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
Reform and Conservative Judaism left out of new Israeli pluralism index-A survey of 1,300 Jewish and Arab Israelis is a window into seeds of coexistence, and lingering prejudice-By Amanda Borschel-Dan April 20, 2017, 6:32 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
After sitting through a lengthy PowerPoint presentation by the Jewish People Policy Institute of its 2017 Pluralism Index in Jerusalem on Thursday, a group of Reform and Conservative leaders complained of once again being left off the charts.For the purposes of the ongoing project, the JPPI, a not-for-profit think tank tasked with creating strategy to ensure the future of the Jewish people, defines Israeli pluralism as “the condition in which Israelis of different social classes, ideologies, religious streams, levels of beliefs and practices, genders, and ethnic backgrounds have an opportunity to legitimately exercise their differences in the public sphere.”However, when some 1,000 Israeli Jews surveyed were asked to self-identify with nine possible religious or secular streams, there was no option for the Reform and Conservative movements. There were five choices for gradations of Orthodox observance — including “hardal” or “Haredi-leumi” which makes up only one percent of the population — but no nod to non-Orthodox Jewish streams, which are some 5-8 percent of Israel’s Jewish population.Perhaps, joked Rabbi Uri Regev, head of Hiddush: For Religious Freedom and Equality, this exclusion of non-Orthodox Judaism is because there is still no Hebrew word for “pluralism.”But leader of the Israeli Reform Movement Gilad Kariv called the oversight a “moment for heshbon nefesh” (a term for introspective reckoning used ahead of the Day of Atonement).“Why does this phenomenon happen? When you are thinking of groups that are only 1% of the population, think of groups that are 8%! I suggest that the institute reexamine the issue of when an Israeli group becomes a player in the game of Israeli identity,” said Kariv.Ironically, this oversight was strangely in line with the overarching findings of the index.“Israel is a place where people are happy to live — Jews, ultra-Orthodox, Arabs. They just don’t like living together,” said JPPI president Avinoam Bar-Yosef in opening remarks at the presentation. Bar-Yosef later apologized to Kariv, Conservative movement head Yizhar Hess, and the other leaders of Israel’s non-Orthodox Jewry in attendance for the omission.“There is no doubt that this was a mistake, and no doubt that it was unintentional. We usually do relate to the Reform and Conservative movements as relevant groups. Some things fell between the cracks,” said Bar-Yosef.The study was supported by the William Davidson Foundation and statistical analysis and methodological development was led by economist Prof. Steven Popper of the Rand Corporation. Demographer Prof. Uzi Rebhun, sociologist Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Shmuel Rosner, and Institute Fellow Noah Slepkov formed the rest of the index’s team.There was one place in which the non-Orthodox movements were mentioned in the index: in a ranking of how different segments of Israeli society view other sectors’ contributions. On average, Jewish Israelis ranked “reformim” (often used as a term of derision by Orthodox Jews) as below average in their contributions, under Diaspora Jews and settlers, but above Israelis who live abroad.“Totally secular” Jews ranked Reform Jews in the top 10, whereas ultra-Orthodox Jews ranked them in last place in terms of their contributions to Israeli society. (The “totally secular” Jews returned the favor and ranked Haredi Jews last.)-Unexpected findings-The pluralism index is a treasure trove of data that will likely be slowly mined for numerous upcoming reports. Among its most unexpected findings are those that relate to Israel’s Arab sector. (Only 300 of the 1,300 polled were Arab, leaving a margin of error of just over 5 points, as opposed to Jews’ 3+ point margin.)-When asked how comfortable they feel in Israel “being themselves,” 74% of Arab Israelis said they were comfortable or very comfortable, versus 88% of Jews. However, asked whether there is too much freedom of expression in Israel, 74% of Arab respondents agreed while only 47% of Jews did.According to Rosner, who led the presentation and the project, those Israelis who politically define themselves as “moderate left” are most likely to say they would live with the “other,” followed by those who define themselves as “moderate right.”When asked whether Jews and Arabs should live together in mixed neighborhoods, 73% of Arabs said they should not (versus 68% of Jews).‘A significant majority of Muslim Arabs and the vast majority (more than 90%) of Christian Arabs in Israel do not think it is wise for their respective groups to live together’-“Totally secular” Jews were less inclined to live with religious neighbors, especially the ultra-Orthodox. “Similarly, a significant majority of Muslim Arabs and the vast majority (more than 90%) of Christian Arabs in Israel do not think it is wise for their respective groups to live together,” according to the report.Some in attendance marked as a seed of potential coexistence the fact that 76% of Arabs polled said they would like their children to study in schools with Jews (versus 46% of Jews). Likewise, when Arab Israelis were asked which segments most contribute to society, “somewhat surprisingly” they ranked Israeli soldiers higher than most other groups.“That they rank ‘settlers’ at the bottom of the list is less of a surprise. And much like Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs also take a dim view of the contribution of ultra-Orthodox Jews to Israel’s success,” according to the report.Despite the breadth of the findings, which are available online in Hebrew, one member of the audience wondered if the index disproportionately focused on religion.“I see myself as a ‘national Jew,'” not a secular Jew, “and I’d be happy if I’m not alone,” said Sallai Meridor, a former head of the Jewish Agency under whose chairmanship the JPPI was founded. He added that for many of the religious Jews he knows, nationalism is more important to their identities than religion.“Identity doesn’t come from which rabbi you go to, or which kashrut you observe,” said Meridor.“Is the religious identification really such an important piece of Israeli identity, or are we missing other factors?” asked Meridor.
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
Reform and Conservative Judaism left out of new Israeli pluralism index-A survey of 1,300 Jewish and Arab Israelis is a window into seeds of coexistence, and lingering prejudice-By Amanda Borschel-Dan April 20, 2017, 6:32 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
After sitting through a lengthy PowerPoint presentation by the Jewish People Policy Institute of its 2017 Pluralism Index in Jerusalem on Thursday, a group of Reform and Conservative leaders complained of once again being left off the charts.For the purposes of the ongoing project, the JPPI, a not-for-profit think tank tasked with creating strategy to ensure the future of the Jewish people, defines Israeli pluralism as “the condition in which Israelis of different social classes, ideologies, religious streams, levels of beliefs and practices, genders, and ethnic backgrounds have an opportunity to legitimately exercise their differences in the public sphere.”However, when some 1,000 Israeli Jews surveyed were asked to self-identify with nine possible religious or secular streams, there was no option for the Reform and Conservative movements. There were five choices for gradations of Orthodox observance — including “hardal” or “Haredi-leumi” which makes up only one percent of the population — but no nod to non-Orthodox Jewish streams, which are some 5-8 percent of Israel’s Jewish population.Perhaps, joked Rabbi Uri Regev, head of Hiddush: For Religious Freedom and Equality, this exclusion of non-Orthodox Judaism is because there is still no Hebrew word for “pluralism.”But leader of the Israeli Reform Movement Gilad Kariv called the oversight a “moment for heshbon nefesh” (a term for introspective reckoning used ahead of the Day of Atonement).“Why does this phenomenon happen? When you are thinking of groups that are only 1% of the population, think of groups that are 8%! I suggest that the institute reexamine the issue of when an Israeli group becomes a player in the game of Israeli identity,” said Kariv.Ironically, this oversight was strangely in line with the overarching findings of the index.“Israel is a place where people are happy to live — Jews, ultra-Orthodox, Arabs. They just don’t like living together,” said JPPI president Avinoam Bar-Yosef in opening remarks at the presentation. Bar-Yosef later apologized to Kariv, Conservative movement head Yizhar Hess, and the other leaders of Israel’s non-Orthodox Jewry in attendance for the omission.“There is no doubt that this was a mistake, and no doubt that it was unintentional. We usually do relate to the Reform and Conservative movements as relevant groups. Some things fell between the cracks,” said Bar-Yosef.The study was supported by the William Davidson Foundation and statistical analysis and methodological development was led by economist Prof. Steven Popper of the Rand Corporation. Demographer Prof. Uzi Rebhun, sociologist Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Shmuel Rosner, and Institute Fellow Noah Slepkov formed the rest of the index’s team.There was one place in which the non-Orthodox movements were mentioned in the index: in a ranking of how different segments of Israeli society view other sectors’ contributions. On average, Jewish Israelis ranked “reformim” (often used as a term of derision by Orthodox Jews) as below average in their contributions, under Diaspora Jews and settlers, but above Israelis who live abroad.“Totally secular” Jews ranked Reform Jews in the top 10, whereas ultra-Orthodox Jews ranked them in last place in terms of their contributions to Israeli society. (The “totally secular” Jews returned the favor and ranked Haredi Jews last.)-Unexpected findings-The pluralism index is a treasure trove of data that will likely be slowly mined for numerous upcoming reports. Among its most unexpected findings are those that relate to Israel’s Arab sector. (Only 300 of the 1,300 polled were Arab, leaving a margin of error of just over 5 points, as opposed to Jews’ 3+ point margin.)-When asked how comfortable they feel in Israel “being themselves,” 74% of Arab Israelis said they were comfortable or very comfortable, versus 88% of Jews. However, asked whether there is too much freedom of expression in Israel, 74% of Arab respondents agreed while only 47% of Jews did.According to Rosner, who led the presentation and the project, those Israelis who politically define themselves as “moderate left” are most likely to say they would live with the “other,” followed by those who define themselves as “moderate right.”When asked whether Jews and Arabs should live together in mixed neighborhoods, 73% of Arabs said they should not (versus 68% of Jews).‘A significant majority of Muslim Arabs and the vast majority (more than 90%) of Christian Arabs in Israel do not think it is wise for their respective groups to live together’-“Totally secular” Jews were less inclined to live with religious neighbors, especially the ultra-Orthodox. “Similarly, a significant majority of Muslim Arabs and the vast majority (more than 90%) of Christian Arabs in Israel do not think it is wise for their respective groups to live together,” according to the report.Some in attendance marked as a seed of potential coexistence the fact that 76% of Arabs polled said they would like their children to study in schools with Jews (versus 46% of Jews). Likewise, when Arab Israelis were asked which segments most contribute to society, “somewhat surprisingly” they ranked Israeli soldiers higher than most other groups.“That they rank ‘settlers’ at the bottom of the list is less of a surprise. And much like Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs also take a dim view of the contribution of ultra-Orthodox Jews to Israel’s success,” according to the report.Despite the breadth of the findings, which are available online in Hebrew, one member of the audience wondered if the index disproportionately focused on religion.“I see myself as a ‘national Jew,'” not a secular Jew, “and I’d be happy if I’m not alone,” said Sallai Meridor, a former head of the Jewish Agency under whose chairmanship the JPPI was founded. He added that for many of the religious Jews he knows, nationalism is more important to their identities than religion.“Identity doesn’t come from which rabbi you go to, or which kashrut you observe,” said Meridor.“Is the religious identification really such an important piece of Israeli identity, or are we missing other factors?” asked Meridor.
Abbas says ready to meet Netanyahu ‘anytime’ in Washington-Palestinian Authority president says settlement building must stop before peace talks can resume-By Sue Surkes April 20, 2017, 12:23 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday expressed willingness to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington under the auspices of US President Donald Trump.In an interview published by the Japanese news site Asahi Shimbun, Abbas said, “I am ready to meet the prime minister of Israel anytime in Washington under the patronage of President Trump.”The PA president also hinted in written responses to questions from the paper that he would demand a settlement freeze as a precondition to peace talks.“The question… before talking about any peace process, is to create the right environment for peace to come. This will be impossible as far as Israel’s colonial-settlement enterprises continues,” Abbas said.Netanyahu has for several months publicly called for Abbas to return to the negotiating table with Israel, without preconditions.The White House announced Wednesday that Trump will meet with Abbas on May 3 for talks on efforts to breathe life into the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.“They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.Trump spoke to Abbas for the first time over the phone in March and invited him to the White House. Netanyahu met with Trump during a Washington visit in February.Abbas told US special peace envoy Jason Greenblatt that he believed a “historic” peace deal with Israel was possible with Trump in office.Greenblatt told Arab foreign ministers in late March that Trump was committed to reaching a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that would “reverberate” throughout the Middle East and the world.Greenblatt has made two trips to the region since Trump assumed the presidency in January in an effort to jumpstart the long-dormant peace negotiations.
Bucking criticism, PM says 2014 Gaza war was ‘inevitable’-Notion of diplomatic agreement with Hamas is ‘ludicrous,’ Netanyahu tells emotional Knesset committee session-By Judah Ari Gross April 19, 2017, 8:09 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Decisions by government leaders in the run up to the 2014 Gaza war and during the military campaign became a political lightning rod during a Knesset meeting Wednesday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fought back against criticism over his management of the war amid shouting matches between lawmakers and emotional pleas from bereaved families.In the emotionally fraught meeting, Netanyahu pushed back against criticism contained in a state auditor report on the 2014 Gaza war, saying he had done everything possible to keep the conflict contained, and punished Gazan terror group Hamas for fighting Israel.“We didn’t want a war in the summer of 2014 and we tried to prevent it,” he said during the three-and-a-half hour hearing held by the parliament’s State Control Committee.Netanyahu contended that war was inevitable and that the conflict was a clear victory for Israel, seen by the fact that Hamas “begged” for it to end.The highly critical state comptroller report, published in February, noted serious mistakes and failures by the military and government ahead of and during the 50-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge.One of the most damning allegations, repeated in the meeting by one of the report’s authors Brig. Gen. (res.) Yosef Beinhorn, contended that better decision-making practices could have obviated the need for a military operation entirely.Wednesday’s committee hearing frequently broke down into partisan squabbles and arguments between lawmakers and the families of fallen soldiers.The meeting was the third and final session called by the committee to discuss the state comptroller report, and representatives from nearly every political party were present as Netanyahu was called in to answer questions about the report for the first time.Noticeably absent from the meeting was Jewish Home party leader Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who was an outspoken critic of Netanyahu and then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon’s conduct during the conflict.At the beginning of his remarks, Netanyahu said he agreed that a productive conversation about the conflict was necessary, but that an open-door committee meeting wasn’t the right forum.“Invite me to an operative discussion, not in front of the cameras,” Netanyahu said, motioning to the journalists in the back of the room. “We can talk about what happened during Protective Edge and afterwards.”Committee head Karin Elharar accepted Netanyahu’s request and said she would try to schedule a closed-door meeting within the next few weeks.-No negotiations with Hamas-The meeting was a sign of how charged the conflict remains in many circles nearly three years later, with politicians and others continuing to argue over war-time decisions and efforts to secure the remains of two soldiers killed in battle ongoing, and a tense border coupled with reported Hamas efforts to rebuild its tunnels running under the Strip and into Israel leading many to believe a new conflict may be a matter of when, not if.Some 68 IDF soldiers were killed in the summer 2014 fighting, along with six civilians in Israel. Over 2,000 Palestinians were killed in the conflict, most of them combatants, according to Israel.The prime minister presented the war as inevitable, citing the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank that was among the main catalysts of the conflict. After Israel arrested many Hamas members during the search for the teens, the group formulated a plan to attack Israel by air, through the use of rocket fire and hang-gliders; by sea, with frogmen; and by land, through its subterranean tunnel network, Netanyahu said, adding that most of the attack plans were thwarted by the IDF.The prime minister said that at the start of the operation he spoke with then-US president Barack Obama, who voiced his opposition to an Israeli ground campaign. “I told him that if the threat of tunnels continued, we would need to go in.”Netanyahu asserted that the campaign — which he presented as a multi-pronged military plan by Hamas with the goal of ending the naval blockade on the coastal enclave — did not end by way of ceasefire negotiations brokered by Egypt.Asked how the fighting ended if there were no negotiations with the terror group, Netanyahu said, “The military wing [of Hamas] begged — there’s no other word for it — begged the political wing, which lives abroad: Please, we can’t do it anymore.“There was no deal. What there was is that they threw up their hands — pure and simple,” he added.The prime minister also repeatedly dismissed the suggestion that Israel could have reached a diplomatic arrangement with Hamas.“The thought of a political alternative with Hamas is ludicrous to me,” Netanyahu said, likening it on several occasions to cutting a deal with the Islamic State group in Raqqa and Mosul.Looking ahead, Netanyahu told the committee there was little hope for the Gaza Strip and no possibility of direct negotiations with Hamas for “political alternatives” to war.Without a diplomatic solution, he said, the only alternative for the future was another war, which he noted would look similar but more forceful than the past three campaigns in the Strip.“Our ability to hurt Gaza has grown. I won’t elaborate,” Netanyahu said.The prime minister was presumably referring to capabilities revealed by IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot last month, which allow the military to attack Hamas tunnels from afar.The prime minister also touched briefly on the new barrier being constructed on the Gaza border to protect Israel from underground tunnels.“I hope one day there’s a State Control Committee meeting about why we invested so many resources in this,” he said.Netanyahu said Hamas is deterred, noting that the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel in recent months were not launched by Hamas, but by fringe Salafists.“It’s almost three years since Protective Edge. We are in the midst of the quietest time period, as IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot said recently, since the Six Day War,” Netanyahu said.In addition to taking out 34 Hamas tunnels, the IDF destroyed military infrastructure and killed approximately 1,000 Hamas fighters, including “about a third of its general staff,” Netanyahu said.But the problem with war in Gaza, Netanyahu said, is that all Israel can do is restore its deterrence against Hamas because the only other option is taking over the Gaza Strip entirely. “And if you occupy, you have to know who you’re going to hand it over to,” he said.In the meantime, Israel has to deal with a growing humanitarian crisis in the Strip, where according to Netanyahu, each attempt to resolve it only helps Hamas.“Hamas takes 70% of the [gross domestic] product of Gaza. You should see how [Hamas leaders] live, in their ‘military headquarters’. We don’t have a battalion or brigade commander who lives as well,” he said.According to Netanyahu, Hamas expects Israel to take care of its population. “Hamas doesn’t care about the people of Gaza.”“We increased the number of trucks going into Gaza from 250 before Protective Edge to about 1,000. And then we realized quickly that they were being rerouted [to Hamas] and so we lowered it again to what it is now, about 600,” he said.“I’ve spoken with people in the region. We’re the only ones who care about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It’s absurd,” Netanyahu said.-‘You’re right or you’re wrong’-The state comptroller report debated by the committee on Wednesday was centered around the management of the security cabinet by Netanyahu and then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, specifically the cabinet’s alleged failure to set concrete, strategic goals for the military in the campaign. It also noted intelligence gaps and tactical mistakes by the Israel Defense Forces, then led by Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz, notably its unpreparedness for the threat of Hamas tunnels.The prime minister responded to the recommendations in the report that called for changes to the structure of the security cabinet, saying “there’s no mechanical, systematic, Cartesian way to change the way that decisions are made.”While conceding that ministers should have received full updates, the prime minister expressed opposition to enshrining in law procedural changes to the panel, which he said would make decision-making impossible.According to Netanyahu, there are diminishing returns for discussions about strategic issues — what kind of security fence is best, how many missile interceptors Israel needs, etc.“You can never have enough meetings. At some point, a decision needs to be made,” he said. “Either you’re right or you’re wrong.”-Lawmakers, father of fallen soldier spar-During the discussion, members of the coalition clashed repeatedly with politicians from the opposition and, at times, with Ilan Sagi, the bereaved father of Erez Sagi, and with Lea Goldin, the mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body is currently being held by Hamas in Gaza, along with the body of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul.“Operation Protective Edge isn’t over. Hamas wanted to kidnap soldiers and it still has two of them,” said a visibly emotional Leah Goldin.Her voice rising and quavering, she accused Netanyahu of turning their families into the “enemy of the people,” pitting their desire to retrieve their sons’ remains against the country’s security needs.As Likud MK Miki Zohar cut in, she told him to be quiet. “I don’t even know who you are,” she said, punctuating her displeasure with the junior lawmaker by tossing a cup of water in his direction as the two yelled at each other.Committee chair Elharar asked Netanyahu why decisions about the war couldn’t be made in the “proper way,” meaning with the input of the cabinet. Before the prime minister could answer, Zohar and David Bitan, also from Likud, interjected and yelled about leaks from the cabinet meetings.As opposition party members shouted back at what they dubbed the “Likud choir,” Sagi demanded that Bitan and Zohar be more respectful and stop “bellyaching.”“Where were you during the war? My son’s under the ground, and they’re acting like they’re the heroes,” said Sagi, whose son was among several soldiers killed in a pillbox bunker by gunmen who emerged from a cross-border tunnel in Israeli territory.Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah sparred verbally with Netanyahu and his military secretary over the specifics of the army’s preparedness for the tunnel threat. (Their argument continued into the halls of the Knesset at the end of the committee meeting.)-Shelah insisted that the army did not have a process in place to deal with the tunnels, while Netanyahu and his military secretary Brig. Gen. Eliezer Toledano said that though there was no “piece of paper” with the orders on it, in practice, the army did know how to handle the tunnels.There were only a few incidents of Hamas gunmen coming into Israel through the tunnels, “which cost us eight — no, 11 soldiers,” Netanyahu said, noting that no civilians were killed by the underground threat during the conflict.The room fell silent when Michal Keidar, whose husband Lt. Col. Dolev Keidar was killed in the 2014 war, spoke.“The job of the government — and every Knesset member — is to prevent the next war,” she said. “You all keep saying the war was inevitable, but there’s always another option.”Turning to Netanyahu, Keidar added, “Stop blaming everyone for your failures.”Breaking down in tears, she decried the committee meeting as a “big play in front of the cameras” with every politician playing a part rather than a serious discussion on how to prevent failures in the future that could save human lives.
Gaza hospitals on verge of blackout amid energy crisis-As internal Palestinian bickering holds up oil supplies, estimates give medical centers up to 72 hours before generator fuel runs out-By Avi Issacharoff April 20, 2017, 3:47 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip could face blackouts within days as an energy crisis continues to throttle power supplies in the Palestinian enclave.Israel and Palestinian officials estimated Thursday that hospitals would finish their reserve fuel for generators within 48-72 hours.On Sunday Gaza’s only functioning power station stopped working after running out of fuel. The crisis was compounded by a technical fault shutting down a power line between Egypt and Gaza that had provided over six hours of electricity a day.Gazans now have just four hours of electricity, followed by 12-hour blackouts, down from two eight-hour periods of electricity a day when the plant is operating normally and supplies are coming in from outside the enclave.Electricity for the Strip’s two million inhabitants has been a long-running source of dispute, with a dispute between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terror group administering the Strip leading to cuts in fuel supplies to the power station.At the beginning of the week power station officials and the Gaza Energy Authority announced that they were unable to pay full price for fuel that is trucked into Strip as it includes a haulage tax that dramatically increases the cost from NIS 1.08 ($0.29) per liter to NIS 5.08 ($1.39) per liter.The Hamas-controlled energy authority is demanding that the Palestinian Authority pays the tax as it has done since 1994 but the PA, run by the rival Fatah party, is refusing.In recent months Qatar paid for the diesel oil that fuels the power station but that funding also ended and negotiations between the PA and Hamas to solve the matter have so far not borne fruit.Hamas seized power in Gaza in a violent coup in 2007 from the Ramallah-based Fatah organization of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel and Egypt then initiated a security blockade meant to prevent the terror group, avowedly committed to the destruction of Israel, from importing weaponry and materiel into Gaza.On Wednesday, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov called on Palestinian leaders to put aside their internal squabbles and solve the energy crisis.In a statement Mladenov warned that “the social, economic and political consequences of this impending energy crisis should not be underestimated. Palestinians in Gaza, who live in a protracted humanitarian crisis, can no longer be held hostage by disagreements, divisions and closures.”Israel last week warned of the upcoming fuel crisis, cautioning Hamas that it must pay for the diesel fuel it consumes, which is supplied by Israeli energy company Dor.In mid-September, Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement to resolve the Palestinians’ outstanding debt of almost NIS 2 billion ($530 million) to the Israel Electric Corporation which also provides some power to Gaza.Times of Israel staff and AFP contributed to this report.
Iranian FM rips America’s ‘worn-out’ nuclear accusations-In Twitter post, Zarif claims Tehran’s compliance with 2015 deal forced Washington to ‘fulfill its own commitments’-By AFP April 20, 2017, 5:36 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif on Thursday criticized “worn-out” US accusations that it was seeking a nuclear weapon to threaten the region and the world.“Worn-out US accusations can’t mask its admission of Iran’s compliance” with a 2015 nuclear deal, Zarif wrote on Twitter.Iran says its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, but signed a deal with world powers to restrict its fuel enrichment for 10 years in exchange for sanctions relief.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Tehran has so far met its obligations, but that the deal could only delay Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon.The deal “fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran,” he said, and was a product of “the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea.”Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance w/ JCPOA, obligating US to change course & fulfill its own commitments— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 20, 2017-Zarif also said in Thursday’s Twitter post that Iran’s compliance had forced the administration of US President Donald Trump “to change course and fulfill its own commitments.”Trump described the accord as the “worst deal ever negotiated” during his campaign and threatened to tear it up, but analysts say that is increasingly unlikely.Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer said a review would be conducted by US government agencies over the next 90 days on whether to stick by the deal.
Palestinians clash with security forces outside West Bank prison-As supporters of hunger strikers demonstrate in solidarity, right-wing activists hold barbecue to taunt prisoners-By AFP April 20, 2017, 6:13 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Several dozen Palestinian protesters clashed with security forces Thursday outside a prison where inmates are on a hunger strike, while a group of right-wing Israelis nearby taunted prisoners by barbecuing.Some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have joined a hunger strike against conditions that began Monday.The hunger strike has been led by popular Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for murder over his role orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli citizens during the Second Intifada.Security forces fired tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the crowd of Palestinians who threw stones and protested in support of the detainees outside Israel’s Ofer Prison north of Jerusalem in the West Bank.It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured in the clashes.Palestinian Prisoners Club head Qadura Fares told AFP at the protest that Israel would allow all the strikers, including Barghouti, access to lawyers, in a reversal of its previous position.Access to lawyers had been prevented following the start of the strike, Palestinian officials said, with Barghouti moved to solitary confinement.The Israel Prisons Service said it was acting under its rules, without elaborating further.A small number of Israelis held a barbecue nearby on the opposite side of a checkpoint, saying they hoped the smell would make prisoners’ abstention harder.Around a dozen Israelis wearing shirts of the far-right National Union party grilled chicken and other kinds of meat, with a number of soldiers joining them to eat.“At this moment (the hunger strikers) will smell the food’s scent and maybe later in the evening they will see it on television,” event organizer Ofer Sofer told AFP in front of two barbecue pits.“It is a bunch of terrorists who are threatening us with hunger strike. We are happy that they are on strike. Let them have this strike as long as they want.”They called for tough punishments for the protesting Palestinians, including worsening their conditions.Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offenses and alleged crimes. Around 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge.Palestinian prisoners have previously mounted hunger strikes, but rarely on such a scale.
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