Temple Mount Tension Mounts - By Terry James -
This commentary is written as the Trump administration's long-awaited peace plan in the Middle East apparently is on its way. As a result, tensions on Mt. Moriah-the Temple Mount-are building.
President Trump said Thursday, January 23, 2020, that he will likely announce the plan before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz's visit to the US on Tuesday, January 28.
He told reporters while on a flight to Florida that the announcement would come "sometime prior to that...probably, we'll release it a little bit prior to [the Israelis' visit]."
He later walked back the statement, tweeting that the timeline was purely speculative at this point.
If those plans are ultimately carried through, however, it will be not only a significant event for what's going on politically in America, but, more importantly in terms of heaven's considerations, something that will rivet the attention of those who watch for prophetic stage-setting.
The Muslim world in particular is already up in arms, emotionally at least. Israel, of course, is at the center of rage and volatility.
Tensions were high on the Temple Mount amid calls for mass attendance at Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and reports that the Trump Administration's Deal of the Century peace plan would be released within the week.
Israeli security forces arrested multiple Palestinian activists in Jerusalem and dispersed worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, as Palestinians continued to call for mass attendance at Friday dawn prayers at holy sites throughout the West Bank and Gaza. At least two people were injured on the Temple Mount as police used stun grenades and rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Quds news. One worshiper was arrested. ("Tensions High on Temple Mount Amid Peace Plan Reports," Jerusalem Post, Rapture Ready News, January 24, 2020)
The Deal of the Century, as it has become known, has long been on the Trump administration's agenda. The Israel-hating Muslim world and the overwhelmingly anti-Israel forces prevalent in the UN know that this president follows up on promises. This has doubly ratcheted up tensions surrounding Trump's comment to reporters.
Indications are strong that something is indeed in the making, because actions to prepare for probable troubles began well in advance of the president's remark.
Preparations for possible clashes began even before initial reports about the possible imminent release of the Deal of the Century. Israel Police signed orders to keep Palestinian activists from the site due to fears that clashes could break out similarly to last week, when similar calls were made for mass attendance for Friday prayers at the mosque. Police have been instructed to disperse any disturbances by force. (Ibid.)
Hamas called for the world of Islam to come to alert. In a press release, the organization declared:
The Israeli occupation's attempts to judaize Jerusalem and holy sites are an alarming sign that must prompt our Arab and Islamic Ummah (community), along with the free people of the world to intervene immediately. We call for similar Fajr prayers to be organized in all Arab and Islamic capitals for the sake of Al-Aqsa and holy places in Palestine.
As any Middle East observer knows, when it comes to the Muslim world, the actions taken rarely stay within the boundaries of "prayers." Any action by the president in conjunction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government will be met with elevated hostility. In the matter of laying out the areas surrounding the Temple Mount, there is a potential for war, bringing the millions of the Muslim world into the fray.
This is the fear of UN diplomats and the geopoliticians. However, it is not the fear of students of Bible prophecy. All-out war will not occur-at least, not in the sense of world-rending calamity.
A peace of sorts will be made, the "false peace" of Daniel 9:26-27. It will indeed bring on all-out war, the war called Armageddon.
And this is what we who are prophecy students and observers of world issues and events must caution: That "false peace" will initiate man's greatest of all wars.
Joel, the prophet, gave the lethal formula that will produce this final war of the age. We've looked at it many times:
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3:2)
We who observe end-times issues and events in light of God's Word must urge President Trump about the deadly folly of "parting" God's chosen land to try to make peace in the region. We hope the president listens to voices like Dr. Robert Jefress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. These, we hope, will inform the president in explicit terms. Don't be complicit in setting the stage for producing the deadly "peace" predicted by Daniel the prophet.
'Trump's Peace Deal is Akin to Decree of King Cyrus Paving Path For Third Temple' says Israeli Politician - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - www.breakingisraelnews.com
"Am the same who says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd; He shall fulfill all My purposes! He shall say of Yerushalayim, 'She shall be rebuilt,' And to the Temple: 'You shall be founded again.'" Isaiah 44:28
While people on both the Arab and the Israeli side are still considering the possible implications of President Trump' 'Deal of the Century' revealed on Tuesday, one insightful Israeli declared it to be "the declaration of Cyrus in our time."
Politics, Israel, and Torah are all important to Dr. Rafael Minnes. A former member of the Zehut Political Party, he joined with a group of like-minded Israelis to form the New Liberal Party after Zehut's leader, Moshe Feiglin, chose a position in Netanyahu's government rather than run against Likud in the elections. Dr. Minnes served in the IDF Intelligence Corps and the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service also known as the Shabak. He is a professor of physics as well.
Dr. Minnes hears echoes of Persian King Cyrus'' decree that paved the way for the Jews to build the Second Temple almost 2,000 years ago.
"The Trump statement is the declaration of Cyrus of our days," he wrote on his Facebook page, raising more than a few eyebrows. This provocative statement from such a well-educated source demanded further investigation.
Similarities
"The first thing that is similar between Trump's Deal of the Century and King Cyrus' proclamation is that both of them are non-Jewish political figures who are coming in the name of the God of Israel in order to advance the divine plan incumbent upon the Jewish nation," Dr. Minnes explained to Breaking Israel News. "This may be the reason why Trump's deal is uncomfortable for Israelis and Israeli politicians who are certainly not used to this in their political forum. There are very few Israeli politicians who act or speak this way, certainly not secular politicians and not even the religious politicians."
In his Facebook post, Dr. Minnes went into detail.
"I have always called to apply Israeli sovereignty on all the land of Israel, including all Judea and Samari," Dr. Minnes wrote. "And this has always encountered fierce opposition. We can't expect the President of the United States to propose an offer that no Israeli government, in fact, no party in the Knesset, has ever proposed."
"In fact, in his actions until now in the last meeting, the president of the United States has been revealed to be a greater advocate of this than the prime minister of Israel. Trump offered to apply sovereignty to all Judah and Samaria, which Bibi did not even consider."
Dr. Minnes noted a very important detail of Trump's deal.
"Trump's deal does not require us to recognize Arab sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Such recognition will only be required if the leaders of the Arabs accept all the conditions of the deal. And with the conditions that Trump established, there's no way they'll accept the terms."
"To be honest, I have no doubt that Trump actually opposes a Palestinian State, surely more than Bibi. It is clear to me that the purpose of this deal is to strengthen Israeli sovereignty and to bring to the end the revolting idea of a Palestinian state. On this issue, I trust Trump more than Bibi or Naftali Bennett.
Dr. Minnes told Breaking Israel News that just as the declaration of Cyrus was accepted by only a portion of Israel but was a catalyst for the Jews to build the Second Temple, Israel today should take Trump's deal as the ticket that opens up a greater future for Israel.
An enabler
"Cyrus did not take upon himself to act for the Jewish people. He did not build the Temple or reinstate the Davidic Dynasty. He merely enabled the Jews to act independently. That is precisely what Trump is doing. He is not giving Israel a gift or forcing something upon us. He is telling us to do what is our right and obligation to do in our own country and he is doing so without any pre-conditions. Trump announced that it is Israel's right to express our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria."
"The only thing limiting us until now has been ourselves. And Trump acknowledged that in this deal, stepping aside and telling us to act as an independent nation, something we have failed to do until now, especially regarding Judea and Samaria. It was fitting that we should have done so and would have prevented all the difficulties until now. But we didn't and now Trump is telling us to act as a nation should. We can only hope that the Israeli government will listen to an outside party."
Similar responses
"Just as many people do not view Trump's deal favorably, this was also true when King Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could return to build the Second Temple. Most of the Jews opposed Cyrus' decree. They simply did not understand that it was his decree that would bring about the Second Temple. The Jews who supported Cyrus and acted on his decree were the less successful segments of the Jewish community, the poor and powerless with no status in Babylonian society. This also seems to be the case today, that the Jews who look for their own personal short-term goals which necessitate their staying in exile object to Trump's politics. But if you look at a larger vision of a future for the Jewish People, Trump's politics in general and this deal, in particular, are precisely what will take us there."
"He opened the door for us to do what we need to do. Despite all its shortcomings, Cyrus' proclamation paved the way for the Second Temple. The same might be said of Trump's deal. The responsibility is now up to us."
Dr. Minnes noted that the Knesset is slated to discuss the U.S. proposition next week and a vote will be held to vote on how to relate to it.
This isn't the first time Trump has been compared to King Cyrus.
This expectation regarding Trump was first expressed by the Sanhedrin after his election when they compared him to the Persian King Cyrus who commanded by God to facilitate the building of the Second Temple specifically because he was influential in global politics.
Thus saith Koresh (Cyrus) king of Paras (Persia): All the kingdoms of the earth hath Hashem, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Yerushalayim, which is in Yehuda. Ezra 1:2
Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David's Tomb on Mount Zion explains: "Like Cyrus, Trump's connection to the Messiah is that he will play a role in one of the major functions of the Messiah. He will pave the way for building the Third Temple. Trump will not personally merit building the Temple," he continued. "Like Cyrus, he will pave the way for men who will begin the construction, and when the time is right, the Third Temple will descend from heaven."
Netanyahu Agrees
In a powerful detour from political platitudes, the Israeli prime minister waxed Biblical, comparing the American president to Persian King Cyrus.
"In the long sweep of Jewish history there have been a handful of proclamations by non-Jewish leaders on behalf of our people in our land: Cyrus the Great, the great Persian King, Lord Balfour, President Harry S. Truman, and President Donald J. Trump."
"And you, Mr. President, you've done it not once, but twice with your bold proclamation on Jerusalem, and your bold proclamation on the Golan.," he said.
'We Will Make History' - Netanyahu Heads To Washington For Trump Peace Plan - By Benjamin Kerstein/Algemeiner.com -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he and President Donald Trump "will make history" on Tuesday when they meet to discuss the president's long-awaited peace plan for the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Speaking on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport just before he left for Washington, DC, Netanyahu referenced his high profile 2015 speech to Congress against then-president Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, saying, "Five years ago, I went to Congress in Washington because I had to face a plan brought by a US president that I believed would jeopardize the interests of the State of Israel."
"Today I am going to stand alongside a president who brings a plan that I believe promotes our vital interests," he asserted.
"Trump is a huge friend of Israel," Netanyahu added. "I talked to him countless times about our security and justness. Tomorrow I will meet with him, and Tuesday together with him we will make history."
Netanyahu's statement echoed a more elaborate statement he issued on social media on Saturday evening, in which he said of Trump's plan, "An opportunity such as this comes once in history and cannot be missed."
"Today, we have in the White House the greatest friend that Israel has ever had; therefore, we have the greatest opportunity that we have ever had," he said.
"For three years, I have spoken with President Donald Trump and his staff about our most vital national and security needs, which must be included in any diplomatic arrangement," Netanyahu noted. "I have found an attentive ear in the White House to these needs."
"Therefore, I am full of hope that we are on the verge of a historic moment in the annals of our state," he said. "I am leaving for Washington with a sense of great mission, of great responsibility and of great opportunity, which will not recur, to ensure the future of Israel."
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu's leading political rival, former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, also took off for Washington for a personal meeting with Trump on Monday.
Gantz was originally invited to meet with Trump on Tuesday together with Netanyahu, but fearing a political trap and also unwilling to snub the American president, he requested a one-on-one meeting, which the administration granted.
"The plan will go down in history as a significant milestone," Gantz said on Saturday, according to Israel's Channel 13.
"The proposal is going to cause major and painful internal disputes among us," Gantz warned, however. "I pledge to minimize the disagreement, and work to make the proposal a basis for progress toward an agreed settlement with the Palestinians and the countries of the region while continuing and deepening the strategic partnership with Jordan, Egypt, and other countries in the region."
"We are at a fateful hour to determine Israel's image and security and political borders," he asserted.
As did Netanyahu, Gantz thanked the Trump administration for standing at Israel's side and taking its security needs into consideration "out of friendship and deep commitment."
Reports in the Israeli media have claimed that the deal will be extremely generous toward the Jewish state, recognizing all of its settlements in the West Bank as sovereign Israeli territory and retaining a united Jerusalem under Israeli control, along with the strategic Jordan Valley border region.
Sources who have seen the map set to be presented to Netanyahu and Gantz have said, "There's never been anything like it."
One potential concession from Israel is rumored to be recognition of a Palestinian state. However, it is widely believed the Palestinians will reject the plan sight unseen, giving Israel a "green light" to annex parts of the West Bank without concessions.
Trump's plan the 'best deal' Israel's right will ever get, says US official - By Ariel Kahana - https://www.jns.org/trumps-plan-the-best-deal-israels-right-will-ever-get-us-official-says/
Senior religious Zionist rabbis that penned a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning of the dangers of the Trump peace plan are "squandering the moment."
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, upon his arrival to the South Portico of the White House. Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian.
A senior U.S. official on Monday harshly criticized a letter written by a group of senior rabbis from Israel's religious Zionist camp to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan carries the risk of "creating a terror state."
The official said the rabbis "are squandering the moment and don't understand the immense advantages this plan entails in terms of their worldview. The [Israeli] right will not get anything better than this," according to Israel Hayom.
The official also addressed claims by some on the Israeli right that the Trump plan will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"If you look at the dictionary, you'll understand this isn't the definition of a state. That is not what the plan allows, and so the resistance from the right and the rabbis is a mistake," the official said.
Among the signatories to the letter were Rabbi Haim Drukman, Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Rabbi Eliyahu Zini, together with 50 other community rabbis.
The rabbis penned the letter after Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan announced he would depart for Washington to attend a series of emergency meetings with senior Republican officials and evangelical leaders, who comprise Trump's voter base, to present the settlement enterprise's red lines and to prevent recognition of a Palestinian state and the isolation of certain settlements within the plan's framework.
The letter was the brainchild of Dagan and Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, the head of the Association of Communal Rabbis. In the letter, the rabbis wrote that while they "recognize this historic moment for the Jewish people, and sincerely support you [Netanyahu] in applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria ... we understand that the plan comes with danger-the establishment of a terror state."
The rabbis presented their red lines to Netanyahu: "No to the creation of a 'Palestinian' state, partitioning the main settlement blocs, abandoning the settlements as an enclave inside a terror state, as happened with the community of Netzarim [in Gaza], and no to the transfer of Areas C to B, and no to additional [territorial] withdrawals."
Rabbi Eliyahu said with regard to the letter: "We are happy over the significant progress on the matter of applying sovereignty. In no way can [this development] facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state in the holy Land of Israel."
"On behalf of all the residents of Samaria, I am thankful to our rabbis, who stand at the head of the camp and lead the people of Israel and the State of Israel," said Dagan. "The rabbis' sentiment is a moral and principled one. There are red lines that the Israeli public will not cross."
According to Dagan, "The settlement enterprise won't sit idly by while its future is being played with. Alongside the joy over the great achievement of applying sovereignty to the communities in Judea and Samaria, we cannot ignore the initiative to surrender 70 percent of the area of Judea and Samaria."
US builds up Mid-East strength against rising tension over "Deal of the Century and Iran -
The USS Bataan strike group and the 2,400-strong 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are being deployed to the Mid-East ready for unexpected trouble arising from spiraling tension with Iran and potential reactions to the release of Donald Trump's "Deal of the Century" - a plan for an Israel-Palestinian peace - early next week.
On Friday, Jan. 24, the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship, escorted by two other battleships, had reached the Red Sea opposite the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. They had taken part in a naval exercise with Morocco, which was interrupted for their new mission.
US intelligence watchers believe that Iran is getting ready to expand its assaults on US and allied targets, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, in escalating payback for the US assassination of Al Qods chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3.
On Friday, the Pentagon revealed that 34 US servicemen had suffered "traumatic brain injury" from Iran's missile strikes on the US Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq on Jan. 8. Earlier, only 11 were reported injured, while President Trump had stated initially that no US troops had been hurt in the attack.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of the US Central Command in the Middle East, speaking from the deck of the Bataan, said, "Although the Soleimani killing was a deterrent, Iran continues to pose a very real threat."
DEBKAfile's military sources additionally attribute the latest American military movements to a reassessment of the tasks assigned to the US forces stationed in Iraq. Their new focus has moved to the semiautonomous Kurdish Republic (KRG) in northern Iraq. The three US airbases in other parts of the country, Ain al Asad, Balad and Taiji, will remain in place. However, three new American bases are under construction in Kurdistan.
The US Peace Plan Has Trapped The Palestinians
The publication of the Mideast peace plan known as the "deal of the century" has surprised the Palestinians and poses a major challenge to the Palestinian leadership.
Some Fatah officials say that it has created a situation similar to that of 1947, when the Palestinians had to decide whether they would accept the U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine, as expressed in U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181.
The Palestinians made the historic mistake of rejecting the partition plan, and their refusal today to discuss the U.S. plan may be a mistake of comparable magnitude.
The Israel Defense Forces has put all its units in the West Bank on alert in preparation for the possibility of unrest following the official publication on Tuesday of the details of the U.S. plan, and is also preparing for escalation along the Gaza border.
It is not yet clear how the Palestinians will react, but all factions have already declared the day of the plan's release a "Day of Rage."
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who is abroad, has also announced his organization's willingness to meet with Fatah and other factions in Cairo, Egypt, to ensure the failure of the U.S. plan.
So far, the Palestinian Authority has sufficed with protests, statements and threats in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's steps in the Israeli-Palestinian sphere, such as the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, U.S. recognition of settlement legality and the cutting of American aid to UNRWA.
Only Hamas took violent measures, dispatching 40,000 Palestinians to attack IDF soldiers at the Gaza border on the day of the U.S. Embassy transfer to Jerusalem, May 14, 2018. The results were very harsh for Palestinians, with 61 dead and 2,700 wounded.
The casualties sparked severe criticism against the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, and having announced a temporary halt to its "Great March of Return," it is doubtful Hamas will be ready to again employ this fatal tactic.
Experience indicates that even the Palestinian leadership's political measures in response to Trump's "pro-Israel" decisions have not been implemented. For instance, the Palestinian Central Council took a series of resolutions on suspending the Oslo Accords and the Paris Agreement, as well as freezing the Palestinian Authority's security coordination with Israel and disengaging from Israel, but all of these decisions remained on paper only.
What options do the Palestinians have with regard to Trump's Mideast plan?
1. Dismantling the P.A.: P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that the Palestinian leadership would look into all possible responses to the U.S. plan, including the future of the P.A. However, while Abbas can announce the dissolution of the P.A. and return the administrative "keys" to Israel, the likelihood of that occurring is low.
Abbas, 85, is very attached to his power and will not give it up. Abbas built, through his two sons, an economic empire in the territories, turning them into billionaires. Giving up the P.A. would mean the collapse of this empire. Fatah officials also have financial interests and will not allow the dismantling of the P.A.
2. War in the Gaza Strip: Hamas is not interested in a wide military confrontation with Israel, that could lead to the collapse of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. The most Hamas can do is a few short rounds of fighting to demonstrate that it is working to destroy the "deal of the century." The general trend of Hamas has been to move towards an arrangement with Israel, accompanied by a "dribble" of rocket fire to maintain pressure on Israel.
3. A "third intifada" in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem: Abbas's "popular resistance" strategy has been a massive failure. The possibility of a third intifada exists, but the motivation of West Bank residents to engage in such activity is low given the relatively good economic situation in the West Bank as compared to the Gaza Strip.
The rise of another intifada would severely damage the economic situation of West Bank residents. However, Abbas, who also heads Fatah, may try to coordinate mass demonstrations in the West Bank through Fatah's Tanzim faction, to show that the P.A. will not silently acquiesce to America's "green light" for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and parts of Area C.
There may however be spontaneous outbreaks of riots in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, as well as the resumption of terror attacks by individuals.
The P.A. is in crisis and will have to announce a series of diplomatic steps after learning the details of the U.S. plan. Sources say that the P.A. feels it must respond to show its people it will act against America ignoring Palestinian "red lines."
Wassel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said on Sunday that the Palestinians had drafted a strategic plan against the "deal of the century," and that it would be placed on Abbas's desk immediately following the plan's official announcement.
The program includes the following steps:
1. Declaring a Palestinian state under Israeli occupation.
2. Appeal to U.N. institutions to accept the state of "Palestine" as a full U.N. member.
3. Appeal to U.N. institutions as well as the International Court of Justice in The Hague to protect Palestinian rights.
4. Enabling "popular resistance" in all its forms.
5. Implementation of the Palestinian Central Council's decisions regarding the political and security agreements with Israel.
6. An overall boycott of Israel.
Also on Sunday, Ziad Abu Zayyad, the former PLO minister of Jerusalem affairs, called on the Palestinian leadership, not to grant a "gift" to Israel with a clear rejection of the U.S. plan.
According to Abu Zayyad, the P.A.'s message should be: "We welcome all the positive elements contained in President Trump's plan and call on the U.N. and world superpowers, including the United States, to convene a peace conference to develop the Trump program and address the negative aspects through negotiation based on international decisions."
In all events, it will become clearer over the coming days in what direction the Palestinians in both Gaza and Ramallah are heading.
Israelis and Palestinians consider how annexation of Jordan Valley could affect them - By Eliana Rudee -
Both employers and workers believe that it could help them economically, though politically and socially is a different story altogether.
With campaigns under way before the third round of Israeli elections within a year on March 2, Likud officials, and the Blue and White Party, have repeatedly made statements over the past few weeks in favor of annexing the Jordan Valley.
And that has elicited vocal reactions among the public both for and against the idea.
The Trump administration's peace plan, revealed at the White House on Jan. 28 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance, gave American approval for annexation, paving the way for the next Israeli government to actualize its campaign promises.
Echoing the Palestinian leadership's rejection of Trump's peace plan and Israel's prospective annexation, Salem Ghrouf, the mayor of Jericho in the Jordan Valley, said to journalists on Wednesday, "Trump's support for Israelis is unfair," as it does not "express the ambition of the Palestinian people" and represents "a total change in foreign policy of America."
"Mr. Trump's plan will eradicate and conclude the dream of establishing a Palestinian state," he said. "It is an unfair plan that gives rights to a people who have no right [to that land]."
Annexing the Jordan Valley, he added, would create geographical, social, developmental and agricultural challenges for the Palestinian population.
"There will be no safety or stability for Palestinians" if the plan is enacted, maintained Ghrouf, who said that he is waiting for the Palestinian leadership to specify "the next step."
'People worry about their future'
Ismail Daiq, CEO of Valley Trading Company, a date-production company in the Jordan Valley, similarly posed that "all Palestinians are united against this plan," although he expressed his skepticism that anything will change other than "on paper."
Even if an annexation took place in four or five years from now, he told JNS, "for the economic side, it would be better, but for the political and social, it would be worse."
Ziva Gilad, a researcher in agricultural research-and-development in the Jordan Valley, confirmed that the economic benefits of annexation would be significant for Palestinians, who are often paid more by Israeli employers compared to Palestinian employers.
However, she told JNS, she is skeptical that anything will change, as "Palestinians will have to agree to the plan, and they've had their chances before but have succeeded in losing them."
Daiq, a Palestinian himself, employees 500 Palestinians in season and 250 off season at his date farms in the Jordan Valley. His concern, he said, is that if the land is annexed, his Palestinian workers might not be allowed to continue to work there, and because of a boycott on Israeli dates, his company would suffer as he would need to label more of his dates as "Made in Israel."
As Trump unveiled his plan, he said, "I started to think about many things-what will happen with my workers, with the permission they'll need [if the land is annexed], but nobody can give you an answer."
"It's making the people worry about their future," he said.
'We will find a way'
Indeed, Husni Tari, who has worked in the date-production industry for Roi Farms in the Jordan Valley for five years, expressed his concern that if Israel annexes the Jordan Valley, he might need to apply for a work permit that could cost part of his hard-earned salary.
However, Noam Weissler, chairman of the Jordan Valley Regional Council's Agricultural Committee, said that this concern is misplaced, as agriculture is the biggest source of income for people in the Jordan Valley, with both the Palestinian and Israeli economies relying on their work together in this capacity.
Palestinian worker Husni Tari, 25, speaks to journalists at Roi Farm in the Jordan Valley, where he as worked for five years. Photo by Eliana Rudee.
He is certain, he told JNS, that "we will find a way for Palestinians workers to arrive if Israel annexes the Jordan Valley."
Yakov (Kuki) Elbas, manager of Roi Farm in the Jordan Valley, also viewed the decision positively, maintaining that the region in question "has always been Israel."
Though acknowledging that he doesn't yet understand the full meaning of Trump's peace plan, he said, "it's good because it verifies what [Israelis] already felt ... the Jordan Valley is Israel in our heart, and now it will be in law, too."
Mystic Rabbi Predicts Plague of Natural Disasters Throughout U.S will Prevent his Peace Deal from Succeeding - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz -
After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions. Joel 3:1 (The Israel Bible�)
Israeli Mystic Predicted Trump's Deal of the Century
After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions. (Joel 3:1)
An Israeli mystic known for astounding predictions described Trump's Deal of the Century even before Jared Kushner began working on it. But the rabbi's prediction came with a warning: massive natural disasters would prevent the deal from being actualized. And the deal would mark an irreversible rise in anti-Semitism.
President Trump's plan for peace between the Palestinians and Israel was unveiled on Tuesday under the title of 'The Deal of the Century." This complicated piece of diplomacy has been in the works since Trump first ordered Jared Kushner, his Jewish son-in-law, to begin developing the peace plan in November 2017.
But even before Kusher began working on the plan, Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi, an Israeli mystic known for many accurate predictions, commented on the yet-to-be conceived deal.
"Trump is working to help the Jews and to create a Palestinian state," Rabbi Ben Artzi said in a Bible lesson given the week before Kushner officially began work on the peace plan. "What could it harm them to get their own state at the expense of Israel, inside Israel? To build them huge houses, agriculture, factories, shopping and parking lots? How much will it cost? 30 billion, one hundred billion dollars of other people's money."
"But it won't happen," Rabbi Ben Artzi said. "Trump won't get the chance to even try to implement the plan. There will come one disaster after another, one natural catastrophe after the other, floods and storms, all throughout the U.S., from the north to the south."
"If Trump wants good for America, he should do good for the Jewish nation in Israel and not care about the Jews in America. He shouldn't help them at all. There in America is a wave of anti-Semitism that once it breaks out, it will only grow larger and can't be stopped."
The rabbi's prediction proved to be disturbingly prescient. Exactly one year later, a shooter motivated by hatred of the Jews entered the Tree of Life Synagogue outside of Pittsburgh and killed 11 worshippers. This scene was repeated in April when a shooter opened fire in a synagogue in Poway, California, killing one. Another anti-Semitic shooting in a kosher market in Jersey City killed six. And New York City is currently undergoing a tsunami of ant-Semitic violence that shows no signs of abating.
Rabbi Ben Artzi discussed President Trump's Middle East initiative in his sermon last week.
"Trump wants the Deal of the Century in order to strengthen the right," Rabbi Ben Artzi said. "He knows that the Arabs do not want it and oppose the plan. Israel seems like a small place but it is the most important place in the world. It gives life to the whole world and gives light to all the countries of the world that bless Israel. One must not touch even the tiniest piece of the Holy Land in the Land of Israel. On the contrary, leaders must work to increase the land in Israel, increase the goodness in Israel, and raise money for Israel so that all the people around the world can receive light from Israel and energy to live."
"It is no longer possible to hurt the Israeli people in the Land of Israel, it's over! Israel is protected and guarded by the Holy One, Blessed b
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