Israel news from within Israel

[Shammu]

J'lem underwhelmed by Syrian overtures
Jul. 28, 2008
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israeli diplomatic officials were not overly impressed Monday by a seven-minute interview Syrian Ambassador to Washington Imad Mustafa gave to Americans for Peace Now, in which he called for "an end to the state of war."

"We have heard this type of thing from the Syrian ambassadors before in places like Washington and London," one senior diplomatic official said. "But why doesn't Syria's ambassador in Cairo say the same thing? Why do we not hear it from others, from Damascus? They are speaking to their audience in the West, giving them what they want to hear. They are not speaking to us."

Another diplomatic official said the Syrians were "playing a double game. They are interested in a breakthrough with Washington, not with us. They want the process, not peace."

Mustafa, considered a close associate of Syrian President Bashar Assad, said in a webcast interview placed on the Americans for Peace Now (APN) Web site on Saturday night that if Israel wanted peace with Syria and Lebanon, "if they want the normalized relations they are looking for, security on their northern border, they cannot have this while they continue to occupy our Golan."

Mustafa said there was presently a "historic opportunity" to make peace not only with Syria and Lebanon, but also with the whole Arab world, since "we believe that Syria plays the role of the gatekeeper between Israel and the rest of the Arab world."

The ambassador said it was necessary for the US to become actively involved in the diplomatic process between Israel and Syria. Peace, he said, is a "great achievement" that will need "guarantees."

"[Peace] needs a world power like the United States of America to play an active role, not necessarily in negotiating the details, but in providing guarantees, and helping create the momentum that will actually lead to signing the peace agreement and implementing it," he said.

Mustafa said Damascus had the "will and the vision" for peace, and that "the onus is on the Israelis... to respond in kind to our initiative and prove that they also are willing to do what it takes to make peace with their northern neighbors.

"We have consistently had one message to the Israelis: We want to make peace, we believe in a fair and comprehensive peace with you." Israel, he said, was the wavering party - sometimes interested in talks, other times not.

Mustafa said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, at the beginning of his term, had not been interested in talks with Syria, but has now changed his position, "and we are very happy about this change in his position."

When asked what steps both sides could take to generate more public support for a peace deal, Mustafa said: "This is the State of Syria telling the State of Israel we desire to end the state of war between us, to conclude peace between two states, to recognize each other and to live as peaceful neighbors with each other within a normalized context."

The fourth round of indirect talks between Israel and Syria, with Turkey as the mediator, is scheduled to take place this week in Turkey.

Ori Nir, the spokesman for Americans for Peace Now in Washington who set up and conducted the interview with Mustafa, said he had been asking the Syrian envoy to do the webcast for some time. Nir said he knew Mustafa from his time as a reporter for The Forward newspaper, for which he once interviewed the ambassador.

"He really has been saying these things, talking in this tone, for quite some time," Nir said. "I do think there is an attempt to reach out to the Israeli public and reassure it that the peace overtures are for real, and that Syria is not only interested in the peace process, but actual peace. And I think part of the motivation has to do with Syria wanting to realign itself with the West."

When asked why, if Mustafa was interested in reaching out to the Israeli public he did not talk to the Israeli public, but rather to an American Jewish organization, Nir said the Syrians have consistently seen any interview to the Israeli press as part of a normalization process that they believe comes after negotiations for the Golan Heights, not before or during them.

Moshe Maoz, a professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, downplayed the importance of Mustafa's comments, saying they were "more of the same."

"This is a Syrian effort to show that they want an agreement with Israel so they can be accepted in Europe, and in the US," he said, adding that it was also probably an attempt to push Israel into a corner.

Mustafa, whom Maoz said he had met on a number of occasions, is a friend of Assad's, and his comments were "certainly coordinated" with the Syrian president. "No Syrian official would say a word without Assad's approval," he said.

"It is important for the Syrians to show the US that they are interested in an agreement," Maoz said. "They are throwing the ball in our court, but this is not a turning point."

J'lem underwhelmed by Syrian overtures

[Shammu]

Olmert says peace deal in 2008 unlikely
Jul. 28, 2008
Jpost.com staff and AP , THE JERUSALEM POST

While acknowledging that an agreement with the Palestinians on all issues, including Jerusalem, was impossible by the end of 2008, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert still wants to see a "historic agreement" concluded by the end of the year that will explicitly state that Jerusalem will be left for a later day and a different framework, diplomatic officials told The Jerusalem Post Monday.

The officials' comments came after Olmert said Monday in an appearance at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that a comprehensive agreement with the Palestinian Authority was impossible by the end of the year due to the difficulty of negotiations surrounding the issue of Jerusalem.

However, senior diplomatic officials said Olmert still believed a historic agreement that would touch with "great specificity" on all the other core issues was within reach. Written into the agreement would be a clause defining an agreed-upon mechanism between Israel and the PA for dealing with the issue of Jerusalem in 2009.

Olmert, in what was likely to be his last appearance before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee before the Kadima Party primaries in late September, said the gaps between Palestinian and Israeli negotiating positions on key topics other than Jerusalem, such as the refugee issue and permanent borders, "are not impossible to bridge."

"There is no practical possibility to get to an understanding about Jerusalem by the end of this year," Olmert said, adding that there were no ongoing negotiations on the topic. Instead, he said, he hoped that the current negotiations would include the "creation of a mechanism that allows us to get to a solution regarding Jerusalem."

This was the second time Olmert has publicly discussed creating a new mechanism to deal with the Jerusalem issue. In May, during the visit of US President George W. Bush, Olmert indicated during a public appearance with Bush that he was interested in drawing up an agreement with the Palestinians that would include understandings on borders, refugees and security arrangements, but leave Jerusalem for a later date.

In this way, a lack of agreement on Jerusalem, the most sensitive of the "core issues," would not torpedo agreement on other issues, where there was widely believed to be a greater degree of understanding. This, according to senior diplomatic sources, remains Olmert's overriding goal.

Regarding the other core issues, Olmert - in reference to the refugee issue - said in the Knesset: "We can get to an understanding that won't require us to take responsibility or to find a solution to the problem within Israel's borders."

"Our standpoint is that the State of Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish people and that Palestine is the country of the Palestinians," he said, in a rare use of the word "Palestine" to recognize a territorial and possibly political entity.

Negotiation was currently underway, he said, on the issue of refugees, permanent borders and security arrangements.

Olmert also announced that the decisions on final status would "involve a democratic process that will take into consideration the variety of different opinions in Israel."

Although he did not respond to calls from MK Yisrael Katz (Likud) to specify what he meant by "democratic process," Olmert promised that he would "consult with opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu" before making the final decision.

But despite the lack of active negotiation on the issue of Jerusalem, Olmert hinted at a final agreement that would not include the Arab neighborhoods located in east Jerusalem.

"The recent incidents of terror were all carried out by residents of Jerusalem. Whoever thinks that the basic fabric of Jerusalem will continue as it is - including 270,000 Arabs - will have to come to terms with the fact that there will be more bulldozers," he said, alluding to the two most recent terrorist attacks carried out in the capital. "We must take into consideration that a Jerusalem resident can move freely throughout all of Israel and we cannot necessarily predict what he will do."

During his briefing in the Knesset, which was presented under the title of "Israel's strategic situation," Olmert offered a generally optimistic picture of the security situation. He emphasized that Israel was enjoying a newfound strength in its relations with Hizbullah, and dismissed the likelihood of any increase of hostilities along the northern border. Hizbullah, he said, was now more concerned with the political situation in Lebanon, and the "disappearance" of Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh had created a deterrent effect.

"Before 2006, Hizbullah feared Israel but could predict how the diplomatic leadership would respond, but now they can't predict our response," Olmert said.

Regarding Hizbullah's Syrian sponsors, Olmert said Syria must understand "that they cannot take the path of peace while preserving their ties with Iran, terror in Iraq, Hizbullah and West Bank terror groups."

"There is no need for public ultimatums, but they must be given a real strategic choice on the way to peace and detachment from the axis of evil," he said. "This [choice] includes ties with the West and bolstering the Syrian economy."

Olmert responded to critics who said he had pursued Syrian President Bashar Assad at a conference in Paris earlier in the month for a handshake that never materialized.

"We didn't try to establish any direct contact with Syria during the conference because we knew that it would be artificial," Olmert said. "The Syrians knew that I had no intent to be with him in any incidental contact, despite the hundreds of photographers waiting for the opportunity."

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in Washington Monday to kick off a week of meetings Israeli officials are holding with their American counterparts to consult on the contours of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and discuss policy on Iran as the Bush administration enters its final six months in office.

Aware of the impending transfer of power in the American political scene, which could be mirrored by similar changes in Israel and the PA, Israeli officials are looking to pave the way for a transition that could extend the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations into next year even as they seek to shorten the time line for action on Iran.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is set to arrive on Wednesday for talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ahmed Qurei, who heads the PA's negotiating team, followed by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, who will focus on Iran as head of the Israeli side of the strategic dialogue between the two countries.

The State Department, meanwhile, continued to stand by the original Annapolis time line of reaching a shelf agreement by the end of the year, and put the week's discussions in that context.

"Our goal, of course, although these are difficult discussions, is to have an agreement by the end of the year, something that we continue to seek, that we'll work towards," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters Monday. "In terms of working with the two sides, it remains the same. We're going to continue working with those two sides to hopefully bring them together." But Israeli officials have their doubts.

"I don't think it's going to happen by the end of the year," said one Israeli diplomatic official, pointing to a lack of basic frameworks such as how security would be handled in a Palestinian state. He said that was one of the subjects that Barak would be dealing with during his talks with American officials.

Barak's schedule Monday included a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Vice President Richard Cheney, with consultations with Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley scheduled for Tuesday, as well as a private dinner with the former.

Olmert says peace deal in 2008 unlikely

[Soldier4Christ]

Israeli prime minister resigns
Olmert's move could precipitate Israeli confrontation with Iran

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today announced he will resign from office after his Kadima party holds internal elections in September to choose a new leader.

Olmert said he is stepping down due to a criminal investigation described by police officials as "serious" in which he is accused of corruption and financial improprieties.

The move could have far reaching consequences, including establishing a more hawkish Israeli leadership that favors tough action against Iran.

"I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections," Olmert said in a televised address from his official Jerusalem residence. "When a new (Kadima party) chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively," he said.

Olmert's resignation immediately sent political shock waves throughout the country, as it could result in his Kadima party retaining power or the election of a prime minister from a different party.

When Kadima elects a new leader in September, that person will work to form a coalition government consisting of more than half the Knesset's 120 seats. If a Knesset plurality is established, Kadima can retain its control over the prime minister's seat.

But if the Kadima party cannot establish a ruling coalition, new elections will be held in which the leader of the party with the most seats becomes prime minister. Currently, opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the favorite to win.

Olmert had little choice but to resign. He stood no chance of winning his party's September leadership primaries, which he agreed to hold as a condition for retaining his major coalition partner, the leftist Labor party. Labor had threatened to bolt in June unless Olmert agreed to early Kadima primaries.

Now top Kadima figures will battle for the party's leadership and possibly the prime minister's seat. The fight looks ready to be launched between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister. Mofaz seems to be Olmert's favored candidate.

Mofaz has made strong statements in support of military action against Iran. If he wins the Kadima primaries, he could form an alliance with Netanyahu's Likud party, which also favors strong action against Iran.

If a new Kadima head cannot form a government, Netayahu looks likely to become Israel's next leader, although Labor chairman Ehud Barak, another former prime minister, also eyes the top position.

[Barbara]

Wow! Things are happening so fast, Pastor Roger!!

It will be interesting to see events unfold over these next few months. Between the changes in Israel's political climate, and the changes in our political climate. Things are happening at blinding speed. There is so much riding on these changes.

But God is in control, He knows the end from the beginning. I just can't get used to the fact that we are truly living in these end times and so much is unfolding right before our eyes!!

May God keep Israel and the US strong!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Olmert to give Palestinians state before quitting
Prime minister plans to accelerate negotiations to reach deal on paper by next month

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Palestinian Authority he intends to accelerate negotiations the next few weeks to reach a deal on paper outlining a Palestinian state before he steps down from office next month, a top PA negotiator told WND.

"Papers are very important. It puts limits on the new prime minister. For example, the weak point of Israeli-Syrian negotiations are papers signed by former prime ministers that now must be abided during current negotiations," said the PA negotiator, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity.

"Olmert told us his goal is to reach an agreement on paper," the negotiator said.

He said the agreement will likely encompass understandings regarding the transfer of much of the West Bank to the Palestinians. He said he "hopes" the issue of Jerusalem is broached but that it might not be mentioned on paper beyond a declaration of agreement to negotiate further.

Sending political shockwaves through the country, Olmert yesterday announced he will resign from office after his Kadima party holds internal elections next month to choose a new leader. He said he is stepping down due to a criminal investigation, described by police officials as "serious," in which he is accused of corruption and financial improprieties.

But Olmert officials have been telling reporters here the prime minister intends to continue negotiating with the PA as long as he remains in office.

One Olmert official told the Haaretz daily newspaper the prime minister intends to "reach an agreement with the Palestinians during the time he has left." "Any agreement he reaches with the Palestinians won't be a personal agreement, and he will make sure that the (new) Kadima leadership is briefed and on board," the official added.

For his part, PA President Mahmoud Abbas' announced he would negotiate with any Israeli leader and that Olmert's departure shouldn't affect negotiations started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis conference, which seek to create a Palestinian state by January.

Not everyone in Olmert's party was happy with the continued talks.

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, considered a frontrunner for the Kadima leadership primary, said it would be wrong to reach agreements with the Palestinians on the core issues of the conflict while Olmert's government is teetering.

"At this time of change in the government, we must not reach agreements on the core issues in negotiations with the Palestinians," Mofaz said. "Anything that is decided now is very problematic, because it is happening before the change in the government and against the background of instability on the Palestinian side."

[HisDaughter]

Israeli situation could go from 'very bad to worse'
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 8/1/2008

Leaders of a pro-Jewish movement within Israel's Likud Party think it's premature for Israelis and supporters of the Jewish state to celebrate the impending exit of Ehud Olmert from the prime minister's chair.

Olmert announced July 30 that he would step aside from leadership of the Kadima Party. His reasoning for the move was to allow a successor to form a new government and hopefully avoid new elections. Tzipi Livni is the current favorite to win the party leadership during the September 17 Kadima primary.

 Manhigut Yehudit -- a.k.a. the Jewish Leadership Movement of the opposition Likud party -- says despite Olmert's corruptness, the situation may go from very, very bad to worse. U.S. director Rob Muchnick says Olmert's corruption baggage actually prevented him from carrying out further Israeli concessions to its Palestinian enemies.

 "Let's say Tzipi Livni forms a government. This is going to be worse than having Olmert in office," Muchnick contends. "Tzipi Livni stands for nothing. All she wants to do is become prime minister. And when she becomes prime minister, because she's not seen as corrupt, she will have, shall we say, more currency to destroy the land than Ehud Olmert does because he has no currency built up right now," he points out.

 Muchnick says it is impossible for Israel to survive as a Jewish nation with continued policies of appeasement and "painful concessions."

[Shammu]

Last Ethiopian airlift lands in Israel

Aug. 5, 2008
Haviv Rettig , THE JERUSALEM POST

As the last organized flight of Ethiopian Jewry landed in Israel on Tuesday, the government faced harsh criticism from advocates for continued aliya who said Israel was "abandoning" up to 8,700 Jews.

According to the Public Committee for Ethiopian Jewry, some 8,700 members of the Falash Mura, who converted to Christianity a century ago and have been undergoing conversions through Israel's Chief Rabbinate in order to make aliya, were left in Ethiopia and have not yet been examined for aliya eligibility.

Due to their questionable status as Jews, the Falash Mura were not airlifted with the Beit Yisrael group of Ethiopian Jews during Operation Solomon in 1991.

Critics, many within the government, argue that the number of those calling themselves Falash Mura grows constantly as impoverished non-Jews seek a better life in Israel.

But advocates for Falash Mura immigration point out that the group has been recognized as former Jews by Israel's chief rabbis, and that they undergo an Orthodox conversion upon arriving in Israel.

"Leaving [the Falash Mura] in Ethiopia is unethical and not Jewish," read a statement by the public committee, an organization that boasts as honorary president the former Supreme Court chief justice Meir Shamgar, and also includes noted rabbis and intellectuals among its membership.

The committee called on the government "to end the injustice toward thousands of Jews who are waiting [in Ethiopia] in difficult conditions and are making every effort to return to the religion of their fathers and to make aliya to Israel."

The Tuesday airlift drew to a close the state-organized campaign that brought some 120,000 immigrants from Ethiopia over the past three decades.

A government spokesperson said in a statement that the Tuesday flight brought an end to the government's commitment from February 2005 to determine the eligibility for aliya of 17,188 members of the Falash Mura.

The government was committed to implementing a High Court of Justice's demand to examine the eligibility of a few hundred more. As for the thousands which Falash Mura advocates say should be examined and possibly accepted for aliya, the government would deal with them on an individual basis, the statement added.

"I don't think the aliya is over," Jewish Agency chairman Ze'ev Bielski said Tuesday, noting that a cabinet-level meeting last week chaired by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had decided to examine ways to continue the immigration.

"Every individual instance will be checked on its merits," Bielski added, "and we believe more will come."

In any case, he promised, the Jewish Agency would execute whatever policy the Israeli government chooses regarding those left in Ethiopia, and in the meantime would leave behind an office and staff on the ground in the east African country.

Meanwhile, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss said Tuesday that he had completed his own investigation of the government's handling of the Falash Mura immigration and had presented copies to Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar and other government leaders for their response. Lindenstrauss said the report would be presented in a few days to the Knesset State Control Committee, which had asked him to conduct the investigation.

Last Ethiopian airlift lands in Israel

[Shammu]

Jeremiah 31:8-10 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.

[Shammu]

Sunday marks the destruction of both the first and second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem
 
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.

Sunday marks the destruction of both the first and second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem

[Shammu]

As the Jews mourn the destruction of both their first and second Temples on this Tish B'Av, they also pray for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem which is called for in Bible prophecy, and by the way, all preparations have been made for this Temple to be rebuilt.

Jews, on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, Tish B'Av, go to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to read the book of Lamentations as they mourn over the destruction of the two previous Jewish Temples in the holy city. For almost 2,000 years, there has been no Temple on Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

This reveals to us that the Branch, a name for Jesus Christ, will come back to build His Temple. That Temple, the Messiah's Temple as described in Ezekiel 40-46, will be where Jesus Christ will rule and reign during the Millennial Kingdom in the future. However, before Jesus builds His Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Antichrist will help the Jewish people erect a Temple on the Temple Mount.

Daniel 11:45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

This Temple will be the one desecrated by the Antichrist during the Tribulation Period which follows the Rapture. All preparations have been made for this next Temple to be built.

Tish B'Av and Jewish prayers for the next Temple do indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

[Shammu]

Hamas plans to breach Sinai border Sun.
Aug. 10, 2008
Khaled Abu Toameh
THE JERUSALEM POST

Hamas supporters are planning to storm the Rafah border crossing with Sinai on Sunday to protest against the continued closure of the terminal, sources in the Gaza Strip said over the weekend.

The move was aimed at "embarrassing" the Egyptians and forcing them to reopen the border crossing, the sources added.

For 12 days, beginning on January 23, hundreds of thousands of Gazans breached the border and poured into Sinai, seriously embarrassing the Egyptians and sparking tensions between Cairo and Hamas.

The decision to send Hamas supporters to the border on Sunday comes amid renewed tensions between the Islamist movement and Egypt.

A Hamas official in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was an "American puppet and dictator." The official accused Mubarak of reneging on his promise to reopen the Rafah terminal once Hamas had accepted the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.

"Mubarak is too afraid to make a decision on his own," the Hamas official said. "He's afraid of the Americans and the Israelis. He's also under pressure from [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas not to open the Rafah border crossing out of fear that such a move would boost Hamas's standing."

The Hamas official added that Mubarak and his "dictatorial" regime were responsible for the continued "siege" against Gaza.

"People are dying every day in the Gaza Strip because they can't travel to Egypt and other Arab countries for medical treatment," he said. "More than 230 Palestinians have died since the closure of the Rafah border crossing more than a year ago."

The official said there was no justification for the continued closure of the crossing. "Hamas has abided by the cease-fire agreement, but the Egyptians haven't fulfilled their promise to reopen the border," he said.

"Hamas won't resume the negotiations over a prisoner exchange [with Israel] until the Egyptians reopen the border crossing."

Hamas also accused Mubarak of banning a senior Hamas delegation from traveling through the crossing.

The delegation had been supposed to visit a number of Arab countries at the invitation of Arab parliamentarians.

Salah Bardaweel, a Hamas legislator and spokesman in the Strip, said Egypt's refusal to reopen the Rafah crossing was one of the main reasons behind the delay in achieving an agreement over a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

He said tensions between Hamas and Cairo stemmed from the fact that the Egyptians were trying to force Hamas to accept all their demands for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit.

Another Hamas official said his movement was "extremely upset" with Mubarak for unleashing a "smear campaign" against Hamas in the Egyptian media.

Cairo's official media have been launching scathing attacks on Hamas in recent months, accusing the movement of consolidating divisions among the Palestinians and attempting to "export terrorism" to Egypt.

The Hamas official also accused the Egyptians of providing sanctuary to dozens of former Fatah operatives who had fled from the Gaza Strip.

Many of these operatives, the official said, were using Cairo as a base for planning to undermine the Hamas government and to launch armed attacks on Hamas figures and institutions in Gaza.

Egypt's refusal to release scores of Hamas members from its prisons has also escalated tensions.

Many of the Hamas prisoners have been in Egyptian jail for more than three years. Hamas representatives accused Mubarak of reneging on an earlier promise to release their men.

Hamas plans to breach Sinai border Sun.

[Shammu]

Israel: Lebanon is responsible for Hezbollah's actions
By Barak Ravid
08/08/2008     

Israel will hold Lebanon responsible for any attacks against Israel, in particular for any Hezbollah efforts to avenge the death of its military leader Imad Mughniyeh. This decision on Wednesday by the security cabinet represents a change in Israeli policy, after always firmly separating Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.

According to defense establishment recommendations adopted by the security cabinet, Israel will treat the Lebanese unity government, which is headed by Fouad Siniora and includes Hezbollah, as responsible for any event that takes place in its sovereign territory or events for which Lebanese nationals are responsible.

A senior Jerusalem source said if Hezbollah attacks Israel from inside Lebanese territory, shoots at Israel Air Force aircraft or carries out a terror attack abroad as revenge for the Mughniyeh assassination (which it attributes to Israel), then Israel will hold Lebanon responsible and respond appropriately. In the coming weeks, Israel plans to start transmitting this message to the United Nations, United States, Russia and European nations, and primarily to Syria and Hezbollah itself.

In the Second Lebanon War, Israel avoided damaging Lebanese civilian infrastructure such as power stations, ports or government institutions, despite the recommendation of then-chief of staff Dan Halutz, due to pressure from Washington on Israel. The U.S. claimed that bombing Lebanese infrastructure would topple the moderate Siniora government.

Defense officials noted in the cabinet meeting that two developments supported a change in policy. The first is the fact Hezbollah is now a partner in a Lebanese unity government and holds veto rights. The second is that the guidelines of the new Lebanese government guidelines, approved by President Michel Suleiman, allow Hezbollah to continue its military activity against Israel.

The defense establishment believes these new conditions improve Israel's deterrent power as Hezbollah understands the severe ramifications of the new situation should there be any action against Israel in Lebanon or overseas.

Israel: Lebanon is responsible for Hezbollah's actions

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I believe it only makes sense that Israel hold Lebanon accountable. in the past week or two, Lebanon gave Hezbollah certain mandates that are generally reserved for matters of State. In effect, the Lebanese have given this terrorist organization carte blanche to do as they please.

If I am not mistaken, this was land taken from Syria and not Lebanon. So, its almost like Syria has won the Lebanon war and the two are now in lockstep, at least on this issue. In fact, to go one further, its almost as if Lebanon is acting as Syria's agent.

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Israel fears Russian-Syrian arms pact
Aug. 11, 2008
Herb Keinon
THE JERUSALEM POST

Syrian President Bashar Assad is scheduled to visit Moscow next week, the Russian News Agency RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Assad last visited Moscow in December 2006, and Israeli officials Monday dismissed the notion that this visit was in any way linked to Israel's sales of weapons to Georgia.

Although there was some concern in Jerusalem that if Israel did not dramatically reduce weapons shipments to Tbilisi, Russia would sell more advanced weaponry to Syria and Iran, Israeli officials estimated that the visit was a Russian effort to get more involved in the indirect Israeli-Syrian track.

Israel has, over the last few months, considerably reduced arms sales to Tbilisi, and has only given licenses for defensive weapons.

"Russia wants to be a player here," one Israeli diplomatic official said, "and I don't imagine that they were very happy that the Syrians are demanding greater US involvement in the Syrian-Israeli talks before agreeing to direct negotiations. They also want to be involved."

On his last visit to Moscow, Assad reportedly expressed interest in procuring Russia's S-300 air and missile defense system, but to no avail. Israel is now trying to keep Russia from selling this state-of-the-art system to Iran, which is also interested in buying it.

The Russian news agency, quoting a spokesman for the Syrian information ministry, said Assad's trip will take place on August 20 and last two weeks. The report said Assad would meet Russian leaders and discuss bilateral relations, as well as world and regional developments, in particular the Middle East diplomatic process and the situation in Iraq.

In addition to meeting the Russian leaders in Moscow, Assad - who Israeli officials have said is already benefiting from the indirect talks with Jerusalem by improving his situation in the west - is expected to host French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the end of the month to prepare for a visit by mid-September of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, whose invitation to Assad in July to come to Paris and take part in a summit of Mediterranean and EU countries seemed to open the door to the West, said in Paris at the time that he intended to visit Syria by mid-September.

Israel fears Russian-Syrian arms pact

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Israel stages war games on occupied Golan

8 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel launched large-scale military exercises on Tuesday on the occupied Golan Heights along the Syrian border on Tuesday in the presence of senior political and military officials.

"There is a reinforcement on the other side, and it's not by chance that we are training intensively on the Golan Heights and on a major scale," Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who observed the drills, told army radio.

He was referring to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah, which Israel says has been rearming with help from Syria and Iran since the 2006 Lebanon war, widely regarded in Israel as a failure.

Barak said UN resolution which ended the 34-day war "failed to fulfill its goals."

"There has been a very significant reinforcement of Hezbollah in recent years, and we are examining the possibility that the balance of power has shifted with the introduction of sophisticated weapons from Syria," Barak said.

The August 2006 resolution demanded the pullout of the Israeli army from south Lebanon and its replacement by a UN-backed Lebanese army deployment and called for the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups.

But in the two years since, Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of rearming with rockets and other sophisticated weapons smuggled into Lebanon from Syria.

Israel has itself continued regular overflights of Lebanon, which are in violation of the agreement.

Barak also warned the government against slashing defence spending in a proposed budget aimed at reducing overall expenditure by some 2.6 billion dollars, saying "Israel cannot afford the luxury of undermining its security."

The exercises on the Golan were taking place despite the resumption of indirect Turkey-mediated peace talks between Israel and Syria in May after an eight-year break.

Israel captured and occupied the strategic plateau in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed it in 1981.

Israel stages war games on occupied Golan