MA44 Jerusalem Besieged

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MA#44 – JERUSALEM BESIEGED - APRIL 2010

JERUSALEM

A VERY HEAVY ROCK FOR ALL THE NATIONS

“The message of the word of YHWH concerning Israel. YHWH who stretches outthe heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man withinhim, declares: ‘Look! I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to allthe people around. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. And on that day,when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem avery heavy rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will be severelyinjured’.” (Zechariah 12:2-3)

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Today, Jerusalem, the capital of ancient and modern Israel, is being surrounded byenemies who are demanding that Israel divide the city, so that the eastern sector can become the capital of a Palestinian state.

The nations are being motivated by rationalism, and their perceived solutions to the 4000-year-old conflict between the Ishmaelites and the Israelites.

Long ago God provided a territorial solution. To the descendants of Abraham, throughIsaac and Jacob (Israel), He gave the land of Canaan:

“On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants Ihave given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates’.” (Genesis 15:18)

To the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael, He gave the lands of Egypt and most of the Middle East.

“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Watch! I will bless him, and will make himfruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But My covenant I will establishwith Isaac.” (Genesis 17:20-21)

The Muslim world has a religious capital - Mecca. And when Muslims in any part of the world pray, they bow down facing Mecca.

The Jewish world has a religious capital – Jerusalem. Jews pray towards Jerusalem. Andin Jerusalem they pray facing the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

The word Jerusalem is found in the Hebrew Bible some 800 times. It is not mentionedeven once in the Koran.

YHWH the LORD calls Zion (Jerusalem) His holy mountain, and He says regarding thenations:

“Why do the nations rage and the people devise a vain thing? The kings of the earth

take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against YHWH and againstHis Anointed - His Messiah: ‘Let us break Their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off Their fetters!’ He who is seated in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His fury, saying, ‘I, yes, Ihave installed My King on Zion, My holy mountain.” (Psalm 2:1-6)

The nations today, however, care little for what God has said. They listen rather to thevoice of expediency and rationalism. Whatever their puny finite minds can concoct, iswhat infuses them with rash rhetoric and reckless policies.

The drive of the Arabic-Persian-Turkic nations is more understandable, for it is clear from their holy book.

But Europe? Of course, Europe is well into a post-Christian era, so that the Bible does notcount for very much there. Australia is in much the same condition.

And what about the USA? Well, the people voted in a president who said the US is nolonger a Christian country, and that “Nobody should be concerned with a few obscureBible verses.” Barack Obama is proving to be the most anti-Israel US president since thecreation of the modern Zionist state in 1948.

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HISTORICAL JERUSALEM

Jerusalem was originally a small Jebusite city in the time of Abraham some 4,000 yearsago. It was established as the capital of Israel by King David, over 3,000 years ago. Evenwhen the land was later occupied by other nations, Jerusalem had a sizable Jewish population. And it has never been a capital city of any of the nations that captured it.

In the Turkish Ottoman Empire Jerusalem was simply an outpost. In World War 1,Jerusalem was liberated from the Turks by the British who then administered the land

under a mandate of the League of Nations.

In 1947 the United Nations voted and decided to partition “West Palestine,” and theresolution called for Jerusalem to be placed under UN administration.

The Arab nations rejected the UN resolution and launched a war against the newlydeclared state of Israel in 1948. The Jordanian army drove the Jews out of easternJerusalem - the Old City - the City of David. The Jews held onto the western sectors.

Although the Jordanians controlled most of Samaria-Judea which they called “The WestBank” for 19 years, there was no attempt to establish an Arab state in the territory, or toset up a capital in Jerusalem.

1967 - JERUSALEM REUNITED

During the Six-day War of 1967, Jerusalem and the West Bank were liberated from theJordanians. Thereafter, Jews began to return to their former neighborhoods in the east,north and south of Jerusalem, and they have remained there ever since. All areas of Jerusalem were annexed to Israel, and the united city remains the nation’s capital.

The Palestinian Authority claims that the areas controlled by Jordan for 19 years,rightfully belong to the Palestinian race and should become a capital of a future Arabstate.

The fact is that there has never been a Palestinian nation, a Palestinian race, a Palestinianidentity, a Palestinian government or currency. In the first half of the 20th century,anyone living in Palestrina – (Palestine), including the Jews, was called Palestinians. Inthose days the Palestine Post was a Jewish newspaper. The Palestine PhilharmonicOrchestra was a totally Jewish orchestra.

The people now called “Palestinians” are a hybrid race, made up of Arabs and Bedouinsfrom the nations around. Yasser Arafat was, in fact, an Egyptian.

Mahmoud Abbas was born in Safed, Galilee (Israel), but at the age of 13, he fled with his parents, and settled in Syria. Like many of the Arabs, they were ordered by the Arableaders to temporarily get out of the Jewish areas. They were promised that after the Jewswere wiped out, they would return and take over the whole land. But that never happened! And they found them-selves as refugees in Jordan, Egyptian-Gaza, Lebanon,Syria, and the Persian Gulf. Abbas graduated from Damascus University, then went toEgypt to study law.

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JEWS AND ARABS

Israel is a predominately Jewish nation, and the majority of the first citizens were Jewish

émigrés from Soviet and European nations. After 1948, Jews “returned” to Israel from allover the world. Today, the majority of Israelis have been born in the land.

The total Israeli citizenship is nearing 7 million; about 6 million are Jews, and onemillion are Arabs – mostly descendants of those who remained in the land during the1948-49 war.

“The Palestinians” are not Israelis. Prior to 1967 they were Arabs living under Jordan andEgypt. Since 1967 neither Egypt nor Jordan has wanted them! So they now claim to bean ancient ‘Palestinian’ race. (There is no evidence they descended from the Philistines).

The Palestinians, as people, of course, need to be settled. Several million “refugees”

(which are mostly descendants of original refugees, have long been settled in their hostcountries - but they have often been a problem to their hosts.

After 1967, Israel accommodated the Arabs within the liberated territories – Judea,Samaria, Gaza and E. Jerusalem, and most were doing well. But when the PLO wasformed, it fomented trouble in Israel, as it did also in Jordan and Lebanon.

Gaza, in particular, became a hotbed of terrorism. Israel finally decided to give the GazaStrip to the Palestinians there, to administer, and to develop as a prosperous communityin harmony with both Egypt and Israel. But the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt hadcreated the Hamas movement in Gaza, and its agenda was nothing less than thedestruction of Israel. So instead of prosperity and freedom, Gazans reaped the opposite.

In the West Bank, instead of living in peace and prosperity, radical Palestiniansencouraged countless suicide bombings in Israeli cities, which forced Israel to build protective barriers and a security wall around the territory.

Although the Palestinian Authority has recognised Israel (because of the Oslo Accord in1993), the main party in the West Bank, Fatah, like Hamas, still maintains a charter thatcalls for Israel to be wiped out.

Basically the Palestinians don’t want to live alongside Israel; and the Arab nations, andIran, do not want a Jewish state in the Middle East. And of course, the Jews are notthrilled to be surrounded by hostile Arabs.

WHY PEACE EFFORTS HAVE FAILED

Numerous Israeli leaders and American presidents, have striven to produce a solution.George Bush Snr, forced Palestinian and Israeli leaders to sit together after the first Gulf War. Bill Clinton oversaw the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993, and the Camp Davidtalks in 1980, with the hope of producing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But he alsofailed ... because Yasser Arafat would not budge from his demands. Next, George BushJnr, declared that he would bring peace to the Middle East; and his secretary of state,Condoleezza Rice tried her level best to achieve it – and they also failed.

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Now, the new “messiah” President Barack Obama, along with the international“Quartet,” is determined to solve the problem – even if it means imposing a US-EU-UN-crafted remedy upon Israel – and even if that remedy reduces Israel to a mini-state withinthe 1967’s indefensible borders. (Understandably, Israel is not willing to accept such asuicide solution.)

But Obama’s hard line towards Israel has encouraged the Palestinians to take an evenmore uncompromising stand - which makes a reasonable solution even more improbable.

There is no “solution,” except world war. Even the Antichrist’s 7-year peace treatywill not bring “peace” for more than a few months.

War is a solution that no-one wants – no-one except Iran, and the insiders who plan toimpose global governance on the world. And that world government agenda is themotivation for the powers of darkness to draw all nations up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat – the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, for battle.

The LORD warns of this through Joel the prophet:

“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all wholive in the land tremble, for the day of YHWH is coming; surely it is near - a day of

darkness and gloom; a day of clouds and gross darkness. As the dawn is spreadover the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people coming; there has never been anything like it, nor will there ever be in the ages to come. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns ...

“Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon growdark, and the stars no longer shine. YHWH thunders at the head of His army.Surely His camp is very great, and strong is the One who carries out His word. Theday of YHWH is indeed great and very awesome; who can endure it? …

“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all themen of war draw near; let them come up to attack! Beat your plowshares into

swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’

“Come quickly all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together! Bringdown, O YHWH, Your mighty ones! Let the nations be aroused and come up to theValley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.”(Joel 2:1-3. 3:10-12)

OBAMA’S FEUD WITH ISRAEL

After he was sworn in as president in Jan 2009, Barack Obama began a courtship with theIslamic nations, and at the same time distanced himself from Israel. In his first 14months in office he has visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Djibouti, Ghana, Germany,

Afghanistan, and South America, and has even shaken the hand of Hugo Chavez (anoutspoken enemy of the US). But while Obama visited Israel before the elections, he hassince bypassed his “strategic partner.”

Evidently he wants to show the Arab world that far from favouring the Jewish state, heintends to bring it to its knees.

Obama’s envoy, George Mitchell, has had very little success with the Middle East peace process over the past year - that is, if we are thinking of a true solution. Mitchell, of

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course, has long been pro-Palestinian, and formerly he was a director in the Council onForeign Relations which is pushing for world governance.

After a stalemate in year-long talks, in 2008, Mahmoud Abbas changed tactics. He nowdemands concessions before starting talks again.

After all Barack Obama’s failed foreign initiatives, this “breakthrough” evidentlyencouraged him with something positive - something that now looked possible. So hesent his Vice-President, Joe Biden, to Israel, ostensibly to rebuild ties.

JOE BIDEN’S VISIT TO ISRAEL

Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel in mid-March was supposed to promote American-mediated talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, with a view of producing a new Palestinian state.

In the beginning, all went well. Biden met with both Israeli President Shimon Peres andPM Benjamin Netanyahu. During a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Biden praisedIsrael for restarting the peace process, and said that America was committed to Israel’ssecurity.

Netanyahu in turn expressed thanks to the US for its leadership against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. “I very much appreciate the efforts of President Obama and theAmerican government to lead the international community to place tough sanctions onIran,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, Israel’s Interior Ministry, which is run by the ultra-orthodox,nationalist party, Shas, made the ill-timed announcement - that it was going ahead with plans to build 1600 new homes in the Jewish neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo – in thenorth-west of Jerusalem.

This announcement was a surprise apparently, to both Biden and Netanyahu. The prime

minister apologised to his guest over the bad timing of the announcement.

BIDEN SIDES UP WITH PALESTINIANS

The man who came to Israel on a charm offensive, could no longer hide the truth aboutwhere the Obama administration’s true sympathies lie. After declaring his undying love

and fidelity to Israel just hours before, Biden switched gears and condemned Israel for “undermining” prospects for peace.

The next day Mr Biden stood side by side with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, andcondemned Israel for its decision to continue building in Jerusalem. He also said that thePalestinians deserve a “viable and contiguous” independent state that is not broken up byIsraeli settlements.

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The day after Biden left his Palestinian partners in Ramallah, the PA honored DalalMughrabi, the leader of the deadliest-ever terrorist attack in Israel, by naming a square inRamallah after her.

BIDEN BLIGHTS US-ISRAEL RELATIONS

On Mar 12/10, the washingtontimes.com reported that the fallout from Biden’s 48 hoursin Israel undid a year of effort by the Israeli government to build a foreign policy, and anunderstanding with Washington as the bedrock of a coordinated proactive policy on Iran.But instead of ironing out misunderstandings which have marred relations, the visitor struck out on his own as America’s would-be Middle East policy overlord.

Biden came to the region with three missions: to sweeten US-Israeli relations, celebratethe launching of indirect Israel-Palestinian peace talks, and to underscore thecommonality of US-Israeli purpose on Iran. As it happened, he fell down on all threecounts; instead, launching an independent Middle East posture at odds with the WhiteHouse’s avowed policies.

Instead of smoothing ruffled feathers in Jerusalem with interviews to the host media, VPBiden snubbed them all and granted the only interview of his trip to the Arabic Al

Jazeera TV , whose news content is sharply slanted against Israel, US military campaigns,and the Western war on terror.

By ending his Israel visit with the Al Jazeera interview, Joe Biden showed exactly howhe felt about Israel. And so the worst crisis between the US and Israel since the 1970s began; and Biden’s visit ended up as a fiasco.

BIDEN’S PRIVATE TALKS NOT SO SWEET

According to debkafile’s sources, “the sweetness and light” conveyed in publicstatements was hardly present in the Vice President’s private talks with Israeli leaders.

Netanyahu may have approved the Jerusalem announcement as an indirect comeback for

the way the American visitor was laying down the law on a number of issues of Israeliconcern, chiefly the matter of Iran’s rapid progress toward a nuclear weapon. But theannouncement was certainly a forthright statement on the Interior Ministry’s resistance tothe division of Jerusalem.

The peremptory word (dictatorial demands) was first heard at Biden’s meeting withPresident Shimon Peres. There he explicitly warned Israel against venturing to attackIran without prior American permission.

Even the oft-repeated American commitment to Israel’s security was delivered with thisnotable reservation:

“I can promise the people of Israel that we will confront every security challenge that wewill face,” Biden said. But this statement ruled out any unilateral Israel operation inits own defence. Forget unilateral action, he was saying: From now on, “we” will makethe decisions about the levels of “security challenge” facing Israel and how to “confrontit.”

Jerusalem was also taken aback by Biden’s assertion that Iran was isolated as never before. A distorted prism was held up by the Obama administration to justify its backtracking on painful sanctions for Iran.

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Sanctions had been explicitly promised by the White House to Netanyahu and toDefence Minister Ehud Barak in return for Israel’s consent to hold back from strikingIran’s nuclear facilities.

Biden’s visit to Israel, therefore, far from meeting its avowed goal of smoothing over thedifferences between the Obama administration and Israel, left Jerusalem more distrustfulthan ever.

MEDIA AND POLITICAL BLOWS

Binyamin Netanyahu copped the heat for the crisis that erupted with the approval of newconstruction in Ramat Shlomo - a town located in a part of Jerusalem that was restored toIsrael when Jerusalem was reunited after the Six Day War – a reunion the US does notrecognize.

Much of the media criticized the PM for embarrassing Biden, although Netanyahuinsisted he had nothing to do with the timing of the announcement.

Much of the foreign and Israeli media placed Israel in a bad light for upsetting American plans to mediate between the PA and Israel for a new Arab state within Israel’s borders.

However, an “editor-at-large” for UPI, which generally reports with less bias than other news agencies, commented that the “anaemic Middle East ‘peace process’ is beginning tolook like The Fool’s Errand.”

CLINTON REPRIMANDS NETANYAHU

After the initial media and political blows were delivered to Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave him a 43-minute telephone tongue lashing, and then followedthat up with an unprecedented and scathing public attack on him.

Clinton told CNN news on March 13: “The announcement of the settlements on the veryday that the vice president was there was insulting.” A State Department spokesman saidthat Clinton called Israel’s PM “to make clear that the US considered the announcementto be a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship andcounter to the spirit of the vice president’s trip.”

White House political advisor David Axelrod then continued the attack by publiclycalling Israel’s Ramat Shlomo announcement an “affront” and an “insult,” surprisingIsraeli government officials who expected calmer words. President Obama also wasreportedly deeply upset that the Israeli government would announce plans to build homesin East Jerusalem -- especially during the visit of his vice president.

“JERUSALEM BUILDING WILL CONTINUE”

On Mar 15, PM Netanyahu switched from apologies to the Obama administration, andwent on the offensive. Buoyed by virtually unanimous Cabinet support, he told Likud

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Knesset Members (MKs) at a party meeting, “Building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way that has been accepted in the last 42 years. Theconstruction does not harm Arabs.”

In response to a question posed by a strongly nationalistic MK concerning the 10-

month building freeze on new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu said “the

freeze was a ‘goodwill’ gesture to President Obama, to entice the PA to resumenegotiations. It is ‘binding,’ but will not be extended.”

U.S. DETERMINED TO STOP ISRAEL BUILDING

With the Obama administration apparently not making any effort to tone down therhetoric against Netanyahu, American political analysts have commented that the president may be trying to topple the Israeli government.

The Obama government insists it is not imposing terms on Israel. But in fact, it has been paving the ground for Israel to stop building in the restored parts of Jerusalem, at leastuntil a final agreement is made with the PA.

The Arab world, however, is standing firm that there is no ground for negotiations – notuntil all their claims to the Old City and Judea-Samaria are met.

TRUE COLOURS

Biden, Clinton and the Obama administration have now shown their true colors to theIsraeli government.

Biden, standing shoulder to shoulder with terrorists, said that Israel needs to play fair! Next, Clinton’s 43-minute tongue lashing for “embarrassing” Biden; and then Obama’shostile White House behaviour to his “close ally.”

All three - Biden, Clinton and Obama - have been severely criticized in the media andelsewhere for over-reacting, and for what appeared as gross interference in Israeli affairs.

ISRAEL-US TIES IN WORST CRISIS SINCE 1975

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren was quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper tellingother Israeli diplomats in a telephone briefing, “Israel’s ties with the United States are intheir worst crisis since 1975 ... a crisis of historic proportions.”

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REPUBLICANS LEAD BACKLASH AGAINST OBAMA

President Obama is behind the public chastising of PM Netanyahu over the housing plan,according to the New York Times. But his handling of the diplomatic crisis is beingincreasingly criticized in the US.

American Jewish and non-Jewish groups have rallied to the side of Israel, charging theObama administration with miscalculating widespread Israeli opposition to Americanefforts to create a de facto PA claim to parts of Jerusalem.

Republican Party leaders attacked the Obama administration with unusually harshlanguage, charging it with an “irresponsible” position against an ally.

“In an effort to ingratiate our country with the Arab world, this administration hasshown a troubling eagerness to undercut our allies and friends,” said the onlyJewish Republican Congressman, Eric Cantor of Virginia. Cantor went so far as to saythat the dispute “jeopardizes America’s national security.”

A leading Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, charged that the Obamagovernment’s condemnations of “an indispensable ally and friend of the United States …undermine both our allies and the peace process, while encouraging the enemies of

America and Israel alike. She noted that President Obama has taken “softer approaches”towards the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Iran.

Senator Sam Brownback’s office stated, “It’s hard to see how spending a weekendcondemning Israel for a zoning decision in its capital city amounts to a positive steptowards peace.”

Republican Leader John Boehner issued a statement saying, “The Administration’sdecision to escalate its rhetoric following Joe Biden’s visit to Israel is not merelyirresponsible; it is an affront to the values and foundation of our long-term relationshipwith a close friend and ally.”

According to the Republican leader, “The Administration has demonstrated a repeated pattern since it took office: while it makes concessions to countries acting contrary to USnational interests, it ignores or snubs the commitments, shared values andsacrifices of many of our country’s best allies.

“If the Administration wants to work toward resolving the conflict in the Middle East, itshould focus its efforts on Iran’s behavior, including its pursuit of nuclear weapons, itsstate-sponsorship of terrorism, its crushing of domestic democratic forces, and the impactits behavior is having, not just on Israel, but also on the calculations of other countries inthe region as well as on the credibility of international non-proliferation efforts,” Boehner said.

The American-Jewish criticism of Obama was led by the Anti-Defamation League’sAbraham Foxman, who issued this statement:

“We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem,” he said. “One can only wonder howfar the US is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to placate thePalestinians.”

EVEN MANY DEMOCRATS UNEASY

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Many Democrats were uneasy over the crisis but for a different reason – they are worriedabout what impact it would have on the Congressional elections near the end of theyear. And polls have shown that Obama’s political stature is sinking.

Some circles in the US, and many in Israel, say the Obama administration is blowing thecrisis up with deliberate intent.

STILL NO OBAMA VISIT TO ISRAEL

Over a year has passed since Barack Obama took office as President of the US, andduring the past fourteen months, the President has not yet made a trip to Israel – theUnited States’ “greatest ally in the Middle East.”

He has visited a wide variety of countries, including Ghana, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,Djibouti, and has even shaken the hand of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez (an outspokenenemy of the US). Yet, while Obama visited Israel in 2008 before the elections, he hasnot stopped off in Jerusalem since.

Commentator Arnaud de Borchgrave explained that what neither President Obama nor his vice president seemed to realize is that Netanyahu and his supporters “were deeplyaggrieved when the US president went to Cairo last June 4 for an address to the Muslim

world without stopping in Israel on the way home.

AS ISRAEL IS BLAMED,

ITS ENEMIES ARE EMBOLDENED

Ever since March 12 when Hillary Clinton lambasted the Israeli PM, the Obamaadministration has been livid. The timing of this crisis couldn’t be worse - as Obamashould fully understand in the light of recent events.

In a speech of March 3, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad vowed that Israel’s annihilationwas at hand, and said that Israel is “losing the support of the West and would soondisappear.”

In the aftermath of this hideous threat of genocide against the children of Israel, we seethe Obama administration doing nothing but adding credibility to Ahmadinejad’s words,and emboldening all of Israel’s enemies.

The Palestinians don’t need a lot of excuses to riot against Israel. The fact is that the USis openly expressing its “anger” toward Israel for not giving the Palestinians what theywant? And this is fueling the fires of hatred in the region toward Israel.

ARABS RIOT IN JERUSALEM

The Palestinians have been swift to capitalize on the Obama administration’s recent harshdenouncements of Israel, organizing riots in Jerusalem as well as in at least one Arab

town in Samaria.Thousands of Israeli police were posted in and around the Old City as clashes broke outthat saw 60 Arabs and a number of Israeli officers wounded.

Arabs hurled rocks from behind smokescreens created by burning tires and trash cans,and police responded with rubber bullets and teargas. Dozens of Arabs were arrested,some by undercover Israeli police, who moved in to nab primary instigators.

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Hundreds of Arabs, including busloads of Bedouin from the Negev responding to incitingcalls from their leadership, came to the capital to “rescue” the Al-Aqsa Mosque andTemple Mount from the Jews.

Israeli Arab Knesset Members - who are openly loyal to the “Palestinian Cause” rather than to their own state - were condemned by Jewish lawmakers for encouraging the riots.

According to some analysts, the renewed violence might be just what Washington’s land-for-peace-gang had hoped would happen - as it upped the already intense pressure on

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to make yet more territorial concessions infavor of the “Palestinians.”

- By Stan Goodenough /Jerusalem Watchman

After cooling down a bit, Hilary Clinton pledged an …

“UNSHAKEABLE BOND” WITH ISRAEL

Mar 16/10. In an effort to quell the diplomatic spat that rocked ties between Washingtonand its closest Middle East ally, Clinton hailed the “unshakeable bond” between the USand Israel.

“We have an absolute commitment to Israel’s security. We have a close, unshakeable bond between the United States and Israel,” Clinton told a news briefing. Her commentsseemed to mark a turn around after days of tough American talk.

Mr Obama also sought to soften the ferocity of the rhetoric his administration has usedagainst Israel in recent days by stressing America’s “special bond” with the Israeli people.

“Israel is one of our closest allies and we and the Israeli people have a special bondthat’s not going to go away,” said President Barack Obama to Fox News after denyingany crisis in the relationship.

Debkafile’s Washington sources note that denial makes a lot of sense for the president because it lets him off the hook for dealing with it. But the continued US demands,

make us wonder if “special bond” means “bond-servant”!

THE U.S. IRON-HANDED DEMANDS

Mar 18/10. “Clinton’s demands on Netanyahu might be impossible for him to fulfill,”according to Foreign Policy’s “The Cable.” It quoted an unnamed aide of Netanyahu assaying that “there is no faith within the Israeli government that final status issues such as borders can be negotiated through a third party, even the Americans.”

Obama has increased pressure on Mr Netanyahu by blaming the crisis on Eli Yishai,Israel’s minister of Internal Affairs who is also the leader of a hardline party in the PM’sright wing coalition. Some observers say the president was sending Mr Netanyahu acoded message to sack Mr Yishai who is known as a radical, in exchange for returningrelations to normal.

Mr Netanyahu called his inner cabinet into session on the crisis and the seven ministerswere asked to review the situation after President Obama and Hilary Clinton turned downtheir initial proposals for easing the upset, and laid down three pre-conditions for restoring normal relations with Jerusalem:

1. The Netanyahu government must extend the 10-month freeze on West Bank settlementconstruction to include East Jerusalem;

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2. When the moratorium runs out in September, it must be renewed for the duration of peace negotiations with the Palestinians;

3. Israeli must make more concessions to the Palestinian Authority and its chairmanMahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu tried offering the Obama administration a number of compromise proposals,such as the suspension of construction in East Jerusalem and the city’s outlying Jewishsuburbs until September, but they were rejected, as was an offer to prohibit further Jewish

purchases of land and buildings in Jerusalem’s Arab districts during peace negotiations.

Obama and Clinton made it clear they would not accept any departures from their three

demands, which Israel is required to treat as an ultimatum.

BLAMING ISRAEL FOR MID-EAST PROBLEMS

Neither the US nor Israel has broadcast the US administration’s fourth condition f or resuming normal relations: an Israeli commitment to refrain from attacking Iran’snuclear program without prior US consent.

Because that commitment has not been given, administration officials are continuing tohammer Israel in every possible arena. Indeed, the gloves are now off in earnest for

insinuations that Israel’s settlement policy is the root-cause of Iran’s drive for anuclear bomb and of the conflicts endangering American lives in combat inAfghanistan and Iraq.

Joe Biden launched this drive, when he attacked Netanyahu in Jerusalem by saying:“What you are doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq,Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

A much-admired American military figure CENTCOM chief,Gen. David Petraeus, was the next US official to put this linkage into words.

“ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT HURTS

THE U.S. INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST”

Mar 18/10. US Gen. David Petraeus said the Arab-Israeli conflict hurts America’s abilityto advance its interests in the Middle East, fomenting anti-American sentiment andlimiting America’s strategic partnerships with Arab governments.

Petraeus called the conflict one of the “root causes of instability” and “obstacles to

security” in the region – which aids al-Qaida – and he argued that serious progress in the peace process could weaken Iran’s reach, as it uses the conflict to fuel support for itsterror group proxies.

Petraeus, commander of the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), a zone thatranges from Egypt to Pakistan, but excludes Israel and the Palestinian Authority, offeredthe assessment in a prepared testimony for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinctchallenges to our ability to advance our interests,” he said in the written testimony. “Arabanger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of US partnerships with

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governments and peoples in the Middle East and weakens the legitimacy of moderateregimes in the Arab world.”

There is a possibility that the Palestinian territories might be added to CENTCOM’s turf.Debkafile’s military sources explain that such a step would be tantamount to providingthe Palestinians with an American military umbrella against Israel. – www.debka.com

ANALYSIS

WHY ARE RELATIONS WITH THE U.S. STEEPED IN CRISIS?

News analyst, Caroline Glick, answers this question:

The reason relations are so bad is because Obama has opted to attack Israel. In the spaceof the past ten days alone, Israel has been subject to three malicious blows courtesy of Obama and his advisors.

First, during his visit to the White House, Obama treated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu like a two-bit potentate. Rather than respectfully disagree with the electedleader of a key US ally, Obama walked out in the middle of their meeting to dine with hisfamily and left Netanyahu to meditate on his grave offense of not agreeing to give up

Israel’s capital city as a precondition for indirect, US-orchestrated negotiationswith an unelected, unpopular, Palestinian leadership that supports terrorism anddenies Israel’s right to exist.

Although unsettling, this dismal state of affairs has a bright side. It provides Israel with arare opportunity to stop acceding to US policies that are bad for Israel and the USalike.

After all, if the US is willing to instigate a crisis in its relations with Israel over plans tozone for housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods like Ramat Shlomo and French Hill,then clearly Israel can do no right. And if Israel can do no right in the eyes of theadministration, then there is no point in bending to its will. Instead, Israel must simply do

what it must, to secure its interests.http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2010/04/

ANALYSIS

WHY IS OBAMA AGAINST ISRAEL?

A Wall Street Journal op-ed wrote that the Obama administration “has endorsed‘healthy relations’ between Iran and Syria, mildly rebuked Syrian President Bashar Assad for accusing the US of ‘colonialism,’ and publicly apologized to Muammar Gadhafi for treating him with less than appropriate deference after the Libyan called for ‘a jihad’ against Switzerland.”

However, when it comes to Israel, “the administration has no trouble rising to a high pitch of public indignation,” says the article entitled “Obama’s Turn Against Israel.”

Not even “repeated apologies from the Israeli PM prevented Hilary Clinton - at whatWhite House sources ostentatiously said was the personal direction of President Obama – from calling the announcement ‘an insult to the US’,” stated the opinion piece.

“Since nobody is defending the Israeli announcement, least of all an obviouslyembarrassed Israeli government, it’s difficult to see why the Administration has chosenthis occasion to spark a full-blown diplomatic crisis with its most reliable Middle Eastern

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ally … If Israel senses that the Administration is looking for any pretext to blow uprelations, it will care much less how the US might react to a military strike on Iran.’

The financial newspaper took an opposite stance on West Bank settlements than thatadopted by the Obama administration: “As for the West Bank settlements, it isincreasingly difficult to argue that their existence is the key obstacle to a peace deal withthe Palestinians. Israel withdrew all of its settlements from Gaza in 2005, onlyto see the Strip transform itself into a Hamas statelet and a base for continuous rocket fire

against Israeli civilians.“This episode does fit Mr. Obama’s foreign policy pattern to date: Our enemies getcourted; our friends get the squeeze. It has happened to Poland, the Czech Republic,Honduras and Colombia. Now it’s Israel’s turn,” said the Wall Street Journal. – reported by www.ynetnews.com

ANALYSIS

WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?

Barry Rubin, in The Jerusalem Post , asks “What’s all the fuss about?” He says it wassimply a stupid mess-up, and that it would have been better for the country’s international position if the announcement had not been made, because it allows the Obamaadministration (which needs excuses for its own failure to succeed at peacemaking) andthe PA and Arab states (which need some rationale for their own policies) to blameIsrael.

At most, what this announcement shows is that Israel doesn’t want or intend to give upall of east Jerusalem as part of a peace agreement. That’s not exactly news!

But does it really change the course of a peace process going nowhere due toPalestinian intransigence on the real issues? Or does it make the PA and Arab states,which are supposedly salivating for a peace deal, change their minds and not make peace? In both cases, No!

Let’s consider the actual background of these recent events. Israel has announced since1993, when the Oslo Agreement was signed, that it would continue building on existingsettlements. The PLO accepted this framework and during the next 16 years the issue of construction on settlements never had any effect on the negotiations.

In January 2009, the PA stopped negotiations because Hamas attacked Israel from theGaza Strip and Israel defended itself. Of course, Hamas is also the PA’s enemy and thePA would be delighted if Israel destroyed that group. But for public relations purposes,the PA had to pretend inter-Palestinian solidarity.

A few weeks later, the new president, Barack Obama, demanded that all construction onsettlements stop. Israel eventually agreed but announced it would keep building in east

Jerusalem. The US accepted that, and even praised Israel’s policy as a major concession.

But the PA still refused to return to negotiations. Was it because the construction offendedit so deeply? No, it’s because Fatah’s radical leaders don’t want to make a peace dealsince they believe they can win total victory and destroy Israel. At the same time, themore moderate ones are too weak to make a deal because of Hamas and their ownradicals.

Abbas has seized the opportunity of the apartment-building announcement to declare hewouldn’t talk. Is he indignant? Is he upset? Does he feel betrayed? No, he’s delighted tohave an excuse to do what he wants – not negotiate with Israel.

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And so Abbas gets to close down talks, keep his winnings and blames it on Israel. WhileAbbas and the PA don’t agree with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on much,they do agree on one point: they (wrongly) think the West is abandoning Israel. So whyshouldn’t they reject peace and try to destroy weakened Israel (in Ahmadinejad’s case) or merely wait until the West gives the Palestinians a state on a silver platter with noconcessions on their part (Abbas’ case)?

As Obama himself has indicated, there is no real hope for a comprehensive deal. The

talks are mainly a Public Relations gesture for everyone involved. Still, as long as muchof the West keeps sending the wrong signals – it’s all Israel’s fault, no real pressure will be put on the PA – their policy will delay any progress toward peace despite their bestintentions to promote it.

PALESTINIANS PLAN RESISTANCE

The Palestinian Authority has made a strategic decision to coordinate continued“resistance” in the eastern parts of Jerusalem. Sources close to both Hamas and the Fatah party, said Palestinian protest activities will focus on Jerusalem instead of the West Bank,to increase pressure on Israel to discuss final-status issues in proximity talks brokered bythe Obama administration.

ABBAS: FREEZE CONSTRUCTION OR NO TALKS

March 11/10. The Palestinians have welcomed Biden’s condemnation of Israel, but urgedthe Americans to go further by pressing Israel to cancel the Jerusalem settlement plan.

The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas said, “Unless Israel clearlycommits to a total construction freeze, indirect peace talks won’t resume.”

ASHTON SLAMS ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

March 15/10. The European Union’s new high representative for foreign affairs andsecurity policy, Catherine Ashton, began her first official trip to the Middle East withstrong words against Israel.

Addressing members of the Arab League in Cairo, Ashton voiced her disapproval of Israel’s decision to approve the construction of new homes in Jerusalem.

Israel’s announcements was just two days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

had reluctantly agreed to begin indirect peace talks. Those talks have since been put onthe backburner.

Ashton said Israel’s move “endangered and undermined the tentative agreement to begin proximity talks. The EU position on settlements is clear,” she said. “Settlements areillegal, constitute an obstacle to peace, and threaten to make a two-state solutionimpossible.”

NETANYAHU’S RESPONSE

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PM Netanyahu rebuffed criticism from Ashton and from the US. “Construction willcontinue in Jerusalem as this has been the case over the past 42 years.”

From the Knesset, Bibi told Obama (and Ashton) to “leave us alone. Israel will continueto build in all of Jerusalem’s neighborhoods.” He also said that we would resume building in Judea and Samaria in six months.

Let’s trust Netanyahu sticks to his resolution.

NETANYAHU AT AIPAC, IN WASHINGTON

“JERUSALEM NOT A SETTLEMENT; IT’S OUR CAPITAL”March 22/10. Mr Netanyahu addressed a conference hosted by the American Israel PublicAffairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the UnitedStates.

In his speech, the prime minister challenged Hillary Clinton’s strong anti-unitedJerusalem stand and told a cheering AIPAC crowd; “The Jewish people were buildingJerusalem 3,000 years ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today.Jerusalem is not a settlement; it’s our capital.”

The PM received scores of standing ovations. The longest and most sustained came whenhe directly challenged the policy of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton who

seek to divide Jerusalem and stop Israel from building “settlements” in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu spoke several hours after Clinton charged that Israel’s building in the parts of Jerusalem that Washington does not recognize as being under Israeli sovereignty,“undermines” US policy. She told AIPAC members that the continued expansion of Jewish settlements undermined “mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that arethe first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need.”

More than half of the American Congressmen were among the more than 7,000 peoplelistening to the speech at the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby group.

CLINTON: “ISRAEL’S SURVIVAL AT STAKE”

Mar 22/10. Hillary Clinton warned Israel that its survival could be in jeopardy unless itreached a peace deal with the Palestinians. Her warning came in an address to theconference of AIPAC in Washington.

“The conflict with the Palestinians and with Israel’s Arab neighbors ... threatens Israel’slong-term future as a secure and democratic Jewish state,” she said.

Clinton’s stand inherently backs PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ claim that Jerusalemmust be the capital of a future PA state, leaving little room for “negotiations” in the talks.

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Netanyahu pointed out that Israel has made constant concessions to the US andPalestinian Authority, but it drew the red line at Jerusalem, reasoning that building housesfor Jews in all of united Jerusalem “in no way precludes the possibility of a two-statesolution.”

THE BINYAMIN - BARACK MEETING

March 23/10. Binyamin and Barack met in the White House for 90 minutes, against the backdrop of an ongoing diplomatic crisis over east Jerusalem. Later they had another 30minutes meeting.

Netanyahu entered his meeting with Obama unaware of reports that revealed another controversial construction project had been approved in the eastern part of Jerusalem, thistime in Sheikh Jarah.

No press release was issued after the meetings which reportedly were quite cold. But thePrime Minister’s Office announced diplomatically that the talks were “conducted in agood atmosphere.”

The BBC said that a few details of the talks suggest that the US and Israeli leaders areclearly down to hard negotiations, and the stage is set for a historic test of wills. TheBBC correspondent said:

“On the Israeli side, there is a neurosis about the important relationship with the US. Butthe US will also be concerned that when there is daylight (division) between the twocountries, it points to trouble in the region. The last thing the US wants is for this to turninto some sort of problem that would encourage Israel’s enemies there.”

A State Department spokesman told Associated Press that the US and Israel werecurrently engaged in “ give and take.” And at present, top officials in Washington are

seeking to work out an agreement that will bring the core issues up for discussion in theupcoming proximity talk between Israel and the Palestinians.

WHAT IF THE WORLD DOES NOT STOP IRAN?

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The desire of Radical Islam to annihilate Israel was the first issue Netanyahu raised, andrightly so.

“Iran’s rulers say, ‘Israel is a one bomb country’,” the Prime Minister noted. “The headof Hizb’ollah says, ‘If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of goingafter them worldwide.’”

“Today, an unprecedented threat to humanity looms large,” Netanyahu continued. “Aradical Iranian regime armed with nuclear weapons could bring an end to the era of

nuclear peace the world has enjoyed for the last 65 years. Such a regime could providenuclear weapons to terrorists and might even be tempted to use them. Our world wouldnever be the same. Iran’s brazen bid to develop nuclear weapons is first and foremost athreat to Israel, but it is also a grave threat to the region and to the world.”

Netanyahu called on the world to “act swiftly and decisively to thwart this danger,” buthe made it clear that if the world does not stop Iran, Israel will!

“The greatest threat to any living organism or nation is not to recognize danger in time,”the Prime Minister said in his speech’s most sobering moment. “75 years ago, manyleaders around the world put their heads in the sand. Untold millions died in the war that

followed. Ultimately, two of history’s greatest leaders helped turn the tide. FranklinDelano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill helped save the world. But they were too late tosave six million of my own people. The future of the Jewish state can never depend onthe goodwill of even the greatest of men. Israel must always reserve the right to defenditself.”

That said, Israel’s deep and substantive commitment to making peace — and the PrimeMinister’s respectful but clear disagreement with the US over the Jerusalem issue and theconduct of the peace process with Palestinians — was his central message.

DEAFENING SILENCE AFTER MEETING

The Obama administration shifted this week from red hot anger at Benjamin Netanyahuto an icier suspicion toward him.

The clearest sign of Netanyahu’s rift with the White House, however, may have been hisintense focus on Congress, which has blunted the attempts of many of Obama’s predecessors to pressure the Jewish state.

OBAMA ‘HUMILIATED’ NETANYAHU

A number of sources report that the Israeli Prime Minister’s talks with President Obamain Washington, were apparently disastrous.

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Israeli media reported that Mr Obama humiliated Mr Netanyahu by leaving their meetingearly. “I’m going to the residential wing to have dinner with Michelle and the girls ,” Mr Obama reportedly said, adding that Mr Netanyahu should consult his aides about thegoodwill gestures Israel was prepared to make towards the Palestinians before renewed peace talks. “I’m still around ,” he said. “Let me know if there is anything new .’’

The talks were shrouded in a news blackout, with no statement issued after the meetingand no official photographs released.

US officials said the two met alone for about 90 minutes. Netanyahu then huddled withstaff separately for 90 minutes before requesting a second meeting with Obama. Whenthe President returned, Netanyahu is said to have made a counter-offer which Mr Obamadid not accept.

Although Netanyahu said, “I think we made progress today,” a congressman who methim after the White House meeting said: “It was awful. Netanyahu looked excessivelyconcerned and upset .”

In the Israeli Ma’ariv, columnist Ben Caspit wrote, “There was no humiliation exercisethat the Americans did not try on Mr Netanyahu . Bibi received in the White House the

treatment reserved for the president of Equatorial Guinea.”

Yedioth Ahronoth said the White House ambushed Mr Netanyahu. “Everything wasscrupulously planned, most likely, and the Israeli Premier, perhaps the most sought-after personage in the Oval Office in the past two decades, was received like the last of theWazirs from Lower Senegal.”

“The US is abandoning us and effectively turning into Europe,” Caspit wrote. “Fromnow on, we are completely alone. The entire world, from one end to another, talksabout a Palestinian state inside territory similar to 1967.’’

THE BLUEPRINT

President Obama said he intended formulating in detail, for the first time, the shape of thesettlement the US government sought for solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Now US and Israeli officials are working on a “blueprint ,” which Binyamin Netanyahu isexpected to sell to his cabinet, while the US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, willtake it to Arab and Palestinian officials for approval.

This would be tantamount to a US diktat and put the lid on negotiations, direct or indirect, because Israel would be dragged to the table in handcuffs to face an Arab partner who would accept nothing less than the terms Washington imposed in advance on Israel.

Such a notice would put a clamp on the close dialogue which has historicallycharacterized US-Israeli ties, to the detriment of Israel’s international standing.

NO CHANGE ON JERUSALEM POLICY

Mar 21/10. PM Netanyahu informed Washington in writing that Israel would not stopJewish settlement in and around Jerusalem.

Mar 26/10. Netanyahu’s office said that Israel will not change its policy vis-à-visJerusalem despite US pressure to restrict the construction of housing for Jews in parts of the capital city.

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Right wing MKs (Members of the Knesset - the Israeli parliament) and groups aredemonstrating that mainstream Israel is with Netanyahu on the Jerusalem issue. Much of Israeli mainstream media, however, described the US meetings as a failure.

Obama pushed Netanyahu to agree to extend the construction freeze in Judea andSamaria, to release hundreds of terrorists affiliated with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’Fatah organization, and to deny Jews the right to build in parts of Jerusalem that wereunder Jordanian control between the years 1948 and 1967.

Netanyahu refused to concede to these demands, and said he would discuss the matter with his mini-Cabinet of seven senior ministers.

WHO WILL BACK DOWN?

A comment from Israel: The US administration has managed to create a unique situationout of the construction issue. If Bibi backs down, his political position ... and our securitysituation will be seriously damaged.

If Obama backs down, his international standing ... and America’s diplomatic reputationwill be seriously damaged. What we have now is a “lose-lose” situation.

JERUSALEM, THE HARDEST ISSUE

In a bid to end the crisis with the US, Netanyahu agreed to include core issues in talkswith the Palestinians.

The US is pressing Israel to start discussing the question of borders as the first coreissue. The argument put forth by the US was that the moment borders are agreed upon,there would be no construction freeze problem and each side would be able to build in itsown territory.

Mar 21/10. David Ignatius of the Washington Post wrote, “The east Jerusalem move

wasn’t an accident but an emphatic public statement of the Israeli right’s rejection of concessions on Jerusalem.

“PM Netanyahu had been trying to play along with US requests to fuzz the issue byavoiding provocative actions on Jerusalem. But the right-wing Shas party, which controlsthe Interior Ministry, basically called his bluff. The Israeli Right put the Jerusalem issueon the agenda.”

“Jerusalem is the hardest issue of all in the negotiations, and for that reason, would-be peacemakers have wanted to save it for last. But this month’s crisis shows the step-by-step approach was a mistake, and that strategic waffling is impossible. Thanks to theIsraeli right, the Jerusalem issue is joined.”

Ignatius suggested that “what’s needed now is for Obama to announce that whennegotiations begin, the US will state its views about Jerusalem and other key issues – sketching the outlines of the deal that most Israelis and Palestinians want. If Netanyahurefuses to play, then we have a real crisis in US-Israeli relations.”

CONGRESS STANDS WITH ISRAEL

Mar 23/10. “We in Congress stand by Israel,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, standing beside Netanyahu. “In Congress, we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel.” But

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while Congress was speaking publicly with one voice, behind the scenes Netanyahuseemed to be trying to drive a wedge between it and the White House.

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana was more critical. Hecalled the White House stance on the Jewish state “absurd,” saying President Barack Obama needs to stop trying to “micro-manage” Israel on settlement issues. “I never thought I’d live to see the day that an American administration would denounce theJewish state of Israel for rebuilding Jerusalem,” Pence said.

Netanyahu “is too smart not to understand that Washington has changed,” veteran MiddleEast peace negotiator Aaron David Miller said. “And that a potentially transformative president who is now “king of the world for a day” is facing off against Benjamin Netanyahu, “king of Israel.” And the fight between the two is not today. What we seenow is positioning.”

THE MIDDLE EAST” PEACE” QUARTET DEMANDS FREEZE

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators - the US, Russia, the EU and the UN -condemned the Israeli housing announcement concerning Ramat Shlomo.

At its ministerial meeting in Moscow on 19 March, the Quartet called on Israel to freezeall building for Jews in areas that the Palestinian Authority wants as part of a new Arabstate.

During the Bush era, the Quartet avoided the issue of housing for Jews in areas of reunited Jerusalem, but now the Quartet has pointed out that the international communitydoes not recognize Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, which is home to 300,000 Jews.

Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 captureof the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Quartet says they are illegal.

SARKOZY CONDEMNS ISRAELI CONSTRUCTION

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Mar 30/10. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country stands with the US incondemning Israeli settlement activity in East Jerusalem. Shame!!

JERUSALEM MAYOR REMAINS ADAMANT

Mar 24/10. Any hopes of a compromise on Jerusalem with the Obama administrationwere dashed when Nir Barkat, the Mayor of Jerusalem, insisted that Jewish settlementswould go ahead in spite of US objections.

Mr Barkat said, “I do not think anybody intended to insult the US, but let us not get

mixed up. Planning in the city of Jerusalem has to, should, and will continue.Mr Barkat said that Jerusalem would remain the capital of the Jewish state. It is believedthat Israel may be prepared to hold off for a matter of weeks to enable talks to resumewith the Palestinians, but has ruled out a permanent freeze.

He was strongly backed by Mr Netanyahu, who offered an uncompromising defense of Israeli construction plans in east Jerusalem, and told the AIPAC conference:

“The connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem cannot be denied. Nearly half of Jerusalem’s Jewish population lives beyond the 1949 armistice line in what isconsidered east Jerusalem. Everybody knows that these neighborhoods will be part of Israel in any settlement,” he said. “Therefore building in them in no way precludes a two-

state solution.”

The Hal Lindsey Report

OBAMA’S HARDLINE ISRAEL POLICY

Mar 26/10. Since it took power in 2009, the Obama Administration has been stonewallingIsrael over its requests for critical advanced weapons systems and munitions. Theserequests were approved in 2008 by the Bush Administration, but President Obama hasforbidden their delivery to Israel. In fact, he recently diverted a shipment of bunker-buster bombs. They’re now sitting in a warehouse on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

No one is admitting it, but the shipment was diverted right around the time that Israeloutrageously “insulted” VP Joe Biden and, (according to S of S Hillary Clinton), insultedalso President Obama and the entire US.

You remember, Israel “insulted our (US) national pride” by announcing the approval of step four in a seven step process toward building a 1,600 unit apartment complex in alongtime Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. That’s the sort of insult that could makea great nation like ours collapse in a tearful heap of broken hearts !!! (haha)

But I smell a rat; the whole incident seems ‘manufactured.’ Looking at the treatment theIsraeli Prime Minister received at the hands of the President during his visit to

23



Washington, it’s obvious to me that the Administration is once again engaged in itstrademark Chicago-style politics and arm-twisting. But who knows what they’re after?

One thing I know for sure, though, this Administration has absolutely no concern for our ally’s best interests. In fact, I think President Obama is getting ready to throw Israel under the bus. And there’s no way that can end well for the United States.

PUNISHMENT FOR ISRAEL!

OBAMA BLOCKS DELIVERY OF BUNKER-BUSTERS TO ISRAEL

www.worldtribune.com

The US has diverted a shipment of bunker-busters designated for Israel.

Officials said the US military was ordered to divert a shipment of smart bunker-buster bombs from Israel to a military base in Diego Garcia. They said the shipment of 387smart munitions had been slated to join pre-positioned US military equipment in IsraelAir Force bases. “This was a political decision,” an official said.

In 2008, the United States approved an Israeli request for bunker-busters capable of destroying underground facilities, including Iranian nuclear weapons sites. Officials said

delivery of the weapons was held up by the Obama administration.

Since taking office, Obama has refused to approve any major Israeli requests for U.S. weapons platforms or advanced systems. Officials said this included proposedIsraeli procurement of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, refueling systems, advancedmunitions and data on a stealth variant of the F-15E.

“All signs indicate that this will continue in 2010,” a congressional source familiar withthe Israeli military requests said. “This is really an embargo, but nobody talks about it publicly.”

Under the plan, the US military was to have stored 195 BLU-110 and 192 BLU-117

munitions in unspecified air force bases in Israel. The US military uses four Israeli basesfor the storage of about $400 million worth of pre-positioned equipment meant for use byeither Washington or Jerusalem in any regional war.

In January 2010, the administration agreed to an Israeli request to double the amount of US military stockpiles to $800 million. Officials said the bunker-busters as well as Patriotmissile interceptors were included in the agreement.

The decision to divert the BLU munitions was taken amid the crisis between Israel andthe United States over planned construction of Jewish homes in Jerusalem. Theadministration, including Hillary Clinton, has warned that Washington could reducemilitary aid to Israel because of its construction policy.

OBAMA’S WAR ON ISRAEL

By Caroline Glick – www.jpost.com

March 19/10. Why has President Barack Obama decided to foment a crisis in USrelations with Israel? He himself claims that he has launched a political war against Israelin the interest of promoting peace.

Obama ordered Hillary Clinton to present Netanyahu with a four-part ultimatum.

First, Israel must cancel the approval of the housing units in Ramat Shlomo.

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Second, Israel must prohibit all construction for Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods builtsince 1967.

Third, Israel must make a gesture to the Palestinians to show them we want peace. TheUS suggests releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.

Fourth, Israel must agree (1) to negotiate all substantive issues, including the partition of Jerusalem (including the Jewish neighborhoods constructed since 1967 that are nowhome to more than a half million Israelis) and (2) the immigration of millions of hostile

foreign Arabs to Israel under the rubric of the so-called “right of return”- all in the courseof indirect, Obama administration-mediated negotiations with the Palestinians.

To date, Israel has maintained that substantive discussions can only be conducted indirect negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Obama’s ultimatum makes clear that mediating peace between Israel and the Palestiniansis not a goal he is interested in achieving.

Obama’s new demands follow the months of American pressure that eventually coerced Netanyahu into announcing both his support for a Palestinian state and a 10-month banon Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. No previous Israeli government had ever

been asked to make the latter concession. Netanyahu was led to believe that in return for these concessions, Obama would begin behaving like the credible mediator his predecessors were. But instead of acting like his predecessors, Obama has behaved like the Palestinians. Rather than reward Netanyahufor taking a risk for peace, Obama has, in the model of Yasser Arafat and MahmoudAbbas, pocketed Netanyahu’s concessions and escalated his demands. This is not the behavior of a mediator. This is the behavior of an adversary.

With the US president treating Israel like an enemy, the Palestinians have no reason toagree to sit down and negotiate. Indeed, they have no choice but to declare war.

There are five explanations for Obama’s behavior. And they are not mutually exclusive.

…

1. Obama’s assault on Israel is likely related to the failure of his Iran policy.

2. To divert the public’s attention away from the failure of his Iran policy. He may beattacking Israel in a bid to coerce Netanyahu into agreeing to give him (Obama) veto power over any Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations.

3. By making demands Netanyahu and his coalition partners cannot accept, Obama hopesto either bring down the government and replace Netanyahu and Likud with the far-leftistTzipi Livni and Kadima.

4. Obama’s behavior could indicate that he seeks to realign US foreign policy away from

Israel.

5. To use his manufactured crisis to justify adopting an overtly anti-Israel position vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

Obama has made clear that he is not Israel’s ally. And for the remainder of his term, hewill do everything he can to downgrade US relations with Israel while maintaining hisconstant genuflection to the likes of Iran, Syria, the Palestinians and Turkey. FULLARTICLE> http://carolineglick.com/

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http://carolineglick.com/

http://carolineglick.com/



“THE US-ENGINEERED DEADLOCK”

Mar 26/10. The Washington Post published an editorial this week terming the deadlock between Israel and the PA as “a US-engineered deadlock.”

Author Jackson Diehl noted that each of Obama’s demands on Israel led to Abbasdeclaring that “the PA will not begin negotiating with Israel if the demand is not met.”“How could he do otherwise?” Diehl asked. “The Palestinian leader cannot be less pro-Palestinian than the White House.”

In addition to reducing the PA leadership’s willingness to hold talks, Obama “hasadded more poison to a US-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in twodecades,” Diehl said.

“Netanyahu is being treated as if he were an unsavory Third World dictator, needed for strategic reasons but conspicuously held at arms length. That is something the rest of theworld will be quick to notice and respond to,” he said. “Just like the Palestinians,European governments cannot be more friendly to an Israeli leader than the UnitedStates. Would Britain have expelled a senior Israeli diplomat last week because of a flapover forged passports if there were no daylight (division) between Obama and Netanyahu?”

OBAMA DESPERATELY WANTS A SUCCESS

President Obama wants an accomplishment with which he’ll be able to come to the ArabLeague, to the international community, and to the Palestinians - an achievement to offsetall the difficulties in his foreign policy – from Afghanistan, through Iraq, to the sanctionsagainst Iran. The Americans are basically saying: “Let us reach this achievement, so thatit will serve you too. This way we can also strengthen the trust between Washington andJerusalem.”

DEBKAfile reports that Netanyahu was told bluntly to issue a White House-dictated public pledge to eschew further construction in East Jerusalem, or face a presidentialnotice condemning Israel and holding its government responsible for the failure torestart indirect Israel-Palestinian talks.

OBAMA IS GOING AFTER REGIME CHANGE IN ... ISRAEL

Mar 25/10: President Barack Obama made it brutally clear that the Netanyahugovernment is an obstacle to his goals in the Middle East and he will not toleratedisobedience. He therefore has no qualms about seeking regime change, not in Tehran, but in Jerusalem.

HOUSE MAJORITY TO CLINTON:

“CALM DOWN ON ISRAEL”

More than 75 percent of Congressmen in the US House of Representatives have signed aletter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing support for Israel and demandingan end to the highly-publicized state of tensions with Israel.

Signed by 327 Representatives, out of 435, the letter calls on Clinton and the ObamaAdministration to settle its disputes with Israel in a non-public and friendly fashion. Thecurrent tensions “will not advance the interests the US and Israel share,” the letter states,as “above all, we must remain focused on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace and stability.”

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“A strong Israel is an asset to the national security of the US and brings stability to theMiddle East.”

“We are writing to reaffirm our commitment to the unbreakable bond that exists betweenour country and the State of Israel, and to express to you our deep concern over recenttension,” the letter said. “In every important relationship, there will be occasionalmisunderstandings and conflicts … Differences are best resolved quietly, in trust andconfidence, as befits longstanding strategic allies…

“We are reassured that Mr Netanyahu’s commitment to put in place new procedures willensure that such surprises [as a municipal Jerusalem announcement on approval of another step towards the construction of 1,600 apartments in a post-1967 Jerusalemneighbor-hood during Vice President Biden’s recent visit to Israel], however unintended,will not recur.

“The US and Israel are close allies whose people[s] share a deep and abiding friendship based on a shared commitment to core values including democracy, human rights andfreedom of the press and religion. Our two countries are partners in the fight againstterrorism, and share an important strategic relation-ship.” - Arutz Sheva / 28 March 10

“CLINTON OWES NEW YORKERS AN APOLOGY”

March 28/10. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her “to apologize to your former New York constituents(when you were their Senator) for having misled them by falsely claiming to support anundivided Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”

The letter was signed by Morton A. Klein, President of ZOA; Dr. Michael Goldblatt,Chairman, National Board; Dr. Alan Mazurek, Chair, Executive Committee and StevenGoldberg, Esq., Vice-Chairman, National Board.

The letter went on to say, “when you were New York’s Senator from 2001 to 2009, yourepeatedly stated in speeches and in a September 2007 position paper that you believed‘Israel’s right to exist in safety as a Jewish state, with defensible borders and anundivided Jerusalem as its capital, must never be questioned.’ Your spokesperson, JimChon, even said, ‘this paper is a reflection of her consistent policy. That hasn’t changed.’

“Madame Secretary, you also signed the June 2004 Senate Resolution endorsingPresident Bush’s letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that supported Israel‘retaining major Israeli population centers’ in Judea and Samaria in any final peaceagreement.’

“We make this demand following your passionate and heartfelt condemnation of Israelfor announcing the construction of Jewish homes in a Jewish neighborhood in easternJerusalem by stating that Jews building and moving there ‘is an insult to America.’ Theonly reasonable interpretation of this policy is that it is a first step toward dividingJerusalem.”

The ZOA letter went on to say, “Your shocking words about Israel building in eastJerusalem is especially perplexing in light of the fact that you have ignored Congress passing the ‘Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995’ by a margin of 93 to 5 in the U.S. Senateand 347 to 37 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The Act which is U.S. Law stated:

(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city.

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(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the state of Israel.’

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “It took only a few months to confirm thatSecretary of State Clinton bears little resemblance to Senator Clinton on Israel issues andwas apparently misrepresenting her true views and beliefs on Israel to her New York constituents.

From having once loudly proclaimed support for an undivided Jerusalem, upon becomingSecretary of State, suddenly, parts of an “undivided Jerusalem” became places where

Jews may not move or build, even though Jews were a majority in eastern Jerusalem fromthe mid-1800s until 1948, when Jordan forced Jewish residents to flee, and are now amajority once again.

Her recent harsh words of condemnation - a term used in diplomacy normally only todescribe the most heinous acts committed by a non-democratic regime, confirms thatSecretary Clinton did not believe what she said about Jerusalem when she was Senator Clinton.

“Preventing Jews, because they are Jews, from moving into or developing their communities in Jerusalem is a racist and even apartheid American and Palestinian Arab policy which aims to weaken Israel’s claim to Jerusalem and is a first step towards

dividing the city.

This is a policy one would never have expected Secretary Clinton to support in view of her previous unequivocal statements, as Senator from New York, of support for a unitedJerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.

“Secretary Clinton owes her New York Jewish and pro-Israel constituents a publicapology,” the ZOA said.

PEACE FOR JERUSALEM?

A crisis between Israel and the US that was widely predicted when Benjamin Netanyahutook office as prime minister last year, finally erupted in mid March.

Now the American president, international community of leaders, and the world newsmedia combine to force Israel into their own mould for world peace, which theyobviously believe must begin at Jerusalem.

They aren’t far wrong in that belief. The peace of Jerusalem is something for whichGod’s people are told to pray: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper thatlove thee.” (Ps. 122:6)

However, the “peace” that will eventuate from the humanistic efforts will be a“peace” that will destroy many (Dan. 8:25). It will be peace “made with death andhell.” (Isaiah 28:15, 18)

There is no one, in terms of national entities, to stand with Israel against the threat fromIran, other than the United States. America alone supplies fuel and spare parts for Israel’sair force, as well as the warning signals for any missiles that might be headed Israel’sway.

Israel does not stand to benefit from antagonizing its most important ally, but Netanyahuhas historically taken a hard line against territorial concessions to the Palestinians, and acurb on east Jerusalem construction would threaten to fracture his hawkish coalition.

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“For thus says YHWH of Hosts - (after His glory sent me against the nations which plunder you - for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye): ‘Look, I willwave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their servants.” Then youwill know that YHWH of Hosts has sent Me’.” (Zechariah 2:8-9)

PRAY BIBI WILL RESIST THE PRESSURE

While the Quartet tries to divide Jerusalem and Israel, God is warning of judgmentcoming on these nations:

“For behold, in those days and at that time…I will gather all the nations and bringthem down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter in judgment with themthere on behalf of My people and My inheritance Israel [because] they have dividedup My land.” (Joel 3:1-2)

Pray that the Lord would give the PM the courage to resist the intense international pressure to divide Jerusalem and further divide the Holy Land.

“OBAMA RESIGNED TO NUCLEAR IRAN”

Mar 28/10. Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton has expressed concern thatWashington was coming to terms with a nuclear Iran. “I very much worry the Obamaadministration is willing to accept a nuclear Iran, that’s why there’s this extraordinary pressure on Israel not to attack Iran,” Bolton said.

The former envoy told Army Radio that this pressure was the focus of the meetings inWashington between Netanyahu and Obama, and US officials.

Bolton said that the Obama administration had embraced the view prevalent in Europe,that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the key to the resolution of all other conflicts throughout the Middle East, including the Iranian conflict.

He added that the rift in US-Israel relations stemmed from a fundamental difference inthe understanding of the Middle East and Israel’s role in the Middle East, and is not reallyabout east Jerusalem at all.

Bolton said that the treatment Netanyahu received during his visit “should tell the peopleof Israel how difficult it’s going to be dealing with Washington for the next couple of years.” – www.jpost.com

OBAMA: “IRAN AIMS TO ACQUIRE NUKES”

Apr 2/10. President Obama has admitted on CBS television that all evidence indicatesTehran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. “They might decide that, once theyhave the capacity that they’d hold off right at the edge - in order not to

incur - more sanctions. We’re going to ratchet up the pressure and examine how theyrespond but we’re going to do so with a unified international community,” Obama said.

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AHMADINEJAD:

“HATED ISRAEL WILL BE ANNIHILATED”

Mar 12/10. Ahmadinejad warns aggression won’t save the “most criminal regime in theworld.”

“The Palestinians and the nations of the Middle East will be rid of a ‘bad omen’ onceIsrael is annihilated,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speechcommunicated by Press TV.

Speaking to supporters in southern Iran, Ahmadinejad charged that Israel, a foreign presence and a “Western prodigy” in the region, had “reached the end of its road.” – www.jpost.com

Defence sources in Washington reported the view that the Obama administration, whichhas never cultivated warm relations with the Netanyahu government, has seized on theJerusalem housing spat as a device for restraining Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear sites - a step which the White House strenuously opposes.

IRAN URGES WEST TO PUNISH ISRAEL

Mar 25/10. The Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry urges Western nations to ‘put a stopto the Zionist regime’s state terrorism.’ Iran urged the West to take action against Israelover the Jewish state’s decision to build more houses in east Jerusalem.

AHMADINEJAD:

“WEST PRESSURE WILL NOT AFFECT IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM”The Iranian president says efforts by the West to halt Iran’s nuclear program will not bear

fruit. Addressing the West, Ahmadinejad said: “Rest assured that your efforts will befruitless.” He also urged the West to stop supporting Israel. - www.news.yahoo.com

ARAB LEAGUE FOCUSED ON JERUSALEM

Mar 28/10. The Arab League concluded its 22nd summit in Libya without any changesfrom its longstanding policies:

* no to recognizing Israel under any conditions,

* yes to armed resistance against Israel,

* no condemnation of genocide in Darfur,

* yes to Arab Jerusalem, and more.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said that the Arab world should prepare for the possibility of “complete failure” of the American-led diplomatic process on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

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UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-Moon gave support for Palestinian demands, and again“condemned” Israel for building for Jews in the areas of Jerusalem where the US doesnot recognize Israeli sovereignty.

Ban urged Arab leaders to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian talks, saying “our common goal should be to resolve all final-status issues within 24 months.” He also reiterated thatIsrael’s settlement activity in Arab areas of Jerusalem was “illegal” and stressedJerusalem must emerge “as the capital of two states.”

ABBAS REJECTS OBAMA’S PEACE TALKS

At the Arab League summit, Palestinian Leader, Mahmoud Abbas declared that Jerusalem

is a “jewel” that cannot be compromised. “We cannot resume indirect negotiations aslong as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo,” he said.

“Negotiations on borders would be absurd if Israel decided the borders (of a new PA state by building) on the ground. We have always said that Jerusalem is the jewel in the crownand the gate to peace.”

Emboldened by President Obama’s tough talk on Israel, Abbas has rejected American-mediated talks with Israel unless Israel agrees to demands to stop building for Jewsin most newer parts of Jerusalem.

OBAMA HEADING TO “IMPOSE” SETTLEMENT

Obama’s demands during his meeting with Netanyahu seemed to point to an intention of imposing a permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years.

www.haaretz.com says, “Israeli officials view the demands that Obama made at theWhite House as the tip of the iceberg under which lies a dramatic change in US policytoward Israel. Of 10 demands posed by Obama, four deal with Jerusalem:

1. opening a Palestinian commercial interests office in East Jerusalem,

2. an end to the razing of structures in Palestinian neighborhoods in the capital, 3.stopping construction in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem,

4. no building in the neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo.

But another key demand - to discuss the dispute’s core issues during the indirecttalks that are planned - is perceived in Jerusalem as a problem because it implies thatdirect negotiations would be bypassed. This would set up a framework through which theAmericans would be able to impose a final settlement.

It is not just Obama’s demands, however, that are problematic; the White House and StateDepartment have been contacting Israel’s European allies on which is perceived to be aneffort to isolate Israel and to put enormous political pressure on it.

OBAMA NOT “IMPOSING” SOLUTION

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President Obama has insisted that he is not imposing an agreement on Israel, but Abbashas taken the president’s condemnation of Israel’s building for Jews in all of Jerusalem asa signal that Israel can be pushed into a diplomatic corner.

OBAMA’S DIPLOMACY, FROM BAD TO WORSE

Apr 7/10. Two top administration officials told Washington Post columnist DavidIgnatius, that Obama was “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan toresolve the Palestinian conflict.

Ignatius reports that Obama came to the conclusion that he should impose a “peace plan” after meeting with six former national security advisors.

A senior PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rather than act as anintermediary, the US has been negotiating with Israel on behalf of the PA, assumingall Palestinian positions and bargaining with Israel from the Palestinian side.

“NO TALKS UNTIL 2,000 TERRORISTS FREED”

Mar 23/10: The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas laid down a fresh condition for indirect peace talks to begin: Israel must first open its prison doors to free 2,000Palestinian terrorists.

That is twice the number demanded by Hamas for handing over kidnapped soldier GileadShalit. Abbas knows quite well that even for the soldier, Israel had refused to hand over to Hamas 323 hard-core prisoners on the Palestinian list, because letting them go freewould set Israel’s counter-terror gains back by decades.

www.haaretz.com article asks the question:

IS A CRISIS WITH THE EU IN THE WORKS?

Mar 25/10. Israeli government sources say it is likely that after the current diplomaticcrisis and pressure by the US, Israel will soon face an even more serious row with theEuropean Union.

This concern was voiced at a conference called between Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal, and seven of Israel’s ambassadors - the envoys to the US, EU,London, Rome, the UN, Moscow and Paris.

The envoys all said that if US pressure continued, the EU would go even further incondemning Israel and promoting diplomatic initiatives.

OBAMA’S WAR ON ISRAEL CONTINUES

Obama’s goal is to get Israel to openly declare that it will accept a Palestinian State basedon the indefensible 1967 lines. He wants Israel to approve a document that calls for acessation of all building in Jerusalem and address other “core” issues like the right of

return.

Obama is forcing a crisis in American/Israeli relations. His motives can be speculatedabout but there is no doubt that he is determined to placate the Arabs at the expense of thesecurity of the State of Israel.

Meanwhile Israel has watched Obama allow Iran to move closer and closer towardattaining nuclear weapons. America’s half-hearted attempt to stop the nuclear programhas failed. Obama is still trying to persuade the radical leaders in Iran to enter negotiations. Meanwhile Obama refuses to provide any comfort to the Iranians who arevictims of the brutal regime.

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Obama’s reckless policies are placing Israel, America and the free world at serious risk.

US MILITARY ANALYST:

“OBAMA IS THE FIRST ANTI-ISRAELI PRESIDENT”

Apr 1/10. Lt.-Col. (ret.) Ralph Peters, military analyst and author of a book on MiddleEast politics, says Obama apparently has a chip on his shoulder against Israel – and it’snot “helpful to our civilization.”

Peters, who wrote “Endless War: Middle Eastern Islam vs. Western Civilization,” wasasked to explain why he felt American-Israeli friendship appears to have been derailed sodramatically. “The answer is two words,” he said. “President Obama.”

“Obama’s treatment of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu [during their recentmeeting in Washington] was disgraceful and shameful,” Peters told FoxNews. “We treatour enemies with greater courtesy!

In addition, it was counter-productive – because this vendetta on the part of the WhiteHouse against Israel - all it does is encourage the Palestinians and their Arab backers tomake ever wilder demands that Israel cannot possibly fulfill. This is not a peace process;this is something about a chip on the President’s shoulder.”

Peters says that Obama’s approach is “absolutely” a departure from past American policy.“It all started with Obama’s Cairo speech,” he said, “where Obama attempted to appeaseradical Muslims in the Middle East, cold-shouldered Israel, and raised Palestinian

expectations that he’d take care of Israel and that the Palestinians would get their revenge.

“Secondly, in the past, under Presidents Clinton and Bush, there were face-to-facenegotiations; the Palestinians were offered one deal after another, and it was always -always! - the Palestinians who walked away.”

The American animosity towards Israel “is not about housing in Jerusalem or anythingelse,” Ralph Peters emphasized. “We need to back up and get a little wide-angle picture

and recognize the fundamental issue in play here: Israel wants to live in peace with itsneighbors, and its neighbors want Israel destroyed. The President refuses tounderstand that.”

To turn away from Israel as we are doing is not going to help our diplomacy; it is goingto hurt our civilization.” - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

“OBAMA WILLING TO THROW ISRAEL UNDER THE BUS”

President Barack Obama is anti-Israel and “is willing to throw Israel under the bus inorder to please Muslim nations,” former New York City Mayor Ed Koch charged.

Koch, a Jewish Democrat, has been gradually “falling out of love” with President Obama,a term he used in a commentary he published last August. The recent snub by the

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president of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, highlighted by a meeting without a press conference or even an official photograph, broke the proverbial camel’s back for Koch.

After having opposed President Obama’s health care reform plan and expressingdisappointment over his failure to convince Russia and China to back harsh sanctionsagainst Iran, the former mayor recently wrote, “President Obama’s abysmal attitudetoward the State of Israel and his humiliating treatment of Prime Minister Netanyahu is

shocking.”He then went one step further with unprecedented public criticism of President Obama by

a leading Democrat, telling Fox News that the country’s leader is more interested inpacifying Muslim nations than helping Israel.

“What they did is, they wanted to make Israel into a pariah,” he said. “It’s outrageous inmy judgment,” Koch commented. “I have been a supporter of President Obama and wentto Florida for him, urged Jews all over the country to vote for him, saying that he would be just as good as John McCain on the security of Israel. I don’t think it’s true anymore.”- Arutz Sheva

BOTH OBAMA AND NETANYAHU UNDER POLITICAL PRESSURE Not only has there been strong criticism of Obama in the US itself, but the president hasto keep his eye on midterm congressional elections in November. Because of this US political calendar, Obama has limited time to press Israel before it becomes a major domestic political issue affecting the elections.

And Netanyahu, who has been conferring with his closest allies, has limited politicalspace in which to operate, if he wants to stay in power. His coalition is made up by sixmedium-size parties whose politicians mostly support Jewish settlements in the WestBank, oppose any concessions on Jerusalem, and are sceptical of an independentPalestinian state next door.

FATAH: “INTENSIFY POPULAR STRUGGLE”

Mar 30/10. While Jerusalem and Washington hope to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peacetalks as soon as possible, senior Fatah officials have called to intensify the “popular struggle” against the Jewish state. “All options are on the table,” senior PalestinianAuthority official Jibril Rajoub said.

A couple of days later, a senior Fatah official declared:

“WE WANT A ‘PEACEFUL’ INTIFADA”

Apr 2/10. The new “popular intifada” that Fatah is planning in the West Bank won’t be anarmed one, said Nabil Shaath. The option of an armed intifada under the currentcircumstances, where Israel “fully occupies the West Bank and is besieging the GazaStrip, is impossible.”

Shaath said, “In light of the heavy losses the Palestinians suffered as a result of the use of weapons and suicide bombings during the second intifada, as well as the ongoing power struggle between Fatah and Hamas, it is impossible for Palestinians living in the WestBank to launch another armed uprising.”

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Shaath revealed that Fatah was now carrying out a strategy that consists of four elementsin response to the current political stalemate: pursuing and escalating the “popular resistance,” confronting Israel politically, economically and legally in the internationalarena, achieving national unity with Hamas and building institutions of the futurePalestinian state.

FAYYAD “WE WILL HAVE A STATE NEXT YEAR”

Apr 2/10. Next year, “the birth of a Palestinian state will be celebrated as a day of joy bythe entire community of nations,” says Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad.

Relaying Passover greetings to the Jewish community, Fayyad said he hopes Israelis willalso participate in the celebrations for the birth of a new state. “The time for this baby to

be born will come, and we estimate it will come around 2011. That is our vision, and areflection of our will to exercise our right to live in freedom and dignity in the country[where] we are born, alongside the State of Israel in complete harmony.”

He also welcomed the recent Quartet’s announcement in Moscow, which supports thePA’s August 2009 plan to establish a state within 24 months.

Fayyad says the Palestinians want an independent and sovereign state, emphasizing theyare “not looking for a state of leftovers - a Mickey Mouse state.”

“If for one reason or another, by August 2011 [the plan] will have failed... I believe wewill have amassed such credit, in form of positive facts on the ground, that the reality is bound to force itself on the political process to produce the outcome.”

Fayyad was asked: Would you agree to leave the issue of Jerusalem to a later stage of the process?

“Not at all,” he replied. “It should be handled at the very beginning. The negotiationsshould not be about principles, they should be about arrangements, accommodations, andaccess. Politically, we feel a right to have a state of Palestine on the land that wasoccupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.” - Haaretz .

LIEBERMAN WARNS AGAINST

UNILA TERAL INDEPENDENCE

Apr 5/10. Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, warnedthe PA against plans to declare U I next year, saying such a move could prompt Israel toannex parts of the West Bank and annul past peace agreements.

Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad, whose Western-backed government has a limitedgoverning role in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, has announced plans to unilaterallydeclare a Palestinian state, possibly as early as the summer of 2011 - even without a peace deal.

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U I



Toward that aim, Fayyad has begun ambitious reforms of the government and securityforces, building up Palestinian institutions and developing the economy in preparation for independence.

The international community has welcomed Fayyad’s reform efforts, raising fears inIsrael that a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood could win internationalrecognition.

Lieberman warned that Israel would not tolerate such a step, and could revoke a series of

agreements made under the so-called Oslo interim peace accords of the 1990s and evenannex parts of the West Bank.

“Any unilateral decision will release us from all of our commitments and will allow usalso to make unilateral decisions. For example, imposing Israeli sovereignty on certainareas, cutting off all kinds of ties and transfers of money and a string of benefits andagreements put into place since the Oslo accords,” Lieberman said.

OBAMA & HU WEIGH SANCTIONS TRADEOFF AGAINST IRAN AND ISRAEL

www.debka.com reports that Chinese president Hu Jintao indicated a willingness toconsider abstaining on a UN Security Council vote imposing sanctions against Iran - if

the United States reciprocated by withholding its vote on sanctions against Israel over itsconstruction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Withholding support from an anti-Israel resolution in the Security Council would be a first time for a US president.

White House officials dealing with Arab governments were quick to pass the wordaround of the evolving Obama approach. They tied it in with the US envoy GeorgeMitchell’s new plan to push for a negotiated Israel-Palestinian deal on the borders of aPalestinian state to be struck within four months.

‘US & ISRAEL SEE EYE TO EYE ON IRAN’

Apr 2/10. The US and Israel are fully in sync when it comes to Iran, a senior member of

the US National Security Council told Jewish leaders in Washington.

The official, Dan Shapiro, Director for Near East Affairs at the National SecurityCouncil, assured the leaders that Iran is the National Security Council’s top priority andthat the US is adamant to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

But debkafile’s Washington sources report that the American-Jewish leaders addressed byShapiro received his message with extreme skepticism.

The US president’s openness to Beijing’s proposed sanctions trade, belies the assuranceShapiro sought to achieve by denying relations were in crisis after Netanyahu’s chillywelcome at the White House, and by insisting that there had been more agreement thandisagreement between the two leaders.

“TURKEY ALIGNING WITH MUSLIM WORLD”

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AHMADINEJAD ERDOGAN

Apr 5/10. The Israel Foreign Ministry said the Turkish PM is attempting to integrate withthe Muslim world at the expense of his country’s ties with Israel.

A few hours earlier, Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticized Israel’s policy inHamas-ruled Gaza.

And addressing heightened tensions in Jerusalem, Erdogan said, “Arabs and Turks are

brothers and we share the same values. Turkey will always be on the side of Muslimswherever they are. We cannot be indifferent to the problems of the Islamic world of Jerusalem. Our task is the integration with the western world but we did not turn our back to the East.”

“JORDAN WAS BETTER OFF WITHOUT PEACE WITH ISRAEL”

King Abdullah of Jordan has joined the Arab world’s saber-rattling against Israel andwarned that the status of Jerusalem could blow up into another war.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , he also stated that Jordan was better off economically before it made peace with Israel in 1994.

“Our relationship with Israel is at an all-time low. It hasn’t been as bad as it is today andas tense as it is today. The political trust is gone,” he said. “There is no real economicrelationship between Jordan and Israel. So economically we were better off in trade andin movement before my father signed the peace treaty.”

The king also maintained that “Jerusalem specifically engages Jordan because we are thecustodians of the Muslim and Christian holy places and this is a flashpoint that goes beyond Jordanian-Israeli relations.”

“I think the future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems. 57 countries inthe world, a third of the United Nations, do not recognize Israel.”

SAUDI CLERIC PLANS TO VISIT JERUSALEM

Ap 4/10. A Saudi Arabian cleric announced on television he will make an unprecedentedvisit to Jerusalem next week as part of an intensive Arab world effort to claim Muslimties to the city.

JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES

The Arabs believe that Israel is now well out of favor with the US. It’s damned as a war criminal by the Goldstone Report, and increasingly treated as a pariah by the EU. Russia

and China are solidly on board with the Arabs and Iran, and Turkey is daily distancingitself ever further from Israel which until recently was called an ally; and now the king inAmman may well be gearing up to jump over to the other side.

The times are extremely critical. The climax of the age is drawing near. The coming of the Lord is near. Every day so much imminent Rapture news is being published that it isdifficult to keep up with it all. And we can’t send you the news quick enough. Pleasecheck our website for urgent news reports.

Shalom. God bless! www.maranathaMRC.com

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Documents

MA44 Jerusalem Besieged