Trump tells Abbas, Jordan king of 'intention' to move embassy to Jerusalem - Dov Lieber -
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II over the phone, informing them separately of his "intention" to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump "informed the president (Abbas) on his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," a statement from the Palestinian presidency said.
The Royal Hashemite court released a statement with similar language.
It was not clear from either statement if Trump planned to move the embassy immediately or at some point in the future, with no further details provided.
Abbas told the US leader the "firm" Palestinian position is "there is no Palestinian state without East Jerusalem as its capital," the readout said.
The PA president also warned Trump that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would be dangerous for the peace process, as well as to peace and security across the region and the world.
The PA president's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Abbas would continue to be in touch with world leaders to prevent what he called the "unacceptable action."
The Jordanian king warned Trump of the "danger" the measure will have if taken outside the framework of a comprehensive solution for a Palestinian state. He also cautioned it will have "dangerous repercussions" for peace and stability throughout the region and the world, according to the kingdom's readout of the call.
The White House said Trump was also scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump's call to Abbas and Abdullah came with Palestinian and Arab leaders warning that US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital would ruin Trump's efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Abbas has been speaking with world leaders over the past several days as part of diplomatic efforts to persuade Trump not to make the move.
Trump on Monday delayed a decision on whether to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and move the US embassy there.
The White House said Trump would miss a deadline to decide on shifting the embassy from Tel Aviv, after a frantic 48 hours of public warnings from allies and private phone calls between world leaders.
There have been suggestions he will stop short of moving the embassy for now but recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital - a move that would upturn years of precedent and run contrary to international consensus.
Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Abbas, told journalists on Tuesday that a decision by Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital "totally destroys any chance that he will play a role as an honest broker."
Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. It later extended sovereignty over East Jerusalem in a move never recognized by the international community. Israel claims the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The city's status is among the most difficult issues in the conflict. US traditional policy has been that its status must be negotiated between the two parties.
Our World: Trump's great and ingenious gifts - By Caroline B. Glick - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Our-World-Trumps-great-and-ingenious-gifts-517417
Turning his back on the legacy of president Barack Obama, Trump beats a new path in American-Israeli relations.
With his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump gave a Hanukka gift to the Jewish people. But he also gave a Christmas gift to the American people.
Trump's gift to Israel is not merely that 68 years after Israel declared Jerusalem its capital, the US finally recognized Israel's capital.
In his declaration, Trump said, "Israel has made its capital in the city of Jerusalem, the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times."
By stating this simple truth, Trump fully rejected the anti-Israel legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama.
In his speech in Cairo in 2009, Obama intimated that Israel's legitimacy is rooted in the Holocaust, rather than in the Jewish nation's millennial attachment to the Land of Israel. Whereas the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations Mandate rooted the Jewish people's sovereign rights to the Land of Israel in its 3,500-year relationship with it, Obama said that Israel is nothing more than a refugee camp located in an inconvenient area. In so doing, he gave credence to the anti-Israel slander that Israel is a colonialist power.
By asserting the real basis for Israel's legitimacy, Trump made clear that the Jewish people is indigenous to the Land of Israel. He also made it US policy to view Israel's right to exist, like its right to its capital city, as unconditional.
Trump's extraordinary gift to Israel was an act of political and moral courage. It was also a stroke of strategic brilliance.
To understand why it was both courageous and wise, consider the political, institutional and geopolitical contexts in which Trump acted.
Politically, Trump made his declaration in a poisonous political environment at home.
The Democrats responded to Trump's victory last year over Hillary Clinton by seeking to delegitimize his victory. To this end, they chose to oppose everything that he says and does.
And so, despite their long-held and recently voiced support for US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, leading Democratic senators including New Jersey's Cory Booker and California's Diane Feinstein condemned Trump's declaration.
The Democrats' rejection of Trump's move was an astounding act of hypocrisy. But it was also predictable.
Trump had to know the Democrats would oppose him. And he also had to know that in their opposition, they would empower US allies in Europe and the Arab world to publicly condemn his move in a manner they would be loath to do if the Democrats supported him. And still, despite this sure knowledge, Trump took action.
And it wasn't only the Democrats, the Europeans and the Arabs Trump willingly opposed. His chief opposition came from within his own government.
Since 1949, the State Department has driven US policy on Israel and on the Middle East as a whole. And since 1949, the State Department's Israel policy has refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Even worse, it worked to undermine any international support for Israel's sovereign rights to Jerusalem.
For instance, a 1962 State Department memo to then-president John F. Kennedy's national security adviser McGeorge Bundy laid out the law on Jerusalem.
The memo told Bundy that not only did the State Department oppose Israel's decision to make Jerusalem its capital. It detailed the efforts the State Department had made over more than a decade to lobby every government that opened diplomatic ties with Israel not to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and not to locate its embassy in Jerusalem.
Over the years, various presidents have taken issue with the State Department's policy toward Israel. These disputes have been informed both by genuine disagreement with Foggy Bottom's institutional hostility toward Israel and by political concerns. The American people have been supportive of Israel, and that support has only grown over the years.
But despite their genuine disputes and political concerns, no president who opposed State Department hostility toward Israel seized control over US Israel policy from the State Department.
That is, no one did until Trump did.
On Wednesday, in a very public way, Trump wrested control over US policy toward Israel generally, and Jerusalem specifically, from the State Department. The consequences of Trump's seizure of the reins over US Middle East policy are enormous, and entirely positive for the US itself. Indeed, two in particular are great gifts to the American people.
In his declaration, Trump said, "Today we finally acknowledge the obvious. That Jerusalem is Israel's capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It's something that has to be done."
Under State Department control for 68 years, US foreign policy relating to Israel specifically and the Middle East as a whole was made in deliberate defiance of reality. In the case of Jerusalem, rather than recognize the plain fact that Jerusalem is Israel's capital city, the State Department insisted on pretending that Israel has no capital. This position was a central component of an overall US Middle East policy that the State Department similarly based on a defiant rejection of observable reality.
So it happened that for decades the US ignored the multiple, systemic pathologies of the Arab and Islamic world and opted instead to predicate its policies on the false assumption that the problems of the Middle East are rooted in Israel's refusal to sufficiently appease the Arab world.
By rejecting the State Department's position on Jerusalem, and by noting that its position is rooted in a rejection of reality, Trump initiated a new course for US Middle East policy rooted in reality for the first time in three generations.
The salutary implications of a reality-based policy for America are as self-evident as the fact that Jerusalem is Israel's capital.
This brings us to the second positive advantage America gained from Trump's Jerusalem declaration.
Over the span of decades, a US president's power to determine foreign policy was measured by two things: the amount of daylight between White House statements and traditional State Department positions, and the disparity between US foreign policy positions and the positions of Western European governments and the EU. The greater the distance between White House positions and those of the State Department and Europe, the more power the president held over US foreign policy.
The only exception to this rule was Obama. Like the State Department, and like Europe, Obama's foreign policy was predicated on the need for the US to appease its enemies at the expense of its allies - first and foremost Israel. It was also based on the State Department's long-held assumption that the US should align its policies with Europe. Given his convictions, Obama could advance his agenda in harmony with the State Department.
During Obama's tenure, US allies and enemies alike were conditioned to believe that the US would not challenge them and that the State Department controlled US foreign policy. The Europeans came to believe that despite their military and economic dependence on the US, it was the US that had to take their policies into account when it fashioned its foreign policies - and not the other way around. This was certainly the case in the Middle East where Obama eagerly joined them in appeasing Iran and turning the screws on Israel.
As for America's enemies, Obama and his State Department made it clear to the North Koreans and Iranians that American threats were a joke. The US would do nothing to seriously challenge them. And in the interests of appeasing them, the US was willing to sell out all of its allies.
With this track record, it was clear that Trump would need to take dramatic action to show US allies and enemies alike that the rules of the game had changed in Washington.
Trump's recognition of Jerusalem did the job.
By recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital in defiance of Europe and the Arabs and in the course of wresting control of Middle East policy from the State Department, Trump showed US allies and enemies alike that he is in charge. And he is willing to act even when doing so provokes US enemies to threaten retaliation, when he believes that his action advances US interests.
Trump's move wasn't merely strategically brilliant. It was also a political masterstroke.
Consider the liberal Union for Reform Judaism's contradictory responses to his recognition of Jerusalem. In the lead-up to Trump's declaration, URJ President Rick Jacobs condemned Trump's anticipated move which he claimed would harm chances for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Jacobs's statement - which was supported by key groups within the Reform movement - effectively divorced Reform Judaism from Zionism. By giving the PLO a veto over Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, Jacobs said that the Reform movement thinks PLO claims to Jerusalem are stronger than Jewish claims.
This self-evidently anti-Zionist position apparently didn't go down well with the Reform rank and file. Because less than 24 hours after Trump gave his speech, the URJ issued a new statement praising Trump's move.
And the URJ leaders aren't the only ones with egg on their face.
Trump risked political support in the opinion polls by deepening US support for Israel in the face of strident opposition from the Democrats, the State Department, the media, the Europeans and the Arabs because he believed it was the right thing to do.
And as it works out, it was also an astute, if incredibly gutsy political move.
By standing up to the Democrats who just months ago called for him to take the very actions he took, but now opposed them because it was Trump adopting them, Trump exposed the likes of Booker and Feinstein as hypocritical opportunists. At the same time, he took ownership of a policy of supporting Israel that enjoys broad and deep public support.
To sum up then, by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Trump made clear that US support for Israel is not conditioned on anything. Israel, the Jewish state, is supported by the US because it deserves US support as an allied democracy.
Trump strengthened himself against his political opponents by taking ownership of a deeply popular foreign policy position.
He took control of US foreign policy from a State Department that opposes his policies. He made reality, rather than the defiance of reality, the foundation of US Middle East policy.
He put US allies and enemies on notice that he is calling the shots in US foreign policy. And he took a large step toward restoring US credibility as a superpower.
Oh, and he accomplished all of these things without spending a dime.
For his gift to Israel, Trump now enters the pantheon of Israel's friends in the annals of Jewish history.
For his gifts to America he has taken his place among the most astute American statesmen.
And for his political and economic mastery, he enters the ranks of the geniuses of American political history.
Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, forge ahead with moving US Embassy
By Alex Pappas
Published December 05, 2017
President Trump on Wednesday will order the State Department to begin moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, senior administration officials said, a move that fulfills a campaign promise made to religious conservatives but one that could inflame tensions across the Middle East.
In his announcement, Trump will say that the U.S. government recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. One official described it as an "honest" acknowledgement of a "seven-decade old fact."
�While President Trump recognizes that the status of Jerusalem is a highly sensitive issue, he does not think it will be resolved by ignoring the simple truth that Jerusalem is home to Israel�s legislature, its Supreme Court, the prime minister and is such the capital of Israel,� one official said.
The U.S. would be the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. Other countries who have diplomatic relations with Israel keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
But the embassy move would not be immediate and could take at least three or four years.
The U.S. officials said there are currently about 1,000 personnel in the embassy in Tel Aviv. They added that there is no facility in Jerusalem ready to serve as the embassy site, and it will take time to address security, design and cost concerns.
"It will take some time to find a site, address security concerns, design a new facility, fund a new facility -- working with Congress, obviously -- and build it," one official said. "So this is not an instantaneous process."
Ahead of the announcement, Trump spoke Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has said he supports the U.S. moving its embassy. But Abbas has warned of the �gravity of consequences� should the move become official for �the peace process and security and stability in the region and world.�
An international affairs adviser for Abbas said that the move �totally destroys any chance that he can play a role as an honest broker� in Middle East peace negotiations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that moving the capital was a �red line� for Muslims, and such an action could result in Turkey severing diplomatic ties with Israel.
The controversy surrounding the move of the embassy dates back decades. A law passed in 1995 under the Clinton administration considers Jerusalem the capital, and even mandates the move of the embassy there.
But the law allows for a loophole used by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama � an option to issue waivers every six months to delay the move from Tel Aviv.
Trump also took advantage of the loophole, which Republicans have long called to be closed. Trump�s first waiver was signed in June, which drew praise from the Palestinians and some disappointment from Israel.
The administration officials said Tuesday that Trump will still sign a waiver to keep from jeopardizing State Department funding while the relocation process begins.
In January, Republican Sens. Dean Heller, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz introduced legislation that would move the embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel's capital, after the Obama administration abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote to condemn Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Kelly Chernenkoff contributed to this report, along with The Associated Press.
Why It's Precisely the Right Time for Trump to Recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel - by Dovid Efune -
Ahead of his expected recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump has faced a virtual torrent of criticism.
He should pay the critics no heed. The move is not only morally the right thing to do, it's also a political masterstroke. Let me explain.
Generally, the critics can be divided into two categories.
The first group - among them the Ramallah-headquartered Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip-ruling terror organization Hamas (along with various Arab and Muslim states, and even the US State Department) - has made the case against recognition as being vital to prevent the inevitable violence and outrage that will follow as a result.
But Arab blackmail doesn't feel like a compelling argument against implementing American law and doing what's right - certainly for the United States. In addition, neither of these entities has much of a track record in furthering the cause of peace.
The second group, who are generally supportive of the move, have questioned the timing - ahead of the expected unveiling of a White House peace initiative in the coming weeks.
The timing, however, appears to be very well considered. It's highly appropriate to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the outset of a peace push for the following reason:
When Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, whom Trump has tasked with the Mideast peace brief, embarked on their "listening tour" soon after the president took office, they were advised by at least one regional actor that, in the words of Albert Einstein, one can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results. In many ways, it seems that this word of advice - frankly, a matter of common sense - has served as a guiding principle in the nascent peace efforts.
From what we have seen so far, the peacemaking team has sought to implement new approaches on at least four fronts.
Firstly, there's the "regional approach" concept, which was mentioned by both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump in their first White House meeting. The practical manifestation of this alignment between Israel and the Sunni Arab states has yet to be clearly presented, but remains a constant subject of peace discussions.
Second is the commitment to push the parties to the table without imposing a predetermined outcome. "We're trying to find a solution that comes from the region, not to impose," Kushner told attendees at the Saban Forum over the weekend.
Third, there's the focus on "bottom up" actions, seeking to build cooperation between the Palestinian and Israel people themselves by appealing to interests. This "economic peace" concept was behind the US-facilitated landmark water deal inked in July by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the administration's willingness to apply pressure on the Palestinian Authority. Whereas some past presidents have handled PA leaders with kid gloves, Trump has taken a far more forthright approach, bringing up prickly issues like PA payments to terrorists without thinking twice.
This is vital because, as has been very well documented, the greatest obstacle to progress in the region has been Palestinian intransigence. The Israelis have shown - perhaps mistakenly - an incredible capacity to offer painful concessions for the cause of peace, including land transfers, prisoner releases and dangerous security arrangements, often at great political risk. Time and again, these gestures were rebuffed, and the Palestinians were excused as being the weaker, aggrieved, more delicate party.
The Palestinians first introduced the Trump administration to their duplicitous strategies when PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in June that they were ending the terror payments, only to recommit themselves to the sponsorship shortly afterwards.
But now we have a White House that favors results over process, and understands that presenting the Palestinians with real, permanent and painful costs for their rejectionism may provide the best opportunity for progress. Both carrots and sticks are necessary, and the White House appears to be preparing one hell of a stick.
There's the ever present threat to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; the threat to shut down the PA office in DC; the specter of White House support for the Taylor Force Act, which will see significant cuts to US financial aid to the Palestinians; Trump's unwillingness to specify the two-state solution as the only solution to the conflict; and even the threat to withhold funds from international bodies that give the PA and the PLO full membership, which was circulated in the administration's early days. In addition, the Palestinians will not be quick to forget that it was a matter of months before they were even able to establish contact with Trump's team. They should not be taking that access for granted.
The Israelis have long been concerned - with due reason - that the Palestinians have never intended to pursue a genuine peace and that the peace process is seen as a tactic to secure more land from which to launch continued attacks on the Jewish state. Leaders of the PA have paid lip service to the peace initiatives over the years, but the statements in the PA's founding and guiding documents, its glorification of terrorists, the curriculum taught in its schools and its constant incitement on social media, among other things, have all long-told another story.
Here we have an administration that for the first time seems prepared to call the Palestinians' bluff. The recognition of Jerusalem at the onset of a peace initiative - and the lining up of further potential repercussions - shows the Palestinians and the international community just how serious the president is.
It's a thoroughly worthwhile and commendable move.
O Jerusalem - J.L. Robb -
A year after I was born, Israel was reborn. At age 1, I did not have a clue to the significance of May 14, 1948 nor did I know of the numerous Biblical predictions of Israel's return to center stage.
As a kid, I went to Sunday School and sometimes, church; but it was 32 years later before I began to learn about these 2,700-year-old prophecies. That is sad. Until I read Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and was introduced to Biblical prophecies concerning the Last Days, I was unsure if God really existed. The more I read, the more I was convinced that prophecy was the proof of the pudding.
Today, December 6, 2017, may prove to be the biggest day in Israel's post-1948 history.
After Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama campaigned on and promised a move of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel's eternal capital; there is finally a president who is actually planning to do what he said he would do.
Today, President Trump is reportedly announcing a move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem. If this does come to fruition, the United States will be the first country to recognize Jerusalem, the City of David, as the capital of Israel. I am not sure President Trump knows the significance of this move in prophecy.
So what did the ancient, Jewish prophets say about Israel and her return in the Last Days?
"In that day, I will restore David's fallen shelter- I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins- and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name," declares the Lord, who will do these things.
"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
"They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God. Amos 9:11-15 NIV
Amos, a shepherd, lived in Tekoa, a village in Judah, southeast of Bethlehem. Amos, though from Judah, prophesied God's messages to the 10 tribes of Israel in the north, telling the leaders to get back to God or else. He wrote from about 760-750 B.C. and predicted the restoration of Israel after her exile, in the Last Days.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: "I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God." Zechariah 8:7-8 NIV
Zechariah wrote his prophecies about 520 B.C. and probably saw the rise of the Greek Empire. Zechariah's book is one of the last in the Old Testament and in many ways, parallels Revelation. There are similarities between Zechariah's visions and the four horsemen of Revelation, the measuring of Jerusalem and the flying scroll.
The prophet Isaiah had a lot to say about the restoration of Israel to her ancient lands, and he wrote from about 700-680 B.C. Like Zechariah, Isaiah was from Judah.
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Isaiah 43:5-7 NIV
Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Isaiah 66:8 NIV
Israel's rebirth happened in a single day, May 14, 1948.
Jeremiah wrote from about 585-500 B.C. and was a priest in the town of Anathoth. Jeremiah was known as the "weeping prophet" because of all the doom and gloom he predicted would befall Israel and the world.
"However, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when it will no longer be said, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but it will be said, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors." Jeremiah: 16:14-15 NIV
"I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the Lord.
"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
"So then, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' 8 but they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land." Jeremiah 23:3-8 NIV
"I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." Jeremiah 29:14 NIV
'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,' says the Lord." Jeremiah 30:3 NIV
I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. Jeremiah 32:37 NIV
The prophet Ezekiel wrote his book from 593-571 B.C. and came from a priestly family who served in the Jewish Temple. He was captured and taken into captivity in 597 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Ezekiel contains more dates than any other Biblical record. Ezekiel received a vision of the millennial temple that was to be established by the Messiah upon his return in the Last Days.
"Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.'
"Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.' Ezekiel 11:16-17 NIV
"'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.'" Ezekiel 28:25-26 NIV
As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 34:12-14 NIV
... and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. Ezekiel 37:21-22 NIV
With all these prophecies about Israel's return to her land in the Last Days, it had to happen. It is also evident that the return includes a return to Jerusalem.
The TV news is aghast at what the move of our embassy to Jerusalem might mean for Israeli peace with the Palestinians. I hear the wringing of hands among European leaders, that recognizing Jerusalem will anger the Palestinians who consider Jerusalem as their capital.
Don't you have to be a country or nation to have a capital? Palestine is a territory and has never-ever been a nation or country. Jerusalem has never been their capital. The Muslims are experts at calling a rose a lily and know that if they say it enough, the lemmings will believe.
King David was the greatest king Israel ever had, because they missed out on Jesus by their rejection. Jerusalem was called the City of David.
Will the Palestinian Arabs get angry? Does a bear pee in the woods? The Arabs and the Persians (Iranians) have been mad at the world and each other for thousands of years. No matter what President Trump does today, they will still be angry. Indeed, there will be a war.
Prophecy of the Last Days is playing out right in front of the eyes of the world. I think it is exciting and am glad I am here to see it.
On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. Zechariah 12:3 NIV
President Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the embassy will move to Jerusalem.
1:07 PM EST December 6, 2017. A date that will always be significant.
The Strategic Timing of Trumps Move to Recognize Jerusalem - By Dovid Efune -
US President Donald Trump has faced a virtual torrent of criticism since recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday.
He should pay the critics no heed. The move is not only morally the right thing to do, it's also a political masterstroke. Let me explain.
Generally, the critics can be divided into two categories.
The first group -- among them the Ramallah-headquartered Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip-ruling terror organization Hamas (along with various Arab and Muslim states, and even the US State Department) -- has made the case against recognition as being vital to prevent the inevitable violence and outrage that will follow as a result.
But Arab blackmail doesn't feel like a compelling argument against implementing American law and doing what's right -- certainly for the United States. In addition, neither of these entities has much of a track record in furthering the cause of peace.
The second group, who are generally supportive of the move, have questioned the timing -- ahead of the expected unveiling of a White House peace initiative in the coming weeks.
The timing, however, appears to be very well considered. It's highly appropriate to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the outset of a peace push for the following reason:
When Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, whom Trump has tasked with the Mideast peace brief, embarked on their "listening tour" soon after the president took office, they were advised by at least one regional actor that, in the words of Albert Einstein, one can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
In many ways, it seems that this word of advice -- frankly, a matter of common sense -- has served as a guiding principle in the nascent peace efforts.
From what we have seen so far, the peacemaking team has sought to implement new approaches on at least four fronts.
Firstly, there's the "regional approach" concept, which was mentioned by both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump in their first White House meeting. The practical manifestation of this alignment between Israel and the Sunni Arab states has yet to be clearly presented, but remains a constant subject of peace discussions.
Second is the commitment to push the parties to the table without imposing a predetermined outcome. "We're trying to find a solution that comes from the region, not to impose," Kushner told attendees at the Saban Forum over the weekend.
Third, there's the focus on "bottom up" actions, seeking to build cooperation between the Palestinian and Israel people themselves by appealing to interests. This "economic peace" concept was behind the US-facilitated landmark water deal inked in July by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the administration's willingness to apply pressure on the Palestinian Authority. Whereas some past presidents have handled PA leaders with kid gloves, Trump has taken a far more forthright approach, bringing up prickly issues like PA payments to terrorists without thinking twice.
This is vital because, as has been very well documented, the greatest obstacle to progress in the region has been Palestinian intransigence. The Israelis have shown -- perhaps mistakenly -- an incredible capacity to offer painful concessions for the cause of peace, including land transfers, prisoner releases and dangerous security arrangements, often at great political risk.
Time and again, these gestures were rebuffed, and the Palestinians were excused as being the weaker, aggrieved, more delicate party.
The Palestinians first introduced the Trump administration to their duplicitous strategies when PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in June that they were ending the terror payments, only to recommit themselves to the sponsorship shortly afterwards.
But now we have a White House that favors results over process, and understands that presenting the Palestinians with real, permanent and painful costs for their rejectionism may provide the best opportunity for progress. Both carrots and sticks are necessary, and the White House appears to be preparing one hell of a stick.
There's the ever present threat to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; the threat to shut down the PA office in DC; the specter of White House support for the Taylor Force Act, which will see significant cuts to US financial aid to the Palestinians; Trump's unwillingness to specify the two-state solution as the only solution to the conflict; and even the threat to withhold funds from international bodies that give the PA and the PLO full membership, which was circulated in the administration's early days.
In addition, the Palestinians will not be quick to forget that it was a matter of months before they were even able to establish contact with Trump's team. They should not be taking that access for granted.
The Israelis have long been concerned -- with due reason -- that the Palestinians have never intended to pursue a genuine peace and that the peace process is seen as a tactic to secure more land from which to launch continued attacks on the Jewish state.
Leaders of the PA have paid lip service to the peace initiatives over the years, but the statements in the PA's founding and guiding documents, its glorification of terrorists, the curriculum taught in its schools and its constant incitement on social media, among other things, have all long-told another story.
Here we have an administration that for the first time seems prepared to call the Palestinians' bluff. The recognition of Jerusalem at the onset of a peace initiative -- and the lining up of further potential repercussions -- shows the Palestinians and the international community just how serious the president is.
'Trump Guided by God's Hand to Help Build Third Temple' - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/99002/trumps-jerusalem-declaration-next-step-third-temple/#dq1a0aumTAgrp2vl.99
"Like channeled water is the mind of the king in Hashem's hand; He directs it to whatever He wishes." Proverbs 21:1 (The Israel Bible�)
President Donald Trump's epic proclamation on Wednesday acknowledging Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people was a major step towards establishing the Third Temple and bringing the Messianic era, said a number of Jewish activists working to rebuild the Holy Temple.
"What he did last night was an enormous step in bringing the Temple," Asaf Fried, official spokesman for the United Temple Movement, an association of organizations working towards making the Third Temple a reality, told Breaking Israel News.
He added, "This necessarily had to come from a non-Jew in order to bring them into the process, so they will be able to take their part in the Temple."
Fried compared Trump's role to that of Cyrus, the Persian King who ended the Babylonian exile and helped build the Second Jewish Temple. Fried cited Proverbs to emphasize this point.
Like channeled water is the mind of the king in Hashem's hand; He directs it to whatever He wishes. Proverbs 21:1
"There have been amazing advances towards bringing the Temple this year. It was clear that Trump was part of that process, guided by Hashem (God)," Fried declared.
Yakov Hayman, the United Temple Movement chairman, saw Trump's statement as part of a historical progression joining a number of major shifts in modern history for Israel and the Jewish people.
"1917 was the Balfour Declaration establishing Israel for the nations," Hayman told Breaking Israel News. "2017 was Trump's declaration."
He said it was now only a matter of time until non-Jews made a similar declaration recognizing the Temple Mount as the site of the Jewish Temples, but noted that to move forward, it was necessary for foot soldiers in the cause to take the first steps. "When Jews and non-Jews go up en masse, the Temple is inevitable."
Hayman emphasized that all of the stages in this process required a multifaith effort, with Jews and non-Jews performing different roles while moving towards a mutual goal.
"The people of Israel are returning to their roots while simultaneously the non-Jews of the world are realizing the authenticity of our claim to the Temple Mount and our right to build a Jewish Temple as a House of Prayer for All Nations," Hayman explained.
"These processes are codependent. It depends on the Jews, our actions, but the non-Jews are an essential part of the process."
"Our task is to act as priests to make the whole world holy," Hayman said, citing Exodus.
You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:6
"That will only happen in a Temple in Jerusalem," he emphasized. "The next step, the most important step, must be taken by the Jews. We need to begin going up to the Temple Mount is massive numbers. Once we do that, the Temple is the next inevitable step."
He noted that Trump's personality is uniquely suited for the role of the non-Jewish leader who begins the Messianic process.
"There is something very special and holy in Trump," Hayman said. "Sometimes, he appears coarse and not connected to religion, but every time he addresses the nation he speaks about God. Last night, he said his motivation for recognizing was Jerusalem was because it was the right thing to do. That is precisely how a leader guided by God should speak."
Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the nascent Sanhedrin, was cautiously optimistic.
"One year ago, the Sanhedrin called on Trump to build the Temple as Cyrus did 2,000 years ago," Rabbi Weiss told Breaking Israel News. "He has clearly moved in this direction but there is still a long way to go and many pitfalls that could prevent that from happening."
"Trump is facing enormous political pressures," Rabbi Weiss noted. "The borders of Jerusalem are still open to negotiation. The Temple Mount is still not a settled issue and the United Nations is working hard at trying to convince the world the Jews have no place there. If Trump is to succeed, the Jews have to come together in unity in order for him to remain strong."
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Historic and prophetic-US recognizes Jerusalem - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and declared his intentions of moving the US Embassy to the holy city. Trump said, "I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering. I've judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This is a long-overdue step to advance the peace process and to work towards a lasting agreement. Israel is a sovereign nation with the right like every other sovereign nation to determine its own capital. Acknowledging this as a fact is a necessary condition for achieving peace."
Trump's decision resulted in an outcry of condemnation by the United Nations and European Union, who sided with the likes of terrorist organizations like Hamas. Sponsors of Islamic terrorists-Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Palestinian Authority-- straightaway decried the announcement as declaring war in the Middle East. Think about this...the US Congress in an overwhelming bipartisan vote gave the US President authority to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 1995. Every president since has kicked the can down the road thinking the move was a barrier to achieving peace in the region. Trump says it's repeatedly doing the same thing while expecting different results. So far, the result is a massive and violent temper tantrum by radical Islamists who claim Jerusalem is historically their city.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Dozdag said, "Declaring Jerusalem a capital is disregarding history and the truths in the region." This claim doesn't meet the straight face test. It is the very homeland of God's people. History and truth confirm that Islam or Arabs had no claim to the region that God gave to Abraham. In Genesis 21:12, God said to Abraham, "in all that Sarah has said unto you, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called." Galatians 4:30 says, "Nevertheless what says the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." Islam, not even a religion until over 600 years after Christ's death on the cross, claims Ishmael is the heir of Jerusalem and that God does not have a son.
The history and the truths in the region undeniably confirm the Abrahamic covenant that God gave the land of Jerusalem to the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not the seed of Ishmael as claimed by Mohammad some 2,500 years later. This is not so much about the land-there is plenty of land in the Middle East-- as it is about usurpation. It is a family feud as old as Ishmael and Esau, ultimately over the line of Messiah. The Koran repeatedly says that God has no son, and that Christians and Jews are infidels that should be put to death. Iran and Turkey, two major players in the end times, agree. Trump's move may well accelerate the knitting together of the prophetically foretold end time coalition that comes against Israel and is destroyed when Christ returns. We are truly watching history in the making.
Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, orders embassy move for US
By Alex Pappas
Published December 06, 2017
President Trump on Wednesday formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying it's time to "acknowledge the obvious" as he ordered the State Department to begin moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
�I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,� the president said during a speech in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
The move fulfills a campaign promise made to religious conservatives. But it could also inflame tensions across the Middle East.
�This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality," Trump said. "It is also the right thing to do. It�s something that has to be done.�
'I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.'
Trump acknowledged the opposition from other countries in the Middle East to his decision, saying Vice President Mike Pence will be �traveling to the region� in the coming days.
�There will of course be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement,� Trump said. �But we are confident that ultimately, as we work through these disagreements, we will arrive at a peace and place far greater in understanding and cooperation.�
During his remarks, Trump emphasized he is still committed to a peace deal between the two sides.
�This decision is not intended in any way to reflect a departure from our strong commitment to facilitate a lasting peace agreement," he said. "We want an agreement that is a great deal for the Israelis and a great deal for the Palestinians.�
The U.S. would be the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. Other countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" that Trump's decision was "acknowledging something that�s common sense to everyone."
"The [Knesset] is there, the prime minister is there, the Supreme Court -- that is the capital," Haley said. "And by us putting the embassy there, that�s a U.S. decision."
But the embassy move would not be immediate and could take at least three or four years.
The U.S. officials said there are currently about 1,000 personnel in the embassy in Tel Aviv. They added that there is no facility in Jerusalem ready to serve as the embassy site, and it will take time to address security, design and cost concerns.
�This will immediately begin the process of hiring architects, engineers and planners so that a new embassy when completed will be a magnificent tribute to peace,� Trump said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised message, thanked Trump for what he called a �courageous and just� decision.
Jerusalem is why Trump's in the White House
By Erick Erickson
Published December 06, 2017
The capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Ask American politicians of either party and they will tell you that. Check the platform documents of the two major political parties and you will read that. Check with Congress and you will find a bipartisan resolution that passed declaring Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.
So it is fitting that President Trump would announce plans Wednesday to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and publicly refer to Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. After all, the political parties believe that, every major presidential candidate in the past few decades has said that, and Congress has declared it in bipartisan form.
Unfortunately, President Trump is committing the most grievance �sin� any politician in Washington can commit. He is walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. This is the behavior that is responsible for his election.
For decades, it has been perfectly convenient for politicians of both parties to fundraise in Jewish and Christian evangelical communities, declaring their support for Jerusalem as Israel�s capital.
This may be the first time in American history that a president is being attacked for keeping a promise made by the politicians who are attacking him.
It has been a great fundraising ploy to pledge support for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem. But few of the politicians have ever meant it. They could boldly claim to American audiences what they wanted to hear � while privately winking at Palestinians and others who were in on the joke.
President Trump, though, is not joking. So now some of the very same American politicians who have for years supported Jerusalem as Israel�s capital when addressing American audiences are now savaging the president for doing what they�ve long claimed they wanted.
This is all an exercise in mendacity that President Trump has no time for. He pledged to do something and he is going to do it.
This may be the first time in American history that a president is being attacked for keeping a promise made by the politicians who are attacking him.
Sadly, time and time again we see this even within the Republican Party. From calls for repealing ObamaCare to claims of being staunchly pro-life, the GOP has kept ObamaCare alive and fully operational and has kept funding Planned Parenthood.
The American people have become deeply cynical about American politics and deeply skeptical of political promises.
They took a radical chance by voting for Donald Trump and, where he can, they are seeing him keep promises other politicians made and never kept.
The reaction of Washington�s elite will only prove to Americans that the voters were right all along about the liars inside the Beltway.
That, in turn, will probably help re-elect the president in 2020
Jerusalem: Recognizing Reality - By Hal Lindsey - https://www.hallindsey.com/ww-12-6-2017/
On Wednesday, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He also announced a beginning of the process to move the U.S. Embassy there. That process will take at least three years, and probably much more. He also endorsed the so-called "two-state solution" as the framework for peace with the Palestinians... as long as both sides agree to it.
He did not specify anything regarding future boundaries of Jerusalem, or whether it should be split. He said those decisions need to be made as part of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel itself has claimed Jerusalem as its capital since the time of King David. Modern Israel was first recognized as a nation in 1948. It took possession of West Jerusalem that year. But because of the ongoing war, it made Tel Aviv its temporary capital. The next year, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, said, "For the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only - Jerusalem the Eternal. Thus it was 3,000 years ago - and thus it will be, we believe, until the end of time."
Listening to the media, you would think President Trump's decision is outside mainstream U.S. diplomatic orthodoxy. But that not true. No U.S. president ever pulled the trigger on the move, but as candidates, several of them were for it. Despite them taking that position, it was never a significant point of controversy in any presidential election.
Congress passed a law in 1995 saying that Jerusalem should "remain an undivided city" and "be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel." The law allowed presidents to postpone the move, but they had to do so every six months. Until now, that's what they have all done.
The leader of Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, urged President Trump to move the embassy. "As someone who strongly believes that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel," he said, "I am calling for the U.S. Embassy in Israel to be relocated to Jerusalem."
The President did not go that far. He said nothing about Jerusalem being "undivided." Nevertheless, his decision has been criticized by leaders around the world, including in the United States.
California Senator Diane Feinstein wrote to Trump saying, "Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital - or relocating our embassy to Jerusalem - will spark violence and embolden extremists on both sides of this debate." She said such a move would "undermine any remaining hope for a two-state solution."
A Palestinian general delegate to the United Kingdom said that to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel is like "declaring war." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that there will be "dangerous consequences." The Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, called for three "days of rage," starting Wednesday, but making Friday the main day.
The State Department warned U.S. embassies around the world to be on alert following the announcement. It also issued a warning to U.S. travelers in Israel. "Hostilities between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and terrorist groups, including Hamas, in the Gaza Strip could resume and the security situation could deteriorate with little or no notice."
Turkey's President Erdogan said Jerusalem is a "redline" for Muslims. He said the move would be a violation of international law, and that, "This could go as far as cutting our diplomatic relations with Israel."
President Trump argued that his action is "recognition of reality." He pointed out that all the major institutions of the Israeli government, including the Knesset, are located in Jerusalem. Nations put embassies in the capitals of other nations because they want their ambassadors close to the center of power. In Israel, that's Jerusalem.
Through the years, proposed peace plans from the United Nations, the U.S., and Europe, have always allowed Israel to keep at least part of Jerusalem. Israel says that Jerusalem is its capital. Since the Israelis will be staying in Jerusalem under any of these plans, why does the world not allow Israel to choose its own capital?
From a secular, diplomatic prospective, the President's move makes sense to me. Israel is the one great democracy of the Middle East, and America's most faithful ally. The Israelis - not a bunch of European elites - should decide the location of Israel's capital.
But I'm not a diplomat. I'm a preacher of the Gospel and a student of scripture. I look at this from another angle. In Genesis 12:3, God said to Abraham (then still named "Abram"), "I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse." (NASB)
"God Bless America" is a prayer. One of the actions that must accompany that prayer is for America to continue to bless Israel.
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