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.
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
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.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni sharply criticized Economics Minister Naftali Bennett Monday, after the Jewish Home party leader remarked at a faction meeting that a Palestinian state would "crush" the Israeli economy.
"The Economics Minister must decide if he represents the Israeli people, or just the residents of isolated settlements," Livni insisted."In these trying times, when both left-wing and right-wing businessmen are deeply concerned about the future of the Israeli economy, the person in charge of that economy actually prefers to listen to extremist Rabbis," Livni claimed."The role of a responsible, Zionist leader is not to side with policies that isolate Israel and damage the economy and every Israeli citizen, but instead to push for a political agreement which could advance Israel's status in the international community, strengthen Israel's economy and security, and secure a Jewish, Democratic state." Earlier Monday, Bennett had stressed Israel's need to maintain its borders and independence for economic growth, despite mounting pressure from the European Union and others to divide Israel in the face of boycotts. During his speech, Bennett demonstrated on a map what the borders would look like if Judea and Samaria were given to the Palestinian Authority (PA), showing that the region provides access for missiles to fall on the center of Israel, especially the Tel Aviv area.
"Imagine if just one missile per day fell on Herzliya Pituah, what that would do to Israel's economy. If even one plane which was supposed to land at Ben Gurion Airport crashes (due to terrorism) per year, it would crush the Israeli economy," he elaborated. "We have had economic pressures placed upon us - I'm not denying it," Bennett fired. "There may be a budding boycott movement, but why should we give away our land because of it? Why should we divide Jerusalem because of that?"The European Union has been unrelenting in its criticism of Israel's construction in Judea and Samaria. The EU promotes boycotts of products made beyond 1949 Armistice lines, and has effectively redrawn Israel's borders to those lines in policies to its member states.Recently, the EU has gone so far as to offer "unprecedented" aid packages to both Israel and the PA in the event that a two-state solution - and a withdrawal - results from negotiations.
JOEL 3:2 (WW3 OCCURS WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED)
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.(JERUSALEM)(WW3 STARTS BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AND ISRAELIS UPROOTED FROM THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND BRINGS 3 DEAD BILLION IN WW3)
PSALMS 137:5-6
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.(STROKE)
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(WAR PLANES WITH BOMBS) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
ZECHARIAH 14:1-4 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Three rockets fired by Gaza-based terrorists exploded late Monday night in the Eshkol Regional Council.
The rockets exploded in open regions, causing no physical injuries or damages.The latest attack came several hours after many residents of the resort city of Eilat called police saying they had heard two loud explosions.The explosions occurred at about 7:00 p.m. local time. Police and IDF soldiers started combing the city, and a security source told the AFP news agency that at least one rocket struck the outskirts of the city."At least one rocket was fired at Eilat and they found the remains on the outskirts of the city," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding the searches were continuing.Neither the police nor the army could confirm rocket fire on the city and the searches are expected to continue on Tuesday morning.
Rocket attacks from Gaza have increased in recent days and the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been retaliating with airstrikes on terrorism sites in the Hamas-controlled region.On Saturday night, IAF aircraft targeted several terrorist sites in Gaza after a rocket exploded in an open area between two communities in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.There were no physical injuries or damages in the rocket attack.Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned Gaza terrorists on Sunday that the IDF would hit hard and fast against terror targets each time Israel was attacked.“The IDF on Sunday morning targeted a terror cell that was responsible for firing rockets at Israel last week, when rockets were fired at Ashkelon,” Ya'alon said.“We will not accept the targeting by terrorists of Israel, and we will act to cause damage to anyone that threatens the security of our citizens,” he added.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK 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)
EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
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)
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Monday
that he had cancelled an offer for Iran to attend Syria peace
negotiations after Tehran declared it does not support the June 2012
political transition deal that is the basis for the talks."He (Ban)
continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva communiqué," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said, according to the Reuters news agency."Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding,
(Ban) has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed
without Iran's participation," added Nesirky.Ban said earlier that Iran's public statement that it did not support
the 2012 Geneva deal calling for a transitional government for Syria
was "not consistent" with assurances he had been given by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.Ban’s extending an invitation to Iran
to attend the peace conference angered Syria's political opposition,
which threatened on Sunday night to withdraw its attendance unless the
invitation to Iran is cancelled.
Iran rebuffed the precondition on Monday, saying it could not accept a plan for a Syrian political transition.
"Setting such a condition to accept the Geneva 1 agreement for attending at the Geneva 2 meeting is rejected and unacceptable," the Iranian ISNA news agency quoted deputy Foreign Minister Hosein Amirabdollahian as saying."Iran will attend the talks without any precondition based on an invitation by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,” he stressed.Iran's UN ambassador also said on Monday that Iran will definitely not take part if it is required to accept the June 2012 deal agreed in Geneva."If the participation of Iran is conditioned to accept Geneva I communiqué, Iran will not participate in Geneva II conference," Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said in a statement quoted by Reuters.Throughout the civil war in Syria, Iran has provided Assad with military support during his fight against the rebels.Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally sanctioned the dispatch of officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to fight alongside Assad’s troops.The United States has in the past expressed its objection to Iran attending Geneva 2 while Russia, one of the co-organizers of the conference, supports participation by Tehran.The United States reiterated its objection to Iran attending after the invitation was extended on Sunday, with State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying, "If Iran does not fully and publicly accept the Geneva communiqué, the invitation must be rescinded.”The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, reiterated the American position on Monday.“As of this morning, Iran still has yet to demonstrate its willingness to explicitly and publicly subscribe to the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué. That is a minimum requirement for participation in this peace process,” she said.
As Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's speech in the Knesset
wrapped up Monday, it was clear that he and Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu agreed on a vital issue: that a nuclear Iran must be
prevented, according to AFP."The interim agreement which went
into force today does not prevent
Iran from realizing its intention to develop nuclear weapons," Netanyahu
told the Knesset Monday. "This objective is still before us."Netanyahu
compared Iran's bid for a nuclear weapon to a train which
needed to pass three stops en route to building a military capacity:
enriching uranium to 3.5 percent, enriching to 20 percent, and a "final
stop" of enriching to 90 percent."The Geneva Agreement cancelled the 20
percent stop but left the
train on the track... so that one day, Iran will be able to rush forward
to the final stop, on an express track, without slowing down for the
interim stops," he said. "In a permanent agreement, the international
community must get the Iranian nuclear train of the track. Iran must
never get the ability to build an atomic bomb."
Harper agreed, noting that Ottawa's sanctions on Iran would remain "fully in place" as an interim nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran took effect."We truly hope that it is possible to walk the Iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons," Harper stated to the Knesset. "But for now, Canada's own sanctions will remain fully in place."Should our hopes not be realized, should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice in the world for renewed sanctions," he added.The remarks by the leaders were made just hours after the UN's atomic watchdog confirmed that Tehran had halted production of 20 percent enriched uranium in line with an interim deal reached with world powers in Geneva in November.In exchange for Iran's partial nuclear freeze, the European Union and the United States began suspending some of the sanctions which have been imposed on the Islamic Republic.Israel, widely seen as the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, strongly opposed the Geneva agreement, warning against any international move to ease up on sanctions.Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon hinted in a Politico article earlier this week that Israel would take all means necessary to prevent a nuclear Iran - including a possible strike.
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
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.
Livni: Bennett Speaks for 'Settlers' - Not the Common Israeli
Livni
attacks Bennett over assessment of two-state solution on Israeli
economy, claims he prefers 'settlements' over Israel.-By Tova Dvorin-First Publish: 1/21/2014, 12:44 AM-Israelnationalnews
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni-Flash 90
"The Economics Minister must decide if he represents the Israeli people, or just the residents of isolated settlements," Livni insisted."In these trying times, when both left-wing and right-wing businessmen are deeply concerned about the future of the Israeli economy, the person in charge of that economy actually prefers to listen to extremist Rabbis," Livni claimed."The role of a responsible, Zionist leader is not to side with policies that isolate Israel and damage the economy and every Israeli citizen, but instead to push for a political agreement which could advance Israel's status in the international community, strengthen Israel's economy and security, and secure a Jewish, Democratic state." Earlier Monday, Bennett had stressed Israel's need to maintain its borders and independence for economic growth, despite mounting pressure from the European Union and others to divide Israel in the face of boycotts. During his speech, Bennett demonstrated on a map what the borders would look like if Judea and Samaria were given to the Palestinian Authority (PA), showing that the region provides access for missiles to fall on the center of Israel, especially the Tel Aviv area.
"Imagine if just one missile per day fell on Herzliya Pituah, what that would do to Israel's economy. If even one plane which was supposed to land at Ben Gurion Airport crashes (due to terrorism) per year, it would crush the Israeli economy," he elaborated. "We have had economic pressures placed upon us - I'm not denying it," Bennett fired. "There may be a budding boycott movement, but why should we give away our land because of it? Why should we divide Jerusalem because of that?"The European Union has been unrelenting in its criticism of Israel's construction in Judea and Samaria. The EU promotes boycotts of products made beyond 1949 Armistice lines, and has effectively redrawn Israel's borders to those lines in policies to its member states.Recently, the EU has gone so far as to offer "unprecedented" aid packages to both Israel and the PA in the event that a two-state solution - and a withdrawal - results from negotiations.
JOEL 3:2 (WW3 OCCURS WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED)
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.(JERUSALEM)(WW3 STARTS BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AND ISRAELIS UPROOTED FROM THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND BRINGS 3 DEAD BILLION IN WW3)
PSALMS 137:5-6
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.(STROKE)
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(WAR PLANES WITH BOMBS) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
ZECHARIAH 14:1-4 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Gaza Terrorists Fire 3 Rockets at Southern Israel
Three
rockets fired by Gaza-based terrorists hit open regions in the Eshkol
Regional Council, causing no injuries or damages.-By Elad Benari-First Publish: 1/21/2014, 12:12 AM-Israelnationalnews
Rocket launch from Gaza-Reuters
The rockets exploded in open regions, causing no physical injuries or damages.The latest attack came several hours after many residents of the resort city of Eilat called police saying they had heard two loud explosions.The explosions occurred at about 7:00 p.m. local time. Police and IDF soldiers started combing the city, and a security source told the AFP news agency that at least one rocket struck the outskirts of the city."At least one rocket was fired at Eilat and they found the remains on the outskirts of the city," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding the searches were continuing.Neither the police nor the army could confirm rocket fire on the city and the searches are expected to continue on Tuesday morning.
Rocket attacks from Gaza have increased in recent days and the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been retaliating with airstrikes on terrorism sites in the Hamas-controlled region.On Saturday night, IAF aircraft targeted several terrorist sites in Gaza after a rocket exploded in an open area between two communities in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.There were no physical injuries or damages in the rocket attack.Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned Gaza terrorists on Sunday that the IDF would hit hard and fast against terror targets each time Israel was attacked.“The IDF on Sunday morning targeted a terror cell that was responsible for firing rockets at Israel last week, when rockets were fired at Ashkelon,” Ya'alon said.“We will not accept the targeting by terrorists of Israel, and we will act to cause damage to anyone that threatens the security of our citizens,” he added.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK 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)
EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
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)
UN Cancels Iran's Invite to Syria Peace Talks
UN
head withdraws offer for Iran to attend Geneva 2 after Tehran refuses
to support a June 2012 political transition deal.-By Elad Benari-First Publish: 1/21/2014, 1:46 AM-Israelnationalnews
Ban Ki-moon-Reuters
Iran rebuffed the precondition on Monday, saying it could not accept a plan for a Syrian political transition.
"Setting such a condition to accept the Geneva 1 agreement for attending at the Geneva 2 meeting is rejected and unacceptable," the Iranian ISNA news agency quoted deputy Foreign Minister Hosein Amirabdollahian as saying."Iran will attend the talks without any precondition based on an invitation by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,” he stressed.Iran's UN ambassador also said on Monday that Iran will definitely not take part if it is required to accept the June 2012 deal agreed in Geneva."If the participation of Iran is conditioned to accept Geneva I communiqué, Iran will not participate in Geneva II conference," Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said in a statement quoted by Reuters.Throughout the civil war in Syria, Iran has provided Assad with military support during his fight against the rebels.Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally sanctioned the dispatch of officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to fight alongside Assad’s troops.The United States has in the past expressed its objection to Iran attending Geneva 2 while Russia, one of the co-organizers of the conference, supports participation by Tehran.The United States reiterated its objection to Iran attending after the invitation was extended on Sunday, with State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying, "If Iran does not fully and publicly accept the Geneva communiqué, the invitation must be rescinded.”The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, reiterated the American position on Monday.“As of this morning, Iran still has yet to demonstrate its willingness to explicitly and publicly subscribe to the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué. That is a minimum requirement for participation in this peace process,” she said.
Arab MKs heckle, walk out when Harper slams those who 'sickeningly' brand Israel an apartheid state
Harper: Support for Israel is morally and strategically right
In Knesset speech of emphatic solidarity, Canada’s PM slams ‘disgraceful’ hatred of Israel, urges Palestinians to seek peace, says his sanctions on Iran will remain
January 20, 2014, 7:20 pm
22-The Times of Israel
Canada supports Israel for
strategic reasons but also because it is the correct thing to do,
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday, delivering an
overwhelmingly pro-Israel speech to the Knesset.
“After
generations of persecution, the Jewish people deserve their own
homeland, and deserve to live safely and peacefully in that homeland,”
Harper said early in his address. “Canada supports Israel because it is
right to do so.”The speech by Harper, in Israel on his first
trip to the Jewish state as the Canadian prime minister, avoided any
criticism of Israel or settlements, and only briefly mentioned Canada’s
desire for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Warmly applauded by
almost all MKs, he was heckled, when slamming critics of Israel, by two
Arab MKs who then walked out of the chamber.Harper closely toed the official Israeli
government line, recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, slamming the
international community for singling out the country for criticism, and
calling on Palestinians to abandon terrorism.“A Palestinian state will come, and one thing
that will make it come is when the regimes that bankroll terrorism
realize that the path to peace is accommodation, not violence,” he said.Since his election in 2006, the Conservative prime minister, Canada’s first evangelical prime minister in 50 years, has been full-throated, unapologetic and seemingly indifferent to consequences in his support of Israel.“It is a Canadian tradition to stand for what
is principled and just, regardless of whether it is convenient or
popular,” he said to the Israeli parliament.But “support today for the Jewish state of
Israel is more than a moral imperative. It is also of strategic
importance, also a matter of our own long-term interests,” he
elaborated, praising Israel’s record on human rights and economic
freedom. “Israel is the only country in the Middle East which has long
anchored itself in the ideals of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
These are not mere notions. They are the things that, over time and
against all odds, have proven to be the only ground in which human
rights, political stability, and economic prosperity, may flourish.
These values are not proprietary; they do not belong to one nation or
one people. Nor are they a finite resource; on the contrary, the wider
they are spread, the stronger they grow.”“Likewise, when they are threatened anywhere,
they are threatened everywhere,” Harper continued. And “what today
threatens the societies that embrace such values and the progress they
nurture? Those who scorn modernity, who loathe the liberty of others,
and who hold the differences of peoples and cultures in contempt. Those
who often begin by hating the Jews, but, history shows us, end up hating
anyone who is not them. Those forces which have threatened the State of
Israel every single day of its existence, and which, today, as 9-11
graphically showed us, threaten us all… And so, either we stand up for
our values and our interests, here, in Israel, stand up for the
existence of a free, democratic and distinctively Jewish state, or the
retreat of our values and our interests in the world will begin.”Harper’s stirringly pro-Israel speech prompted
some heckling from Israeli Arab Knesset members, at least two of whom
walked out of the chamber midway through his address. The MKs,
Ahmad Tibi and Taleb Abu Arar, who had heckled Netanyahu and opposition
leader Isaac Herzog when they spoke prior to Harper, got up and left
after the Canadian prime minister castigated those who sought to brand
Israel as an Apartheid state.“Most disgracefully of all, some openly call
Israel an apartheid state,” Harper said. “Think about that. Think about
the twisted logic and outright malice behind that: A state, based on
freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can
flourish, as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist
experiment in history, that is condemned, and that condemnation is
masked in the language of anti-racism. It is nothing short of
sickening.”
The two Arab MKs shouted that Israeli Arabs
faced apartheid, citing the situation of Bedouin in the Negev, and Tibi
said Harper “should be sitting there, with the Likud,” and pointed to
the government benches in the chamber. The pair then got up and left.After the walk out, and before Harper resumed
his speech, much of the Knesset rose to its feet, led by Netanyahu, and
gave him a standing ovation.Before the Harper speech, in his own address,
Netanyahu praised his Canadian counterpart as “having the courage to say
the truth.”
Saying the distance between Jerusalem and
Ramallah was shorter than Toronto’s Yonge Street, Netanyahu pointed to
the fact that Israel had no “margin for error” in demanding security
assurances so that Israel does not get a repeat of Gaza.On Iran, Harper
said that his government
believes that all diplomatic channels to ensure Iran does not obtain a
nuclear weapon should be explored, a divergence from a statement from
Netanyahu that the recently implemented nuclear deal would not stop
Iran’s nuclear program.However, Harper said his country’s sanctions
would remain fully in place. “And should our hopes not be realized,
should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong
voice for renewed sanctions,” he said.Harper also compared Israel’s
enemies with
violent Islamist movements, including al-Qaeda. “Those who often begin
by hating the Jews… history shows us end up hating anyone who is not
them. Those forces, which have threatened the state of Israel every
single day of its existence, and which, today, as 9-11 graphically
showed us, threaten us all.”Harper praised military cooperation between
the two countries, saying that “the use of Israeli-built reconnaissance
equipment saved the lives of many Canadian soldiers.”Referring to
Canada’s Jewish population,
Harper said, “They are also immensely proud of what the people of Israel
have accomplished here, of your courage in war, of your generosity in
peace, and of the bloom that the desert has yielded, under your
stewardship.“Through fire and water,” Harper concluded, “Canada will
stand with you.”Knesset members and the packed crowd in the
Knesset galleries — including the large Canadian delegation accompanying
Harper in Israel — rose to their feet as the Canadian prime minister
concluded, and gave him prolonged applause.(The full text of Harper’s speech is here.) Canada, Israel Agree: No Nuclear Weapon for Iran
At
special Knesset session, both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and
Canadian Premier Stephen Harper vow to stop nuclear Iran.-By AFP and
Arutz Sheva Staff-First Publish: 1/20/2014, 8:56 PM-Israelnationalnews
Harper with Netanyahu-Flash 90
Harper agreed, noting that Ottawa's sanctions on Iran would remain "fully in place" as an interim nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran took effect."We truly hope that it is possible to walk the Iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons," Harper stated to the Knesset. "But for now, Canada's own sanctions will remain fully in place."Should our hopes not be realized, should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice in the world for renewed sanctions," he added.The remarks by the leaders were made just hours after the UN's atomic watchdog confirmed that Tehran had halted production of 20 percent enriched uranium in line with an interim deal reached with world powers in Geneva in November.In exchange for Iran's partial nuclear freeze, the European Union and the United States began suspending some of the sanctions which have been imposed on the Islamic Republic.Israel, widely seen as the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, strongly opposed the Geneva agreement, warning against any international move to ease up on sanctions.Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon hinted in a Politico article earlier this week that Israel would take all means necessary to prevent a nuclear Iran - including a possible strike.
Main bloc quits Syrian National Coalition over Geneva
Syrian National Council says umbrella organization’s decision to attend peace talks reneges on previous call for Assad’s ouster
January 21, 2014, 1:56 am
0
GENEVA — A last-minute UN
invitation for Iran to join this week’s Syria peace talks threw the
long-awaited Geneva conference into doubt Monday, forcing UN chief Ban
Ki-moon to rescind his offer under intense US pressure after the
opposition threatened to boycott.With
the invitation withdrawn, the main Western-backed opposition group, the
Syrian National Coalition, said it would attend the talks aimed at
ending Syria’s ruinous three-year civil war. The opposition said the
conference should seek to establish a transitional government with full
executive powers “in which killers and criminals do not participate.”
However, the main bloc within the Syrian
National Coalition — the Syrian National Council — issued late-night
statement on Monday saying it was quitting the Coalition in protest over
its decision to attend the talks, according to AFP.The Council stated that taking part in the
talks would renege on its commitments to not enter negotiations until
Syrian President Bashar Assad leaves power.The surprise
invitation, extended Sunday by the UN secretary-general, set off a
flurry of diplomatic activity to salvage the talks. The US said the
offer should be rescinded, and the opposition threatened to skip the
event entirely.The conference is set to begin Wednesday in
the Swiss luxury resort city of Montreux, with high-ranking delegations
from the United States, Russia and close to 40 other countries
attending. Face-to-face negotiations between the Syrian government and
its opponents — the first of the uprising — are to start Friday in
Geneva.The uproar over Iran’s invitation put the entire event at risk of
being scuttled.The Syrian National Coalition, which had voted
late Saturday to attend after months of rancorous debate, issued an
ultimatum, saying that Iran must commit publicly within hours to
withdraw its “troops and militias” from Syria and abide by a 2012
roadmap to establish a transitional government. Otherwise, the group
said, the UN should withdraw its invitation for Tehran to take part.The
confusion surrounding the Iranian
invitation underscored the tenuous nature of the diplomatic effort to
end the bloody conflict, which has morphed from peaceful protests into a
vicious civil war with outside powers backing rebels who are fighting
not only the government but rival insurgents as well.
It is not clear what exactly motivated Ban to
issue the invitation, but it came hours after he said he had received
assurances from Tehran that it accepted the premise of the talks.Syria has been ruled by Assad’s family since
1970, and Iran is Assad’s strongest regional ally, supplying his
government with advisers, money and materiel since the uprising began in
2011. The Islamic Republic’s allies, most notably the Lebanese Shiite
militant group Hezbollah, have also gone to Syria to help bolster
Assad’s forces.The last-minute invitation appeared to take
the US and its European allies by surprise. An Iranian statement said
Iran had accepted the offer without “any pre-conditions.”Ban said he was “deeply disappointed” by Iran’s statements Monday.
Senior US officials said Iran has not met the
criteria to participate in the conference unless it fully and publicly
endorses the aims of the meeting.Speaking to reporters in a conference
call,
the officials said public statements from Iran fall “well short” of what
is require for Tehran’s participation, adding that they expect the U.N.
to reevaluate and reverse its decision unless Iran changes course.The
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to discuss the matter using their names.France, another
strong supporter of the
opposition coalition, took the same line, with the country’s UN
ambassador, Gerard Araud, saying Iran “must accept explicitly” the terms
of the roadmap.In New York, Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly
Churkin said “of course” both the US and Russia were consulted about the
Iran invitation, and he said that if the Syrian opposition boycotts the
talks, “that would be a big mistake.”In Tehran, Iranian Foreign
Ministry
spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted by the official IRNA news agency
saying that Iran does not recognize the Geneva roadmap because it did
not attend the conference that drafted it.Saudi Arabia, a main backer of
the Syrian
opposition and a bitter regional rival of Tehran, also said Iran is not
qualified to attend the conference but stopped short of threatening to
boycott.The negotiations aim to broker a political
resolution to a conflict that has killed more than 130,000 people,
displaced millions and put entire towns and neighborhoods under military
siege in the worst humanitarian crisis in decades.Diplomats and
political leaders acknowledge
that the prospects of achieving such a lofty goal any time soon are slim
at best — with the opposition riveted by internal divisions. Infighting
between rebels in northern Syria has killed more than 1,000 people in
the past month.Both the government and the opposition have
suffered enormous losses, but even now, neither side appears desperate
enough to budge from its entrenched position. At this point, just
getting the antagonists into the same room to start what is expected to
be a long process that could drag on for years would be perceived as a
success.Invitations to the one-day meeting of foreign
ministers had been subject to approval by the initiating states, Russia
and the United States, but the two countries had been at an impasse over
Iran.Syria’s crisis began in the heyday of the Arab
Spring uprisings that swept away authoritarian leaders in Egypt,
Tunisia and Yemen. Unlike the others, Syria’s leadership responded to
largely peaceful protests for political reform with a withering
crackdown. That slowly forced the opposition to take up arms and gave
birth to a civil war that has also spawned a proxy battle between
regional Shiite Muslim power Iran and Sunni heavyweight Saudi Arabia.The
cumulative effect of the war has been
disastrous. Syria lies in ruins, its economy shattered, its rich social
fabric shredded.
When the Vatican kitchen went kosher for a day
Rome rabbi supervised detailed preparations before Pope Francis hosted a delegation of Argentine rabbis
January 21, 2014, 1:20 am
0-The Times of Israel
VATICAN CITY (AP) — For just one day, the kitchen of the Vatican hotel where Pope Francis lives went kosher.Rabbi
Jaakov Spizzichino oversaw the scrupulous cleaning of countertops, the
boiling of utensils and the heating of the oven to render it fit for
cooking under Jewish dietary laws.The occasion? A four-course lunch Francis
hosted for a dozen Argentine rabbis last week. It was another sign of
his close friendship with Jews, despite some complaints in Israel that
he’s giving the Jewish state short-shrift on his upcoming trip to the
Holy Land.The Vatican has hosted kosher meals for
visiting Jewish delegations on several occasions, and Francis famously
provided kosher takeout for one of his best friends, Rabbi Abraham
Skorka, when Skorka stayed with him at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel
last year.But the Jan. 16 luncheon in Santa Marta’s
dining room was a special occasion that warranted more — including the
extensive, rabbinically supervised sterilizing of the hotel kitchen that
on-site kosher cooking entails.The Vatican pulled out all the stops as
Francis hosted Skorka and about 15 other rabbis from Buenos Aires who
came to Rome to visit their old friend. It turned to Ba’Ghetto, one of
the best kosher restaurants on the other side of the Tiber River, to
cater the affair.“I decided to do it simple, because the pope
is simple,” said Amit Dabush, Ba’Ghetto’s Israeli-born co-owner. “But
the menu was full: He had to make a ‘bella figura’” — a good impression —
on his guests.
To do so, however, required on-site cooking,
and that required Dabush and Spizzichino, a kosher inspector with Rome’s
chief rabbinate, to sterilize the small kitchen off the main dining
room kitchen.A key issue was the oven: according to Jewish
dietary laws, an oven in a non-kosher kitchen must sit idle for 24 hours
and be cleaned and turned on full blast for an hour to sterilize it,
Spizzichino said. So on the morning of the luncheon, Dabush, some
restaurant workers and Spizzichino set to work early: scorching the oven
and burners, scouring the kitchen countertops and covering them with
aluminum foil to prevent the kosher food from being contaminated. They
boiled and sterilized the big pots used for making pasta and set the
tables with Ba’Ghetto’s own plates and utensils.“It was a kitchen that
they rarely used, so it was very clean,” Spizzichino said.The menu was
heavily fish-based: antipasti of
deep-fried artichokes; baked sardines with endive and tangy, grilled
zucchini. The pasta course featured two selections: gnocchi with rocket,
tomato and pine nuts, and hand-made trofie, or little twists of pasta
with sea bass and tomatoes. The main course had two choices of fish:
baked turbot wrapped with vegetables or the house specialty, salt cod
with tomatoes, pine nuts, grapes and potatoes.Given the palates of his
Argentine guests,
Francis also offered beef filet with a Barolo wine reduction, which most
chose, though he himself stuck to fish. Salad and roasted potatoes came
next followed by desert: two torts of chestnut and sour cherry, and the
pope’s favorite, pistachio mousse, made with a soy-based creamer
imported from Israel to substitute the dairy that isn’t allowed in a
kosher meal featuring meat.In an interview with Vatican Radio, Skorka —
with whom the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote a book about
faith — said the rabbinical delegation came to Rome to “show our
affection, our support, and seal our friendship, not just personal but
as a group.”He said he couldn’t wait to pray at
Jerusalem’s Western Wall with Francis during his May 24-26 trip to
Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.
The trip, however, has caused some
consternation in Israel given that Francis’ predecessors — Popes John
Paul II and Benedict XVI — spent significantly more time in Israel
during their landmark visits and celebrated Mass in Israel proper.Francis’ current plans for religious services
only include a Mass in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem in the West
Bank and an ecumenical service with the spiritual leader of the Orthodox
Christians at Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre church.“It’s wonderful that he’s coming but it’s
regrettable that he’ll be here for such a short time — a third of the
time that his predecessors were here, and neglecting the main body of
Christianity in the Holy Land, which is in the Galilee,” said Rabbi
David Rosen, head of interfaith relations at the American Jewish
Committee.Nevertheless, he said he expected
Catholic-Jewish relations would continue to flourish under Francis,
following the same path begun by his predecessors. 
