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
IDF hits Gaza for second time after rocket attack — Palestinian media-Israeli airstrike targets northern and southern Strip, in fresh raid after projectile fired from Hamas-run territory lands in Sderot-By Judah Ari Gross October 5, 2016, 3:47 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israeli warplanes struck Hamas sites in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, in the second such attack of the day after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck Sderot, according to Palestinian media.The Israel Defense Forces would not immediately comment on the reported airstrikes.According to Palestinian media, Israeli jets hit targets in both the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern Strip and in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks fired on Hamas targets in Beit Hanoun in the northeastern corner of the Strip, the army said. There were no immediate reports of Palestinian injuries.The rocket, which was fired from the Gaza Strip, struck a street in the Israeli city of Sderot — a few miles from Beit Hanoun — just before 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.The strike caused damage and sent three people to the hospital suffering from anxiety attacks.The Islamic State-affiliated Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis terrorist group took responsibility for the rocket launch in statements released in both Arabic and Hebrew.“Oh you cowardly Jews: You don’t have safety in our land. [Former defense minister Moshe] Ya’alon, the failure at giving security. [Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman to fail will be a certainty,” the Salafist group said in its statement, in poorly translated Hebrew.The attack against Israel was apparently a response to the Strip’s Hamas rulers arresting several members of the Salafist organization, according to the group’s statement. As usual the group also releases messages in Hebrew, claiming there will be no security for #Israel http://pic.twitter.com/3iepoZlUGz— Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) October 5, 2016-Though the Salafist group claimed the attack, Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible for any attacks emanating from Gaza and routinely responds to such launches with strikes inside the Palestinian territory.“We can’t go after every little group in Gaza with a couple of dozen members that goes out one night and fires a rocket,” a senior officer in the IDF’s Southern Command told reporters last month.Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis released a similar statement last month after a failed attempt to launch a rocket at southern Israel on the first day of school. The group also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that hit Sderot in August, landing between two houses in the southern Israeli city.In Wednesday morning’s rocket attack, three people in Sderot “suffered anxiety attacks” and were treated by medical teams, but no one was physically hurt by the attack, according to the Magen David Adom medical service.The three — including a 15-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man — were taken to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center for further care, MDA paramedics said.The street where the rocket landed was damaged in the attack, as were several nearby cars and homes.Police sappers were called to the scene, and the area was closed off to pedestrians and traffic, police said.Last month, a mortar shell was launched from the Gaza Strip and landed in a field in southern Israel, causing neither injury nor damage, the army said. The projectile hit an empty field in the Eshkol region, next to the southern Strip, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces.
Boat of activists seeking to break Gaza blockade nears coast-15 women aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva draw within 70 nautical miles of Palestinian enclave; Israeli navy expected to intercept-By AFP and Times of Israel staff October 5, 2016, 4:30 pm
A group of activists seeking to break Israel’s decade-long security blockade of the Gaza Strip were less than 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the coast on Wednesday afternoon without having been intercepted, they said. As of 5 pm, they were some 10 hours from the enclave, Israel’s Channel 2 said.The group of around 15 women, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, was traveling aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva sailboat in the Mediterranean Sea toward the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.They had expected to be boarded by Israeli authorities at around 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) from the coast of the Gaza Strip, which has been controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007.“The Zaytouna-Oliva has passed the fatal line of 100 miles and everything is going well,” Claude Leostic, spokeswoman for the activists, told AFP by telephone.They saw lights that seemed to be focused on them at around 4 a.m. and assumed it was the Israeli navy, she said.Israeli media has reported that the authorities planned to intercept the boat and then escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod as it did with a similar attempt by activists last year.The IDF refused to comment on reports that an Israeli navy gunboat fired warning shots in the air as the ship approached.Gazans readied to welcome the boat in the afternoon with music at the enclave’s port if it manages to get through.Pictures show several people with balloons, and at least one Norwegian flag, at the port in Gaza City.The Zaytouna-Oliva set sail from Barcelona in September.Maguire, a Northern Ireland activist, is among the women of different nationalities on board.Dubbed “Women’s Boat to Gaza,” the boat is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian boats that regularly seek to go to Gaza to try to break the blockade.None has yet managed to get through, and Israeli authorities have made several arrests.The first flotilla to Gaza, led by the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010, was intercepted by IDF naval commandos. They were attacked as they boarded the Marmara, leading to a melee during which 10 Turkish activists were killed and several Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously.While that incident gave Israel a diplomatic black eye and contributed to a deterioration of ties with Turkey, Jerusalem has since apologized as part of major reconciliation deal with Ankara.Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.Israel says its maritime, land and sea blockade of Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving weapons and supplies which could be used for military purposes. An Islamist terror group, Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, seeks the destruction of Israel, and has fought three wars with the Jewish state since 2008.UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted.
New generation of Israeli ultra-Orthodox challenges old guard-Growing number of critics inside religious community call for comprehensive reform, including education and outreach to broader society-By Aron Heller October 4, 2016, 7:37 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
AP — As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel’s government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates, despite irking mainstream Israel and endangering its long-term economic prospects.He insists that shirking compulsory military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah.“To sit and learn is a mitzvah,” or commandment from God, he told The Associated Press. “It is the most important thing.”But the parochial establishment he represents is increasingly being challenged by a new generation of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are demanding academic degrees, satisfying professions, a bigger role for women and greater immersion in Israeli society.“We are looking into the future, what will become of the next generation,” said Avigayil Karlinsky, a 28-year-old social activist. “I am part of the larger Israel and I want my voice to be heard.”She said the ultra-Orthodox leadership’s aversion to progress and integration is mostly about maintaining political power rather than serving their constituents. Until recently, such open criticism was unheard of, but it is gaining traction as people like Karlinsky try to change their world from within.Experts have long warned that the ultra-Orthodox community’s high birthrate and poverty levels, along with low rates of employment and education, could doom Israel’s economic prospects.Many ultra-Orthodox acknowledge this, but they reject any outside effort to enforce changes and insist the process has to happen at its own pace.Critics inside and outside the community say a more comprehensive reform is needed, including greater emphasis on teaching children math, English and computer literacy. There also are growing calls for outreach to Israel’s secular majority.The ultra-Orthodox, or “haredim” — Hebrew for “those who fear God” — are the fastest growing sector in Israel.They currently make up about 11 percent of Israel’s 8.5 million citizens, with the majority living beneath the poverty line, according to a recent study by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank. With a growth rate four times that of the general Jewish population, their numbers are expected to rise to 14% in 2024, 19% in 2039 and 27% in 2059, the think tank predicted.Gilad Malach, a researcher who specializes in the community, said reform was already underway. He said a majority of haredi men now work, compared to just a third in 2003. Women continue to be the primary breadwinners, and their employment rates of close to 75% are comparable to the general public, he said.The number of ultra-Orthodox joining the military and pursuing degrees has also quietly grown, but “modern” haredim like Karlinsky still only make up about 10% of the community, he said. He says the leadership hopes it stays that way.“Their approach is ‘nothing has changed,'” said Malach. “But regular people are more sophisticated than that. Every mainstream haredi knows he has to make adjustments.”The state offers specialized training programs, study grants and other incentives to haredim, but they have to be handled with care so as not to come off as patronizing. While leading rabbis and their representatives in parliament have given their blessing to some projects, they have offered none of their own.“There is no vision. That’s the real problem,” said Malach. “They don’t have any plans and it would be best if the push came from them.”Litzman, who has gained popularity with the general public as health minister by campaigning against junk food and advocating for medical marijuana, has defied calls to change his community.He points to low crime rates as evidence of their superior values and insists that intensive Jewish studies at an early age instill lifelong learning skills that allow haredim to easily pick up professions later in life.“There is always new ways and new things which we have to get used to and check out if we can live with it, but there is no change in halacha,” or Jewish law, he said. “Until the Messiah will come, it will stay like that.”Karlinsky said she too is guided by her religious beliefs, but takes issue with what she considers a hypocritical approach of a leadership that clings to tradition to maintain control and reinforce a false sense of victimhood.Her husband was a star seminary student in Jerusalem until he decided it wasn’t for him. He turned to computer programming and now works among secular colleagues at Google in Tel Aviv.She established “the Torah Hub,” a Facebook support group for like-minded haredim, and another for victims of sexual abuse in the community — another previously taboo topic. She plans to send her two young children to ultra-Orthodox schools but also make sure they learn English so they have more options later in life.“I’m not afraid of change,” she said, dismissing long-held fears that immersion would lead to assimilation. “Perhaps those who are so afraid of being tempted by secularism don’t have strong enough faith to begin with.”In Elad, a central Israeli city of 50,000 mostly haredi residents, the ultra-Orthodox are seeking a happy medium. It boasts the highest rates of employment, salaries and high school matriculation of all haredi communities in Israel. It also prides itself in having clean streets, close ties to neighboring secular and Arab towns, and ample public services like libraries, theaters and community centers.Mayor Yisrael Porush, a 35-year-old father of six and scion of a prominent haredi family, said his main objective was to develop the city and provide opportunities for residents.“I’m opening the door for them and it doesn’t come at the expense of study,” he said. “The world is moving forward and everyone wants to feel equal.”He deferred larger questions about haredi society to the rulings of the great rabbis, but clearly reveled in the companies and colleges that had opened branches in his city and accommodated haredi needs, such as separate working spaces for men and women, and flexible hours for working mothers. He said such an approach would be much more effective than open confrontation.“Everyone understands that you have to provide for your family,” he said. “But if you come at us with a gun, or with a whip, or threats, we have a problem.”
World’s oldest man marks bar mitzvah, 100 years late-Holocaust survivor, 113-year-old Yisrael Kristal, missed the original celebration because of World War I-By Aron Heller October 5, 2016, 4:27 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
AP — The world’s oldest man has finally celebrated his bar mitzvah — a hundred years later than usual.Yisrael Kristal, 113, has lived through both World Wars and survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. Earlier this year, Guinness World Records awarded him a certificate as the world’s oldest man.But there was a ceremony that the supercentenarian observant Jew longed for even more.Born in Poland in 1903, Kristal missed his bar mitzvah — the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony celebrated when a boy turns 13 — because of World War I.His daughter, Shulamith Kuperstoch, said his children, grandchildren and nearly 30 great-grandchildren gathered over the weekend to mark the occasion. She said he was very pleased as he recited the traditional Jewish prayer of gratitude while draped in a prayer shawl and surrounded by loved ones.“Everyone sang and danced around him. He was very happy,” she told The Associated Press. “It was always his dream to have a bar mitzvah and he really appreciated the moment.”Kristal was born to an Orthodox Jewish family near the town of Zarnow in Poland. He was orphaned shortly after World War I and moved to Lodz to work in the family confectionary business in 1920. During the Nazi occupation of Poland he was confined to the ghetto there and later sent to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. His first wife and two children were killed in the Holocaust.Kristal survived World War II weighing only 37 kilograms (about 81 pounds) — the only survivor of his large family. He married another Holocaust survivor and moved with her to Israel in 1950 where he built a new family and a successful confectionary business.A devout Jew, he has wrapped phylacteries daily for the past century. Kuperstoch said her father still has a curious spirit and keeps a regular schedule, but she asked that reporters not burden him with questions.She said he was still in good health and could regale in stories from the early 20th century about, for example, how he saw his first car at the age of nine and wondered why it wasn’t attached to horses.Kuperstoch also said that her father had no explanation for his incredible longevity.“It’s a gift from above,” she added. “He doesn’t feel like he had any part in it.”
Ya’alon: Obama showing ‘lack of leadership’ in confronting Iran-Ex-defense minister pens cutting LA Times op-ed accusing US president of ‘wishful thinking’ in believing nuclear deal would bring reform-By Raoul Wootliff October 5, 2016, 4:35 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon slammed US President Barack Obama in an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times, accusing him of showing a “lack of leadership” in facing Iran and calling on the United States to increase pressure on the Islamic Republic.Writing as US presidential candidates tussle over, among other issues, the Iranian nuclear deal and Israel’s position on the accord, Ya’alon in Thursday’s piece implored “political leaders of both parties” to focus efforts on damage control after last year’s agreement.“US political leaders of both parties argue that destroying Islamic State is America’s top priority in the Middle East. In reality, that’s not nearly as important as confronting the challenge posed by Iran,” he wrote.Ya’alon accepted that the agreement would delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions but said Tehran was still “much more menacing to Western interests than the Sunni thugs and murderers of Raqqah and Mosul,” a reference to the Islamic State organization.The deal reached with Iran on July 14, 2015, saw the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia agree to lift some international sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Tehran would not pursue nuclear weapons.In pointed comments, Yaa’lon said that those who believed the agreement would lead to a reformed Iran “regrettably suffer from wishful thinking.”“What we lack is leadership from our traditional allies in the West, especially our good friends in America. Should President Obama or his successor shift priorities and lead a campaign to pressure Iran to end its destabilizing policies — applying the same type of pressure that forced Iran to negotiate on its nuclear program — it will find willing partners among both Arabs and Israelis,” he wrote.The former defense minister was effectively ousted from his position earlier this year amid political wrangling that saw hawkish Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman take his place.In Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Republican candidate Mike Pence took issue with claims the Iran nuclear deal prevented Tehran from ever obtaining atomic weapons. “Well, that’s not what Israel thinks,” Pence said.“Gadi Eisenkot, you can go check it,” retorted Democratic candidate Tim Kaine, referring to the IDF chief of staff.Eisenkot in January said the Iran nuclear deal was “a strategic turning point” and “a big change in terms of the direction that Iran was headed, and in the way that we saw things,” but stopped short of endorsing the deal or asserting that it fully curtails Iran’s nuclear program.“It has many risks, but also presents many opportunities. Our role is to look at the risk prism and the capability prism and to judge from that — not to assume that the worst-case scenario will take place, because that is as dangerous as the best-case scenario. Therefore, we are now revisiting our strategy,” the IDF chief said at the time.In September Ya’alon also denied that Israeli security officials now back the deal.In the LA Times op-ed, Ya’alon cautioned that “in 14 years, when critical restrictions will be lifted, the world may be in a worse position to prevent Iran’s nuclear project than ever before. In history and international politics, 14 years is the blink of an eye. And there are many factors — such as the possibility of global events that distract international attention from Iranian violations — that could shrink that time frame significantly.”This is not the first time that Ya’alon has taken aim at the Obama administration over its Middle East policies. In 2014, he reportedly savaged US-led peace talks with the Palestinians, lambasting the security proposal drawn up by US Secretary of State John Kerry as being “not worth the paper it is printed on.”Ya’alon also called Kerry “inexplicably obsessive” and “messianic” in his efforts to coax the two sides into a peace agreement, saying the secretary of state had “nothing to teach me about the conflict with the Palestinians.”
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
IDF hits Gaza for second time after rocket attack — Palestinian media-Israeli airstrike targets northern and southern Strip, in fresh raid after projectile fired from Hamas-run territory lands in Sderot-By Judah Ari Gross October 5, 2016, 3:47 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israeli warplanes struck Hamas sites in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, in the second such attack of the day after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck Sderot, according to Palestinian media.The Israel Defense Forces would not immediately comment on the reported airstrikes.According to Palestinian media, Israeli jets hit targets in both the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern Strip and in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks fired on Hamas targets in Beit Hanoun in the northeastern corner of the Strip, the army said. There were no immediate reports of Palestinian injuries.The rocket, which was fired from the Gaza Strip, struck a street in the Israeli city of Sderot — a few miles from Beit Hanoun — just before 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.The strike caused damage and sent three people to the hospital suffering from anxiety attacks.The Islamic State-affiliated Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis terrorist group took responsibility for the rocket launch in statements released in both Arabic and Hebrew.“Oh you cowardly Jews: You don’t have safety in our land. [Former defense minister Moshe] Ya’alon, the failure at giving security. [Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman to fail will be a certainty,” the Salafist group said in its statement, in poorly translated Hebrew.The attack against Israel was apparently a response to the Strip’s Hamas rulers arresting several members of the Salafist organization, according to the group’s statement. As usual the group also releases messages in Hebrew, claiming there will be no security for #Israel http://pic.twitter.com/3iepoZlUGz— Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) October 5, 2016-Though the Salafist group claimed the attack, Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible for any attacks emanating from Gaza and routinely responds to such launches with strikes inside the Palestinian territory.“We can’t go after every little group in Gaza with a couple of dozen members that goes out one night and fires a rocket,” a senior officer in the IDF’s Southern Command told reporters last month.Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis released a similar statement last month after a failed attempt to launch a rocket at southern Israel on the first day of school. The group also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that hit Sderot in August, landing between two houses in the southern Israeli city.In Wednesday morning’s rocket attack, three people in Sderot “suffered anxiety attacks” and were treated by medical teams, but no one was physically hurt by the attack, according to the Magen David Adom medical service.The three — including a 15-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man — were taken to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center for further care, MDA paramedics said.The street where the rocket landed was damaged in the attack, as were several nearby cars and homes.Police sappers were called to the scene, and the area was closed off to pedestrians and traffic, police said.Last month, a mortar shell was launched from the Gaza Strip and landed in a field in southern Israel, causing neither injury nor damage, the army said. The projectile hit an empty field in the Eshkol region, next to the southern Strip, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces.
Boat of activists seeking to break Gaza blockade nears coast-15 women aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva draw within 70 nautical miles of Palestinian enclave; Israeli navy expected to intercept-By AFP and Times of Israel staff October 5, 2016, 4:30 pm
A group of activists seeking to break Israel’s decade-long security blockade of the Gaza Strip were less than 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the coast on Wednesday afternoon without having been intercepted, they said. As of 5 pm, they were some 10 hours from the enclave, Israel’s Channel 2 said.The group of around 15 women, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, was traveling aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva sailboat in the Mediterranean Sea toward the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.They had expected to be boarded by Israeli authorities at around 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) from the coast of the Gaza Strip, which has been controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007.“The Zaytouna-Oliva has passed the fatal line of 100 miles and everything is going well,” Claude Leostic, spokeswoman for the activists, told AFP by telephone.They saw lights that seemed to be focused on them at around 4 a.m. and assumed it was the Israeli navy, she said.Israeli media has reported that the authorities planned to intercept the boat and then escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod as it did with a similar attempt by activists last year.The IDF refused to comment on reports that an Israeli navy gunboat fired warning shots in the air as the ship approached.Gazans readied to welcome the boat in the afternoon with music at the enclave’s port if it manages to get through.Pictures show several people with balloons, and at least one Norwegian flag, at the port in Gaza City.The Zaytouna-Oliva set sail from Barcelona in September.Maguire, a Northern Ireland activist, is among the women of different nationalities on board.Dubbed “Women’s Boat to Gaza,” the boat is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian boats that regularly seek to go to Gaza to try to break the blockade.None has yet managed to get through, and Israeli authorities have made several arrests.The first flotilla to Gaza, led by the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010, was intercepted by IDF naval commandos. They were attacked as they boarded the Marmara, leading to a melee during which 10 Turkish activists were killed and several Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously.While that incident gave Israel a diplomatic black eye and contributed to a deterioration of ties with Turkey, Jerusalem has since apologized as part of major reconciliation deal with Ankara.Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.Israel says its maritime, land and sea blockade of Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving weapons and supplies which could be used for military purposes. An Islamist terror group, Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, seeks the destruction of Israel, and has fought three wars with the Jewish state since 2008.UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted.
New generation of Israeli ultra-Orthodox challenges old guard-Growing number of critics inside religious community call for comprehensive reform, including education and outreach to broader society-By Aron Heller October 4, 2016, 7:37 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
AP — As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel’s government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates, despite irking mainstream Israel and endangering its long-term economic prospects.He insists that shirking compulsory military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the noblest of purposes: a life devoted to the study of scripture that has preserved Jewish traditions over centuries and will ultimately bring about the coming of the Messiah.“To sit and learn is a mitzvah,” or commandment from God, he told The Associated Press. “It is the most important thing.”But the parochial establishment he represents is increasingly being challenged by a new generation of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are demanding academic degrees, satisfying professions, a bigger role for women and greater immersion in Israeli society.“We are looking into the future, what will become of the next generation,” said Avigayil Karlinsky, a 28-year-old social activist. “I am part of the larger Israel and I want my voice to be heard.”She said the ultra-Orthodox leadership’s aversion to progress and integration is mostly about maintaining political power rather than serving their constituents. Until recently, such open criticism was unheard of, but it is gaining traction as people like Karlinsky try to change their world from within.Experts have long warned that the ultra-Orthodox community’s high birthrate and poverty levels, along with low rates of employment and education, could doom Israel’s economic prospects.Many ultra-Orthodox acknowledge this, but they reject any outside effort to enforce changes and insist the process has to happen at its own pace.Critics inside and outside the community say a more comprehensive reform is needed, including greater emphasis on teaching children math, English and computer literacy. There also are growing calls for outreach to Israel’s secular majority.The ultra-Orthodox, or “haredim” — Hebrew for “those who fear God” — are the fastest growing sector in Israel.They currently make up about 11 percent of Israel’s 8.5 million citizens, with the majority living beneath the poverty line, according to a recent study by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent think tank. With a growth rate four times that of the general Jewish population, their numbers are expected to rise to 14% in 2024, 19% in 2039 and 27% in 2059, the think tank predicted.Gilad Malach, a researcher who specializes in the community, said reform was already underway. He said a majority of haredi men now work, compared to just a third in 2003. Women continue to be the primary breadwinners, and their employment rates of close to 75% are comparable to the general public, he said.The number of ultra-Orthodox joining the military and pursuing degrees has also quietly grown, but “modern” haredim like Karlinsky still only make up about 10% of the community, he said. He says the leadership hopes it stays that way.“Their approach is ‘nothing has changed,'” said Malach. “But regular people are more sophisticated than that. Every mainstream haredi knows he has to make adjustments.”The state offers specialized training programs, study grants and other incentives to haredim, but they have to be handled with care so as not to come off as patronizing. While leading rabbis and their representatives in parliament have given their blessing to some projects, they have offered none of their own.“There is no vision. That’s the real problem,” said Malach. “They don’t have any plans and it would be best if the push came from them.”Litzman, who has gained popularity with the general public as health minister by campaigning against junk food and advocating for medical marijuana, has defied calls to change his community.He points to low crime rates as evidence of their superior values and insists that intensive Jewish studies at an early age instill lifelong learning skills that allow haredim to easily pick up professions later in life.“There is always new ways and new things which we have to get used to and check out if we can live with it, but there is no change in halacha,” or Jewish law, he said. “Until the Messiah will come, it will stay like that.”Karlinsky said she too is guided by her religious beliefs, but takes issue with what she considers a hypocritical approach of a leadership that clings to tradition to maintain control and reinforce a false sense of victimhood.Her husband was a star seminary student in Jerusalem until he decided it wasn’t for him. He turned to computer programming and now works among secular colleagues at Google in Tel Aviv.She established “the Torah Hub,” a Facebook support group for like-minded haredim, and another for victims of sexual abuse in the community — another previously taboo topic. She plans to send her two young children to ultra-Orthodox schools but also make sure they learn English so they have more options later in life.“I’m not afraid of change,” she said, dismissing long-held fears that immersion would lead to assimilation. “Perhaps those who are so afraid of being tempted by secularism don’t have strong enough faith to begin with.”In Elad, a central Israeli city of 50,000 mostly haredi residents, the ultra-Orthodox are seeking a happy medium. It boasts the highest rates of employment, salaries and high school matriculation of all haredi communities in Israel. It also prides itself in having clean streets, close ties to neighboring secular and Arab towns, and ample public services like libraries, theaters and community centers.Mayor Yisrael Porush, a 35-year-old father of six and scion of a prominent haredi family, said his main objective was to develop the city and provide opportunities for residents.“I’m opening the door for them and it doesn’t come at the expense of study,” he said. “The world is moving forward and everyone wants to feel equal.”He deferred larger questions about haredi society to the rulings of the great rabbis, but clearly reveled in the companies and colleges that had opened branches in his city and accommodated haredi needs, such as separate working spaces for men and women, and flexible hours for working mothers. He said such an approach would be much more effective than open confrontation.“Everyone understands that you have to provide for your family,” he said. “But if you come at us with a gun, or with a whip, or threats, we have a problem.”
World’s oldest man marks bar mitzvah, 100 years late-Holocaust survivor, 113-year-old Yisrael Kristal, missed the original celebration because of World War I-By Aron Heller October 5, 2016, 4:27 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
AP — The world’s oldest man has finally celebrated his bar mitzvah — a hundred years later than usual.Yisrael Kristal, 113, has lived through both World Wars and survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. Earlier this year, Guinness World Records awarded him a certificate as the world’s oldest man.But there was a ceremony that the supercentenarian observant Jew longed for even more.Born in Poland in 1903, Kristal missed his bar mitzvah — the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony celebrated when a boy turns 13 — because of World War I.His daughter, Shulamith Kuperstoch, said his children, grandchildren and nearly 30 great-grandchildren gathered over the weekend to mark the occasion. She said he was very pleased as he recited the traditional Jewish prayer of gratitude while draped in a prayer shawl and surrounded by loved ones.“Everyone sang and danced around him. He was very happy,” she told The Associated Press. “It was always his dream to have a bar mitzvah and he really appreciated the moment.”Kristal was born to an Orthodox Jewish family near the town of Zarnow in Poland. He was orphaned shortly after World War I and moved to Lodz to work in the family confectionary business in 1920. During the Nazi occupation of Poland he was confined to the ghetto there and later sent to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. His first wife and two children were killed in the Holocaust.Kristal survived World War II weighing only 37 kilograms (about 81 pounds) — the only survivor of his large family. He married another Holocaust survivor and moved with her to Israel in 1950 where he built a new family and a successful confectionary business.A devout Jew, he has wrapped phylacteries daily for the past century. Kuperstoch said her father still has a curious spirit and keeps a regular schedule, but she asked that reporters not burden him with questions.She said he was still in good health and could regale in stories from the early 20th century about, for example, how he saw his first car at the age of nine and wondered why it wasn’t attached to horses.Kuperstoch also said that her father had no explanation for his incredible longevity.“It’s a gift from above,” she added. “He doesn’t feel like he had any part in it.”
Ya’alon: Obama showing ‘lack of leadership’ in confronting Iran-Ex-defense minister pens cutting LA Times op-ed accusing US president of ‘wishful thinking’ in believing nuclear deal would bring reform-By Raoul Wootliff October 5, 2016, 4:35 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon slammed US President Barack Obama in an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times, accusing him of showing a “lack of leadership” in facing Iran and calling on the United States to increase pressure on the Islamic Republic.Writing as US presidential candidates tussle over, among other issues, the Iranian nuclear deal and Israel’s position on the accord, Ya’alon in Thursday’s piece implored “political leaders of both parties” to focus efforts on damage control after last year’s agreement.“US political leaders of both parties argue that destroying Islamic State is America’s top priority in the Middle East. In reality, that’s not nearly as important as confronting the challenge posed by Iran,” he wrote.Ya’alon accepted that the agreement would delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions but said Tehran was still “much more menacing to Western interests than the Sunni thugs and murderers of Raqqah and Mosul,” a reference to the Islamic State organization.The deal reached with Iran on July 14, 2015, saw the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia agree to lift some international sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Tehran would not pursue nuclear weapons.In pointed comments, Yaa’lon said that those who believed the agreement would lead to a reformed Iran “regrettably suffer from wishful thinking.”“What we lack is leadership from our traditional allies in the West, especially our good friends in America. Should President Obama or his successor shift priorities and lead a campaign to pressure Iran to end its destabilizing policies — applying the same type of pressure that forced Iran to negotiate on its nuclear program — it will find willing partners among both Arabs and Israelis,” he wrote.The former defense minister was effectively ousted from his position earlier this year amid political wrangling that saw hawkish Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman take his place.In Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Republican candidate Mike Pence took issue with claims the Iran nuclear deal prevented Tehran from ever obtaining atomic weapons. “Well, that’s not what Israel thinks,” Pence said.“Gadi Eisenkot, you can go check it,” retorted Democratic candidate Tim Kaine, referring to the IDF chief of staff.Eisenkot in January said the Iran nuclear deal was “a strategic turning point” and “a big change in terms of the direction that Iran was headed, and in the way that we saw things,” but stopped short of endorsing the deal or asserting that it fully curtails Iran’s nuclear program.“It has many risks, but also presents many opportunities. Our role is to look at the risk prism and the capability prism and to judge from that — not to assume that the worst-case scenario will take place, because that is as dangerous as the best-case scenario. Therefore, we are now revisiting our strategy,” the IDF chief said at the time.In September Ya’alon also denied that Israeli security officials now back the deal.In the LA Times op-ed, Ya’alon cautioned that “in 14 years, when critical restrictions will be lifted, the world may be in a worse position to prevent Iran’s nuclear project than ever before. In history and international politics, 14 years is the blink of an eye. And there are many factors — such as the possibility of global events that distract international attention from Iranian violations — that could shrink that time frame significantly.”This is not the first time that Ya’alon has taken aim at the Obama administration over its Middle East policies. In 2014, he reportedly savaged US-led peace talks with the Palestinians, lambasting the security proposal drawn up by US Secretary of State John Kerry as being “not worth the paper it is printed on.”Ya’alon also called Kerry “inexplicably obsessive” and “messianic” in his efforts to coax the two sides into a peace agreement, saying the secretary of state had “nothing to teach me about the conflict with the Palestinians.”
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