Israel news from within Israel

[HisDaughter]

'Home front drill scenario not fiction'   

http://www.jpost.com/

Israel will likely suffer simultaneous missile strikes and terrorist attacks in the next outbreak of war, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

That is why the Home Front Command is conducting a five-day drill next week, dubbed Turning Point 3, which will send Israelis running for their bomb shelters on June 2.

"This isn't an imaginary situation. This isn't detached from reality and if there is a war, it's very likely that this is what will happen," Vilnai said, during the committee hearing.

On the third day of the drill, at 11 a.m., a siren will go off throughout the entire country, and everyone is expected to immediately head to the nearest shelter or protected space.

The time suggested for reaching the protected space differs depending upon location. Those living in the Golan Heights and some other northern cities have less than 30 seconds to find shelter while those in Tel Aviv have two minutes and in Jerusalem, three minutes.

"If someone attacks us, we will be ready," said Vilna'i, in an interview after the Knesset session. "The concept is 'as protected as possible.'"

Turning Point 3 has been called the largest drill in Israel's history. Schools across the country will interrupt studies to get students into shelters on time. Security personnel at Jerusalem's Malha Mall will try to bring all its customers to the mall's shelters and secured areas.

Only hospitals will not disrupt activities for the drill, as per Health Ministry instructions.

The Home Front Command has been promoting the massive drill on TV, radio, and in newspapers, and has mailed instructions to the homes of haredi families that might not see the ads in the general media.

[HisDaughter]

Half of Israelis back immediate strike on Iran   

www.breitbart.com/

Just over half of Israelis back an immediate attack on the nuclear facilities of arch-foe Iran but the rest want to wait and see the results of US diplomacy, according to a poll released this week.

Fifty-one percent support an immediate Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites, while 49 percent believe the Jewish state should await the outcome of efforts by the US administration to engage with the Islamic republic, said the survey published by Tel Aviv University.

But 74 percent of those questioned said they believe that new US President Barack Obama's efforts will not stop the Islamic republic from acquiring atomic weapons.

Israel, widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed state, considers Iran its arch-foe after repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."

Israel and Washington accuse Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

Opinion is split among left- and right-wingers about whether to attack Iran's nuclear sites, with 63 percent of those leaning to the right favouring a strike, compared with 38 percent of those leaning to the left, the poll said.

[HisDaughter]

Muslim Leader Fears Netanyahu will Try to Rebuild the Jewish Temple

www.israelnationalnews.com/

Sheikh Raad Salah, leader of the Northern Wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, believes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will try to rebuild the Jewish Temple.

Speaking at a conference organized by website Islam Online in Doha, Qatar, Salah stated his belief that Netanyahu may try to build the Jewish Temple – which the Islamic preacher called “the false temple” – during his current term after allegedly failing to do so in his first term as Prime Minister in the late 1990s.

“I ask that those with the power to make the political decision hear me,” Salah exhorted his audience. “Netanyahu is about to build the false Temple, and when the Jews build the Temple they will do so upon the ruins of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].”

The danger to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque is “tangible and immediate,” Salah said, echoing similar dramatic statements he has made over the years. “I warn, I ask for aid and I call out,” he said. “We should expect deadly surprises that could hurt Jerusalem in general and Al Aqsa in particular,” he said. “We live in years that will determine if Jerusalem survives and in Al Aqsa will remain standing,” he added.

Salah said that in an effort to prepare world opinion for the realization of its goals in Jerusalem, Israel sends tourists to the Al Aqsa mosque and tells them that it was built upon the ruins of the Jewish Temple.

The solution to “the threat against Jerusalem,” according to Salah, is a complete mobilization of the Arab world, including the religious imams, who need to act and “recruit the masses.” He asked Muslim scholars to pronounce edicts that will force “the Muslim nation and its leaders to confront their duty towards the problem of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa.”

“A thousand politicians can talk without changing a thing,” Salah said. ‘One religious sage can do what the politicians cannot carry out."

The Jewish Temple was first built by King Solomon (Shlomo) about 3,000 years ago. It served as the spiritual center of the Hebrew nation and as a place of national pilgrimage and sacrifice. Serviced by the priestly class (Kohanim) and Levites, the Temple contained the Seven-Branched Menorah and housed the golden Holy Ark within a room known as the Holy of Holies.

The First Temple was razed by Babylonian conquerors, rebuilt by Jews by permission of a Persian emperor, defiled by Greeks and then re-consecrated by the Hasmoneans, and burnt down again by Romans.

Jewish religion commands the Jews to rebuild the Temple as part of a Divine plan for the salvation of the Jewish people and the entire world, but Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is not considered observant, never has associated himself with efforts by Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.

[nChrist]

Hello Grammyluv,

Sister, thanks for posting these articles. As Christians, we should know what's coming because GOD'S WORD tells us bluntly what's coming. It appears that Bible Prophecy MIGHT be about to be unfolded before our very eyes. We don't know when, and we don't know if Christians will still be here or not, but we know that GOD will keep all of HIS PROMISES at HIS Appointed Time. It appears that time is drawing near. We can now see the signs all over the world, including our part of the world. Those who want to know what the near future holds can read all about it in GOD'S WORD. I personally believe that GOD'S WORD tells us which generation these things will happen  --  THIS ONE! As Christians, we can KNOW these things if we Study our BIBLES, and GOD did provide HIS WORD to inform and instruct us. The WORLD will still be rejecting and mocking GOD as these things begin to happen. EVIL will RIPEN and even rule for a time, and I think that time is SOON.

Love In Christ,
Tom

P.S. Please see the next two posts. I've posted these before, but I feel led to post them again.

[nChrist]

Matthew 24:23-31 NASB  "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.  24  "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.  25  "Behold, I have told you in advance.  26  "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.  27  "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.  28  "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.  29  "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  30  "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.  31  "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Matthew 24:32-44 NASB  "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;  33  so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.  34  "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.  35  "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.  36  "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.  37  "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.  38  "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  39  and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.  40  "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.  41  "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.  42  "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.  43  "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  44  "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

Revelation 11:1-13 NASB  Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.  2  "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.  3  "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."  4  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.  5  And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.  6  These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.  7  When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.  8  And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.  9  Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.  10  And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.  11  But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.  12  And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.  13  And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Ezekiel 7:1-9 NASB  Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying,  2  "And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, 'An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land.  3  'Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you.  4  'For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the LORD!'  5  "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming!  6  'An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come!  7  'Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near--tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains.  8  'Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations.  9  'My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.

Ezekiel 7:14-20 NASB  'They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude.  15  'The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city.  16  'Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity.  17  'All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water.  18  'They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads.  19  'They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.  20  'They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.

Ezekiel 7:25-27 NASB  'When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none.  26  'Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders.  27  'The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.'"

[nChrist]

Ezekiel 38:14-23 NASB  "Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?  15  "You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army;  16  and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."  17  'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?  18  "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger.  19  "In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  20  "The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.  21  "I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother.  22  "With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.  23  "I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."'

Ezekiel 39:1-7 NASB  "And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal;  2  and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.  3  "I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand.  4  "You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field.  5  "You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken," declares the Lord GOD.  6  "And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD.  7  "My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezekiel 39:17-22 NASB  "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.  18  "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.  19  "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.  20  "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.  21  "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.  22  "And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.

Ezekiel 39:25-29 NASB  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.  26  "They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid.  27  "When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations.  28  "Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.  29  "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.

Isaiah 2:1-5 NASB  The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.  2  Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.  3  And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  4  And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.  5  Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 9:2-7 NASB  The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.  3  You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.  4  For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.  5  For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.  6  For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  7  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 65:17-25 NASB  "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.  18  "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.  19  "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.  20  "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.  21  "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.  22  "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.  23  "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.  24  "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.  25  "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.

[Shammu]

Netanyahu will Try to Rebuild the Jewish Temple

by Gil Ronen

(IsraelNN.com) Sheikh Raad Salah, leader of the Northern Wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, believes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will try to rebuild the Jewish Temple.

Speaking at a conference organized by website Islam Online in Doha, Qatar, Salah stated his belief that Netanyahu may try to build the Jewish Temple – which the Islamic preacher called “the false temple” – during his current term after allegedly failing to do so in his first term as Prime Minister in the late 1990s.

“I ask that those with the power to make the political decision hear me,” Salah exhorted his audience. “Netanyahu is about to build the false Temple, and when the Jews build the Temple they will do so upon the ruins of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].”

Immediate danger
The danger to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque is “tangible and immediate,” Salah said, echoing similar dramatic statements he has made over the years. “I warn, I ask for aid and I call out,” he said. “We should expect deadly surprises that could hurt Jerusalem in general and Al Aqsa in particular,” he said. “We live in years that will determine if Jerusalem survives and in Al Aqsa will remain standing,” he added.

Salah said that in an effort to prepare world opinion for the realization of its goals in Jerusalem, Israel sends tourists to the Al Aqsa mosque and tells them that it was built upon the ruins of the Jewish Temple.

The solution to “the threat against Jerusalem,” according to Salah, is a complete mobilization of the Arab world, including the religious imams, who need to act and “recruit the masses.” He asked Muslim scholars to pronounce edicts that will force “the Muslim nation and its leaders to confront their duty towards the problem of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa.”

“A thousand politicians can talk without changing a thing,” Salah said. ‘One religious sage can do what the politicians cannot carry out."

The Jewish Temple was first built by King Solomon (Shlomo) about 3,000 years ago. It served as the spiritual center of the Hebrew nation and as a place of national pilgrimage and sacrifice. Serviced by the priestly class (Kohanim) and Levites, the Temple contained the Seven-Branched Menorah and housed the golden Holy Ark within a room known as the Holy of Holies.

Coming soon: the Third Temple
The First Temple was razed by Babylonian conquerors, rebuilt by Jews by permission of a Persian emperor, defiled by Greeks and then re-consecrated by the Hasmoneans, and burnt down again by Romans.

Jewish religion commands the Jews to rebuild the Temple as part of a Divine plan for the salvation of the Jewish people and the entire world, but Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is not considered observant, never has associated himself with efforts by Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.

Netanyahu will Try to Rebuild the Jewish Temple

[Shammu]

I wish SOMEBODY would start building it; however, I'm being a bit selfish. I want to go Home.

My understanding is it will not be built until after we are raptured. Part of the antichrists gig is to allow the rebuilding of the temple so the jewish temple sacrifices can commence, which we know he changes his mind 3 ¹/₂ years later.

[Shammu]

Netanyahu backs an independent Palestinian state for first time
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
Sunday 14 June 2009

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, last night said for the first time he would accept an independent Palestinian state, but only on condition it was demilitarised and that the Palestinians recognised Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

In a key policy speech intended to address growing US pressure for a move towards peace in the Middle East, Netanyahu defended Israel's position and said he wanted to make peace, but despite his mention of a Palestinian state he offered few substantial concessions.

He praised the Jewish settlers who live in east Jerusalem and on the occupied West Bank and refused US calls for a halt to all settlement growth. He also said Palestinian refugees, who were forced out or fled from their homes during the 1948 war, would not be allowed to return to what is today Israel. Jerusalem, he said, must remain united under Israeli control.

"If we receive this guarantee regarding demilitarisation and Israel's security needs, and if the Palestinians recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people, we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarised Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state," Netanyahu told an audience at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

His conditions were strict. He said the Palestinians could not form an army or control their own airspace, or sign military agreements with other states. He mentioned a Palestinian state only once and at other times talked only of areas under Palestinian control, saying the Palestinians could have their own "flag, anthem and administration".

Netanyahu said he would meet any Arab leader to talk about peace and called on the Palestinians to immediately restart peace talks. However a spokesman for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, rejected his offer. "Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralysed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions," said Nabil Abu Rdainah. "This will not lead to complete and just peace; will not lead to a solution."

He noted particularly the rejection of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the refusal to allow east Jerusalem to be a capital for a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's speech comes just days after Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world in Cairo. Obama's words for Israel then were clear, calling for a "stop" to Israel's settlement project. Nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, even though settlements on occupied land are regarded as illegal under international law. Obama himself said the settlements undermined peace efforts, and noted that the Palestinians had a "legitimate" aspiration for a state of their own. However last night, Washington said Netanyahu's speech was "an important step forward", because of the mention of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu said he did not intend to expand the settlements or build new ones, but would allow "normal lives" to continue. This is widely taken to mean that building will continue to accommodate the growth of families, even though this so-called natural growth was to have been frozen under the 2003 US road map for peace. He said Israeli withdrawals from land they had occupied had not brought peace.

He had supportive words for the settlers themselves. "Settlers are neither the enemies of the people, nor of peace," he said. "They are our brothers and sisters. They are Zionists. They have values."

He also challenged assumptions about the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, insisting it was not down to Israel's military occupation. "The simple truth is that the root of this conflict has been, and still is, the refusal to accept the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own," he said. Palestinian refugees would not be allowed back to Israel. "The refugee problem will find its solution outside the borders of Israel," he said.

Netanyahu said it was a "fundamental condition" to end the conflict that the Palestinians accept Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

In 1988 the Palestine Liberation Organisation, as representative of the Palestinian people, formally recognised Israel, but Palestinian leaders have been reluctant to accept the idea of Israel as a Jewish state because it implies giving up the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and leaves unacknowledged the presence of Israel's Arab citizens, who comprise 20% of the population.

In the end, the international community will look for changes in Israeli actions on the ground in the West Bank. Some shacks in a small number of the most distant settlement outposts have been taken down in recent days, and some Israeli checkpoints in the occupied West Bank have been lifted. But settlement activity continues.

Netanyahu backs an independent Palestinian state for first time

[Shammu]

Gush Etzion Residents: Keep Carter Out of Our Towns
Sivan 27, 5769 / June 19, '09
by David Lev

(IsraelNN.com) Three days after declaring that “Mideast peace is impossible without Hamas,” and a day after receiving one of the highest awards bestowed by the Palestinian Authority, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is set to visit Neve Daniel in Gush Etzion on Sunday – and residents say they are very unhappy with the visit, to say the least.

In a letter, a grassroots residents' committee urged residents to contact Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shaul Goldstein, whose home Carter is supposed to visit Sunday, and express their disapproval of the meeting. Several petitions are being circulated condemning the visit.

The committee's letter said that the former U.S. president, known for his hostitlity towards Israel, was trying to put on a guise of “even-handedness” in visiting a town in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), but “Carter is unfair and is far from being objective."

“Carter has always, and will always, speak up and defend those who wish to destroy the State of Israel. He pushes an anti-Israel agenda, while presenting himself as a good-willed broker who seeks peace and is ready to listen to 'both sides.' This makes him all the more dangerous,” the letter added.

Slanderous statements
American Jews are less naïve about Carter, the committee's letter says. Quoting several articles by prominent American attorney Alan Dershowitz on the subject of Carter, the letter lists the former president's numerous anti-Israel writings and stances:

- Carter's Atlanta-based research center is funded by Arab and anti-Semitic elements. The center has received a one million dollar donation from the Bin Laden family, among others.

- While Carter professes to be an advocate for human rights, he is in truth an advocate only for Arab rights, ignoring the real suffering of hundreds of millions in China, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran.

- In his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” Carter makes numerous slanderous statements against Jews, and mangles the history of the land of Israel, claiming erroneously that Christians and Arabs have inhabited the land since Roman times. Meanwhile, he completely ignores the continuous Jewish residency in the land for the past 2,000 years.

- His book also blames Israel for the mideast conflict, ignoring the fact that Israel proposed and agreed to many diplomatic compromises in an attempt to forge a peace treaty. In response to criticism of his book, Carter responded with the charge that “any voice that does not agree with Israel is immediately forced to shut up.”

'In love' with the Palestinians
The letter says that Carter long ago crossed the line, and that “he is a clear supporter of our enemies. Now he is attempting to present himself as an 'honest broker.' We cannot allow ourselves to be the instruments of his rehabilitation. We must tell him: 'You are working against the Jewish nation in its land, and you cannot be an honest broker.'”

Receiving the Palestinian Authority's International Award for Excellence and Creativity on Saturday, Carter said in Ramallah that he has “been in love with the Palestinian people for many years. I have two great-grandsons that are rapidly learning about the people here and the anguish and suffering and deprivation of human rights that you have experienced ever since 1948," he said. Adding that he supported fully President Barack Obama's call for a freeze in construction in communities in Judea and Samaria, Carter said that "in the future, I am sure, he will call for the dismantling of the settlements that exist."

Gush Etzion Residents: Keep Carter Out of Our Towns

[Shammu]

Most of us here agree completely with this article about Carter. He is not a very wise person. It appears many Israelis are indeed aware that Carter has no interest in protecting Israel.  He just wants to help with the destruction of Israel.

I myself feel Carter should be kicked out of the Israel, and Palestinian. He should also have his passport revoked PERMANENTLY!!

[Shammu]

Israel's military planning for a multi-front war
June 16, 2009

TEL AVIV — Israel's military has intensified coordination between the army and air force to conduct simultaneous operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Officials said the effort reflects an assessment that Israel's next war would include such adversaries as Hamas, Hizbullah and Syria.

"The Israeli military's future operations will be broader and more demanding in terms of their scope and pace, with more risks than Operation Cast Lead," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

Operation Cast Lead marked the Israeli military attack on the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. The 22-day war spanned December 2008 and January 2009.

 In an address to Israeli military officers on June 9, Barak envisioned a war with far greater Israeli casualties than that against Hamas. The minister said the next war would take place under more difficult conditions than the Israeli air, naval and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, a flat area of 360 square kilometers.

"The country will have many challenges, but what matters is the resiliency of the Israel Defense Forces and its ability to come out on top in every battle," Barak said.

"You must not delude yourselves. During combat things have a tendency to go wrong and, in the end, the completion of the mission is measured by bravery and determination."

On June 9, the military demonstrated interservice interoperability in an exercise in southern Israel. The exercise combined infantry, engineering, armored, artillery and the air force.

"This demonstrated various combat techniques used to break through complex ground obstacles and techniques for combat in built-up areas," a military statement said. "This demonstration included a presentation of the relevant logistical and medical support used during combat."

Officials said the military has intensified training, particularly in urban areas. They said the military-led Turning Point-3 civil defense exercise, held in late May, envisioned missile strikes on Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

"We are faced with many challenges from distant lands through nations that share a border with us, threats from conventional weapons and threats from those who are trying to attain unconventional abilities," Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Dan Harel said.

Harel said the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip demonstrated interoperability between the air force and army. The general said the army and air force would develop air combat support tactics on the level of battalion.

"These tactics enable the combat plans intended to assist the different brigades on the battlefield," Harel said. "In the future, these tactics will also be implemented on the battalion level. The information regarding aerial attacks will be transferred directly to the combat planes from the situation room of the brigade commander by the aerial assistance officer, who acts as representative of the Israel Air Force."

The augmented exercise training schedule was ordered in wake of the Israeli war with Hizbullah in 2006. The military was said to have performed poorly in ground operations against Hizbullah commandos and rocket launches.

"Today I can say that the IDF has learned the lessons of the war, has implemented them, and is now a stronger army -- more adept and more qualified to deal with the substantial security challenges that face us today," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who also addressed the officers, said.

On June 15, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi convened senior officers for a review of the war in the Gaza Strip. Ashkenazi said the anti-Hamas campaign drew on lessons from the Hizbullah war, with successes attributed to preparation by the standing army and reserves.

"Being prepared for war is the IDF's constant mission, and we must be prepared to our utmost ability," Ashkenazi said. "The conclusions of this operation are not only relevant in the southern front, and they must be implemented in a general work plan."

Israel's military planning for a multi-front war

[HisDaughter]

Israel shows off new military technology   

jpost.com

A hovercraft designed to evacuate wounded soldiers from an urban battlefield, an unmanned helicopter and a kamikaze drone will be unveiled to the public on Monday at Israel's official pavilion at the 48th Paris Air Show.

Twelve Israeli companies - including Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, Urban Aeronautics and Elbit Systems - will present their wares at the Israeli national pavilion, which cost over NIS 6 million to erect at the Le Bourget expo center.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to Paris on Sunday to attend the opening.

One new platform that will be on display is the MULE medical evacuation unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under development by Urban Aeronautics, based in Yavne.

The IDF has expressed interest in the MULE, which the company has said is capable of delivering supplies and ferrying casualties within a battle zone. The MULE can carry approximately 317 kilograms over an 80-kilometer radius. The speed of the MULE is expected to be in the range of 100 knots, with a maximum operating altitude of 3,660 meters.

Another UAV slated to be unveiled on Monday is the Picador, an unmanned helicopter developed by Aeronautics Defense Systems. The Picador has already made its first flight test and is designed for naval and land-based operations. It has a range of 200 km. and is reportedly capable of carrying a 180-kg. payload.

Another drone on display is the HAROP loitering munition, a self-destructing drone that can be used to detect and destroy missile launchers, anti-aircraft systems and naval craft. Developed by IAI, the HAROP can be launched from various platforms.

Rather than carrying a separate missile or warhead, the HAROP drone itself is the weapon and is designed to be a hunter and killer by loitering above a battlefield and attacking targets. It was specifically designed to suppress enemy air defense systems.

IAI recently signed a $100 million contract to supply the HAROP to a foreign customer, reportedly India.

"This is a state-of-the-art loitering munition system which features accurate detection capabilities and minimizes collateral damage to the surrounding area," IAI CEO Itzhak Nissan said.

In related news, Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel has decided to purchase the Iron Fist active-protection system developed by Israel Military Industries for the army's new "Namer" armored personnel carriers (APC). Currently in its final development stages, the Iron Fist is capable of intercepting and destroying a wide range of anti-tank missiles, from old RPGs and standard tank shells to the Russian-made advanced missiles in Hizbullah's and Syria's arsenals.

The Iron Fist consists of a radar and passive optical system that detects incoming threats and destroys them within a fraction of a second using a combustible blast interceptor. Unlike similar active-protection systems, which fire off a large number of projectiles, the Iron Fist intercepts incoming threats by using a rocket the shape of a mortar shell. The rocket destroys the threat with a blast that crushes its soft components or deflects the missile or kinetic projectile in flight.

[HisDaughter]

Who will authorize the rebuilding of the Third Temple - The Islamic Mahdi, The Sanhedrin or A Prophet?   

jpost.com

A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.

"God's Holy Mountain Vision" project hopes to defuse religious strife by showing that Jews' end-of-days vision could harmoniously accommodate Islam's present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount.

"This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative.

The Interfaith Encounter Association at the Mishkenot Sha'ananim's Konrad Adenauer Conference Center in Jerusalem is sponsoring the program, which includes interfaith study and other educational projects.

According to Islamic tradition, the Dome of the Rock, built in 691, marks the spot where Muhammed ascended to Heaven.

But according to Jewish tradition, Mount Moriah, now under the Dome of the Rock, is where the Temple's Holy of Holies was situated.

Until now Jewish tradition has assumed that destruction of the Dome of the Rock was a precondition for the building of the third and last Temple.

However, in an article that appeared in 2007 in Tehumin, an influential journal of Jewish law, Frankel, a young scholar, presented a different option.

His main argument is that Jewish doctrine regarding the rebuilding of the Temple emphasizes the role of a prophet.

This prophet would have extraordinary authority, including the discretion to specify the Temple's precise location, regardless of any diverging Jewish traditions.

Frankel considers the scenario of a holy revelation given to an authentic prophet that the Temple be rebuilt on the current or an extended Temple Mount in peaceful proximity to the dome and other houses of prayer such as the Aksa Mosque and nearby Christian shrines.

However, both Muslims and Jews have expressed opposition to the initiative.

Sheikh Abdulla Nimar Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said it was pointless to talk about what would happen when the mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of the messiah, would reveal himself.

"Why are we taking upon ourselves the responsibility to decide such things?" Darwish said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post. "Even Jews believe that it is prohibited to rebuild the Temple until the messiah comes. So what is there to talk about.

"The mahdi will decide whether or not to rebuild the Temple. If he decides that it should be rebuilt, I will go out to the Temple Mount and help carry the rocks."

Darwish warned against any attempt to rebuild the Temple before the coming of the mahdi.

"As long as there is a Muslim alive, no Jewish Temple will be built on Al-Haram Al-Sharif [the Temple Mount]. The status quo must be maintained, otherwise there will be bloodshed."

In contrast, Baruch Ben-Yosef, chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple, made it clear that the Temple had to be built where the Dome of the Rock presently stands.

"Anybody who says anything else simply does not know what he is talking about," he said. "A prophet does not have the power to change the law which explicitly states the location of the Temple."

Ben-Yosef also rejected the idea that rebuilding of the Temple had to be done by a prophet.

"All you need is a Sanhedrin," he said.

Mainstream Orthodox rabbis have opposed attempts to rebuild the Temple since the Mount came under Israeli control in 1967.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel even issued a decree prohibiting Jews from entering the area due to ritual purity issues.

However, several grassroots organizations such as the Movement to Restore the Temple, and maverick rabbis, including Rabbi Israel Ariel, head of the capital's Temple Institute and a leading member of the revived Sanhedrin led by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, have called to take steps to renew the sacrifices on the Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple.

[HisDaughter]

Israel to purchase F-35 stealth fighter jet - one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world   

jpost.com

A deal is close to completion for the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter jet after the Defense Ministry and the Pentagon recently reached understandings on a number of IAF demands to integrate Israeli technology into the plane.

The apparent breakthrough was made following a series of visits to Washington recently by OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan and IAF Equipment and Procurement head Brig.-Gen. Kobi Bortman. Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with top officials from Lockheed Martin - the F-35 manufacturer - on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

Also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the F-35 will be one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world and will enable Israel to phase out some of its older F-15 and F-16 models.

According to senior IDF officers, the Defense Ministry and Pentagon have reached understandings on most of the major issues at the core of disagreement between the parties.

"There is understanding today on the main basic issues," explained one top officer.

As first reported in The Jerusalem Post, the IAF demands focused on three issues - the integration of Israeli electronic warfare systems into the plane, the integration of Israeli communication systems, and the ability to independently maintain the plane in the event of a technical or structural problem.

According to top officials involved in the deal, the Americans have given their consent and will grant Israel independent maintenance capabilities.

One of the US's main concerns regarding the installation of Israeli systems was that it would require configurations to the jet's internal computer system and expose top-secret technology to Israel.

In the recent round of talks, however, the Israeli side presented the Americans with a proposal of how to bypass the computer mainframe when installing the systems. The sides have yet to agree on a final price.

Israel has argued that due to operational requirements, it needs to have the ability to repair damaged or broken computer systems in "real time" and cannot wait for a computer system to be sent to Europe for repairs in the middle of a war.

Negotiations on the integration of Israeli technology began several years ago after Israel paid $20 million to receive the low-level status of a Security Cooperation Participant in the JSF program. Nine countries - including the US, Britain, Turkey and Australia - are full members of the JSF program.

If the sides reach a complete understanding, as expected, the IAF plans to issue an official letter of request for the plane in the coming weeks. The letter will be followed by the signing of a contract in 2010.

The first stage of the deal will be the purchase of 25 aircraft, which will comprise the first Israeli F-35 squadron. According to Lockheed Martin, if the letter of request is issued this year, delivery of the planes will begin in 2014.