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UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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« Reply #510 on: April 09, 2014, 03:57:26 am »

Kerry focuses blame on Israel for collapse of talks
Gee imagine that...

Secretary of state highlights both sides’ ‘unhelpful moves’ but indicates crisis began with failure to release prisoners

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that both Israelis and Palestinians were responsible for the current crisis in peace talks, but appeared to allocate the lion’s share of the blame to Jerusalem.

At the same time, he expressed hope that the two sides would continue to negotiate, but also warned that there was a “limit” to how much effort the US government could invest in the process if the two parties weren’t serious about negotiating a pact.

“Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, delineating what he said led to the current impasse.

“The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and then 700 units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof — that was sort of the moment,” Kerry said.

The secretary of state was referring to the planned fourth release of Palestinian security prisoners, which was originally slated for March 29. Israel did not proceed with the release on time, with Jerusalem saying that it was delayed because the Palestinian Authority had demanded that Israeli Arabs be among those freed and was unwilling to commit to extend peace talks beyond their April 29 deadline.

On April 1, the Israel Lands Authority reissued a call for tenders for 708 homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, which is located beyond the 1967 lines and was annexed by Israel.

Later that same day, PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed 15 letters of accession to multilateral treaties and conventions, in what Israel said was a clear breach of Ramallah’s commitment not to take unilateral steps to advance their statehood bid so long as the talks were ongoing.

“The treaties were unhelpful, and we made that crystal clear to the Palestinians,” Kerry said at the Senate hearing.

He also said that Palestinians recognition of Israel as a Jewish state should be part of a final peace agreement, but added that the step would likely only be achieved at the very end of the process and not at the outset. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent months elevated the demand for such Palestinian recognition to that of a core issue.

Despite his evident frustration, Kerry said it was still possible for the two sides to find a way to extend the talks and return to “substantive discussion.”

Senator John McCain told Kerry that “talks, even though you might drag them out for a bit, are finished,” but the secretary of state replied by saying that the peace process should not be declared dead as long as the two sides declare their willingness to continue negotiating.

At the same time, Kerry said, “there are limits to the amount of time the president and myself can put into this, considering the other challenges around the world, especially if the parties can’t commit to being there in a serious way.”

Afterward, the State Department attempted to dispel the impression that Israel had been singled out for harsher criticism in Kerry’s comments.

“As he has been throughout this impasse, today Secretary Kerry was again crystal clear that both sides have taken unhelpful steps and at no point has he engaged in a blame game,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“Today he even singled out by name Prime Minister Netanyahu for having made courageous decisions to bring the process this far. Now it is up to the parties and their leaders to determine whether we maintain a productive path,” she added.

Kerry was set to meet US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office later Tuesday to discuss the fate of the peace talks.

Senior officials have rejected the idea that Obama intends to pull the plug on the peace effort, and say he deeply appreciates his top diplomat’s efforts.

But equally, Obama may need to be convinced that Kerry’s intense focus on the initiative is merited given its apparently slim chance of success and deepening global crises crying out for US attention elsewhere.

“The issue now is whether the parties can demonstrate that they are willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to move the process forward,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“The parties understand what the choices are and they understand that these are not decisions that the United States or any other country can make. The parties themselves have to make them.”

On Wednesday, Kerry will meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman in Washington.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-focuses-blame-for-impasse-in-talks-on-israel/
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« Reply #511 on: April 10, 2014, 04:01:32 am »

Israel's Netanyahu orders ministers to halt ties with Palestinians

Relations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders continued a downward spiral Wednesday with a new Israeli directive to its ministers to halt cooperation with their Palestinian counterparts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered government ministries to stop high-level communications with corresponding Palestinians, halting assorted economic and civilian cooperation efforts.

Netanyahu’s directive was an Israeli response to the “Palestinian abrogation of their commitments and violation of understandings,” said an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity. The official declined to say whether the government was planning to impose further sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

The recent disruption of the peace talks erupted after Israel delayed the planned release of a group of Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to secure a Palestinian commitment to continue the talks past April.

In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted to the United Nations requests to join 15 international conventions, after which Israel canceled the prisoner release altogether, sending the talks into deep crisis.

Despite the disruptions in negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian officials have  continued to work cooperatively to some degree on issues related to the environment, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure. Contacts at ministerial and top officials levels are now suspended, permitting only lower field-level cooperation, Israeli media reported.

Security coordination is exempt from the directive and will continue as usual. Also exempt is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, head of Israel’s negotiation team that has met several times in recent days with the Palestinian and U.S. delegates seek an end to the crisis.

The directive came several hours after U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry addressed the crisis in the talks during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

While noting both sides had taken “unhelpful” positions, Kerry suggested the delayed prisoner release followed by the announcement of a controversial housing plan tipped the talks over the edge. “And then … 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof, that was sort of the moment,” Kerry summarized.

So far, Netanyahu’s office has not responded publicly to Kerry’s comments, regarded as blaming Israel for the breakdown of the talks, but hawkish members of Netanyahu’s government rejected the notion. “Israel will never apologize for building in Jerusalem,” said Economy Minister Naftali Bennet.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called Wednesday’s directive an “unnecessary move” that would undermine Israeli interests and the business sector. Commenting to Israeli media, Herzog said “frustration and helplessness are no policy.”

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-israeli-palestinian-crisis-20140409,0,6455919.story#axzz2yPGMeweb
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« Reply #512 on: April 10, 2014, 08:00:39 am »

Notice in Daniel 9:27 - it says THE covenant(meaning the AC will confirm THE covenant), wheras in the NIV and those other perversions, it says A covenant.

Pt being that if you're an end times watching Christian, and reading some perversion, you'll be looking for the wrong thing - no, I don't think this 7 year treaty with Israel will be anything Obama/Kerry(or any other man like Tony Blair) will put out.
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« Reply #513 on: April 11, 2014, 08:13:17 am »

Swiss, UN accept Palestinian requests to join international treaties

PA joins Geneva Conventions, as well as 13 other UN agencies; Palestinian UN ambassador says ready with more applications.


Twenty-five years after making their first bid for membership, the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war and military occupations, the Swiss government said Friday.

Both the United Nations and the Swiss government have accepted the Palestinian Authority's requests to join 14 international treaties and conventions.

Israel had opposed the move, arguing that there is no universally recognized Palestinian state and that it would complicate peace talks.

The Palestinian Authority signed letters of accession to several international treaties after Israel failed to carry out a planned prisoner release that had a March deadline.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry, as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, said Friday that "the state of Palestine" acceded to the conventions effective April 2.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called said Friday that the accession was a "historic day for the Palestinian people."

The Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols are the fundamental texts of humanitarian law.

Palestinians are attached in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians, which defines the duties of "occupying" power. This Convention, which was introduced on August 12, 1949, is often cited by the Palestinian Authority because of its applicability to the Palestinian territories as "occupied territories," as well as Jewish colonization.

Among the obligations of an occupying power, specified in Article 49 of the Convention, is the prohibition of forced transfers and deportations of populations or individuals, as well as the destruction of movable or immovable property, unless it is made "absolutely necessary by military operations."

One aspect of the Geneva Conventions that has raised particular concern in Israel is the prohibition on colonizing occupied land. Israel says this should not apply to the West Bank and Gaza because the two territories exist in sovereignty limbo - no longer claimed by Jordan and Egypt, who ruled them before 1967, while the Palestinians have never had a state.

Israel has also argued that east Jerusalem should not be considered occupied because it has extended citizenship rights to its Arab residents, although only several thousand of the city's quarter million Arab residents have taken advantage of this. The international community has not recognized Israel's annexation.

The Palestine Liberation Organization first asked to join the Geneva Conventions on June 21, 1989. At the time, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it was not in a position to decide on the bid "due to the uncertainty within the international community as to the existence or non-existence of a State of Palestine."

On Thursday, the United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted Palestinian applications to join 13 other conventions, saying they were "in due and proper form."

Among these international treaties are the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and one against corruption.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that Ban informed all 193 UN member states of his acceptance.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said Tuesday that Palestine will officially become a state party to 13 of the 15 conventions on May 2 - and is ready with more applications to join UN agencies, conventions and treaties depending on Israel's actions.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4509339,00.html
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« Reply #514 on: April 11, 2014, 08:15:44 am »

Israel impose tax sanction against Palestinian Authority

Israel has imposed sanctions against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in retaliation for its signing up to join international treaties, officials say.

They say taxes collected on behalf of the PA will be frozen, with limited access to bank deposits in Israel.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move as "Israeli hijacking" and "theft".

It is the latest in a series of steps by both sides which have strained US-led peace-making efforts.

Israel says the move by the PA to join the treaties breached a commitment made before talks resumed last July after a three-year hiatus.
'Narrowing gaps'

Israeli officials are quoted as saying that debt payments would be deducted from tax transfers routinely received by the PA.

Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians, and transfers about $100m (80m euros) per month, accounting for two-thirds of the authority's budget.

It is not yet clear how much money will be withheld or for how long.

Israel has also said it would suspend its participation in a gas exploration off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

Mr Erekat told AFP news agency it was "theft of the Palestinian people's money" and a "violation of international law and norms by Israel".

It follows Israel's decision on Wednesday to limit its contacts with Palestinian officials in reaction to PA President Mahmoud Abbas's application last week to join 15 international treaties and conventions

Meanwhile, US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed a new round of talks between Israeli, Palestinian and US officials had taken place on Thursday.

She said the gaps were narrowing, but played down reports of a deal in the making.

Negotiations between Israeli and Palestinians have faltered in recent weeks, with each side accusing the other of violating commitments.

The Palestinians were angry when Israel did not sanction the release of a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners, as agreed in principle under the terms on which they returned to peace talks last year.

Palestinian officials say Mr Abbas' move to join the treaties and conventions was a response to Israel's failure to release the prisoners.

Israel stressed that it had made any prisoner release conditional on progress being made in the negotiations and on the Palestinians abiding by a commitment not to take unilateral steps which could be seen as furthering statehood - an issue both sides agreed to settle in peace talks.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said recent actions by both Israel and the Palestinians, including an Israeli decision to approve 700 new settlements in East Jerusalem, had complicated efforts to advance the peace process.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and formally annexed the area in 1980 - a move not recognised internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Settlements built there and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26982166
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« Reply #515 on: April 18, 2014, 11:56:17 am »

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179721#.U1EOBVVdVCw
Palestinian Authority Flags Replace Israeli Flags in Tel Aviv

PA flags flown for hours at Yafo (Jaffa) Port, just south of Tel Aviv. Police reportedly have not hurried to take down the flags.

4/18/14

Israeli flags were replaced by Palestinian Authority (PA) flags on Friday morning at the Yafo (Jaffa) Port, located at the southern end of Tel Aviv.

Walla! reported the flags had been waving at the site for several hours, and that despite a number of requests to Tel Aviv police, officers or Municipality workers had not rushed to take them down.

The flags were put up after Israeli flags at the site were removed; the whereabouts of those flags and the perpetrators of the switch remain unknown.

Yafo is home to large numbers of Arab citizens of Israel; in 2011 over 1,000 local Arabs, mostly residents of the Israeli city, protested Israel's existence on "Nakba (catastrophe) Day."

The placement of the flags implies with it a claim of PA rule over the region, which is clearly not over the 1949 Armistice lines being used as a basis of peace talks in opposition to the original intent of the ceasefire lines.

This latest demonstration of support for the PA comes amid an outcry about the scheduled performance of Mohammed Assaf of Gaza, who won the "Arab Idol" singing contest last June, in the Israeli-Arab city of Nazareth on April 27.

The Zionist group Im Tirtzu reports Assaf appeared on a TV show last August, where "he sang the words 'my land of Palestine,' turned to Tzfat and Tiberias, sent blessings to the sea of Akko and Haifa, and sang 'don't forget Nazareth and tell Beit She'an of the return of its people.'" All noted towns are Israeli and not over the Armistice lines.

Capture the flag

There have been numerous cases of PA flags being flown over Israeli cities, including in the center of Haifa, and at the Dan Panorama Hotel (formerly the Hyatt) in Jerusalem last November for a "secret" PA event being held there.

A PA flag was even flown at the Knesset to welcome several PA representatives last August, in a move that raised many eyebrows.

In PA controlled areas the game of flags has been taken one step further: Arab residents of Beit Umar, located half an hour south of Jerusalem in Judea, placed a Nazi flag over a major thoroughfare where Jews pass in their vehicles last October, the second such incident in five months
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« Reply #516 on: April 21, 2014, 08:26:38 am »

Palestinian Terrorism: Funded by the EU?

In his ploy to avoid negotiations with Israel that might actually force him to make such minimal concessions as “ending the conflict” with Israel, and recognizing Israel as the “state of the Jewish people,” Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA), can count on the European Union (EU) to support him. That support has been both financial and political. Financially, the EU has written a virtual “blank check” for the Palestinians to use with no accountability. Politically, the EU has deemed the Palestinians as “underdogs,” deserving uncritical support. In both cases, EU support for the PA has done little to advance a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Whether it is misplaced guilt, or fear of Arab terrorism, the EU continues to sink unaccounted billions of European taxpayer euros into the corrupt administration of Mahmoud Abbas. According to the United Kingdom’s Sunday Times, the Palestinian Authority squandered nearly 1.95 billion euros ($2.64 billion) in European aid through corruption and mismanagement between 2008 and 2012.

The Sunday Times reported that billions of euros in European aid to the Palestinians may have been misspent, squandered or lost to corruption, according to a damning report by the European Court of Auditors, the Luxembourg-based watchdog. EU investigators who visited sites in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank noted “significant shortcomings” in the management of funds sent to Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU. The auditors, according to the Sunday Times, complained about lack of measures to mitigate “high level” risks, such as “corruption, or of funds not being used for their intended purposes.”

Since the creation of the PA in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords, signed on the White House lawn in September, 1993, the EU has become the largest donor to the PA. As such, it has a responsibility to its taxpayers, who in recent years have suffered the debilitating effects of the global recession, austerity, and chronic high unemployment. The EU also has a moral responsibility to insure that its funds are not diverted to support terror, and human rights violations. The ostensible reason for the EU’s assistance to the PA is to help advance a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Michael Theurer, chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, writing in the Wall Street Journal (April 9, 2014) revealed in the findings of the European Court of Auditors last December that “since 2007, a considerable number of PA civil servants in Gaza have received their salaries partly funded through EU aid – even though they were not going to work due to the political situation in Gaza.” Theurer questioned how this contributes to peace building. He also asked how the EU can preserve its credibility back home when it pays salaries to people who don’t work, while millions of European citizens are unemployed?

The Court of Auditors also found that the EU paid “insufficient attention to the fungibility of the funds provided to the PA. There is reason to believe, the report noted, that EU financial assistance has allowed the PA to use its own general budget to support terrorist or criminal activities.” In addition, the PA allocates a significant portion of its budget to paying salaries to Palestinians convicted of terrorism. These salaries are five times higher than the average salary in the West Bank. Convicted terrorists also receive large grants from the PA.

An investigation by the EU anti-fraud commission into PA funding of terrorist activities, conducted in 2005, allegedly found no conclusive evidence of armed attacks financed by the European Commission’s contributions to the budget. These allegations could not be dismissed, however, given the fact that the internal and external audit capacity of the PA is largely underdeveloped.

The removal of Salam Fayyad as Finance Minister and Prime Minister has essentially ended the PA’s opportunity for transparency and the fight against corruption and mismanagement.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that in 2012, the PA payments to convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons, and to the families of deceased terrorists, including suicide bombers, accounted for more than 16% of the annual foreign donations and grants to the budget of the PA. Israel considers PA payments to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families to be “funding terrorism.” In 2012, the PA Ministry of Prisoner Affairs transferred $75.5 million to terrorists imprisoned by Israel and their families, out of a total budget of $3.1 billion, according to Israeli government figures. In February, 2014, the Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs announced an allocation of 30 million euros to current and former terrorist prisoners and their families.

Responding to the EU’s calls that its funds not go to convicted terrorists, PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karake said on PA-TV, (November 4, 2013) “The Europeans want their money that comes to us to remain clean – not to go to families of those they claim to be terrorists. They (the Europeans) need to renounce this occupation mentality. These prisoners are heroes, fedayyeen (self-sacrificing fighters) who fought so that they could live in dignity. We appreciate the people of the revolution and are proud of them.” Calling the murderers of unarmed civilian men, women, and children heroes is a perversion of reality that even the Europeans cannot accept.

The Europeans prefer to ignore the possibility that their funding, however indirect, supports Palestinian terror against Jews, and hate education that is rivaled only by Nazi Germany. States like Israel and organizations such as Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) have time and again shown how EU funding has facilitated hate literature and hate teaching in Palestinian schools. EU money has also been used to fund anti-Semitism in the Palestinian media.  In the PA broadcasts, Jews have been described as apes, rats and crows. TV discussions that negate the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, and characterize Israelis as bloodthirsty colonialists are not only hateful, they are inimical to peacemaking and amity between Arabs, Jews, Palestinians and Israelis. 

Michael Theurer asked how the EU can ensure that its financial assistance to the PA will help advance peace and stability in the region, while promoting freedom, democracy and the rule of law. And, he ponders how the EU can guarantee that its funds won’t be used to reward terrorism. Theurer responded at least partially to some of his questions by asserting that at the plenary of the European Parliament in early April, 2014, a resolution was passed calling for greater transparency in EU aid to the PA.

It is easy to conclude however, that hitherto, the EU’s unrestrained financial support to the PA has done little to promote freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and has above all been inimical to peace between the Palestinians and Israel.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/joseph-puder/eu-unrestrained-support-of-the-pa-is-inimical-to-peace/
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« Reply #517 on: April 22, 2014, 04:09:44 pm »

Terrorists take up arms as Kerry blames Israel
'Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves'


In a sign of growing anti-Israel militancy, terrorists disarmed as part of an amnesty agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel have taken up weapons in violation of the amnesty deal.

The information comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry largely blamed Israel for the collapse in Mideast talks he was attempting to broker here.

Israel is considering rescinding the amnesty deal extended to members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the so-called military wing of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization.

According to informed Middle Eastern security officials, Israel has extensive information showing scores of Al Aqsa members have been brandishing weapons in public, with some plotting attacks.

The Brigades, declared by the U.S. State Department as an official terrorist group, is responsible for suicide bombings, shootings and other terrorist attacks.

The amnesty agreement was forged in 2007 purportedly as an Israeli gesture to Abbas and to bolster Fatah against its Hamas rivals in the West Bank.

Israel issued documents for the 178 Fatah fugitives to sign, pledging their resignation from any so-called paramilitary organizations. The wanted militants – who comprise much of the senior Brigades leadership – also were required to turn in their weapons, spend a week in a PA holding area and restrict their movements to the area in which they reside for three months.

After that, the Brigades members would be allowed to move freely throughout the West Bank on condition they do not retake arms.

Kerry has been leading an effort to solidify a so-called peace deal in the region.

Last week, Kerry fingered both Israelis and Palestinians for the failure to what is being seen as a collapse in the talks, but he placed much of the blame on Israel.

Kerry claimed Israel’s refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, including convicted terrorists, as part of a gesture to Abbas, was behind the failure of the talks, ignoring Abbas’ refusal to recognize the Jewish state’s existence or his drive to seek United Nations recognition despite a pledge not to do so.

Kerry also did not mention the rampant anti-Israel incitement in official PA media and other institutions.

“Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations when asked about the collapse of the talks.

“The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and then 700 units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof – that was sort of the moment,” Kerry said.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/terrorists-take-up-arms-as-kerry-blames-israel/#VtVLdB4AQ3PIlP74.99
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« Reply #518 on: April 23, 2014, 09:46:12 pm »

Israel and U.S. condemn Palestinian unity deal

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah agreed Wednesday to form a unity government and hold new elections — a potentially historic step toward mending the rift that has split their people between two sets of rulers for seven years.

Following the announcement of the deal, hundreds of people took to the streets in Gaza to celebrate. Crowds hoisted Palestinian flags and posters.

"I hope it will be real this time," said Asma Radwan, a 33-year-old schoolteacher who came with her two young sons. "I came to say 'thank you' to the leaders. But don't disappoint us like the past. Seven years of division is enough."

It remained unclear how the plan would succeed where past attempts have repeatedly failed. It also added new complications to U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Both the U.S. and Israel condemned the agreement.

In an initial response, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned meeting for Wednesday evening between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators.

Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist group. Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has killed hundreds of Israelis in bombings and shootings over the past two decades.

Abbas "needs to choose between peace with Israel and an agreement with Hamas, a murderous terror organization that calls for the destruction of Israel," Netanyahu said.

Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas' forces in 2007, leaving him with only parts of the West Bank. Both sides have become entrenched in their territories, setting up separate governments and their own security forces.

The division has been a major obstacle to Abbas' goal of establishing an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with east Jerusalem as the capital. Israel captured all three areas in 1967. The split is also seen by many everyday Palestinians as a tragic mistake.

Abbas, meanwhile, could face international isolation and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid if he joins forces with Hamas. International donors withheld aid during a short-lived Palestinian unity government elected in 2006 and 2007, before the Hamas takeover, due to concerns that the money would be diverted to Hamas.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was "disappointed and troubled" by the Palestinians' announcement.

"It is hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist," Psaki said, referring to Hamas.

 Abbas' decision also risks triggering a tough Israeli response. Hardline Israeli leaders quickly condemned the unity deal, and several called for Netanyahu to halt the peace efforts.

Israel's Channel 10 TV said Netanyahu would meet with his Security Cabinet on Thursday to discuss a response. It also said that future meetings between peace negotiators were in doubt.

"The Palestinian Authority has become the biggest terror body in the world," said Naftali Bennett, head of the hardline Jewish Home Party. "Israel needs to be clear," he added. "No talks with murderers."

Adding to the tensions, an Israeli airstrike hit the northern Gaza Strip, missing its target but wounding at least three bystanders, Palestinian officials said.

Medical official Ashraf al-Kidreh says the airstrike targeted two men riding a motorcycle, but that the missile missed its target and wounded a 50-year-old man and two daughters.

The Israeli military confirmed the failed airstrike, saying "a hit was not identified."

Gaza terrorists fired a barrage of rockets at southern Israel soon afterward, the Israeli military said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Associated Press writers Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

- See more at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/israel-and-us-condemn-palestinian-unity-deal#.U1h5l1ePNpw
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« Reply #519 on: April 25, 2014, 12:16:45 pm »

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179872#.U1oyoVVdVCw
Abbas-Hamas Deal 'a Tragic Game Changer'

Key Netanyahu confidant and advisor Dore Gold says reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah proves the PA has rejected a negotiated solution.

4/24/14

Dore Gold, who has been described as one of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's closest foreign policy advisors, called the reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) “a game changer” in a CNN interview Wednesday.

Gold, who served in the past as advisor to Netanyahu and Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and currently heads the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has reportedly recently returned to serve as a part-time advisor to the Prime Minister.

Hamas, he said, “is recognized by the world as an international terrorist organization; by the European Union, by the United States, by Canada and many others. And [PA head] Mahmoud Abbas has been working very hard with Secretary of State John Kerry, as our Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked hard, and all of a sudden, it seems that in the last month, Abbas just simply does not want a negotiated solution.

“He said 'no' to President Obama. He said 'no' to even discussing with Israel in the future the possibility of them recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people – we're asked to recognize a Palestinian state – and now he turns to hug Hamas. He wants a deal with Hamas and doesn't want peace, and that's a tragic development.”

While the PA can “hire some suits” to talk about making peace, Hamas is “in the back room” controlling things, he explained.

Asked if the peace process is dead, Gold said it is still possible to revive the process, but only if Abbas pulls back from the deal with Hamas. "He cannot embrace Hamas and say that he's for peace with Israel. It's a contradiction in terms."

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« Reply #520 on: April 25, 2014, 03:27:22 pm »

Peace talks over, Israelis and Palestinians push on as solo acts

For now, unilateral moves – like the Israeli annexation of West Bank settlements and Palestinian applications for international recognition – are the only options.


aHHH, and here John was so sure he could solve everything.

With nine months of negotiations in the rear-view mirror, Israelis and Palestinians are now left with unilateral options. 

In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu will likely face calls for dramatic moves such as the annexation of West Bank settlements, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be pushed to renew international bids for statehood recognition.

They have both warned of their willingness to abandon talks entirely, but despite the bravado, analysts expect the two leaders to move cautiously as they test the new political environment after the collapse of US-brokered peace talks.

"The unilateralism will build up slowly," said Nathan Thrall, an Middle East analyst for the International Crisis Group. "None of that will be the end of the world."

Much will be determined by the outcome of Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation deal announced earlier this week, which prompted Israel to suspend negotiations. The two rivals plan to form a unity government, but that will require lengthy negotiations over issues like the cabinet makeup, elections, and the future of the Palestinian Authority's security cooperation with Israel.

The Palestinians recently submitted applications to join 15 international treaties and conventions and indicated they are prepared to apply to more, stirring fears in Israel of rising international sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Mr. Thrall says there are hundreds to choose from.

Israelis' primary fear is that the Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and seek to bring war crimes cases against Israel, but Mr. Abbas is expected to postpone that effort to avoid friction with Washington. By law the US is required to defund United Nations agencies that admit the Palestinians as a member state without a peace deal.

Meanwhile, Israel has twice announced that it would reduce the transfer of some $100 million in tax revenue owed to the Palestinian Authority. This will be put to the test at the end of this month when Israel is due to make the next transfer. Although some Israeli government factions are eager to punish the Palestinians severely, others realize that withholding funds risks the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and chaos in the West Bank.

Mr. Netanyahu is facing calls for an altogether different kind of unilateral action from the center-left: withdrawal from several West Bank settlements. His pro-settler coalition partners will likely block this. Hardliners like Economic Minister Naftali Bennett have called on Israel to annex settlements in retaliation for Hamas and Fatah's reconciliation. In this case, Netanyahu is blocked by the threat of increased isolation.

Gershon Baskin, a peace activist and political analyst, says Netanyahu is not bold enough for peace or annexation.

"I don’t think that Netanyahu has the ability to make any kind of important unilateral steps," he says. "There’s such a heavy cloud over the politics. Everyone is walking around in the dark, and no one knows what will happen."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0425/Peace-talks-over-Israelis-and-Palestinians-push-on-as-solo-acts
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« Reply #521 on: May 06, 2014, 08:54:03 am »

US officials: Even if Israel doesn’t like it, Palestinians will get state
Members of Kerry’s team slam Netanyahu, empathize with Abbas, warn Palestine will rise ‘whether through violence or via int’l organizations’


American officials directly involved in the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the last nine months gave a leading Israeli columnist a withering assessment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the negotiations, indicated that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has completely given up on the prospect of a negotiated solution, and warned Israel that the Palestinians will achieve statehood come what may — either via international organizations or through violence.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to Nahum Barnea, a prominent columnist from Israel’s best-selling daily Yedioth Aharonoth, the officials highlighted Netanyahu’s ongoing settlement construction as the issue “largely to blame” for the failure of Secretary of State John Kerry’s July 2013-April 2014 effort to broker a permanent peace accord.

They made plain that US President Barack Obama had been prepared to release spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard to salvage the talks. And they warned that “the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation.”

Barnea, who described his conversations with the American officials as “the closest thing to an official American version of what happened” in the talks, said the secretary is now deciding whether to wait a few months and try to renew the negotiating effort or to publicize the US’s suggested principles of an agreement.

Detailing how the US sought to solve disputes over the core issues of a two-state solution, Barnea wrote on Friday that, “Using advanced software, the Americans drew a border outline in the West Bank that gives Israel sovereignty over some 80 percent of the settlers that live there today. The remaining 20 percent were meant to evacuate. In Jerusalem, the proposed border is based on Bill Clinton’s plan — Jewish neighborhoods to Israel, Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians.”

He quoted the Americans saying that while the Israeli government made no response to the American plan, and also failed to draw its own border outline, Abbas agreed to the US-suggested border outline.

The Americans said they had intended to begin the nine-month negotiating period with an Israeli announcement of a settlement freeze. But this proved impossible, an American official was quoted saying, “because of the current makeup of the Israeli government, so we gave up… We didn’t realize [that] continuing construction allowed ministers in [Netanyahu's] government to very effectively sabotage the success of the talks. There are a lot of reasons for the peace effort’s failure, but people in Israel shouldn’t ignore the bitter truth: the primary sabotage came from the settlements. The Palestinians don’t believe that Israel really intends to let them found a state when, at the same time, it is building settlements on the territory meant for that state. We’re talking about the announcement of 14,000 housing units, no less. Only now, after talks blew up, did we learn that this is also about expropriating land on a large scale. That does not reconcile with the agreement.

“At this point, it’s very hard to see how the negotiations could be renewed, let alone lead to an agreement,” the Americans continued. “Towards the end, Abbas demanded a three-month freeze on settlement construction. His working assumption was that if an accord is reached, Israel could build along the new border as it pleases. But the Israelis said no.”

The Americans told Barnea that, in contrast to the hitherto unclear reports of whether the US was prepared to release American-Israeli spy Pollard to salvage the talks from collapse in recent weeks, Obama was willing “to prepare for Jonathan Pollard’s release. Such a move wouldn’t have helped his popularity in the American security system… There was a massive effort on our part to pull the wagon out of the deep quicksand it was stuck in. But the reality here hit us hard. Neither side had a sense of urgency. Kerry was the only one who felt a sense of urgency, and that was not enough.”

One bitter American official told Barnea, “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.”

A third intifada, the Americans made clear, “would be a tragedy. The Jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. You’re supposed to know how to read the map: In the 21st century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation. The occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world and threatens Israel as a Jewish state.”

Pressed by Barnea on perceived international hypocrisy over Israel’s presence in the West Bank, when the world “closes its eyes to China’s takeover of Tibet, it stutters at what Russia’s doing to Ukraine,” the Americans were quoted as responding: ”Israel is not China. It was founded by a UN resolution. Its prosperity depends on the way it is viewed by the international community.”

The American officials described to Barnea what they called Abbas’s loss of trust in the talks and in Netanyahu, and how his skepticism hardened as settlement-building continued, and as Israel demanded complete security control over the territories. From Abbas’s point of view, the Americans told Barnea, the sense was “that nothing was going to change on the security front. Israel was not willing to agree to time frames; its control of the West Bank would continue forever. Abbas reached the conclusion that there was nothing for him in such an agreement. He’s 79 years old. He has reached the last chapter of his life. He’s tired. He was willing to give the process one final chance, but found, according to him, that he has no partner on the Israeli side. His legacy won’t include a peace agreement with Israel.

“In February, Abbas arrived at a Paris hotel for a meeting with Kerry. He had a lingering serious cold. ‘I’m under a lot of pressure,’ he complained. ‘I’m sick of this.’ He rejected all of Kerry’s ideas. A month later, in March, he was invited to the White House. Obama presented the American-formulated principles verbally — not in writing. Abbas refused.”

Abbas, the officials told Barnea, had made concessions — in accepting that “Palestine” would be demilitarized; in agreeing to the US border outline that would see 80% of settlers coming under Israeli sovereignty, and in agreeing for Israel to retain control of sensitive security areas such as the Jordan Valley for five years.

“He also agreed that the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty, and agreed that the return of Palestinians to Israel would depend on Israeli willingness,” the Americans said. “‘Israel won’t be flooded with refugees,’ he promised.”

In a rare attribution of some blame to Abbas, the Americans said they “couldn’t understand why it bothered him so much” to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. But here too, ultimately, the Americans were empathetic to Abbas: “The Palestinians came to the conclusion that Israel was pulling a nasty trick on them. They suspected there was an effort to get from them approval of the Zionist narrative.”

The final straw for Abbas was the late March announcement by Uri Ariel’s Housing and Construction Ministry of building tenders for more than 700 housing units in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood. At that point, the Americans told Barnea, Abbas “lost interest. He turned to the reconciliation talks with Hamas and to the question of who would inherit his mantle.”

The Americans warned that, with the talks over, Israel might be facing “quite a problem. As of now, nothing is stopping the Palestinians from turning to the international community. The Palestinians are tired of the status quo. They will get their state in the end — whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.”

They also warned that if, as announced, Israel seeks “to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinians, it could boomerang. The West Bank economy will collapse, and then Abbas will say ‘I don’t want this anymore. Take this from me.’ There’s great potential for deterioration here, which could end with the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli soldiers will have to administer the lives of 2.5 million Palestinians, to their mothers’ chagrin. The donating countries will stop paying up, and the bill of $3 billion a year will have to be paid by your Finance Ministry.”

Some of the warnings delivered by the Americans reflected a similar tone to that expressed by Obama in an interview he gave shortly before his last meeting with Netanyahu at the White House in March.

Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, Obama cautioned in an interview with Bloomberg at the time. If Netanyahu “does not believe that a peace deal with the Palestinians is the right thing to do for Israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach,” Obama said then. “There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” he said.

The president went on to condemn Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank, and said that though his allegiance to the Jewish state was permanent, building settlements across the Green Line was counterproductive and would make it extremely difficult for the US to defend Israel from painful repercussions in the international community. “If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time — if Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited,” Obama warned.

Read more: US officials: Even if Israel doesn't like it, Palestinians will get state | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-officials-even-if-israel-doesnt-like-it-palestinians-will-get-state/#ixzz30wYr0yLz



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« Reply #522 on: May 23, 2014, 07:07:19 pm »

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/180928#.U3_VpfldVh6
Vatican Says Pope Will Demand 'Sovereign Palestine'
Vatican's Secretary of State says pope during visit will talk about 'Palestinian right to sovereign, independent homeland.'

5/22/14


Vatican Sec'y of State Pietro Parolin

The Vatican's Secretary of State made a dramatic revelation ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Israel next Sunday and Monday, declaring that the pope will talk about the "Palestinian people's right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent."

Cardinal Pietro Parolin holds a role in the Vatican City State, located in the Italian capital of Rome, equivalent to that of a prime minister. Speaking to Vatican television on Thursday, he said "we know that the pope is going to a particularly suffering land," reports AFP.

"I really hope that the fruit will be to help politicians and all people of good will take courageous decisions on the path to peace," Parolin stated.

When asked what the pope particularly intends to talk about during the visit, Parolin revealed he would talk about "on the one hand, Israel's right to exist in peace and security within internationally recognized boundaries."

On the other side, the pope would talk about "the Palestinian people's right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent, the right to move around freely, the right to live in dignity," according to Parolin.

In fact, the Vatican recognized the "State of Palestine" in 2012 amid the United Nations (UN) vote to confer "Palestine" non-member observer state status, a status until then only held by the Vatican.

Despite the pope's insistence that his visit is "religious not political," his decision to begin his trip from Jordan directly by helicopter with a stop in Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled Bethlehem has been greeted by Arab sources as a move to "recognize Palestine" and help "end the occupation."

Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a member of the Argentinian parliament and close friend of Pope Francis, reported in February that the pope intends to define himself as the "Che Guevera of the Palestinians" and support their "struggle and rights" during his visit.

It has been noted that the pope has been remarkably tight-lipped over the violent persecution of Christians in Bethlehem, instead choosing to condemn alleged Jewish "price tag" vandalism.

"Holy Father" asked to pressure Israel to let priests enter without IDF permission

On Thursday it was announced that 650 Christians from Gaza would be allowed to leave the Islamist-ruled enclave to travel to Judea and Samaria for the pope's visit.

However, 20 priests from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which presides over Arab Catholic communities in Judea and Samaria, wrote the pope a letter on Thursday, complaining that they had not been allowed to enter Jerusalem without IDF permission.

"According to the State of Israel, the illegal occupier, we do not have the right to travel to Jerusalem without permission from the Israeli army," the Arab priests said in the letter.

In the letter, the priests claimed the Vatican had given them passes to enter Jerusalem which Israel hasn't stamped with visas. The IDF monitors passage over the 1949 Armistice lines.

"Jerusalem is becoming increasingly closed off to Christians from the West Bank," the letter added, calling for the pope to pressure Israel to submit on controlling passage on its own borders.

The letter concluded "can the Holy Father be in the Holy Land without saying anything about the reality of injustice against an entire people held prisoner on its own land?"

Controversy, both religious and political

Another point of contention about the pope's visit is the status of the David's Tomb Compound in Jerusalem. While numerous government officials - including Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi - have denied control of the holy site will be transferred to the Vatican, reports have revealed a plan to indirectly transfer the site.

Rabbi Avraham Goldstein, the Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Diaspora Yeshiva located in the Compound, revealed what he said were much more underhand plans than a straightforward hand-over.

"According to the information we have...the state will be allowing the Church to conduct Mass on the upper floor; then according to Jewish law (halakha) Jews will not be able to pray downstairs (either), since on the upper floor there will be idol worship," the rabbi said.

Jewish law forbids benefiting from anything - including a structure or shelter - used for idol-worship. Catholic effigies and other rituals fall under the Jewish legal definition of idol worship, meaning that the establishment of a permanent Catholic place of prayer in the Compound would effectively prevent Jews from conducting their own services in the entire building.

A Catholic official confirmed the Vatican's intentions to put those very plans into effect, telling the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday that the Vatican wants "to hold two hours of [Christian] prayer every day in the early morning before visitors start to visit it."
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« Reply #523 on: May 28, 2014, 07:49:45 am »

Netanyahu tells Knesset: Jerusalem was reunited, and will never be divided

In a special Knesset session honoring Jerusalem Day, the premier marveled at the development and growth of Jerusalem, noting that the city's metropolitan area is home to a population of one million people.

Jerusalem will remain united forever, Prime Minister Binyamin said Wednesday, specifically referring to east Jerusalem neighborhoods that were targets of international criticism in his speech to the Knesset Wednesday.

Speaking at the special plenum meeting in honor of Jerusalem Day, Netanyahu mentioned newer parts of the city, like Ramot, Har Homa and Gilo, as well as sites of historic significance like the Old City and Mount of Olives.

The prime minister recalled growing up in a much smaller Jerusalem.

"It was a capital under fire without a way out and with a narrow horizon, and in one day, it all changed. The walls fell and we flowed in a human wave to the Western Wall," he recounted.

Netanyahu said his government works to take care of both "upper Jerusalem" and "lower Jerusalem," the expressions for its spiritual and physical manifestations.

"Torah will certainly come out of Zion," the prime minister said, paraphrasing Isaiah, "and there are many yeshivas, but hi-tech also comes out [of Jerusalem] in Har Hotzvim.

"Jerusalem was united 47 years ago and will never be divided again," Netanyahu concluded.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein kept politics out of his speech focusing on the euphoria and pride Jews around the world felt after the Six Day War.

"Jews stood tall. They were proud to be Jewish, to go to synagogue, to walk around with a kippah, to speak Hebrew and dream about aliyah," he said. "A prince was born named 'Jerusalem of Gold.'" Edelstein said Jerusalem belongs to every Jew, near or far, believer or non-believer, left or right.

"There is no deeper consensus than Jerusalem," he added.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/WATCH-Netanyahu-addresses-Knesset-in-special-Jerusalem-Day-speech-354608
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« Reply #524 on: June 01, 2014, 12:24:49 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-unity-government-formed-monday-171952133.html
Palestinian unity government to be formed Monday
5/31/14

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by rivals Hamas and Fatah will be announced Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday, adding that Israel already warned him it would take punitive steps against the new alliance.

The formation of the government would be the most significant step yet toward ending a crippling seven-year-old Palestinian political split. However, it is also bound to increase friction between Abbas and Israel's hard-line government.

Abbas said Saturday that he would respond to any Israeli punitive measures, such as withholding the monthly transfer of some $100 million in taxes and customs Israel collects on behalf of his Palestinian Authority. The funds are vital to keeping the self-rule government afloat.

The long-running Hamas-Fatah rivalry escalated in 2007 when the Islamic militant group Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from the internationally backed Abbas in 2007. Hamas, which has carried out scores of bombing, shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli targets, is considered a terror group by Israel and the West.

After the April collapse of a U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Palestinian rivals revived reconciliation efforts. Negotiators met repeatedly to agree on a government of technocrats backed by both sides that is to prepare for general elections in 2015. In recent days, there were last-minute disagreements, but Abbas' announcement suggests the issues have been resolved.

"The announcement of the government will be on Monday," he said during a meeting with several dozen pro-Palestinian activists from France. "The Israelis informed us today that they are going to boycott us immediately after we form the government."

"They are going to withhold our money," he said, referring to the monthly transfers. "This is our money, not aid from Israel, and we will not stay silent. They want to punish us because we have an agreement with Hamas, which is part of our people."

Abbas, the leader of Fatah, reiterated that the unity government would follow his pragmatic program.

"We say (the government) is going to recognize Israel, denounce violence and recognize the international agreements," he said, echoing the international community's conditions for dealing with Hamas. "This is a technocrat government. It has nothing to do with Fatah, Hamas or any factions."

A senior Israeli government official said the formation of a unity government "is a great leap backward," but declined to say whether Israel would take punitive action. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists.

Abbas said that "we are going to react to any Israeli action."

He did not elaborate. However, Abbas and his aides have said in the past that they might step up efforts to gain further international recognition of a state of Palestine. The United Nations General Assembly recognized such a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in 1967 — as a non-member observer in 2012.

Palestinian officials have said a state of Palestine is eligible for membership in 63 international organizations, treaties and conventions. Last month, Abbas signed membership requests for 15 conventions, and his aides have said the Palestinians planned to sign up for more in several stages.
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« Reply #525 on: June 03, 2014, 05:19:07 am »

U.S. Says It Will Work With, Fund Palestinian Government; Israel Upset

The United States said on Monday it plans to work with and fund the new Palestinian unity government formed after an agreement by the Fatah and Hamas factions, and Israel immediately voiced its disappointment with the U.S. decision.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a unity government on Monday in a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists, who advocate Israel's destruction.

The United States views Hamas as a "terrorist" organization and the U.S. Congress has imposed restrictions on U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority, which typically runs at $500 million a year, in the event of a unity government.

Senior U.S. lawmakers said on Monday Washington should suspend aid to the new unity government until it is sure of the Islamist group's commitment to pursuing peace with Israel.

In its first comment since the Palestinian government was sworn in, however, the State Department stressed that it regarded the new Cabinet as made up of technocrats and that it was willing to do business with it.

"At this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily press briefing.

"Based on what we know now we intend to work with this government but will be watching closely to ensure that it upholds principles that President Abbas reiterated today," she said, referring to Abbas' commitment to honor past peace deals and the principles underlying the peace process with Israel.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a statement to reporters: "We are deeply disappointed by the State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government."

The statement said Washington could advance peacemaking by urging Abbas "to end his pact with Hamas and return to peace talks with Israel."

EVALUATING NEW GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES

Asked if her comments meant that U.S. aid would keep flowing to the Palestinian Authority, Psaki replied: "It does, but we will continue to evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly."

By law, U.S. aid to the Palestinians may not benefit Hamas "or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence."

Annual U.S. aid to the Palestinians has run at about $500 million in recent years, although it fell to roughly $440 million in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2013, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Senior U.S. lawmakers said on Monday Washington should suspend aid while assessing the new unity government.

"Funding for the Palestinians is off-the-table until it is clear that the unity government is committed to peace and security," said Republican U.S. Representative Kay Granger of Texas, chairwoman of the House of Representatives State and Foreign Operations subcommittee. "Hamas, not just members of the new government, must acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and adhere to previous international agreements," she said in a statement.

http://www.newsweek.com/us-says-it-will-work-fund-palestinian-government-israel-upset-253211
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« Reply #526 on: June 05, 2014, 12:32:04 pm »

Obama/Kerry failing at this was all by design!

http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-francis-gets-involved-in-middle-east-peace-process/1929934.html
Pope Francis Gets Involved In Middle East Peace Process
6/5/14

WASHINGTON — Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to meet at the Vatican Sunday for what is being called an “intense prayer session” with Pope Francis.
 
The unexpected invitation was extended during the pope's recent visit to the Middle East, where Francis engaged in the kind of photo opportunities that popes usually avoid. He stopped at the barrier erected around the Palestinian territories and at an Israeli memorial for victims of terrorism.
 
On the plane home, Pope Francis told reporters he is not getting involved in the stalled peace process.
 
Nonetheless, said Daniel Petri at the Catholic University of America in Washington, the invitation is a bold move.
 
“If something happens, it’s tremendous. Pope Francis is the miracle worker of the Middle East,” he said.
 
The pope is already seen as a maker of miracles by many of his followers. His prayer vigil for peace in Syria on Sept. 7, 2013 was followed by an agreement a week later that prevented U.S. air strikes over the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons.

 
Christopher Hale of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has argued in Time magazine that the pope’s accomplishments in the Middle East have shown him to be “the world’s best politician.
 
But Petri, a PhD candidate, argued in a rebuttal that there have been tens of thousands of fatalities in the Syrian conflict, as well as new allegations of chemical attacks, since the pope’s prayer.
 
“To claim it a success, I think, is wrong, morally and intellectually,” he said, adding that the symbolism of the pope’s actions is what’s important.
 
Sunday’s prayer meeting will follow a morning Pentecost service in St. Peter’s Square. It’s far from clear that anything concrete can be offered by the two political leaders. Peres is nearing the end of his term as Israeli president, and Abbas recently swore in a unity government including Hamas, which advocates the destruction of Israel.
 
Short of a miracle, the main thing the Vatican prayer session can be counted on to produce is an image of a peace effort, with the pope at the center.
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« Reply #527 on: June 12, 2014, 07:13:06 am »

Israel chooses hard-liner Reuven Rivlin as president

Israel’s parliament on Tuesday chose Reuven Rivlin, a veteran nationalist politician and supporter of the Jewish settlement movement, as the country’s next president, putting a man opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state into the ceremonial but influential post.   

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/israel-chooses-hardliner-reuven-rivlin-as-president/article6103451.ece?homepage=true

Meet Ruby Rivlin, Israel’s New Strong, Nationalistic President And Student Of ZIONIST PROPHET ZE'EV JABOTINSKY

On Tuesday afternoon, Israel elected a nationalist President — Likud Party Knesset Member Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin who defines himself in two ways: A man of Jerusalem and a student of Zionist prophet Ze’ev Jabotinsky. He is devoted to strengthening the entire land of Israel, including the settlements of Judea and Samaria and an opponent of the creation of a Palestinian Arab state. Fitting with his long-standing history as a proud, tough Jew, Rivlin accepted the position as the 10th President of Israel and placed a skullcap on his head and recited a prayer from the Torah [...] When President Obama visited Jerusalem and spoke at the Convention Center rather than the Knesset, Rivlin said: “President Obama decided not to visit the Knesset, a decision which is in bad taste….The Knesset is a symbol of Israeli sovereignty, and with all due respect to the president, it cannot be ignored.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ronn-torossian/meet-ruby-rivlin-israels-new-strong-nationalistic-president/
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« Reply #528 on: June 15, 2014, 04:40:55 am »

Netanyahu says Hamas operatives behind kidnapping
IDF arrests 80 Palestinians in sweeping West Bank raid; IDF begins limited enlistment of reservists.


Israeli security forces continued to search for three teenage yeshiva students who went missing while hitchhiking in the West Bank on Thursday. On Saturday, a closure was imposed on the Hebron region and three border crossings into Gaza were shut. Some 80 Palestinians, including senior Hamas operatives, were arrested overnight in an extensive operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that a "terror organization" was behind the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrah, 19, from Elad, Gil-Ad Shaer, 16, from Talmon and Naftali Frenkel, from Nof Ayalon. Netanyahu asserted that he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the teens' fate. 

12:19 IDF begins limited enlistment of reservists  Shocked

12:00 P.M. IDF sends extra forces to West Bank, and deploys observation balloon over West Bank

11:10 A.M. Two Iron Dome batteries are deployed in the central Israeli cities of Ashdod and Rehovot.

11:44 A.M. Two known Hamas operatives from the Hebron area have been missing since Thursday, Palestinian sources report. According to the sources, the IDF and Shin Bet arrived at the two suspects' homes, and arrested their wives when the two couldn't be found.

11:08 A.M. The police only informed the IDF and Shin Bet of the kidnapping five hours after receiving notice, a senior police source says.

10:54 A.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at a government meeting that Hamas is behind the kidnapping of the three teens.

"Today I can say what I refrained from saying yesterday ahead of the wave of arrests that captured Hamas operatives in Judea and Samaria," he said. "Hamas men carried out the kidnapping. This is the same Hamas with which Abbas entered a unity government. This has grave consequences.

"At this point our focus is on returning the abductees home," he added.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598771?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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« Reply #529 on: June 21, 2014, 06:14:55 pm »

12 Shocking Proofs That Disaster Strikes America When It Mistreats Israel


For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. Obadiah 1:15

1. The Madrid Peace Conference

1991 31 October

President George H. Bush promoted the Madrid Peace Conference, where he attempted to divide the land of Israel in exchange for “peace” with the Palestinians.

1991 31 October – The Next Day – The Perfect Storm

A very rare huge storm starting in the north Atlantic, moving east to west (wrong direction for storms to move – although in the Bible, the Holy Spirit and history move east to west). This storm was so unusual and contrary to “mother nature” it was immortalized by the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and later a popular movie. Amazon says of the book  The Perfect Storm, “Meteorologists called the storm that hit North America’s eastern seaboard in October 1991 a “perfect storm” because of the rare combination of factors that created it. For everyone else, it was perfect hell. In The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger conjures for the reader the meteorological conditions that created the “storm of the century” and the impact the storm had on many of the people caught in it.” Coincidence?
when-america-mistreats-israel-it-brings-disaster-judgment

Interestingly, one of the first places The Perfect Storm hit was Kennebunkport, Maine. Waves over 30 foot demolished the home of guess who – President George H. Bush, the instigator of the Oslo Accord.

2. The Madrid Peace Conference Part II

1992 23 August

The Madrid Conference was not successful the first time around, so a year later President Bush tried it again. Evidently, God’s opinion of a “land for peace” deal had not changed in the preceding 12 months, and disaster struck again…on the very same day.

1992 23 August – Same Day – Hurricane Andrew visits Florida

Hurricane Andrew smashes and crashes into Florida. Andrew causes over $30 billion in damage while destroying over 180,000 homes. At that time, Andrew was the worst natural disaster ever to hit America.

3. The Oslo Peace Accord

1993 13 September

President George H. Bush promoted and proudly signed the infamous Oslo Accord. The Oslo Accord was labeled a “Land for Peace” accord that demanded Israel award their land to the Palestinian murderers and terrorists in exchange for peace. The perverse Oslo proposition was simple: give us your land and we’ll stop killing you.

1993 31 October – The Next Day – Hurricane Emily On the very day that the Oslo Peace Accord was agreed upon, Hurricane Emily slammed into the Outer Banks with winds up to 115 miles per hour.

4. Talks To Give Up Golan Heights

1994 16 January

President Bill Clinton meets with terrorist and Israel hater Syria’s President Hafez el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes Israel giving up the Golan Heights.

1994 17 January – less than 24 hours – 6.9 Earthquake rocks California

In less than 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks Southern California. This mysterious quake, centered in Northridge, is the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States, behind Hurricane Andrew.

5. Political Disaster: Impeachment

1998 21 January

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him.

1998 21 January – the same day – Monica Lewinsky scandal erupts

After Clinton’s rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, later the very same day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks out, destroying the Clinton presidency and resulting in his impeachment.

6. Land For Peace

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright finishes the final details of an agreement which requires Israel to surrender 13 percent of Yesha (Judah and Samaria). President Bill Clinton meets with Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize another Israel “land for peace” hoodwink. Later, Arafat addresses the United Nations and declares an independent Palestinian state by May 1999.

1998 28 September – Same Day – Hurricane George hits Gulf Coast

Hurricane George blasts the Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hit the coast and stalled until the agreement was finalized and Arafat addressed the UN. Then it hit and caused $1 billion in damage. At the exact time that Arafat departs the U.S., the storm begins to dissipate.

7. Land For Peace

1998 15 October

Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13 percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23.

1998 17 October – Two days later – Tornadoes hit Texas

On October 17, heavy storms and tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.

8. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1998 30 November

Arafat arrives in Washington again to meet with President Clinton to raise money for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A total of 42 other nations were represented in Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3 billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the European nations $1.7 billion.

1998 30 November – Same Day – Financial Disaster

The Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its third worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

9. Land For Peace

1998 12 December

President Clinton arrives in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel to discuss another “land for peace” fiasco.

1998 12 December – Same Day – Clinton impeached

The U.S. House of Representatives vote four articles of impeachment against President Clinton.

10. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1999 3 May

Yasser Arafat schedules a press conference to announce a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital.

1999 3 May – Same Day – Powerful Storms in Oklahoma and Kansas

The most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States whips through Oklahoma and Kansas. The winds are clocked at 316 mph, the fastest wind speed ever recorded. Arafat postpones his announcement to December 1999 at the request of buddy President Clinton. In his letter to Arafat, Clinton praises and encourages Arafat for his “aspirations for his own land.”

11. The Roadmap To Peace

2001 8 June

President George W. Bush sends Secretary Tenet to Jerusalem to promote his “Roadmap to Peace,” the continuation of the failed Oslo Accord.

2001 8 June – Same Day – Tropical Storm Allison hits Texas

Tropical storm Allison hits Texas the home state of President George W. Bush. Allison causes over $7 billion in damage and closes George Bush Airport for two days. Allison continues for five long days. When Tenet leaves Jerusalem, Allison settles down.

Epilogue: America Pressures Israel To Give Up The Gaza Strip

Gush Katif was paradise. And it was destroyed by those who took it over. Israel completed the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and gave it to the Palestinians. The Gaza Strip evacuation came directly from President Bush’s “Roadmap to Peace.” Hurricane Katrina formed on the same, exact day that the last settlers were evacuated

2005 23 August – the Same Day – Tropical Storm Katrina appears

August 23, a small insignificant tropical storm slowly appeared in the Atlantic below the Bahamas named Katrina. From her beginning meteorologists stated the U.S. had nothing to fear. Katrina packed little punch, plus the computer forecasts kept Katrina calmly corralled in the Atlantic. Defying the computer models, Katrina turned south-east, scraped the south tip of Florida and then with the vengeance of a runaway freight train Katrina took an unexpected turn into the warm Gulf Coast. Meteorologists tracking Katrina’s unusual path labeled Katrina one of history’s most bizarre hurricanes.

2005 29 August – Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans

Katrina raced directly toward New Orleans, harnessing deadly strength every moment. Literally recording wind strength “off the scale” On Monday, August 29, the nation watched in horror as deadly Katrina slammed and slaughtered the fragile Gulf Coast. Destructive Katrina left beautiful homes as piles of worthless rubbish. Deadly Katrina tossed bodies like litter along the highway. When Katrina ended her deadly mission America suffered the worst disaster in her storied history. As I saw the thousands of homes destroyed, my mind kept going back to those U.S. ordered bulldozers destroying the Jewish homes in the Gaza Strip. As I saw the thousands and thousands of United States citizens being evacuated from their land, my mind could not keep from remembering the Jewish people crying and literally begging to stay in their land. America found no mercy for the Jewish people.

The God of Israel is neither slumbering nor sleeping, America should remember that.

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=22211
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« Reply #530 on: July 09, 2014, 04:59:16 am »

ROCKET ATTACKS ON TEL AVIV
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Iron-Dome-intercepts-second-rocket-over-greater-Tel-Aviv-361994

Rocket Hits Jerusalem...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-pounds-dozens-of-gaza-targets-in-major-counteroffensive/

REPORT: Half of Country's Population - in Bomb Shelters...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/4-million-israelis-half-countrys-population-bomb-shelters

Siren sounds...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.603677

VIDEO: Arabs Celebrate...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/arabs-celebrate-missile-strikes-israeli-civilians-video

UPDATE: Israel calls up 40,000 troops as tensions mount...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-army-authorized-mobilize-40000-troops-24464046

Launches military campaign against Gaza...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10953391/Israel-orders-preparations-for-invasion-of-Gaza.html

Foils seaborne attack...
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-foils-seaborne-attack-gaza-strip-172025292.html
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« Reply #531 on: July 10, 2014, 05:38:25 am »

Israeli Air Force Strikes 80 Gaza Terror Targets In Under 30 Minutes

"Over 500 targets have been hit since start of Operation Protective Edge; IDF targets infrastructure sites used by Hamas’s senior commanders; army strikes infrastructure used by organizer of failed beach raid

The Israel Air Force struck over 80 targets in the Gaza Strip in under 30 minutes on Wednesday evening, the IDF Spokesperson said. Over 550 targets have been hit since the start of the Operation Protective Edge against Hamas rocket fire this week, the IDF said.

In recent air strikes, the IAF targeted dozens of Hamas infrastructure sites used by the organization’s senior commanders. The strikes targeted infrastructure used by Ahmed Andur, a senior Hamas member in northern Gaza, who is responsible for rocket fire on southern Israel in recent months, as well as the failed attempt by Hamas naval commandos to land on Zikim beach and murder Israelis."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23300
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« Reply #532 on: July 10, 2014, 06:31:38 am »

Netanyahu Vows Gaza Offensive to Intensify...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-09/israel-aims-to-crush-hamas-military-as-cities-under-fire.html

Cuts water supply to Hamas leaders' homes...
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182706

UPDATE: Rockets intercepted over Tel Aviv...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/IAF-targets-106-Gazan-terror-sites-overnight-362017

Launched at nuclear reactor...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Rocket-alert-sirens-sound-in-Zichron-Yaakov-120-km-north-of-Gaza-362087

Iron Dome racks up 90% success rate -- so far...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.604039

HAMAS: 'All Israelis Now Legitimate Targets'...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/hamas-spokesman-all-israelis-have-now-become-legitimate-targets

Unveils bigger, better arsenal...
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0709/Hamas-unveils-bigger-better-rocket-arsenal-against-Israel

VIDEO: Israeli naval vessel intercepts commandos who stormed beach...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/WATCH-Israeli-naval-vessel-helps-intercept-Hamas-commandos-who-stormed-beach-362079
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« Reply #533 on: July 10, 2014, 05:00:21 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/israels-iron-dome-changes-face-battle-192534747.html
Israel's 'Iron Dome' changes the face of battle
7/10/14

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system has emerged as a game-changer in the current round of violence with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, shooting down dozens of incoming rockets and being credited with preventing numerous civilian casualties.

By shooting down more than 90 percent of its targets, the system is ensuring Israel's decisive technological edge that has helped it operate virtually unhindered in Gaza.

At the same time, it's also providing a much-needed sense of security on the home front.

Gaza militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, some more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) deep, covering an area of about 5 million. But beyond some jitters and discomfort, they haven't hurt Israelis much, causing no casualties and very little damage.

"The Iron Dome system and its impressive success thus far have had a strategic impact on managing the campaign. It gives us wide options," said Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. "Having said that, we cannot become complacent."

Israel has deployed seven batteries across the country that — coupled with a high-tech warning system — have given it its best defensive capabilities ever.

Iron Dome quickly recognizes the trajectory of incoming rockets and whether they are headed for major population centers. Those are shot down, while others are allowed to fall in empty fields to spare the hefty cost of firing the sophisticated interceptors. Local reports say each launching costs about $20,000.

So far, Hamas and other Gaza militants have fired more than 420 rockets toward Israel in three days of fighting. The military says it has shot down 90 of those, including several over Tel Aviv and central Israel.

On Thursday afternoon, the system was deployed for the first time in Jerusalem. Two puffs of smoke could be seen in the sky — apparently after intercepting two incoming rockets.

Lt. Col. Levi Itach, head of the military's early warning branch, said several high-tech measures along with a disciplined public that has vigilantly followed instruction have allowed Israel to keep its casualties from rockets to a minimum.

He said the systems had improved significantly in the two years since the last major exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire between Israel and Hamas, in which six Israelis were killed and several were injured by Gaza rocket fire in that weeklong battle.

The system is still far from foolproof. On Thursday, rockets struck a home in the southern city of Beersheba and a car in Ashdod — incidents that easily could have resulted in casualties.

Itach said no system could provide 100 percent protection.

"If we keep up what we are doing, there is a good chance that we will be able to lower the ratio to one death for every 10,000 rockets fired," he said.

Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired military general and current director general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said that Gaza's Hamas rulers and other militants have acquired longer, more powerful weapons in the past two years, but Israel had not been idle either. He said improvements to Iron Dome have allowed it to hold off on a ground operation while the home front was protected.

"It gives us much more room to maneuver. ... Now we have the ability to hold our breath for some time," he said. "And I'm sure that Hamas is feeling frustrated with this situation because after launching hundreds of rockets, they haven't managed to get Israeli casualties."

Newspapers have already crowned the U.S.-funded system as the star of the campaign. The front page of Yediot Ahronot carried the headline "Golden Dome," with a huge spread of the system in action. The paper's top military columnist, Alex Fishman, wrote that the Iron Dome has "changed the face of the battle."

"If not for the Iron Dome system, the entire military would have already been stuck in the Gaza Strip. It is already possible to reflect on the main lesson of Operation Protective Edge: we must not stop investing in the Iron Dome system," he wrote.

Iron Dome is just the first of a planned three-part defense system that Israel hopes will be operational by the end of the year.

It has successfully tested "Magic Wand," designed to intercept projectiles with ranges between 70 kilometers (45 miles) and 300 kilometers (180 miles), and is aimed primarily at countering the large arsenal of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon and those of President Bashar Assad's government in Syria.

Together with the Arrow system for longer-range threats from Iran, the three components will complete what Israel calls its "multilayer missile defense."

The next generation of the Arrow, now in the development stage, is set to be deployed in 2016. Called Arrow 3, it is designed to intercept missiles at very high altitudes, before they are on their downward path toward their target. Together, the two Arrow systems would provide two chances to strike down incoming missiles.

Just this week, President Barack Obama cited the systems as proof of the U.S. commitment to Israel's security.

"Across the board, our unprecedented security cooperation is making Israel safer and American investments in Israel's cutting-edge defense systems like the Arrow interceptor system and Iron Dome are saving lives," he wrote.
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« Reply #534 on: July 11, 2014, 10:41:22 am »

Lebanese rockets hit Israel as Palestinian deaths in conflict exceed 100

Rockets fired by militants in Gaza reached deeper into Israel Friday, and a strike from Lebanon hit the northern part of the country, leading Israeli officials to suspect Lebanese fighters may be joining the four-day conflict.

The Lebanese military said three rockets were fired toward Israel around 6 a.m. and the Israelis retaliated by firing about 25 artillery shells on the area. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner confirmed that the Israeli military had responded to the new attack with force.

Lebanese troops and United Nations peacekeepers later began searching the area, and the military said it was trying to find out who was behind the attack. 

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike Friday hit the home of a well-known Islamic Jihad leader. Gaza health officials said strikes overnight killed a total of eight people, raising the death toll to at least 98, including dozens of civilians. A later strike pushed the tally over 100 to go along with some 670 wounded, officials said.

Rocket fire continued in earnest from Gaza toward various locations in southern and central Israel, including towards Israel’s international airport.

In the southern Gaza city of Rafah, residents sifted through the remains of a four-story building that was struck and scattered for cover as another airstrike landed nearby.

The commercial center of Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion airport also heard warning sirens Friday but these rockets were intercepted and there was no disturbance to Israel's air traffic. Hamas says it intends to fire rockets at the airport and warned foreign airlines to stop flying to Israel.

Gaza rocket fire also struck a gas station and set it on fire Friday in southern Israel.  The explosion in Ashdod sent plumes of smoke high into the air. Israeli health officials said the blast wounded three people, including one in serious condition.

The blast—which left a trail of charred vehicles in its wake—could  be the most serious in the four days of fighting that has yet to kill anyone on the Israeli side.

Lerner said Israel has suspected that Lebanese militants may try to join the fray as Israel exchanges fire with Islamic Hamas militants in Gaza. However, he said it was still unclear whether Friday's attack was "symbolic or something more substantial."

Southern Lebanon is a stronghold of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has battled Israel numerous times. However, recent fire from Lebanon has been blamed on radical Palestinian factions in the area and Hezbollah has not been involved in the ongoing offensive. It has largely refrained from engaging Israel since a monthlong war in 2006 when it fired thousands of rockets into Israel and was pummeled by Israeli airstrikes in response.

The Jerusalem Post cited senior Israeli officials who also claimed the rocket was not fired by Hezbollah, but by a small radical organization in Lebanon.

Gaza militants already have fired more than 550 rockets against Israel in the four-day offensive. Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system has intercepted most of those aimed at major cities but some have slipped through.

Frequent air raid sirens sounded across Israel on Friday, including for the first time in the northern city of Haifa. Israel has shot down at least 110 incoming rockets thus far.

Israel launched the Gaza offensive to stop incessant rocket fire against it. The Jerusalem Post, citing a senior Israeli security source reports that the Israeli Defense Forces has so far struck 1,100 targets belonging to Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip since the start of the operation launched Monday to end rocket attacks from Gaza , and 210 targets over the past 24 hours.

Lerner said the military was doing its utmost to prevent civilian casualties, calling inhabitants ahead of time to warn of an imminent attack. He said Israeli forces also fire "non-explosive munitions" at roofs as a warning and looks for people to leave before destroying a structure.

Lerner blamed Hamas for the death of innocent bystanders by firing from heavily populated areas.

Israel's military "uses its weapons to defend its civilians. Hamas uses its civilians to defend its weapons," he said.

With Hamas on its heels, Israeli leaders were still mulling whether to launch a ground assault in Gaza to deliver what they hope could be a decisive blow. Such a move, though, would likely involve a rise in Palestinian civilian casualties and put Israeli troops at risk as well.

Israel has mobilized more than 30,000 reservists to supplement the potential ground operation.

Amos Yadlin, a retired general and former head of military intelligence, said Israel already re-established a deterrent factor against Hamas and should offer a cease-fire and aim to wrap up its campaign in the coming days.

"If the Israeli offer is turned down, Israel will refill its stock of legitimacy in such a way that will enable a significant expansion of the objectives and scale of the operation," he wrote in a column published Friday in the Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper. "Hamas has taken severe blows since the start of the round of violence and has failed in almost every step it took. ... However, one rocket that hits an Israeli population center will be enough to change the picture completely."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/11/lebanese-rockets-hit-israel-as-hostilities-escalate/
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« Reply #535 on: July 12, 2014, 03:32:01 am »

Netanyahu Calls Out Team Obama And Says Israel Will Never Give Up The West Bank

"Citing John Kerry by name, PM says he knows best about keeping Israel safe, and won’t allow West Bank to become ‘another 20 Gazas’

For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Isaiah 62:1

On the fourth day of Operation Protective Edge, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strong and sternly open rebuke to John Kerry, Barack Obama, and any one else who would seek to pressure Israel to relinquish control over the West Bank.

“At present we have a problem with the territory called Gaza,” the prime minister said. But he noted that the West Bank is 20 times the size of Gaza, and vowed that he was not prepared “to create another 20 Gazas” in the West Bank.

“I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan” — a reference to the Jordan Valley and the West Bank — as Kerry had urged during a US-led peace effort that collapsed in April.

Citing by name both Kerry and the US security adviser Gen. John Allen, who was charged by the secretary of state to draw up security proposals that the US argued could enable Israel to withdraw from most of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu said passionately, “I told John Kerry and General Allen, the Americans’ expert: We live here, I live here, I know what we need to ensure the security of Israel’s people.”

“Adjacent territory has huge importance,” Netanyahu said, and could be used by terrorists to dig tunnels and to fire rockets. The closer terrorists can get to Israel’s borders, he said, the more rockets they fire — as the current conflict was proving."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23347

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« Reply #536 on: July 12, 2014, 09:48:35 am »

Thankfully, this is getting alot of MSM coverage now(ie-CNN did alot of reporting on this yesterday).
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« Reply #537 on: July 12, 2014, 01:50:40 pm »

Hamas Just Attempted To Create A Horrific Nuclear Disaster In The Heart Of Israel

After the horrors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how insane do you have to be to fire missiles directly at a major nuclear facility?  No matter what side you are on in the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, everyone should be able to agree that it is utter madness for Hamas to fire rockets at the Dimona nuclear installation in the Negev.  The intent, of course, was to destroy the Dimona facility and create a horrific nuclear disaster in the heart of Israel.  Fortunately, the area is heavily protected by the Iron Dome missile defense system and none of the rockets did any damage.  And it is questionable how much damage to the facility that Hamas missiles could actually do.  But that is not the point.  What matters is that Hamas is trying to do it.  With each passing year, Hamas rockets are becoming more advanced, more accurate and more powerful.  And when Hamas fires some of their best rockets at a major nuclear facility, they are committing an act of all-out war.  If Hamas continues to do this, it could spark a major regional war in which countless numbers of people could die.  Is that what they want?

There has been a lot of criticism of Israel in the mainstream media in recent days, but much of it is quite hypocritical.  Just imagine what would happen in the U.S. if another country fired just one missile at New York City or at one of our nuclear reactors.  If that happened, "glass parking lot" would suddenly be on the lips of tens of millions of Americans all over the country, and the U.S. military would rapidly be preparing for an absolutely devastating response.

Well, it isn't just one missile that has been fired at Israel.

In recent days, dozens of rockets were fired at Israel before there was any response from the Israeli military at all.

And more than 225 rockets have been fired at Israel since Operation Protective Edge started on Monday night.

At one point, an average of about one rocket was being fired into Israel every ten minutes.

And many of these rockets are being shot directly at Israeli population centers with the intention of killing civilians.  It is a miracle that we have not seen many casualties so far.

But where Hamas has really stepped over the line is by firing at the Dimona nuclear facility.  The fact that Hamas is attempting to create a nuclear holocaust is essentially an act of genocide.  The following is how the Jerusalem Post described the attack...

    Three rockets were launched at Dimona in southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon. The Iron Dome intercepted one rocket before it could land, while two other rockets landed in open areas.

    Dimona is the location of Israel's nuclear reactor. There was no indication that rockets damaged any part of the reactor.

    Hamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, stating that it had been attempting to hit the nuclear reactor.

    Militants from Hamas's Qassam Brigades said they had launched long-range M-75 rockets towards Dimona.

And as Breitbart has pointed out, what Hamas has just done is actually an act of nuclear terrorism as defined by the United Nations...

    Article 2 (1) of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism states:

    1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally...(b)...uses or damages a nuclear facility in a manner which releases or risks the release of radioactive material: (i) With the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or (ii) With the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or (iii) With the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act.

Let us hope that future Hamas missile strikes will not do any damage to Dimona either.

In the end, it is questionable how much of a threat Hamas rockets actually are to an extremely well defended facility such as Dimona, but let us not completely underestimate their capabilities either.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Hamas rockets are stronger and more accurate than ever and are now even capable of hitting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem...

    Hamas has emerged from a 19-month cease-fire stronger, savvier, and more effective at hitting Israel where it will hurt the most.

    Hamas's arsenal, estimated at 10,000 rockets, is only marginally bigger than it was heading into its last conflict with Israel, in November 2012. But its mid-range rockets are much more accurate, and it has acquired long-range missiles that reach beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, putting as many as 5 million of Israel’s 8 million citizens at risk.

If Hamas wants Israel to stop attacking, they need to stop lobbing missiles into Israel.

If Hamas keeps launching rockets, it could spark a major regional war.  Just consider what Shimon Peres is saying about the conflict...

    “We didn’t start the war today, they started it already several days ago,” he told CNN. “We asked them to stop it... We waited one day, two days, three days and they continued, and they spread their fire on more areas in Israel.”

    He also said that a ground offensive on Gaza “may happen quite soon”. Referring to rockets being fired from Gaza, he added: “If they will stop for example tonight, there won’t be any ground entrance - but if they will continue, sooner or later this will be the response.”

And there are news reports today that Israel has already warned 100,000 Gaza residents living in cities near the border with Israel to leave their homes.

That means that a ground invasion could be imminent.

Let us pray for peace because every human life is extremely valuable.

Every Israeli life is extremely valuable, and every Palestinian life is extremely valuable.

Nobody should want to see a major war between the Israelis and the Palestinians, because if one does happen it will be extremely bloody.

The Middle East is a powder keg that could erupt at any moment.

A single wrong move could bring about a nightmarish conflict that results in countless deaths.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/hamas-just-attempted-to-create-a-horrific-nuclear-disaster-in-the-heart-of-israel
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« Reply #538 on: July 12, 2014, 04:09:26 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-orders-residents-northern-gaza-leave-194240942.html
Israel orders residents of northern Gaza to leave
7/12/14

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it is ordering Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area "for their own safety."

In a statement Saturday, the military said it would send messages to residents overnight to leave the area.

Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz, the chief military spokesman, said Israel planned to hit the area with heavy force in the next 24 hours as it steps up an offensive against Gaza militants.

Officials say the area has been used to fire rockets at Tel Aviv.
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« Reply #539 on: July 13, 2014, 09:53:30 am »

Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza calls on the strip's residents to ignore Israeli warnings, calls them psychological warfare - @haaretzcom


Explosions heard over Tel Aviv, as sirens sound in central and northern Israel - @IDFSpokesperson


1h
Update: Iron Dome intercepted 2 rockets over the Tel Aviv, Israel, metropolitan area - @IDFSpokesperson
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