Re: ISRAEL BREAKING NEWS

Admin Thu 25 Jun 2015, 7:12 pm

Israel Freezes Defense Aid Talks with US Pending Iran Deal
Senior officials in Defense and Foreign Ministries decide to suspend talks with US on security aid until after Iran deal is finalized.
A joint meeting of senior representatives in the Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister's Office resulted in the decision to temporarily suspend dialogue with the United States regarding defense aid to the Jewish state.
The freeze will remain in place until the conclusion of talks between Iran and P5+1 world powers on Tehran's nuclear program, if not later.
The main reason for suspending the dialogue, officials told Walla! News, is the mounting tension between the White House and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government.
According to a senior defense official, who confirmed the report, freezing talks now will allow Israel to present a new request for defense materials after a deal with Iran has been finalized.
The official asserted that Israel is waiting for negotiations between Iran and Western powers to conclude, to see what exactly the US signs, and from there make demands for maintaining Israel's security in the region.
Other officials though have suggested Israel may prolong the freeze until a new US president is inaugurated in early 2017, thereby avoiding contact with current US President Barack Obama, whose relationship with Israel has been contentious.
The pressure of a looming nuclear deal with Iran has also begun to affect US officials.
A group of top US experts on security and foreign policy, including former Obama advisors, sent a letter Wednesday night to the President, warning him that the pending accord "may fall short of meeting the administration's own standard of a 'good' agreement."

Admin Thu 25 Jun 2015, 9:00 am

ISIS Turning Tomb of Biblical Prophet Jonah into Amusement Park
By Lea Speyer June 24, 2015 , 12:30 pm
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” (Psalm 5:4)

image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/isis-destroyed-tomb-jonah-prophet.jpg
Aftermath of the destruction of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah in Mosul, Iraq at the hands of ISIS. (Photo: YouTube Screenshot)

As if destroying the tomb of the Biblical prophet Jonah is not enough, ISIS is planning on constructing an amusement park over the holy site, Al Arabiya reported.
Last July, shortly after conquering Mosul in Iraq, where the tomb is located, ISIS blew up the tomb amid celebrations by the terror group. Local sources told Al Arabiya that ISIS has begun to level off the area for construction.
A special budget has been allocated by ISIS for the project and “specialized companies” have won bids to begin turning the former tomb area into a park.
Responding to the report, Iraqi Deputy Minister of Antiquities and Tourism Qais Hussain to Al-Sumaria News that ISIS intends to deface the holy site and “the tomb into a park and fun city which is another crime against Iraqi heritage.”

image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/useful_banner_manager_banners/147-IranPetition2-600WIDE.jpg

Hussain added that a special committee in his ministry is coming up with “a plan after liberating conquered cities from ISIS…to minimize damages being done to heritage sites.”
Despite repeated attempt, Iraqi forces with the aid of US airstrikes and Iranian militias have been unable to recapture Mosul.
The capture of Mosul was a large victory for ISIS last June, as it allowed the terror group to expand its territory by capturing large areas of the country and parts of Syria.
In each new city captured by ISIS, jihadists have a policy of destroying non-Muslim or Shi’ite sites in their attempt to eradicate other religions and cultures.
Following the destruction of Jonah’s Tomb last July, jihadists also destroyed the tomb of the Jewish prophet Daniel which is located in the Mosul area.

Admin Wed 24 Jun 2015, 10:54 pm

Iran’s Supreme Leader Nixing Terms for Nuclear Deal
Speaking Tuesday, Iran's Supreme Leader nixed the terms for a nuclear deal with world powers.
By: Hana Levi Julian
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei
Photo Credit: Khamenei.ir
Iranian nuclear scientists are expected to maintain their pace and make good progress in the field – with or without sanctions or a deal for relief – according to a report on state TV.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made it clear Tuesday that he has ruled out any freeze on sensitive nuclear work, state television reported.
The deal being offered by the six world powers (the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Russia and China) offers relief from sanctions imposed on Tehran, linked to verifications by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran has halted its sensitive nuclear development program. The deal is to extend over a 10 year period.
In return, the UN is to lift the economic sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy, using a step-down system linked to IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear plants and research facilities.
But Iran’s Supreme Leader has nixed all that, and demands that sanctions be removed immediately as well.
“Freezing Iran’s research and development for a long time, like 10 or 12 years, is not acceptable,” Khamenei responded in a speech that was broadcast live over Iran state television.
“Sanctions should be lifted immediately when the deal is signed and it should not be linked to verification by the UN watchdog body.
“Inspection of our military sites is out of the question and is one of our red lines.
“America is hoping to destroy our nuclear industry altogether. Our negotiators’ aim is to safeguard Iran’s integrity … and our nuclear achievements during the talks.”
It is Khamenei who has the authority to make the final decision on anything dealing with nuclear technology in Iran; thus as it stands now, it is likely that unless he suddenly changes his mind – or the delegation is willing to accept his terms — the deal is likely to be scrapped.
Or talks will again be extended, as they have been twice before.
Negotiations so far are scheduled to end – “one way or the other” – on June 30.
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been pressuring the world powers to walk away from “this bad deal” and warning Iran would not keep its end of the bargain. It has already been discovered that Iran was increasing its uranium enrichment production during the nuclear agreement talks, even though it had already committed to halting such production as a good faith measure during negotiations.
Israel maintains that Iran cannot be trusted to fulfill its side of any future deal, either.
About the Author: Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.

Admin Wed 24 Jun 2015, 6:27 pm

When Shemitah, Blood Moons and the Messiah Meet
By Rivkah Lambert Adler June 23, 2015 , 9:30 am
“Six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce. But in the seventh [year] you shall release it and abandon it; the poor of your people shall eat [it], and what they leave over, the beasts of the field shall eat. So shall you do to your vineyard [and] to your olive tree[s].” (Exodus 23:10-11)
This year, the world is witness to several blood moons. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Jewish, Christian and secular writers are all focusing their attention on this coming September. Those whose eyes and ears are open understand that the time is pregnant with possibilities for a dramatic End of Days scenario. The end of the current Shemitah cycle, the final blood moon of the current series and worldwide economic instability are all set to converge in the coming months.
A Pattern of Economic Disruption
September 13, 2015 is the last day of the current seven-year agricultural cycle in Israel known as Shemitah. As Rabbi Lazer Brody points out in a recent article, the US economy has suffered from a collapse or crash at the end of at least the past seven Shemitah cycles.
For example, at the end of the previous Shemitah cycle in 2008, the subprime mortgage crisis in the US caused major financial markets to lose nearly a third of their value. At the close of the Shemitah cycle before that, the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 completely shut down Wall Street for a week. When the New York Stock Exchange reopened on September 17, 2001, the market fell 684 points in one day. At the end of the first week of trading following September 11, approximately $1.4 trillion in value was lost.
“The fact that the American economy has nose-dived at the termination of the Shemitta year is more than an established pattern,” Brody asserts. Will we see it again this coming September?
The last day of the current Shemitah year falls on a Sunday, when the US stock market is closed. Nevertheless, based on previous Shemitah cycles, a stock market crash could happen in the weeks just before or after September 13.
More doomsday financial predictions are being seen in Greece, where the country has until June 30 to decide whether or not to exit the European Central Bank. If Greece pulls out, the whole country would uncouple itself economically from the rest of Europe, stop using euro currency and return to using the drachma. Whatever happens on June 30, the economic crisis in Greece, many believe, will likely lead to some sort of ripple effect throughout Europe.
Dramatic Historical Events in Israel Connected to Blood Moons
Making the case that the end of the current Shemitah cycle in September 2015 is likely to have adverse effects on the world economy, especially in the US, leads to an important question: How does this connect to the blood moons?
The final blood moon of the current lunar tetrad (when four blood moons in a row occur six months apart) is set for September 28, 2015, very soon after the end of the Shemitah year on September 13. This date corresponds with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Unlike the previous three, the fourth blood moon is expected to be visible in Jerusalem.
Recent lunar tetrads have coincided with events of tremendous historical significance for Israel. Four blood moons followed the reestablishment of the State of Israel in 1948. In 1967, there was one blood moon before the Six Day War when the divided city of Jerusalem was reunited and three following.
Said another way, during the blood moon tetrad of 1948, the Land of Israel was restored to the Jewish people. During the blood moon tetrad of 1967, the reunited city of Jerusalem was restored to the Jewish people. During the blood moon tetrad of 2015, will Israel will regain dominion over the Temple Mount and be able to restore God’s presence there after 2,000 years?
One indication that that Temple Mount might soon revert to Jewish hands is found in the story Breaking Israel News reported on June 15, 2015. Billions of dollars worth of gold exists in the mountains near Eilat. Its excavators, Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehudah Glick and his partner Yehoshua Friedman, plan to mine the gold and use it towards the rebuilding of the Third Holy Temple.
IAF Strikes Gaza Rocket Launcher Following Attack
By Lea Speyer June 24, 2015 , 10:30 am
The Israeli Air Force struck and destroyed a rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday evening following rocket fire towards Kibbutz Yad Mordechai earlier in the night.
The rocket fire activated sirens in towns along the Gaza belt at approximately 10 pm, alerting residents to find immediate shelter.
The IDF confirmed in a statement that the rocket landed in an open area near Yad Mordechai. Resident reported hearing a large boom.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by a small jihadist group that is currently fighting with Hamas. The group is responsible for a series of rocket attacks directed at Israel over the last month.
Israel says Hamas, which governs over Gaza, is responsible for any rocket fire directed towards Israel from the Strip. “The terror organization Hamas is the address, and on it lies the responsibility,” the IDF stated.
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The Druze and the Middle East’s Minority Pact
By Dr. Mordechai Kedar June 23, 2015 , 8:00 am
It is rare for a country to have to rethink its strategic roadmap. Nevertheless, Israel may be approaching the point in time when it will have to reboot and restart its geo-strategic thinking, if that has not yet been done. In fact, that point in time is staring us in the face and we simply must think out of the box to see and address it, before a head-on collision shatters that very same box without our having plans prepared for a changing reality.
The catalysts that brought Israel to realize that there is a turning point are the Syrian Druze. Israel must, and I repeat, must, do everything and even beyond everything, to help the Druze minority in Syria survive as it faces the Islamist forces who intend to destroy it. Whether it is Islamic state or Jabhat al Nusra who are preparing the “Final Solution” for the Druze in Syria is of no matter. When Islamic State overcomes Jabhat al Nusra, any understanding Israel has made with this organization will vaporize exactly like the ones Israel signed with the Syrian regime.
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http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/43937/the-druze-and-the-middle-easts-minority-pact-opinion/

White House Affirms Israel’s “Right to Self-Defense” Following UNHRC Report
By Lea Speyer June 23, 2015 , 12:00 pm
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)
Israeli Merkava tanks pull back from the Gaza Strip near the border with Israel on August 3, 2014, following the conclusion of Operation Protective Edge. (Photo: Flash90)
The White House affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense Monday following the release of a UN Human Right’s Council (UNHRC) report accusing Israel and “Palestinian armed groups” of war crimes during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that during the war, the US backed Israel’s “right to self-defense” while expressing its “deep concern about the civilians in Gaza that were in harm’s way. And we urged all parties to do everything they could to protect innocent civilians who were essentially caught in the crossfire of this conflict.”
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Admin Tue 23 Jun 2015, 11:09 am

Thousands of Christians Gather to Protest Arson Attack on Galilee Church
By Lea Speyer June 22, 2015 , 11:30 am
“A Song of Ascents; of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalms 133:1)
Thousands of people gathered at the Church of the Multiplication in northern Israel on Sunday to protest the arson attack which took place against the holy site last week.
In the early morning Thursday hours, the church was set on fire and anti-Christian graffiti in Hebrew scrawled on the walls. Political and religious officials from across Israel quickly condemned the attacks, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the Shin Bet to launch an investigation and arrest the perpetrators.
No suspects have been arrested as of this time.
Christians from across Israel came together in a show of solidarity near the Sea of Galilee in a national appeal for coexistence.
Shadi Halul, the chairman of the Aramaic Christian Association in Israel called the attacks “abominable…just like any damage to a Jewish holy place would be.”
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On Mt. Zion, Jews and Christians Unite in Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy
By Abra Forman June 22, 2015 , 8:30 am
390 21
“Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3)
The Zion Gate is one of eight gates built into the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was built for Suleiman the Magnificent in 1540. Located in the south of the Old City, facing Mount Zion and Hebron, the Zion Gate leads into the Armenian and Jewish Quarters. Zion Gate is also known as David’s Gate (Arabic: Bab el-Daoud; Hebrew: Shaar David), because the tomb of King David is believed to be on Mt. Zion. (Photo: Nati Shohat/Flash90)
Last Wednesday, Israel365’s Rabbi Tuly Weisz met with a group of American college students visiting Israel with the Christian organization Eagles’ Wings on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
Eagles’ Wings is a pro-Israel Christian ministry which runs an educational program called the Israel Experience for Christian students interested in learning more about Israel advocacy. The program brings groups of students on trips to Israel every year, where they travel the land and learn more about Israel’s Biblical origins as well as its present realities.
The students toured all over Israel to various significant sites including the Sea of Galilee, Mt. Bental, the Dead Sea and Ein Gedi. They came to Jerusalem to explore the wonders of the ancient holy city, visiting Jewish as well as Christian religious sites.
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Netanyahu to “Fiercely Reject” Unilateral End to Conflict
By Zach Pyzer June 22, 2015 , 10:30 am
“You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.'” (Lamentations 3:57)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated on Sunday that he would “fiercely reject” a French proposal to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is visiting Israel to push for a diplomatic initiative to break the deadlock in the peach process.
Frants wants a resolution to pass the United Nations Security Council comprising of a timetable for a negotiated solution, including the heavily contested issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
“International proposals suggested to us, in essence they’re trying to force upon us, have no true consideration for the security needs of Israelis or other national interests of ours,” Netanyahu stated.
Previous Israeli security demands have included a demilitarized Palestinian state and Israeli troops present in the strategically vital Jordan valley.
“They’re just trying to push us into borders which are indefensible, while completely ignoring what will be on the other side of the border,” Netanyahu argued.
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Oren: Obama Needs Muslim Acceptance Because of Abandonment of 2 Muslim Father Figures
By Lea Speyer June 22, 2015 , 1:23 pm
“Truthful lips endure forever…” (Proverbs 12:19)
President Barack Obama speaks at Cairo University in Cairo, Thursday, June 4, 2009. In his speech, President Obama called for a 'new beginning between the United States and Muslims', declaring that 'this cycle of suspicion and discord must end'. (Photo: Official White House Photo/ Chuck Kennedy)
In the third of a series of stinging op-eds about US President Barack Obama and his relationship with Israel, former Israeli ambassador to the US and current Kulanu MK Michael Oren speculated that the president’s persistent outreach to the Muslim world is based on abandonment issues by two Muslim father figures.
In an article published in Foreign Policy Magazine on Friday, Oren asserts that Obama seeks acceptance by the Muslim world to fill a void caused by his abandonment as a younger child. He calls the president’s policies and overall view towards the Middle East as naïve.
“Obama’s attitudes toward Islam clearly stem from his personal interactions with Muslims. These were described in depth in his candid memoir, ‘Dreams from My Father,’ published 13 years before his election as president. Obama wrote passionately of the Kenyan villages where, after many years of dislocation, he felt most at home and of his childhood experiences in Indonesia,” Oren explained.
“I could imagine how a child raised by a Christian mother might see himself as a natural bridge between her two Muslim husbands. I could also speculate how that child’s abandonment by those men could lead him, many years later, to seek acceptance by their co-religionists.”
Oren makes a similar claim in his new book “Ally,” in which the former ambassador said he searched “Dreams from My Father” in vain “for some expression of reverence, even respect, for the country its author would someday lead.”
Finding none, Oren says he found instead that “the book criticizes Americans for their capitalism and consumer culture, for despoiling their environment and maintaining antiquated power structures.”
n the Foreign Policy article, Oren adds that “Historians will likely look back at Obama’s policy toward Islam with a combination of curiosity and incredulousness. While some may credit the president for his good intentions, others might fault him for being naïve and detached from a complex and increasingly lethal reality.”
Oren served as Israel’s ambassador to the US from 2009-13. He explains that an undertaking he took upon himself when becoming ambassador was an “Obama 101” course “devoted months to studying the new president, pouring over his speeches, interviews, press releases, and memoirs, and meeting with many of his friends and supporters.”
Each of Obama’s decisions regarding the Middle East and Muslim affairs came as no surprise to Oren while ambassador. Obama’s “naïve” approach has led the president to lead the US onto a dangerous path, especially with its relationship with its ally Israel.
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Admin Mon 22 Jun 2015, 1:29 pm

Barack Obama: Born Again Jew
By Daniel Greenfield June 17, 2015 , 11:00 am
Obama introduced himself to the nation as the son of black and white parents. He has gone back and forth between Christianity and Islam like a philanderer in a bar.
Now he has added a third religion and race to complete his identity politics trinity.
At the last White House Chanukah dinner, he claimed to have a Jewish soul. At a synagogue speech last month, he called himself “an honorary member of the tribe”. Now his former senior advisor has quoted him as saying, “I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office.”
Of course Barack Obama has also been Irish. He stated, “I consider myself an honorary Italian, because I love all things Italian”. Newsweek dubbed him “The First Woman President” in 2008 for “bending gender conventions” and promoted him to “The First Gay President” four years later. Cabinet Secretary Lu and Congressman Honda argued that he was “The First Asian American President”.
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Islam’s ‘Baby Jihad’
By Raymond Ibrahim June 17, 2015 , 10:00 am
In 1900, the Muslim population of the world was less than 200 million. Conversely, the Christian population of the world was almost 560 million—almost three times the number of Muslims.
Times have changed. According to the findings of a Pew Research Center in America:
The number of Muslims will increase at more than double the rate of the world’s population, which is expected to rise by 35 per cent in the next four decades.
There will be more Muslims than Christians in the world in less than sixty years, new research revealed.
The [Islamic] religion’s share of the world’s population will equal the Christian share – at roughly 32 per cent each – in 2070, analysis by the Pew Research Center showed.
[…]
By 2050 Muslims will make up around ten per cent of Europe’s population.
For a better idea of what is in store for Europe, simply look to the UK’s “Londonistan”—the apt name for London and other regions with a notable Muslim presence: Already with a 10 percent Muslim population, Londonistan is a reflection of Europe 35 years from now when it too is projected to be ten percent Muslim (and by which time the UK will likely have an even much larger Muslim population).
The same sorts of anti-infidel violence and sexual abuse that is a daily fixture in Muslim majority nations is already a normal feature of Londonistan with its mere 10 percent Muslim minority.
Put differently, if “ISIS” and other Islamic groups regularly behead “infidel” men and sexually enslave “infidel” women in the Middle East—so are “average” Muslims doing so in the UK:
Recall how in 2013, two Muslim men shouting “Allahu Akbar” beheaded a British soldier with a cleaver—in a busy intersection and in broad daylight no less. They even boasted in front of passersby and asked to be videotaped.
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The Upside-Down World of University Human Rights
By: Denis MacEoin
"For the sake of students living in totalitarian state across the globe, we in the liberal democracies are obliged to take advantage of our freedom to debate. But that does not mean allowing ourselves to be swayed by manifest “agitprop,” distortion or factual inaccuracy. And it does not permit us to ban opinions on a racist basis (as is the case with academic boycotts of Israeli Jews). There is no sign in the motions you passed of Israeli opinion, just the views on one side.
The world you live in us upside down: you claim to act in defense of human rights, but your motions do not reflect this. You give free passage to the worst abusers of human rights — countries that persecute religious minorities, suppress and kill women, throw homosexuals from high roofs, execute hundreds of dissidents every year, and imprison, torture and slaughter — without rebuke. Yet you fulminate against Israel, which does none of these things. It does not use torture; it does not execute anyone — not even Palestinian terrorists who have committed mass murder against innocent civilians and children.
Neither the great many supporters of Israel whom I know personally nor I want anything but the best possible future for the Palestinians. No one I know hates the Palestinians. What we do hate are the organizations that exploit and dominate the Palestinian people,that deny them the right to vote for new governments, the culture of hatred in Palestinian mosques, schools, and political speeches, and the acts of terror and war that have been directed at Jewish, Muslim and Christian Arab Israelis for many decades. It is the hatred and the violence we deplore, knowing as we do that this hurts not only Israelis, but that, since 1948, it has been blocking Palestinians from achieving their true potential.
We believe sincerely that boycotting, sanctioning and divesting from Israel will not bring peace so long as the Palestinian leaderships in Gaza and the West Bank insist that they intend to destroy Israel and take control of its entire territory.
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BDS and Hamas: The New Partnership
By: Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas is pinning high hopes on BDS to pave the way for the destruction of Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. Hamas believes that such tools are no less important than rockets and suicide bombings, which have thus far failed to achieve the goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth.
U.S. universities that allow the BDS activists to disseminate their hate against Israel are unaware that these people are serving as Hamas ambassadors. Moreover, Western governments, above all the U.S., are unaware that Hamas and BDS allies also consider them enemies of the Palestinians.
What Bahr is actually saying is that the BDS campaign should be intensified until Israel is forced to surrender and accept all the demands of Hamas, which include, of course, ending the existence of Israel.
While the anti-Israel activities of the BDS movement have emboldened Hamas, they have also undermined those Palestinians who believe in peace and coexistence with Israel. If BDS supporters really care about Palestinians, why don’t they go to the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories to promote reforms, democracy, freedom of speech and the rights of women under the rule of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority? BDS seems to be more about promoting Hamas’s agenda than advancing the cause of peace."
Hamas has found new allies: the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
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A Middle East "Complete Strategy"? To What End?
By: Shoshana Bryen
“Strategy” is the summer watchword in Washington — strategy for handling ISIS, strategy for Syria, strategy for Middle East peace. The President says, “We don’t have, yet, a complete strategy” for ISIS, but presumably one will emerge.
In this atmosphere, the debate over sending more American troops to Iraq, and in what capacity, flows in a vacuum — not a vacuum of strategy, but the vacuum produced by the absence of articulated goals to which strategy can be applied. What is the American goal? What is our national interest? Is it:
To degrade and defeat ISIS?
To maintain a unitary country called Iraq?
To sustain the Shiite Assad government as a better alternative than Sunni groups? For whom?
To avoid alienating the government of Iran? Until the nuclear deal has been inked or as a gateway to improved relations on a wider scale?
To encourage Iranian expansion in primarily Shiite areas to “balance” Sunni majorities elsewhere in the hope of achieving “stability”?
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The New Middle East
By: Ira Sharkansky
Barack Obama has produced a New Middle East, but it ain’t the one he intended. Democracy has not blossomed as called for in his Cairo speech of 2009...Syria is competing with Iraq, Libya, and Yemen for headlines, with bombing and bullets rather than ballots determining their future.
The new Egyptian government that the American President cheered and supported, is now in the dust. Its President, Mohamed Morsi, is facing a death sentence, imposed by a court under the newer Egyptian government, and hoping for a reprieve to life in prison.
The newer ruler, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, operates in the mold of Hosni Mubarak, whose supporters accused Obama of “throwing him under the bus.”
Syria is competing with Iraq, Libya, and Yemen for headlines, with bombing and bullets rather than ballots determining their future. Reports are that 30 organizations are waging war in Syria, with observers unable to sort out a tangle where everyone may be against everyone else.
Russia and Iran are the prominent supporters of the Assad regime, but can claim nothing beyond widespread destruction, shrinking areas under his nominal control, and becoming the world leader in the incidence of displaced civilians.
The number of refugees who have fled their country plus internally displaced persons is the highest in years. Various sources differ in their estimates, but the New York Times reports round numbers of 11 million displaced Syrians (close to one-third of the population), and 3 million Iraqis (about 10 percent of the population) said to be displaced since 2013 . What happened between Bush’s invasion in 2003 and 2013 is outside of these numbers. Libya’s numbers are smaller, at 250,000, but so is its population (6 million). Chaos there has served to increase the flow of boat people reaching Europe or drowning on the way. They include Libyans as well as other Africans who have found that Libya has become the North African capital of people smugglers.
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Admin Sun 21 Jun 2015, 10:24 pm

An Israeli policeman was wounded by a Palestinian terrorist in the second attack in less than 48 hours. On Friday, a civilian was killed and another wounded.
A Palestinian terrorist stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli border policeman near the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem Sunday morning.
The policeman, who sustained stab wounds to his neck, managed to shoot the terrorist.
The terrorist was described as an 18-year-old Palestinian from Hebron.
The policeman, in his early 20s, was evacuated to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem after receiving initial treatment at the site of the attack. His assailant was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital, also in the capital.
Doctor Ofer Merin, deputy director-general of Shaare Zedek and head of the trauma unit, said the policeman’s life was still in danger after sustaining multiple stab wounds, including one in the heart.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who arrived at the scene of the attack, lauded the security forces for their quick and efficient response. “I want to commend the action of the Border Policeman, who, while injured, kept his cool and shot and neutralized the terrorist, thus saving lives and preventing further injuries, the mayor stated. “We must persist and continue our daily routines. I ask all the citizens of Israel to continue to visit Jerusalem and strengthen it.”
Briefing reporters after the attack, Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri said that the police had bolstered their forces ahead of the Muslim month of Ramadan. “The officer operated with courage,” he said. “The terrorist should be killed at the site of the incident.”
This act of terror follows the Friday attack in which a Palestinian terrorist shot two Israelis, murdering Danny Gonen and wounding another
These attacks occurred after Israel lifted security restrictions on Palestinians from Judea and Samaria and Gaza as a good will gesture at the beginning of Ramadan.
“These are very significant measures taken based on [positive] assessments by the IDF Central Command, COGAT [Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories] and the Shin Bet [Israel’s Security Agency],” IDF spokesman Major-General Yoav Mordechai said. “They are conditioned on security calm.”
Responding to the recent attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday that “relative quiet in Judea and Samaria must not mislead anyone.”
“There are attempted terrorist attacks all the time; unfortunately, some of them succeed. The reason that most do not succeed is because of very accelerated action by the IDF and the Shin Bet [Israel’s Security Agency] and other elements on behalf of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu stated. He vowed to bring the terrorist to justice.

Admin Thu 18 Jun 2015, 9:01 pm

Did Rabbi Kaduri Reveal Jesus as Messiah Before His Death? [VIDEO]
By Rivkah Lambert Adler June 17, 2015 , 9:30 am
“He sent redemption to His people; He commanded His covenant forever; His name is holy and awesome.” (Psalms 111:9)
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (L) and Rabbi Kaduri (R) in 2003. (Photo: Flash90)
In a 24-minute video released this week, Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder of a counter-missionary organization, completely discredits the claim made by Christian groups that a famous Israeli rabbi and spiritualist left a note, to be read a year after his passing, naming Jesus as the messiah.
Asked why he chose to address the question in 2015 when the claim was first made in 2007, Singer told Breaking Israel News, “I do a show where people can call in with any question about Tanach [the Jewish bible]. This popped up from a caller. I spontaneously addressed it on air. I’m glad I did because curiosity was growing about this topic.”
Did Rabbi Kaduri declare that Jesus is the messiah? Rabbi Tovia Singer responds to this claim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68e2Ve5wZSQ

Missionary groups claim that the note was written by Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, a man Singer calls the “greatest kabbalist [expert in Judaism’s mystical teachings] in the Land of Israel.” Rabbi Kaduri’s exact birth date is not known, but he was known to have been over 100 years old at the time of his death in 2006.
In the video, Singer makes two major claims. First, he explicitly calls the note a forgery. Second, he clearly states that the note does not say what the missionary groups claim it says.
What does the note actually say? Singer translated the Hebrew words as, “The nation will be raised up and it will become known that His word and His Torah stand.” He confirmed that the first letter of each of the Hebrew words in the cryptic message spells Yehoshua, the Hebrew name of Joshua, the disciple of Moses. It does not spell Yeshua, which is the name messianic groups use for Jesus.

“Although others addressed this, no one made the most important point: The note does not say that Jesus is the messiah,” Singer told Breaking Israel News.
“I laughed off the assertion when I first encountered the claim made by missionary groups that [Rabbi] Kaduri left over a note proclaiming that Jesus was the messiah. The note didn’t say what they purported it to exclaim…I thought it was too ridiculous to gain any traction,” Singer explained.
“I think that the mysterious ‘note from the grave’ feature sparked enormous curiosity. Given that the note said nothing that endorsed Christianity, I asked a number of people who studied under the great sage. I asked family members. Uniformly, no one knew anything about this note”.
Since 2007, the false claim about the misconstrued note has been excessively promoted in an overtly commercial manner approximately 40 times on the right-wing news website, World Net Daily.
Self-serving WND articles on this topic often contain promotions to purchase the book The Rabbi Who Found Messiah, published by WND Books, and a followup movie with the same name by WND Films, via the WND Superstore.

How Obama “Obandoned” Israel
By Lea Speyer June 17, 2015 , 8:30 am
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
US President Barack Obama in Jerusalem, March 21, 2013. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) Former Israeli ambassador to the US and current MK of Knesset Michael Oren issued a stinging rebuke to US President Barack Obama, accusing the leader of abandoning Israel.
In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Oren offers insight into the relationship between Obama and the Jewish State gained during his time as ambassador. While Oren was quick to point out both Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both made “mistakes, only one leader made them deliberately.”
“From the moment he entered office, Mr. Obama prompted an agenda of championing the Palestinian cause and achieving a nuclear accord with Iran,” Oren wrote. “Such policies would have put him at odds with any Israeli leader.
The former ambassador pointed to “two core principles” purposely “abandoned” by Obama that “posed an even more fundamental challenge” that completely destroyed the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem.
“The first principle was ‘no daylight.’ The US and Israel always could disagree but never openly. Doing so would encourage common enemies and render Israel vulnerable,” he wrote.
READ MORE
Why the Iran Nuclear Deal is a Hard Sell
By Ben Cohen June 17, 2015 , 8:00 am
With the June 30 deadline for a deal with Iran over its nuclear ambitions looming ominously, the Obama administration is having a hard time persuading a skeptical public that these negotiations are going to tame the Tehran regime.
On the two critical issues—preventing Iran from weaponizing its nuclear program and rolling back the expansion of Iranian political and military influence throughout the region—all the evidence suggests that the White House is engaged in what Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, has bluntly called “wishful thinking.”
“It is clear that the nuclear deal is not a permanent fix but a placeholder,” Flynn told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week. Iran, he continued, has “every intention” of building a nuclear weapon, and the desire of its Islamist regime to wipe Israel off the map is “very real.”
“Iran has not once contributed to the greater good of the security in the region,” Flynn declared, before concluding that “regime change” is the best means of preventing the mullahs from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
READ MORE
The Power of Propaganda
By Jim Fletcher June 17, 2015 , 7:00 am
Having had time to reflect on my time at the Justice Conference in Chicago, I am more convinced than ever that leftist ideology is being pushed on young people.
Of course, this has been the reality for a long time; a couple years ago I heard Hal Lindsey speak at a conference and he mentioned that Marxism was being taught at Berkeley in 1960. I think many of us falsely believed some of that went away after the Reagan years and, in the context of evangelicalism, after the Southern Baptists appeared to win over moderates.
I don’t believe that was the case.
Leftists never sleep, they never take a day off. The rest of us are hunkered down, raising families and earning a living, paying taxes. As a result, things get past us.
One of those things is the diabolical worldviews taught to our children. It is one reason there is a shift in support for Israel, to the Palestinians. As I’ve written and said many times, to the eternal shame of evangelical leadership in America, none of them speak up about this. I am referring to denominational leaders, but it is also true that, for example, among what I call The Big Three — Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Andy Stanley — there is either indifference to Israel, or hostility (in the form of Willow Creek’s propagandist efforts to mainstream the Palestinian Narrative).
From a blog post by Ryan Beiler in Sojourners:
READ MORE
As Spain Grants Exiled Jews Citizenship, Some Muslims Demand Return to ‘Al-Andalus’
By Dr. Phyllis Chesler June 17, 2015 , 9:00 am
The Spanish government is offering citizenship to the descendants of formerly exiled Spanish Jews. No longer will such Jews actually have to travel to Spain; they need only “hire a Spanish notary and pass tests on the Spanish language and history.”
With Spain’s Jews offered a right to return, now Muslims are also demanding the same. Indeed, Morisco-Moroccan journalist, Ahmed Bensalh, has argued that the departure of Muslims who left for Muslim North Africa, and who now number up to five million, amounts to “flagrant segregation and unquestionable discrimination.”
Other Muslim journalists are demanding that Spain treat Muslims just as they are now willing to treat Jews. Jamal Bin Ammar al-Ahmar has written directly to the Spanish Monarch demanding an apology and a “full legal and historical investigation of the war crimes that were perpetrated on the Muslim population of Andalusia by the French, English, European, and papal crusaders.”
READ MORE
While Jews Still Restricted, IDF Widens Access for Muslims to Temple Mount During Ramadan
By Lea Speyer June 18, 2015 , 10:30 am
“For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)
In an unparalleled move, the IDF announced Tuesday that it would help facilitate the use of special shuttles from Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria to the Temple Mount ahead of the month-long Ramadan holiday.
Officials of the Israeli defense establishment plan to ease travel restrictions placed on the movement of Palestinians, instituted in response to the Second Intifada, between June 18 and July 17 as a goodwill gesture.
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai confirmed that Palestinian worshippers will be shuttled via special buses from Ramallah and Bethlehem to the Al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers.
“For the first time, the arrival of worshippers will be allowed via bus directly from the city centers to the Temple Mount,” Mordechai said in a statement. “The IDF will allow the entry of all Palestinians – men and women without a special permit – with the exception of men under 40.”
READ MORE
Anti-Christian Graffiti Accompanies Suspected Arson in Galilee Church
By Ahuva Balofsky June 18, 2015 , 12:25 pm
“A Song of Ascents; of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalms 133:1)
Two people suffered minor smoke inhalation trying to control a fire in a church on the Sea of Galilee early Thursday morning. Arson is suspected in the fire, which broke out at the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha. Anti-Christian graffiti in Hebrew was also found at the site.
The church is revered as the location where Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. At the entrance, the words “May the false gods be eliminated”, taken from a Hebrew prayer, were found written in Hebrew.
Twelve volunteers were in the church at the time and worked to control the flames. Two of them were treated in local hospitals for minor smoke inhalation and later released.
Firefighters were called to the scene shortly before 4:00 a.m., Haaretz noted, where they worked to bring the fire, started on the roof, under control. Little damage was done to the sanctuary itself, but some damage was caused to offices, a storage room of books and an event hall.
READ MORE

Israeli Ambassador to UNHRC: Israel Does Not Behead People
By Ahuva Balofsky June 18, 2015 , 9:30 am
“Judge the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the poor and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalms 82:3-4)
Israel’s ambassador to the UN’s Human Rights Council, Eviatar Manor, spoke passionately before the group earlier this week, ahead of the anticipated release of its report on Israel’s conduct during Operation Protective Edge.
Speaking on the first day of the UNHRC’s 29th session, he accused the council of an unprecedented obsession with Israel which has blinded it to reality.
READ MORE

Admin Wed 17 Jun 2015, 7:24 pm

http://unitedwithisrael.org/why-we-must-all-stand-against-anti-semitism-now-more-than-ever/
Blog Spot Why We Must All Stand Against Anti-Semitism, Now More Than Ever
June 17, 2015
The Author David Draiman
anti-semitism
Celebrities United with Israel
David Draiman
The last 24-48 hours for me have been a rather frightening and revealing look into how much anti-Semitic sentiment has permeated our global society.

I am not someone who is easily offended; I’ve got big shoulders. Truth be told, I myself have been critical of the P.C. obsessed mob, those who seem to yearn for, and look for reasons to be offended by, seemingly anything from anywhere (I actually agree with Jim Norton’s piece in Time magazine regarding the Trevor Noah controversy to a certain degree, thank you again for the courteous back and forth Jim).

I am a staunch supporter of free speech and freedom of creative expression, even if the words spoken or manifested creativity is something I do not agree with, I will, as Voltaire said, “fight to the death for your right to say it”.

However, many people confuse the right to “free speech” as being a license to say whatever they want without consequence. That simply isn’t reality. Your right to free speech prevents the government from being able to prosecute you for such words, but it does not, and should not, prevent the court of public opinion from then being able to judge you based on those words, to respond accordingly, and potentially even protest those words, in a peaceful/non violent manner. That’s true free speech, it’s a two way street. That’s true freedom.

As Winston Churchill said, “Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what that they like, but if anyone says anything back, it’s an outrage”. That simply isn’t true. Besides, if speech were suppressed, we may not know who some of the true wolves in sheep’s clothing are out there. People being allowed to speak freely, enables us to find out who they really are, and I would never trade that right for anything.

I supported the Je Suis Charlie campaign when the Charlie Hebdo terrorist massacre happened, because even though I think insulting other people’s religions is in incredibly bad taste, it doesn’t justify acts of terrorism and murder (lets call a spade a spade here, Charlie Hebdo has published a plethora of anti-Semitic cartoons over the course of their existence, but no acts of terror were committed and no physical attacks made, nor should there have been). I would take just as much issue with images that incite hatred of any race, creed, or religion, but as I said before, I have, and will continue to, fight for the right to express them/make them. I appreciate it when people take their masks off. This way I can prepare accordingly.

I also supported the #GamerGate online campaign against the censorship of creative expression in the video game space, because I still do not believe that anyone has the right to tell anyone else what they can and cannot do in their leisure time. I don’t want another Tipper Gore style PMRC scenario where people feel they have the right to choose what music and art you listen to or enjoy.

I would however like you to try an experiment. Type the word anti-Semitism into your search engine, and see what comes up.

The results will shock you.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents and attacks that have been perpetuated over the past year worldwide is staggering. They are at levels I have not seen in my lifetime, and they are not only directed at “The State of Israel”, or “The Israeli Government”, or even “Israeli’s” in general. They are directed at Jews, all Jews, all over the globe, whether they are of Israeli descent or whether they support the State of Israel or not.

The horrific events of the last Gaza war have enabled sleeping anti-Semites all over the world, who have been relatively subdued for some time, to reveal themselves. Thanks to freedom of speech, we now know who many of them are (all they needed was an open door and an excuse to continue spewing their baseless hatred). I would never take away their right to expose themselves. I like it when people take their masks off. At least I know who is a threat and who isn’t.

So why then did I take such strong issue with the prospective new “Daily Show” host, Trevor Noah’s history of “Jew jokes”?
Things like, “Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn’t look before crossing, but I would have felt so bad in my German car!” or, “Muslims don’t hate Jews, Jews hate Muslims”, or “Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man” or, “South Africans know how to recycle just like Israel knows how to be peaceful”.

Surely these aren’t the worst anti-Semitic slurs/jokes that I have ever heard, why take such offense?

Because I am tired of seeing the “tastemakers” of the world continue to perpetuate the anti-Semitic stereotypes and notions expressed in the “jokes” above. I’m tired of today’s youth thinking that it is “en vogue” to hate on the Jewish people. I’m tired of seeing people frightened, hiding their heritage for fear of anti-Semitic persecution.

Mr. Noah was picked to be the host of a widely watched television show, and with great power/reach also should come at least some responsibility. Many have said that since some of the statements were made years ago, that means they shouldn’t really matter; I wasn’t aware that there was an expiration date on hatred. If these were just “jokes” as everyone is insisting, let him also say publically that he denounces anti-Semitism and baseless hatred in all its forms. He had the right to say those things, he said them, shouldn’t people directly affected by them be able to respond to such statements with justifiable disdain? If you want to say that comedians are comedians, and that creative expression is absolute, and that no apology should be necessary for such statements (although friends sometimes mistakenly push things too far with one another/cross a line, apologize and move on), don’t these statements at the very least merit some explanation and clarification beyond saying that, and I quote Trevor here,

“To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian”.

Is that enough? Does that convince anyone that he doesn’t truly believe the things he was implying in those “jokes”?

In this free society that we have created, some have insisted that people’s right to free speech justifies hate speech. Having the freedom to say it, and it being “justified”, are two entirely different things.

The recent rise of global anti-Semitism, people’s general “laissez-faire” attitude towards it, and the liberal Mainstream Media’s virulent anti-Israel narrative and agenda, has enabled it to spread and grow like wildfire. So in this troubling time, perhaps it is more prudent to avoid making “jokes” about it?

I don’t want to censor anyone for any reason, but I also don’t want a potentially anti-Semitic host of a popular television show perpetuating the sorts of stereotypes that only increase hatred. So clarify, if not apologize at the very least?

In the midst of this fervor, I decided to conduct an experiment using the #GamerGate movement as a test audience, who are for absolute freedom of speech and creative expression.

After a few of them had tweeted rather abrasive and anti-Semitic supporting statements regarding my original tweet to Trevor, a statement I made in anger, admittedly, and my request for support, I decided to test them.

I had gotten reports from people on all sides of the spectrum that many #GamerGate supporters had anti-Semitic leanings, which at the time I doubted, because I had seen no evidence of such sentiment save a few random “internet trolls” here and there (my sincere apologies to those who informed me of such).

I demanded that all my #GamerGate supporting followers tweet that they stood firmly opposed to anti-Semitism, even if they couldn’t see the harm in Trevor’s statements, that I couldn’t remain supportive of those who did not condemn anti-Semitism, nor were they welcome as followers of my page. I gave everyone one day to pick a side. Do you condemn or condone anti-Semitism? There is no neutrality when it comes to hate.

The response was shocking to say the least. The sudden outpouring of anti-Semitic jargon and venom spewed into my twitter feed was staggering. It seems that you only need open the door for some people and they will just walk right in. By the end of the day, between my exchange with Jim Norton (Still love ya Jim, at least you were willing to say that you fully condemn anti-Semitism), and the flood of hate from #GamerGate “supporters”, I had been forced to block and report over 250+ people.

Something as simple as saying “I condemn anti-Semitism” was apparently too much to ask for most, thankfully not all. Although I will always stand against censorship, in games, in art, in everything, but I will also stand with my conscience and in the defense of my people and my family when the right to “free speech” exposes a hate monger for what they are, and will raise my voice in protest to their words with my own right to free speech. There is no hypocrisy there, and those who do not understand or see that, are blinded by their own “lust to offend” (the opposite exists too Jim).

This is the state of things. Anti-Semitism has become accepted, “en vogue”, and even been “normalized” to some degree.

This status quo is unacceptable to say the least. Many have tried to say Trevor’s statements are ok because his mother is a converted Jew. I know many comedians, even Jewish ones have made Jewish jokes and even jokes about the Holocaust in the past, but given the wave of hatred that is currently engulfing the world, don’t we owe it to ourselves to be more sensitive to this alarming trend and do what we can to change people’s false perceptions, not enforce them? Do we just sit back and watch while innocents are attacked en masse, simply because of their heritage?

I’m a fan of pushing the envelope when it comes to art, music, film, and even comedy; but given the fact that anti-Semitic hate crimes are so rampant now, more than I have ever seen before in my lifetime, is now really the appropriate time for such “humor”?

How can I look in my sons face and not do everything in my power to ensure he can grow up in a world where he does not need fear persecution for simply having Jewish blood in him?

My family are survivors of the holocaust, an event many anti-Semites are trying to say never happened;

The article below might give you some insight as to why this is a “hot button” topic for me.

http://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/antisemitism-podcast/david-draiman

I will not betray my family by standing idle as the trend of media accepted/endorsed anti-Semitism continues to spread.

I will use my right to free speech the same way others have to expose themselves, to condemn anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it rears it’s ugly and incendiary head.

I can sincerely say that I hope Trevor, all artists, and all of humanity, take a stand against this spread of hatred. If he was in fact “just joking”, then I encourage him and others to tweet the following hash-tag;

#iCondemnAntiSemitism

I hope and pray to one day not have to worry about the future my son is growing into, and wish for a world filled with peace, respect, and love for fellow human beings.

Respectfully submitted,
David Draiman
Published with Permission

Admin Wed 17 Jun 2015, 6:37 pm

Israeli army chief: IDF won't allow massacre of Syrian refugees on border
By Jonathan Lis | Jun. 16, 2015 | 5:03 PM | 1
Gadi Eisenkot tells Knesset committee: ISIS and other terrorist organizations in Gaza are gaining support and growing more powerful.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said Tuesday that the IDF will do everything it can to prevent a massacre of Syrian refugees who have taken refuge near the border with Israel.
Appearing before a session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Eisenkot said the IDF was very worried about the situation on the Golan Heights today, as well as the internal wars inside Syria. He said he was worried the IDF will have to deal with a flow of refugees from Syria to the Israeli border.
Eisenkot also spoke about the situation in the Gaza Strip, saying that organizations in Gaza that are more extreme than Hamas have been growing stronger recently, and have been conducting more significant operations there. Support for the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) in Gaza is estimated to be about 14 percent among local residents, and the IDF is making great efforts to prevent these organizations from growing more powerful, and at the same time is acting against the digging of tunnels, said Eisenkot.
The security situation in Gaza is very complex because of the internal conflicts between the various terrorist organizations, and the IDF is trying to improve the economic situation there, including by allowing trucks to enter through the border checkpoints, he said. The organizations affiliated with ISIS have also been growing stronger in Sinai, and are operating in cooperation with the terrorist organizations in Gaza, said Eisenkot.
Eisenkot made it clear that the security situation in the West Bank is good and there is stable security coordination with the Palestinian Authority. Every day, some 70,000 Palestinians with work permits are allowed to work in Israel, along with tens of thousands of others without permits.
In addition, the IDF will not call up reserve forces for operational duty in the next half year, and instead will devote this period to comprehensive training for the ground forces. Eisenkot said he does not remember a period in which the IDF has trained so intensively as it has been recently.

Admin Tue 16 Jun 2015, 9:01 pm

US Lawmakers Call on Obama to Recognize Jerusalem as True Capital of Israel
By Lea Speyer June 16, 2015 , 7:30 am
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Psalms 137:5)
Pro-Israel US lawmakers are calling on US President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stop punishing US citizens born in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The request came days after a US Supreme Court decision to strike down a law allowing Jerusalem-born American’s to write “Israel” as their birthplace on their passports.
n a landmark 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court justices sided with the Obama administration in Zivotovsky v. Kerry, ruling that the congressional law infringed on the president’s power to set foreign policy.
Lawmakers belonging to the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus (CIAC) criticized the decision and lambasted the president’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s official capital.
“The sad and unfortunate truth is that this president has done all he can to diminish the standing since he walked into office,” stated Rep. Ted Franks (R-AZ), co-chairman of the CIAC and who introduced the Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel Act.
Due to the fact that Obama “refuses to reflect the unified American voice that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Congress has been placed in the very uncomfortable position of having to confirm to the world who our allies are,” Franks added.
The Arizona lawmaker explained that the goal of the congressional law was to hold Obama to previous statements he’s made that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
Franks criticized the president for misleading the American people on his true support for an undivided Jerusalem. He called on the White House to take a “noble act of courage and justice that comports who we are as Americans” and move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) said the Obama administration is punishing American citizens born in Jerusalem.
“Americans born in Jerusalem should be able to list their birthplace as Israel on their passport. It is that simple,” he said. “Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel and historic homeland of the Jewish people.”
The Supreme Court’s “ruling doesn’t change the fact that it is wrong for this or any administration to punish U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem this way.”
In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Rep. Eliot Engle (D-NY), co-chairman of the CIAC and co-sponsor of the Jerusalem passport law, said the Supreme Court decision is “very, very wrong.”
Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) called for a separation of politics from heritage. “The ability to claim one’s Israel heritage shouldn’t be blocked for political reasons, especially when referencing that heritage is simply an option, not a mandate,” he said.

Admin Tue 16 Jun 2015, 6:26 pm

US Lawmakers Approve Measure to Penalize Boycotters of Israel
The US House of Representatives on Friday approved a measure that could result in punitive measures against European companies that boycott Israel.
The measure, which was already approved by the U.S. Senate last month, is part of the large bill called the Trade Act of 2015 that is set to arrive at President Barack Obama’s desk in the near future. Under the bill’s Trade Promotion Authority, the president would be granted wide leeway to reach a trade deal with the European Union. Congress would get the chance to vote on the deal, but not on its various provisions.
The bill would essentially prevent the U.S. from engaging in free trade with a European trade partner (either the EU itself or a European corporation) so long as it is involved in the boycotting of Israel, potentially barring such entities from submitting bids for government contracts in the U.S. Moreover, a company that is traded in the U.S. stock exchange (or other American capital markets) would need to state whether it has engaged in anti-Israeli activity in Europe.
By: Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org

Admin Tue 16 Jun 2015, 12:10 pm

Wave of Iranian Cyber-Attacks Against Israel Revealed
By Lea Speyer June 15, 2015 , 10:30 am
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalms 91:1)
A major Iranian cyber-attack operation against Israel and various other targets in the Middle East was revealed over the weekend.
According to the Israeli cybersecurity company ClearSky, who uncovered the ongoing cyber-attacks, the main goal of the attackers was “espionage or other nation-state interests,” Army Radio reported.

Hackers attacked 40 targets in Israel and 500 worldwide. Using classic techniques such as phishing – creating a false web page that imitates a real one to gather information – hackers targeted retired IDF generals, researchers in academia, and employees of various security firms.

Approximately 44 percent of the attacks targeted Saudi Arabia, 14 percent targeted Israel and 11 percent targeted Yemen.
ClearSky officials confirmed that high level targets outside of Israel included the computer of a finance minister of a Middle Eastern country, human rights activists, journalists, and Qatar’s embassy in Britain.
“The targets come, mostly, from the following fields: Both Academic researchers and practitioners in the fields of counter-terror, diplomacy, international relations, Iran and Middle East, and other fields, such as Physics; Security and defence; Journalists and Human rights activists,” the ClearSky report stated.
The cybersecurity firm estimates that this particular wave of Iranian cyber-attacks began at least since July 2014 but could have started as far back as 2011. Hackers sent malware as email attachments and used advanced social-engineering techniques to infiltrate email account, telephone lines and Facebook.

“The campaign includes several different attacks with the aim of taking over the target’s computer or gain access to their email account,” ClearSky stated. “We estimate that this access is used for espionage or other nation-state interests.”
image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ClearSky-cyber-attacks-june-2015.jpg

Targets of the cyber-attacks. (Photo: ClearSky)
Officials at ClearSky said “several characteristics of the attacks have led us to the conclusion that an Iranian threat actor is the likely culprit.”

While the firm does not have direct evidence that Iran is behind the hacking campaign, “the context of the attacks and cover stories all revolve around Iran.”
“The attackers speak and write in native Iranian Persian and make mistakes characteristic of Persian speakers. In one of the hacked accounts, when retrieved, the interface language had been changed to Persian.”

Cybersecurity officials were able to conclude that based on the targets, victims and the fact that “the attackers only steal information,” the attackers “use the access to computers for further attacks – indicating espionage, IP theft, etc.”
ClearSky’s report comes just days after Israel was accused of being behind the Duqu 2.0 virus, which was discovered in the servers of three of the main European hotels being used to host nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1.

Israel has denied any involvement and charges of espionage.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/43396/massive-iranian-cyber-attack-against-israel-uncovered-jerusalem/#RU0Rk3ahWRFyeIiy.99

Admin Mon 15 Jun 2015, 7:08 pm

Billions of Dollars of Gold Discovered Under Eilat Mountains to be Used to Rebuild Third Jewish Temple
By Tsivya Fox June 15, 2015 , 9:30 am
“The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.” (Genesis 2:12)
Rabbi Yehuda Glick is leading efforts to mine billions of dollars worth of gold in southern Israel to be used towards rebuilding the Jewish Temple. (Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90)
A treasure-trove of raw gold worth billions of dollars is believed to be sitting under Mount Eilat in southern Israel, Breaking Israel News has learned.
In an exclusive interview, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the Executive Director of The Temple Mount Heritage Foundation in Jerusalem, revealed the news, which had been kept under wraps for the last several years.

Glick is perhaps best known for his life’s mission of assuring that the Temple Mount is accessible to all people from every religion who want to worship at the holy site. His dedication to the Temple Mount resulted in an October 2014 assassination attempt on his life by a Palestinian terrorist.
Shot four times in the chest, Glick has made a miraculous recovery and continues his work to open the Temple Mount to prayer for all peoples.
Glick told Breaking Israel News that there are billions of dollars worth of gold in Mount Eilat, which he and his partner, Yehoshua Friedman, have received an exclusive license to unearth by the Israeli government.
Explaining the discovery, Glick said that everything began with Friedman, a Temple Mount researcher who had been studying each of the 12 unique stones set on the breastplate of the High Priest as described in the Bible. Each stone represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
During his studies, Friedman realized that without a geology background he could not properly appreciate the depths and meanings behind each of these stones. This led to his discovery that in 2007 gold had been found in the mountains of Eilat by an Australian research team, who later abandoned the dig because the value of gold at the time was not worth their efforts.
Friedman and Glick, knowing the Biblical verses concerning gold in the Land of Israel, realized that this was a project which had to be pursued.
Together, alongside several other companies seeking to find gold in the land of Israel, Glick and Friedman presented to the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure a tender to dig in the Eilat mountains.
“Because of the extensive Biblical proof we presented about the exact location where the gold was to be found, we won the license to begin digging,” Glick told Breaking Israel News.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick on the Golden Discovery
VIDEO 3.37 mins https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=37&v=GfSgPSASEhE
BREAKING: Rabbi Glick "Finds 1 Billion Dollars Of Gold" In Israel

Their company, Gold Deposit Ltd., now has a two-year exclusive permit, from January 2015 to December 2016, to excavate the chosen area and find the gold.
When asked what these modern day Biblical explorers plan to do with their billions in gold, Rabbi Glick replied, “Ultimately, we expect to use the gold in the rebuilding of the Third Temple. Whether we use the gold itself for creating vessels and decoration or by selling the findings and using the money to buy the materials and manpower needed to rebuild the Temple, we look forward to that great day!”

Admin Sun 14 Jun 2015, 11:35 pm

Divine Connection between the Fall of Syria, the Messiah and the End of Days
By Rivkah Lambert Adler June 14, 2015 , 9:00 am
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Will the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad herald in the Messiah? (Photo: Syrianist/Wiki Commons)
Daily headlines are increasingly pointing to the notion that the President of Syria, Bashar Hafez al-Assad, more commonly known as Bashar Assad, is losing his grip on Syria. Is this a sign that the End of Days are approaching?
There are several hints in sacred Jewish texts to a connection between the fate of Syria and the End of Days and, in particular, between the fall of Damascus, Syria’s capital city, and the imminent arrival of the Messiah, son of David.
And it is a sign for you, when you see the Nero of the East fall in Damascus, the Salvation will come to Israel, and Mashiah Ben David will come… – Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
The 2nd century Jewish sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai predicted that when an evil ruler in Damascus [the Nero of the East] falls from power, the Messiah, son of David, will appear. The End of Days blogger known as Tomer Devorah made the connection in a recent blog post.
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Similarly, the Zohar, the foundational mystical Jewish text, says that when the king of Damascus falls, the Messiah will come. Since Damascus is Syria’s capital city, the current king of Damascus is none other than Bashar Assad.
Jerusalem is destined to reach Damascus – Shir Hashirim Raba, Chapter 7
More than a thousand years ago, the rabbinic commentary to the Biblical Song of Songs, known as Shir Hashirim Raba, predicted that Jerusalem will eventually reach Damascus.

One way of understanding this commentary is that the modern country of Syria will eventually revert back to being part of the Holy Land, which is symbolized by Jerusalem.
In the midst of the Yom Kippur war in 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the then-head of the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement, spoke about the significant connection between the war in Syria and the End of Days redemption.
The Rebbe singled out the role of the Syrian capital of Damascus, calling it “a city with an ancient history [that] symbolized the stability of the Muslim world, and therefore the threat Islam posed to the Jewish people.”

ISIS: A Four-Letter Household Word
By Jonathan Feldstein June 7, 2015 , 9:30 am
Unfortunately ISIS has become a four-letter household word with which most westerners and Arabs are quite familiar.
The past several months, ISIS has been in the news for a variety of brutal acts including burning, beheading, crucifixion, and shooting to death of captives, and rape, slavery, and many other acts of cruelty. Despite ISIS’ well-known and dubious deeds, not many are familiar with its history and specific ideology.
Recently, I read two books that shed light on this and complement one another spectacularly. Erick Stakelbeck’s ISIS Exposed is the product of several months of research by an authority on global Islamic terrorism. The Third Target was written byNew York Times best-selling novelist Joel Rosenberg. “ISIS Exposed” is a factual book based on numerous sources, and “Third Target” a novel based on current events. I will write about them separately as a two-part series.
I’ve known Erick Stakelbeck for a few years and, as much as I respect him, I’d like to see him out of work. In a perfect world, it’d be nice not having the need to have an authority on such things. However, as long as there’s a need, I’m glad that he is a watchman on the wall, and exposing ISIS and their ideological brethren for what they are.
I think of myself as someone well versed in Middle Eastern affairs, including the rise of ISIS and other Islamic extremists. Studying Mideast politics in college and living in Israel, it’s literally very close to home. But, ISIS Exposed taught me numerous things I didn’t know that I really need to know.
I found Stakelbeck’s narrative raising questions as I was absorbed in his book, and the organization of the book wisely answered many of the questions in the pages that followed, as if projecting the questions and providing the answers accordingly.
There are many elements of the rise of ISIS in specific, and Islamic terror in general, but one underlying pillar of ISIS is the conquering of all areas that were ever part of previous Islamic caliphates, stretching across the Middle East and Europe. Imposing of an intransigent Islam globally is the ultimate goal, but “in the short term, ISIS will settle for expanding the current borders of the Islamic State into the countries in its immediate backyard: Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia …”
While ISIS is a Sunni Muslim brand of terrorism, they not only fight and kill other Sunni Muslims and have their targets on other Sunni states, but they also hate and are at odds with Shia Muslims and Shia states, the most influential being Iran. These sects may have the same end game, the global dominance of Islam, but they fight one another and each differs about under whose domination that caliphate will be. This all gives veracity to the notion that the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy. Indeed, whether it is Sunni ISIS or Shia Iran and Hamas, both are enemies of the western and non-Islamic world.
Stakelbeck discusses ISIS activities, recruitment, and threats in numerous countries with a specific emphasis on western countries and the United States. Writing about the U.S., he says its borders are “a disaster waiting to happen.” But the problem is that we only know of those who have been stopped at, or after crossing, the borders. We don’t know who came through and slipped through. It may be a disaster that’s already happened. The concern is beyond sleeper cells, but the use of terrorists or mules to transport WMD across the US’ “beyond porous” borders.
Among the important myths that Stakelbeck debunks is the notion that poverty or lack of meaningful career opportunities are the direct cause of sowing terrorism among young people. He introduces one section with a quote from Secretary of State John Kerry, “And so we have a common interest in dealing with this issue of poverty, which in many cases is the root cause of terrorism….”
He then documents that, “The alleged brain behind ISIS’s cutting edge social media and video operation was not raised in a dilapidated Afghan hut or a squalid Baghdad slum. Instead, (Ahmad) Abousamra, a dual Syrian-American citizen, was reared in leafy Stoughton, MA, a highly desirable Boston suburb that boasts no shortage of affluent professionals – including Abousamra’s own father, a leading endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Opportunities abounded for the younger Abousamra, who made the honor roll at a prestigious catholic high school and later the Dean’s List at Northeastern University.”
Not all threats come from a terrorist mastermind. Stakelbeck refers to “chip away” attacks. This is not a new kind of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or Pillsbury cookie, but Stakelbeck’ s insightful awareness of one of the ISIS strategies to encourage “smaller-scale, low-tech acts of terrorism that chip away at America’s psyche and security.”
Stakelbeck references his book, The Terrorist Next Door, where Islamic terrorists like ISIS prey on wayward, lost, social outcasts as recruits. Americans tend to think of the threat to America. But with long borders, threats in Texas, New York, Minnesota, and California are unique.
America and all countries need to be aware, and prepared. Like a 12-step recovery program, the first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem and to call it by its name and certainly not to dismiss the threat as “jayvee” or fail to note it is 100 percent Islamic.
Threats in other countries and other parts of the world are no less relevant because by not counteracting these, ISIS is emboldened. The more ISIS gains strength in other countries, the more it can fan out and threaten the rest of the world, including America.
ISIS Exposed ends with a call to action. It’s not just a recounting of the threats and wringing one’s hands. He lists strategies to combat ISIS and other Islamic terror groups that make sense. This makes it required reading. I am working on a way to provide a copy of ISIS Exposed to every U.S. presidential candidate, every member of Congress, all 50 governors, the entire U.S. Cabinet and other world leaders to they can be informed and asked what’s their plan is to counteract ISIS. (If you’d like to join me in sponsoring a copy as a gift, please be in touch directly.)
This is not reading for the faint of heart. ISIS Exposed reads as the making of a plot of a horror movie that could be our lives, or a novel, as we will see in the Third Target.
Tune in next week for part two of this two-part series.
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/42422/isis-a-four-letter-household-word-opinion/#j0McswfMDcqGFFrZ.99

Born in Jerusalem? Where’s That?
By David Rubin June 11, 2015 , 10:00 am
By a 6-3 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated a law of Congress from 2002 that would have forced the State Department to alter its long-standing policy of not listing Israel on passports as the birthplace for Jerusalem-born Americans, instead listing only “Jerusalem.” The court ruled that Congress “overstepped its bounds” with its action, which interfered with the executive branch’s decision-making power on foreign policy.
American citizens born in Paris have it registered on their passports that they were born in Paris, France. Those born in Cairo are listed as having been born in Cairo, Egypt. Even those who were born in Havana have it registered that they were born in Havana, Cuba. Only Israel has an inferior status. The result of theSupreme Court ruling for American citizens born in Jerusalem is that they will continue to have their place of birth registered as Jerusalem, seemingly an island in space that has no country.
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Verbal Jousting
By: Ira Sharkansky
In the background of this note is the recent one about the misadventures of great powers, and producing unintended outcomes.
Here the focus is on the diplomatic maneuvers, proclamations, politely announced policy preferences, along with the yelling, screaming and chanting of the unwashed.
At issue is what stands for international politics focused on Israel and the Palestinians.
It includes Barack Obama’s comments that it may not be possible for his government to protect Israel against BDS in the absence of a peace process. The sub-text is that he doesn’t trust Prime Minister Netanyahu to pursue seriously a two-state solution, so the US representative may absent herself when its time for the UN Security Council to proclaim its support for Palestine, a capital in Jerusalem, and the borders that prevailed prior to the 1967 war.
France has indicated that it is preparing a resolution that will look something like that, while calling for detailed negotiations between the parties.
What’s missing from all of this is the will or the power of the US, France, and all the other worthies clucking about Palestine to force Israel into moving any settlers, or stopping its incursions into the West Bank or Gaza for purposes of self defense.
Israel is not a great power, but compared to Palestine, its power is awesome.
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The New Government’s War on BDS
By Caroline Glick June 9, 2015 , 9:00 am
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is less than a month old, but it’s already apparent that it is different from its predecessors. And if it continues on its current diplomatic trajectory, it may do something that its six predecessors failed to accomplish. Netanyahu’s new government may improve Israel’s position internationally.
The stakes are high. Over the years, Israel has largely concentrated its efforts on developing the tools to contend with its military challenges. But as we have seen over the past decade and a half, Israel’s capacity to fight and defeat its enemies is not limited principally by the IDF’s war-fighting capabilities.
Israel’s ability to defend itself and its citizens is constrained first and foremost by its shrinking capacity to defend itself diplomatically. Its enemies in the diplomatic arena have met with great success in their use of diplomatic condemnation and intimidation to force Israel to limit its military operations to the point where it is incapable of defeating its enemies outright.
The flagship of the diplomatic war against Israel is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
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ISIS Won’t Find Nuclear Weapons in Iraq or Syria, Thanks to Israel
By Louis Rene Beres June 8, 2015 , 10:30 am
Credo quia absurdum. “I believe because it is absurd.”
As President Obama continues to legitimize a nuclear Iran with his surrender-based negotiations, he also worries incongruously about regional nuclear proliferation. Ironically, it is only because of Israel’s own earlier renunciations of such pretend diplomacy, and because of Jerusalem’s corollary preemptions against both Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities, that the Middle East is not already awash in Arab nuclear weapons.
It’s not complicated. Precisely because of Israel’s singularly courageous and correspondingly lawful self-defense operations in Iraq and Syria, America and its allies do not currently face Islamist nuclear weapons technologies. Thankfully, especially as portions of these countries continue to crumble before advancing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces, murderous terrorist armies will not discover any nuclear weapons or supportive infrastructures along the way.
The reason is clear: Thanks to Israel’s Operation Opera on June 7, 1981, and also its Operation Orchard on Sept. 6, 2007, neither Iraq nor Syria will be able to provide ISIS with certain game-changing kinds of destructive technology. To be sure, nuclear weapons in these areas could conceivably have made the Sunni terror organization’s End Times theology a grotesquely palpable reality.
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When a Piece of Paper Meant Life or Death
By Dr. Rafael Medoff June 8, 2015 , 9:00 am
“It is a fantastic commentary on the inhumanity of our times,” journalist Dorothy Thompson wrote at the height of the 1930s European Jewish refugee crisis, “that for thousands and thousands of people a piece of paper with a stamp on it is the difference between life and death.”
Seventy-five years ago this month, president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s newly appointed assistant secretary of state sent his colleagues a memo outlining a strategy to “postpone and postpone and postpone” the granting of that “piece of paper” to refugees. Breckinridge Long’s chilling memo, more than any other single document, has come to symbolize the abandonment of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Long, a personal friend of Roosevelt’s and a major donor to his first presidential campaign, was rewarded with the post of U.S. ambassador to Italy. Long’s dispatches to Washington from Rome in the early and mid 1930s praised the Mussolini regime for its “well-paved” streets, “dapper” black-shirted stormtroopers, and “punctual trains.” Eleanor Roosevelt once remarked to the president about Long, “Franklin, you know he’s a fascist”—to which an angry FDR replied, “I’ve told you, Eleanor, you must not say that.”
In early 1940, Roosevelt promoted Long to the position of assistant secretary of state, putting him in charge of 23 of the State Department’s 42 divisions, including the visa section.
Long joined a department that was well-schooled in suppressing immigration. From 1933-38—the first five years the Nazis were in power—the Roosevelt administration had gone out of its way to restrict Jewish immigration from Germany to levels far lower than what the law allowed. By adding extra requirements and layers of bureaucracy, the German quota of 25,957 was only 5 percent filled in 1933, and 14 percent filled in 1934. The only year that Roosevelt permitted the German quota to be filled was 1938-39, and only then because of tremendous international pressure, following the German annexation of Austria and the Kristallnacht pogrom.
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Admin Fri 12 Jun 2015, 7:31 pm

Queen Elizabeth Honors President of Ben Gurion University
By Tazpit News Agency June 12, 2015 , 7:00 am
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)
BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi receives an honorary Commander of the British Empire from British Ambassador Matthew Gould on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday afternoon, June 9, at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Ramat Gan. (Photo: Hanoch Grizitzky)
By Anav Silverman
An honorary Commander of the British Empire in the name of Queen Elizabeth II was conferred upon the President of Ben Gurion University, Professor Rivka Carmi yesterday. Carmi was honored by Buckingham Palace for her significant work in deepening academic and scientific links between the United Kingdom and Israel.
Professor Carmi, who is a stem cell scientist, was presented with the medal and scroll personally signed by Queen Elizabeth II at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Ramat Gan on Monday, June 9.
“Rivka is an outstanding leader whom I hold in high esteem,” said British Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, who presented Carmi with the honor.
“She is also an outstanding and wonderful friend and partner in the mission to build scientific links between the UK and Israel. She has invested huge amounts of time to make it happen, and I could not have hoped for a better partner,” said Ambassador Gould.
Both Ambassador Gould and Professor Carmi have been the founding co-chairs of the UK Israel Science Council, which was established five years ago to improve science collaboration between both countries. The UK Israel Science Council, a body of some 20 leading UK and Israeli scientists, was launched by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in November 2010. Hague has described Britain and Israel as “scientific superpowers.”
“The brainchild of Matthew [Gould], the UK-Israel Life Sciences council brought together the scientific powers of our two countries in order to increase collaboration and to promote peace through science and it is for my small part in this project, that I, an Israeli – today become a Commander of the British Empire!” exclaimed Professor Carmi. “Never in my wildest dreams!”
Carmi also thanked her colleagues in the council. “As co-chairperson of this council, I am fortunate to have the most outstanding Israeli scientists in my group and so fortunate to have as partner Professor Raymond Dwek of Oxford, who co-chairs for the UK and his British group of equally distinguished scientists.”
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Spanish Court Shelves Mavi Marmara Investigation
“ [A Psalm] of David. Judge me, O LORD, for I have walked in mine integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.” (Psalms 26:1)
A Madrid court dropped its investigation Thursday into possible war crimes over the 2010 Gaza Flotilla raid, Reuters reported. The probe could be reopened, however, should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or any others named within, visit Israel.
In 2010, a flotilla purported carrying humanitarian supplies set out from Turkey to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. After one ship, the Turkish Mavi Marmara,repeatedly ignored instructions to turn back, the IDF was forced to board the vessel. Activists attacked the Israeli commandos, who had no choice but to fight back. Nine Turks were killed in the melee, with another succumbing four years later to wounds sustained in the altercation.
Upon an Israeli investigation of the ship, no aid supplies were found.
Spain’s case is based upon the concept of universal jurisdiction, which maintains that crimes against humanity can be tried across borders. Spanish law has changed recently, however, to require a Spanish connection in the case for it to be tried. There were Spanish activists involved in the flotilla.
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Admin Fri 12 Jun 2015, 7:13 pm

Rushed Iran Deal May Not Include Full Transparency
“The posts went forth in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the castle; and the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.” (Esther 3:15)
With a self-imposed deadline of June 30 rapidly approaching, the pressure to close a nuclear deal with Iran may result in compromises on key issues. According to reports, Iran has yet to commit to full transparency regarding its nuclear program, and serious questions asked by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) may remain unanswered.
Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters his country was not yet prepared to commit to transparency measures laid out by the UN watchdog. He was quoted by Ynet saying, “These are the issues still under discussion and I believe we should wait to see the final text… and before that, we cannot prejudge anything.”
Najafi expressed confidence the P5+1 powers could still reach a deal with Iran before the deadline, despite lingering disputes on key issues such as sanction relief, UN inspections and Iran’s enrichment capacity.
The US would like Iran to submit to the IAEA’s Additional Protocol and Modified Code 3.1, both of which govern the body’s inspections. Code 3.1 requires Iran to submit any plans to build nuclear facilities to the IAEA in advance, while the Additional Protocol would allow inspectors to visit nuclear sites with as little as two hours’ notice. Iran agreed to Code 3.1 in 2003, according to the Institute for Science and Security, but has yet to comply.
Laura Kennedy, US envoy to the IAEA, told the organization’s 35-nation governing board that it “remains critical for Iran to implement the provisions of Modified Code 3.1 … without delay”.
Meanwhile, outstanding questions remain about Iran’s past nuclear development. In November 2013, the US assured the world that a nuclear deal with Iran “would include resolution of questions concerning the possible military dimension of Iran’s nuclear program.” Now, the Associated Press reports, a deal may be reached without those answers.
Officials told the news agency that diplomats are “more likely to get a deal than not” over the next three weeks, despite the fact that answers to all the IAEA’s questions will not be possible in that timeframe.
Most of the IAEA’s questions regard Iran’s nuclear development prior to 2003, and Tehran contends they are based on fabricated intelligence reports. According to Ynet, Najafi insisted the IAEA would make little progress in its inquiries so long as it continues to rely on such reports.
“We can discuss new practical measures provided that the inauthentic documents and information would be put aside,” Najafi said.
The IAEA for its part says it carefully reviews intelligence information it receives and takes nothing for granted.
Meanwhile, The Times of Israel reported, former intelligence chief for President Barack Obama’s administration, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, criticized the solidifying deal to the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.
“To begin, the nuclear deal, that will likely be concluded this summer, suffers from severe deficiencies,” he said Wednesday. “Iran has every intention to build a nuclear weapon.
“It is clear that the nuclear deal is not a permanent fix but merely a placeholder,” he continued. “The 10-year time frame only makes sense if the [US] Administration truly believes that it is possible for a wider reconciliation with Iran that is likely to occur, which will make the Iranian regime change its strategic course. That’s wishful thinking.
“Iran’s leaders made it clear the furthest they will go is to allow international inspectors only ‘managed access’ to nuclear facilities, and only with significant prior notification. This makes it nearly impossible, as a matter of full transparency, to have real ‘eyes on’ the state of Iranian nuclear development to include their missile program.”
He warned that the impending deal may back Israel into a corner.
Israel “sees its primary ally and patron becoming increasingly distant, and a hostile power is rising against it, which may lead Israeli leadership to undertake increasing rash or desperate actions in an effort to secure immediate gains,” he said.
“Iran’s stated desire to destroy Israel is very real,” he added. The Islamic Republic has “contributed to the severe insecurity and instability of the region, especially the sub-region of the Levant surrounding Israel.
“Israel lives under the threat of total annihilation from Iran and other Islamic radical elements in the region—something the United States must never allow, nor should we deal equally with those who spew this type of hatred and bigotry. We would not stand for it here in this country and we should not stand for it elsewhere in the world where our closest friends are at risk.”
The paper also reported that an Israeli delegation, headed by National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, will be visiting the US next week to discuss the Jewish State’s concerns regarding the nuclear agreement. In April, in an effort to assuage Israeli fears, Obama ordered his advisers to consult with Jerusalem over the final deal.
“I’ve directed my national security team to consult closely with the new Israeli government in the coming weeks and months about how we can further strengthen our long-term security cooperation with Israel and make clear our unshakable commitment to Israel’s defense,” Obama said at the time.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/43174/rushed-iran-deal-may-not-include-full-transparency-middle-east/#yGY2REeF1Fhf8BAp.99

Admin Fri 12 Jun 2015, 4:51 pm

http://unitedwithisrael.org/pa-head-abbas-threatens-to-review-peace-accords-with-israel/
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to review the peace accords with Israel and restated his list of preconditions for any further talks.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chair Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday threatened to review the political, economic, and security agreements with Israel, which were co-signed as part of the peace accords between the two parties.

Abbas stated in a news conference with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić in Belgrade that “Israel must stop violating agreements and commit to them,” as quoted by Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Abbas demanded that Israel stop construction in Judea and Samaria as well as in Jerusalem, and he accused Israel of carrying out “Judaization activities in Jerusalem and burying what he claims are the city’s the Islamic and Christian religious identity and features.” He also insisted that Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons must be released.

He reiterated his refusal of any temporary resolutions or borders in a peace deal.

Abbas has repeatedly stated these demands as preconditions to any diplomatic negotiations with Israel, which, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he consistently evades.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu. (Erez Harodi/Osim Tzilum)

“I committed to two states at Bar Ilan,” Netanyahu said during his address at the closing of the 2015 IDC Herzliya Conference on Tuesday, referring to his historical 2009 address. “The solution as I see it is a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.”

“The Palestinians expect us to recognize a Palestinian state. But they won’t recognize a Jewish state for the Jewish people. That’s what we want. Mutual recognition,” he stated, adding that he has been trying to engage Abbas in negotiations for the past six and a half years, but to no avail.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel

Admin Thu 11 Jun 2015, 10:01 pm

Enemy Within? Left-wing Israeli Party Pushes Bill to Label Judea and Samaria Products
By Ahuva Balofsky June 10, 2015 , 1:12 pm
“Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall have the use thereof.” (Jeremiah 31:4)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at left-wing party Meretz this week for bill it proposed to label products made in Judea and Samaria.
Speaking about the impact of the international Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement on Israel’s economy at the start of a Likud party meeting Monday, Netanyahu said, “I was surprised to discover that one of the parties in Israel submitted a bill to mark products.”
The bill, which the party’s five Knesset members submitted last month, calls for an amendment to be inserted into the Law for Consumer Protection mandating that manufacturers state “the city or community where the product was made.”
The bill’s explanatory text, cited by The Times of Israel, makes its intentions clearer: “The community or city where a product was made has great importance regarding the quality of a product, the working conditions there, climate effects on production and the circumstances of production, including whether it is inside Israeli jurisdiction or in territory held by Israel by way of occupation,” it said.
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Cyber Attack Targeted Iran Nuclear Talks, Russian Lab Concludes
By Ahuva Balofsky June 11, 2015 , 8:00 am
“David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of a certainty.” (1 Samuel 26:4)
A sophisticated computer virus was found at hotels linked to the Iranian nuclear negotiations, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Labs announced Wednesday. The virus, which can allow hackers to use the target computers for surveillance, has been attributed to Israel.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the virus was first uncovered by the Russian company on its own computers, where it had sat for six months before being found. When researchers at Kaspersky investigated further, they found “three luxury European hotels” had been infected. All three had been venues which hosted negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 world powers.
Kaspersky Labs dubbed the virus, which they discovered in early spring, Duqu 2.0, since it bears a striking similarity to the Duqu virus first identified in 2011. In fact, the Kaspersky report on the matter notes Duqu 2.0 borrows so heavily from the original, “it could not have been created by anyone without access to the original Duqu source code.”
Although Israel denies spying on the US or other allies, America considers Duqu infections to be Israeli spy operations, one former US official told the Wall Street Journal. Israel does acknowledge gathering intelligence on Iran generally. In March, the US accused Israel of spying on the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
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Hamas Backtracks, Blames PA for Recent Spate of Bombings
“Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and be abashed that devise my hurt.” (Psalms 35:4)
After initially holding Salafist groups responsible for several recent bomb attacks in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has changed its mind, blaming Palestinian Authority ruling party Fatah, instead. The reversal took place Wednesday, Ynet reported.
Several bombs targeting the ruling Hamas party have rocked the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, including an attack May 14 on a training field that left dozens wounded. Hamas began a campaign of arrests on Salafists activists who support the Islamic State and consider Hamas to be “soft” on both Israel and Islam. In an effort to apply pressure on Hamas to stop their crack-down, the Salafists launched several rockets against Israel, knowing the Israeli response would keep Hamas too busy to deal with them.
Now, Hamas appears to have had a change of heart. Hamas’s Interior Ministry blamed the PA for the bombings at a press conference, saying Fatah was exploiting the regional security situation to destabilize the Gaza Strip. The Islamist party claimed to have arrested several individuals involved in the alleged conspiracy, which it says was led by senior political and security officials in Ramallah.
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Admin Thu 11 Jun 2015, 4:34 pm

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/06/08/reports-isis-closing-in-on-israels-golan-heights/
REPORTS: ISIS CLOSING IN ON ISRAEL’S GOLAN HEIGHTS
Evidence continues to mount that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terror group has staked claims over territory that is mere miles from Israel’s territory in the Golan Heights, which borders southern Syria.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials said they are continuing to monitor the situation on the Golan border, according to reports from Israeli media.
Over the past several months, ISIS has maintained a continuing presence in the area, but now the Sunni terrorists are closer to sovereign Israel than ever before, Israeli Channel 2 News reports.
A spokesperson for ISIS even said, “Within a few days, we will conquer the Syrian border with Israel,” according to a video clip believed to be produced by the terror group. “Why are you fighting under an unknown flag? Why do you not adhere to the laws of Allah and fly his flag?” the ISIS fighter asked in the video.
With ISIS’s insurgency gaining a foothold in the Golan Heights, the terror group has become one of the many jihadist entities to maintain a presence on Israel’s borders.
An Israeli military spokesman told reporters this week that the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front was “on the fence” between Israel and Syria and that they are only “100 yards” from the Israeli side of the fence, the Times of Israel reported over the weekend.
Situated to the north of Israel is the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, which has sworn its allegiance to the annihilationist ideology of the Iranian regime under Ayatollah Khamenei. The Muslim Brotherhood-linked terror group Hamas–also an ally of Iran–remains the ruling entity in the Gaza Strip and has remained sworn to the destruction of Israel. The West Bank, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, is an area rife with radical jihadist elements. On Israel’s southwest border is the Sinai Peninsula, which has seen a growing number of Islamic State-affiliated entities infiltrating the territory.

Admin Wed 10 Jun 2015, 4:31 pm

Int'l Legal Experts Slam IDF - For Over-Warning Gazans
Experts from US, Germany warn IDF 'legal zeal' sets dangerous precedent tying hands of democracies fighting terror.
By Ari Yashar
First Publish: 6/9/2015, 10:30 PM
The IDF went to extraordinary lengths last summer to prevent civilian casualties while fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza, achieving a remarkable 1:1 civilian to combatant ratio, but according to international legal experts it went too far in avoiding casualties among the enemy population.
Willy Stern of Vanderbilt Law School, in an article to be published next Monday in the Weekly Standard, details what he found while spending two weeks with attorneys in the IDF's international law department dubbed "Dabla" as well as front-line commanders, and documents the IDF's "legal zeal" which as he notes has not stemmed the deluge of international criticism against it.
Stern listed how the IDF bombarded Gaza residents with thousands of telephone calls, leaflet drops, TV and radio messages, as well as calls to influential citizens urging them to evacuate residents, and in doing so gave the terrorist enemy detailed information about its troop movements.
"It was abundantly clear that IDF commanders had gone beyond any mandates that international law requires to avoid civilian casualties," writes Stern. He reported how Dabla attorneys have to sign off on a "target card" for each airstrike on terror targets, with the cards enumerating all of the relevant data about the planned strike.
In contrast, the Hamas "doctrine manual" captured by the IDF in the Shejaiya neighborhood early last August documents how the terror group urges its fighters to embed themselves among civilians in hopes that the IDF will kill civilians.
"Hamas’s playbook calls for helping to kill its own civilians, while the IDF’s playbook goes to extreme - some say inappropriate - lengths to protect innocent life in war," reads the article.
"IDF harming fight against terror"
Indeed, international legal experts quoted in the article argued that the IDF's actions do go to inappropriate measures, and may end up harming the ability to fight terrorist organizations.
Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg, a military law expert at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt, Germany, was brought by Dabla to train IDF commanders about armed conflict laws.
Heinegg was quoted saying the IDF went to "great and noble lengths" to avoid civilian casualties, but warned the IDF is taking "many more precautions than are required."
As a result, he expressed his fear that the IDF "is setting an unreasonable precedent for other democratic countries of the world who may also be fighting in asymmetric wars against brutal non-state actors who abuse these laws."
Sharing his assessment was Pnina Sharvit Baruch, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and former Dabla chief.
She said legal advisers from other militaries around the world confront her with "recurring claims" that the IDF "is going too far in its self-imposed restrictions intended to protect civilians, and that this may cause trouble down the line for other democratic nations fighting organized armed groups."
Michael Schmitt, director of the Stockton Center for the Study for International Law at the US Naval War College, also agreed that the IDF is creating a dangerous state of affairs that may harm the West in its fight against terrorism.
"The IDF’s warnings certainly go beyond what the law requires, but they also sometimes go beyond what would be operational good sense elsewhere," he warned.
"People are going to start thinking that the United States and other Western democracies should follow the same examples in different types of conflict. That’s a real risk," said Schmitt.

Admin Tue 09 Jun 2015, 10:11 pm

US Supreme Court Sides with Obama in Denying Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
By Ahuva Balofsky June 9, 2015 , 10:00 am
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Psalms 137:5)
The US Supreme Court has handed down a ruling denying Jerusalem as part of Israel, Israel National News reported. The decision, announced Monday, overturns a 2002 law requiring the State Department to recognize “Jerusalem, Israel” as a birthplace in passport listings.
The case in question, Zivotofsky v. Kerry, has been bouncing around the US court system since 2004. Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky was born in Jerusalem to two American parents in 2002. In 2004, they sued to have their son’s birthplace changed from simply “Jerusalem” to “Jerusalem, Israel” in accordance with the law passed by Congress just months before his birth. The matter came before the Supreme Court last year, after being rejected repeatedly by lower courts.
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IDF Southern Command Chief Rules Out Gaza Op for Now
“For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.” (Isaiah 37:35)
Chief of the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman, met with mayors of the Gaza border region Sunday night, telling them the IDF will not launch a new operation for sporadic rockets landing in open areas, Ynet reported. He stressed, however, that the military would respond to such attacks as required, mostly in the form of air strikes like those which were launched Sunday morning.
Turgeman credited Hamas for its efforts to contain rogue elements firing on Israel in recent weeks in an effort to expand the conflict. Salafist groups loyal to the Islamic State (ISIS) have taken credit for the last three rocket attacks.
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Israel and Egypt Grow Closer, but Anti-Semitism Remains Part of the Equation
By JNS June 9, 2015 , 11:00 am
“Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?” (Amos 3:3)
As the Middle East grapples with the fallout of the so-called “Arab Spring” revolutions and the rise of terror groups like Islamic State, Arab states have sought increased cooperation with Israel in areas such as military and intelligence in order to confront ongoing threats. But will this cooperation, particularly when it comes to Egypt, lead to deeper Arab normalization of bilateral relations with the Jewish state?
On May 28, prominent Egyptian historian Maged Farag drew headlines when he called for his country to normalize relations with Israel and to ditch support for the Palestinian cause, which he said has caused “nothing but harm” for Egypt.
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Admin Tue 09 Jun 2015, 7:20 pm

US Supreme Court: Jerusalem is NOT Israel
In what can be considered a dangerous, precedent-setting ruling, the US Supreme Court declared that the United States does not recognize Jerusalem – both the Eastern and Western parts of the city – as the capital of the state of Israel.
A US Supreme Court ruling on Monday gave support to the Obama administration’s position on the status of Jerusalem, ruling that as far as the US government is concerned, Jerusalem is not a part of Israel.
According to the ruling, Americans born in the city of Jerusalem cannot list Israel as their birthplace on their US passports, siding with the White House in a foreign-policy power struggle with Congress. The case appeared to be mixing a dispute between Congress and the president on the passport issue with the thorny politics of the volatile Middle East.
n Monday’s 6-3 ruling, the court said Congress overstepped its bounds when it originally approved the passport law in 2002, indicating that the US must allow Israel to be listed as the country of birth for a citizen born in Jerusalem.
The ruling ended a 12-year-old lawsuit by Jerusalem-born American Menachem Zivotofsky, 12, and his parents.
The law that the court struck down this week would have forced the State Department to alter its longstanding policy of not listing Israel as the birthplace for Jerusalem-born Americans. The policy is part of the government’s refusal to recognize any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem until Israelis and Palestinians resolve the city’s status through negotiations.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion that the president has the exclusive power to recognize foreign nations and that determining what a passport says is part of that power.
“Put simply, the nation must have a single policy regarding which governments are legitimate in the eyes of the United States and which are not,” Kennedy wrote. “Recognition is a topic on which the nation must speak with one voice. That voice must be the president’s.”
Justice Antonin Scalia vigorously challenged Kennedy’s statements. “Who says so?” Scalia said. “The text and structure of the Constitution divide responsibility for foreign policy.” Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito joined the dissent.
In a separate opinion, Roberts cast the court’s decision as dangerously groundbreaking. “The court takes the perilous step — for the first time in our history — of allowing the president to defy an act of Congress in the field of foreign affairs,” he wrote.
Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome of the case, but on narrower grounds.
Robert Reinstein, former dean of Temple University’s law school, said the decision was significant because the court held for the first time that the president has exclusive power in an area of foreign affairs — recognizing foreign governments — even though the Constitution does not explicitly say so. On the other hand, Reinstein said, Kennedy went out of his way to say Congress retains substantial authority in providing money for embassies, imposing restrictions on trade and refusing to ratify treaties.
In the voting breakdown, the court’s four liberals, including the three Jewish justices, joined Kennedy’s opinion that sided with the administration and against the Zivotofskys.
This ruling may have ramifications on the struggle between Congress and Obama concerning the nuclear deal with Iran. The decision may impede on Congress’ ability to weigh in on the agreement with Tehran as an issue of foreign policy.
Longstanding US Practice
US policy has long refrained from recognizing any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and has held that the city’s status be resolved through negotiations between the parties. Congress has for years tried to push the US administrations, whether Republican or Democrat, to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The US never enforced the passport law, which has been on the books since 2002.
Former President George W. Bush signed the 2002 provisions into law but noted that “US policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed.” Obama has taken the same stance.
In 1995, Congress passed the “Jerusalem Embassy and Relocation Act,” which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. To date, a promise to move the embassy has not been fulfilled, due to opposition from the State Department and US presidents who have used their waiver authority. Each American president since Bill Clinton has signed a presidential waiver every six months in order to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv, citing concerns that a move to Jerusalem could hinder the peace process.
The Obama administration expressed satisfaction with the ruling. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the decision simply confirmed the president’s longstanding authority in foreign affairs and added, “We remain committed” to the policy on the neutrality of Jerusalem.
“The decision also respects his ability to ensure that his determinations regarding recognition are accurately reflected in official documents and diplomatic communications, including passports,” Rathke added. While the administration was “not doing a victory dance,” it was glad that this remains clear, he stressed.
Palestinian Official Applauds ‘Very Important Decision’
Reacting to the ruling, Alyza Lewin, who argued the case for the family, said the decision “highlights the central fallacy” of US policy on Jerusalem. “Presidents have been permitted by American public opinion to maintain, as American foreign policy, the absurd position that no country is sovereign over Jerusalem and that no part of the city, including the western portion, is in Israel,” Lewin said.
Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, viewed the ruling as a “very important decision” and “a clear message to the Israeli government that its decisions and measures in occupying and annexing Jerusalem are illegal and void and that it should immediately stop these measures because it’s a clear violation of the international law.”
Israel does not comment on rulings by foreign courts, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.
Ari Zivotofsky, Menachem’s father, told AFP the family was “disappointed.”
“We were optimistic and thought that the justices would see it our way,” he said.
“One of the things that now could be done – the court very clearly put this into the president’s lap, and basically said it’s up to him to change this policy,” he added, noting Obama now had “a very clear opportunity to do something concrete.”
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat rejected the ruling. “Just as Washington is the capital of the United States, London the capital of England and Paris the capital of France, so Jerusalem was and always will be the capital of Israel and the heart and soul of the Jewish people,” he said in a statement.
He called on Obama to publicly declare “what has already been known for generations – that Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel, and Israel is the home of the Jewish people.”
By: AP and United with Israel Staff

PLEASE GO TO PAGE AND SIGN PETITION AT THE BOTTOM.
http://unitedwithisrael.org/us-supreme-court-jerusalem-is-not-israel/
Sign the Declaration to Keep Jerusalem United
Jerusalem Must Remain the United Capital of Israel

I declare that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People and support all efforts to maintain and strengthen a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel.

Admin Tue 09 Jun 2015, 10:45 am

New Connection Between 1929 Great Depression and Genesis 12:3
By Staff Writer June 8, 2015 , 9:27 am
“And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” (Genesis 12:3)
image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Volunteers_of_America_Soup_Kitchen_WDC-1.png
(Photo: Wiki Commons)
By Rivkah Lambert Adler
Blood Moon expert and Root Source co-founder Bob O’Dell has turned his attention to a brand new line of thinking. In a recently released, 35-minute video, O’Dell introduces what he named “the Genesis 12:3 effect”. In the video, O’Dell argues that the 1929 Great Depression was a Divine punishment for the US’s immigration policy that effectively trapped Jews in Eastern Europe.
Speaking to Breaking Israel News, O’Dell pointed out that his previous work with the cycles of Blood Moons and with the 7-year shmitta cycle was driven by his desire to help Christian see trends. The newly released video “is an example of another new trend” to which he wants Christians to pay attention. O’Dell calls this trend the Genesis 12:3 effect, the fulfillment of the Biblical pledge that God made in Genesis 12:3 to bestow blessings upon those who bless the Jewish people and curse those who curse them.
In the video, meant to establish a clear example of the Genesis 12:3 effect, O’Dell documents US immigration policy in the 1920s, by reviewing the legislation that dramatically limited immigration to the US after World War I. He makes the case that these limits on immigration to the US disproportionately hurt Jews from Eastern Europe. O’Dell also reviews the history of the Great Depression that followed shortly after these immigration reforms were instituted.
His contention is that the United States harmed Jews by preventing them from leaving Eastern Europe in the decade before the Holocaust began. Had the doors to the US remained open to the Jews who wanted to flee Eastern Europe, millions of Jewish lives could have been saved.
The Great Depression, according to O’Dell’s detail-oriented research, was the curse that God sent to the United States as a consequence of actions taken against Jews. This is what O’Dell calls the Genesis 12:3 effect – a Godly curse sent to those who mistreat the Jews.
Asked why the Genesis 12:3 effect is an important trend to pay attention to today, O’Dell told Breaking Israel News, “If the United States turns against Israel, then God can turn very, very quickly against the United States. If the US economy is peaking and we cannot expect God to reward our country, well, Israel’s economy is growing. So we need to turn our attention and invest in Israel to receive God’s blessing.”

Bayit Yehudi Chairman Calls on World to Recognize Golan Heights as Israeli
By Ahuva Balofsky June 8, 2015 , 8:00 am
“And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer; and Beeshterah with the open land about it; two cities.” (Joshua 21:27)

Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett (Photo: Flash90)
Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett called on the world to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights Sunday. Speaking at the 15th annual Herzliya Conference of the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at IDC Herzliya, he announced his new plan for ensuring Israeli security, including the Golan.
“I want to challenge the entire world,” Bennett was quoted by Ynet as saying. “I want to give the international community an opportunity to demonstrate their ethics. Recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, during the Six-Day War which also saw the reunification of Jerusalem. This week marks the anniversary of that conflict.
In 1981, Israel extended its law to include the region, effectively annexing it in a move disputed by the international community.

“In 1981 the Golan Heights law was passed, applying Israeli law in the area,” said Bennett. “The world in that time shouted and sharply criticized Israel, and no country has recognized the Golan as part of the State of Israel up to this day, but that didn’t stop Begin who understood that the Golan Heights is ours and that we can’t give land to our enemies.”
Regarding the West Bank, Bennett acknowledged, the circumstances are different. “I understand that we agree to disagree there. It’s obvious to me that there is a disagreement there; the world is still trying to promote fantastical plans [of a Palestinian state]. But let’s put that aside. Unfortunately, the world isn’t implementing any plan for Judea and Samaria, but for the Golan? Prohibiting agricultural products from the Golan Heights? What’s the logic?
“Who do they want us to give the Golan to? To Assad? Today, it’s clear that if we listened to the world we would give up the Golan and ISIS would be swimming in the Sea of Galilee. Enough with the hypocrisy.”
Bennett also called for expanded Israeli presence in the Golan, from 20,000 residents today to 100,000 in five years.

Admin Mon 08 Jun 2015, 4:20 pm

Weekend Rocket Fire Prompts IAF Strike in Gaza
By Ahuva Balofsky June 7, 2015 , 9:30 am
“Thine arrows are sharp–the peoples fall under thee–[they sink] into the heart of the king’s enemies.” (Psalms 45:6)
Palestinian members from the armed wing of Hamas take part in an anti-Israel rally in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 13, 2014. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90)
Just one hour after the Sabbath ended in Israel, Code Red sirens were heard in the country’s southern region, as a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Ashkelon Saturday night. The Israel Air Force responded with strikes on Hamas terror targets in the northern Gaza Strip early Sunday, reported Ynet.
A single rocket, fired at 9:40 Saturday night, landed in an open area near Ashkelon. No casualties or damages were reported. The IAF strike hit a Hamas training facility, where no casualties were reported, either. In addition, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings between Gaza and Israel, allowing only humanitarian cases through.
The ISIS-supporting Salafist group calling itself the Omar Brigades, which took responsibility for last week’s rocket fire, claimed to have fired the weekend rocket, as well. The rocket was meant as a show of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, as well as group members held by Hamas in Gaza prisons.
“The Jews will never enjoy security and safety as long as we are alive,” the group said in a statement.
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Pope Francis: It is Anti-Semitic not to Recognize Israel as Jewish
By Raphael Poch June 7, 2015 , 8:00 am
“O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.” (Psalms 67:4)
In something of an about-face, Pope Francis clarified previous statements made regarding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that he did not call Abbas “an angel of peace”, but hoped that Abbas “would one day become an angel of peace in the future.” The Pope went even further to criticize Israel’s critics, claiming that those who do not see Israel as Jewish are in reality anti-Semitic.
In comments made to veteran Portuguese-Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman last Thursday, Pope Francis was quoted saying, “Anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel and their right to exist, is guilty of anti-Semitism.”
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Jordan May Revoke Citizenship of Several PA Officials: Report
By Ahuva Balofsky June 7, 2015 , 11:15 am
“The LORD will go forth as a mighty man, He will stir up jealousy like a man of war; He will cry, yea, He will shout aloud, He will prove Himself mighty against His enemies.” (Isaiah 42:13)
Jordan may be threatening to revoke the citizenship of several prominent Palestinian Authority members, most notably Chairman Mahmoud Abbas himself, the Jerusalem Post reported Saturday. The news comes from the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi paper, and is the latest volley in the rising tensions between the PA and Jordan.
The Jordanians accused Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestine Football Association, of not voting for Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein for FIFA president during the 65th FIFA congress last week, a claim Rajoub flatly denies. Al-Hussein lost to incumbent Sepp Blatter, who announced his resignation shortly thereafter amid a corruption scandal.~Rajoub has been declared persona non grata in Jordan and barred from entering the country, despite holding citizenship there. Online paper Rai al-Youm reported that Palestinian authorities are mulling removing Rajoub from his position in an effort to improve relations with Jordan.
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Egyptian Court Overturns Ruling Naming Hamas a Terror Group
By Ahuva Balofsky June 7, 2015 , 11:00 am
“O my God, in Thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me.” (Psalms 25:2)
An Egyptian appeals court overturned a lower court ruling naming Hamas a terrorist organization, reported Ynet. The decision, which came down Saturday, could signal an easing of tensions between Egypt and Gaza.
The Urgent Matters Appeals Court cited lack of jurisdiction in explaining its decision to reject the lower court ruling.
Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, called the decision, “correcting a previous mistake,” saying it would have “positive consequences on the relationship between Hamas and Egypt.”
Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has been out of favor since one of its leaders, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted from the presidency in 2013. That group has been labelled a terrorist group in Egypt and repressed by the army.
Lawyer Ashraf Farahat, who first brought the matter forward, remains optimistic. He told Reuters he would request that Egypt’s Foreign Ministry place Hamas on its list of terrorist organizations, based on previous judicial decisions.
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Obama Blocks Move of US Embassy to Jerusalem
By Raphael Poch June 7, 2015 , 10:00 am
“Our feet shall stand inside your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city which is bound firmly together.” (Psalms 122:2-3)
In a move that is becoming all too typical of the U.S. President Barack Obama and his policies towards Israel the President enacted a waiver, preventing the move of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem for at least another six months.
The move which goes against Congressional legislation mandating that the US moves its embassy to Israel’s capital, successive administrations going all the way back to the Clinton regime, have postponed the implementation of the legislation. Each by citing “National Security concerns”. Thus the past three presidents, spanning more than 16 years, have continuously pushed off this piece of legislature.
Jerusalem is not recognized internationally as the capital of Israel, even after the annexation of the eastern half of the city. Today, no country houses their embassy in the capital. Up until 2006 there were countries who did, however the last two, Costa Rica and El Salvador, moved their embassies to Tel Aviv in 2006.
Nine countries as well as the Holy See, house a consulate-general in Jerusalem. They are: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.
While it is customary for US presidential hopefuls, especially Republicans, to state that they will move the embassy to Jerusalem, once the President sits in the oval office, it has been unanimous on both sides of the US political divide, to enact the waiver and keep the embassy in Tel Aviv.
Possible Republican Presidential candidate, Jebediah Bush, stated that he would move the embassy to Jerusalem, and supports a unified Jerusalem under Israeli control in the future.
In his first comments made upon the issue while exploring a run for the Presidency, he said recently in Nashville that he “absolutely supports”Jerusalem remaining Israel’s capital forever.

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