NETANYAHU-IRANS ISLAMIC SHIITE SHARIA LAW IS A CULT RELIGION

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Op-Ed: The PA Must Back its Rhetoric on Peace with Actions

Published: Thursday, October 03, 2013 10:11 AM

Everyone is ready to find fault with Israel, but both sides need to play productive roles in this process. This means the PA must also take conciliatory steps. Where are they?

Aaron Magid

Many commentators have noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s settlement building in the "West Bank" and East Jerusalem has negatively impacted the atmosphere for peace negotiations.Yet, the situation is far more complex, with both sides needing to play productive roles. The Palestinian Arab leadership must take conciliatory steps to prevent the situation from deteriorating and show the Israeli pubic that the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) is a genuine partner for peace during the increased violence.When Israel first announced settlement construction at the beginning of peace talks, Bloomberg’s Jeffery Goldberg condemned Netanyahu’s shortsighted refusal to freeze settlement building, writing that the Prime Minister valued politics over security.  Yet, many of these same pundits have not applied the same level of criticism towards Abbas and the Palestinian Arabs' arguably more problematic actions.The Palestinian Arabs should take steps that would dramatically improve the mood during peace talks.

Palestinian Arab leadership often speaks of the heightened sense of urgency in needing to reach a peace agreement.... their actions on the ground do not match this peaceful rhetoric.
At the beginning of the talks, the Israeli parliament invited Palestinian Authority legislators to the Knesset with the support of 33 Members of Knesset and ministers to promote a spirit of reconciliation hanging the PA and Israeli flags side by side.Abbas was supposed to respond by hosting a gathering with Israeli MKs in Ramallah a month later. However, at the last minute he cancelled.  Abbas called off the toast. According to the official statement, Abbas needed to postpone the event because of the imminent American strike on Syria. Yet, this excuse has turned out to be unsatisfactory, as no strike has been launched and Abbas has not rescheduled the meeting.The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh reported that anti-normalization pressure within Abbas’ own party led to the cancellation. If Abbas was unwilling to meet publicly with Israelis in Ramallah, a minimal step for any long-term peace agreement, then such behavior speaks volumes to the lack of Palestinian Arab commitment towards reaching a permanent accord.
Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority negotiators have blatantly violated the understanding reached by US Secretary of State John Kerry that both parties maintain absolute silence regarding the peace talks. Kerry pushed for this policy in order to minimize the negativity by either party that could harm the negotiation’s success.  Although lead negotiator Tzipi Livni and the Israeli delegation have followed the American order, the Palestinian Authority side has breached the understanding. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority headt Mahmoud Abbas, when speaking with Voice of Palestine radio, declared, “these negotiations will not lead anywhere” and “there have been no developments in these talks.”
The increase of violence from the "West Bank" has added to this worrying trend. During the past week, Palestinian Arabs have killed two Israeli soldiers in separate incidents. These murders lead to troubling speculations.Abbas may not have real control over security in the "West Bank"; this marginalizes his role as President and reduces any chance of reaching a permanent accord with him. On the other hand, if Abbas is firmly in charge of the region, then the killings demonstrate that he is not seriously combatting terror. After the killing of IDF soldier Tomer Hazan over the weekend, the killer’s father announced, “I am telling you this from the bottom of my heart… if the military would give me an M-16 (assault rifle) I would go and shoot my son.” Nonetheless, Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki said that Netanyahu and the Israeli government are the ones to blame for the attack. By allowing senior members of Abbas’ party to launch such outrageous accusations, Fatah is torpedoing the chances of convincing the Israeli public that Palestinian Arabs are now determined to reach a true peace.Finally, rocket fire from Gaza, intentionally targeting nearby Israeli civilians, has continued repeatedly despite the Egyptian mediated cease-fire last year. As recently as Thursday, Gazan terrorists launched rockets at the Israeli city of Ashkelon. This act of terror is in addition to the dozens of other rocket attacks, which struck Israel during recent months. These acts destroy make it difficult for the Israeli public to accept the necessary compromises to reach a solution when their security is so tenuous.The Palestinian Arab leadership often speaks of the heightened sense of urgency in needing to reach a peace agreement to establish an independent state. Unfortunately, their actions on the ground do not match this peaceful rhetoric.

Social 'scoreboard' to feature in eurozone governance

02.10.13 @ 17:28

By Honor Mahony

BRUSSELS - The European Commission has proposed strengthening the social side of its eurozone governance amid fears the EU is in several member states becoming a byword for austerity and joblessness.
In an ideas paper published Wednesday (2 October), social affairs commissioner Laszlo Andor said a scoreboard should be established to keep track of unemployment and social data in member states.This would help "detect trends" in joblessness, people at risk of poverty, young people in neither training or education, inequality, and household income at an early stage.The scoreboard is to be integrated into the EU's budgetary cycle - the European semester - so that national policy recommendations made by Brussels would take this data into account."This should serve as an analytical tool, allowing for the better and earlier identification of major employment and social problems," says the commission.The key indicators would focus on "employment and social trends that can severely undermine employment, social cohesion and human capital."However, member states will not be forced to changed the policies in these areas if the scoreboard - due to be established in November - shows up failings.There will be "no automatic consequences" from the scoreboard results but it should help policy-makers to "focus better," said Laszlo.He acknowledged that "many would like to see more [ambition]" but pointed to the "limitation" of the EU treaties where social and employment policy is in the hands of member states.Laszlo's paper also says the commission will come forward with a proposal by the end of the year to make it easier for people to seek and find jobs in other member states, amid low figures of just 4 percent cross-border mobility in the eurozone.It will also present plans in 2014 on simplifying the granting of unemployment benefits for those looking for work in another member state.The paper comes as the eurozone faces record unemployment rates as it continues to focus on austerity measures as a way out of the economic crisis.The latest figures, for August 2013, show 19.2 million people are without jobs in the eurozone. Of these, 3.5 million (24 percent) are young people. The figures are starkest in Greece, where 63 percent of young people have no work.The high figures as well as the length of time that people are unemployed has led to references to Europe's "lost generation" and warnings that the EU is being viewed as part of the problem rather than the solution.European Parliament President Martin Schulz called Wednesday's proposals "well-meaning" but said they were "not ambitious enough."The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said it "deplores" the fact that the social indicators do not have "a real and binding impact on economic policies."

Rise of ‘Jews of no religion’ most significant find of Pew study, says director

Landmark new survey among American Jewish Millennials shows a whopping 32% describe themselves as proudly Jewish by culture alone; 71% of non-Orthodox Jews marrying out

By Ben Zehavi October 3, 2013, 2:25 pm 0-The Times of Israel

WASHINGTON — The first comprehensive survey of American Jews in the 21^st Century, which has been making waves this week, reveals some dramatic changes in Jewish identity. The most significant, according to one of the study’s lead authors, is that one-fifth of American Jews don’t even call themselves “Jewish” when asked about their religion.“When we ask this group what their religion is, they tell us they’re atheists, agnostic or not particular to any religion,” says Greg Smith, Director of US Religion Surveys at the Pew Research Center. “But they do subsequently tell us they consider themselves Jewish or partially Jewish aside from religion. They say they were raised Jewish or had at least one Jewish parent.”In the study, this group is called “Jews of no religion,” and their numbers are rising. Among US Jews who were born before 1927, the so-called Greatest Generation, only seven percent did not call themselves Jewish by religion. By contrast, among American Jewish Millennials, those born after 1980, 32% do not describe themselves as Jewish by religion. Rather, they identify as Jewish only on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity, or culture.“That is a big and significant number,” says Smith. “The generational pattern suggests that it’s growing and that’s very important because the data show that Jews of no religion are much less connected to the Jewish community, are much less engaged and involved in Jewish organizations and are much less likely to be raising their children Jewish as compared to Jews who describe themselves as Jews by religion.”Smith says the difference between these two poles of American Jewry “is like night and day.”Less than half of US Jews who grew up Orthodox remained part of the community.According to the survey, Orthodox Jews, which comprise only 10% of US Jewry, are much more observant on a variety of measures such as synagogue attendance and participation in life-cycle rituals. But the study also discovered that less than half of US Jews who grew up Orthodox remained part of the community.Among the three major denominations, Reform Jews have the highest retention rate at 55%. Forty-eight percent of those who grew up Orthodox remained in the Orthodox community, whereas only 36% of US Jews who were raised Conservative stayed within the movement.

The falloff from Orthodoxy, at least, appears to be declining and is significantly lower – only 17% – among 18 to 29 year olds. It’s an open question as to whether this is due to a change within the community or simply that not enough time has elapsed for these Jews to change their affiliation.The most talked-about number in the new survey is sure to be the intermarriage rate, often considered the leading indicator of the health and long-term prospects of the American Jewish community.The Pew survey found the overall intermarriage rate at 58%, but a whopping 71% among the non-Orthodox.The Pew survey found the overall intermarriage rate at 58%, with a whopping 71% among the non-Orthodox. According to Smith, there is good news and bad news in this.“The good news — the data appears to show that the intermarriage rate is pretty flat, at least over the past couple of decades,” he says. “However, the bad news is that, compared to the past, it’s very high. Of those who were married before 1970, only 17% have a non-Jewish spouse.”

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Washington, DC’s Congregation Ohev Shalom/The National Synagogue, calls the data on intermarriage and secularization “sobering, but not unexpected.”“Surveys like this can tell us a lot about the community level on a macro level, but we need to remind ourselves that they say very little on a micro level,” says Herzfeld, a modern orthodox rabbi. “Before we can expect communal redemption from the problems highlighted in this survey, we must hope for many individual redemptions, each in their own unique way.”‘Surveys like this can tell us a lot about the community level on a macro level, but… very little on a micro level’Herzfeld says “there is no quick fix” to the American Jewish community’s problems, but says the community “must redouble our efforts to connect with individual Jews and teach the Torah. We must redouble our efforts to encourage more Jews to become teachers of Torah.”On the latter, Herzfeld is leading by example as his synagogue was one of the first in the nation to hire a female Orthodox clergy member, Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman.Jack Wertheimer, a professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, told the New York Times that the Pew study is “a very grim portrait of the health of the American Jewish population in terms of their Jewish identification.” And Phil Zuckerman, a professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College, told the Los Angeles Times that, if secular Jews aren’t being wooed by Jewish institutions, “They may walk away… And what you’ll have left is the Orthodox.”But Smith, who oversaw the Pew survey, cautions against “confusing religious observance or levels of observance with levels of strength of Jewish identity.”“What comes through loud and clear in the data,” he says, “is that religion may not be that important in many Jews’ lives, but being Jewish is. They tell us they are proud of being Jewish, they feel a close connection to the Jewish people and a strong sense of identity.”‘Religion may not be that important in many Jews’ lives, but being Jewish is’“So those two things – secularization and a strong sense of Jewish identity – are not contradictory.” It’s not that American Jewish identity is necessarily waning, he says, but, rather, it’s changing.One area where change is apparent is American Jewish attitudes to Israel. The Pew survey found that 7 in 10 US Jews say they feel attached to the Jewish state and 4 in 10 say they’ve been to Israel at least once. However, along with this sense of connection, there is also a new willingness to be critical of the Israeli government.When asked whether they believe the current Israeli government is sincere in its efforts to make peace with the Palestinians, 38% said yes and 48% said no, a finding Smith called “striking.” To be sure, there was even more skepticism about Palestinian intentions as 75% of respondents don’t think the Palestinian leadership is making a sincere effort to achieve peace.The full report has much more on Israel and contains a treasure trove of information on American Jewish attitudes. Among the more surprising findings:

• More than one-third (34%) of American Jews say believing Jesus is the Messiah is compatible with Judaism.
• Forty-two percent believe having a good sense of humor is part of what it means to be Jewish.
• One-quarter (25%) of US Jews have a household income exceeding $150,000 (compared with eight percent of the public as a whole).
• Seventy percent are Democrats compared with 22% who call themselves Republicans; however, among the Orthodox, 57% lean Republican and 36% lean Democrat.
• Only 17% of US Jews believe the building of Jewish settlements enhances Israel’s security.

The survey, called A Portrait of Jewish Americans, has been in the works for years and cost several million dollars. Smith says the Pew Research team spoke with more than 70,000 people across the country in order to recruit a large enough sample of Jews. Interviews were conducted from February to June of this year in English and Russian, on land lines and via cell phones. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus three percentage points.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL) will be a wild man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

Netanyahu: Ayatollah Khamenei ‘heads a cult’

PM tells NBC that Iranians are pro-Western but governed by supreme leader, not Rouhani; tells PBS that Israel, Arab states can form alliance to thwart Iran

By Yoel Goldman October 3, 2013, 4:15 am 10-The Times of Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the US airwaves Wednesday, persistent in his effort to convince the international community that Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s charm offensive at the UN last week was an act meant to cover up Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.“Everybody knows that Iran wants to destroy Israel and it’s building — trying to build atomic bombs for that purpose,” Netanyahu told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.“You don’t want to be in a position where this messianic, apocalyptic, radical regime that has these wild ambitions but nice spokesmen, gets away with building these weapons of mass [destruction].”

Asked by Mitchell whether he ran the risk of overstating the threat and isolating Israel from the rest of the world that wants to see a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue, the prime minister answered in the negative.“No, no, I want a diplomatic solution, but one that actually dismantles Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.Netanyahu dismissed the notion that Rouhani was freely elected, saying Iranians would topple the regime if they could.“These people, the Iranian people, the majority of them are actually pro-Western,” he stated, adding, “But they don’t have that. They’re governed not by Rouhani, they’re governed by Ayatollah Khamenei. He heads a cult. That cult is wild in its ambitions and its aggression.”Netanyahu had extended his trip to the US by an extra day, with the aim of speaking to as many US media outlets as possible about the Iranian nuclear threat.Speaking to PBS’s Charlie Rose, Netanyahu said that Arab states have a historic opportunity to ally with Israel to advance regional security, stability and peace in the face of the Iranian threat.Netanyahu emphasized his commitment to national security and urged caution when dealing with Iran. “We just have to make sure that in this state of flux, we do the right things and not the wrong things. Because we can easily upset the applecart in a way that we won’t be able to put it back together,” he told PBS. “We cannot do that, we have to be very responsible, buck the trends, don’t go by fashion. If you govern by fashion and you govern by the kind of editorials you’re gonna get, you’ll get good editorials and later you’ll get good eulogies.”“My responsibility is to ensure the survival, security, longevity of the one and only Jewish state. I will do that pursuing peace, and I’m prepared to make historic compromises,” Netanyahu said, perhaps alluding to ongoing peace talks with the Palestinians. Despite this, he said he would “never compromise on Israel’s security.”On Monday, with a US government shutdown looming, Netanyahu spent hours with President Barack Obama at the White House discussing Iran and making sure the US would keep up the pressure on the regime in Tehran.On Tuesday, Netanyahu vowed at the UN General Assembly that Israel would stop Iran’s nuclear drive on its own if necessary. “Israel will never acquiesce to nuclear arms in the hands of a rogue regime that repeatedly promises to wipe us out,” he said. Still, he stressed, he did not dismiss the diplomatic-sanctions route. “We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed,” he said.On Wednesday, Rouhani responded unequivocally to Netanyahu’s UN speech, promising to continue what Iran insists is a peaceful nuclear program with “full power.”“Israel is upset to see that its sword has gone blunt and Iran grows more powerful day by day,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

PLO Flag Flies over Homesh

Anti-Semitic posters replace menorah as PA Arabs take over former Jewish community.

By Maayana Miskin-First Publish: 10/3/2013, 1:17 PM-Israelnationalnews

Homesh, Thursday morning-From Facebook

Palestinian Authority resident Arabs took over the town of Homesh on Thursday morning, just two weeks after a government order supported turning the Jewish community over to PA hands.Pictures showed Arab men celebrating at the scene by waving PLO flags and holding up signs with what appeared to be anti-Semitic images, including a depiction of a religious Jew being speared through the head.The men painted over the picture of a menorah on the local water tower that had been Homesh’s trademark, replacing it with PLO images and slogans in Arabic.Homesh was destroyed in the 2005 “Disengagement” from Gaza and northern Samaria, but Jewish activists had returned to the town and had set up a new community in the ruins. Activists formed a group called Homesh First, with the goal of eventually resettling all of the towns demolished in the Disengagement.They remained at the site despite frequent expulsions by the Border Police, but were forced to leave when Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein declared that the area was no longer an Israeli community, giving PA residents free access.Former Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Council head Danny Dayan posted a photo to Twitter showing Arab men waving an anti-Semitic poster in Homesh. “This is how our partner celebrates entering the town of Homesh,” he wrote.“The immoral government decision to allow Arabs to take over the land of Homesh is now revealed in its full power: every Jewish symbol is desecrated, anti-Semitic pictures are held up,” Dayan said.“It’s not too late to correct this mistake and eject the rabble,” he urged.

JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36  And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37  For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)

Iran’s cyber chief killed in ‘internal dispute,’ Israel speculates

Iran denies that Mojtaba Ahmadi, reportedly gunned down outside Tehran by two men on a motorbike, was assassinated; says he died in a ‘horrific incident’

By Times of Israel staff October 3, 2013, 12:46 pm 2-The Times of Israel

A key Iranian cyber war operative may have been killed in an “internal dispute,” cabinet minister and former Shin Bet intelligence chief Yaakov Peri said Thursday.Peri, the minister of science, was speaking on Israel Radio as Iran denied reports that Cyber War Headquarters commander Mojtaba Ahmadi, who was recently found dead northwest of Tehran, had been assassinated. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said he had died in a “horrific incident,” but ruled out assassination. “The main reason of the event and the motive of the attacker has not been specified,” added a Revolutionary Guards statement quoted by Reuters.On Wednesday, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reported that Ahmadi had gone missing on Saturday, and that his body was discovered in a wooded area near the town of Karaj.He had been shot twice through the heart at close range by two people on a motorbike, the UK report said, quoting Alborz, a website linked to the Revolutionary Guards. “I could see two bullet wounds on his body and the extent of his injuries indicated that he had been assassinated from a close range with a pistol,” an eyewitness was quoted as telling the Iranian website.The timing of the killing, which came as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu battles what he says is Iran’s duplicitous outreach to the West over its rogue nuclear program, was “triggering further accusations that outside powers are carrying out targeted assassinations of key figures in the country’s security apparatus,” the Telegraph said.“I assume Iran will accuse Israel” of killing Ahmadi, Peri said on Thursday morning. But the fact that this or that leading Iranian nuclear or cyber figure is killed, he said, did not mean that Israel was necessarily involved. “Many of these events are the consequence of internal disputes in Iran.”He also said that while the deaths of such figures can sometimes have an impact, “there are always replacements… And such acts do not always cause a slowing or a reduction” of the dangers posed by Iran.Curiously, in January 2012, the similarly named Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, an Iranian nuclear scientist and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was assassinated when a bomb was affixed to his car by two assailants on a motorbike in Tehran.The Iranian government has accused Israel of several recent assassinations, including that of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan and four other nuclear scientists, and the head of the country’s ballistic missiles program.The Telegraph report Wednesday said that “the Facebook page of the officers of the Cyber War Headquarters confirmed that Ahmadi had been one of their commander[s] and posted messages of condolence. But Alborz users warned that the openly accessible book of condolence could harm Iran’s national security. ‘Stop giving more information about him. The counter-revolutionaries will take advantage of his murder,’ said one post. ‘It sounds like a hit job for a security officer of this importance.’”Subsequently, said the British newspaper report, a statement from the Revolutionary Guards “said that Ahmadi’s death was being investigated. It warned against speculating ‘prematurely about the identity of those responsible for the killing.’ Western officials said the information was still being assessed.”On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed at the UN General Assembly that Israel would stop Iran’s nuclear drive on its own if necessary. “Israel will never acquiesce to nuclear arms in the hands of a rogue regime that repeatedly promises to wipe us out,” he said. Still, he stressed, he did not dismiss the diplomatic-sanctions route. “We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed,” he said.On Wednesday, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani responded unequivocally to Netanyahu’s UN speech, promising to continue what Iran insists is a peaceful nuclear program with “full power.”“Israel is upset to see that its sword has gone blunt and Iran grows more powerful day by day,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Rouhani: Israel’s ‘sword has gone blunt,’ while Iran grows more powerful

Responding to Netanyahu’s UN speech, Iranian president calls PM’s resort to ‘coarse language’ a source of ‘happiness’ for Tehran

By Ilan Ben Zion and Lazar Berman October 2, 2013, 6:57 pm-The Times of Israel

Iran’s President Hasan Rouhani on Wednesday struck back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his address at the UN the day before, saying that Israel’s outrage at Iran’s empowerment pleases the Islamic Republic.“Israel is upset to see that its sword has gone blunt and Iran grows more powerful day by day,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.Rouhani also promised to continue Iran’s nuclear program with “full power.”Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Netanyahu devoted the overwhelming majority of his address to condemning Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which it pursued, he said, while hiding “behind a smokescreen of diplomatic engagement.” The prime minister called on the international community to “mistrust, dismantle and verify” during its nuclear talks with Iran. He warned that Israel was prepared to act alone should diplomacy fail to halt Iran’s nuclear drive.“That an aggressive regime in the region names Iran with coarse language is the cause of our happiness,” Rouhani said following a cabinet meeting.The Iranian president — branded a duplicitous “wolf in sheep’s clothing” by Netanyahu on Tuesday — reiterated that Tehran’s nuclear program was for peaceful, nonmilitary purposes only, and said “we have nothing to hide in the field of nuclear energy,” the Iranian Republic New Agency reported.According to the semi-official Press TV, Rouhani said that after 34 years of a “very dark atmosphere” in US-Iran relations, a detente between the two countries would not be achieved overnight.

Hassan Firouzabadi, Iran’s chief of staff, also responded to Netanyahu’s statements on Wednesday, calling the prime minister a “warmonger” for his promise that Israel would stop Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon, Fars reported.“Netanyahu has marked his name as a warmonger on the UN walls,” charged Firouzabadi, “and gained nothing but amplifying the Zionists’ threats through these comments.”Firouzabadi added that Netanyahu’s speech showed desperation on the part of Israel.Iran’s UN delegation on Tuesday warned Israel not to so much as “think about” attacking it, telling Israel not to “miscalculate” and stressing the Islamic Republic’s ability to defend itself.Khodadad Seifi, Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN, utilized a right of reply to speak immediately after Netanyahu’s address to the General Assembly, and said that he wouldn’t “dignify such unfounded accusations with an answer, other than categorically rejecting them all.”

He added: “Iranians are proud of being the best at exercising their inherent right of self-defense… Therefore, the Israeli prime minister had better not even think about attacking Iran, let alone planning for that.”

Woman raped, branded in Jerusalem forest

19-year-old victim attacked, sexually assaulted near Sanhedria neighborhood; police launch special investigation into incident

By Naama Barak October 3, 2013, 1:46 pm 2-The Times of Israel

A 19-year-old woman was found unconscious, covered with cuts and bruises, and branded with the letters “B” and “D” after being raped in a Jerusalem forest on Wednesday.The victim was found by yeshiva students near the northern neighborhood of Sanhedria, who heard screaming from the forest. She was taken by paramedics to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem for treatment of her injuries.According to a Channel 10 report, the police suspect that the crime — including the location and manner in which the woman was abused – was premeditated.Police on Thursday were trying to retrieve DNA evidence from the scene of the crime. Jerusalem District police commissioner Yossi Pariente ordered a special investigation to examine possible criminal or hate crime motives for the attack.