MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
EU: Fresh Mideast talks could be announced soon By JEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer – AUG 31,09
JERUSALEM – A top European Union official said Monday that renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks could be announced in late September.The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he expected a plan to reopen negotiations to emerge with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23.I sense...that we will have some kind of statement, some kind of proposal, that will come probably around the days of the United Nations,Solana told reporters between meetings with Israeli leaders.Israeli and Palestinian officials last week confirmed that efforts were under way to arrange a meeting between their leaders at the U.N. next month.
Frequent meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials during the administration of former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert produced no agreement, and talks petered out after Israel launched a large-scale military offensive into the Gaza Strip in December to stop daily rocket attacks by gaza militants.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office in March, says he is willing to renew talks. But the Palestinians say he must first halt Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.
Palestinian official Nabil Shaath said Monday that it was up to President Barack Obama to maintain his insistence on a settlement freeze or fail in his attempt to resuscitate negotiations.If Obama approves continuing settlement-building in Jerusalem, Obama has pulled out of the Middle East peace process,Shaath told foreign journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah.Without Mr. Obama this time fully, categorically stopping all settlement activities it will be very, very difficult — impossible in fact — to restart the negotiating process with the Netanyahu government.
The Obama administration has been pressing Israel for at least a temporary freeze.
Netanyahu has said he wants a compromise that would allow Israel to continue with some West Bank settlement construction while at the same time restarting peace talks with the Palestinians.He is adamant, however, that he will accept no restrictions in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and which the Palestinians see as their future capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem.Solana said Monday that Israel and the U.S. were still trying to resolve the settlement issue.Solana was scheduled to visit Palestinian leaders in the West Bank later Monday, then fly on to Lebanon and Egypt.
The military option Sunday, 30 August 2009 06:59 News from Jerusalem
Dialogue or confrontation?
September 2009 will apparently see a major shake-up in the Middle East. If everything will go according to plan, it will be a month where almost all the players active in this arena will be reshuffling the deck and sitting at the table in order to formulate a simultaneous all-inclusive process – ranging from the release of Gilad Shalit to the handling of the Iranian nuclear program.The Obama Administration is indeed supposed to stimulate the process, yet the major roles are reserved for the regional players. These are supposed, in line with advance coordination with Washington, to show initiative and creativity on separate channels – all these developments coming together should break the dead-end currently in place in the Middle East.The phase of coordinating plans and expectations is being carried out at this time, and we are already seeing significant progress. The official launch will take place ahead of, during, and after the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for September 23rd. The process will mostly start in three (and a half) channels.
Dialogue or confrontation?
In respect to the third channel – Iran – the US will reach a crossroads at the end of September; it will have to do decide whether to take the path of confrontation or continue its efforts to engage in diplomatic talks.This depends to a large extent on two developments: Firstly, Tehran’s response to the Obama administration’s offer to engage in dialogue; secondly, a report about to be published by the International Atomic Energy Agency.Officials in Israel and in the US estimate that Iran will not explicitly reject dialogue, but will continue to adopt diplomatic and media delay tactics, thus confusing the Americans and their allies, putting off the start of the dialogue, and at the same time enabling Iran to make progress on uranium enrichment and the building of new centrifuges.This will enable the regime in Tehran to set facts on the ground and reinforce its status as a state on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons. Under such circumstances, the dialogue will be empty of all substance in the West’s view. In addition, the UN atomic watchdog is expected to finally confirm that its inspectors uncovered clear signs that Iran is indeed attempting to develop nuclear weapons.Should these estimates materialize, the Obama administration will reassess its policy, while engaging in intense contacts with other powers and with Arab Gulf states, in an effort to work out an agreement on grave sanctions. This will include an embargo on fuels and refined oil products, in addition to limits on the ability of Iranian banks and companies to raise funds and finalize deals in the global market.Such sanctions are expected to jeopardize the regime’s stability and are therefore believed to constitute effective pressure. The problem will be to convince Russia and China to cooperate.Diplomatic officials in the West say that the American reassessment will also include reexamination of what is known as the military option.These sources already see today growing understanding within the Obama administration that the military option must be on the table the moment sanctions are imposed.
Without genuine willingness on America’s part to consider the use of force in Iran (on its own or in cooperation with other allies,) the sanctions will also be doomed for failure, as Iran will attempt to annul them through the use of force. Even a superpower cannot secure its diplomatic objective if at the end of the day it is unwilling to use its military power, an influential Western official said.Finally, there is the Syrian half channel. Throughout September we will see the continuation of the patient and slow contacts between Washington and Damascus on the possibility of Syria changing its Iraq policy, disengaging from the alliance with Hezb'allah, Hamas and Iran, and the possibly resuming the talks with Israel.The September processes will put the Obama Administration’s conception that everything is related, and that success in each of the channel will assist in advancing the others, to the test. This holistic conception is also accepted by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak, who is one of the main ideologists behind it; it’s also endorsed by Egyptian President Mubarak.The question is whether the many other elements that need to play their part will not torpedo the conception and its aims. By the end of September we will know the answer, more or less.ynet
US may put missile shield in Israel, Turkey instead of E. Europe - Polish report Saturday, 29 August 2009 05:35 News from Jerusalem Defense Shield
According to the Warsaw newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, Washington plans to scrap its plans to deploy anti-missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic for defense against attacks from Iran.In deference to adamant opposition from Moscow, the Obama administration is looking at alternatives including Israel and Turkey. No immediate comment was available from US, Polish of Czech officials on this disclosure, but the Polish paper cited unnamed US officials on Aug. 27 as affirming that Washington was now considering deploying anti-missile interceptors on naval vessels and at bases in Israel and Turkey, as well as potentially in the Balkans.According to a Pentagon spokesman the missile shield plans were still being reviewed. No final decisions have been made regarding missile defense in Europe, he said. DEBKAfile's Washington sources do not view this statement as an out-and-out denial of the Polish news report.A pro-missile lobbyist Riki Ellison added: Signals from the Pentagon were absolutely clear,with the US scouting for alternative sites. A source in the US Congress confirmed that Washington had been testing the water among lawmakers for weeks after scrapping the eastern European part of the plan. During his Moscow visit on July 6-7, US president Barack Obama found Russian leaders still flatly opposed to the deployment of US missiles on its doorstep and promised to review the project.
DEBKAfile's military analysts report that basing parts of the missile shield in Israel would have far-reaching strategic effects:
1. Moscow would owe the Obama administration a quid pro quo for removing the planned missile interceptor and radar station from its borders and ought to be more amenable to lining up behind America for tough sanctions against Iran, including the sale of gasoline and refined petroleum products.
2. The longstanding close cooperation between the US Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Air Force's space and missile wings would be upgraded and acknowledged publicly.
3. Since the Arrow anti-missile system developed jointly by the US and Israel is already an integral part of American missile defenses in Europe and the Middle East, Jerusalem is unlikely to object to a US request in this regard.
4. Anyway, for almost a year now, a key element of the US missile defense array has been deployed on Israeli soil, namely the advanced US FBX-T radar system for which an off-limits compound accessible only to US personnel has been allotted at Israel's Negev Air Force base at Nevatim.Using the infrastructure already present in Israel would substantially cut down the financial and manpower costs of building a missile shield against Iran.
5. Israel would be integrated in the American missile umbrella guarding the Middle East and Persian Gulf nations against Iranian missile attack.
6. Since all US diplomatic overtures for thawing relations with the Assad regime in Damascus have come to naught, an American interceptor base in Israel would also be a shield against Syrian missiles and the missile batteries Moscow is planning to install for defending the Russian naval bases under construction in the Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartous.
7. The new US bases in Israel will not fundamentally change the nature of Israel-Russia relations. Moscow has always regarded the Jewish state anyway as a part of America's military and intelligence machinery in the Middle East.debka
It's open season on Israel Saturday, 29 August 2009 07:31 News from Jerusalem Avigdor Lieberman is a nuisance - a nuisance to those who hide their heads in the sand and deny that a storm is raging around us.
Lieberman broke official Israel's conspiracy of silence in the face of the worldwide smear campaign being waged by various media outlets and countless nonprofit organizations (including Israeli ones), which are preparing public opinion - and the governments that follow public opinion - to see the Jewish state as a virus that endangers world peace.Only due to the uproar that Lieberman fomented did the public become aware of the anti-Israel zealotry of many of these nongovernmental organizations, which are financed, inter alia, by donations from Arab oil powers, huge western foundations like the Ford Foundation, countries such as Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and the European Union.The assault on the Israel Defense Forces by a Swedish newspaper is part of a worldwide blood libel campaign. When this campaign's participants include organizations that present themselves as global guardians of human rights, it stops being merely absurd (the IDF traffics in organs and kills women and children waving white flags), and becomes another link in the chain of depredation.Millions of people worldwide are deluged morning and evening with a flood of libelous op-eds and reports, broadcasts full of crude lies, and hate-filled caricatures. The language used to criticize the globe's worst tyrannies does not even come close to the hate-filled language used against Israel.
If a Swedish newspaper, albeit a tabloid, decided to publish this libel about organ trafficking, that means the author and the editor deem it conceivable that it really happened. If the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by an Israeli who urged a total boycott of his own country, there is only one possible conclusion: A global boycott of Israel would be perfectly legitimate.Indeed, since the reports issued by Breaking the Silence (an Israeli organization) and Human Rights Watch (an international organization) include allegations of crimes against humanity committed by members of a nation that was itself a victim of such crimes just 70 years ago, it must be proper to impose a boycott. In the past, before the demonization had gained a foothold even in the serious press, no American paper would have dreamed of publishing an op-ed like this.Lieberman's response in the affair of the Swedish paper was not the opening shot of a comprehensive campaign against the dehumanization of Israel. It seems doubtful that his statements will succeed in breaking the conspiracy of denial about the gravity of the problem, even within his own ministry. The Foreign Ministry, even if the minister assigns it this task, is not built - primarily due to lack of motivation and deep faith in the justice of Israel's cause - to wage a multipronged strategic campaign against the numerous tentacles of organizations whose main goal, and perhaps even their only one, is to bring about Israel's collapse. Fact: It is not the Foreign Ministry, with its hundreds of employees, that has gathered most of the information we have about these organizations, but NGO Monitor, a small nonprofit headed by Prof. Gerald Steinberg, which obtained this information via patient, diligent footwork.
Words, screamed Peace Now earlier this week, can kill. That is true. And what about the millions of words denouncing Israel that this organization, and others like it, export overseas, where they serve as weapons of propaganda against Israel? (In 2007, to take one example, the British government donated more than NIS 4 million to radical leftist organizations like Peace Now and Breaking the Silence in order to fund these words. And that is on top of the money from private donors, the European Union and various foundations.) Can these words not also kill? As far as is known, Military Intelligence and the Mossad have not identified the globalization of anti-Israel hatred as a strategic threat. Nor has the sextet of key cabinet ministers ever dealt with this issue, even though each one of them personally understands that the delegitimization of Israel undermines the rest of the world's motivation to stand up to Iran's rulers over that country's nuclear program. Maybe now that the National Security Council, under Uzi Arad's leadership, is assuming both an authority and a strategic vision that it lacked before his arrival, there will be someone capable of correctly identifying the magnitude of the threat. But merely identifying it is not enough.This ongoing, organized, global and completely unbridled campaign of demonization is liable (and who should know better than we?) to end in a new license for genocide - against us.haaretz
Welcome to Camp Hamas Sunday, 30 August 2009 07:55 News from Jerusalem
Would you send your kids to Camp Hamas?
100 thousand kids and youth spent their summer vacation training in 700 Hamas training camps. The camp's curriculum includes firearm training and military drills in order to nurture the next generation of militants.700 summer camps, for children and teenagers, operated this summer by terror organizations along the Gaza Strip – operating under the slogan – A Victory for Gaza – The Glory of Jerusalem. The camps are operated by the Hamas in order to encourage the next generation of this organization. In the same area many summer camps are operated by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) – the main competition of Hamas’s summer camps. The Hamas reacted by presenting the UNRWA camps as child corrupters, trying to discourage the parents from sending their kids to the foreign aid organization's camp.According to Arab and Palestinian media, 100 thousand children and teenagers participated in Hamas camps this year. The budget of these camps is estimated to be 2 Million Dollars. The youths were guided by 1,500 counselors that went through special training courses. A marketing campaign of the Al-Aqsa channel of the Hamas and a special internet site encouraged participation of children in these camps. The children and teenagers in the summer camps undergo semi military training. The pictures and commercials published this year and last summer showed that part of the curriculum included firearm practices and grenades dismantling as well as military drills for the children, while holding life-like weapons.
In addition to that, the camp participants undergo an intense process of political and Islamic indoctrination by counselors and Hamas operatives, which visit the camps. The camp goal is to train the movement’s next generation. According to Mahmud Abu Aeed, the purpose of the camps is to prepare the children for leadership of the organization through Victory and Freedom. According to Hamas commercials the camp goal is to Experience a soldier's life, serving Islam, locating excelling student groups that can operate in the preaching of Allah and Islam, in schools and central mosques.Moreover, the children are taught about the lives of martyrs and carry pictures of them during processions.by Arnon Ben-Dror-IDF
Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert indicted By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer – Sun Aug 30, 2:47 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was indicted on corruption charges Sunday, becoming the first Israeli premier to go on trial and highlighting a series of cases that have shaken the public's faith in the political system.The charges likely end the three-decade career of a man who just three years ago seemed poised to lead his nation to a bold withdrawal from the West Bank and an aggressive push for peace with the Palestinians.Olmert, who was forced to step down because of the case, was accused of illegally accepting funds from an American backer, double-billing for official trips abroad and pocketing the difference, concealing funds from a government watchdog and cronyism. All of the alleged crimes took place before Olmert was elected prime minister in 2006.Olmert, 63, issued a statement professing his innocence.Olmert is convinced that in court he will be able to prove his innocence once and for all,said a spokesman, Amir Dan.The formal charges in the indictment include fraud and breach of trust. The Justice Ministry did not say when the trial would begin or what penalties Olmert could face. But Moshe Negbi, a leading legal commentator, said the fraud charge alone could carry a prison term of up to five years.A rumored political comeback would be highly unlikely unless he is cleared.In the immediate future it doesn't seem possible, but it all depends on the court,Negbi said.Olmert, a lawyer by training, has repeatedly been linked to corruption scandals throughout a three-decade career that included a lengthy stint as Jerusalem mayor and a series of senior Cabinet posts. But until Sunday, he had never been charged. He is the first prime minister, sitting or retired, to be charged with a crime.
The indictment follows a string of high-profile trials that have soured an already cynical public toward the nation's leadership.Olmert's former finance minister was sentenced to five years for embezzlement in June, and another member of his Cabinet was sentenced to four years for taking bribes. Israel's former ceremonial president, Moshe Katsav, is being tried on rape and sexual harassment charges, and a longtime Olmert aide has been charged with illegal wiretapping, fraud and breach of trust.The most damaging allegations against Olmert accused him of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from an American businessman during trips abroad.The businessman, Moshe Talansky, testified last year that he delivered the cash in envelopes and painted Olmert as a greedy politician who enjoyed first-class travel, fancy hotels and expensive cigars. The testimony helped turn public opinion against Olmert and played a large part in forcing him from office.The indictment said Olmert used his connections to help Talansky's business, but did not charge Olmert with accepting bribes.In another case, Olmert was charged with double-billing nonprofit organizations and the government for trips he took abroad and then using the extra money to pay for private trips for his family.Olmert became prime minister in January 2006 after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke. He subsequently led their newly formed Kadima Party to victory in a parliamentary election.On the campaign trail, Olmert promised an aggressive push for peace with the Palestinians, and said in the absence of a deal, he would unilaterally withdraw from large parts of the occupied West Bank.A gifted orator, Olmert crossed a series of taboos while in office — warning that Israel could become like apartheid South Africa if it continued its occupation of the Palestinians and expressing readiness to relinquish control of parts of the holy city of Jerusalem as part of a peace deal. Olmert led his government to the Annapolis peace conference in November 2007 — launching more than a year of ambitious, but unsuccessful peace talks with the Palestinians.
Despite his ambitious agenda, Olmert's term was clouded by an inconclusive war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon that took place just over a month after he took office. A series of corruption investigations — most of which were dismissed — also followed him.The politically weakened Olmert announced his resignation last fall and stepped down in March after Benjamin Netanyahu won a parliamentary election. Olmert is currently out of politics and battling prostate cancer, but is widely rumored to be plotting a comeback. Resounding elections setbacks have not kept Israeli politicians down for long. Both Netanyahu Defense Minister Ehud Barak both rebounded quickly from landslide losses at the polls.Olmert's spokesman said his priority is to focus on his legal battle.Once this is over and he has proved he is innocent, then he will consider what to do next. All options are open,he said.
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
Israel ups settlement activity in east Jerusalem Sun Aug 30, 9:27 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli settlement activity in annexed east Jerusalem accelerated in the first half of 2009 despite US calls for a freeze, an anti-settlement activist group said on Sunday in a report.Recent months have seen the acceleration of the process of Israeli settlement in Palestinian communities in east Jerusalem, the Israeli Ir Amim group said.These settlements... implant (a) Jewish population... precisely in the areas of the most intense dispute in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,it said.During the first six months of the year, plans were advanced to build an additional 150 housing units in east Jerusalem, which if completed would add some 750 settlers to the 2,000 who currently live in Palestinian neighbourhoods in the annexed part of the city, it said.The creation of an additional 150 residential units in the area that is the core of the Israeli-Palestinian disagreement is likely to thwart the possibility for a negotiated political resolution of the conflict,Ir Amim head Yudith Oppenheimer said in a statement.
Private groups such as the hardline Elad and Ateret Cohanim are behind most of the activity, but it is evident that individual settlements are part of a strategic move, coordinated and facilitated by national governmental units, as well as by the Jerusalem municipality,the report said.In addition to the Israelis living in Palestinian neighbourhoods, there are nearly 180,000 settlers in large blocks in east Jerusalem, according to another settlement watchdog group, Peace Now.Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.The fate of the Holy City, sacred to the world's three main monotheistic faiths, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decades-old Middle East conflict.Israel views the city as its eternal, undivided capital, while the Palestinians want to make the eastern part the capital of their promised state.Since US President Barack Obama took office in January, his administration has pressed Israel, where hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assumed office on March 31, to freeze all settlement activity including in east Jerusalem.Israel has so far refused a complete freeze, but said it would not issue any new tenders until early 2010 -- a gesture that Washington called a step in the right direction, but that critics slammed as falling short of a full freeze.
Israel accepts German-mediated Shalit swap deal: report Sat Aug 29, 1:39 pm ET
BERLIN (AFP) – Israel has accepted a German-mediated prisoner swap deal for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to which Hamas has yet to respond, Germany weekly Der Spiegel said in its edition to appear Monday.The German secret services have recently been holding talks with the Israeli government and Hamas. The aim is to obtain the exchange of Gilad Shalit against several hundred Palestinian prisoners, Der Spiegel said.The Israeli government of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the proposal which would see 450 Palestinian prisoners released and Hamas has until early September to respond, Der Spiegel said, without citing sources.Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants including from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, in a cross-border raid in June 2006. Successive Egyptian efforts to broker a prisoner exchange deal have floundered.
Egypt has accused Israel of altering its terms when on the verge of a deal.
The German deal resembles previous Egyptian proposals: Israel would release a first batch of prisoners, Shalit would be taken across the border from Gaza to Cairo, and then more Palestinians would be released.Israeli radio reported that a senior German official was recently in Israel and Egypt in the hope of sealing a deal.Germany in 2004 brokered a deal between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah that saw an Israeli businessman and the remains of three Israeli soldiers swapped for more than 400 Arab prisoners.Then a 19-year-old corporal, Shalit was captured by militants from Hamas and two smaller groups who had tunnelled out of Gaza on June 25, 2006 and attacked an army post, killing two other soldiers.Shalit, who has since been promoted to staff sergeant, is believed to be held somewhere inside the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control since the Islamist movement seized power in the Palestinian enclave two years ago.
