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
Air force names first female deputy commander of fighter jet squadron-Air force chief Amikam Norkin also appoints 2 women to senior positions in military's drone units-By Judah Ari Gross-TOI-6 November 2017
The Israeli Air Force appointed its first female deputy commander of a fighter jet squadron on Sunday, some 16 years after Roni Zuckerman became the first Israeli woman fighter pilot.The newly tapped deputy commander, whose name cannot be published for security reasons, will serve in the air force’s Spearhead Squadron, which flies F-15 fighter jets out of the Tel Nof air base in central Israel, the army said on Monday.The military also announced that IAF chief Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin had appointed two other women to deputy commander positions in the military’s drone squadrons.The head of the Na’amat women’s organization, Galia Wolloch, lauded the appointments, but said “the path to equality is a long one.”As if to underline her point, also on Monday, the army announced 14 new appointments for colonels and brigadier generals throughout the military, only one of whom was a female officer — Lt. Col. Tzipora Erez-Sabati, who will be promoted to head the Home Front Command’s Planning and Doctrine Department.While women flew fighter planes in the 1948 War of Independence and 1956 Sinai War, they were eventually booted from the program (as well as from other combat positions in the Israel Defense Forces).In 1993, Alice Miller asked to try out for the IAF’s vaunted pilots’ course, but she was rebuffed. She then turned to the High Court of Justice, which ruled that she should be allowed into the program. However, Miller was eventually dropped from the course, after being deemed medically unfit.In 1998, five years after Miller’s request, and five decades after Israel had its last female aviator, Sheri Rahat graduated from the pilots’ course, becoming a navigator for the F-16 fighter jet, but not technically a pilot.Three years later, Roni Zuckerman, a granddaughter of Zivia Lubetkin and Yitzhak Zuckerman, two leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, graduated as Israel’s first fighter jet pilot.Despite those strides, the overwhelming majority of fighter pilots in the Israeli Air Force are still men, mostly because of the physical fitness requirements. (As drone pilots are typically pilots’ course washouts, they too are mostly men.) The air force’s announcement of new female deputy commanders came hours after reports emerged of a growing rift between the religious Zionist community and the IDF over the military’s policies toward male-female army service.On Sunday, a group of leading Orthodox rabbis decided to present IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot with an ultimatum at a meeting planned for Tuesday: Either he make significant changes to the way men and women serve together in the IDF or they’ll encourage their students to boycott the IDF’s officers’ training course.In her statement, Wolloch alluded to the threat, saying that “at a time when women in the air force are breaking glass ceilings and proving that even the sky isn’t the limit, there are still attempts by some people to keep women out of the nation’s army.”
1,600-year-old church mosaic puzzles out key role of women in early Christianity-Female donor memorialized in one of seven Greek inscriptions found recently in Byzantine village churches in the Galilee-By Amanda Borschel-Dan-toi-NOV 7,17
A newly uncovered mosaic in the western Galilee speaks to the relatively high status of women in the early Church. Dating to the 5th century, a Greek-language inscription memorializes one “Sausann” (or Shoshana) as a donor for the construction of a village church. It is one of seven inscriptions — including a massive five-meter long text — which were found in three Byzantine churches during this summer’s excavations by Kinneret College archaeologist Mordechai Aviam and historian Jacob Ashkenazi.Unusual in a patriarchal society, the donor Sausann is credited in the inscription independently of any spouse or male guardian. This Sausann is thought to have been a woman of some standing, perhaps following in the footsteps of her presumed namesake, the female disciple Susannah, who was among the women named in Luke 8:3 who provided for Jesus “out of their resources.”The find buttresses the position taken by a growing number of early church scholars that women played an important role in its foundation. According to a recent article in Christianity Today, “in the upper echelons of society, women often converted to Christianity while their male relatives remained pagans, lest they lose their senatorial status. This too contributed to the inordinate number of women in the church, particularly upper-class women.”The idea of an independent women of means in rural Western Galilee came as a surprise to archaeologist Aviam, who heads the Institute for Galilean Archaeology. He said in a recent Haaretz article, “She’s an independent woman who donated money to the church, which says something about life in the Galilean village.”With a three-year grant from the Israeli Science Foundation, the researchers are taking a cross-disciplinary approach to complete the first serious, modern study of Christian Galilee in late Antiquity, Aviam told The Times of Israel on Monday. Working in tandem, the rare multidisciplinary partnership of scholars is drawing from their respective fields to paint a comprehensive picture of 4th-5th century Christian life in the region.They have already “hit the jackpot” in their first season, with seven lengthy 1,600-year-old Greek inscriptions, said Aviam. (For fear of vandals, their exact locations are being withheld.) Decorated with a peacock, the five-meter long Greek inscription is the largest found in the area. It is also, inadvertently, another testament to a woman in Jesus’ life.Irenaeus, named in the mosaic as the bishop of Tyre upon the church’s completion in 445 CE, was a friend of Nestorius, a controversial leading figure in 5th century Christendom. Nestorius was vilified for speaking against the “Theotokos,” the philosophy that Jesus’s mother Mary was the “God-bearer.” Instead, he promoted a radical idea that she gave birth to a human who was divine.This ideological conflict laid ground for a decades-long battle and eventual schism in the Byzantine period church. Associates of Nestorius such as Irenaeus saw their fates rise and fall alongside their friend.Until the discovery of the mosaic this summer, it was unclear in which year Irenaeus was ordained as bishop of Tyre. According to the 2011 anthology, “Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity,” a date of circa 445 is often given. However, since he was historically thought to be exiled along with Nestorius to Petra for 12 years in 436 — “along with two horses to carry their luggage” — the authors present a strong case for a later date.The newly discovered mosaic, whose inscription provides the date of the church’s completion as 445, accords Irenaeus the title of “episkopos” or bishop of Tyre, capital of Phoenice. The clear historical proof puts an old academic controversy to rest and gives credence to a date as early as 444 CE for his ordination. By 449 CE, he had been deposed.This inscription is a “great opportunity to connect the name on the mosaic, with that from the history books,” said Aviam.-The people behind the inscriptions-According to Aviam, much can be learned through the inscriptions about the villagers who commissioned the mosaics.Written in Byzantine period Greek, they are “full of mistakes in Greek,” he said. For example, an inscription of Psalm 118:19, “Open to me the gates of righteousness,” has several discrepancies from the text redacted in the Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint.“They are local people,” said Aviam, “who probably couldn’t bring the best artists, and as a result one sees many mistakes.” For the most part, the names listed in the inscriptions are of local people, mostly of Greater Syrian origin, and some with a marked Phoenician influence.There are indications that the villagers were originally pagan converts, said Aviam. “They don’t have ‘Jewish’ names, which tells us that if they were Jews that converted to Christianity, they likely changed their names,” he said.But beyond their names, there are other reasons why the archaeologist believes the villagers were originally pagan, including the types of pottery found onsite, as well as remnants of pagan temples.“In one church we had three pedestals which were reused in the building of the church in the walls,” he said. One had an image within a wreath, which for archaeologists is a very clear sign of pagan influence, he said. On the top of each pedestal were four holes, which were probably used to hold sculptures — not an adornment used in churches or synagogues, rather in pagan temples.Since the temple pieces were only reused in the building of the church which was consecrated in 445, Aviam assumes the villagers were pagans until sometime in the 4th or 5th century, he said.At the same time, Aviam is impressed with how quickly Christianity reached rural Galilee, following the formal adoption of the religion by the Byzantine empire in 380 CE, saying it pointed to a Christianization of the rural Galilee area starting from the very beginning of the 5th century.In addition to Bishop Irenaeus, other insights into church hierarchy are gleaned from the inscriptions. Listed names include deacons and a special bishop who wandered among the villages to answer religious problems, as well as another bishop who was responsible for their economic resources.“We were very lucky to find this and got a lot of information to start building the map of Christian Byzantine Galilean society, economy and religious hierarchy,” said Aviam.-The importance of conservative excavation-Archaeological evidence such as stone vessels and coins “tell us a little bit of history, but what is the meaning of such and such vessels in such and such site is a matter for a lot of interpretation,” said Aviam. “Finding inscriptions is like finding a book — it gives a clear history.”The churches’ inscriptions, said Aviam, “tell the stories of who built the church and when, the church hierarchy, names of donors… they give us a lot of information.”Since it is information they are after, the team carefully sources its dig sites and pinpoints exactly which portions should be excavated.After decades of fieldwork, Aviam said he can “see a church’s plan from the surface.” While walking among ancient sites known to have been inhabited during the Byzantine period, he said he is able to identify churches through their ruins’ outlines.He explained that as opposed to contemporary period synagogues which are oriented north-south, Byzantine church buildings are oriented west-east.“On the eastern side, if we’re lucky, we can see the apse, a semi-circular wall where the altar was standing. Sometimes there are pillars, still-standing or laying down,” said Aviam, which aid in identification to a 99 percent certainty, he said.Once a church has been identified, the team pinpoint excavates in areas of the structure in which inscriptions are typically found. After seeing the results at a number of digs of similar churches throughout Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, archaeologists know that they are usually in front of the main apse or side apse, in front of the entrances, main, and side, and sometimes in the center of the building, said Aviam, who decided to excavate his structures in that order.In every church, we found one to four inscriptions-“In the first week, we hit the jackpot. Not all of the places [had inscriptions], but in every church, we found one to four inscriptions,” he said.Aviam, who will publish the team’s findings at the end of its three-year grant, said they also dug some other parts of the structures to ascertain an exact building plan, but attempted to keep its excavation work to a minimum.“When we dig and uncover a site, it’s a stage in the destruction of the building,” he said. “So we excavated small areas to be more ethical. We preserved more — and lost less money.” Whatever was excavated was re-covered, in accordance to the Israel Antiquities Authority license the team was granted.“We don’t like to excavate everything,” he said. “We want to preserve things for future generations who will be smarter than we are today.”
New hawkish security think tank launched in Jerusalem-Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, which recruited heavily from the Begin-Sadat Center, wants to promote a 'conservative strategic worldview'-By Raphael Ahren-NOV 7,17
A new hawkish security think tank was launched Monday in Jerusalem that seeks to inject a dose of “realist” thinking into Israel’s public debate.The Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies was founded by and consist mainly of scholars and former officials who until recently belonged to another right-leaning think tank — Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA). They include Efraim Inbar, David M. Weinberg, Yaakov Amidror, Eran Lerman, Hillel Frisch and others.“Through policy-oriented research, educational conference activity, and outreach to government, military, academia, media and the public, the institute gives expression to a conservative strategic worldview,” according to a press release announcing the new institute’s founding.“Among the principles underlying the institute’s activity are the Jewish People’s historic connection to the land of Israel as a central component of strategic worldview; the salience of security in diplomatic agreements; rejection of unilateral Israeli moves that strengthen adversaries; the importance of strategic cooperation with like-minded allies; the imperative of Israel being able to defend itself by itself in all eventualities; and, critically, the importance of united Jerusalem to Israel’s security and destiny.”JISS wants to advance “a defense and diplomatic discourse that is realist,” the press release stated.As opposed to Dore Gold’s Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, JISS wants to focus less on international audiences but seeks to influence Israel’s domestic discourse.“Until now, Israeli center-right and conservative sectors have not created a serious intellectual infrastructure that might reinforce and lead the mainstream in security thinking. The Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies seeks to redress this situation,” said Prof. Efraim Inbar, the new think tank’s president.“In point of fact, the institute will reinforce the instincts of the Israeli public, which according to our new public opinion survey, holds healthy conservative leanings.”In its inaugural year, JISS seeks to have a budget of about $1.5 million, which is slightly more than BESA but much less than Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), according to David Weinberg, the new institute’s vice president.“The institute is actively fundraising, and will grow accordingly,” he told The Times of Israel. Currently, JISS is funded by the Tikvah Fund and “a select group of Jerusalem businessmen,” he added. Greg Rosshandler of Melbourne is “a major founding donor,” who sponsored the new think tank’s opening conference Monday in Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center.Devoted to “Challenges of United Jerusalem,” the conference was off to an awkward start, as an angry man yelling questions heckled the first speaker, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin. Before Elkin could start his speech, the man loudly yelled slogans protesting Israel’s alleged arms sales to South Sudan and Myanmar, accusing the government of not having learned anything from the Holocaust.It took the security guards several long minutes to carry the man out of the auditorium, during which he unabatedly continued to shout at Elkin.“I have to tell you that I am happy to be a minister in a country where any man can protest a minister, so let’s accept his initiative,” Elkin said to applause from the audience.Other speakers included Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Chief of Jerusalem Police District Yoram Halevy and several scholars on the new institute’s staff, such as Amidror, a former national security advisor, and Lerman, and Hillel Frisch, who all left BESA to join JISS.
Gabbay: Everyone will stand in line to join my coalition-Labor chief says government party leaders are 'afraid' of his political rise, says he's 'encouraged' by criticism-By Marissa Newman and TOI staff-NOV 7,17
Labor party leader Avi Gabbay on Monday said party leaders would “stand in line” to join a future government under his leadership, amid public pledges by some right-wing leaders never to sit in a Gabbay-led coalition.Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman and Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon over the weekend said in TV interviews that they would never join a coalition helmed by Gabbay, casting doubts on the Labor party chairman’s chances of ever mustering enough seats to form a coalition.Hitting back, Gabbay said the statements indicated the politicians were “afraid” of his rise and public appeal. He said he was “encouraged” by the public criticism, as it underlined concerns that he posed a significant challenge to their leadership.When the time comes, “I promise you they will all stand in line” to join my coalition, said Gabbay at the start of the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting.On Sunday evening, Gabbay lambasted Liberman as a promoter of government corruption.“When we win 30 seats [in elections], everyone will want to be a part of our coalition,” he said.“They’re afraid, and I can understand them,” Gabbay told Channel 2. “The only thing they’ve achieved is to give the public the correct notion that the next government will be a center-left one led by myself.”He added that “Liberman is the last person I will turn to in order to form a coalition. He promotes corruption…in everything he and his party touch.”Liberman has faced multiple corruption allegations throughout his political career, but has never been found guilty of any crime. Top members of his party are on trial for alleged graft offenses.As for Kahlon, Gabbay said he was very willing to share a ruling coalition with him. He added that if Kahlon was promising not to join him, but was willing to sit under current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “anyone who votes for Kahlon is effectively voting for Netanyahu.”Liberman had told Hadashot news (formerly Channel 2 News) that “Avi Gabbay is an irrelevant person. There are at least two parties, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu, that would never join a Gabbay coalition.“He can’t have a coalition when both of those parties are not involved,” Liberman said. “He doesn’t stand a chance.”Gabbay, who helped Kahlon found Kulanu and later served as environment minister, resigned from his post and quit the party last year in protest of the coalition deal with Yisrael Beytenu that made Liberman defense minister. He later won the leadership primary in the Labor Party.In a separate interview with Hadashot news, Kahlon said that his party would not sit in a Zionist Union-led government.Kahlon cited his differences with the Zionist Union over the future of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a future peace deal, saying that, unlike the left-leaning party, he supports, “the Land of Israel and a unified Jerusalem” and that therefore, “Kulanu will not join a left-wing Labor government.”Despite Labor’s traditional support for evacuating West Bank settlers under a future deal with the Palestinians, Gabbay said last month he would not uproot settlements under a peace agreement, raising hackles from lawmakers from the Zionist Union.Gabbay’s comments were part of an ongoing rightward shift in Labor that has intensified since he was elected party leader in July, as part of a bid to pick up support from centrist voters.Gabbay also said he would not sit in a coalition with the Joint List, the 13-member Arab party.Without the Joint List, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu, Gabbay would struggle to form a governing coalition, as the right-wing Likud and Jewish Home parties appear unlikely to join a Labor-led government, while Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid party has placed ahead of the Zionist Union in polls and may buck at playing second fiddle.
Two injured in car explosion near school in Ashdod-Suspected gangland bombing wounds two criminals in residential neighborhood, causes damage to vehicles and building-By TOI staff-NOV 7,17
A massive explosion rocked a residential neighborhood in the coastal city of Ashdod on Tuesday, leaving two people seriously injured.Police said a car exploded in the parking lot of a building on the corner of Mount Hermon and Kinneret streets. The massive blast caused other vehicles to go up in flames, damaging the building and sending up plumes of smoke.The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it had taken two men to the hospital. Fire and smoke initially hampered rescue workers’ search for victims, but after firefighters extinguished the flames they confirmed there were no further casualties.The two, were taken to Assuta medical center. One man, 45, was in stable but serious condition and another, 48, was in moderate condition.Police suspect the blast was an attack by an organized crime gang. The two victims were local criminals, known to police.The blast occurred very close to a high school.
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
Air force names first female deputy commander of fighter jet squadron-Air force chief Amikam Norkin also appoints 2 women to senior positions in military's drone units-By Judah Ari Gross-TOI-6 November 2017
The Israeli Air Force appointed its first female deputy commander of a fighter jet squadron on Sunday, some 16 years after Roni Zuckerman became the first Israeli woman fighter pilot.The newly tapped deputy commander, whose name cannot be published for security reasons, will serve in the air force’s Spearhead Squadron, which flies F-15 fighter jets out of the Tel Nof air base in central Israel, the army said on Monday.The military also announced that IAF chief Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin had appointed two other women to deputy commander positions in the military’s drone squadrons.The head of the Na’amat women’s organization, Galia Wolloch, lauded the appointments, but said “the path to equality is a long one.”As if to underline her point, also on Monday, the army announced 14 new appointments for colonels and brigadier generals throughout the military, only one of whom was a female officer — Lt. Col. Tzipora Erez-Sabati, who will be promoted to head the Home Front Command’s Planning and Doctrine Department.While women flew fighter planes in the 1948 War of Independence and 1956 Sinai War, they were eventually booted from the program (as well as from other combat positions in the Israel Defense Forces).In 1993, Alice Miller asked to try out for the IAF’s vaunted pilots’ course, but she was rebuffed. She then turned to the High Court of Justice, which ruled that she should be allowed into the program. However, Miller was eventually dropped from the course, after being deemed medically unfit.In 1998, five years after Miller’s request, and five decades after Israel had its last female aviator, Sheri Rahat graduated from the pilots’ course, becoming a navigator for the F-16 fighter jet, but not technically a pilot.Three years later, Roni Zuckerman, a granddaughter of Zivia Lubetkin and Yitzhak Zuckerman, two leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, graduated as Israel’s first fighter jet pilot.Despite those strides, the overwhelming majority of fighter pilots in the Israeli Air Force are still men, mostly because of the physical fitness requirements. (As drone pilots are typically pilots’ course washouts, they too are mostly men.) The air force’s announcement of new female deputy commanders came hours after reports emerged of a growing rift between the religious Zionist community and the IDF over the military’s policies toward male-female army service.On Sunday, a group of leading Orthodox rabbis decided to present IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot with an ultimatum at a meeting planned for Tuesday: Either he make significant changes to the way men and women serve together in the IDF or they’ll encourage their students to boycott the IDF’s officers’ training course.In her statement, Wolloch alluded to the threat, saying that “at a time when women in the air force are breaking glass ceilings and proving that even the sky isn’t the limit, there are still attempts by some people to keep women out of the nation’s army.”
1,600-year-old church mosaic puzzles out key role of women in early Christianity-Female donor memorialized in one of seven Greek inscriptions found recently in Byzantine village churches in the Galilee-By Amanda Borschel-Dan-toi-NOV 7,17
A newly uncovered mosaic in the western Galilee speaks to the relatively high status of women in the early Church. Dating to the 5th century, a Greek-language inscription memorializes one “Sausann” (or Shoshana) as a donor for the construction of a village church. It is one of seven inscriptions — including a massive five-meter long text — which were found in three Byzantine churches during this summer’s excavations by Kinneret College archaeologist Mordechai Aviam and historian Jacob Ashkenazi.Unusual in a patriarchal society, the donor Sausann is credited in the inscription independently of any spouse or male guardian. This Sausann is thought to have been a woman of some standing, perhaps following in the footsteps of her presumed namesake, the female disciple Susannah, who was among the women named in Luke 8:3 who provided for Jesus “out of their resources.”The find buttresses the position taken by a growing number of early church scholars that women played an important role in its foundation. According to a recent article in Christianity Today, “in the upper echelons of society, women often converted to Christianity while their male relatives remained pagans, lest they lose their senatorial status. This too contributed to the inordinate number of women in the church, particularly upper-class women.”The idea of an independent women of means in rural Western Galilee came as a surprise to archaeologist Aviam, who heads the Institute for Galilean Archaeology. He said in a recent Haaretz article, “She’s an independent woman who donated money to the church, which says something about life in the Galilean village.”With a three-year grant from the Israeli Science Foundation, the researchers are taking a cross-disciplinary approach to complete the first serious, modern study of Christian Galilee in late Antiquity, Aviam told The Times of Israel on Monday. Working in tandem, the rare multidisciplinary partnership of scholars is drawing from their respective fields to paint a comprehensive picture of 4th-5th century Christian life in the region.They have already “hit the jackpot” in their first season, with seven lengthy 1,600-year-old Greek inscriptions, said Aviam. (For fear of vandals, their exact locations are being withheld.) Decorated with a peacock, the five-meter long Greek inscription is the largest found in the area. It is also, inadvertently, another testament to a woman in Jesus’ life.Irenaeus, named in the mosaic as the bishop of Tyre upon the church’s completion in 445 CE, was a friend of Nestorius, a controversial leading figure in 5th century Christendom. Nestorius was vilified for speaking against the “Theotokos,” the philosophy that Jesus’s mother Mary was the “God-bearer.” Instead, he promoted a radical idea that she gave birth to a human who was divine.This ideological conflict laid ground for a decades-long battle and eventual schism in the Byzantine period church. Associates of Nestorius such as Irenaeus saw their fates rise and fall alongside their friend.Until the discovery of the mosaic this summer, it was unclear in which year Irenaeus was ordained as bishop of Tyre. According to the 2011 anthology, “Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity,” a date of circa 445 is often given. However, since he was historically thought to be exiled along with Nestorius to Petra for 12 years in 436 — “along with two horses to carry their luggage” — the authors present a strong case for a later date.The newly discovered mosaic, whose inscription provides the date of the church’s completion as 445, accords Irenaeus the title of “episkopos” or bishop of Tyre, capital of Phoenice. The clear historical proof puts an old academic controversy to rest and gives credence to a date as early as 444 CE for his ordination. By 449 CE, he had been deposed.This inscription is a “great opportunity to connect the name on the mosaic, with that from the history books,” said Aviam.-The people behind the inscriptions-According to Aviam, much can be learned through the inscriptions about the villagers who commissioned the mosaics.Written in Byzantine period Greek, they are “full of mistakes in Greek,” he said. For example, an inscription of Psalm 118:19, “Open to me the gates of righteousness,” has several discrepancies from the text redacted in the Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint.“They are local people,” said Aviam, “who probably couldn’t bring the best artists, and as a result one sees many mistakes.” For the most part, the names listed in the inscriptions are of local people, mostly of Greater Syrian origin, and some with a marked Phoenician influence.There are indications that the villagers were originally pagan converts, said Aviam. “They don’t have ‘Jewish’ names, which tells us that if they were Jews that converted to Christianity, they likely changed their names,” he said.But beyond their names, there are other reasons why the archaeologist believes the villagers were originally pagan, including the types of pottery found onsite, as well as remnants of pagan temples.“In one church we had three pedestals which were reused in the building of the church in the walls,” he said. One had an image within a wreath, which for archaeologists is a very clear sign of pagan influence, he said. On the top of each pedestal were four holes, which were probably used to hold sculptures — not an adornment used in churches or synagogues, rather in pagan temples.Since the temple pieces were only reused in the building of the church which was consecrated in 445, Aviam assumes the villagers were pagans until sometime in the 4th or 5th century, he said.At the same time, Aviam is impressed with how quickly Christianity reached rural Galilee, following the formal adoption of the religion by the Byzantine empire in 380 CE, saying it pointed to a Christianization of the rural Galilee area starting from the very beginning of the 5th century.In addition to Bishop Irenaeus, other insights into church hierarchy are gleaned from the inscriptions. Listed names include deacons and a special bishop who wandered among the villages to answer religious problems, as well as another bishop who was responsible for their economic resources.“We were very lucky to find this and got a lot of information to start building the map of Christian Byzantine Galilean society, economy and religious hierarchy,” said Aviam.-The importance of conservative excavation-Archaeological evidence such as stone vessels and coins “tell us a little bit of history, but what is the meaning of such and such vessels in such and such site is a matter for a lot of interpretation,” said Aviam. “Finding inscriptions is like finding a book — it gives a clear history.”The churches’ inscriptions, said Aviam, “tell the stories of who built the church and when, the church hierarchy, names of donors… they give us a lot of information.”Since it is information they are after, the team carefully sources its dig sites and pinpoints exactly which portions should be excavated.After decades of fieldwork, Aviam said he can “see a church’s plan from the surface.” While walking among ancient sites known to have been inhabited during the Byzantine period, he said he is able to identify churches through their ruins’ outlines.He explained that as opposed to contemporary period synagogues which are oriented north-south, Byzantine church buildings are oriented west-east.“On the eastern side, if we’re lucky, we can see the apse, a semi-circular wall where the altar was standing. Sometimes there are pillars, still-standing or laying down,” said Aviam, which aid in identification to a 99 percent certainty, he said.Once a church has been identified, the team pinpoint excavates in areas of the structure in which inscriptions are typically found. After seeing the results at a number of digs of similar churches throughout Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, archaeologists know that they are usually in front of the main apse or side apse, in front of the entrances, main, and side, and sometimes in the center of the building, said Aviam, who decided to excavate his structures in that order.In every church, we found one to four inscriptions-“In the first week, we hit the jackpot. Not all of the places [had inscriptions], but in every church, we found one to four inscriptions,” he said.Aviam, who will publish the team’s findings at the end of its three-year grant, said they also dug some other parts of the structures to ascertain an exact building plan, but attempted to keep its excavation work to a minimum.“When we dig and uncover a site, it’s a stage in the destruction of the building,” he said. “So we excavated small areas to be more ethical. We preserved more — and lost less money.” Whatever was excavated was re-covered, in accordance to the Israel Antiquities Authority license the team was granted.“We don’t like to excavate everything,” he said. “We want to preserve things for future generations who will be smarter than we are today.”
New hawkish security think tank launched in Jerusalem-Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, which recruited heavily from the Begin-Sadat Center, wants to promote a 'conservative strategic worldview'-By Raphael Ahren-NOV 7,17
A new hawkish security think tank was launched Monday in Jerusalem that seeks to inject a dose of “realist” thinking into Israel’s public debate.The Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies was founded by and consist mainly of scholars and former officials who until recently belonged to another right-leaning think tank — Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA). They include Efraim Inbar, David M. Weinberg, Yaakov Amidror, Eran Lerman, Hillel Frisch and others.“Through policy-oriented research, educational conference activity, and outreach to government, military, academia, media and the public, the institute gives expression to a conservative strategic worldview,” according to a press release announcing the new institute’s founding.“Among the principles underlying the institute’s activity are the Jewish People’s historic connection to the land of Israel as a central component of strategic worldview; the salience of security in diplomatic agreements; rejection of unilateral Israeli moves that strengthen adversaries; the importance of strategic cooperation with like-minded allies; the imperative of Israel being able to defend itself by itself in all eventualities; and, critically, the importance of united Jerusalem to Israel’s security and destiny.”JISS wants to advance “a defense and diplomatic discourse that is realist,” the press release stated.As opposed to Dore Gold’s Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, JISS wants to focus less on international audiences but seeks to influence Israel’s domestic discourse.“Until now, Israeli center-right and conservative sectors have not created a serious intellectual infrastructure that might reinforce and lead the mainstream in security thinking. The Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies seeks to redress this situation,” said Prof. Efraim Inbar, the new think tank’s president.“In point of fact, the institute will reinforce the instincts of the Israeli public, which according to our new public opinion survey, holds healthy conservative leanings.”In its inaugural year, JISS seeks to have a budget of about $1.5 million, which is slightly more than BESA but much less than Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), according to David Weinberg, the new institute’s vice president.“The institute is actively fundraising, and will grow accordingly,” he told The Times of Israel. Currently, JISS is funded by the Tikvah Fund and “a select group of Jerusalem businessmen,” he added. Greg Rosshandler of Melbourne is “a major founding donor,” who sponsored the new think tank’s opening conference Monday in Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center.Devoted to “Challenges of United Jerusalem,” the conference was off to an awkward start, as an angry man yelling questions heckled the first speaker, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin. Before Elkin could start his speech, the man loudly yelled slogans protesting Israel’s alleged arms sales to South Sudan and Myanmar, accusing the government of not having learned anything from the Holocaust.It took the security guards several long minutes to carry the man out of the auditorium, during which he unabatedly continued to shout at Elkin.“I have to tell you that I am happy to be a minister in a country where any man can protest a minister, so let’s accept his initiative,” Elkin said to applause from the audience.Other speakers included Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Chief of Jerusalem Police District Yoram Halevy and several scholars on the new institute’s staff, such as Amidror, a former national security advisor, and Lerman, and Hillel Frisch, who all left BESA to join JISS.
Gabbay: Everyone will stand in line to join my coalition-Labor chief says government party leaders are 'afraid' of his political rise, says he's 'encouraged' by criticism-By Marissa Newman and TOI staff-NOV 7,17
Labor party leader Avi Gabbay on Monday said party leaders would “stand in line” to join a future government under his leadership, amid public pledges by some right-wing leaders never to sit in a Gabbay-led coalition.Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman and Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon over the weekend said in TV interviews that they would never join a coalition helmed by Gabbay, casting doubts on the Labor party chairman’s chances of ever mustering enough seats to form a coalition.Hitting back, Gabbay said the statements indicated the politicians were “afraid” of his rise and public appeal. He said he was “encouraged” by the public criticism, as it underlined concerns that he posed a significant challenge to their leadership.When the time comes, “I promise you they will all stand in line” to join my coalition, said Gabbay at the start of the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting.On Sunday evening, Gabbay lambasted Liberman as a promoter of government corruption.“When we win 30 seats [in elections], everyone will want to be a part of our coalition,” he said.“They’re afraid, and I can understand them,” Gabbay told Channel 2. “The only thing they’ve achieved is to give the public the correct notion that the next government will be a center-left one led by myself.”He added that “Liberman is the last person I will turn to in order to form a coalition. He promotes corruption…in everything he and his party touch.”Liberman has faced multiple corruption allegations throughout his political career, but has never been found guilty of any crime. Top members of his party are on trial for alleged graft offenses.As for Kahlon, Gabbay said he was very willing to share a ruling coalition with him. He added that if Kahlon was promising not to join him, but was willing to sit under current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “anyone who votes for Kahlon is effectively voting for Netanyahu.”Liberman had told Hadashot news (formerly Channel 2 News) that “Avi Gabbay is an irrelevant person. There are at least two parties, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu, that would never join a Gabbay coalition.“He can’t have a coalition when both of those parties are not involved,” Liberman said. “He doesn’t stand a chance.”Gabbay, who helped Kahlon found Kulanu and later served as environment minister, resigned from his post and quit the party last year in protest of the coalition deal with Yisrael Beytenu that made Liberman defense minister. He later won the leadership primary in the Labor Party.In a separate interview with Hadashot news, Kahlon said that his party would not sit in a Zionist Union-led government.Kahlon cited his differences with the Zionist Union over the future of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a future peace deal, saying that, unlike the left-leaning party, he supports, “the Land of Israel and a unified Jerusalem” and that therefore, “Kulanu will not join a left-wing Labor government.”Despite Labor’s traditional support for evacuating West Bank settlers under a future deal with the Palestinians, Gabbay said last month he would not uproot settlements under a peace agreement, raising hackles from lawmakers from the Zionist Union.Gabbay’s comments were part of an ongoing rightward shift in Labor that has intensified since he was elected party leader in July, as part of a bid to pick up support from centrist voters.Gabbay also said he would not sit in a coalition with the Joint List, the 13-member Arab party.Without the Joint List, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu, Gabbay would struggle to form a governing coalition, as the right-wing Likud and Jewish Home parties appear unlikely to join a Labor-led government, while Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid party has placed ahead of the Zionist Union in polls and may buck at playing second fiddle.
Two injured in car explosion near school in Ashdod-Suspected gangland bombing wounds two criminals in residential neighborhood, causes damage to vehicles and building-By TOI staff-NOV 7,17
A massive explosion rocked a residential neighborhood in the coastal city of Ashdod on Tuesday, leaving two people seriously injured.Police said a car exploded in the parking lot of a building on the corner of Mount Hermon and Kinneret streets. The massive blast caused other vehicles to go up in flames, damaging the building and sending up plumes of smoke.The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it had taken two men to the hospital. Fire and smoke initially hampered rescue workers’ search for victims, but after firefighters extinguished the flames they confirmed there were no further casualties.The two, were taken to Assuta medical center. One man, 45, was in stable but serious condition and another, 48, was in moderate condition.Police suspect the blast was an attack by an organized crime gang. The two victims were local criminals, known to police.The blast occurred very close to a high school.
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