Friday - August 1, 2008

Syria Chooses: Assad to Visit Iran; Israel Continues Talks

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is to visit Iran this weekend, even as Syrian and Israeli negotiators are slated to continue talks in mid-August. Assad's visit answers the Israeli demand that Syria choose between Iran and peace.

In meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Assad will be discussing bilateral, regional and global  matters. Among the issues on the agenda will be Iran's nuclear aspirations and its confrontation with the West, Syrian talks with Israel, and the situations in Lebanon and Iraq. Official Iranian sources said Ahmadinejad is looking forward to meeting Assad and furthering relations with Syria. He will greet the Syrian dictator in Tehran upon the the latter's arrival on Saturday.

In addition to Ahmadinejad, Assad is scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and other senior officials of the Islamic Republic during the two-day visit. The talks come on the heels of Tehran hosting a gathering of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), at which Ahmadinejad received support for Iran's nuclear program, and ahead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's September visit to Damascus. The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Assad and Ahmadinejad will be coordinating the message Assad will convey to Sarkozy on Iran.

Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Legislative Council, the Majlis, told Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem on Tuesday that Iran and Syria both play important roles in thwarting ongoing threats to the Muslim world. Therefore, he called for expanding bilateral cooperation and coordination in light of current regional and global conditions.

The Syrian Foreign Minister, who was in Tehran for the NAM meeting, concurred and added that such an alliance, expressed in international organizations and conferences, will serve the wider interests of the rest of the Middle East. Laying the groundwork for Assad's visit, Mualem met with Ahmadinejad, Mottaki and Larijani over the past few days.

Syria Chooses Iran
Assad's upcoming visit to Iran may be seen as a direct reply to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's statement this week that Syria must choose between maintaining its relationship with Iran and peaceful international relations.

Speaking at the National Defense College graduation ceremony in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Olmert said, "The peace negotiations depend on Syria. There is no place solely for overtures, but there must also be action. Syria must decide between Iran, the axis of evil and international isolation, and between peace and prosperity."

However, he confimed, Israel "is continuing with the negotiations in good faith, with the intent of giving Syria a genuine alternative, so that it may make the right decision."

In a statement, Assad said that Israel's ultimatum is "as if Syria asked Israel to break off relations with the United States."

Since May, Israeli and Syrian negotiators have been conducting indirect talks, brokered by Turkey. The latest of four such meetings concluded in Istanbul on Wednesday, with a fifth session scheduled for mid-August. Neither Assad's upcoming visit to Iran, nor the recent mutual Syrian and Iranian declarations of coordination have, as yet, changed those plans. In fact, a sixth round of Israel-Syria indirect talks is slated for September. 

 

Ezekiel 39:17-20

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God .

KJV

Revelation 6:15-17

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

 

KJV

 

 

Saturday - August 2, 2008

Fatah Opens Revolving Door for Hamas Terrorists

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas will free dozens of Hamas terrorists and supporters who the PA security forces arrested this week. The Hamas members had been taken into custody after Hamas rounded up nearly 200 Fatah terrorists and backers in Gaza last week.

Abbas's planned action was reported by the official PA news agency, which said the order will be executed in the next two days.

 

John 8:34-36

34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

KJV

 

 

Sunday - August 3, 2008

Hamas Fires Mortars at Negev as Fatah Terrorists Flee to Israel

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Gaza terrorists shelled Jewish communities in the western Negev Saturday night in another violation of the temporary truce brokered by Egypt in June.

The five-week-old tahadiyeh, or "calm," was disrupted after terrorists attacked southern Israel with five mortars. All of the shells exploded in open areas, and no one was injured.

The attacks occurred simultaneously with the evacuation of a number of wounded Fatah terrorists to Israeli hospitals. Dozens of Fatah terrorists were allowed to cross the Nahal Oz and Erez terminals after disarming and going through an interrogation process.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak granted security clearance Saturday night for an additional 150 Fatah loyalists to flee Gaza into Judea and Samaria.

The move came following bloody clashes with Hamas terrorists that left at least nine dead and more than 80 wounded. At least three of the terrorists were admitted with serious injuries to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. and six others were taken with lighter wounds to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Many of the injured terrorists were from the Hilles clan, whose stronghold in Gaza City was attacked by Hamas during the day on Saturday.

Hamas claims that a senior member of the clan, Abu-Ramzi Hilles, masterminded the surfside explosion a week ago that killed five Hamas terrorists and a six-year-old girl.  A Hamas spokesman said senior Fatah bomb expert Zaki el-Shani, who was alleged to have organized the blast together with Hilles, was arrested during the raid on the compound.

Clan leader and former head of the Tanzim terror group in Gaza, Ahmad Hilles, told a reporter from the Associated Press, "You have to decide: Either be trampled under the shoes of Hamas, or stand in dignity." Hilles was reportedly one of those who fled to Israel, but there was no confirmation that he managed to escape.

 

John 14:6

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

KJV

Isaiah 35:8

8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

KJV

John 8:31-32

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

KJV

Romans 1:16-19

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

KJV

 

Monday - August 4, 2008

South African Chief Rabbi: No Apartheid in Israel

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com) South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein has strongly defended Israel against charges that it practices Apartheid, which was the official policy of the separation of the black majority by the former white government in the country.

Writing in the Times of South Africa, he stated that the only analogy between Israel and South Africa is that both countries were forced into an armed struggle because there was no partner for peace.
 
He wrote that the accusations against Israel of Apartheid "defame the Jewish state and also diminish the victims of the real apartheid — the men, women and children of our beloved South Africa — who suffered for centuries under arrogant, heartless colonialism, and then for decades under the brutal apartheid policies of racial superiority, oppression and separation inflicted by the National Party. If everything is apartheid, then nothing is apartheid."

Former American President Jimmy Carter last year published a controversial book entitled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in which he accused Israel of practicing the policy of Apartheid by building the security barrier against suicide bombers.

Rabbi Goldstein wrote that if the number of deaths at the hands of terrorists were proportionately applied to South Africa, there would have been more than 10,000 murdered and 80,000 injured.

He declared that Jews and Arabs in Israel are equal before the law and pointed out, "Israel has none of the apartheid legislative machinery devised to discriminate against and separate people."

The Chief Rabbi emphasized that many Arab citizens hold positions of authority throughout the Jewish state, including that of cabinet minister, Knesset Members and judges.

"All citizens vote on the same voters' roll in regular, multiparty elections, and there are Arab parties and Arab members of other parties in Israel’s parliament," the rabbi told his readers. 

He also denounced the term "occupation," explaining that in 1967 Israel restored Judea, Samaria and Gaza to Jewish sovereignty and that its legal status is unclear. "It is incorrect legally, factually and even morally to speak of an occupation that implies there was once a Palestinian entity in these territories, and that this is now occupied by Israeli forces…. By contrast, Israel is the third Jewish state, the first dating back 3280 years to when Joshua led the Jewish people into the land of Israel."

He concluded, "Our South African experience has taught us that you cannot make peace unless both parties to the conflict wish to resolve it. When the Arab world is ready to make peace, Israel will be there immediately."

 

Matthew 24:23-26

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

KJV

 

Tuesday - August 5, 2008

Police Admit Collaboration in Bedouin Ambush of Jewish Hikers

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) A police detective admitted in court last week that police forces hid as Bedouin Arabs attacked Jewish hikers, and then jumped out to arrest the Jews who fought back.

The incident occurred last Tuesday, on the third day of a week-long "Land of Hilltops Trek" from the northern Shomron to southern Judea.  As the 200 youths and adults passed by Maoz Esther (near Maaleh Michmas, between Jericho and northern Jerusalem), they were attacked by Bedouin Arabs with clubs and rocks.

Veteran Yesha (Judea and Samaria) settlement pioneer Daniella Weiss, former Mayor of Kedumim, spoke to IsraelNationalNews from the scene and described what happened:

"Everything was going very well, until we arrived in Maoz Esther.  A bunch of Arabs swooped down upon us with rocks and clubs, and three of our people were injured; they have just been evacuated by ambulance.  At one point, one of our escorts tried to protect one of our boys, and he shot in the air.  Right then, something amazing happened:

 

"From behind a little hill suddenly emerged some cars and policemen wearing civilian clothes, but with police hats - and they arrested the one who shot in the air, as well as some of our other escorts who were carrying weapons!

"Apparently, the police were waiting and watching the whole time, doing nothing until our boy shot in the air."

Police Detective Confirms
Her estimate of what happened was later confirmed by none other than police detective Aharon Yair.  Testifying last Wednesday in a Jerusalem court at a hearing regarding the three arrested Jews, Yair said [as reported by IsraelJustice.com], "The fact is that police forces were there. We understood that like last week, when there was a violent incident when [the hikers] came to[the Bedouin] with weapons, we were ready because we knew that this was a place of confrontation. The [Bedouin] set up cameras and therefore the police were there."

Attorney Naftali Wurtzberger immediately understood the implications, and asked, "If the police were there and watched the confrontation, why did the police not just stand openly and prevent [the hikers] from passing? If it was not permitted, [why did they not just] stop them? The situation, as I see it, looks like an ambush, [...hiding] out like thieves in the night."

Yair responded, "I'm not the one who decides. There are officers above me who decide what is overt and what is concealed."  He later acknowledged that some of the police "were in a hiding place."

MKs Ariel and Eldad
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) told Arutz-7 that he planned to meet with Police Commissioner David Cohen and find out why the police appeared to be collaborating with the Bedouin against Jewish hikers.
 
His party colleague MK Aryeh Eldad said, "I have asked the Public Security Minister [Avi Dichter] for a response, and I expect to receive an answer within a few days. I have no doubt that the police were engaged in a provocation, just as they have been in other places, such as a recent incident in the Southern Mount Hevron area and elsewhere."  He said earlier that this was "another step in the police agreeing to become a 'political police' in the service of the Olmert government."

Police arrested five Jewish hikers following the incident, including three adults.  Three Jews were injured.  Detective Yair said that three Bedouin were briefly arrested; no Bedouin were injured. ....
 

Psalms 48:10-14

10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.

13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.

14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

KJV

 

Wednesday - August 6, 2008

Lebanese Gov't Approves Weapons in Hizbullah Hands

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Despite a clear UN resolution and a 19-year-old national agreement calling for the disarmament of all non-governmental militias, Lebanon's cabinet voted Monday to allow the Hizbullah terrorist organization to keep its weapons arsenal. The government decision specifically approves Hizbullah activities aimed at Israel. 

Four ministers from Christian-majority parties... expressed "reservations".Four ministers from Christian-majority parties represented in the government expressed "reservations" over the "resistance against Israel" clause, but Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri said that "the document was approved unanimously."

According to Mitri, the government approved "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and the resistance to liberate its land in the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshuba Hill and Ghajar," which are located on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. In an apparent contradiction with state recognition and approval accorded "the resistance" - a euphemism for Hizbullah - the statement declared that "the unity and the authority of the state would be the guiding principle of all government decisions and actions."

The Lebanese parliament must now approve the manifesto with a vote of confidence, which will allow the government to officially commence its administration. The new government was formed on July 11, following a violent insurrection in May by Hizbullah and other Shiite militias that forced the majority bloc to accept a Hizbullah veto over government decisions.

Manifesto Contradicts Lebanese, UN Obligations
The terms of the Lebanese government's policy statement allowing Hizbullah to retain its arsenal contradicts United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. The UN-brokered ceasefire agreement ending the 2006 Second Lebanon War, embodied in Resolution 1701, called for the disarming of all non-governmental entities in Lebanon. More than two years later, that condition has yet to be fulfilled and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has stated outright that it would not enforce it.

The closest UNIFIL has come to confronting Hizbullah, as reported by the Lebanon-based Al-Akhbar newspaper, has been to issue "secret orders" to use "all means" to prevent Hizbullah forces from approaching Israeli pilots who may be shot down in Lebanon.

In addition to Resolution 1701, the Lebanese government manifesto violates the terms of the 1989 Taef Agreement, which was meant to be a "national reconciliation accord" ending a Lebanese civil war that had been raging for decades. According to the agreement, the State of Lebanon was to exercise authority "over all Lebanese territories gradually, with the state's own forces."

To that end, the Taef document calls for the "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.... The militias' weapons shall be delivered to the State of Lebanon within a period of 6 months, beginning with the approval of the national accord charter."

Matthew 9:2-8

2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.

4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

7 And he arose, and departed to his house.

8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

KJV

 

 

Thursday - August 7, 2008

Terrorists Prance Around Ruins of Atzmonah

by Hillel Fende

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas terrorists have videoed themselves amidst the ruins of the former Jewish town of Atzmona in Gush Katif, Gaza - singing, dancing and play-acting their militaristic plans against Israel.

The set for most of the act is the destroyed synagogue of Atzmona.  It can be seen here in its former glory.  Other former houses in Atzmona appear to be part of a training ground for urban-area fighting.

The video, which also contains long sections of a woman terrorist speaking in Arabic, is being circulated by Jewish sites partly as a warning of what Hamas has in mind for additional areas it hopes to take over from Israel. 

It was reported last year that the ruins of two large synagogues in Nvei Dekalim, the largest Gush Katif town, were being used by terror groups in Gaza as a military base from which to fire rockets at Israeli towns, and as a terrorist training base.

Hamas has also found other uses for the ruins and remnants of the Jewish presence in Gush Katif.  Thousands of blocks and chunks of concrete from the rubble of Ganei Tal have been used to line the walls of underground Hamas bunkers between Gaza and Egypt. In addition, the plumbing system in the Hamas fortress there is reportedly from the former Jewish town of Netzarim.

The underground facility is actually a 50-kilometer network of multi-purpose, well-furnished tunnels designed to function as fortified combat positions against tanks and armored infantry. Senior IDF officers have been quoted as saying that though the Olmert government took no action to stop it when it was being built, "destroying this monster facility or putting it out of action at this point will mean heavy casualties." So reported weaponsurvey.com. 

 

Luke 19:27

27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

KJV

Philippians 3:17-19

17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

KJV

James 4:4

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

KJV

Revelation 11:5

5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

KJV

 

 

Friday - August 8, 2008

Female Land of Israel Activist Freed After 4 Months

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Rivka Meirchik, arrested during a violent eviction from a Jewish neighborhood in Samaria, was freed on Wednesday after spending four months in jail.

The 29-year-old woman, a resident of Kiryat Ata near Haifa, was arrested during one of the violent evictions of the Shvut Ami startup neighborhood, near Shilo, over four months ago.  Like others before her, she refused to recognize the authority of a Jewish court system in the Land of Israel that itself refuses to recognize Jewish rights to the Land

Meirchik therefore did not post a bond guaranteeing her presence at future court sessions, nor did she cooperate in any way with the legal system. 

The court system responded in kind, refusing to release her from prison, refusing at least once to set a future court date, and occasionally holding her in solitary confinement without visitation and phone rights.

Nearly a month ago, Kfar Saba Magistrates Court Judge Clara Rejenino handed down the verdict: Guilty of trespassing and of attacking - biting - the policeman who arrested her. 

After 3 Months, Judge Takes 1 Month to Write 2-Month Sentence
Inexplicably, says Attorney Aviad Visouly, who represented Meirchik for parts of the legal proceedings, the judge took nearly a full month to write the sentence - "despite knowing that Rivka had already been in prison for three months, and that the sentence was only two months!" 

Visouly told IsraelNationalNews that Meirchik can, if she wants, demand compensation for wrongful imprisonment for the two extra months she sat in prison. He added that had she been found innocent, she would not have been able to demand this.

No Restrictions on Return to Yesha
Public Defender Attorney Aliza Kashkash-Uzeri, who also represented Meirchik, said the judge issued no punishment for the trespassing clause.  In other similar cases, the defendants have been restricted from returning for various periods to areas of Judea and Samaria. 

Visouly said that Meirchik's rights were continually violated, in that she was not brought to court often enough, and because the Supreme Court did not act quickly enough to accept his appeal regarding wrongful imprisonment. 

Meirchik followed the pattern set by previous arrestees in the struggle for the Land of Israel - most notably mother-of-ten Ettie Medad, whose husband Shmuel Medad heads the Honenu Legal Rights Organization. Ettie spent 25 days in prison in 2005.  In addition, teenager Tzviya Sariel spent nearly four months in prison this year, and several ulpana yeshiva high school girls were imprisoned for a month shortly before that.  All were arrested while engaging in pro-Land of Israel activities.

None of the above agreed to recognize the courts' right to try them on charges related to supporting the Land of Israel, and they were ultimately freed from prison after their cases were widely publicized.

Jerusalem-based Human Rights activist Irving Gendelman sharply criticized the Kfar Saba Magistrates Court for its handling of the Meirchik case. He noted that the "Judge sent Rivka Meirchik to jail for another month deeming her refusal to cooperate with the Police 'an idealogical crime.' This represents a most bizarre statement absent of any legal or judicial authority but rather a statement lacking judicial acumen frought with political overtones."

In a letter to the Minister of Justice, Gendelman added, "This cruel and unusual punishment before any indictment may have been brought about because she refused to cooperate with the police. Again, it is apparent that the Kfar Saba Magistrates Court judges are ill-equipped to understand a basic concept embedded in democratic societies:  namely, the right against self incrimination. If there is an allegation of a commission of a crime,  it is for the prosecution to bring all evidence against the alleged offender. The alleged offender does not have to cooperate in the process."

 

John 14:6-7

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

KJV

 

Sunday - August 10, 2008

"Seculars Want Temple', as Fast of Av Begins Saturday Night

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The fast of Tisha B'Av, the "saddest" day in the Jewish calendar, begins on Saturday night as the Sabbath ends, and ends Sunday evening at sundown.  Its name literally means "the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av," the date of some of the gravest tragedies to have befallen the Jewish People.  Most notably, both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, but the list of calamities includes also the following:

• G-d decreed, following the Sin of the Spies as recounted in Numbers 13-14, that the Children of Israel would not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel until the entire generation had died out.
• The fall of Beitar, the last fortress to hold out during the Bar Kochba revolt in the year 135 C.E., fell to the Romans, marking the last milestone in the beginning of our current Exile.
• A year later, the Temple area was plowed under.
• The Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492. 
• World War I erupted in 1914.
• The Jews of Gush Katif spent their last legal day in their homes in 2005, and were expelled three days later.

"Secular Jews for the Temple"
The centerpiece of Tisha B'Av mourning is the destruction of the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash).  Among the many groups that have sprouted over the past several years promoting awareness of the Beit HaMikdash is one named "Secular Jews for the Temple."  Ahuvyah Tabenkin of left-wing Kibbutz Ein Harod said, "It's true that we don't exactly represent a majority of secular Kibbutz members... but the pioneers have always been a minority: the Zionists were a minority among the Jews, those who came to the Land were a minority among the Zionists, those who worked the land were also a minority, and now we are a minority as well.  But I hope that soon we will be the leaders."

Tabenkin has nationalist, political and historical reasons why the Temple and the Temple Mount are important.  Asked if he has religious considerations as well, Tabenkin told Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane, "Well, the word 'religious' can be the subject of long discussions.  Look, the Gerrer Rebbe once said, 'When the Haskalah [Enlightenment] came to the world, with science, physics, etc., we [the religious] left it for the secular Jews; when Zionism came to the world, we gave that too to the secular; and now we have also left the Repentance Movement for the secular.'  Accordingly, it looks like we [the secular] will also have to build the Beit HaMikdash."

Asked whether he calls for the actual construction of the Temple, he said, "There are many religious authorities, including Maimonides, who say that the Temple must be rebuilt, and so I think it should be done...  As a first step, we must show that we control the Temple Mount... I call upon all of Israel to come to the Mount on [Tisha B'Av] and show that it belongs to the Jewish nation."  

Prominent rabbis permit the ascent to parts of the Temple Mount after certain Halakhic precautions have been taken.

Tisha B'Av Laws
The Sages enacted Yom Kippur-like restrictions on Tisha B'Av, including no eating, drinking, washing, or marital relations. Leather shoes are not worn, and even Torah study - a major source of Jewish joy - is restricted to topics connected with the Destruction of the Temples, Tisha B'Av, and the like.  

Though the afternoon before Tisha B'Av is generally marked by mourning-like practices, this is not true this year, when the eve of Tisha B'av is on the Sabbath. The afternoon Third Meal is larger than usual, as it will be the last meal for over 24 hours, and the usual Sabbath songs are sung.  However, one must not eat after sundown on Sabbath, even though the Sabbath has not yet ended.  

When three stars have appeared, the "short Havdalah" is recited ["Blessed is He Who separates between Sabbath and weekdays"], and Tisha B'Av officially begins; leather shoes are removed and unlaundered weekday clothes are worn.  The evening prayer service is followed by one of the Havdalah blessings, that of "light," and Eichah (Book of Lamentations) is read aloud. 

The other Havdalah blessings are recited on Sunday evening before eating; the blessing on spices is not recited at all this week.  Those who feel they must eat on Tisha B'Av for health reasons should consult an Orthodox rabbi.
 

 

Matthew 25:32-34

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

KJV

Matthew 25:41

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

KJV

 

Monday - August 11, 2008

Russia and Georgia at War: Foreign Ministry Assisting Local Jews

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) As fierce battles that are rapidly developing into a war heat up between Russia and Georgia, approximately 200 200 Georgian Jews have fled their homes in the Gori area while the two forces lock horns over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

The new refugees, who fled the combat zone at the advice of the Jewish Agency, headed for the comparative safety of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after Russian jets bombed the city of Gori and oil pipelines in the area.
 
Georgian soldiers had reportedly retreated Sunday morning from South Ossetia following fierce fighting with Russian troops for control of the separatist region. The two forces had been fighting for control of the city of Tskhinvali, capital of the mountainous rebel region, according to Georgian Interior Ministry communications director Shota Utiashvili. “They have been withdrawn completely because of the heavy civilian casualties Georgia has suffered,” he told the Reuters news agency."

Russian military spokesman Vladimir Ivanov told a different tale, however. “Georgia has not withdrawn forces from South Ossetia,” he told the Interfax news agency. Ivanov, an aide to the commander of the Russian forces in South Ossetia, said Georgian soldiers, artillery and armor were still on the battlefield.

The conflicting reports were resolved with a statement by Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili, who clarified that troops had left the city to “change location.” Yakobashvili said Georgian forces remained in South Ossetia but had withdrawn from the city in order to create a humanitarian corridor in which to evacuate the wounded.

Some 2,000 people have been killed since the battle over South Ossetia broke out between the two countries on Friday.

Tbilisi Military Airfield Bombed
Early Sunday morning Russia bombed the Tbilaviastroi plane factory on the eastern outskirts of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, dropping three bombs on to the military airfield outside the plant.

The Russian attack was aimed at the factory, which produces Sukhoi Su-25 ground fighters and not the nearby civilian international airport. Runways were damaged, but there were no casualties.

The Kremlin went to the aid of South Ossetia on Friday after US-allied Georgia initiated a bid to seize control of the pro-Russian region.

Israel Considers Ban on Military Sales to Georgia
Meanwhile, Israel is considering a complete halt to its sale of arms and other military equipment to Georgia as a result of the fighting, a move that follows a decision made a year ago to limit such sales to defensive-related items only.

Jerusalem officials expressed concern that Russia would retaliate against Israel by selling more advanced weaponry to Syria and Iran.

In particular, Israel is concerned with Russia’s sale of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran. “The day we will want to prevent a future deal with Iran, our hands must be clean,” said a senior political source.

Israeli military equipment brokers have done business with Georgia since the 1990s.

1 John 5:4-6

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

KJV

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

KJV

 

 

Tuesday - August 12, 2008

Ascending to a Fortified Matriarch's Tomb

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz and Yoni Kempinski

(IsraelNN.com) On the national day of mourning on Sunday a large group of Jews ascended to the the tomb of the Biblical matriarch Rachel, located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, and vowed never to abandon the holy place. The gathering was both prayer and protest, as former and current MKs and the National Union party's youth movement took part in the event with calls for a greater and more secure Jewish presence at the tomb.

Members of the youth movements of the National Union party, Ezra, B'nei Akiva and Orot joined for special prayers on the fast of Tisha B'Av at the Tomb of Rachel. It is especially on this fast, explained the organizers, that we should pray that our Mother Rachel need not cry anymore as her children will return to their land - all of the land of Israel.

The event began with a ceremony and speeches at the Gilo Junction, just a few hundred yards from Bethlehem.

Rabbi Chanan Porat, one of the organizers of the event and a former Knesset Member, told the assembled young people, "Bethlehem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs [in Hevron] and my house in Gush Etzion are not occupied, but liberated. Forty one years have passed and the consolation of Rachel our mother, whom we have to thank, is mixed with tears because Rachel, our mother, cannot accept the current situation." Porat was an MK from 1981-1999 representing Techiya and the National Religious Party, eventually breaking from the latter and forming Tekuma, a faction in the National Union party.

Also addressing the gathering was Rabbi Menachem Porush, a former Agudat Yisrael MK. "When I came to Rachel's Tomb, I had the feeling I was in a foreign country. Gentlemen, we must yell and say, 'Rachel is mourning for her sons. She refuses to be consoled and we also cannot be consoled while the tomb of Rachel is outside Jewish control.' " The elderly and wheelchair-bound Porush served as an MK from 1959-1994.

Rabbi Porush's son, current United Torah Judaism MK Rabbi Meir Porush, said at the Gilo Junction, "Rabbi Chaim Shulevitz, the head of the Mir Yeshiva, used to say that his prayer in Rachel's Tomb was, 'Even though the prophet says to stop your tears, I am begging you, mother, don't stop your crying; your sons are still in exile, we are still suffering.' " As former Deputy Housing Minister, the younger Porush was responsible for much construction in various areas of Judea and Samaria.

Following the speeches at the Gilo Junction, the group set out on a march towards the tomb. However, police informed the organizers that they could not approve a march from the IDF checkpoint outside the area of the tomb to the site itself - a distance of 300 meters. The police explained that there were security restrictions in place orbidding the passage of private cars and pedestrians into the site, although the tomb is only 300 meters from the blockade.

Observing the massive security barriers and pillbox positions around Rachel's Tomb, Rabbi Porat called the measures "a large amount of cement poured on the site for no reason. We must," he stated, "bring back free access to the holy site."

Since 1997, Rachel's Tomb has been a target for Palestinian Authority terrorists operating in the Bethlehem region, who know that Jewish worshipers have made great efforts to pray at the site. As a result of the repeated PA attacks which have included sniping, firebombs and rock throwing - visitors can only get to the heavily fortified site in armored vehicles and under heavy IDF protection.

Adiyel Yom-Tov, a National Union youth movement leader, said of the situation at Rachel's Tomb, "Jews should travel to Rachel's Tomb like they travel to the Machpela Cave [in Hevron] and the Western Wall. We made a march today towards the tomb until the policemen stopped us. We came here to say that we will do everything to gain free access to our mother Rachel."

 

Jeremiah 31:13-17

13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord .

15 Thus saith the Lord ; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

16 Thus saith the Lord ; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord ; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord , that thy children shall come again to their own border.

KJV

 

 

Matthew 2:16-18

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,

18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

KJV

 

 

Thursday - August 14, 2008

Olmert Offers Final Status Plan to Abbas, Includes 93% Pullout

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made what he hopes is an offer that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas can’t refuse: a final status deal that can be implemented in stages, with a long “shelf life.”

The prime minister is trying to forge a “shelf agreement” with the PA before he steps down from office, having said he will resign after his Kadima party chooses a new leader next month.

 

The deal includes a pullout from 93 percent of Judea and Samaria, additional land in the Negev to make up the difference, free passage between Gaza, Judea and Samaria without security checks and permanent borders.

The free passage would be conditioned on Abbas’s retaking control of Gaza from the Hamas terrorist organization.

The border would follow the current Judea-Samaria separation barrier, as widely expected and predicted.

The remaining 7 percent of the region, which includes the larger blocs of Ma’aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, greater Jerusalem and northern Samaria, would be annexed by Israel and would no longer be under a construction freeze.

Implementation in 2 Steps
The deal would be carried out in two stages, according to the proposal detailed in the Hebrew daily Haaretz.

The first stage is dependent on Olmert’s ability to sell the plan to the Israeli public and involves the voluntary abandonment of communities outside the proposed border, with legislation to compensate Israelis who relocate on their own.

It is anticipated that many of the voluntary expellees would move to new housing units to be built in the remaining seven percent of Yesha to be left to Israel as soon as the borders are agreed upon and an agreement in principle is signed.

The second stage, which, according to the report, would only take place once the PA completes “a series of internal reforms and [are] capable of carrying out the entire agreement” involves forcibly expelling the remaining Jews from their homes east of the border.

Deferring the Issue of Jerusalem, No ‘Right of Return’
The proposal does not define the status of Jerusalem.  Both Olmert and Abbas agreed to shelve the issue for the time being, recognizing that this was a problem that could not be solved in the near future.

However, Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza have constantly been assured that the PA leadership will not accept any agreement for a state that does not include all of the land that was restored to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, including eastern Jerusalem.

Under the proposal, the so-called PA Arab “right of return” was rejected outright, and exists only in context of a “return” to PA territory.

This is in contrast to the PA demand that Israel allow some five million foreign Arab descendants of those who fled the state during the 1948 war to immigrate to Israel and reclaim homes or land where their families lived generations ago.
 
The plan also calls for a PA state that would be demilitarized and without an army.  The present security force, trained by top brass from the US Armed Forces, would be retained as a police force.

However, the PA is demanding a security force capable of defending against “outside threats,” according to the report. It is not clear which “outside threats” the PA leadership referred to.

---

Bush: We Expect Russia to Withdraw from Georgia

(IsraelNN.com) "We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces that have entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country," U.S. President George W. Bush said today in a statement to the press on the White House lawn.

"To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States, Europe and other nations, and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis," he added.

 

 

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

KJV

 

 

Friday - August 15, 2008

Israel Records Negative Immigration Trend

(IsraelNN.com) Israel recorded a negative immigration-emigration ratio in 2006 for the first time since the late 1990s, according to statistics released Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The report said that 22,000 Israelis left the country during 2006 and stayed away for more than one year, a rise of 13 percent over 2005 and about 13,000 more than the number of Israelis who returned home during the same period.

 

Daniel 2:31-47

31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.

47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

KJV

 

 

Saturday - August 16, 2008

Gaydamak Favors Opening Temple Mount to World's Muslims

(IsraelNN.com) Billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak said in an interview to Arabic Israeli newspaper Kul el-Arab that he favors opening up the Al Aksa mosque for pilgrims from throughout the Muslim world.

Gaydamak also said he favors talks with Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran "as a matter of course." Fatah-PA boss Mahmoud Abbas, he explained, "does not represent all of the Palestinians."

Omedia, which carried the report, noted that Israel's Hebrew media was curiously silent regarding the interview.

 

Psalms 43:3

3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

KJV

Psalms 119:105-106

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

KJV

Proverbs 4:18-19

18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

KJV

John 1:7-12

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

KJV

John 3:20-21

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

KJV

John 8:12

12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

KJV

 

 

Sunday - August 17, 2008

Israel concerned Russia will no longer help on Iran

 Moscow ‘will not be pushed around’
 

According to Israeli diplomatic officials and scholars, Russia’s recent offensive in Georgia and the West’s angry response could make is more difficult to gain Moscow's support in the effort to halt Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s policy concerning Iran is connected to a number of other matters, said one diplomatic official.

"Russia's position right now is that they are trying to reaffirm their status in their world," said the official. "They have an interest in showing that they are tough in South Ossetia, and that they are also not going to be pushed around by the West when it comes to Iran."

Although it is premature to accurately assess the implications of the Georgian fighting on the Iran situation, eventually Moscow will be keen to prove to the international community that Russia is not a pushover nation on any issue, said the official. Russia may also decide that Iran’s help is needed to keep Russia's southern flank stable, such as in Chechnya where Iran could prove a troublemaker for Moscow if it wanted, added the official.

University of Haifa's Brenda Shaffer, an expert on the Caucus region, noted that when the US marked Kosovo’s independence in February, then-president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russia would then acknowledge the breakaway regions in Georgia. “He meant it,” she said, adding that there is a parallel between Moscow’s policy towards Tehran and its relations with Washington. 

"If they feel the US is cooperative, then they are cooperative on Iran," she said. "And if not, they feel they can hurt the US on Iran."

The night before the Georgian-Russian conflict started, Russia looked to be supportive for placing another round of sanctions against Iran, mainly because Tehran has been defiant to not stop its uranium enrichment program, she said.

According to Shaffer, Russia was poised to support new sanctions against Iran, but if the West now pursues a hard stance on the Georgia matter, then Russia will probably retaliate by refusing to cooperate on Iran, reported The Jerusalem Post.
 

 

Monday - August 18, 2008

'Pardoned' Terrorist Re-Arrested for Shooting at IDF

by Hillel Fendel
 

(IsraelNN.com) An Arab terrorist who was pardoned after promising not to engage in terrorism has been re-arrested for firing at IDF soldiers.

The undercover IDF Duvdevan unit, operating in the Arab-populated town of Shechem (Nablus), arrested Firas Tashtush, 24, for his involvement in shooting attacks against IDF soldiers. Tashtush had been one of nearly 180 terrorists included in a special pardon deal finalized a year ago between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The deal granted amnesty to the wanted Fatah terrorists, in exchange for their promise to stop their terrorist activities.  They first underwent a trial period of three months; those who passed this period without engaging in terrorism - most of them - were then officially removed from Israel's "wanted" list. 

Sold Their Guns, Received New Ones
Many of the terrorists in question were paid by the PA tens of thousands of shekels for turning in their weapons. Those who joined the PA's security forces received new weapons.

Tashtush was arrested ten days ago, but the news was permitted for publication only on Sunday.  A senior Fatah Tanzim terrorist leader, he was arrested for his involvement in several shooting attacks against IDF forces in Judea and Samaria.
 

 

 

Tuesday - August 19, 2008

Huckabee touts McCain's pro-Israel credentials on visit to Jerusalem

Paying his tenth visit to Israel on Monday, former US presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee insisted that his fellow Republican Sen. John McCain will be a much stronger friend of Israel in the White House than Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama. "McCain has a much stronger view of how Israel must protect itself," Huckabee told The Jerusalem Post. "There is no naivete on his part about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program." Huckabee, a former Governor of Arkansas and Baptist Minister, said that McCain would turn out to be the preferred candidate of "traditional" American voters, meaning not just Evangelicals but conservative Catholics and Jews as well. Huckabee's latest visit was sponsored by the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, the US arm of a right-wing Israeli effort to expand the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem. He toured some of the group's housing projects accompanied by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
 

 

Thursday - August 21, 2008

Rice: Russia May Be Attempting to Rebuild Soviet Union

by Hana Levi Julian

 

(IsraelNN.com) Russia appears to be attempting to re-establish another Soviet Union, according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and America intends to nip the effort in the bud.

In remarks to journalists during her flight to Brussels for a meeting of the NATO Council, Rice noted Russia’s reluctance to fulfill its end of a ceasefire agreement negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy a week ago.

Russian forces remained in Georgia Tuesday morning, despite another promise by Russian President Dimitry Medvedev to fulfill his end of the ceasefire agreement negotiated last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

According to a Reuters reporter stationed near the Georgia-Russia border, no Russian tanks or armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the country they invaded 12 days ago through the only military crossing point back into Russia overnight.

The ceasefire agreement allows the Kremlin to leave a token “peacekeeping” force in the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which are populated primarily by ethnic Russians and which have been fighting Georgian control.

A letter by Sarkozy written to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili clarifying the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed by Russian President Dimitry Medvedev did not change matters, which Rice said would be discussed at the NATO meeting.

“I think the French will undoubtedly be seeking from the Russians an explanation for why the Russian President either won’t or can’t keep his word. That letter is absolutely clear about what the terms of this are. The French, as I understand it, shared the contents of this letter with Russia, and so this is a question of why the Russian president isn’t keeping his word,” she said.

The American Secretary of State reaffirmed the US commitment to its ally, vowing that “Georgian infrastructure will be rebuilt. Georgia’s economy will be reinforced.”

Rice also noted that a wider risk is developing, one she said NATO is moving to block, by “[backing] up states that might be at risk of being reabsorbed into the Russian constellation.

“We have an objective in the alliance to reaffirm the support of the alliance for those states that are now well outside of Russia’s reach; that is, those that have been fully integrated into the transatlantic structures, states like - the Baltic states like Poland, which are fully integrated members of the transatlantic community. And that just shows how far we’ve come since 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and certainly how far we’ve come since 1968 when one of the countries that will be sitting around that table was brutally attacked and its government overthrown by Soviet forces.”

Rice noted that NATO would have to choose between a re-established Soviet presence in the region, or allowing states like Georgia and the Ukraine, neither of which is a member, to join its ranks. She made it clear, however that the timetable for making that decision, due in December, would not be moved up.

“We are also going to send a message that we’re not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the transatlantic structures like Georgia and Ukraine. And so the alliance will need to consider what it wishes to do to clearly indicate that we’re not accepting a new line,” she said.

The bottom line, she said pointedly, remains at the Kremlin.

“This alliance has kept open a road for a strategic choice of Russia as friend, not adversary…But frankly, Russia can’t have it both ways. It can’t act in a way that it did during the Cold War when it was the Soviet Union and expect it to be treated – expect to be treated as a responsible partner as President Medvedev outlined in the speech that he made just a few weeks ago.”

Rice added that although Russia had continued its cooperation with the US on strategic projects regarding nuclear issues in Iran and North Korea, it was “not because Russia is doing favors to the United States, but because they are in Russia’s interests.

“Russia doesn’t benefit from a nuclear Iran,” she maintained. “Matter of fact, since Iran is a lot closer to Russia than it is to the United States, it certainly doesn’t benefit. And it certainly doesn’t benefit from a Middle East that would be roiled by the prospect of a nuclear Iran. Similarly, I don’t think Russia benefits from instability on the Korean peninsula, or further North Korean proliferation, nor does Russia benefit from the continued difficulty in the Levant, Israel, Palestine and so forth.”

A nuclear facility allegedly built with the assistance of North Korea was destroyed in a remote northeastern location in Syria on September 6, 2007, in an attack widely ascribed by foreign media to Israeli operatives. The Israeli government has remained silent on the issue. 

Both Israel and the US, however, are vocal about the threat of a nuclear Iran, which they maintain is rapidly becoming a realistic threat, giving the progress in the Islamic Republic's continuing uranium enrichment activities, despite numerous sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

 

 

Friday - August 22, 2008

Jordan Releases 4 Terrorists Convicted of Murdering Israelis

by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel

 

(IsraelNN.com) The Kingdom of Jordan has released four terrorists convicted of murdering two IDF soldiers, including an officer, according to a Wednesday report from a Jordanian news agency.

The four Jordanian nationals were captured and sentenced to life in Israeli prisons for their 1990 murder of an IDF soldier and an officer, but were handed over to Jordan as a “gesture” of goodwill to King Abdullah II.

In the report by the Petra agency, the Jordanian king released the four as the result of mounting pressure from his constituents, in the wake of the recent prisoner swap in which Israel released terrorist murderers to Hizbullah, and most recently after this week’s news that Israel was prepared to release 200 Palestinian Authority terrorists as yet another “gesture” to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

As part of the 2007 prisoner return deal with Jordan, Israel agreed to hand over the four murderers on the condition that they would not be released until they served at least 18 months in Jordan’s prisons. This means they were supposed to have remained in prison until December 2009, despite the fact that their original sentences mandated life behind bars.
 
Despite the fact that the deal included a clause that allowed Jordan to release the prisoners if Israel unilaterally released PA prisoners in a “goodwill gesture,” Israel has yet to free the 200 PA prisoners it is considering releasing. 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert commented on the decision in 2007 to release the four terrorists in a statement he issued, saying: "We received a personal request in the matter from the king, who is one of my friends... This move was considered very carefully. We are not releasing (these) prisoners; we are remanding them to a Jordanian prison for the rest of their sentence."

In related news, Jordan has resumed official ties with Hamas. This follows a period of tensions surrounding political disputes. Jordanian newspapers report of “positive meetings” between the terrorist group and the kingdom, and Hamas released a statement Friday proclaiming the restoration of its ties with Jordan. The announcements followed a series of meetings held over the past weeks between a Hamas delegation and representatives of the Jordanian government, including Jordan’s Intelligence Director Mohammed Zahabi. Among the items on the agenda were restrictions on the terror group’s activity in Jordan, suggesting that the kingdom that signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 plans to become the latest haven for Israel’s sworn enemies.
 

 

 

Sunday - August 24, 2008

Haniyeh vows ‘Jerusalem will be returned by jihad’

Also demandsJordan Valley, 'right of return' to Israel

Speaking on the 39th anniversary of an arson attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh declared on Wednesday that his group will not sign onto any peace deal that does not call for Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to be returned to the Palestinians, as well as ensuring the right of return for Palestinian refugees to go back to Israel.

“No one can cede Jerusalem, the city from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the heavens… Jerusalem will be retrieved to the Palestinians not through negotiations or by hugging and kissing the enemy, but by way of jihad, blood, shahids, and resistance. With Allah’s help, Jerusalem will be returned,” said Haniyeh.

He added that “the Israeli Arabs are safeguarding the al-Aqsa Mosque; it is as if they are inside the belly of a whale. They represent the Islamic nation. We send them out regards, especially to Sheikh Raed Salah (founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel).”

Haniyeh said that “according to most all reports on secret peace talks or agreements, Israel is refusing to relinquish Jerusalem and the West Bank, refuses to accept the right of return of Palestinian refugees, refuses to dismantle the settlements and deems the Jordan Valley vital to its security…. On behalf of the Palestinian nation and Muslims everywhere, I say that we will not accept any such agreements.”

The Hamas leader also charged that Israel intends to destroy Al-Aqsa and appealed to all Muslims to “protect Jerusalem,” reported Ynetnews.
 

 

Psalms 2:9-12

9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

KJV

 

Monday - August 25, 2008

Hareidi Leaders Urge Temple Mount Ban for Jews

(IsraelNN.com) The leaders of Israel's hareidi-religious community have called for Israel to ban Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest spot.

Rabbis Shalom Elyashiv, Chaim Kanievsky and Ovadia Yosef recently asked Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, rabbi of the Western Wall complex, to reinstitute the traditional religious ruling forbidding Jews from entering the holy site. The call follows a publicized visit in July by Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a leading U.S. authority, to the plaza atop the Mount.

Chief IDF Rabbi Shlomo Goren urged Jews not to walk on the Temple Mount following Israel's stunning victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, but national-religious rabbis such as Kiryat Shmona chief rabbi Zephania Drori and Kiryat Arba chief rabbi Dov Lior have moved in recent years to overturn the ban, fearing a lack of Jewish presence could lead secular authorities to turn the site over to Moslem control.
 

 

Matthew 16:6

6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

KJV

Matthew 16:12

12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

KJV

Luke 12:1

12 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

KJV

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

KJV

 

 

Tuesday - August 26, 2008

Jews in the Temple Area: A "Mount"-ing Controversy

by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel
 

(IsraelNN.com)  “There’s a big problem. The Arabs are desecrating [the Mount]. So for the Arabs it’s allowed and Jews not? If they rule that Jews are not allowed on the mount, then Arabs should certainly not be allowed on it either. Several of Israel’s leading rabbis have fired the latest shot in one of modern Israel’s longest-running halachic disputes—whether a Jew may enter the Temple Mount nowadays. Rabbis Ovadia Yosef, Shalom Elyashiv and Chaim Kanievsky recently sent a letter to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall area, asking him to repeat a 40-year-old decree prohibiting Jews from entering the Temple Mount.

The decree was originally signed by most leading rabbis upon the Mount’s capture by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

The Temple Mount is the area upon which both Holy Temples stood, in which the priests offered sacrifices, and where thrice-yearly convocations of the whole nation of Israel took place during the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

In the center of the Temple complex stood a Holy of Holies that guarded the Holy Ark—once containing the original Tablets of the Law given to Moses by G-d at Mt. Sinai—and the Foundation Stone for the creation of the universe.  That spot is the holiest point in the world and the place that the High Priest entered only once a year to offer the most important atonement sacrifice of the year.

The modern debate centers on whether or not there is enough information from classical rabbinical sources to identify the location of the Holy of Holies, as well as the layout of the Temple, which articulated specific areas accessible to different categories of Jews. The biblical prohibition against a person entering an area in the Temple complex forbidden to him carries with it the severe Divine penalty of karet.

Rabbi Yosef is regarded as Israel’s foremost Sephardic authority on Torah law, Rabbi Elyashiv is considered to be the leader of the hareidi-religious community, and Rabbi Kanievsky is a world-renowned rabbi and authority on Torah law.

A Change in the Tide as Dissenting Ascenders Grow
The letter sent by the rabbis follows a firestorm of controversy that erupted last month when a prominent rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Tendler, was photographed ascending the Mount. Rabbi Tendler is the son-in-law of the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, considered the leading halachic (Torah law) authority in America in his time. Rabbi Tendler climbed to the plaza in the center of the Mount, upon which the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock, considered by many to be the location of the Inner Temple itself.

In recent years several other prominent rabbis have ascended the Mount, keeping the flames of the dispute burning.

In the latest letter, the three rabbis demand a complete ban on Jews entering any part of the Temple Mount on the grounds that the ritual purity of the area might be violated.

"A time passed, we have lost knowledge of the precise location of the Temple, and anyone entering the Temple Mount is liable to unwittingly enter the area of the Temple and the Holy of Holies,” the three wrote in the letter.
"Entrance to the Temple Mount, and the defilement of the Holy of Holies, is more severe than any of the violations in the Torah," wrote Rabbi Kanievsky.

Signs were first placed around the area in 1967 warning Jews that they would be incurring a divine decree of death if they ascended the Mount. The signs enjoyed the support of most rabbis at the time. However, with the passing decades many religious leaders, especially from the religious-Zionist mvement, began to question the validity of the decree. Among them are Kiryat Shmona’s chief rabbi Tzephania Drori, Kiryat Arba’s Dov Lior, and Rabbi Nachum Rabinovich, head of the Maaleh Adumim yeshiva, who have all called for a review of the ban.

Torah Ammunition for the 'Opposition'
Rabbi Yehuda Kreuzer is the head of the Jewish town of Mitzpeh Yericho, northeast of Jerusalem, as well as head of the "Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea" and founder of HaTnuah L’Kinun HaMikdash (the Movement to Re-establish the Temple). He is one of the growing number of rabbis who believe that Jews should be allowed to enter onto the Temple Mount, and in an interview with IsraelNationalNews, he cited a well-known rabbinical source:

“In short, the Radbaz [a leading halachic authority from the 1500s] ruled that the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone in the Holy of Holies…. He wrote that without a doubt this is the identity of the place. He wrote in a definite way the definite identity of the place,” Kreuzner reiterated.  “If so, it’s possible to do the measurements."

Rabbi Kreuzer noted that in Tractate Midot (Measurements) as well as in works by the Rambam (Maimonides, considered by many to be the greatest articulator of Torah law after Moses), the measurements of all parts of the Temple and the Mount are laid out in detail and agree with each other.

The Rabbi continued, “According to those [measurements], we can do all the calculations,” correlating all the areas of today’s Temple Mount to their original delineations.

“This is the essential source on which people who visit the Mount rely,” summarized the rabbi.
 
'Unclear Why It's Forbidden'
Responding to the recent letter calling for a renewal of the ban, Kreuzer said: “To this day, it’s unclear why it’s forbidden from a halachic perspective. What is the prohibition against someone going up? There’s no clear answer given [by those rabbis].”

Kreuzner continued with an admonition to his opponents: “He who knows [of the permission], knows; he who doesn’t, doesn’t. He who doesn’t know needs to learn. The problem is that he who doesn’t know doesn’t sit down and learn” why it’s in fact permitted.

The rabbi added that there have been numerous attempts made by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to create a commission to resolve this issue, all of which failed to materialize. “We should all sit down” to explore this issue, he said, but “the problem is that they don’t want to.”

 

Deuteronomy 30:6

6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

KJV

Jeremiah 4:4

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord , and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

KJV

Romans 2:29

29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

KJV

John 3:16-19

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

KJV

 

 

Wednesday - August 27, 2008

Rice Visit: PA State Closer than Ever

by Hillel Fendel
 

(IsraelNN.com) Negotiations between Israel and PA continue at a "crazy" pace, agreement on dividing Jerusalem is "closer than ever," and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is pushing for a nearly-complete agreement on a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria by January.  So reports Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily (WND).

Secretary Rice, completing a visit to the region today (Tuesday), has been pressing Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem.  Rice says Israel must agree to a Palestinian state capital in Jerusalem - Israel's own capital - and a full Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. 

Despite official Israeli government denials, Jerusalem is thus very much on the negotiating table. The Shas Party, which has said it would quit the government if Jerusalem were to be negotiated, remains firmly in the government coalition.

The Rice Compromise: Israel Remains in Jerusalem for 1-5 Years
Klein quotes top diplomatic sources involved in the talks as saying that Rice has been pushing for a "compromise" between Israel and the PA that would involve Israel's withdrawal from eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City, within one to five years.

The Israeli team, led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is willing to conclude an agreement on a Palestinian state by the end of the year, but wants to leave talks to decide the fate of Jerusalem for a later date.  The PA team, however, wants a deal by January on all core issues, including the Holy City.

The Rice compromise, the sources told WND, asks Israeli leaders to bend and agree to promise sections of Jerusalem to the PA - but not to actually withdraw before one to five years have passed.  U.S. President George W. Bush would then, just days before his term in office ends, issue an official letter guaranteeing U.S. support for the agreement.

High Intensity Talks
WND's Klein quoted an unnamed Palestinian Authority negotiator saying that the intensity and frequency of Israeli-Palestinian talks in recent weeks have been "crazy," and that the sides have been meeting on a daily basis, usually at the highest levels. The negotiator further said Jerusalem is being discussed by both sides, and that the two teams are "closer than ever" on coming to an agreement on the status of the city.  "This claim was verified to WND by other diplomatic sources involved in the negotiations," Klein wrote.

Reports of the past few months say that the Olmert-Livni negotiators are prepared to give up well over 90% of Judea and Samaria, as well as land for a "safe passage" between those areas and Gaza.  This, despite the results of the withdrawal from Gaza three years ago, which include the takeover of the area by Hamas and incessant rocket attacks on nearby Israeli areas.

 

Matthew 16:1-4

16 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

KJV

 

Friday - August 29, 2008

African Countries Want Racism Forum To Discuss Israel

(IsraelNN.com) Officials from 21 African countries meeting in Nigeria have adopted a blueprint for a Geneva meeting on racism next April in which to raise "concern about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupations." Several countries have warned they may boycott the conference because of the anti-Israel attitude.

Canada already has said it will not attend the conference because it was apparent that the forum would include "regrettable anti-Semitism." The United States and Israel walked out at the previous conference on racism in 2001 after a text, later amended, labeled Israel a racist country that practices apartheid.

 

39:1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

 

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog.

12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which cause them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
KJV