You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The death of former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
The Israel housing ministry announced approval for 1,400 new housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The US, the EU and the Palestinians warned Israel that its announcement was harmful to the peace process. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, said: “It is never helpful to have steps taken that are not conducive to our efforts in moving forward on peace. We’ve called on both sides, as you know, many, many times to create a positive atmosphere for negotiations. So anything that doesn’t do that is unhelpful. We consider now and have always considered the settlements to be illegitimate, and we express that, of course, on a regular basis, as needed,” Psaki said. “But the reality is both sides remain committed to discussing the framework, committed to moving forward, and we’ll keep working with them,” she said. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton responded to the announcement, saying that “the settlements are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make the two-state solution impossible.”Furthermore, Britain, France, Spain and Italy summoned the Israeli ambassadors from these countries to protect plans for the new settlement construction.
Meanwhile, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that claiming settlements were an obstacle to peace was “bogus.” “The real issue is not the settlements, is not the Palestinian state. The real issue was and always has been the Jewish state. The persistent refusal to accept a nation-state for the Jewish people by our adversaries, whom we want to turn to peace partners,” he said. In his comments, Netanyahu took specific aim at the European Union, which has been outspoken in its criticism of settlement construction. Netanyahu questioned why the EU protested the construction of “a few houses,” but did not summon Palestinian diplomats over Palestinian misdeeds. “When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors to complain about the incitement that calls for Israel’s destruction?” he said. “I think it is time to stop this hypocrisy. I think it is time to inject some balance and fairness to this discussion. Because I think this imbalance and this bias against Israel doesn’t advance peace,” he added. “I think it pushed peace further away because it tells the Palestinians, ‘Basically you can do anything you want, say anything you want and you won’t be held accountable.'”
After Netanyahu accused the EU of “hypocrisy” in condemning settlement construction, Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman summoned the ambassadors of Britain, France, Spain and Italy and rebuked them for their “one-sided position they constantly take against Israel and in favor of the Palestinians.” This position is “unacceptable and creates a feeling that they are only looking to place blame on Israel,” Liberman said. In addition, Liberman insisted that the constant criticisms that the Israeli representatives in Europe receive “may have the opposite effect.” “Israel is making great effort to allow the dialogue with the Palestinians to continue and the position these states are taking, beyond it being biased and unbalanced, is significantly harming the chances of reaching an accord.” the foreign minister said.
In any event, US Secretary of State John Kerry plans to present a framework deal between Israel and the Palestinians at the end of January at a conference in the Jordanian city of Aqaba hosted by Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Jordan will have a hand in finalizing the terms of an agreement but also that “control over the border and natural resources will effectively remain in Israel’s hands.”Palestinian sources said that it will only include a general outline with vague and flexible demands which will allow both Palestinians and Israelis to interpret the outline as they see fit. It will include a statement supporting Palestinian aspirations for Jerusalem as their capital. Israel Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that Kerry would return to the Middle East in the coming week to promote a meeting between Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas under Jordanian sponsorship. Danon said that if Netanyahu agrees to withdraw to the 1967 lines or make any concessions regarding Jerusalem that it would be opposed by members of Netanyahu’s Likud political party.
Israel Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon expressed great skepticism of a possible peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians especially the US security plan for the Jordan Valley. He expressed these thoughts both in private conversations in Israel and in the US. In particular, Ya’alon has harsh words to say about Secretary of State John Kerry. “The American security plan presented to us is not worth the paper it’s written on,” Ya’alon said. “It contains no peace and no security. Only our continued presence in the West Bank Judea and the Jordan River will endure our protection against rockets from every direction. . Ya’alon said that Kerry is acting out of misplaced obsession and messianic fervor. Kerry cannot teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians. Ya’alon, who sits beside Netanyahu during the talks with Kerry, has during the months of negotiations become a bitter and tough enemy of the American team. “I’m a tough nut to crack,” he claims. “There are no actual negotiations with the Palestinians. The Americans are holding negotiations with us and in parallel with the Palestinians. So far, we are the only side to have given anything – the release of murderers – and the Palestinians have given nothing.”
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of succumbing to Israeli demands to advance two central issues in the peace talks — the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a continued Israeli security presence in the Jordan Valley. “Israel has succeeded in really persuading Mr. Kerry to change the agenda of the discussions,” Fatah Central Committee Member Nabil Shaath said. “Today, you will see Mr. Kerry going back and forth, discussing nothing but two issues. The two issues have never been in our agenda: the Jewishness of the state [of Israel] and the Jordan [Valley].” These two sticking points, Shaath maintained, will never be agreed upon by the Palestinians and are likely to result in the dissolution of talks. “You think any Palestinian leader in his right mind can ever accept this?” Shaath remarked regarding the Jewish status of Israel. “Or is this simply instated to make it impossible for any Palestinian leader to sign a peace agreement with Israel?” Instead, the Palestinians have decided to launch a global diplomatic and legal assault on Israel. The Palestinian Authority is currently setting up teams to wage diplomatic war against Israel in “every conceivable” forum, including pushing for boycotts of Israel and seeking legal rulings against Israel via international courts in The Hague according to Israel’s Channel 2 TV station. Unless Kerry significantly changes the current formulation of his framework proposals, the Palestinians will reject his overtures, confident that much of the international community will consider them to be the injured party and hold Israel responsible for the failure of peace efforts. The Palestinians are furious that Kerry is offering them a state “with no borders, no capital, no [control over] border crossings… and without Jerusalem.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that “there will be no peace” without a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem and that he would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “Without east Jerusalem as a capital of the state of Palestine, there will be no peace between us and Israel,” Abbas said. Abbas also reiterated that he will not recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. “We will not recognize it,” Abbas said. “We will not accept and it’s our right not to recognize the Jewish state.” “Let them say whatever they say. Unless it is mentioned clearly and marked in big fonts that it is the capital of the state of Palestine, there will be no peace with them and I want them to hear this,” declared Abbas. In addition, Arab foreign ministers have notified US Secretary of State John Kerry that they will not accept Israel as a Jewish state nor compromise on Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki said that nine Arab foreign ministers, comprising the followup committee for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, had agreed during a meeting in Paris to present to Kerry a unified Arab position on core Palestinian demands. “A clear and unified Arab and Palestinian position was presented [to Kerry] rejecting the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state,” Malki said. “The American secretary heard this position from me and from other Arab foreign ministers, who also consider East Jerusalem to be the capital of the Palestinian state.” Al-Malki also said that Kerry still had “hard work” with the Israeli side, in order to reach agreements that will “satisfy the needs of the Palestinians.” He further noted that there is still no progress in the ongoing peace talks and that large gaps remain between the parties. According to Malki, Kerry told the Arab ministers that if negotiations failed he would not hesitate to publicly name the side “which provided concessions and cooperated with his efforts and the side which refused to cooperate.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a defiant message to Israel’s leadership and US mediators recently telling cheering supporters that the Palestinians “won’t kneel” and won’t drop demands for a capital in east Jerusalem.
Regarding the issue of Palestinian refugees, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that he could not negotiate away the absolute right of Palestinian refugees and their descendents to return to sovereign Israel. Finally, Abbas suggested he would not continue negotiations beyond a US-set target date of the end of April and instead will resume his quest for broader international recognition of a state of Palestine by the United Nations and its various agencies.
Next, Israel Finance Minister Yair Lapid said his Yesh Atid party would leave the coalition government if negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) did not progress.”I remain part of the government so that we can advance the peace process,” Lapid said. “I have no reason to remain part of a government that will not advance negotiations.”
In other news, Israel’s 11th Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, died on January 11 at the age of 85. He suffered a stroke in 2006. Since that time, he has been in a coma. Sharon was one of Israel’s most celebrated, victorious and innovative generals – and a maverick. Sharon was considered the greatest field commander in Israel’s history and one of the country’s greatest military strategists. He served the Israeli army from its inception in 1948, founding some of its elite units and leading key operations in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. He emerged from the assault on Sinai in the Six-Day war of 1967 as a brilliant military strategist. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he led a force that encircled the Egyptian Third Army and crossed the Suez, cutting short its massive advance through Sinai to the Israeli frontier. Sharon saved the country by acting in defiance of orders.
He first joined the Likud political paryy and was assigned various ministerial portfolios under Prime Minister Menahem Begin in 1977-92 and in Binyamin Netanyahu’s first administration in 1996-99. As defense minister, he led the IDF to victory against the Palestinians in the 1982 Lebanon War, forcing Yasser Arafat and PLO leaders to abandon their South Lebanese strongholds on the Israeli border and go into exile in Tunisia. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000 and served as Israel’s prime minister from 2001 to 2006. In 2001, Israel was desperate to find a solution to the non-stop Palestinian suicide bombing and bus burnings. As a result, Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel. As Prime Minister, Sharon launched a four-month operation that soundly defeated the Palestinian front against Israel. Later, Sharon constructed a defense wall along the Green Line as a barrier between the West Bank. He isolated Palestinian intifada leader, Yasser Arafat, and caused him to flee to Paris where he died in 2005.
From the 1970s through to the 1990s, Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, as Prime Minister, in 2004–05 Sharon orchestrated Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip kicking nearly 9,000 Jews out of their homes in August, 2005, along with every Israeli soldier. Facing stiff opposition to this policy within his own Likud political party, in November 2005 he left Likud to form a new party called, Kadima. He had been expected to win the next election and was widely interpreted as planning on “clearing Israel out of most of the West Bank”, in a new series of unilateral withdrawals. However, Sharon suffered a stroke on January 4, 2006 and was left in a permanent vegetative state until his death eight years later on January 11, 2014.
Could Sharon’s death be a sign of the coming of the Messiah ? A few months before he died at the age of 108, one of Israel’s nation’s most prominent rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, said that he wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until one year after his death. When the note was unsealed, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus), is the Messiah. The note described the Messiah using six words and hinting that the initial letters form the name of the Messiah.
The secret note said:
Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.
This I have signed in the month of mercy,
Yitzhak Kaduri
The Hebrew sentence (translated above in bold) with the hidden name of the Messiah reads:
Yarim Ha’Am Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim
The initials spell the Hebrew name of Jesus which is Yehoshua or Yeshua which are effectively the same name, derived from the same Hebrew root of the word “salvation”. A few months before Kaduri died at the age of 108, he surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. He also mentioned that the Messiah would appear to Israel after Ariel Sharon’s death. Sharon is now dead. How long will it be until we see the return of the Messiah ?
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) Israel approves 1,400 new housing units over Green Line
2) US, EU, Palestinians: Tenders for homes harmful to peace
3) Netanyahu slams EU settlement critics as hypocrites
4) Liberman summons European envoys to reprimand them over anti-Israel ‘bias’
5) John Kerry to Present Framework Deal at End of January
6) Report: Kerry to present interim peace agreement at end of January
7) Ya’alon: Kerry should win his Nobel and leave us alone
8.) Palestinian official says Kerry bowed to Israel’s agenda
9) ‘Palestinians to reject Kerry peace plan, launch diplomatic war on Israel’
10) Arab ministers back Abbas in rejecting ‘Jewish’ Israel
11) Hard-line speech from Abbas marks turn from position in talks
12) Abbas says he won’t make concessions on Jerusalem
13) ‘Arab States Will Never Recognize a Jewish State’
14) Yesh Atid ‘Will Leave Government if Peace Talks Don’t Progress’
15) Ariel Sharon, brilliant general, divisive politician
16) Ariel Sharon: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
17) The Rabbi, the Note and the Messiah
From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).
We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).
Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l