Archive for August, 2013

BELIEVERS – BE FAITHFUL AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPROACHING – PART 2

Monday, August 5th, 2013

BELIEVERS – BE FAITHFUL AS YE THE DAY APPROACHING – 2

PART 2

Part 1 was put up on a Blog in our Archives on July 22, 2013

DEAR UNBELIEVER

In these last days of this Gentile Age there isn’t much time left for unbelievers to repent (to turn) toward God and receive Christ Jesus as your Savior.

Acts 20:20,21 – And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, [21] Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

DEAR BELIEVER

And these last days of the Gentile Age there isn’t much time left for believers to add to their faith by letting Christ form himself in them.

Galatians 4:19 – My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

II Peter 1:5-8 – And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; [7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. [8] For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:25 – Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

UNBELIEVER – WILL YOU RECEIVE CHRIST IN YOU AS YOUR SAVIOR

These 4 Scriptures describe the Saved, God’s Children, God’s Family

Matthew 11:28 – Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (This is the eternal life and removal of God’s Condemnation by belief in Jesus as one’s Savior)

John 5:40 – And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

John 3:18 – 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.

John 5:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

BELIEVER – WILL YOU LET CHRIST BE FORMED (FASHIONED) IN YOU

Galatians 4:18-20 – But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. [19] My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ BE FORMED IN YOU, [20] I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

FORMED – MORPHOO – Passive – To fashion with hands like a potter forms a vessel

These Scriptures describe God’s Children in His Little Flocks who take Christ’s Yoke on them and learn of him from His Words and Spirit.

Matthew 11:29 – 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.

John 6:62,63 – What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [63] It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Exodus 21:5,6 – And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: [6] Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

God’s Word has 4 different effects on the hearts of men and women: (1) Dos not receive it, (2) Learns about God for a short period before returning to the world, (3) Learns more about God for a long period of time before returning to the way of the Lord, (4) Falls in love with the Lord and the Little Flock by the Word, and continues faithful to the end in a church whose worship pleases God.

Philippians 2:13,14 – For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [14] Do ALL things without MURMURING AND DISPUTINGS:

Isaiah 29:13-24 – Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: [14] Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. [15] Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? [16] Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? [17] Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? [18] And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. [19] The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. [20] For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: [21] That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. [22] Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. [23] But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. [24] They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, AND THEY THAT MURMURED SHALL LEARN DOCTRINE. (Verses 17 to 24 refer to the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ).

Revelation 3:2-4 – Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. [3] Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. [4] Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Revelation 3:10,11 – Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. [11] Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Last Days Perilous Times World Society Is Led by Rulers Like Those of II Timothy 3:1-4!

Saturday, August 3rd, 2013

Last days perilous times world is led by rulers like II Timothy 3:1-4

Their Moral & Political Characteristics Fit the World’s Leaders Today

They are Associated with the Time called the Beginning of Sorrows,

Which is Now Moving a World Population into the Tribulation Period!

August 3, 2013

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

II Timothy 3:1-4 – This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. [2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, [4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

I Timothy 6:5-7 – Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. [6] But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

I Timothy 6:10 – For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from THE faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

THE NEXT 2 LINES ARE THE HEADING OF A YNET NEWS ARTICLE

Giving without taking

Op-ed: It’s a shame prime minister isn’t telling Israel’s citizens his real reason for restarting peace talks

THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IS MY OWN OPINION

An Excerpt from YNet News, written by Nahum Barnea, Titled “Giving without taking,” is a great revealing of the pressure Kerry & Obama put on Netanyahu to restart the peace talks for ”show and tell” sessions where Obama presents himself as Robin Hood who robs the rich to equalize redistribution to the poor, and Kerry plays the part of Robin Hood’s right hand man, the giant man called “Little John.”

THE EXCERPT FROM “GIVING WITHOUT TAKING” FOLLOWS:

YNet News

By Nahum Barnea

Until I read the entire letter, what it has and mainly what it doesn’t have. It doesn’t have a single word of explanation, of regret, over the fiery speeches delivered by Netanyahu, the retired Mr. Terror, against such deals in the past; it doesn’t have a single word about the fact that the Shalit deal, with the huge prize it gave Hamas, made Israel obliged towards the Fatah organization and the Palestinian Authority. Abbas could not have reached the talks without a deal releasing his murderers.

It doesn’t have a single word about what Israel is supposed to get in return. “If they give – they will get,” Netanyahu used to say about the Palestinians in each and every one of his speeches. “If they don’t give – they won’t get.” The Palestinians did not give anything this time, apart from willingness to hold talks about holding talks. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess what Netanyahu would have said about it had someone else been prime minister.

‘Difficult like no other decision’

The real explanation for this decision is the deterioration in Israel’s global status at a time when we need the West more than ever, both because of Iran and because of Syria and Egypt. He is going to negotiations not in order to reach an agreement but in order to authorize his government in the eyes of the West. It’s a legitimate consideration. It’s a shame that Israel’s citizens, who the prime minister sent his letter to, don’t know about it.

It’s a shame that he won’t tell them about his deliberations between accepting the demand to release terrorists and accepting the demand to freeze settlement construction completely, in public. It’s a shame that he won’t explain why he favored one demand over the other – did he see Israel’s citizens in front of his eyes or the rightist wing of his party?

It’s a shame that he won’t tell them that he learned the limits of power during his term. The United States is a world power, he could have told them. It can afford not to release terrorists. Israel cannot afford such luxury.

Leadership is not done by shedding tears, Yitzhak Rabin once said. The weepy element in Netanyahu’s letter is unnecessary. He repeats the saying that the decision is “difficult like no other” several times. Those who remember how Netanyahu celebrated the Shalit deal, another decision which he defined as “difficult like no other,” will understand that in his case, the distance between a difficulty like no other and a celebration like no other is pretty small.

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Yes Indeed Hizbollah! Eventually You Shall Be Part Of a Pre-Planned Counterattack!

Friday, August 2nd, 2013

Yes Indeed Hizbollah! Eventually You Will be Part of a Counterattack

Led south into Israel by Antichrist across Lebanese & Syrian Borders!

‘Hezbollah threatens We’re coming:’ in Banner hanged across Border!

August 3, 2013

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I’m of the opinion this attack will not occur until after President Obama leaves his Office.

Daniel 11:40,41 – And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. [41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown:

Begin Excerpt 1 from YNet News

Ominous Hebrew banner hoisted ahead of Al-Quds Day events, marking solidarity among Palestinians; Nasrallah: We have score of vengeance with Isralies

Roi Kais

August 1, 2013

Ahead of Al-Quds Day held on Friday, Hezbollah hung a large banner in front of the Israeli border reading, in Hebrew and Arabic, “We’re coming.”

Next to the inscription, the banner was adorned with an image of the
Related stories: Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Report: Hezbollah, Syrian forces gain in assault on rebel Homs

An inside look at the women of Hezbollah

Hezbollah accuses Israel for EU blacklisting

Al-Quds Day is commemorated in several Arab and Muslim countries since its introduction by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, and is meant to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause, oppose Zionism as well as Israel’s control of Jerusalem, Quds in Arabic.

The Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported this week that the organization is planning to hold a ceremony marking the holiday in the hill where the banner was hoisted.

After the ceremony, said the report, the participants will hold Friday’s prayer on Fatima Gate, a former border crossing between Israel and Lebanon.

A source affiliated with the Shiite group said that similar banners will be hoisted in the area.

The main Hezbollah event marking Al-Quds Day will be held in Beirut. In a televised speech on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is expected to give a speech on Friday as well, has urged the populace to attend.

“We need this year, more than any previous year, for attendance to be significant,” Nasrallah said.

“Because of the Second Lebanon War there is a large score of historic vengeance between us and the Israelis lurking for us, for our leaders, our men, our presence and our entity, as they have harmed Imad Mughniyeh and others.”

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said in a speech that “It’s time for Hezbollah’s use of weapons to be subject to a state decision, especially after the group’s weapons crossed the borders to benefit the Syrian regime.”

Suleiman has called Hezbollah in the past to cease its involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Begin Excerpt 2 from YNet News

Nasrallah: No one can relinquish one clod of Palestinian land

August 2, 2013

Hezbollah’s leader makes rare public appearance for al-Quds Day, slams Israel in speech: ‘Palestine stretches from sea to river. Israel is a tumor which must be uprooted’

Roi Kais

Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah made a rare personal appearance away from his hideout in light of al-Quds Day, the Iranian-introduced holiday marking solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

In an event held in the Sid-a-Shuhadaa complex in the Hezbollah-controlled Dahieh quarter of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, Nasrallah declared that “Palestine must return to its rightful owners.”

Related stories:

——Rohani: Israel is an ‘old wound’ that should be removed

——Hezbollah threatens ‘We’re coming’ in banner hanged across border

——Nasrallah to EU: Why not brand IDF as terror group?

“The Palestine which we mean is a Palestine which stretches from the sea to the river,” the Shiite group leader stressed.

Nasrallah speaks to crowds

“No king, president, sheikh, state or country has the right to give up even one clod of Palestinian land, one drop of water or oil from Palestine.”

Nasrallah continued and said that Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini’s definition of Israel as a “cancerous growth” was accurate: “As you know, tumors spreads, and the only solution for this tumor is to uproot it.”

Nasrallah added; “Israel poses a critical threat not only to Palestine, but to all the world.” According to him, Israel threatens Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, and they hope for its disappearance.

“Those who stand against the Zionist project defend Palestine and his children and grandchildren’s future,” he added.

You fight Iran, forgot about Palestinians

Nasrallah said in his speech that the Israeli-Arab conflict and the struggle against the “Zionist enemy” must be the top priority, and that “if it was so from the start, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

Nasrallah criticized some of the region’s governments for involvement themselves in other wars: “Why did you leave Palestine and go to fight in Afghanistan?” he asked rhetorically.

“A new enemy was created named ‘the Iranian growth’ and a war has been run against Iran in the course of which hundreds of billions of dollars where squandered,” Nasrallah continued.

“Money has been spent, and armies trained to fight Iran, not Israel, and every warship comes with a guarantee to the US not to use it against Israel. If one fifth of that effort was invested in Palestine, it would have been freed.”

“We in the Hezbollah will stand by Palestine and the Palestinian people and we’re working on good, strong ties with all the Palestinian factions even if we differ on matters related to Palestine and Syria.”

According to him, “Jerusalem must unite us.”

Nasrallah fired up the crowds and said: “They want Shiites out of the equation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, meaning taking Iran out of the equation. Therefore, we say to the US, to Israel, the English, their accomplices and every enemy and friend – today on Al-Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan, we will not abandon Palestine and its holy sites.”

‘Old wound’

Earlier on Friday, on the Israel-Lebanese border dozens of protestors gathered, hoisting Hezbollah flags. On Thursday, Nasrallah’s men hitched a sign near the border ahead of Friday’s events with the Hebrew and Arabic inscription: “We’re coming.”

Next to the inscription in the sign – hoisted in a hill overlooking the events – an image of the Al-Aqsa Mosque appeared. Later today, the demonstrators are expected to attend a prayer on Fatima Gate, an old border crossing to Israel.

Meanwhile, according to the Iranian Press TV website, millions of Iranians took to the streets, “in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian nation, voicing their anger at the policies of the Israeli regime and its allies and calling for the liberation of Palestine.”

Protesters are carrying Palestinian flags and anti-Israel signs and are chanting slogans against the United States and Israel.

Similar al-Quds Day marches were held in dozens of other countries, and in Thailand dozens protested outside the Israeli embassy in Bangkok.

Iran has been marking al-Quds Day since 1979 after Ayatollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as International al-Quds Day, calling on Muslims across the world to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.

According to the SANA news agency, Iran’s president Hassan Rohani attended the events in Iran and said that “The Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed.”

Later, Iranian state TV said Rohani’s statements were “misrepresented.”

Nimdor Semel contributed to this report

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http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Motives of Obama are Now Being Exposed like a Stripper

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

Motives of Obama Now being Exposed like a Stripper

Look America! Emperor No Longer Wears any Clothes

Obama appointed his sub-czars to Bypass Constitution

And Now intends to Use Them to become Imperial Czar

Obama exposing himself as an Emperor without Clothes

Obama is stripping off his clothes to become US Emperor

Obama is as phony as the Great and Mighty Wizard of Oz

If Obama, Kerry and Indyk are able to Keep the PA Talking

Long enough, the Democrats can survive mid-term Election

All 3 of them don’t believe a true peace is Possible But They

Do believe they can keep PA talking peace to influence Votes

Obama Is Very Likely To Have Written Promises To Both Sides

August 1 , 2013

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

It takes man a long time to determine the thoughts and intents of another man’s heart, but sooner or later even a man can make an estimate of his motivation. But God sees all men’s motives as though they stood naked before him.

Hebrews 4:12-16 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [13] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. [14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Colossians 3:23-25 – And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; [24] Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. [25] But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Begin Series of Excerpts via Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs/Daily Alert

Excerpt 1 – Weekly Standard

What Does Martin Indyk Believe?

Noah Pollak

In an interview last year on Israeli radio, the new special envoy to the peace process, Martin Indyk, was asked whether peace was possible. “I’m not particularly optimistic because I think that the heart of the matter is that the maximum concessions that this government of Israel would be prepared to make fall far short of the minimum requirements that Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] will insist on….So it may be possible to keep the talks going, which is a good thing, but I find it very hard to believe that they will reach an agreement.” (Weekly Standard)

Excerpt 2 – State Department

Kerry: Objective Is a Final Status Agreement in Nine Months

After two meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday: “The parties have agreed to remain engaged in sustained, continuous, and substantive negotiations on the core issues, and they will meet within the next two weeks in either Israel or the Palestinian territories in order to begin the process of formal negotiation….Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months.” (State Department)

Excerpt 3 – Washington Post

Obama Meets Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators at White House

David Nakamura

President Obama met at the White House on Tuesday with negotiators from Israel and the West Bank who are in Washington for renewed peace talks brokered by the U.S. The negotiators also met with the new U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace, former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. (Washington Post)

Excerpt 4 – Christian Science Monitor

Are Israeli-Palestinian Talks Based on 1967 Lines?

Ben Lynfield

Israelis and Palestinians are sparring over the central question of whether the talks are based on Israel’s 1967 lines or not. Abdullah Abdullah, deputy commissioner for international relations of Abbas’ Fatah movement, insists that the U.S. invitation to the talks spells out clearly that the negotiations are to be based upon the line between Israel and the West Bank that existed before the 1967 war. But a senior Israeli official said, ”We did not agree to that. Israel rejected the Palestinian demand for this as a precondition for talks.”

Ghassan Khatib, a former PA minister, says that the negotiations will in practice continue for some time, albeit without a peace deal. “Endless negotiation is good for the Americans. They can point to success in bringing the sides to the table and keeping them there. Netanyahu can avoid U.S. pressure and shows he’s engaged in the peace process. Abbas can continue to be fed with money, prisoner releases and other things and maintain the survival of the PA.”

“They have zero chances of reaching an end of conflict, end of claims agreement,” says Yossi Alpher, former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. ”The positions are too far apart on narrative issues like the future of holy places and the right of return” for Palestinians. (Christian Science Monitor)

Excerpt 5 – UK Jewish Chronicle

Peace Process: Interim Solution a More Likely Outcome

Yossi Alpher

Maximalists might only qualify as a success a full-fledged two-state solution that ends all claims by both sides. Sadly, that is the least likely outcome. More likely, “success” will be measured, if at all, in incremental gains, such as an interim solution. (Jewish Chronicle-UK)

Excerpt 6 – AFP & Fox News

Gaza Rocket Hits Israel as Talks Resume

“A rocket was fired from Gaza and exploded in a field in Israeli territory without causing any damage or casualties” on Tuesday, said Israel Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, as a first full day of resumed Middle East peace talks was to open. Israel holds Hamas, as the de facto authority in Gaza, responsible for all rocket fire, regardless of who launches it. (AFP-Fox News)

Excerpt 7 – Ha’artz

U.S. Gave Israel, Palestinians Letters of Assurance in Order to Renew Talks

Barak Ravid

The U.S. administration gave the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams on Tuesday letters of assurance which outlined the U.S. position vis-a-vis the peace talks, a senior Israeli official said. The content of the letters remains classified. (Ha’aretz)

Excerpt 8 – Ha’artz

U.S. Pushed Peace Talks to Avoid Israeli-Palestinian “Train Wreck” at UN, Says White House Official

Barak Ravid

“The Palestinians throughout the course of this year have been making clear that if they couldn’t see progress on the peace front, that their intention would be to seek other elevations of their status, whether at the UN or other international organizations,” a senior White House official said Wednesday. “So it’s no secret that one of the motivating factors, I think for everybody, was to avoid that sort of train wreck….With this process moving forward, the risk of a clash at the UN or elsewhere is reduced or eliminated.”
According to American officials, the U.S. has decided not to let the issue of a settlement freeze impede the negotiations this time around, as that has been viewed as an obstacle to renewed negotiations over the past four years. “It would be fair to say that you are likely to see Israeli settlement continue,” said one State Department official. (Ha’aretz)

Excerpt 9 – Times of Israel

In Ramallah, Little Enthusiasm as Talks Restart

Elhanan Miller

Coverage of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington was minimal in the West Bank as the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, noted, “it seems as though people in Israel and the Palestinian territories do not have high hopes regarding the renewal of peace efforts.”

“Abbas wants to do something in the field of peace, because domestically he is incapable of anything. Reconciliation with Hamas is dead and his legitimacy as president is constantly questioned,” said Basem Ezbidi, who teaches at Ramallah’s Bir Zeit University. “People say that negotiations are harmless because they ensure financial support [from the U.S.]….People are hoping for their salaries, not for independence.” (Times of Israel)

Excerpt 10 – Times of Israel

Chances for a Permanent Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal

Avi Issacharoff

Both the Israeli and the Palestinian public are treating this round of peace talks with a combination of disdain and apathy. It appears that both sides were dragged by Kerry to Washington against their will. Simply put, Netanyahu believes Abbas is unable to make peace. Both leaders are sending out pessimistic vibes, giving those around them the feeling that nothing much will come of all this. (Times of Israel)

Except 11 – Jerusalem Post

“Palestine” without Jews

Herb Keinon

Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian journalists in Cairo this week that the state he wants Israel to give him must be judenrein: “In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands.” Abbas’ words do not exactly enhance a mood of reconciliation. If the Israeli public is to back a deal, it will need some sense of goodwill from the other side.

There is a substantial Arab minority in Israel. If there is to be peace, why is it a given that there can be no Jewish minority in “Palestine.” (Jerusalem Post)

Lessons Learned from Iran

Andre Le Gallo

Washington shouldn’t be deluded into believing Rowhani’s election changed Iran’s DNA, which it largely shares with the Muslim Brotherhood. Rowhani was a member of the Iran National Security Council when it approved the bombing of the Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires and the bombing of the Kobhar towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. servicemen.

Just as Ayatollah Khomeini said he didn’t bring revolution to Iran in order to lower the price of melons, Morsi’s agenda in Egypt didn’t include the economic well being of the population. That the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi has turned out to be a totalitarian, anti-Christian, misogynistic and inept administrator shouldn’t have come as a surprise; his election campaign explicitly promised to bring Shariah law to Egypt.

Radical Islam will not go away by itself. It is in the interest of the West, and the U.S. in particular, to help the populations of the Middle East to build alternative solutions. Passive observation of events in the hope that everything will turn out all right is likely to create other theocratic republics and, if Iran is allowed to go nuclear, so will they. The writer is a former CIA officer and National Intelligence Officer for Counter-terrorism. (UPI)

Iran Responds to Europe’s Blacklisting of Hizbullah

Shimon Shapira and Michael Segall

The EU decision to include Hizbullah’s military wing on its blacklist of terror groups ignores the basic fact that Hizbullah is a unitary, hierarchical organization. As Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in October 2012: “We don’t have a military wing and a political one.”

The EU Ambassador to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst, immediately reassured Hizbullah officials in Lebanon that the decision will not affect relations with the group’s “civilian wing.” She said after meeting with a Hizbullah minister in the Lebanese government that EU “financial assistance will continue,” and that Hizbullah has the right to challenge the EU decision before European courts – adding: “We will reevaluate our decision every six months.”

Iran’s reaction shows that it views the Syrian-Lebanese front as an important part of its national-security strategy and regional aspirations. In Iran’s view, it is in this arena that the key battle over the new Middle Eastern order is being waged. IDF Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center, where Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall is a senior analyst. (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Negotiating Lessons from the New U.S. Peace Coordinator –

Stephan Miller

(Times of Israel)

Martin Indyk, named Monday as U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, in 2009 published an account of his personal experiences as a U.S. diplomat at the heart of the Middle East peace process, entitled Innocent Abroad. Here are some of his conclusions:

“Most Israelis view the unilateral withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza as mistakes because violent attacks continued.”

“Israelis will support far-reaching concessions provided they know that there will be no further claims on Israel.”

“Only when an Arab leader concludes that time is not on his side, that the risks of clinging to the status quo are more dangerous than the consequences of change, is he likely to move.”

When Arab leaders “decide to make peace…it is because they believe their own survival is on the line, not because the U.S. President demands it.”

“Most Palestinian refugees by now understand that they are not going to be returning to their forefathers’ homes in Israel.”

What Does Martin Indyk Believe?

Noah Pollak

In an interview last year on Israeli radio, the new special envoy to the peace process, Martin Indyk, was asked whether peace was possible. “I’m not particularly optimistic because I think that the heart of the matter is that the maximum concessions that this government of Israel would be prepared to make fall far short of the minimum requirements that Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] will insist on….So it may be possible to keep the talks going, which is a good thing, but I find it very hard to believe that they will reach an agreement.” (Weekly Standard)

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