Trump & Netanyahu agree: Israel-Gulf peace first - http://www.debka.com/article/25927/Trump-Netanyahu-agree-Israel-Gulf-peace-first
"One state, two states, I like this state," Donald Trump joked, turning to visiting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when they addressed a wide-ranging, friendly news conference Wednesday, Feb.15, at the White House, ahead of their face-to-face talks.
Trump reacted positively to Netanyahu's proposal to broaden the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to a regional effort as a "very important" new idea "on a broader canvas" which he believed could succeed. Netanyahu said that the regional fears of Iran also presented an opportunity for cooperation against the Islamic State and radical Islamic terror.
debkafile reports that these sentiments reflected agreement in principle between Trump and Netanyahu to seek an Israeli peace accord with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates as the lead-in to negotiations for an accord with the Palestinians. Egypt, Jordan and Turkey with whom Israel already has normal relations would jump in later. This deal fits in with the US plan reported more than once on these pages for a regional peace between the Sunni Arab nations and the Jewish State.
Some of the spadework may have been performed by CIA Director Mike Pompeo who paid a secret visit to Ramallah Wednesday morning for talks with Mahmoud Abbas, after trips to Ankara and Riyadh, following which Turkey upgraded its diplomatic mission in Israel
This plan was the fulcrum for the president to push back against the two-state solution advocated by the Obama administration as the cure for the conflict. It remains to be seen if this plan takes on life outside the White House and in the region's capitals.
Trump realistically called on Israel to "hold back settlements," show flexibility and make compromises for a peace deal. He urged the Palestinians to "get rid of hate starting in the schoolroom." Whatever the Israelis and Palestinians agree to in direct talks - one state or two - "I will accept,." he said, adding "I believe we will have a deal that is better than many Israelis think."
In answer to a question on settlements, Netanyahu replied that he did not believe they were the core of the conflict and the issue could be addressed in peace negotiations. With regard to a two-state formula, the prime minister said this was a label and he preferred to deal in substance. An independent state was contingent on the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, giving up incitement to violence and Israel remaining responsible for security up to the Jordan River. "Do we want another failed state, another terrorist state?" he asked.
Netanyahu commended the US President for pledging that Iran must never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon and stressed that its missile program was a threat - not only to Israel and the region, but to America due to the ICBMs under development and Iran's plans for a nuclear arsenal.
President Trump greeted the Israeli leader with stress on the "unbreakable bond with our cherished ally, Israel" their cooperation against violence and terror and shared values in respect of human life. He said that his first sit-down with Netanyahu as president would be the first of "many productive meetings."
The president made the exceptional gestures of welcoming Netanyahu and his wife Sarah at the door of the White House, with the First Lady at his side. The couples exchanged warm embraces.
Melania Trump took a seat beside Sarah Netanyahu in the front row of the news conference. They were joined by Ivanka and Jared Kushner, who holds the post of special adviser to the president.
Netanyahu ends his Washington visit Thursday after meeting Vice President Mike Pence and leaders of Congress.
A great day for America - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
The Abrahamic Covenant, made by God to Abraham and his descendants, is the foundation on which God's entire plan of salvation rests. Genesis 12:1-3 says, "...Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Over the past decade, America has not blessed Israel, and we have suffered great economic loss, strife and division. On February 15, that began to change under President Donald Trump.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House and President Trump in one of the most significant meetings in recent history. America changed course with its President stating that his foreign policy goals do not involve dividing Israel into two states to achieve peace with Palestinian terrorists, and hinted at a broader, regional approach involving other countries. Trump said that his Administration rejects the "unfair and one-sided actions against Israel at the United Nations." Trump reiterated that his administration has already imposed new sanctions on Iran and confirmed: "I will do more to prevent Iran from ever developing-I mean ever-a nuclear weapon." Trump in one news conference committed to undoing almost every foreign policy of his predecessor's evil and malicious support of Israel's enemies.
Netanyahu said that to have peace, "First, the Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state. They have to stop calling for Israel's destruction. They have to stop educating their people for Israel's destruction. Second, in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River. Because if we don't, we know what will happen -- because otherwise we'll get another radical Islamic terrorist state in the Palestinian areas exploding the peace, exploding the Middle East. Now, unfortunately, the Palestinians vehemently reject both prerequisites for peace. First, they continue to call for Israel's destruction--inside their schools, inside their mosques, inside the textbooks. You have to read it to believe it."
There are many Christians who do not believe Israel is Israel and Jerusalem is Jerusalem. Some believe that Christians replaced Jews as God's chosen people. Others believe that the Israel spoken of in the Bible is a spiritual one. And there are many supersessionist beliefs in between them. But if you believe that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant word of God, then Israel is Israel-historically, physically and prophetically. The promise in the unconditional, one-way Abrahamic covenant is that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. This is repeated throughout the prophets even unto the end of days. The sea-change in foreign policy by the Trump Administration toward Israel marks a great day for America.
Operation Millennium Challenge - By Matt Ward - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/02/14/operation-millennium-challenge-by-matt-ward/
The global pieces continue to shift, moving inexorably towards their predetermined prophetic end time places. The election of President Donald Trump is provoking rapid change and causing hasty national realignments, especially in the field of international relations.
President Donald Trump is proving to be a mighty catalyst for change; relationships are being reset across to globe. Nation states that have for so long taken for granted their dependence upon the United States are now reassessing their positions. Equally, other nations that had relied upon the inactivity of America-even in the face of overt provocation, especially during the Obama years, are coming to terms with an entirely new reality in 2017.
Iran so easily outmaneuvered and manipulated the former Obama Administration, are finding that the belligerence and harsh rhetoric that worked so well to subdue Barack Obama and John Kerry, holds no sway whatsoever with Donald Trump, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and U.S. Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis.
Iran is coming to terms with the fact that it doesn't matter how loud they shout anymore, nobody is listening, and certainly nobody is intimidated. In spite of this, and in direct defiance of a whole raft of UN and U.S. nuclear accords, Iran continues to openly and very aggressively test their burgeoning ballistic missile technology, all the while continuing in their vile rhetoric toward Israel and the "Great Satan"-America.
To this end National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been specific; Iran are officially "on notice." Trump has gone even further, stating plainly that Iran are "playing with fire."
A clear read line has been put down by Trump and his administration regarding Iran. Unlike Obama, who allowed his own red lines to be constantly and very publically transgressed for eight long years, Trump and his administration will likely prove to be as good as their word.
Iran's immediate response was to dismiss Trump as a ranting extremist, and "vigorously" reaffirmed their commitment to increased future ballistic missile testing and development. They proved as good as their word the very next day, testing another ballistic missile in direct breach of signed accords and in defiance of the Trump personally.
Confrontation lays ahead. This path may well lead to war between Iran and the United States and this brings dangers, not just for the United States of America but for the entire world, the Middle East and Israel specifically.
In 2002, unknown to many outside military circles, the Pentagon and the U.S. Military war-gamed just such a war with Iran. The war game was code named "Operation Millennium Challenge." It has gone down in infamy as a lesson in how not to fight a rogue, terrorist nation (much like Iran) if you are a large superpower with heavy fixed military assets, like aircraft carrier battle groups.
Operation Millennium Challenge was an utter failure. Running between July 24th and August 15th 2002, at a cost of over $250 million, Operation Millennium Challenge pitted one nation state referred to as "Blue," which was the United States, against another rogue Middle Eastern nation, "Red."
"Red" wasn't a fictionalized Middle Eastern nation though, in the war game "Red," in real terms represented Iran. The United States was war gaming a confrontation with Iran that had turned "hot."
Red, or Iran, was commanded by legendary US Marine Corps General, Paul K. Van Riper, a recipient of two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star, a Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart. From the beginning, as commander of Iran, Riper put the United States on the back foot. Even though the U.S. were able to bring to bear much more powerful and sophisticated military assets than the Iranians could ever hope to, General Riper was able to assume a momentum early in this war game that the United States simple could not pull back.
Unbelievably, and quite shockingly, Iran comprehensively defeated the technologically superior and hugely more powerful United States of America, in the first running of Millennium Challenge. Such a result caused widespread shock and disbelief in the U.S. corridors of power. U.S. war planners were horrified.
Former Marine General Ryan, assumed commander of Iran, achieved this relatively easy victory against a vastly superior U.S. force by employing old fashioned World War II era, asymmetrical tactics. To counter the vast technological superiority of the U.S. military machine, General Ryan used motorcycle messengers to transmit orders to the front line and World War Two era light signals to launch his aircraft, therefore eliminating the need to use intercept-able modern telecommunications to control his forces. This nullified much of the U.S.' technological superiority. The U.S. had no idea the Iranians were coming.
Augmenting this early advantage, General Ryan went onto the offensive against the United States from the very beginning, to devastating effect. Early in the war game Iran received a written surrender demand from the United States of America. Ryan used this pre-warning of a US attack as the trigger to launch a full scale pre-emptive strike against U.S. maritime assets in the Persian Gulf. The attack caught U.S. forces completely off guard.
Using a fleet of small boats to determine the location of the U.S. fleet, Iran then preemptively launched a massive barrage of land based cruise missiles at the approaching U.S. fleet, completely overwhelming the U.S. fleets electronic sensor and missile interception systems. The results of this attack were beyond devastating.
Iran were able to destroy sixteen U.S. warships, including one aircraft carrier, ten cruisers and five out of six amphibious ships. Translated into real life, such an attack would have resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 US service personal in one attack.
At this point the war game was suspended, whilst "Blue" or the United States' military planners simply "re-floated" all their sunken ships. The U.S. military planners were so horrified by the outcome that they just ignored the result, reset the U.S. board and pretended that the mass sinking of much of an entire U.S. fleet never happened. To make matters worse, the military planners then changed the rules of engagement for Iran; the participants were forced to follow a script that would ensure the victory of Blue over Red.
U.S. military planners cheated because they had been so overwhelmingly defeated. When Operation Millennium Challenge recommenced, Iran were ordered to turn on their anti-aircraft radar so that Blue US forces could then destroy it, and were completely forbidden from shooting down any aircraft bringing U.S. troops ashore. Riper later claimed that he was even ordered to reveal the location of certain Red assets to Blue, and was forbidden from using certain specific types of tactics and ideas against Blue, as well as being restricted in the types of weaponry he could employ.
The war game became a farce because the US military found that they had no way to defeat Iran without also incurring terrible loses of their own. This was because any war with Iran would initially be a sea war in the Persian Gulf, not a land based war as Iraq was.
Millennium Challenge highlighted the key strategic issues involved in America fighting a rogue nation like Iran; their unpredictability and their readiness to use unconventional tactics preemptively against a vastly superior US force.
Iran effectively used the US Navy's biggest assets against them; vast and huge naval flotillas. Though the US Navy today does enjoy absolute naval supremacy, it is only out on the open seas. US aircraft carriers rely on defensive systems that detect incoming threats whilst they are still over the horizon, whilst the threat is still a considerable distance away. Preferably hundreds of miles away.
Following detection of any threat sophisticated counter measures, the Aegis anti-missile system, kick in to engage and destroy all incoming threats, whilst they are still some distance away from the carrier group. For this system to work any US carrier group requires significant amounts of clear space all around in which to detect the incoming attack.
In an environment like the Persian Gulf or the Straits of Hormuz, hugely busy sea lanes that are only twenty miles wide in some places, there simply is not the space required for US systems to detect and counter incoming missile attacks. Their electronic defensive systems become all but useless.
The layered defense operated by a carrier strike group does not have enough space and therefore time to work properly in an environment like the Persian Gulf, so they become exceptionally vulnerable to attack.
Traditionally, the threat of a full carrier-strike group anchoring offshore has always been a cornerstone of U.S. deterrence. The sinking of a U.S. aircraft carrier would likely be the defining moment when the era of perceived U.S. global military dominance would come to an end. Any such event, and then no doubt magnified by 24 hour news coverage, would almost immediately alter the entire global balance of power. In the wake of such an attack American security assurances would not carry anywhere near the kind of weight as before, especially with a carrier sitting at the bottom of the sea.
In such a reality, it would then be open season on countries like Israel because the veneer of American military dominance would have been comprehensively shattered.
It is naive to assume, as so many do, that nations like Iran, or China for that matter, are not preparing for this kind of eventuality. It is clear that Iran and China are both intent on carving out for themselves spheres of influence in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.
The United States, especially now that Donald Trump has become president stands directly in their way. Every indication coming out of Iran is that they know a confrontation may be coming, and they are readying themselves for it. Equally China are readying their military for an inevitable confrontation with America over the hotly disputed South China Seas.
Soon a man will emerge who will seemingly hold the answers to all the problems afflicting this world. His emergence will foreshadow the beginning of the Tribulation period itself. By the time of his eventual appearance chaos will have ensued, and American military dominance will have been over turned, either subjugated or gone forever. My personal belief is that this will come about as a direct consequence of the rapture of the Church. However, I am also mindful of how very easily in our modern age it could happen because of just one stray cruise missile.
In late January, just over a week ago, the US air craft carrier George H. W. Bush and its supporting strike group, deployed for the Middle East supposedly to assist in the war against terror. It is more likely and realistically on a direct collision course with Iran in the Persian Gulf.
It is no exaggeration to say that in such an approaching confrontation the future of U.S. global military dominance could be at stake. Sink just one aircraft carrier and the world in which we live will be a completely different place the very next morning.
Sources:
Flynn ouster is a disturbing sign - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
Before Donald Trump was elected there were many concerns about the leaks in the US national security and intelligence system. Hillary Clinton is a living testimony with her web of trading classified information for money and influence peddling using her State Department position. But the leaking of sensitive information during the previous Administration goes far deeper than that. The ex-"president" appointed so many people that are loyal to his Marxist Islamist globalist agenda that they are able to spy on the members of the new Trump Administration in efforts to sabotage it and undermine it. The firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was an example. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn may be another.
Whether Flynn misled President Trump about conversations with the Russian Ambassador, Trump dismissed Flynn and has handled that element of mistrust. The real problem here is the network within the federal government that is working to undermine the Trump presidency. These agencies are populated with holdovers from the previous administration. The conversations between the Russian Ambassador and Flynn occurred before Trump took office. Information swirling around Flynn's conversations was being leaked by internal intelligence sources to friends in the news media, which in turn, allowed Democrats to publicly question if Trump was trying to mislead the American people about his ties to Russia. Remember, Russia was the Democratic Party's ghost source of all US intelligence problems during the election.
Quoting unnamed sources in the intelligence community, the Wall Street Journal alleged that Flynn's conversations were secretly recorded by operatives of the previous Administration, who claimed that Flynn spoke of easing the sanctions the then "lame duck president" levied on Russia. This information is still in debate. Enter Acting Attorney General Sally Yates who scurried over to FBI Director James Comey wanting immediate action. Yates was later fired for instructing the Justice Department not to enforce Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from terrorist sponsoring states. There is a pattern here: Russia, unnamed intelligence sources, news media spin, holdovers from the previous Administration undermining the current Administration, leftist politicians sowing distrust through insinuation.
The disturbing sign is more than what Flynn said to calm US-Russian relations during transition before Trump took office, but that deep in the circles of America's intel operations are rogue operatives spying on new Administration appointees, developing deadly narratives, and leaking this information to a news media eager to undermine Trump before assimilating the truth. Then the politics of division takes its course. The circumstances surrounding Flynn are more disturbing evidence that the ex-"president" is fomenting rebellion. It's his organization, operatives, and progressive stalwarts who are carrying out the revolution. Much deception is in the air. As Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you."
What should we watch for when Trump & Netanyahu meet this week? - Joel C. Rosenberg - https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/13/what-should-we-watch-for-when-trump-netanyahu-meet-this-week-here-are-five-crucial-questions-that-need-answers/
Here are five crucial questions that need answers.
As I write this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flying to Washington for his first official meetings with President Trump.
The men have known each other for years, and there is a good chemistry between the two. They met last fall in Trump Tower (see picture above) and have spoken several times by phone since then. There is, therefore, a great deal of optimism among Americans and Israelis that a new, warmer, closer friendship can and will be forged after the deep strains of the Obama-Biden years. Yet there are also concerns regarding just how the Trump relationship with Netanyahu and his government will play out.
What exactly should we be watching for this week? Here are five crucial questions to which I'm looking for answers.
1.) HOW WILL THE TWO LEADERS PREVENT IRAN FROM GOING NUCLEAR? - No issue on Netanyahu's agenda is more important than undoing the damage of the nuclear deal President Obama cut with Iran, the deal the Israeli premier famously called an "historic mistake."
Most of the GOP candidates during the primary vowed to rip up the deal if they were elected president. But candidate Trump never did. He has certainly blasted the deal as terrible, but rather than scrap it he vowed during the campaign to "police" it and punish Iran the moment they violate its terms. In recent weeks, numerous Trump cabinet officials and advisors have reaffirmed that the President won't scrap the deal. (See here, here, here, here and here.) During an Oval Office call with Saudi King Salman last month, President Trump vowed to "rigorously enforce" the Iran deal.
Interestingly, since the election Netanyahu has not actually urged Trump to scrap the deal but to "tighten the noose" around Iran's neck with punishing new sanctions. The Prime Minister has publicly suggested he has at least five additional options the new President could consider vis-�-vis Iran, though he has not explained what those are yet.
The big question then is this: Can Trump and Netanyahu agree on a unified strategy to contain the ayatollahs of Iran and prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons and further testing long-range ballistic missiles, and if so, what exactly will that strategy involve?
2) HOW CAN THEY CONTAIN THE CRISIS IN SYRIA? - Here in Israel, we are watching a modern Arab state implode before our very eyes. More than 500,000 people are dead. Chemical weapons have been used by the Assad regime, and by the Islamic State. The militaries of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Turkey are all operating in the Syrian theater. The refugee crisis is enormous. Millions of Syrians have poured into Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
The big question now is this: Can Trump and Netanyahu map out a unified approach to contain the crisis in Syria and prevent it from causing: A) a new war to erupt with Israel; B) a flood of terrorists to spread out into the U.S., Israel, Europe and the Arab world; and C) the destabilization of Jordan and/or other Arab allies?
3) HOW CAN THEY ADVANCE RATHER THAN UNDERMINE THE EMERGING STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH THE SUNNI ARAB WORLD? - As I have been writing about for the last several years (see here, here, here, here and here), a quiet but dramatic shift is taking place in the epicenter.
The existential threats posed by Iran and the Islamic State - and the vacuum caused by President Obama's foolish insistence on retreating from the Middle East - are causing Sunni Arab states to discreetly drop their intense hostility with Israel. Indeed, they are working closely - increasingly closely - with the Jewish State to protect themselves from common enemies. Every few weeks, I'm hearing of more high-level contacts between current and former Israeli leaders and current and former Sunni Arab leaders.
The big questions now are these:
Can Trump and Netanyahu agree on an approach that might deepen and broaden the relationships between Israel and the Sunni Arab states from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco?
Is it even possible to help some of those Sunni states step forward and sign peace treaties with Israel, as Egypt and Jordan have already done? (Yes, this would have seemed fanciful just a few years ago, but it doesn't seem crazy anymore.)
4) WILL THEY ACTUALLY MOVE THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM, AND IF SO HOW, AND WHEN? - It looked like it was going to happen fast.
Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just told Politico that his impression was that the Trump team initially wanted to move the embassy to Jerusalem in the first moments after the Inauguration.
Candidate Trump insisted he would make the move quickly.
A law passed in a bipartisan fashion and signed by President Clinton in 1996 fully allows President Trump to make the move.
President Trump has appointed a new U.S. Ambassador to Israel - David Friedman - who fully supports moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
An excellent new report by Rob Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explains how to make the move in a way to strengthen rather than undermine America's position in the Mideast.
However, America's Sunni Arab allies, and surely the Palestinian leadership, have warned President Trump not to be hasty. They argue such a move could cause a serious backlash against the U.S. on the Arab street and disrupt or even derail the significant progress that is being made behind the scenes in terms of Israeli-Sunni relations.
To his credit, the new President has slowed the process down somewhat. He is rightly listening carefully to a range of counselors on the matter. In the end, this is certainly the President's decision alone to make.
I do hope he moves the U.S. Embassy to West Jerusalem. This would correct an historic injustice when Washington refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital dating back to 1948. I can't think of another national capital in any country around the world that America doesn't recognize and have an embassy located there. Everyone knows that, at the very least, West Jerusalem is going to be Israel's capital even if and when a peace deal with the Palestinians is completed. Congress and President Clinton agreed on a bipartisan basis to move the embassy to Jerusalem twenty years ago, and we should make good on this commitment. But yes, we should do it wisely, and in close communication and cooperation with our allies. I encourage the President to move forward, to wisely weigh every issue carefully, and to make sure he does not accidentally step on a proverbial landmine in the process.
The big question now is this: Will Trump and Netanyahu agree that this should be done, and if so how, and how quickly - or will they conclude that such a decision regarding the embassy should be slowed down to put more attention on building a global coalition to contain Iran and finding new ways to strengthen the U.S.-Israel-Sunni alliance?
5) HOW WILL THEY STRENGTHEN ISRAELI SECURITY AND IMPROVE THE LIVES OF PALESTINIANS EVEN IF THE PROSPECTS OF A PEACE DEAL ARE MINIMAL RIGHT NOW? - President Trump sees himself as a deal-maker par excellence. He would love to be the guy who solved this problem where no other American president could. He wants to appoint his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to focus on make a peace deal.
That said, most observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict see no way to make a comprehensive peace deal any time soon. Here are a few reasons why:
- A terrorist organization (Hamas) controls Gaza and has been firing rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians since Israel withdrew in 2005.
- The Palestinian Authority is led by a man (Mahmoud Abbas) serving the twelfth year of a four year term and is unwilling to hold new elections.
- The Palestinian leadership has repeatedly rejected generous peace offers made by successive Israeli prime ministers.
- The Palestinian leadership has refused since 2009 to come to the table and sit down for bilateral negotiations with Israeli leaders.
Meanwhile, as the world tries to pressure Israel to focus on a two-state solution, Israeli leaders on the center-right are increasingly calling for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and even the annexation of part or all of the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty.
- Israeli Education Minister [Naftali Bennett] says Israel faces historic opportunity to nix two-state solution
- Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said that "the Republican Party removed the issue of a Palestinian state from its platform. There's no reason for a right-wing Israeli government to outflank it from the left. I urge the prime minister to renounce the two-state solution and present an alternative solution."
- Israeli President Reuven Rivlin today publicly announced that he supports Israel fully annexing all of the West Bank and granting full civil rights for the Palestinians as Israeli citizens - this was big news here.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is cautioning his governing coalition not to overreach and expect the Trump administration to give Israeli leaders everything they want.
The big question now is this: In the absence of a clear path forward in the peace process for now, can Trump and Netanyahu agree on a strategy to improve Israeli security; improve the lives of the Palestinian people by encouraging economic growth, job creation, and the building of new factories, schools, hospitals, roads and other critical infrastructure; and do so in a way that doesn't undermine - and may even enhance - the quiet alliance emerging between Israel and her Sunni Arab neighbors?
These are big questions. I'm as curious as you are to see what answers emerge. Let's be praying for wisdom for the two leaders as they and their advisors meet this week.
Bennett: If Trump and Netanyahu discuss Palestinian state the 'earth will shake' - Gil Hoffman, Tovah Lazaroff - http://www.jpost.com/printarticle.aspx?id=481260
Sources close to Netanyahu responded by calling the statement and others like it from the Right unhelpful, saying it could harm the meeting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must give up his support for a Palestinian state in his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Likud activists urged him on Saturday.
Netanyahu endorsed a Palestinian state in his June 14, 2009, address at Bar-Ilan University following a meeting with then-president Barack Obama, who pressured him to take that step despite his party's opposition.
Now, with Trump as president, leaders of the Right expressed hope that Netanyahu will reverse that endorsement.
In a Facebook post titled "The test of Netanyahu's life," Bennett promised Netanyahu the Right's support if he tells Trump he no longer supports a two state solution, and a national nightmare if he continues backing a Palestinian state.
"If in their statements after the meeting they mention, for the first time in Trump's term, their obligation to forming Palestine or two states in one way or another, we will all feel it in our flesh for years to come," Bennett warned. "The earth will shake. International pressure, boycotts, reports against Israel, missiles, freezes, tying the hands of our soldiers in the fight against terrorism - all this will continue and intensify."
Bennett called Trump's election an historic opportunity for Israel that cannot be missed.
He urged Netanyahu to take advantage of it by telling the Trump administration, "We tried Palestine time and time again, and we got 1,000 dead on the streets of Israel, Hamistan in Gaza and a deterioration in our international image."
Sources close to Netanyahu responded by calling the statement and others like it from the Right unhelpful ahead of the meeting with Trump, saying it could even harm the meeting.
The prime minister is also facing pressure from inside the Likud, whose hawks are to conduct a rally at the Knesset on Monday during which Netanyahu is to be urged to annex Judea and Samaria. Ahead of the meeting, more than 300 Likud central committee members signed a petition calling on him to maintain the values of the Likud and quoting from his book A Place Under the Sun, in which he praises Judea and Samaria.
Settlers fear Netanyahu will endorse a two-state solution in his meeting with Trump and argue for a plan that promotes the settlements blocs while freezing the more isolated communities.
In preparation for the trip, Netanyahu has held security consultations with the IDF chief of staff, as well as with the heads of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the Mossad and Israel's Atomic Energy Commission.
Israel's Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer was in Israel last week to help prepare for the trip. The Foreign Ministry also presented Netanyahu with a number of position papers.
Among the topics the two leaders plan to discuss are Iran, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli officials said Netanyahu plans to tell Trump that Israel will not agree to any kind of an Iranian presence in Syria.
Netanyahu also plans to discuss his talk with Trump at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting.
In advance of the Netanyahu- Trump meeting, the US president gave an interview to Israel Hayom, in which he said advancing settlement activity is not helpful to peace.
In the brief excerpt of the interview, which Israel Hayom published on Friday, Trump walked a fine line between refusing to condemn Israel while putting forward his belief about what is helpful and not helpful to the peace process. The new president also hinted at the possibility of a regional peace deal.
"Israel has had a long history of condemnation and difficulty. And I don't want to be condemning Israel.
I understand Israel very well, and I respect Israel a lot, and they have been through a lot. I would like to see peace and beyond that. And I think that peace for Israel would be a good thing for the Israeli people, not just a good thing, a great thing," Trump said.
"I want to see peace happen. It should happen. After all these years...
Maybe there is even a chance for a bigger peace than just Israel and the Palestinians. I would like to see a level of reasonableness of both parties, and I think we have a good chance of doing that," he added.
Referencing the West Bank, he noted that there is a limited amount of land and expanding the settlements eats away at the remaining territory.
""They [settlements] don't help the process. I can say that. There is [only] so much land left. And every time you take land for settlements, there is less land left. But we are looking at that, and we are looking at some other options. We'll see," Trump said.
"I am not somebody who believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace," he continued.
Trump underscored his desire to make a deal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"So many people think it cannot be made. I have very smart people that...
say a deal can't be made. I disagree with them. I think a deal should be made, and it can be made," he said.
The president added that he has always liked Netanyahu and believes he acts in Israel's best interests and wants peace "We've always had good chemistry, and he is a good man. He wants to do the right thing for Israel. He would like peace; I believe that he wants peace and wants to have it badly. I have always liked him," Trump said.
Regarding the possible relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he said that he is still studying the matter. "It's not an easy decision," he said.
In speaking about the agreement Iran reached with the six world powers during the Obama administration, Trump said the deal is a "disaster for Israel."
Trump and God's Purpose - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
Mention has been made many times through opinion that goes something like this: Trump isn't a godly person, yet neither was Nebuchadnezzar and other kings and leaders the Lord chose down through the centuries to do great things-to serve great purposes. So, God can use Donald Trump to accomplish what the Lord wants accomplished.
Considering the 180-degree course change this nation has embarked upon in this presidential election, it is, I believe, an understatement to say that God must be up to something big with the election of Donald J. Trump-that is, to something profound.
The abrupt turning away from advocating for the homosexual agenda and other forms of aberrant behavior, and toward championing protection of moral values and Judeo-Christian principles upon which the nation was founded, is amazing to say the least. No one would have imagined strongly, during the early days of the just past election season, that the Christian faith would so soon come under the protective hand of a presidential administration. Especially this was unthinkable because the previous administration adamantly embraced the Muslim faith in ways that baffled those not a part of the extreme political left.
That political left just mentioned has been completely driven to acting in maniacal ways by the Donald Trump victory. It is astounding that the fever-pitch of the enragement continues to build with each succeeding day Trump is in office.
Psychiatrists and psychologists who study mass hysteria conclude for the most part that such a level of rage is impossible to maintain over an extensive period of time. Yet we daily observe the opposite. The absolute furious, even lunatic, behavior continues and even grows over anything and everything that involves President Donald Trump.
Anyone who demonstrates the slightest support for this president has the political hounds of the netherworld descend upon their lives. It is astounding to witness. And, as often as not, it is somewhat amusing, so long as the insane rants are kept to the verbal and not the physical level such as the violence that took place in Berkley and surrounding other universities. The corporate world is infected and affected by the lunacy. CEOs, such as that of Starbucks, for example, climb eagerly onto the anti-Trump hate-wagon at the risk of alienating half their customer base or clientele. Amidst all the silliness, clothing designers refuse to design the new first lady's clothing. The fashions produced by the president's daughter are ripped from the fashion lines of clothiers.
In the halls of government we have the likes of Democrat Senator Charles Schumer weeping on the Senate floor. He tells sobbingly how it breaks his heart that the few people are detained at the airports because of President Trump's temporary ban of people coming in from the seven nations Schumer's own Democrat President Obama put on the banned list several years ago. The senator, himself, wholeheartedly backed the banning of such entrants into America under Obama's executive order.
We watch the Democrat committee members throw temper tantrums, refusing to attend the cabinet committee hearings and undertake other childish actions to hold up proceedings.
We listened to the attempted grilling of New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady about why he was friend to President Trump. They ignored relevant football questions in anticipation of the upcoming Super Bowl and went for the jugular in order to, hopefully, score hate-filled political points, in my view.
But, all this theater, both entertaining and troubling to the process of our representative democracy-our republic- pales in comparison to the intrigues to be analyzed on the international level.
The new president's breathtaking movement toward fulfilling campaign promises makes clear in my own thinking that the Lord of Heaven put Trump in place for developments that are going to stagger the world. Prophetic fulfillment -rather, preparation for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy- is, of course, much more significant than the just mentioned fulfillment of campaign promises.
We can, if attuned to God's Word on the wind-up of the age, see things developing that, as I said, will stagger the world.
One example is the fact that the enemies of Israel who had curried favor with the Obama administration are dumbfounded that their position relative to having the favorable attention of the U.S. president has drastically and abruptly changed.
Speaking to Newsweek last week, Saeb Erekat, go-between for PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas in dealing with both Israel and the U.S. found a totally different relationship is now in effect.
Indicating the PLO is almost in panic, he said, "I don't know any of them [Trump's advisers]. We have sent them letters, written messages. They don't even bother to respond to us."
Trump is at the same time apparently considering movement of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -a thing that many say will cause an immediate Islamist uprising. The president, additionally, has installed a thoroughly pro-Israel ambassador within the U.N. and has reached out warmly to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Third only to the change in attitude toward Christianity and return to constitutional sanity and the 180 degree turn around on treatment of Israel, are the actions President Trump is undertaking toward restoring America as leader of the free world.
Trump's geopolitical and fiscal aggressiveness thus far shown is affecting global alliances militarily. The new president's actions are having profound effects on the world economy.
My own thinking on all of this causes wonder over whether we might be seeing a specific stage-setting given by Jesus, Himself. Again, that prophecy is found in Matthew 24: 36-42 and Luke 17: 26-30. The question: Are we on the verge of witnessing an economic boom, in the midst of which the Rapture of the Church will occur?
Something big is up. One can sense it in one's spiritual bones. God has Trump here and at this time for some great purpose.
Ahead of Netanyahu-Trump talks, Abbas woos Iran - http://www.debka.com/article/25925/Ahead-of-Netanyahu-Trump-talks-Abbas-woos-Iran
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has pivoted towards Iran in a move to pre-empt a possibly impending US embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and the friendly talks scheduled to take place in Washington Wednesday, Feb. 15, between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
This is revealed by debkafile's exclusive intelligence sources.
Our sources report that the Abbas has opened a direct channel of communications between Ramallah and Tehran as a permanent fixture. Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub is in charge of the Palestinian end of the relationship and will lead the first official Palestinian delegation to Tehran.
For some months now, he has served as Abbas's senior spokesman and the Palestinian Authority's "foreign minister." In the third week of January, Rajoub declared: "In our opinion moving the embassy to Jerusalem is a declaration of war on the Muslims."
Two weeks ago, Palestinian and Iranian delegations met secretly for the first time in a European country. Two more encounters followed and dealt with such urgent matters as the fate of Palestinians stranded on Syria's battlefronts and in former refugee camps. They also discussed the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon and their problematic relations with Iran's Shiite surrogate, Hezbollah.
At their third meeting, the Iranian delegates asked where the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah stood vis-a-vis a political resolution of the Syrian conflict. They decided to talk about this some more at the next Iranian-Palestinian meeting on a date this month and a location yet to be arranged.
As part of his pivot towards Tehran, Abbas made sure to send the Palestinian Authority's warm congratulations to Iran's rulers on the anniversary of their Islamic revolution: He asked God "to bring more stability and prosperity to Iran and its brotherly people as they celebrate this occasion, and more progress and advancement the brotherly relations between our peoples."
Abu Mazen's pro-Iranian shift is intended as a signal to five parties, debkafile's intelligence sources report: President Trump, the Presidents of Russian and Egypt, the rulers of the Gulf Emirates and King Abdullah of Jordan.
He is warning Trump that the US embassy's relocation to Jerusalem and the strengthening of US-Israeli ties would be countered by a parallel enhancement of Palestinian relations with Tehran. The message to Vladmir Putin is that, even though he is fully engaged in Syria, he can't afford to abandon the Palestinians; Abdel-Fatteh El- Sisi, the Gulf rulers and Jordan's monarch are put on notice that if they have a problem with rising Iranian influence in Baghdad, they had better be prepared to find Tehran's imprint in Ramallah too.
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