JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T
MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE
MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET
SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO
OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
In
choice between territories and peace, I prefer peace,’ Ben-Gurion said
in 1968-Lost interview uncovered in Jerusalem archive shows Israel’s
founding premier exhorting a victorious nation to cleave to ‘the moral
virtue of our undertaking’-By Times of Israel staff July 24, 2016, 3:49
am
A lost interview with Israel’s first prime minister, recently unearthed by an Israeli filmmaker, reveals a simple, unassuming side of the statesman revered by Israelis as the nation’s founding father.The 6-hour interview, which David Ben-Gurion gave in 1968 to producers of a film about his life — a film that was eventually unsuccessful and which was quickly forgotten — was discovered by Yariv Mozer in the Hebrew University’s Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.Mozer has now used the rare footage of the late prime minister to produce his own film, titled “Ben-Gurion, Epilogue,” which recently screened at Jerusalem’s International Film Festival.In it, Ben-Gurion is seen in the years following his resignation from the premiership in 1963, after which he spent most of his time at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev, a last homage to his dream of making the desert bloom.The former premier is seen living a charmingly simple life, working in farmlands of the community, taking daily strolls, even enjoying some time off at the pool with his wife Paula.He tells the interviewers that when he told Paula that he wanted to live in the desert, “she thought I’d gone mad. But she did it, she came after me.”The former prime minister, celebrated even in life, told kibbutz members he had no wish to receive any special treatment.“I told them my name is David, not Ben-Gurion. Every morning I came to see what David has to do and I went to do the work,” he said.Ben-Gurion wanted to serve as an example of what Israel could be, and how Israeli leaders should live.In the interview, conducted a year after the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel conquered the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights and Gaza Strip, Ben-Gurion spoke at length of his belief that Israel was still far from achieving its purpose of serving as “a light unto the nations.”Israel’s moral compass, he maintained, was inexorably tied to its treatment of the non-Jews living under its rule.Ben-Gurion criticized those who believed that the biblical commandment to “Love thy friend as thyself” pertained only to Jews, saying that “In the same chapter they said a little later, ‘If a stranger will live among you, he should be to you like a citizen and you should love him like yourself because you were strangers in Egypt.’ So it doesn’t mean only Jews.”He also took the unpopular position in those days of post-war euphoria that Israel should immediately relinquish the territories it had taken if this could secure peace.“If I could have chosen between peace and all the territories which we conquered last year I would have preferred peace,” he said. He did have two exceptions though: Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.He also voiced opposition to the then-nascent settlement project in the West Bank and Gaza, wondering out loud why it was necessary to settle an area with large Arab populations when the nearly unpopulated Negev desert was available.The film also shows a post-war Knesset speech by the former prime minister in which he warns that “our standing in the world will be determined not by our so-called material riches, and not by our military’s bravery, but by the moral virtue of our undertaking.Ben-Gurion died in December 1973, just weeks after the Yom Kippur War.Asked by filmmakers if he feared for his country, for his vision of an Israel that would truly be “a light unto the nations,” the premier said: “I’ve always feared, not only now. That state does not yet exist.“It’s the beginning only.”
I think Donald Trump is a very smart man. He recognizes that a voting bloc of 3.1 million people is something to which he wants to pay attention'-Hagee: Pro-Israel evangelicals will ‘storm’ US voting booths-Praising but not quite endorsing Trump, leader of 3-million strong Christian powerhouse group CUFI says when it tells candidates to beef up support for Israel, they listen-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil July 23, 2016, 10:49 pm-the times of israel
WASHINGTON – Almost 400 miles away from Cleveland, sweltering in a Washington, DC heat wave, thousands of potential voters stood on their feet, opening their arms in testimony, waving American and Israeli flags and vowing that for Zion’s sake, their voices would be anything but silent.Christians United for Israel’s annual summit was booked years in advance of the announcement that the Republican Party would hold its nominating convention in Cleveland the same week, but the powerful grassroots-based organization sees itself as playing a central role in the drama that continues to unfold in the 2016 elections cycle – and beyond.The organization sprang to its feet in advance of the Republican convention, when the platform committee sat down to draft party doctrine for the coming election. CUFI sought to restore language describing Jerusalem as “undivided” – asserting support for Israel’s claims over all of the city, on either side of the Green Line.“Our 501c4 [lobbying organization] was instrumental in having the word ‘undivided’ added to the Republican platform,” says Pastor John Hagee, the organization’s founder and spiritual mentor. “It was extracted previously and we as an organization want to see Jerusalem the eternal capital of the Jewish people undivided today, tomorrow and forever.”With three million largely politically inclined members, many of whom are decidedly conservative, it surprised no one that a CUFI member was already on the platform drafting committee – and the relevant subcommittee. CUFI leaders spoke to the member as well as to key figures in the Republican Party and the Trump campaign.CUFI sent out a letter expressing its concern regarding the Jerusalem language on the Thursday before the platform committee voted. By Sunday, the wording in the draft was changed to include the key phrasing.“On that Thursday, the CUFI action fund sent the letter to the platform committee seeking the change. The changes that we sought were made by Sunday evening as reported by CNN,” one CUFI representative told The Times of Israel. “The change was made not because our elected officials received 3.1 million phone calls, but because they knew that if the change wasn’t made they would [receive those calls].”-Strength in numbers-CUFI leaders are quick to point out that the organization’s strength is drawn from exactly this principle – a combination of numbers and mobilization that makes politicians look up and notice. Established 10 years ago, the organization whose members tend to refer to it by its acronym – CUFI – exploded from 1 million members in 2012 to 2 million in 2015 and added another 1.1 million members in the past 18 months alone.“There are 60 million evangelicals in America and they all have a Bible base to support Israel,” says Hagee, considering how much more his organization could expand. “It would certainly be within the bounds of reason that we could get 6 to 8 million of those to be a part of Christians United for Israel in the days to come.”In the meantime, the organization has flexed its muscles in recent elections, stressing to politicians, particularly – but not exclusively – Republicans, the importance for their voters of providing full-throated support for Israel.“We’ve been able to say that this is a message that you need to communicate to the base. That you need to be very strong, not ambivalent; strong in support of Israel if you would like to win the support of this base,” adds David Brog, the organization’s former lay leader and current member of the board of directors.“CUFI has helped create a situation where someone wanting to win the Republican nomination and wanting to win the Republican base to turn out on election day needs to strongly support Israel. This resonates very deeply and we’ve been focused on creating that climate in America,” he said.Brog notes that even the “grandfather” of evangelical politicking, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, included support for Israel among his main political aims. But for years, that plank, so to speak, of the evangelical agenda, took second seat to domestic topics like abortion and family values.“I think 9/11 started a process in which Israel, which had always been a priority for evangelicals but lower on the list, started to emerge higher on the list,” Brog explains. “At the same time, where we’ve played a role is coming in and filling a gap left by the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition in being a way for those evangelical Christians concerned about this issue to have a voice in an organization.”‘If you want to win over a certain block you had better be strongly and solidly pro-Israel’-“They all know that if you want to lead the Republican Party and win the Republican primaries, you need to win over this incredibly large voting block of American Christians and American evangelicals,” Brog adds. “If you want to win over a certain block you had better be strongly and solidly pro-Israel.”Hagee says that having a mobilized, pro-Israel Christian base “absolutely” influenced the increased focus on Israel among Republican primary candidates who might have otherwise concentrated on other topics.“One thing I’ve learned, and one of the things you learn in Washington, is that politicians can count very well and they have a passion to become re-elected,” Hagee smiles. “That when you represent 3.1 million votes, this is a significant force that they must be reconciled with. Because that force is going to vote for the pro-Israel voice, period.”In the recent Republican primaries, candidates ran the gamut from being perceived as adversarial to Israel (Rand Paul) to enthusiastic supporters of Israel (Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz). While this support did not provide enough fairy dust to win in a bitterly contentious season, CUFI argues that the organization has drawn candidates to include and strengthen support for Israel in their policies and their rhetoric.In speaking with The Times of Israel, Hagee avoids commenting directly on the adjustment of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s stance on Israel. Initially, Trump was viewed with concern by some pro-Israel activists after he pledged to be “neutral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, refused to vow to “tear up” the Iran deal and seemed to consider limiting defense aid to Israel.“I think Donald Trump is a very smart man,” Hagee smiles. “I think he recognizes that a voting bloc of 3.1 million people is something to which he wants to pay attention.”The GOP frontrunner has beefed up his rhetoric – and his contact with the organization. In fact, as the Republican spectacle unfolded in Cleveland last week, Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s top adviser on Israel, was at the Washington conference center meeting with CUFI’s leadership.“People were very pleased with his remarks and appreciative that Donald Trump would send his personal representative to express his support for Israel,” Hagee recalls.Although CUFI says it doesn’t keep count, most of its members associate themselves with the more conservative Republican Party. But for CUFI members, Hagee argues, the contentious Republican primaries were not as divisive as they could have been.“It’s not a challenge because we really don’t care what Washington thinks,” says Hagee. “We don’t really care because we have a mandate from the Bible and that mandate is to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. Therefore, we want to hear from the candidate who is going to articulate specifically what they are going to do concerning Jerusalem, concerning standing with Israel in their common defense, and doing what they can to repair the broken-down bridges of the past seven and a half years.”“I am waiting for the major candidates to make a clear declarative statement about specifically what they are going to do for the state of Israel and the city of Jerusalem,” Hagee acknowledges.At the same time, the organization’s charismatic leader has all but endorsed Trump by name.“I’m going to vote for the candidate that’s going to make the US military great again,” he says, using Trump’s signature phrase. “I’m going to vote for the party that is going to solve the immigration problem, not the one that has created the immigration problem. I’m going to support the party that brings jobs back from China,” he continues. “I’m not going to vote for the party that has betrayed Israel for the past seven years.”Hagee, who last endorsed a presidential candidate in the 2008 match-up between President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, says that he and CUFI “aggressively encourages Christians to vote.”“I press the issue on national television,” he stresses. “I tell them elections have consequences, and that the disappointments of the past have been evidenced by the fact that three million evangelicals did not vote in the past election. God forbid that happen again. We are going to storm the voting booths of America this time around.”
Hungary’s Orban says Donald Trump better for Europe-‘As a European, I could not have drawn up better what Europe needs,’ Budapest’s leader says of GOP candidate’s terrorism, immigration proposals-By Pablo Gorondi July 24, 2016, 4:18 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The anti-terrorism proposals of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump make him the better option for Europe and Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday.Orban, who has built razor-wire border fences to stop migrants, said in Romania that Trump’s ideas about the need for the best intelligence services and his opposition to “democracy export” were also applicable in Europe.“I am not Donald Trump’s campaigner,” the Hungarian leader said at a cultural event in Baile Tusnad, Romania, an area with a large Hungarian population. “I never thought that the idea would ever occur to me that he is the better of the open options for Europe and Hungary.“I listened to (Trump) and I have to tell you that he made three proposals to stop terrorism. And as a European, I myself could not have drawn up better what Europe needs.”Orban, who returned to power in 2010, has often been criticized by the European Union, the United States and others for his policies to centralize power, control civic groups and increase government influence over media.Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton visited Hungary in 2011 as secretary of state, and expressed US concerns over the independence of its courts and the press and government corruption.Orban, whose speech was broadcast live on Hungarian state media, blamed the West for intervening unsuccessfully in countries like Egypt and Libya. While Hungary was not “indifferent” to the state of political and human rights in Turkey, he said its stability was most important.“If I’m asked what is Hungary’s strongest expectation regarding Turkey today, we will put stability first,” Orban said. “If Turkey becomes unstable, many tens of millions of people from that region will hurtle toward Europe without any sort of filtering, screening or control.”Orban was again very critical of the EU leadership in Brussels.“Europe’s current political leadership has failed,” Orban said, adding that the EU was “fooling itself” if it still viewed itself as a “global actor,” saying that era had ended with the vote by Britain to leave the 28-nation bloc.Orban again said individual countries in Europe should have more authority to make their own decisions on specific issue like migration.“Our problem is not in Mecca but in Brussels,” Orban said. “The bureaucrats in Brussels are an obstacle for us, not Islam.”Answering questions after his speech, Orban said Europe needed to set up its own army.“A European army must protect the continent from two sides, from the east and from the south, in terms of protecting against terrorism and migration,” Orban said, according to his office.Orban did not directly address comments by Trump that called into question US commitments to NATO’s mutual defense clause, but said he had changed his mind about NATO being enough in its current form to ensure the peace in Europe.Hungary shut its borders with Serbia and Croatia last year, greatly stemming the flow of migrants coming from Turkey through Greece and further north into the EU.
AND ALSO DEBBIE-WASSERMAN SCHULTZ OF THE DNC WERE FAVORING CLINTON AND HOODWINKING AGAINST SANDERS TO GET CLINTON ALL THE SUPER DELEGATES. YES COMMUNIST-SOCIALIST SANDERS NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO BE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE.THE DNC AND CLINTON HAD IT SCAMED AGAINST HIM TO LOSE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINING.
Leaked Democratic email signals potential bid to smear Sanders as atheist-Missive does not mention senator by name, but party’s CFO suggests ‘he’ should be grilled over belief in God, as he ‘skated on saying he has Jewish heritage’-By JTA July 23, 2016, 12:20 pm-the times of israel
A top Democratic National Committee official reportedly suggested in May that “someone” should draw attention to Bernie Sanders’ atheist beliefs.In an email leaked Friday by Wikileaks, Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer suggested that the party should “get someone to ask” about “his” religious beliefs, The Intercept reported.“It might [make] no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief,” the message says, presumably referring to Kentucky and West Virginia.“Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” the email continues.The email does not mention Sanders, who was running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, by name. However, he was the only Jewish candidate from either major party at the time and has repeatedly skirted questions about whether or not he believes in God.Responding to a request for comment, Marshall said in an email to The Intercept, “I do not recall this. I can say it would not have been Sanders. It would probably be about a surrogate.”The email was sent to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda and Deputy Communications Director Mark Paustenbach.It is not clear why a DNC staffer would be seeking to draw attention to a Democratic candidate’s quality that voters might find off-putting, particularly since the group is supposed to remain neutral until a candidate has been nominated.Sanders, the first Jewish candidate to win a major-party presidential primary, officially dropped out of the race and endorsed Clinton earlier this month.
Moderate Kaine toes a fine line on Israel issues-Virginia senator has long record of facilitating bilteral ties, defense aid, but Clinton’s J Street-backed running mate also backed Iran deal, opposed Netanyahu speech to Congress-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil July 23, 2016, 8:52 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — In a campaign season of unexpected turns, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s selection Friday of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate was a rare safe bet. Kaine, a veteran of state and national office, is very much a known entity inside the Beltway – and is considered a foreign policy heavyweight, demonstrating a nuanced position on Israel that defies any easy characterization.Kaine has been prominent on the Democratic scene since serving as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. While managing the “Old Dominion,” Kaine also chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011.The next year he defeated former Virginia senator and governor George Allen in a tight race for one of Virginia’s two senate seats. Representing a state with one of the highest percentages of current and former military members among its voters, Kaine became a prominent foreign policy voice among Capitol Hill Democrats.The senator earned his leadership stripes supporting the administration during the 2015 battle over Senate validation of the Iran nuclear deal. With top Democrat Senator Charles Schumer of New York opposing the administration on the deal, Kaine filled the vacuum by helping to whip senators to support the administration on a fateful procedural vote that prevented the Senate from blocking the deal.Considered a moderate rather than a progressive on foreign policy issues, Kaine also was vocal in his opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 2015 speech before Congress. Kaine worked behind the scenes to try to delay the speech, but when that failed, was among the first Democratic senators to announce that they would not attend the address.In a statement explaining his position, Kaine said that “as a long-time supporter of the US-Israel relationship, I believe the timing of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress — just days before Israeli elections — is highly inappropriate.”Arguing that holding the speech as planned would give an “appearance of US favoritism in a foreign election,” Kaine complained that “there is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership.”A former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East, Central Asia and terrorism, Kaine has also used his position to stress advocacy for Israel. During the Senate confirmation hearing of current US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers, Kaine used his entire question time to probe the former academic as to how she would defend Israel in the international body.A co-sponsor of the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, Kaine is one of a number of Democrats endorsed by J Street, which says in its endorsement that Kaine “speaks of himself as a Truman Democrat, committed to making Israel a lasting home for the Jewish people that is safe, secure and at peace with its Palestinian neighbors.”According to J Street’s endorsement, Kaine “is also supportive of an active role for the United States in achieving a two-state solution.”During the 2014 Gaza conflict, Kaine emerged to the left of more hawkish Democrats like Senator Schumer during a closed-door briefing with AIPAC leadership. According to the New Yorker, Kaine was criticized by Schumer when he expressed concern that Israel’s leadership was leading the region away from a two-state solution.Kaine, however, is hard to pigeonhole into a political mold. Later that same summer, he was part of a group of five senators who stayed over as the Senate went on in order to approve emergency funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The group included the two Senate leaders – Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid, and three foreign policy heavyweights – Kaine and Republicans Lindsay Graham and John McCain.He also joined with Schumer, Graham and Senator Kelly Ayotte to draft a resolution during Operation Protective Edge in which the senators – according to a statement issued at the time — “reaffirmed the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel; condemned unprovoked rocket fire at Israel; called on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel; and called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel.”Kaine was particularly critical of the Hamas-Fatah unity government, complaining during Operation Protective Edge that “the decision by President Abbas to pursue a unity government with Hamas was almost certainly destined to reach this moment. For those of us who care about finding a two-state solution – a secure state of Israel living peacefully side by side with an independent Palestine – the recent actions by Hamas demonstrate that it has not changed its fundamental denial of Israel’s right to exist. No peace is possible with such a partner.”“I call for Hamas to stop its unprovoked rocket attacks. And I also call on President Abbas to recognize that Hamas will not seek peace. He should separate the Palestinian Authority from this terrorist organization and both Israel and the Palestinian Authority should renew the hard quest for co-existence,” Kaine continued. “The blood shed by Israeli and Palestinian children is reason enough for leaders to reach beyond old grievances and tired ideologies.”Israel is far from the only issue in which Kaine seems to favor nuance over the party line. A gun owner, he delivered a passionate speech on the Senate floor last month in favor of tightening restrictions on gun purchases. Kaine is a practicing Catholic who personally opposes abortion – but also described himself last week as “a strong supporter of Roe vs. Wade,” explaining that he believes “that women should make these decisions and government shouldn’t intrude.”Kaine is considered to be close to both Clinton and President Barack Obama, and was seen as instrumental in helping Obama win the “purple” swing state of Virginia in both 2008 and 2012.His influence in his adopted home state – Kaine is a native of Minnesota who grew up near Kansas City – has also impacted key cultural ties between Israel and the US. As governor, Kaine helped to bring the Israeli hummus company Sabra to the southern state, which became the US production center for the popular dip.
A lost interview with Israel’s first prime minister, recently unearthed by an Israeli filmmaker, reveals a simple, unassuming side of the statesman revered by Israelis as the nation’s founding father.The 6-hour interview, which David Ben-Gurion gave in 1968 to producers of a film about his life — a film that was eventually unsuccessful and which was quickly forgotten — was discovered by Yariv Mozer in the Hebrew University’s Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.Mozer has now used the rare footage of the late prime minister to produce his own film, titled “Ben-Gurion, Epilogue,” which recently screened at Jerusalem’s International Film Festival.In it, Ben-Gurion is seen in the years following his resignation from the premiership in 1963, after which he spent most of his time at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev, a last homage to his dream of making the desert bloom.The former premier is seen living a charmingly simple life, working in farmlands of the community, taking daily strolls, even enjoying some time off at the pool with his wife Paula.He tells the interviewers that when he told Paula that he wanted to live in the desert, “she thought I’d gone mad. But she did it, she came after me.”The former prime minister, celebrated even in life, told kibbutz members he had no wish to receive any special treatment.“I told them my name is David, not Ben-Gurion. Every morning I came to see what David has to do and I went to do the work,” he said.Ben-Gurion wanted to serve as an example of what Israel could be, and how Israeli leaders should live.In the interview, conducted a year after the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel conquered the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights and Gaza Strip, Ben-Gurion spoke at length of his belief that Israel was still far from achieving its purpose of serving as “a light unto the nations.”Israel’s moral compass, he maintained, was inexorably tied to its treatment of the non-Jews living under its rule.Ben-Gurion criticized those who believed that the biblical commandment to “Love thy friend as thyself” pertained only to Jews, saying that “In the same chapter they said a little later, ‘If a stranger will live among you, he should be to you like a citizen and you should love him like yourself because you were strangers in Egypt.’ So it doesn’t mean only Jews.”He also took the unpopular position in those days of post-war euphoria that Israel should immediately relinquish the territories it had taken if this could secure peace.“If I could have chosen between peace and all the territories which we conquered last year I would have preferred peace,” he said. He did have two exceptions though: Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.He also voiced opposition to the then-nascent settlement project in the West Bank and Gaza, wondering out loud why it was necessary to settle an area with large Arab populations when the nearly unpopulated Negev desert was available.The film also shows a post-war Knesset speech by the former prime minister in which he warns that “our standing in the world will be determined not by our so-called material riches, and not by our military’s bravery, but by the moral virtue of our undertaking.Ben-Gurion died in December 1973, just weeks after the Yom Kippur War.Asked by filmmakers if he feared for his country, for his vision of an Israel that would truly be “a light unto the nations,” the premier said: “I’ve always feared, not only now. That state does not yet exist.“It’s the beginning only.”
I think Donald Trump is a very smart man. He recognizes that a voting bloc of 3.1 million people is something to which he wants to pay attention'-Hagee: Pro-Israel evangelicals will ‘storm’ US voting booths-Praising but not quite endorsing Trump, leader of 3-million strong Christian powerhouse group CUFI says when it tells candidates to beef up support for Israel, they listen-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil July 23, 2016, 10:49 pm-the times of israel
WASHINGTON – Almost 400 miles away from Cleveland, sweltering in a Washington, DC heat wave, thousands of potential voters stood on their feet, opening their arms in testimony, waving American and Israeli flags and vowing that for Zion’s sake, their voices would be anything but silent.Christians United for Israel’s annual summit was booked years in advance of the announcement that the Republican Party would hold its nominating convention in Cleveland the same week, but the powerful grassroots-based organization sees itself as playing a central role in the drama that continues to unfold in the 2016 elections cycle – and beyond.The organization sprang to its feet in advance of the Republican convention, when the platform committee sat down to draft party doctrine for the coming election. CUFI sought to restore language describing Jerusalem as “undivided” – asserting support for Israel’s claims over all of the city, on either side of the Green Line.“Our 501c4 [lobbying organization] was instrumental in having the word ‘undivided’ added to the Republican platform,” says Pastor John Hagee, the organization’s founder and spiritual mentor. “It was extracted previously and we as an organization want to see Jerusalem the eternal capital of the Jewish people undivided today, tomorrow and forever.”With three million largely politically inclined members, many of whom are decidedly conservative, it surprised no one that a CUFI member was already on the platform drafting committee – and the relevant subcommittee. CUFI leaders spoke to the member as well as to key figures in the Republican Party and the Trump campaign.CUFI sent out a letter expressing its concern regarding the Jerusalem language on the Thursday before the platform committee voted. By Sunday, the wording in the draft was changed to include the key phrasing.“On that Thursday, the CUFI action fund sent the letter to the platform committee seeking the change. The changes that we sought were made by Sunday evening as reported by CNN,” one CUFI representative told The Times of Israel. “The change was made not because our elected officials received 3.1 million phone calls, but because they knew that if the change wasn’t made they would [receive those calls].”-Strength in numbers-CUFI leaders are quick to point out that the organization’s strength is drawn from exactly this principle – a combination of numbers and mobilization that makes politicians look up and notice. Established 10 years ago, the organization whose members tend to refer to it by its acronym – CUFI – exploded from 1 million members in 2012 to 2 million in 2015 and added another 1.1 million members in the past 18 months alone.“There are 60 million evangelicals in America and they all have a Bible base to support Israel,” says Hagee, considering how much more his organization could expand. “It would certainly be within the bounds of reason that we could get 6 to 8 million of those to be a part of Christians United for Israel in the days to come.”In the meantime, the organization has flexed its muscles in recent elections, stressing to politicians, particularly – but not exclusively – Republicans, the importance for their voters of providing full-throated support for Israel.“We’ve been able to say that this is a message that you need to communicate to the base. That you need to be very strong, not ambivalent; strong in support of Israel if you would like to win the support of this base,” adds David Brog, the organization’s former lay leader and current member of the board of directors.“CUFI has helped create a situation where someone wanting to win the Republican nomination and wanting to win the Republican base to turn out on election day needs to strongly support Israel. This resonates very deeply and we’ve been focused on creating that climate in America,” he said.Brog notes that even the “grandfather” of evangelical politicking, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, included support for Israel among his main political aims. But for years, that plank, so to speak, of the evangelical agenda, took second seat to domestic topics like abortion and family values.“I think 9/11 started a process in which Israel, which had always been a priority for evangelicals but lower on the list, started to emerge higher on the list,” Brog explains. “At the same time, where we’ve played a role is coming in and filling a gap left by the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition in being a way for those evangelical Christians concerned about this issue to have a voice in an organization.”‘If you want to win over a certain block you had better be strongly and solidly pro-Israel’-“They all know that if you want to lead the Republican Party and win the Republican primaries, you need to win over this incredibly large voting block of American Christians and American evangelicals,” Brog adds. “If you want to win over a certain block you had better be strongly and solidly pro-Israel.”Hagee says that having a mobilized, pro-Israel Christian base “absolutely” influenced the increased focus on Israel among Republican primary candidates who might have otherwise concentrated on other topics.“One thing I’ve learned, and one of the things you learn in Washington, is that politicians can count very well and they have a passion to become re-elected,” Hagee smiles. “That when you represent 3.1 million votes, this is a significant force that they must be reconciled with. Because that force is going to vote for the pro-Israel voice, period.”In the recent Republican primaries, candidates ran the gamut from being perceived as adversarial to Israel (Rand Paul) to enthusiastic supporters of Israel (Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz). While this support did not provide enough fairy dust to win in a bitterly contentious season, CUFI argues that the organization has drawn candidates to include and strengthen support for Israel in their policies and their rhetoric.In speaking with The Times of Israel, Hagee avoids commenting directly on the adjustment of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s stance on Israel. Initially, Trump was viewed with concern by some pro-Israel activists after he pledged to be “neutral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, refused to vow to “tear up” the Iran deal and seemed to consider limiting defense aid to Israel.“I think Donald Trump is a very smart man,” Hagee smiles. “I think he recognizes that a voting bloc of 3.1 million people is something to which he wants to pay attention.”The GOP frontrunner has beefed up his rhetoric – and his contact with the organization. In fact, as the Republican spectacle unfolded in Cleveland last week, Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s top adviser on Israel, was at the Washington conference center meeting with CUFI’s leadership.“People were very pleased with his remarks and appreciative that Donald Trump would send his personal representative to express his support for Israel,” Hagee recalls.Although CUFI says it doesn’t keep count, most of its members associate themselves with the more conservative Republican Party. But for CUFI members, Hagee argues, the contentious Republican primaries were not as divisive as they could have been.“It’s not a challenge because we really don’t care what Washington thinks,” says Hagee. “We don’t really care because we have a mandate from the Bible and that mandate is to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. Therefore, we want to hear from the candidate who is going to articulate specifically what they are going to do concerning Jerusalem, concerning standing with Israel in their common defense, and doing what they can to repair the broken-down bridges of the past seven and a half years.”“I am waiting for the major candidates to make a clear declarative statement about specifically what they are going to do for the state of Israel and the city of Jerusalem,” Hagee acknowledges.At the same time, the organization’s charismatic leader has all but endorsed Trump by name.“I’m going to vote for the candidate that’s going to make the US military great again,” he says, using Trump’s signature phrase. “I’m going to vote for the party that is going to solve the immigration problem, not the one that has created the immigration problem. I’m going to support the party that brings jobs back from China,” he continues. “I’m not going to vote for the party that has betrayed Israel for the past seven years.”Hagee, who last endorsed a presidential candidate in the 2008 match-up between President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, says that he and CUFI “aggressively encourages Christians to vote.”“I press the issue on national television,” he stresses. “I tell them elections have consequences, and that the disappointments of the past have been evidenced by the fact that three million evangelicals did not vote in the past election. God forbid that happen again. We are going to storm the voting booths of America this time around.”
Hungary’s Orban says Donald Trump better for Europe-‘As a European, I could not have drawn up better what Europe needs,’ Budapest’s leader says of GOP candidate’s terrorism, immigration proposals-By Pablo Gorondi July 24, 2016, 4:18 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The anti-terrorism proposals of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump make him the better option for Europe and Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday.Orban, who has built razor-wire border fences to stop migrants, said in Romania that Trump’s ideas about the need for the best intelligence services and his opposition to “democracy export” were also applicable in Europe.“I am not Donald Trump’s campaigner,” the Hungarian leader said at a cultural event in Baile Tusnad, Romania, an area with a large Hungarian population. “I never thought that the idea would ever occur to me that he is the better of the open options for Europe and Hungary.“I listened to (Trump) and I have to tell you that he made three proposals to stop terrorism. And as a European, I myself could not have drawn up better what Europe needs.”Orban, who returned to power in 2010, has often been criticized by the European Union, the United States and others for his policies to centralize power, control civic groups and increase government influence over media.Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton visited Hungary in 2011 as secretary of state, and expressed US concerns over the independence of its courts and the press and government corruption.Orban, whose speech was broadcast live on Hungarian state media, blamed the West for intervening unsuccessfully in countries like Egypt and Libya. While Hungary was not “indifferent” to the state of political and human rights in Turkey, he said its stability was most important.“If I’m asked what is Hungary’s strongest expectation regarding Turkey today, we will put stability first,” Orban said. “If Turkey becomes unstable, many tens of millions of people from that region will hurtle toward Europe without any sort of filtering, screening or control.”Orban was again very critical of the EU leadership in Brussels.“Europe’s current political leadership has failed,” Orban said, adding that the EU was “fooling itself” if it still viewed itself as a “global actor,” saying that era had ended with the vote by Britain to leave the 28-nation bloc.Orban again said individual countries in Europe should have more authority to make their own decisions on specific issue like migration.“Our problem is not in Mecca but in Brussels,” Orban said. “The bureaucrats in Brussels are an obstacle for us, not Islam.”Answering questions after his speech, Orban said Europe needed to set up its own army.“A European army must protect the continent from two sides, from the east and from the south, in terms of protecting against terrorism and migration,” Orban said, according to his office.Orban did not directly address comments by Trump that called into question US commitments to NATO’s mutual defense clause, but said he had changed his mind about NATO being enough in its current form to ensure the peace in Europe.Hungary shut its borders with Serbia and Croatia last year, greatly stemming the flow of migrants coming from Turkey through Greece and further north into the EU.
AND ALSO DEBBIE-WASSERMAN SCHULTZ OF THE DNC WERE FAVORING CLINTON AND HOODWINKING AGAINST SANDERS TO GET CLINTON ALL THE SUPER DELEGATES. YES COMMUNIST-SOCIALIST SANDERS NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO BE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE.THE DNC AND CLINTON HAD IT SCAMED AGAINST HIM TO LOSE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINING.
Leaked Democratic email signals potential bid to smear Sanders as atheist-Missive does not mention senator by name, but party’s CFO suggests ‘he’ should be grilled over belief in God, as he ‘skated on saying he has Jewish heritage’-By JTA July 23, 2016, 12:20 pm-the times of israel
A top Democratic National Committee official reportedly suggested in May that “someone” should draw attention to Bernie Sanders’ atheist beliefs.In an email leaked Friday by Wikileaks, Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer suggested that the party should “get someone to ask” about “his” religious beliefs, The Intercept reported.“It might [make] no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief,” the message says, presumably referring to Kentucky and West Virginia.“Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” the email continues.The email does not mention Sanders, who was running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, by name. However, he was the only Jewish candidate from either major party at the time and has repeatedly skirted questions about whether or not he believes in God.Responding to a request for comment, Marshall said in an email to The Intercept, “I do not recall this. I can say it would not have been Sanders. It would probably be about a surrogate.”The email was sent to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda and Deputy Communications Director Mark Paustenbach.It is not clear why a DNC staffer would be seeking to draw attention to a Democratic candidate’s quality that voters might find off-putting, particularly since the group is supposed to remain neutral until a candidate has been nominated.Sanders, the first Jewish candidate to win a major-party presidential primary, officially dropped out of the race and endorsed Clinton earlier this month.
Moderate Kaine toes a fine line on Israel issues-Virginia senator has long record of facilitating bilteral ties, defense aid, but Clinton’s J Street-backed running mate also backed Iran deal, opposed Netanyahu speech to Congress-By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil July 23, 2016, 8:52 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — In a campaign season of unexpected turns, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s selection Friday of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate was a rare safe bet. Kaine, a veteran of state and national office, is very much a known entity inside the Beltway – and is considered a foreign policy heavyweight, demonstrating a nuanced position on Israel that defies any easy characterization.Kaine has been prominent on the Democratic scene since serving as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. While managing the “Old Dominion,” Kaine also chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011.The next year he defeated former Virginia senator and governor George Allen in a tight race for one of Virginia’s two senate seats. Representing a state with one of the highest percentages of current and former military members among its voters, Kaine became a prominent foreign policy voice among Capitol Hill Democrats.The senator earned his leadership stripes supporting the administration during the 2015 battle over Senate validation of the Iran nuclear deal. With top Democrat Senator Charles Schumer of New York opposing the administration on the deal, Kaine filled the vacuum by helping to whip senators to support the administration on a fateful procedural vote that prevented the Senate from blocking the deal.Considered a moderate rather than a progressive on foreign policy issues, Kaine also was vocal in his opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 2015 speech before Congress. Kaine worked behind the scenes to try to delay the speech, but when that failed, was among the first Democratic senators to announce that they would not attend the address.In a statement explaining his position, Kaine said that “as a long-time supporter of the US-Israel relationship, I believe the timing of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress — just days before Israeli elections — is highly inappropriate.”Arguing that holding the speech as planned would give an “appearance of US favoritism in a foreign election,” Kaine complained that “there is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership.”A former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East, Central Asia and terrorism, Kaine has also used his position to stress advocacy for Israel. During the Senate confirmation hearing of current US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers, Kaine used his entire question time to probe the former academic as to how she would defend Israel in the international body.A co-sponsor of the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, Kaine is one of a number of Democrats endorsed by J Street, which says in its endorsement that Kaine “speaks of himself as a Truman Democrat, committed to making Israel a lasting home for the Jewish people that is safe, secure and at peace with its Palestinian neighbors.”According to J Street’s endorsement, Kaine “is also supportive of an active role for the United States in achieving a two-state solution.”During the 2014 Gaza conflict, Kaine emerged to the left of more hawkish Democrats like Senator Schumer during a closed-door briefing with AIPAC leadership. According to the New Yorker, Kaine was criticized by Schumer when he expressed concern that Israel’s leadership was leading the region away from a two-state solution.Kaine, however, is hard to pigeonhole into a political mold. Later that same summer, he was part of a group of five senators who stayed over as the Senate went on in order to approve emergency funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The group included the two Senate leaders – Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid, and three foreign policy heavyweights – Kaine and Republicans Lindsay Graham and John McCain.He also joined with Schumer, Graham and Senator Kelly Ayotte to draft a resolution during Operation Protective Edge in which the senators – according to a statement issued at the time — “reaffirmed the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel; condemned unprovoked rocket fire at Israel; called on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel; and called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel.”Kaine was particularly critical of the Hamas-Fatah unity government, complaining during Operation Protective Edge that “the decision by President Abbas to pursue a unity government with Hamas was almost certainly destined to reach this moment. For those of us who care about finding a two-state solution – a secure state of Israel living peacefully side by side with an independent Palestine – the recent actions by Hamas demonstrate that it has not changed its fundamental denial of Israel’s right to exist. No peace is possible with such a partner.”“I call for Hamas to stop its unprovoked rocket attacks. And I also call on President Abbas to recognize that Hamas will not seek peace. He should separate the Palestinian Authority from this terrorist organization and both Israel and the Palestinian Authority should renew the hard quest for co-existence,” Kaine continued. “The blood shed by Israeli and Palestinian children is reason enough for leaders to reach beyond old grievances and tired ideologies.”Israel is far from the only issue in which Kaine seems to favor nuance over the party line. A gun owner, he delivered a passionate speech on the Senate floor last month in favor of tightening restrictions on gun purchases. Kaine is a practicing Catholic who personally opposes abortion – but also described himself last week as “a strong supporter of Roe vs. Wade,” explaining that he believes “that women should make these decisions and government shouldn’t intrude.”Kaine is considered to be close to both Clinton and President Barack Obama, and was seen as instrumental in helping Obama win the “purple” swing state of Virginia in both 2008 and 2012.His influence in his adopted home state – Kaine is a native of Minnesota who grew up near Kansas City – has also impacted key cultural ties between Israel and the US. As governor, Kaine helped to bring the Israeli hummus company Sabra to the southern state, which became the US production center for the popular dip.
