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
After canceling meetings, Netanyahu still has busy diplomatic schedule-A host of foreign dignitaries are due in Jerusalem next month amid criticism that prime minister is isolating Israel-By Raphael Ahren December 28, 2016, 4:19 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Despite canceling several high-profile meetings in the wake of the UN Security Council anti-settlements resolution passed last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic schedule for the next few weeks is chockablock with encounters with top foreign dignitaries.Netanyahu has steadfastly maintained that Israel’s international standing is better than ever, while his detractors have accused him of leading Israel toward international isolation with his aggressive diplomatic moves.In January, two presidents, one chancellor, two prime ministers and three foreign ministers are planning visits to Israel, according to a list the Foreign Ministry published Wednesday. In addition, heads of parliaments, ministers, deputy ministers, MPs and a US governor are scheduled to make their way to Jerusalem.Even a senior official from a state that voted in favor of Security Council Resolution 2334 is set to visit Israel — Gérard Larcher, the president of France’s Senate. (Larcher is a member of the center-right Republicans party, which is considered more pro-Israel than the ruling Socialists.)-Furthermore, Netanyahu is planning to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 17-20, where he is expected to meet with several world leaders, including some with which Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations. Still, he has reportedly canceled a meeting at Davos with British Prime Minister Theresa May over the UK’s support for the resolution.As a consequence of Friday’s resolution, which declares Israeli settlement outside the pre-1967 lines as having “no legal validity” and constituting “a flagrant violation under international law,” the prime minister banned senior contacts with officials from the 14 countries that supported the text. (The US abstained, allowing the resolution to pass).Netanyahu, who is also foreign minister, summoned a dozen ambassadors for dressing-downs, canceled foreign aid to Senegal and Angola, disinvited the Ukrainian prime minister, and declined meetings with the leaders of China and Great Britain. He also instructed his ministers to curtail travel to the countries that voted in favor of the resolution, announced a “reassessment of all of our contacts with the UN,” ordered funding cuts to various UN agencies, and vowed that “there’s more to come.”He also canceled the upcoming visit to Israel of Senegal’s foreign minister, which would have marked the first time a top official from the Muslim-majority West African country arrived in Israel since it re-established diplomatic relations with Jerusalem in the mid-1990s.Besides France’s Larcher, who is scheduled to arrive on Monday, January 2, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Ernest Bai Koroma, the president of Sierra Leone, and Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland.Furthermore, the prime minister is slated to meet with his counterparts from Serbia, Jamaica, Croatia and Austria in Jerusalem.Canada’s foreign minister, Stephane Dion, is likewise arriving in Israel, as are the foreign ministers of Serbia and Norway.Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is also scheduled to come to Israel next month, as is Nikos Voutsis, the speaker of Greece’s parliament; Sidi Tiémoko Touré, youth minister from Ivory Coast; and Mmusi Maiman, the head of South Africa’s opposition and leader of the country’s Democratic Alliance party.
Iran plans navy upgrade, including building aircraft carrier-Announcement follows Rouhani’s earlier statement that Tehran will build nuclear-powered ships and submarines-By Times of Israel staff December 27, 2016, 12:34 pm
Iran is planning to build an aircraft carrier as part of an upgrade of its maritime warfare capabilities, a senior naval officer said Monday.“Building an aircraft carrier is also among the goals pursued by the navy and we hope to attain this objective,” Deputy Navy Commander for Coordination Admiral Peiman Jafari Tehrani was quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.Tehrani also said the Iranian defense ministry and navy are “producing different types of missiles indigenously.”Iranian Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari first declared in 2014 that Iran was able to construct aircraft carriers as well as high-tech submarines.“As we have managed to produce warships and submarines, we also have the capability to build aircraft carriers and heavy submarines,” Fars quoted Sayyari as saying at the time.Iran often boasts of advances in its military capabilities, although many of these developments cannot be confirmed by sources outside of Iran.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier this month ordered the country’s scientists to start work on nuclear-powered ships, in what was seen as a response to the renewal of sanctions by the United States.Iranian lawmakers had previously raised the prospect of building nuclear-powered ships and submarines back in 2012 at the height of tensions with the international community over the nuclear program.International analysts said the announcement was likely just a bluff, since it would be an extremely costly effort for little strategic gain.
Menorahs vandalized in California, Arizona-Religious symbol damaged at Phoenix-area synagogue in suspected truck-ramming; feces smeared on holiday display at Santa Monica Chabad center-By JTA and Times of Israel staff December 28, 2016, 4:18 pm
As the eight-day festival of Hanukkah commenced over the weekend, several holiday menorahs in California and Arizona were vandalized in what the local Jewish communities suspect to be hate crimes.On Sunday, the first day of Hanukkah, a Chabad center in the Southern California city of Santa Monica was vandalized, according to local news reports.Feces and rice were smeared on the window of the Living Torah Center on Wilshire Boulevard either late Saturday night or early Sunday, Rabbi Boruch Rabinowitz told CBS Los Angeles.Police are investigating; there are no suspects.A large Hanukkah menorah stands behind the center’s glass-walled street front.“This seems kind of intentional,” the center’s assistant rabbi, Dovid Tenenbaum, told the Los Angeles Times. “With a religious artifact in the window, we have to assume so.”The Living Torah Center posted a message on its website thanking the public for “the outpouring of love and support from people of every background.” It said that “in the spirit of the holiday,” the center would “move forward and continue to spread light and love and not let this incident diminish our resolve to bring goodness to the world.”It was not the first episode of apparent anti-Semitism at the center, the newspaper reported. According to the Times, the center had received a threatening letter about a year ago, and graffiti was found scrawled on the center’s sukkah.The Times quoted Tenenbaum as saying that during services about a month ago, “a man stood up and shouted ‘Heil Hitler,’ positioning his arms as if shooting a rifle. He ran away before anyone could catch him.”Also on Sunday, a large menorah and Holocaust memorial were damaged at a synagogue in Sun City, Arizona.The damage to Temple Beth Shalom was discovered Sunday morning. The local sheriff’s office is investigating the incident, which has not been classified a hate crime, the local media reported. The synagogue had celebrated a bar mitzvah the day before, the NBC affiliate Channel 12 News reported.The copper and metal menorah has been in front of the synagogue for more than 30 years.Tire tracks in the front yard of the synagogue indicated that someone smashed a truck into the menorah; it also appears that someone then tried to pull down the menorah, according to reports. It will cost about $7,000 to fix the menorah, Rabbi Sheldon Moss told the local television station KPHO.A Holocaust memorial on the synagogue’s campus also was damaged.Meanwhile, a 6-foot-high, 100-pound menorah was stolen from a park in San Francisco, but officials say anti-Semitic motives are not likely.The menorah in Washington Square Park was reported stolen Sunday after having been lit the night before, the first night of the Hanukkah, the San Francisco Gate reported. It was installed two weeks ago by the local Chabad.Police believe the menorah was stolen by metal recyclers and not by someone with anti-Semitic intent.6-Foot-Tall Menorah Stolen From San Francisco Park: (JTA) — A six-foot tall, 100 pound menorah was… https://t.co/n3xdiJrRlX | @jdforward http://pic.twitter.com/qRn2OC2cga— Breaking SF News (@breakingsfnews) December 27, 2016-“We didn’t think somebody could make off with something that big,” Miryum Mochkin, co-director of the North Beach branch of Chabad, told the Gate. She said Chabad considers it a hate crime.“At the end of the day, someone that evil, who would target a religious symbol, is a person of darkness,” Mochkin said, according to the Gate. “We’re a celebration of light. They’re stuck in a dark place.”Chabad, which had been scheduled to hold a public lighting of the menorah on Monday night, called on families to meet in the park at the scheduled time with their own personal menorahs.
White House: No coordination with Erekat, leaked transcript ‘total fabrication’-NSC spokesman denies Egyptian report that Palestinian negotiator held meeting with Kerry, Rice to strategize anti-settlement resolution acceptable to US-By Eric Cortellessa December 28, 2016, 4:15 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday denied any coordination with the Palestinians over the formulation of a United Nations Security Council Resolution condemning Israeli settlements, and called recently leaked transcripts of conversations between top US and Palestinian officials, published by an Egyptian newspaper, a “total fabrication.”According to the report in Al-Youm Al-Sabea, an alleged meeting took place earlier this month between Secretary of State John Kerry, national security adviser Susan Rice and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, during which the three strategized how to push forward a resolution that would be acceptable to the US.While Erekat did lead a Palestinian delegation to Washington this month, no such meeting between all three individuals took place, according to National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.A State Department statement released at the time confirmed that Erekat met separately with Kerry and Rice, but no tripartite meeting between all of them occurred, said Price.“This alleged meeting… never happened,” Price told The Times of Israel on Wednesday morning. “The ‘transcript’ is a total fabrication.”Erekat, for his part, has also denied the contents of the leaked transcripts, telling the Palestinian WAFA News Agency: “The leaked minutes are lies and half-truths.”Since Resolution 2334 was passed Friday, Israel has been fuming, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides accusing the US of colluding with Palestinians and other Security Council member-states to pass a measure critical of Israel.The resolution states that the settlement enterprise “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law” and calls for a complete end to all construction in areas Israel gained after the 1967 Six Day War.The text was approved with 14-0 with the United States abstaining.PMO spokesman David Keyes and Israel’s ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer have each taken to multiple US media organizations recently to say Israel has “ironclad information” that demonstrates the US worked to push the resolution forward. Keyes has said this evidence comes from the Arab diplomatic sources.Israel has said it will present its evidence to President-elect Donald Trump’s team and allow it to decide whether to share the information with the American public.Responding to the recent UN censure, Israel has hauled in envoys from countries that passed the measure for rebuke and has sanctioned several of them, reducing ties and aid programs and canceling meetings.Defending these moves, the Israeli premier said, “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek.”“This is a responsible, measured and vigorous response, the natural response of a healthy people that is making it clear to the nations of the world that what was done at the UN is unacceptable to us,” Netanyahu added on Monday.Kerry, meanwhile, is slated to deliver a highly anticipated address Wednesday laying out his “comprehensive vision” for Israeli-Palestinian peace and how future administrations can take the issue forward.Defending the US abstention — and decision to not veto — the resolution Friday, Kerry said in a statement the move would “preserve the possibility of peace.”
Kerry to set out vision on Israeli-Palestinian peace in Wednesday speech-As Jerusalem fumes over UN resolution and US role in it, secretary to deliver highly anticipated address; Washington expresses concerns Israel isolating itself-By Eric Cortellessa December 27, 2016, 11:23 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver a highly anticipated address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Wednesday, as Israel continues to rage over the United States allowing a resolution critical of settlement building to pass the United Nations Security Council.At a press briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed Kerry’s plans for the speech, though he refused to detail whether the top US diplomat would use the opportunity to announce a new American initiative, which officials in Jerusalem fear he may.Toner said the secretary holds the conviction that “it is his duty in his remaining weeks and days as secretary of state to lay out what he believes is a way towards a two-state solution” and that “it’s always important to keep the process moving forward.”“We haven’t given up on this and we don’t think the Israelis and Palestinians should either,” he added.Officials said Kerry would make the speech to an invited audience, including the Washington diplomatic corps, at the State Department, in which he will provide a “comprehensive vision for how he believes the conflict can be resolved.”Israel fears that Kerry’s principles will be discussed at a Paris summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 15 and could be enshrined in a further United Nations Security Council resolution. Its prime minister and top diplomats have directly accused the Obama administration of working with the Palestinians to drive through Friday’s Resolution 2334, something the US has denied.Kerry indicated Friday he would soon address the subject of moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts when he issued a statement following the US decision to abstain — and not veto — the Security Council measure, saying it would “preserve the possibility for peace.”UN Resolution 2334 says that the settlement enterprise “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law” and calls for a complete end to all construction in areas Israel gained after the 1967 Six Day War.The text was approved with 14-0 with the United States abstaining.In recent months, there had been increasing speculation that either Kerry or President Barack Obama might give a speech laying out parameters for reaching a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, detailing how future administrations that are committed to the two-state outcome may be able to take the issue forward.On Friday, Kerry said he would soon “share more detailed thoughts, drawn from the experience of the last several years, on the way ahead.”During his tenure at the State Department, Kerry has spent considerable time trying to forge the coveted peace agreement, most notably though embarking on an ultimately futile nine-month round of negotiations in 2013-4 intended to reach a comprehensive accord.Kerry was originally slated to give his address on Thursday, in the immediate aftermath of the vote, but canceled the speech after Egypt pulled the resolution at the last minute, apparently responding to pressure from Israel and US President-elect Donald Trump.The same resolution was introduced on Friday by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela, and passed 14-0 with the US abstaining.Trump said on the campaign trail he would attempt to make peace between the sides, but has also given hints he is not committed to the two-state framework.His pick for US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, told The Times of Israel in November that “a two-state solution is not a priority” for the incoming president.During a Tuesday press briefing, Toner also expressed US concern that Israel’s reaction to the resolution’s passage was inflicting further damage by increasing Israel’s isolation in the international community-“We’re concerned when we see Israel take actions that will isolate it … but its not for us to speak anymore to what Israel decides to do,” he said.“We don’t want this to create a diplomatic firestorm,” he added. “What we want are actions that create a climate that is conducive to return to direct negotiations.”Responding to the recent UN censure, Israel has hauled in envoys from countries that passed the measure for rebuke and has sanctioned several of them, reducing ties and aid programs and canceling meetings.Defending these moves, the Israeli premier said, “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek.”“This is a responsible, measured and vigorous response, the natural response of a healthy people that is making it clear to the nations of the world that what was done at the UN is unacceptable to us,” Netanyahu added on Monday.At his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu also addressed a conversation he had with Kerry on Thursday, in which he said he told him “friends don’t take friends to the Security Council.”Since Friday, Israel has accused the United States of working to initiate the resolution, including by colluding with the Palestinians to strategize over its language — an allegation Washington categorically denies.“The idea this was pre-cooked in advance is not accurate,” Toner said Tuesday.
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Netanyhau castigates Kerry’s skewed speech, obsession with settlements; vows to work with Trump to repeal UN resolution-Secretary drew ‘false moral equivalence’ between Jerusalem construction and Palestinian terror, PM charges, and was only ‘paying lip service’ in condemnation of attacks-By Raoul Wootliff December 28, 2016, 10:40 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed a major address by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling the speech “almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution at the UN last week.”Netanyahu was referring to a Security Council vote condemning Israel’s settlements, in which the US abstained.Branding Kerry’s speech “a big disappointment,” Netanyahu criticized the secretary for “attacking the only democracy in the Middle East,” while numerous other conflicts raged across the region.“Is that all he’s got?” he ridiculed the secretary. “A full hour, and that’s all he has,” Netanyahu said, in brief Hebrew remarks which he then followed with a longer, bitter English critique of the speech and of the conduct of the Obama Administration in its final weeks.“Maybe he doesn’t realize it, but Israel is only place in the Middle East where Christians can celebrate Christmas. All of this doesn’t interest the US secretary of state, unfortunately,” Netanyahu fumed.An earlier comment in Hebrew from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said Kerry “obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict.”In a speech that lasted well over an hour, Kerry described settlements as an important obstacle to achieving an agreement between the sides and charged that Israeli actions in the West Bank were putting the two-state solution, which he said was the sole path to peace, “in serious jeopardy.”Kerry argued that settlement construction in the West Bank was being “strategically placed in locations that make two states impossible” and said the “the status quo is leading toward one state, or perpetual occupation.”He also condemned Palestinian incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists, singling out Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, and slammed attempts to isolate and legitimize Israel in the United Nations and elsewhere.But the prime minister said Kerry drew a “false moral equivalence” between construction in Jerusalem and Palestinian terrorism, and accused him of only “paying lip service” in his condemnation of terrorism. He noted that the controversial UN resolution, while condemning “incitement,” did not even attribute that incitement to the Palestinians. References to suicide bombers and millions of Israelis forced into bomb shelters by rocket attacks should not be “throwaway lines” in an address like this, he said..“Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by world leaders,” Netanyahu said. “No one wants peace more than the people of Israel.”Netanyahu said he looks forward to working with the incoming administration of Donald Trump to “repeal” the UN resolution.“I wish I could be comforted” by Kerry’s promise not to seek further UN action, but the US said the same thing before the resolution passed,” the prime minister noted.He speculated that other countries could advance another UN resolution while the US directed from behind the scenes. France might take it up, he suggested. Or Sweden, which he described as no friend of Israel.The prime minister and top diplomats have directly accused the Obama administration of working with the Palestinians to drive through Friday’s Resolution 2334, which the US has repeatedly denied.Reiterating statements made his spokesman earlier this week, the prime minister said there is “absolutely incontestable evidence that the United States organized” and advanced the UN resolution, adding that the transcript leaked to Egyptian media is the “tip of the iceberg.”“Some of it is sensitive; it’s all true,” he said of the information.In his speech, Kerry laid out six principles that he said the United States believes must govern the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, chiefly that peace must provide for secure and recognized borders, based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps and a contiguous state for the Palestinians.But, Kerry said, “a final status agreement can only be achieved” through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and insisted the US would not push for a further resolution at the Security Council.Israel reportedly fears that the principles Kerry articulated will be discussed at a January 15 summit in Paris on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and could be enshrined in a further UN Security Council resolution. Netanyahu has said he will not attend the conference in Paris.
Abbas: I’ll resume talks if Israel halts settlement activity-In wake of Kerry speech, Palestinian leader says PA ready to restart ‘permanent status negotiations… under specified timeframe’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP December 28, 2016, 11:03 pm
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he would be willing to resume peace negotiations with Israel should Jerusalem stop settlement construction and implement existing agreements.“The minute the Israeli government agrees to cease all settlement activities… and agrees to implement the signed agreements on the basis of mutual reciprocity, the Palestinian leadership stands ready to resume permanent status negotiations on the basis of international law and relevant international legality resolutions… under a specified timeframe,” he said in a statement.Abbas, his office said, was “fully convinced that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace can be reached in all core issues,” leading to an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.The statement added that the PA leader would “continue to cooperate closely with France, which plans to convene next month an international peace conference, in order to guarantee the launching of a credible peace process.”Meanwhile Abbas’s Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki rejected Kerry’s allusion to Palestinians being prepared to accept Israel as a Jewish state.Maliki said the secretary hadn’t broken any new ground in his speech, and had simply repeated his views and summarized his positions from recent years. However, he noted that Kerry had said that “many…are now prepared to accept [Israel as a Jewish state], provided the need for a Palestinian state is also addressed.” This assertion, Maliki stressed, was “unacceptable.”Abbas’s response to Kerry’s comments was markedly different than that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the speech “skewed” and “obsessive” towards settlements as well as “a big disappointment.”The prime minister said Kerry drew a “false moral equivalence” between construction in Jerusalem and Palestinian terrorism. Kerry, he said, was only “paying lip service” in his condemnation of terrorism, while the UN resolution did not condemn Palestinian incitement, only “incitement” in general.Kerry on Wednesday laid out his “comprehensive vision” for the future of Middle East peacemaking, saying that a two-state solution was the “only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state,” but promising that the US would not seek further UN action on the conflict, days after President Barack Obama infuriated Israel for the decision not to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s settlement activity.Kerry described settlements as an obstacle to achieving an agreement between the sides and that Israeli actions in the West Bank were putting the two-state solution, which he said was the sole path to peace, “in serious jeopardy.”With less than a month left as secretary of state, Kerry sought to champion the two-state outcome he worked to achieve throughout the last four years, saying it was the only path forward. Yet his address comes against the backdrop of incoming president Donald Trump, who has signalled that he may not be committed to the two-state framework.Kerry also had harsh words for the Palestinians, condemning their incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists, and he slammed the attempt to isolate and delegitimize Israel in the United Nations and elsewhere.“The murders of innocents are still glorified on Fatah websites,” Kerry said, referring the movement headed by Abbas. “Despite statements by President Abbas, too often they send a different message by failing to condemn specific attacks and by naming public squares, streets and schools after terrorists.”Ahead of the speech, The New York Times quoted a senior State Department official as saying that it would “address some of the misleading critiques” leveled at the Obama administration after Friday’s vote. This was, the Times said, a “clear reference” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s furious response to the outcome of the vote, in particular the White House’s failure to use its veto.UN Resolution 2334 says that the settlement enterprise “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law,” and calls for a complete end to all construction in areas Israel gained after the 1967 Six Day War. It also calls on all states “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967” — language that Israel fears will lead to a surge in boycott and sanctions efforts, and that an Israeli official warned would provide “a tailwind for terror.”The text was approved 14-0 with the United States abstaining. A no vote by the US would have meant the resolution didn’t pass.Since Friday, Israel has accused the United States of working to initiate the resolution, including by colluding with the Palestinians to strategize over its language — an allegation Washington categorically denies.Eric Cortellessa, Raoul Wootliff and JTA contributed to this report.
Kerry: Israeli gov’t agenda ‘driven by the most extreme elements,’ jeopardizing two-state solution-Castigating settlement activity and defending Security Council abstention, secretary says friends must tell each other hard truths; sets out principles for accord but says he doesn’t aim to impose terms-By Eric Cortellessa and Raoul Wootliff December 28, 2016, 8:40 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — US secretary of state John Kerry on Wednesday laid out his “comprehensive vision” for the future of Middle East peacemaking, saying that a two-state solution was the “only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state,” but promising that the US would not seek further UN action on the conflict. He spoke days after President Barack Obama infuriated the Israeli government by failing to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israel’s settlement activity, thus enabling it to pass.In a speech that lasted well over an hour, Kerry described settlements as a central obstacle to achieving an agreement between the sides and declared that Israeli actions in the West Bank were putting the two-state solution, which he said was the sole path to peace, “in serious jeopardy.”Kerry argued that settlement construction in the West Bank was being “strategically placed in locations that make two states impossible” and said the “the status quo is leading toward one state, or perpetual occupation.” Settlement expansion, he declared, “has nothing to do with Israel’s security.”Castigating the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said it was “the most right-wing in Israel history with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements. The result is that policies of this government, which the prime minister himself just described as more committed to settlements than any in Israel’s history, are leading … towards one state. In fact,” he added, “Israel has increasingly consolidated control over much of the West Bank for its own purposes.With less than a month as secretary of state, Kerry sought to champion the two-state outcome he worked to achieve throughout the last four years, saying it was the only path forward. Incoming president Donald Trump has signaled he may not be committed to the two-state framework.“The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Kerry said. “It is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state living in peace and security with its neighbors.”“It is the only way to ensure a future of freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people and it is an important way of advancing United States interests in the region,” he added of the two-solution, which he said was “now in serious jeopardy.”“The truth is that trends on the ground — violence, terrorism, incitement, settlement expansion and the seemingly endless occupation — are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides, and increasingly cementing an irreversible one-state reality that most people do not actually want,” he said.Speaking directly to Israeli criticism of the US abstention, Kerry said: “It is not this resolution that is isolating Israel; it is the pernicious policy of settlement construction that is making peace impossible.”The secretary dwelled at length on Israeli settlement policy in the West Bank, charging leaders of the settlement movement with “purposefully accelerating” trends that will make a two-state solution impossible. Kerry noted that the settler population has grown by 270,000 since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, and by 100,000 since Obama took office in 2009. He also lamented the reversal of trends toward greater Palestinian control initiated with Oslo.-The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israel’s history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements’-“The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israel’s history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements,” Kerry said. “Policies of this government, which the prime minister just described as more committed to settlements than any in Israel’s history, are leading in the opposite direction. They’re leading to one state.”If there is only one state, he warned, “you would have millions of Palestinians permanently living in segregated enclaves in the middle of the West Bank with no real political rights, separate legal education and transportation systems, vast income disparities, under a permanent military occupation that deprives them of the most basic freedoms. Separate and unequal is what you would have, and nobody can explain how that works.”Netanyahu responded almost immediately to the speech, and continued to voice his indignation toward the United States, arguing Kerry’s words were just as problematic as the actions his government took last week.“Like the Security Council resolution that Secretary Kerry advanced in the UN, his speech tonight was skewed against Israel,” the prime minister said. “For over an hour, Kerry obsessively dealt with settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict — Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries.”Kerry also had harsh words for the Palestinians, condemning their incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists, and he slammed the attempt to isolate and delegitimize Israel in the United Nations and elsewhere.“The murders of innocents are still glorified on Fatah websites,” Kerry said, referring the movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “Despite statements by President Abbas, too often they send a different message by failing to condemn specific attacks and by naming public squares, streets and schools after terrorists.”Ahead of the speech, the New York Times quoted a senior State Department official as saying that it would “address some of the misleading critiques” leveled at the Obama administration after Friday’s vote. This was, the Times said, a “clear reference” to Netanyahu’s furious response to the outcome of the vote, in particular the White House’s failure to use its veto.In recent months, there had been increasing speculation that either Kerry or Obama could deliver a speech laying out parameters for reaching a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, detailing how future administrations that are committed to the two-state outcome may be able to take the issue forward.Kerry laid out six principles that he said the United States believes must govern the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Firstly, Kerry said, peace must provide for secure and recognized borders, based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed land swaps and a contiguous state for the Palestinians.Other principles included the fulfillment of UN General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for two state for two peoples; a fair and “realistic” solution to the Palestinian refugee problem that did not “affect the fundamental character of Israel”; shared capitals in Jerusalem that ensured free access to holy sites and no redivision of the city; Israeli security guarantees along with an end to the occupation; and a final end to the conflict and all outstanding claims along with the establishment of normalized relations.But, Kerry said, “a final status agreement can only be achieved” through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and insisted the US would not push for a further resolution at the Security Council.Israel fears that the principles Kerry articulated will be discussed at a January 15 summit in Paris on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and could be enshrined in a further UN Security Council resolution. The prime minister and top diplomats have directly accused the Obama administration of working with the Palestinians to drive through Friday’s Resolution 2334, which the US has repeatedly denied.The US did not agree with every word of the resolution, Kerry said, and therefore did not vote in favor. “But this vote, I can’t emphasize enough,” was not about a peace deal, Kerry said. “It was about how we make peace with the Palestinians in the future,” to “preserve the possibility to do so.”UN Resolution 2334 says that the settlement enterprise “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law” and calls for a complete end to all construction in areas Israel gained after the 1967 Six Day War. It also calls on all states “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967” — language that Israel fears will lead to a surge in boycott and sanctions efforts, and that an Israeli official warned would provide “a tailwind for terror.”The text was approved 14-0 with the United States abstaining. A no vote by the US would have meant the resolution didn’t pass.Responding to the recent UN censure, Israel has hauled in for rebuke envoys from countries that passed the measure and has sanctioned several of them, reducing ties and aid programs and canceling meetings.Defending these moves, the Israeli premier said, “Israel is a country with national pride, and we do not turn the other cheek.”“This is a responsible, measured and vigorous response, the natural response of a healthy people that is making it clear to the nations of the world that what was done at the UN is unacceptable to us,” Netanyahu added on Monday.At his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu also addressed a conversation he had with Kerry on Thursday, in which he said he told him, “Friends don’t take friends to the Security Council.”Since Friday, Israel has accused the United States of working to initiate the resolution, including by colluding with the Palestinians to strategize over its language — an allegation Washington categorically denies.— JTA contributed to this report.
MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Russia, Turkey, Iran eye dicing Syria into zones of influence-[Reuters]-By Andrew Osborn and Orhan Coskun-yahoonews-December 28, 2016
MOSCOW/ANKARA (Reuters) - Syria would be divided into informal zones of regional power influence and Bashar al-Assad would remain president for at least a few years under an outline deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran, sources say.Such a deal, which would allow regional autonomy within a federal structure controlled by Assad's Alawite sect, is in its infancy, subject to change and would need the buy-in of Assad and the rebels and, eventually, the Gulf states and the United States, sources familiar with Russia's thinking say."There has been a move toward a compromise," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry."A final deal will be hard, but stances have shifted."Assad's powers would be cut under a deal between the three nations, say several sources. Russia and Turkey would allow him to stay until the next presidential election when he would quit in favor of a less polarizing Alawite candidate.Iran has yet to be persuaded of that, say the sources. But either way Assad would eventually go, in a face-saving way, with guarantees for him and his family."A couple of names in the leadership have been mentioned (as potential successors)," said Kortunov, declining to name names.Nobody thinks a wider Syrian peace deal, something that has eluded the international community for years, will be easy, quick or certain of success. What is clear is that President Vladimir Putin wants to play the lead role in trying to broker a settlement, initially with Turkey and Iran.That would bolster his narrative of Russia regaining its mantle as a world power and serious Middle East player."It's a very big prize for them if they can show they're out there in front changing the world," Sir Tony Brenton, Britain's former ambassador to Moscow, told Reuters. "We've all grown used to the United States doing that and had rather forgotten that Russia used to play at the same level"-BACKROOM DEALS-If Russia gets its way, new peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition will begin in mid-January in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, a close Russian ally.The talks would be distinct from intermittent U.N.-brokered negotiations and not initially involve the United States.That has irritated some in Washington."So this country that essentially has an economy the size of Spain, that's Russia, is strutting around and acting like they know what they are doing," said one U.S. official, who declined to be named because of the subject's sensitivity."I don't think the Turks and the Russians can do this (political negotiations) without us."Foreign and defense ministers from Russia, Turkey and Iran met in Moscow on Dec. 20 and set out the principles they thought any Syria deal should adhere to.Russian sources say the first step is to get a nationwide ceasefire and then to get talks underway. The idea would then be to get Gulf states involved, then the United States, and at a later stage the European Union which would be asked, maybe with the Gulf states, to pick up the bill for rebuilding.The three-way peace push is, at first glance, an odd one.Iran, Assad's staunchest backer, has provided militia fighters to help Assad, Russia has supplied air strikes, while Turkey has backed the anti-Assad rebels.Putin has struck a series of backroom understandings with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to ease the path to a possible deal, several sources familiar with the process say.Moscow got Iran to buy into the idea of a three-way peace push by getting Turkey to drop its demands for Assad to go soon, the same sources said."Our priority is not to see Assad go, but for terrorism to be defeated," one senior Turkish government official, who declined to be named, said."It doesn't mean we approve of Assad. But we have come to an understanding. When Islamic State is wiped out, Russia may support Turkey in Syria finishing off the PKK."Turkey views the YPG militia and its PYD political wing as extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has long waged an insurgency in its largely Kurdish southeast."Of course we have disagreements with Iran," said the same Turkish official. "We view some issues differently, but we are coming to agreements to end mutual problems."Aydin Sezer, head of the Turkey and Russia Centre of Studies, an Ankara-based think tank, said Turkey had now "completely given up the issue of regime change" in Syria.Turkey's public position remains strongly anti-Assad however and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday a political transition with Assad was impossible.Brenton, Britain's former ambassador, said Moscow and Ankara had done a deal because Moscow had needed Turkey to get the opposition out of Aleppo and to come to the negotiating table."The real flesh in the game the Turks have, and the fear they have, is of an autonomous Kurdistan emerging inside Syria that would have direct implications for them," he said.Ankara launched an incursion into Syria, "Operation Euphrates Shield", in August to push Islamic State out of a 90-km (55-mile) stretch of frontier territory and ensure Kurdish militias did not gain more territory in Syria.-REALPOLITIK-The shifting positions of Moscow and Ankara are driven by realpolitik. Russia doesn't want to get bogged down in a long war and wants to hold Syria together and keep it as an ally.Turkey wants to informally control a swathe of northern Syria giving it a safe zone to house refugees, a base for the anti-Assad opposition, and a bulwark against Kurdish influence.The fate of al-Bab, an Islamic State-held city around 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Aleppo, is also a factor. Erdogan is determined that Turkish-backed rebels capture the city to prevent Kurdish militias from doing so.Several sources said there had been an understanding between Ankara and Moscow that rebels could leave Aleppo to help take al-Bab.Iran's interests are harder to discern, but Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser, said Aleppo's fall might alter a lot in the region.By helping Assad retake Aleppo, Tehran has secured a land corridor that connects Tehran to Beirut, allowing it to send arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon.Russian and Western diplomatic sources say Iran would insist on keeping that corridor and on Assad staying in power for now. If he did step down, Tehran would want him replaced with another Alawite, which it sees as the closest thing to Shia Islam.Iran may be the biggest stumbling block to a wider deal.Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan has said Saudi Arabia must not take part in talks because of its stance on Assad - Riyadh wants the Syrian leader to step down.Scepticism about the prospects for a wider deal abounds.Dennis Ross, an adviser to Democratic and Republican administrations, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he did not think a deal would bring peace to Syria."I doubt this will end the war in Syria even after Aleppo," Ross told Reuters. "Assad's presence will remain a source of conflict with the opposition."(Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Beirut, William Maclean in Dubai, Ece Toksabay, David Dolan, Arshad Mohammed, Phil Stewart and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
3 quakes hit near Lake Tahoe, rumblings felt across region-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-December 28, 2016
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Three earthquakes ranging from magnitude 5.5 to 5.7 struck early Wednesday about 70 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, and their rumblings were felt across areas of Nevada and California. There were no immediate reports of problems.The U.S. Geological Surveys says the moderate temblors were centred in a remote area of Nevada near the California state line.A 5.7 quake struck at 12:18 a.m. PST, followed by another 5.7 four minutes later and a 5.5 at 1:13 a.m.A series of smaller aftershocks have also occurred.The Mineral County Sheriff's Department in Hawthorne, Nevada, near the epicenter, has not had any reports of injury or damage. The office says the quakes apparently set off burglar alarms at two businesses, and caused a rock slide that did not block a nearby highway.In addition to Lake Tahoe, the USGS says the quakes were felt in such areas as Carson City, Nevada, and Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Lakes in California, all roughly 60 miles from the epicenter.The Associated Press.
