seen Israel settle more than half a million of its people at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, may be reaching the point of irreversibility.The ongoing expansion further diminishes the prospect of any significant progress being made when foreign ministers from 20 countries meet in Paris this week to discuss how to revive Middle East peace efforts, given the settlements have been a central obstacle for at least two decades.If a peace deal were magically struck tomorrow, the Palestinians would expect the Israelis living in Mitzpe Yericho to leave. But its 3,000 residents, nearly all whom are religious nationalists, have no such intention. To them, the settlement enterprise is God-given and irreversible."If there's peace with the Palestinians we're staying and if there's no peace we're staying," said Yoel Mishael, 65, who has lived in Mitzpe Yericho since its founding. "It's part of Israel, according to the Bible. It's something from God."The foreign ministers will meet on Friday with the aim of paving the way for a summit later in the year that they hope the Israeli and Palestinian leaders will attend.On Monday, in a sign that he is aware of the growing international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was in favor of parts of the Arab peace initiative, a proposal put forward by Saudi Arabia in 2002 that would grant Israel recognition in exchange for withdrawing from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other steps.Yet while some momentum may be building, there is scant indication the settlement enterprise can be halted, let alone reversed, leaving a fundamental barrier in the path to peace.-A VAST INVESTMENT-The settlement project began after Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. In the 1970s, with the government's encouragement, large number of Jews began moving onto the occupied land. There are now 550,000 of them.Many live in large blocs near Jerusalem or the 'green line' that separates Israel from the Palestinian territories, while others live deep inside the West Bank, in highly protected enclaves or pre-fabricated 'outposts' perched on hill tops. All the constructions are considered illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, and plays down the term occupation.Calculating the financial cost of settlements to Israel is difficult; as well as the capital required to build there are defense and infrastructure costs and the price of tax breaks for residents who move there. But the Macro Center for Political Economics, an Israeli think-tank, estimates building alone has cost around $30 billion over the past 40 years.Barely a month goes by without a fresh announcement from the government or one of its ministries about West Bank territory being declared "state land", a precursor to settlement building, or a decision to allow new construction to proceed.At the same time, Palestinians living in a part of the West Bank known as Area C, which accounts for 60 percent of the total and is where most settlements are located, are being uprooted from the land in increasing numbers.During a visit to a sensitive part of the West Bank near the Palestinian city of Nablus, where settlements occupy almost every hilltop and are steadily expanding their footprint, U.N. diplomats studied maps and pointed out how the Israeli enclaves were spreading east toward the Jordan Valley."It starts to look irreversible," said one official, a view separately supported by half a dozen foreign diplomats.Under the Oslo accords of the mid-1990s, Israel retains full control over Area C, where large tracts have been declared closed military areas. As a result, Israeli courts tend to approve the removal of Palestinians from the area and the demolition of their homes, even though the accords did not change the illegal status of settlements there."Settlements are the vehicle for taking control of the land," said Catherine Cook, an official with the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian assistance and an authority on settlements, speaking last month.Asked whether she believed the settlement enterprise was irreversible, she replied: "Some of it has to be reversible."-PRESSURE FROM WITHIN-If a peace deal were struck, many settlements would undoubtedly remain. While not openly acknowledged, Palestinian negotiators accept that land swaps, in which the Israelis would keep major settlement blocs along the green line and near Jerusalem, and the Palestinians would receive equivalent amounts of land from Israel in return, would be part of the deal.But that would still leave vast areas of the West Bank, where 2.8 million Palestinians live in major cities such as Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah, dotted with more than a hundred settlements, many large and protected by the military.Within Israel's right-wing government, there is little appetite to cede any ground to the Palestinians. Netanyahu says their failure to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is the biggest obstacle to peace, not the settlements.Education Minister Naftali Bennett is an ardent supporter settlements and wants Israel to annex all of Area C rather than allowing a Palestinian state to emerge. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman lives in a settlement and is similarly wary of Palestinian statehood, even if like Netanyahu he has welcomed elements of the Arab peace initiative.Hagit Ofran, a senior official at Peace Now, an Israeli NGO opposed to settlements, believes lines could be drawn that would allow a Palestinian state to emerge even if Israel kept many of its enclaves. But even then she estimates that as many as 150,000 settlers may have to be uprooted.While some might leave willingly if offered the right compensation, many others would not. The removal of just 8,500 settlers from Gaza in 2005 caused violence and outrage.Many of the settlers in the heartland of the West Bank are religious nationalists who believe all the land, which they call Judea and Samaria, was gifted to Israel in the Bible. They are not interested in financial incentives to leave.On the northern edge of Mitzpe Yericho, a lookout point provides sweeping views of Jericho and the Jordan Valley. An audio recording gives visitors a selective history of the region, with an English narration explaining how in the Bible God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses, saying:"Prepare to cross the River Jordan together with all these people into the land which I am giving the Israelites. Every spot on which your foot treads, I will give to you."At the end of the account, the narrator adds: "Today, more than 3,000 years later, Israeli settlements have once again renewed this Biblical landscape ... We wish you a pleasant visit."(Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Pravin Char)
Security forces arrest Gazan who crossed into Israel with knife-IDF unit transfers Palestinian man for interrogation after he was found in Israeli territory-By Judah Ari Gross and Times of Israel staff June 1, 2016, 6:59 am
A Palestinian man from the southern Gaza Strip who managed to cross into Israel was arrested by IDF soldiers overnight Tuesday-Wednesday. A knife was found in his possession, the military said.He was transferred for interrogation, Army Radio reported.It was not immediately clear what his intentions were.Israel has been battling a wave of Palestinian terror attacks that has included stabbings, shootings, car-rammings and a suicide bombing over the past eight months. The attacks seem to have abated in recent weeks, a far cry from the situation just a few months ago where Palestinian assailants were carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security personnel up to several times a day.The terror wave has claimed the lives of 29 Israelis and four foreign nationals since last October. Some 200 Palestinians have also been killed over the same period, the majority of them while carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians or soldiers, and the others during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.On Monday, a soldier was lightly wounded during a stabbing attack in the center of Tel Aviv.Security forces arrested a Palestinian teenager near the scene of the attack, after he fled and tried to hide in a residential building. Police said the stabber likely had nationalistic motives and they were therefore treating the incident as terrorism.The attacker was identified as a 17-year-old resident of the West Bank.Eyewitnesses said the teen shouted “Allahu akbar” — the Arabic for “God is great” — during the incident. The attack was apparently carried out with a screwdriver, Channel 2 news reported.Medical personnel at the scene administered first aid to the 19-year-old soldier for injuries to his upper body before taking him to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital.
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
Jewish Home vows no Palestinian state while it’s in government-As Netanyahu, Liberman voice support for Arab Peace Initiative, Shaked and Bennett say Palestine won’t happen on their watch-By Times of Israel staff May 31, 2016, 10:35 pm
The Jewish Home party on Tuesday said there would be no Palestinian state while it is in the government, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman voiced some support for an Arab peace proposal and a two-state solution.In a dramatic move, Netanyahu on Monday partially endorsed the Arab Peace Initiative, offering to negotiate with the Arab world regarding the parameters of the plan, which promises Israel full diplomatic ties with 57 Arab and Muslim states in return for cementing a peace accord with the Palestinians.But Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked from the religious-nationalist Jewish Home vowed there would be no such dramatic moves on her watch.“I will say the obvious: As long as we are in the government, there will be no Palestinian state, there will be no settlement evacuations and we will not give any land to our enemies,” Shaked said during a tour of the West Bank Binyamin region on Tuesday.The leader of the right-wing party, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, added that “everyone who is opposed to dividing Jerusalem and building a Palestinian state… don’t worry: we’re here.”The Jewish Home proclamations came less than 48-hours after a coalition crisis between the party and the Likud was resolved over Bennett’s demands for security cabinet reform.The Arab proposal was first put forward by Riyadh in 2002, but has languished since, with Israel regarding the peace plan as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition it couldn’t possibly embrace.In 2013, the Arab League showed some flexibility in allowing that, to reach a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps could be possible.On Monday night, Netanyahu said the plan “contains positive elements that could help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,” going further than he has before in showing support for the initiative.The statement came after months of Netanyahu and other Jerusalem officials hinting at closer ties with moderate Sunni states in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal, saying those states could help broker an arrangement with the Palestinians.“We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in our region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said Monday night, making his statement first in Hebrew and then repeating it in English.Standing next to Netanyahu, incoming Defense Minister Liberman said he fully endorsed the prime minister’s statement, including his call for an agreement leading to two states for two peoples.His party, Yisrael Beytenu, has long supported Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, in which he for the first time accepted, in principle, the idea of Palestinian statehood, Liberman said. “President Sissi’s speech was important; it creates a genuine opportunity that obligates us to pick up the gauntlet.“I certainly agree that in the Arab Peace Initiative there are some very positive elements that will enable us to conduct serious dialogue with our neighbors in the region.”Earlier in the month, Sissi made a rare call for Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative, seen at the time as an unsuccessful attempt to push Netanyahu toward accepting dovish Zionist Union party leader Isaac Herzog as a coalition partner instead of Liberman, considered a hard-liner.“There is a real chance to make peace with Israel, and that it can exist naturally in the region, if it accepts the Arab Peace Initiative,” Sissi said on May 13.Liberman’s addition to the coalition has been met with skepticism in the international community and his Monday speech accepting the two-state solution was seen by many as an attempt to calm fears.According to a senior Israeli official cited in daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu’s speech had been coordinated with Sissi in order to lay the groundwork for a regional peace conference.On Friday, several foreign ministers are expected to meet in Paris to push forward a multilateral French peace initiative. Israel, which along with the Palestinian Authority is not invited, has rejected the French plan.Raphael Ahren and Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.
Abbas: I’ll judge Liberman by his ‘stance on peace,’ not his politics-PA president says he doesn’t reject Israelis based on their ‘national affiliation,’ notes that right-wing leaders have made peace-By Times of Israel staff June 1, 2016, 12:04 am
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he won’t pre-judge Israel’s right-wing leadership Tuesday, pointing to previous hawkish governments that reached peace agreements and apparently signaling support for statements made in Jerusalem seemingly backing a two-state solution.Abbas’s statement to Israeli municipal officials visiting Ramallah came a day after newly installed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lent partial support to the Arab Peace Initiative, and seemed to contradict a top Palestinian official’s dismissal of the Israeli overtures as just a PR campaign.“You don’t need to judge a man by his national affiliation or by his views, but only by his stance on the peace process,” said Abbas, according to accounts carried in Hebrew- and Arabic-language press. “The Israeli right has the ability to initiate the peace process, but we ask that all Israelis believe in peace with the Palestinian people.”The PA leader noted that former prime minister Menachem Begin, a leader of the right-wing Likud party, made peace with Egypt.Liberman, a brash hardliner who has accused Abbas in the past of being a “diplomatic terrorist,” was sworn into office Monday, speaking out in favor of a two-state solution in a speech interpreted by many as an attempt to calm consternation about his appointment.On Tuesday, he told army brass that national unity was more important that holding onto territory, as he vowed to prevent unnecessary future conflicts and end ongoing “wars of attrition.”“I’ve said this before: When there is a clash of values between the unity of the people and territorial integrity, the people are more important,” he said.Earlier on Tuesday, chief Palestinian negotiator and top Abbas aide Saeb Erekat rejected the comments by Netanyahu and Liberman.A statement from Erekat’s office described the position adopted by “war minister” Liberman and Netanyahu as “new public relations strategies promoted by the occupying government to shield Israel from having to adhere to the will of the international community and distract from its continued settler-colonial policies and rejectionist positions.”Abbas also spoke out in favor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which was first put forward by Riyadh in 2002, but has languished since, with Israel regarding the peace plan as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition it couldn’t possibly embrace.In 2013, the Arab League showed some flexibility in allowing that, to reach a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps could be possible.On Monday night, Netanyahu said the plan “contains positive elements that could help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,” going further than he has before in showing support for the initiative.“We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in our region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said Monday night, making his statement first in Hebrew and then repeating it in English.Standing next to Netanyahu Monday night, Liberman said he fully endorsed the prime minister’s statement, including his call for an agreement leading to two states for two peoples.“I certainly agree that in the Arab Peace Initiative there are some very positive elements that will enable us to conduct serious dialogue with our neighbors in the region.”On Friday, a French peace conference, to which the Israelis and Palestinians were not invited in its first stage, will convene in Paris. Israel has rejected the Paris peace push, calling for direct talks with the Palestinians.The Palestinians have backed both the French initiative and efforts by Egypt to revive talks.
Israel's settlement drive is becoming irreversible, diplomats fear-[Reuters]-By Luke Baker-May 31, 2016-YAHOONEWS
MITZPE YERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) - In the hills east of Jerusalem, overlooking the Palestinian city of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, stands a religious Jewish settlement whose red-tile roofs, neat gardens and brightly colored playgrounds give the sense of permanence.Mitzpe Yericho has stood on this escarpment close to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on earth - since 1978. It is one of more than 230 settlements Israelis have built on occupied land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past half-century.Diplomats and international monitors are increasingly concerned that the drive, which has seen Israel settle more than half a million of its people at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, may be reaching the point of irreversibility.The ongoing expansion further diminishes the prospect of any significant progress being made when foreign ministers from 20 countries meet in Paris this week to discuss how to revive Middle East peace efforts, given the settlements have been a central obstacle for at least two decades.If a peace deal were magically struck tomorrow, the Palestinians would expect the Israelis living in Mitzpe Yericho to leave. But its 3,000 residents, nearly all whom are religious nationalists, have no such intention. To them, the settlement enterprise is God-given and irreversible."If there's peace with the Palestinians we're staying and if there's no peace we're staying," said Yoel Mishael, 65, who has lived in Mitzpe Yericho since its founding. "It's part of Israel, according to the Bible. It's something from God."The foreign ministers will meet on Friday with the aim of paving the way for a summit later in the year that they hope the Israeli and Palestinian leaders will attend.On Monday, in a sign that he is aware of the growing international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was in favor of parts of the Arab peace initiative, a proposal put forward by Saudi Arabia in 2002 that would grant Israel recognition in exchange for withdrawing from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other steps.Yet while some momentum may be building, there is scant indication the settlement enterprise can be halted, let alone reversed, leaving a fundamental barrier in the path to peace.-A VAST INVESTMENT-The settlement project began after Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. In the 1970s, with the government's encouragement, large number of Jews began moving onto the occupied land. There are now 550,000 of them.Many live in large blocs near Jerusalem or the 'green line' that separates Israel from the Palestinian territories, while others live deep inside the West Bank, in highly protected enclaves or pre-fabricated 'outposts' perched on hill tops. All the constructions are considered illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, and plays down the term occupation.Calculating the financial cost of settlements to Israel is difficult; as well as the capital required to build there are defense and infrastructure costs and the price of tax breaks for residents who move there. But the Macro Center for Political Economics, an Israeli think-tank, estimates building alone has cost around $30 billion over the past 40 years.Barely a month goes by without a fresh announcement from the government or one of its ministries about West Bank territory being declared "state land", a precursor to settlement building, or a decision to allow new construction to proceed.At the same time, Palestinians living in a part of the West Bank known as Area C, which accounts for 60 percent of the total and is where most settlements are located, are being uprooted from the land in increasing numbers.During a visit to a sensitive part of the West Bank near the Palestinian city of Nablus, where settlements occupy almost every hilltop and are steadily expanding their footprint, U.N. diplomats studied maps and pointed out how the Israeli enclaves were spreading east toward the Jordan Valley."It starts to look irreversible," said one official, a view separately supported by half a dozen foreign diplomats.Under the Oslo accords of the mid-1990s, Israel retains full control over Area C, where large tracts have been declared closed military areas. As a result, Israeli courts tend to approve the removal of Palestinians from the area and the demolition of their homes, even though the accords did not change the illegal status of settlements there."Settlements are the vehicle for taking control of the land," said Catherine Cook, an official with the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian assistance and an authority on settlements, speaking last month.Asked whether she believed the settlement enterprise was irreversible, she replied: "Some of it has to be reversible."-PRESSURE FROM WITHIN-If a peace deal were struck, many settlements would undoubtedly remain. While not openly acknowledged, Palestinian negotiators accept that land swaps, in which the Israelis would keep major settlement blocs along the green line and near Jerusalem, and the Palestinians would receive equivalent amounts of land from Israel in return, would be part of the deal.But that would still leave vast areas of the West Bank, where 2.8 million Palestinians live in major cities such as Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah, dotted with more than a hundred settlements, many large and protected by the military.Within Israel's right-wing government, there is little appetite to cede any ground to the Palestinians. Netanyahu says their failure to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is the biggest obstacle to peace, not the settlements.Education Minister Naftali Bennett is an ardent supporter settlements and wants Israel to annex all of Area C rather than allowing a Palestinian state to emerge. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman lives in a settlement and is similarly wary of Palestinian statehood, even if like Netanyahu he has welcomed elements of the Arab peace initiative.Hagit Ofran, a senior official at Peace Now, an Israeli NGO opposed to settlements, believes lines could be drawn that would allow a Palestinian state to emerge even if Israel kept many of its enclaves. But even then she estimates that as many as 150,000 settlers may have to be uprooted.While some might leave willingly if offered the right compensation, many others would not. The removal of just 8,500 settlers from Gaza in 2005 caused violence and outrage.Many of the settlers in the heartland of the West Bank are religious nationalists who believe all the land, which they call Judea and Samaria, was gifted to Israel in the Bible. They are not interested in financial incentives to leave.On the northern edge of Mitzpe Yericho, a lookout point provides sweeping views of Jericho and the Jordan Valley. An audio recording gives visitors a selective history of the region, with an English narration explaining how in the Bible God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses, saying:"Prepare to cross the River Jordan together with all these people into the land which I am giving the Israelites. Every spot on which your foot treads, I will give to you."At the end of the account, the narrator adds: "Today, more than 3,000 years later, Israeli settlements have once again renewed this Biblical landscape ... We wish you a pleasant visit."(Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Pravin Char)
Security forces arrest Gazan who crossed into Israel with knife-IDF unit transfers Palestinian man for interrogation after he was found in Israeli territory-By Judah Ari Gross and Times of Israel staff June 1, 2016, 6:59 am
A Palestinian man from the southern Gaza Strip who managed to cross into Israel was arrested by IDF soldiers overnight Tuesday-Wednesday. A knife was found in his possession, the military said.He was transferred for interrogation, Army Radio reported.It was not immediately clear what his intentions were.Israel has been battling a wave of Palestinian terror attacks that has included stabbings, shootings, car-rammings and a suicide bombing over the past eight months. The attacks seem to have abated in recent weeks, a far cry from the situation just a few months ago where Palestinian assailants were carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security personnel up to several times a day.The terror wave has claimed the lives of 29 Israelis and four foreign nationals since last October. Some 200 Palestinians have also been killed over the same period, the majority of them while carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians or soldiers, and the others during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.On Monday, a soldier was lightly wounded during a stabbing attack in the center of Tel Aviv.Security forces arrested a Palestinian teenager near the scene of the attack, after he fled and tried to hide in a residential building. Police said the stabber likely had nationalistic motives and they were therefore treating the incident as terrorism.The attacker was identified as a 17-year-old resident of the West Bank.Eyewitnesses said the teen shouted “Allahu akbar” — the Arabic for “God is great” — during the incident. The attack was apparently carried out with a screwdriver, Channel 2 news reported.Medical personnel at the scene administered first aid to the 19-year-old soldier for injuries to his upper body before taking him to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital.
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