Palestinians riot across capital after deadly attack - http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-riot-across-capital-after-deadly-attack/
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. - Zechariah 12:2
Following a deadly terrorist attack Wednesday afternoon, Palestinians rioted in Jerusalem's Old City and outside its Damascus Gate, burning garbage and throwing stones, hours after an East Jerusalem man rammed his car into a group of pedestrians in a terror attack, killing one man.
In the Old City, two Palestinians sprayed police officers with tear gas near one of the gates to the Temple Mount and fled into the Temple Mount compound. No injuries were reported by one suspect was arrested.
Police also arrested a Waqf guard on suspicion of threatening police, Israel Radio reported.
Dozens of rioters threw stones and burned garbage outside the Old City's Damascus Gate. Israeli security forces arrested at least four people who threw stones and dispersed the rioters with tear gas.
Another three Palestinians, one a minor, were arrested near the Rockefeller Museum, outside the Old City's Flower Gate after throwing stones at police. No injuries were reported.
Arab rioters launched fireworks and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, where the perpetrator of Wednesday's attack was from. Palestinian media reported that the clashes began when police attempted to reach his home.
Palestinians also rioted in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, near the location of the attack.
Wednesday's riots were the latest in weeks of unrest in the capital and came after an Arab driver plowed his vehicle into a crowd of people at a light rail station along the seam line between East and West Jerusalem late Wednesday morning, killing one Border Police officer and injuring 14 more people.
The perpetrator, identified as 48-year-old Ibrahim al-Akary from Shuafat in East Jerusalem, was killed by police.
A similar attack took place two weeks earlier at another train station along the seam line when a Palestinian man from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan drove his car onto the platform of the Ammunition Hill train station, killing two and injuring several. Police shot and killed the man after he attempted to flee the scene.
Hezbollah ready to fight Israel despite Syrian war - Lazar Berman - http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-ready-to-fight-israel-despite-syrian-war-nasrallah-says/
Shiite leader promises that rockets will again force the closure of Ben Gurion Airport during the next conflict
Hezbollah's rockets can hit anywhere in Israel and the Lebanese terror group is not afraid to fight Israel in another war, head Hassan Nasrallah told supporters in a fiery speech Tuesday.
Hezbollah "is fully ready in southern Lebanon," Nasrallah said, addressing via video thousands of Lebanese Shiites commemorating the Ashura holiday in southern Beirut, Naharnet reported.
He said the group's activities fighting in support of the Syrian regime had not affected its battle readiness.
Hezbollah's campaigns in Syria has cost the group over 1,000 fighters, according to some reports.
"Israel's threats of another war on Lebanon do not stem from its power because it has lost hope and is concerned...the resistance is a real threat to Israel," said Nasrallah.
Hezbollah's secretary-general also pledged that the Shiite organization's rockets would force Israel to close its sea ports and main airport in the next conflict.
"Israelis are saying in the media that they would have to close down the Ben Gurion Airport and the Haifa port and yes, that's true," said Nasrallah, the Daily Star reported.
"You should close all of your airports and your ports because there is no place extending on the land of occupied Palestine that the resistance's rockets cannot reach."
Israel knows that fighting Hezbollah "will be very costly because we are more determined, stronger, more experienced ... and we are capable of achieving such accomplishments," he continued.
Nasrallah also addressed Israeli plans to build new housing units in East Jerusalem, saying that the "the Zionists are taking advantage of the Islamic world's turmoil to reach their objectives." He called on the Arab League to take a firm stance against the planned construction.
He justified Hezbollah's military support of Syrian President Bashar Assad against Syrian and jihadi rebels: "We are part of the confrontation against the biggest danger facing the region. We have the honor to be part of the victory that will be achieved."
Nasrallah's televised address comes a day after he made a rare public appearance in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, addressing thousands of his supporters ahead of the Shiite Ashura commemorations.
As he appeared on stage Monday wearing a black robe and turban, the crowd seen in a live broadcast on Hezbollah's al-Manar television began cheering wildly, as they apparently had not expected to see him.
The head of the Shiite group had not appeared in public since July when he attended a rally to show support for the Gaza Strip.
Monday's appearance marks his sixth since his group fought Israel in a devastating war in 2006.
In his speech, the Hezbollah chief spoke about the civil war raging in neighboring Syria, internal Lebanese politics, and Iranian support for the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah's fighters also clashed with the jihadists in eastern Lebanon in October, and its strongholds have come under repeated bomb attacks over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Nasrallah's address Monday came ahead of the peak of Ashura, a festival that marks the killing of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures of Shiite Islam and grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
Hussein was killed at the hands of soldiers of the caliph Yazid in the year 680, an event that lies at the heart of Islam's sectarian divide into Shiite and Sunni sects.
'Israel faces more challenges than all of the EU put together,' Liberman says - http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Israel-faces-more-challenges-than-all-of-the-EU-put-together-Liberman-says-380711
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman chastised Europe on Monday for its hyper-focus on Israeli building over the Green Line, while it ignored the violence that raged in other countries in the region.
"Every day hundreds of people are killed and slaughtered around Israel. We are facing many challenges, more than all of the EU together," he said.
Europe, he said, "is disregarding this reality."
"We are trying to survive in a very difficult reality and instead of supporting Israel, you blame Israel every day," Liberman said.
He spoke in Jerusalem during a joint press conference with Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard.
A reporter asked Liberman if Israel planned to change its policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in light of European frustration over its settlement activity.
European officials and diplomats, the reporter said, "are coming to give you advice. What they hope is that Israel through this friendly advice would change its policies."
Liberman reacted to the question with anger, explaining that such European advice was "hypocritical."
Europe is not offering the same type of "advice" to Pakistan and India, even though a comprehensive peace is needed there, Liberman said.
In light of the complex situation in the region, with violence in Iraq, Syria, Yemin and Libya he expected Europe to be more "sensitive" to Israel's "security concerns," Liberman said.
Israel is the only country, in a tumultuous region, where control reigns, in spite of constant friction and tension with the Palestinians, Liberman said.
"Your [Europe's] approach to Israel is exactly like the approach of Europe to Czechoslovakia in 1938," said Liberman as he quoted an often used example of Europe failure to protect that former country from Nazi Germany.
Israel, he said, is the only democratic country in the Middle East.
"Every day you are coming with new pressure. It is a mistake. It is hypocritical. In the end of the day it will be counterproductive," Liberman said.
European support of Palestinian unilateral moves and or imposed solutions to the peace process, was particularly harmful, Liberman said.
He charged that Sweden's decision last week to recognize Palestine as a state outside of a negotiated peace agreement, the first Western European country to do so, was a "cynical" step to exploit an international situation for its own domestic purposes.
"This position will not advance peace, it will only distance a peaceful resolution and might even undermine all our efforts to achieve a strategic breakthrough in our relations with the Palestinians," he said.
The Swedish government, he charged, took that step to appease the Muslim community in its country, which is "25 times larger than the Jewish one."
It is also part of Sweden's drive to receive the necessary support among UN nations, particularly the 57 Islamic states, to become a member state of the Security Council in the future, Liberman said.
The Swedish government, he said, had not apprised Israel of Thursday's decision, even though it had promised to alert him in advance.
Last month when the government first announced its intentions, Liberman said he had spoken with his Swedish counterpart.
"We agreed to inform each other about new steps, not to surprise each other," he said.
"With this understanding in mind, it was very, very disappointing and surprising to hear of Sweden's recent decision," Liberman said.
He ended his statement on a positive note.
"We hope at least to keep open lines and open dialogue and between EU countries and the state of Israel," Liberman said.
World is silent as Abbas feeds flames at Temple Mount - http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Netanyahu-World-is-silent-as-Abbas-feeds-flames-at-Temple-Mount-380647
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas incited to violence at the Temple Mount, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
Speaking at a Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu stated: "I am acting in every way to calm the atmosphere around the Temple Mount, but Abbas is adding fuel to the fire."
Netanyahu said Abbas wrote "a letter of encouragement and support" to the family of Mu'taz Hijazi, the man from Abu Tor, Jerusalem suspected of shooting Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick last week.
Police killed Hijazi on Thursday morning as he resisted arrest, shooting at officers.
According to Netanyahu, a letter of condolences to Hijazi's family means Abbas is "encouraging and supporting others who wish to do criminal acts like [shooting Glick]."
"The international community is silent as [Abbas] encourages continued incitement, rioting and violence. We will not be quiet and continue speaking the truth and defending our rights," Netanyahu declared.
Abbas reportedly described Hijazi as a "martyr" in the letter to his family, and wrote that he received with "anger and condemnation the news of the heinous crime committed by the gangs of killing and terrorism in the Israeli occupation army."
Abbas wrote that the killing of Hijzai has been added to the "crimes of the Israeli occupation army against our people since the nakba (in 1948)."
"This act won't intimidate our people, but would increase its steadfastness in its homeland," Abbas wrote in his letter to the family.
Netanyahu Holds Secret Meeting with Abdullah over Temple Mount - Gil Ronen - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186953#.VFewcpt0x9B
Kuwaiti paper says PM met Jordanian king and told him he may block Jews from entering Temple Mount.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida reported Monday morning that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Saturday, in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
The meeting was intended to try and calm inflamed tensions in Jerusalem, following the temporary decision to stop all visits to the Temple Mount last week. That decision was made following the assassination attempt against Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick on Wednesday, who championed the struggle for Jewish prayer rights at the holiest site in Judaism.
According to the report, as cited by Channel 2's website, Netanyahu told Abdullah at the meeting that he is considering blocking Jews from entering the Temple Mount.
In addition, Netanyahu reportedly said that Israel will take "new steps" regarding the entry of visitors to the Temple Mount, but the newspaper did not say what they would be.
After the meeting, Abdullah reportedly spoke with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and filled him in on its results.
Abbas commended Netanyahu on Sunday after the Israeli leader called for calm in Jerusalem. "Today, a statement was issued by the government of Israel and the prime minister of Israel, according to which there is a need for calm, and we support calm," said Abbas.
"In principle, we support calm," he added. "We do not want to escalate the situation until it cannot be handled." Just last month, Abbas called for terrorism on the Temple Mount, demanding Muslims block Jews by "all means necessary."
Abbas's bureau further called Netanyahu's statement "a step in the right direction" and claimed that Netanyahu had recognized the Muslims' "right to Al Aqsa."
Israel: America Danger Point - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
America-Israeli relations have reached a crisis point, according to reports that continue to grow. The mainstream news media, like in so many cases these days, prefers to adhere to White House news governance and just remain silent while dissension grows within diplomatic enclaves.
News sources report that the top Israeli defense official, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, was barred from meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, and other top administration officials during his most recent official visit to Washington, DC. The flap began with Kerry pressuring Israel to come to the table of peace without first getting certain precursor agreements the Israeli government wants in order to sit down at the table of peace with the Palestinian Authority and other of Israel's avowed enemies.
The Israeli defense minister, at the time of Kerry bringing the pressure on Israel, called the secretary of state's over-the-top demands "obsessive and messianic," and said, "Kerry should win his Nobel and leave us in peace."
The American government's (Obama's) treatment of the Israeli defense minister personally--and of Israel in this recent occurrence--is likely in response to this statement. However, the president and his top officials have consistently dealt with Israeli officials in this way since the current administration was installed in Washington. It is a most dangerous method of interacting with the city and nation that God calls "the apple of my eye." This almost certainly amounts to, at the very least, "poking in the eye" Benjamin Netanyahu and his efforts to keep the Israeli nation safe from surrounding peoples blood-vowed to push Israel and the Jewish people into the Mediterranean.
Despite the fact that even the UN ambassador, at first, and Obama's closest advisers were prohibited from giving the Israeli defense minister an audience, Ya'alon did manage to have a successful meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. Finally, when Ya'alon was allowed to meet with the UN ambassador, he was reportedly subjected to a diatribe of how Israel must give in the matter of settlements in the disputed areas that are blocking the peace effort.
At the same time, like in any political venue, Israel has its peace-at-any-price group. Such is the case of Israel's finance minister, Yair Lapid, who is quick to praise the Obama administration and call on the Israeli government to soften on the matter of giving up land for peace. He shows his colors by his statements, in my humble view.
Lapid, who has often opposed Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon over the Israeli defense budget, recently put in his two cents in regard to the serious crisis developing between the US and Israeli allies. After learning of those tensions, he said, "We need to act with more respect. We must remember that US funds and technology helped Gaza operation."
He went on to tell a Tel Aviv meeting, "We mustn't pretend there isn't a crisis.... Our relations with the US are vital and everything that can be done must be done to end this crisis."
So, Mr. Lapid prefers the Chamberlain approach. Just give in to your enemies and all will be okay, so long as you have a document of peace to wave before the people who will then soon be sent to gas chambers.
With the growing anti-Semitism throughout the world and the storming of the likes of ISIL across the regions north of Israel--movements that have at their hearts satanic hatred for the Jewish state and people--the danger is obvious. US relations with Israel are at a crisis level. The ramifications of the American government acting contrary to Israel's interest could be devastating. Make no mistake, though. Those ramifications wouldn't be devastating to Israel. That nation and people are God-guaranteed to be the one nation on earth that will be standing tall when all of the vicissitudes of history have played out.
The effects on the United States will be nothing short of devastating if we pull away from Israel--in her time of need, or ever! Israel is far from perfect. The nation and the people have time and time again pulled out of God's traces. He has dealt appropriately with that nation, as the Perfect Father disciplining a wayward child. In the end, though, that nation will stand as the apex nation of the world. God has spoken that fact. All other nations will be dealt with in accordance with how they have treated God's chosen nation. America, under this administration, is dealing any way but in the biblically prescribed way. It is a dangerous course our leaders have chosen.
Arab League Threatens 'Untold Consequences' over Temple Mount - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186924#.VFZZG5t0x9A
Arab League's deputy chief calls for international, Arab pressure to ensure Jews remain unable to pray at their holiest site.
The Arab League warned Sunday that Israel has reached a "red line" after fresh clashes in Jerusalem, urging international pressure to stop what it branded "violations" in the holy city.
Arab riots around the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site - which also houses the Al Aqsa mosque compound - as well as the attempted assassination of leading Jewish Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick, prompted Israel on Thursday to close the site for a day.
The Temple Mount has been the focus of attempts by Arab and Islamist groups to prevent Jews from visiting their holiest site, using intimidation and violence. Israeli police have responded time and again with riot control measures and arrests in an attempt to quell the violence.
Jews are forbidden to pray on the Mount, in what activists say amounts to capitulation to Muslim pressure by the Israeli government. Arab and Muslim leaders often refer to Jewish visitors as "settlers," and characterize their visits as attempts to "storm" the Al Aqsa mosque, despite the peaceful nature of the visits and the fact that Jews do not attempt to enter the mosque.
On Sunday Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Hilli added his voice to recent Arab condemnations over security measures at the site, saying that "Israel has reached a red line," in front of an assembly of the 22-member bloc's delegates.
He called on Arabs and the international community "to put a stop to these practices by the Israeli occupation authorities in Jerusalem".
"Touching Jerusalem will lead to results with untold consequences," he added.
Jewish campaigners have long pushed for equal prayer rights on the site, and on Sunday, Likud lawmaker Moshe Feiglin visited the compound and called for Jews to be allowed to pray there despite the heightened tensions over its status.
He was met with protests from Muslims crying "Allahu akbar" (God is greater).
The United States on Thursday urged all sides in Jerusalem to exercise "restraint" in the holy city, and said it was working with Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians to try to restore calm.
However, Palestinian leaders have been accused of whipping up the recent violence, with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas calling on Muslims to prevent Jews visiting the Temple Mount using "all means necessary."
Jordan's King Abdullah II has also sounded a combative tone, vowing to "confront" Israel to ensure Jews remain banned from praying there.
In stark contrast to the Arab response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to change the status quo, and urged MKs to show "responsibility and restraint" in their statements and actions, to help calm the situation.
Israel 'on brink of third intifada' after new car attack - Kate Shuttleworth - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11211675/Israel-on-brink-of-third-intifada-after-new-car-attack.html
A second car attack in Jerusalem, coupled with further confrontations at the Al Aqsa mosque, have increased fears of a third intifada
Israel was feared to be descending into a third intifada on Wednesday night after a police officer was killed and 14 people injured in a car attack, the second such incident in two weeks coming amid continued rioting in Jerusalem's holiest places.
A Palestinian member of the militant group Hamas rammed a truck into a crowded light rail station, backed out and then continued to drive, hitting several cars and injuring passengers and pedestrians on the street.
He got out of the car and attacked a group of civilians and police officers on the side of the road with a metal bar before he was shot and killed.
A Hamas statement claimed responsibility and praised the "glorious operation" of the attacker, named as Ibrahim al-Akri, 38, from the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem.
He had "retaliated for the blood of his people and the sacredness of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem," a statement said.
The head of the ambulance rescue service, Eli Bir, also said he also ploughed into people waiting at a bus stop. Apart from the attacker, the one person killed was a police officer from the Druze minority.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, blamed the incident on "incitement" by the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, and his Hamas "partners" - a reference to their current attempts to implement a power-sharing deal.
"The attack was the direct consequence of Abu Mazen's [Abbas's] incitement and that of his Hamas partners," Mr Netanyahu said.
Earlier, heavy rioting near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam which occupies what Jews call the Temple Mount, saw a Palestinian man seriously injured by a rubber bullet and tear gas fired into the mosque by Israeli border police.
Tensions have been high in the capital since a similar incident two weeks ago when Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, also from east Jerusalem, ploughed his car into commuters killing a three-month-old baby and a 20-year-old woman.
There have been sporadic riots since July, when a Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was murdered by a Jewish gang in Shuafat, in retaliation for the killing of three Jewish teenagers abducted on their way back home to a West Bank settlement.
Last month, the trouble moved to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which was closed to all visitors on Thursday for the first time in 14 years.
It was closed again on Wednesday after the renewed rioting.
Last week, a far-right activist and rabbi Yehuda Glick was shot at close range outside a conference where he had spoken about allowing an increased Jewish presence on the grounds of the mosque.
The key suspect, another Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem, Muataz Hijazi, 33, was shot and killed the next day by Israeli police.
Mr Abbas sparked Mr Netanyahu's rage by sending Hijazi's family a letter of condolence.
On Monday Israel's Interior Ministry pressed ahead regardless with its east Jerusalem settlements programme, signing off on another 500 new homes near Shuafat.
Jordan recalled its ambassador for consultations in protest at the violence and Israeli actions to close the mosque.
Israeli police said al-Akri had been recently released from prison after he served time for "security offences". His brother was said to be among the more than 1,000 Palestinians released in the 2011 prisoner exchange deal for the captured young Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar Ilan University, said Jerusalem was facing a renewed intifada, or uprising, after previous uprisings in the 1980s and again from 2000-2005.
"Those who say this is not an intifada have in mind intifada one and two as models, but I refuse to assume that the third intifada should exactly follow the first and the second. It can be different - it's a popular rejection of the Israeli authority," he said.
"It's a local intifada, yes, and Israel is trying to contain it.
"Israel uses different measures in order to stop the intifada in Jerusalem - by using law and settlement expansion."
This week Israel began pushing through legislation that could see those who throw stones jailed for up to 20 years without the state needing to prove they intended to cause harm.
Since July there have been daily attacks on the light rail which connects the east with west of the city. It was originally built as a bridge between Palestinians and Jews, but today is a symbol of the city's ethnic divide.
Netanyahu and Jordan king call for calm amid tensions
After Hashemite Kingdom threatens to rethink ties with Israel, Netanyahu assures Abdullah II that Jews won't be allowed to pray at Temple Mount
Israel has no plans to change the status quo at Jerusalem's Temple Mount compound by allowing Jewish prayer there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Jordan's King Abdullah II Thursday.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated Israel's commitment to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount as well as Jordan's special status at the site," a statement from the premier's office said.
Both leaders "called for an immediate end to the violence and incitement," the statement maintained.
Ahead of a meeting with Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, Netanyahu said that he had spoken with the Jordanian leader "and we agreed that we'll do every effort to calm the situation."
"We have to make every effort to restore calm, quiet and security. But I think we have to make that effort throughout the world," he added.
The statement came as Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian protesters outside the Ofer military prison near Ramallah. The demonstration was called by Birzeit univeristy students to protest Israeli actions on the Temple Mount, according to AFP.
Under the current status quo at the compound, which is sacred to both Islam and Judaism, Jews are permitted to visit but not to pray there for fear it would cause friction at one of the most sensitive holy sites in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, Jordan told the UN Security Council that it was ready to take measures to stop Israeli actions on the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem after Israeli police clashes with Palestinians there on Wednesday morning.
"Jordan considers such serious and outrageous actions by Israel an unprecedented escalation," said Ambassador Dina Kawar in a letter to the president of the Security Council.
Noting that Jordan had recalled its ambassador from Israel, the UN envoy added that "this is without prejudice to any further lawful steps and measures that Jordan will be taking to stop Israeli attacks against the Haram Al-Sharif" - the Temple Mount compound.
Earlier Wednesday, Jordan warned it will reevaluate its diplomatic ties with Israel, including its 20-year peace accord, in light of what it termed Israeli "violations" on the Temple Mount.
Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani told Al-Jazeera that "all legal and diplomatic options are open in order to respond to the Israeli violations of the al-Aqsa mosque."
The Hashemite Kingdom recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and moved to file a UN complaint after police clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the holy site Wednesday morning.
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Israel's recent actions at the compound were "way beyond the limits."
"These violations are infuriating the emotions and the sensitivity of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world," he said Wednesday.
"Calm has to be restored. Israel has to respect the sanctity of the holy sites."
The recall reportedly came after reports surfaced that Israeli police had entered the al-Aqsa Mosque on the compound and clashed with protesters inside the building.
The Waqf overseeing the Temple Mount claimed that Israeli police went deep into the mosque during its crackdown, all the way to the preacher's pulpit - the furthest Israeli security forces have ventured since the 1967 Six Day War, Channel 2 reported. Israel said that its forces only went a few meters inside, where they saw a stash of stones, bottles, and Molotov cocktails that the demonstrators had prepared.
The Waqf is the Jordanian organization that administers the Temple Mount compound, which is the holiest location for Jews and contains Islam's third holiest site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Jordan has responsibility for managing the mosque compound and other holy sites in the eastern part of the city. Its status as custodian is enshrined in its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
Unfairly Pressuring Israel - Alf Cengia - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=7925
It is old news now that an anonymous White House Adviser had the guts to privately call Prime Minister Netanyahu out for what he was - a coward and a chicken-something. The Obama Administration was quick to distance itself from this brave, unknown person.
After some scrambling, the White House finally got John Kerry to phone Netanyahu and apologize and express its regrets that such inflammatory language was used. I don't know why the president didn't personally call the Israeli prime minister but I'm sure he had a great excuse.
Still, I would have thought the president might have gone out publicly to bat for Mr. Netanyahu's character with the same gusto he demonstrated for Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. But I guess he knows how to handle these things best.
Of course, unofficially, the unnamed official was articulating the party line. Moreover, the remark may have been another media leak. According to Daniel Greenfield:
"The calculated media leak has been a regular tool in the Obama Inc. PR box. It's never been a very effective tool, but that never stopped them from using certain publications, the New York Times, and certain hacks, Jeffrey Goldberg, to distribute their talking points."
Whatever the case, the current administration has been consistently antagonistic towards Israel. The people in the administration were chosen by Obama. He has essentially surrounded himself with like-minded subordinates.
President Obama set the culture at his inauguration by consistently promoting and defending Islam. In contrast he has publicly castigated Israel. He was raised in an anti-Israel culture and has brought it to the presidency. The Arab Spring implosion contrasted to Israel's solidarity must surely stick in his throat.
Israel is a thorn in Obama's side and Prime Minister Netanyahu understands all this only too well. Unfortunately, Israel is substantially reliant on the United States. Hence Netanyahu is forced to play the diplomat when his character has been assassinated in the media.
Getting back to that media leak - sure enough, Jeffrey Goldberg used his "chicken-something" exposé as opportunity to further tarnish Netanyahu's (and Israel's) reputation by focusing on the so-called "settlements" issue. He's an old hand at raising that canard, so that makes him a very useful tool in the market place of propaganda.
In 2011, President Obama was infamously caught on a live microphone gossiping to France's Sarkozy about Netanyahu. When Sarkozy told Obama he didn't want to see Netanyahu again because he was a liar, the latter responded: "You've had enough of him, but I have to deal with him every day!"
Interestingly, almost in the same breath, Obama then asked Sarkozy to ask the Palestinians to slow down their United Nations membership drive. I guess he wanted time to soften Netanyahu and possibly score his own points.
Speaking of which, the drive to Palestinian U.N. membership and push for Statehood is moving ahead. In January 2015 the U.N. Security Council will induct five incoming states. These states - particularly Venezuela and Malaysia - are hostile to Israel. The others are favorably considering recognizing "Palestine" as a full member state of the U.N.
The Two State solution is being pushed under the irrational and dangerous assumption that it will ease Middle East tensions. The world is imposing a state comprising of leaders who refuse to recognize Israel and have vowed to destroy it:
"In a final resolution, we would not see a single Israeli - civilian or soldier - on our lands." ~ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
"The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight and kill the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and the trees will say, O Muslims, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." ~ Hamas Charter, Article 7.
Lest we forget: In the recent Gaza conflict, Hamas' leaders bravely put their civilians under fire while they safely bunkered down elsewhere. When Israel responded to the rocket attacks it was blamed for the killing of innocents.
Let's not forget Iran. The Obama Administration has made conciliatory overtures to Iran and has been involved in its nuclear development talks. It sent signals that the Iranian regime is changing. Yet the Washington Wire has noted:
'Iran does not, however, appear to have undergone any such change. Iranian support for Hezbollah in Lebanon has continued unabated even as the group has thwarted efforts to strengthen Lebanese sovereignty and dispatched forces to Syria. According to the U.S. director of national intelligence, Hezbollah has increased "its global terrorist activity in recent years to a level that we have not seen since the 1990s."'
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah recently stated in a televised speech that Israel will be forced to close its ports and airports, and that every piece of land will be hit by Lebanese missiles. The White House may have the luxury to trust in Iran, but a nuclear powered Iran amplifies the existential threat to Israel.
It is quite remarkable that no other nation in the history of this planet has had so many other nations interfering in its affairs as Israel has. Even its purported allies cannot resist unfairly imposing threats upon it.
Moderate Jordan's Abdullah recently showed his true colors. Following Palestinian unrest and violence on the Temple Mount, Abdullah turned it around and responded that the Palestinian cause remained Jordan's "principal cause and higher national interest." He also vowed that his country would:
"...mobilize international support to rebuild Gaza, following the vile Israeli aggression, which killed thousands of our brethren."
Why is all this so?
God had something to say about it:
I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. Jer 24:9
Despite this, one day Israel will return to God (Hos 5:15). And that will be a terrible day for all who trample on the nation (Zec 2:8, 12:3, 9).
Nations beware.
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