Archive for June, 2013

June 29, 2013: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only)

Saturday, June 29th, 2013

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East from June 27 – 29 meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Presiden Mahmood Abbas with the goal to convene direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. This is Kerry’s 5th visit to the Middle East since he became US Secretary of State. Kerry’s short-term goal is to restart peace talks without preconditions. In doing so, Kerry would like for both Israel and the Palestinians to agree to “confidence building measures” in renewing peace talks. An eventual peace agreement would establish separate areas of jurisdiction in Jerusalem, probably with international administration; resolve claims of Palestinian families that left homes in what is now Israel when the Jewish state was founded; and provide new security assurances to Israel. The Palestinians want a state based upon 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Kerry said that he did not want to set any deadlines to restart peace talks but that there needed to be progress made before the UN General Assembly meets in September. Senior U.S. administration officials have said that the Obama administration have given until the end of September to renew negotiations between the sides.

According to Palestinian officials, although Kerry is not expected to present an “American plan” for peace, Kerry has been at work on something very close to that. President Abbas has made clear to Kerry in the past several weeks that he intends to give him more time to try and renew negotiations between the sides. Abbas has set a target date of September which is the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Accords will be marked and when the Palestinians are likely to try to renew taking unilateral steps at the United Nations. The Palestinians want Kerry to “define the end game first,” by establishing clear U.S. principles for a possible peace agreement at the beginning of peace talks and then settle borders quickly. That would require a strong U.S. hand in setting the terms for negotiations and keeping both sides at the table.

In any peace agreement, Israel wants the Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state. However so far, the Palestinians have failed to do so. In fact, Abbas has declared that he shares Hamas’ position to refuse to meet with Jews. Not just Israelis… Jews. This is what you are likely to hear these days if you request a meeting with any senior Palestinian Authority official in the West Bank. Palestinian journalists who try to arrange meetings or interviews with Palestinian Authority representatives for Western colleagues have become used to hearing such things almost on a daily basis. Last week, a journalist who requested a meeting between Western journalists and a top Palestinian Authority official was told “to make sure there were no Jews or Israelis” among the visitors. The official’s aide went on to explain: “We are sorry, but we do not meet with Jews or Israelis.” Another Palestinian journalist who tried to arrange an interview with a Palestinian Authority official for a European colleague was turned down “because the man’s name indicates he is a Jew.”

Regarding Kerry’s effort to visit to the Middle East to restart peace talks, the Palestinians reiterated their demand that Israel freeze building Jewish homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and that Israel release Palestinian prisoners who have committed crimes. Furthermore, he said that negotiations must be based upon establishing a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. If Israel refuses to accept these conditions, the Palestinians are willing to take unilateral steps at the United Nations this fall to possibly become members of the UN International Criminal Court. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, “The Palestinians will be joining all organizations in the United Nations,” he said. “Those who worry about the Palestinians joining the international criminal court must stop committing crimes.” Furthermore, Erakat said, “The Palestinians are willing to return to the negotiating table but before they do, they must know if Israel is willing to agree to a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians don’t want Israel to lecture us. I do not want anyone to stand up and say I cannot negotiate ’67, I cannot negotiate Jerusalem, I cannot negotiate refugees, I cannot negotiate anything, and then after 30 minutes of conditioning the negotiations say, we know what is best for you.” Israel, Erekat said, wants to dictate terms, such as there must be settlement blocs, but it does not want to negotiate.

Meanwhile, senior officials in the political party of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud, said that Netanyahu is prepared to give up as much as 90% of the West Bank in a peace agreement with the Palestinians. If Netanyahu is satisfied that Israel’s security needs are met then nearly all of the West Bank except for the large Jewish “settlement blocs” would be given to the Palestinians. “Isolated” settlement communities would be demolished with residents forced to resettle elsewhere. In any event, members of the Jewish home political party who are currently members of Netanyahu’s government have said that they will leave the government if it became clear that a major withdrawal from the West Bank was on the horizon. Former Israel foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the Palestinians are not interested in reaching a peace agreement with Israel. Abbas may be willing to start negotiations with Israel but this would be a ploy to cover up his real plan which is to make another unilateral move at the United Nations this September. Lieberman predicted that Abbas would again make accusations against Israel and claim that it does not want peace, give another speech full of hatred against Israel as he does every year at the General Assembly, ask to join various UN agencies and apply for full membership at the UN. A senior Palestinian official confirmed on Monday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was willing to drop some of his preconditions and instead might want Israel to take symbolic moves that would demonstrate its seriousness. The official said Abbas would be willing to enter direct peace talks with Israel for a limited duration if Israel agreed to carry out several goodwill gestures. A senior Israeli official played down the significance of Abbas’ possible new approach, saying, “It is hard to know whether Abbas is serious this time, but if so, this is a welcome development that the prime minister considers long overdue,” he said. “If Abbas renews talks only to call them off several weeks later, then blames Israel for torpedoing the talks and asks the U.N. to recognize the 1967 borders, this would surprise no one.”

Finally, at the closing session of the World Economic Forum in Jordan on May 26, Kerry presented a “groundbreaking” $4 billion package of private investment in the Palestinian economy. Coordinated by the office of Tony Blair, Quartet envoy to the Middle East, the investment package seeks to boost the Palestinian GDP by 50 percent within three years and cut unemployment from its current rate of 21-22% to just 8% in a similar time frame. The money is targeted to go to eight sectors of the Palestinian economy that are in dire need of financial assistance: construction and housing, building materials, light manufacturing, IT and communications, agriculture, energy, water, and tourism. However, a Western diplomatic official said that this $4 billion foreign investment package plan will not be implemented unless there is progress in reaching a peace agreement. Said the Western diplomat, “This package is not intended as a substitute for the political process. It will be launched either in parallel or after the political track is resumed as judged by John Kerry.”

If Israel does make a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Likud cabinet member Silvan Shalom said that Likud would face a major crisis warning that it could cause a split within the party.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) For Kerry, little new traction as yet another visit to Israel awaits
2) On eve of Mideast visit, Kerry sets new target date for Israeli-Palestinian progress
3) Kerry says he doesn’t want deadlines for peace process
4) Israel’s Palestinian Peace Partners Now Refusing to Meet with Jews
5) Report: Netanyahu Ready to Give Up 90% of Judea and Samaria
6) Lieberman: Abbas Only Wants to Go to the UN
7) Israel concerned Abbas will meet Netanyahu, then torpedo talks
8) Abbas douses expectations for resumption of talks
9.) Abbas: We will only negotiate based on 1967 lines
10) ‘$4b. for Palestinians contingent on peace progress’
11) Likud minister Shalom warns: Peace moves could split party

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

June 22, 2013: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only)

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The current status of the situation with Syria and Iran

US Secretary of State John Kerry will return to the Middle East June 27 – 29 to hold meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian officials in order to try to restart direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. In doing so, Kerry will try to coordinate a meeting between Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. At this point in the process, Kerry is trying to get both sides to take trust-building steps in order to move the peace process forward. Kerry’s goal is that he would like to find a solution where both Israel and the Palestinians could achieve political gains that would not be viewed as giving into the other sides demands which would allow the resumption of peace talks. Kerry would like Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and freeze the construction of new Jewish homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In return, Kerry would like to convince the Palestinians to renew direct peace talks. The Obama administration has given Kerry until September to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations. Kerry is expected to present an outline for a peace agreement by that time.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the willingness of the Palestinian Authority to restart peace talks with Israel hinges on Israel’s commitment to halt settlement construction, its acceptance of the two-state solution which established a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and release of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinian Fatah leadership warned the United States against exerting pressure on the Palestinian Authority to resume peace talks with Israel unconditionally. It affirmed its firm support for Abbas’s demand for a cessation of settlement construction, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and Israeli recognition of the two-state solution on the basis of the pre-1967 lines before resuming the peace process. Instead of the US pressuring the Palestinians, the Fatah leaders called on Kerry to exert pressure on Israel to “fulfill its obligations” towards agreements signed with the Palestinians in order to resume a “meaningful” peace process. Palestinian negotiation team member Muhammad Ishtayya criticized the US and the international community for reluctance to exert pressure to get Israel to comply with the Palestinian demands of ending settlement expansion and accepting a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected that the Palestinians demands of Israel are preconditions to restart direct peace talks but instead called them Israel obligations. Furthermore, Erekat stated that the Palestinians would not modify their peace demands in order to participate in US-brokered peace talks. After Kerry presents his views on how to restart peace talks, the Palestinians will then determine if Kerry’s plans will meet the Palestinian demands to restart the peace process. If Kerry’s efforts do not satisfy the Palestinians, they plan to resume their efforts to join various UN organizations.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel seeks to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinians in order to arrive at a comprehensive final-status agreement. Netanyahu said: “Our fervent hope is for peace, a genuine peace that can be achieved only through direct negotiations without preconditions. We’re ready to enter such negotiations. I hope the Palestinians are, too. Our goal is not just to begin the negotiation process but to persist in the negotiations, to engage in them consistently over a serious period of time in order to try to grapple with all the issues and come to an agreement that resolves the fundamental issues in the conflict.” Such a process “will require time and determination and a systematic approach. This is Israel’s goal and I hope that this is the goal of the Palestinians also. Israel gives US Secretary of State John Kerry all our support in his efforts to restart peace talks. Israel wants him to succeed. However, why have the past six Israeli governments failed in promoting peace? “Ultimately,” Netanyahu said, “it is the willingness of the Palestinians to accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state that will determine whether there can be a peace agreement. This is the heart of the matter.”

In order to show goodwill in an effort to restart peace talks, Israel is willing to release a limited number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dropping the return to the ’67 lines as a precondition to resuming peace talks. In addition, Israel Housing Minister Uri Ariel announced their their is an “indefinite” freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem saying, “We confirm a freeze on building behind the pre-1967 borders until further notice in order to avoid a confrontation with the United States.” While Jewish Home (the political party of Housing Minster Uri Ariel) supports the building of Jewish homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it has no power to go against the orders of Netanyahu. If Ariel violates Netanyahu’s orders, he’ll be fired from being Housing Minister. Netanyahu ordered Ariel to declare a building freeze after US President Barack Obama visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in March.

Within Israel’s political parties, the leader of Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett, said that the idea of establishing a Palestinian state has reached a dead end and should be forsaken. He said, “Never in the history of Israel has so much energy been invested in something so pointless. We need to go from a situation in which we try to convince people that it is a bad idea, to one in which this idea is behind us. There are 400,000 Israeli residents in the West Bank and another 250,000 in eastern Jerusalem,” he noted. “More than 10% of Israel residents now live in the pre-1967 borders. The attempt to establish a Palestinian state inside our land should be over.” Israel needs to keep on “building and building and building” in the Land of Israel, Bennett said. “It is important that there be a Jewish presence everywhere. Our main problem is still the fact that Israel’s leaders are not prepared to say simply, that the Land of Israel belongs to the nation of Israel. We need to tell ourselves and the entire world that this land has been ours for 3,000 years.”

In response, Israel Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said that the diplomatic process with the Palestinians would soon begin. Livni said that her party would not be a fig leaf for a right-wing government but would pursue a serious peace process led by Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu against the view of Bennett. We need a diplomatic process that results in a peace agreement with the Palestinians yet keeps Israel as a democratic Jewish state.

Meanwhile,  former Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said, “There’s no chance of reaching a diplomatic arrangement with the Palestinians at this time.” Furthermore, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace initiative has “failed so far” and that the Arab League proposals – which Kerry has praised –  is nothing more than “spin.” Ya’alon dismissed the recent Arab League agreement for “territorial swaps” between Israel and the Palestinians and the Arab initiative as a whole as nothing more than “spin” and a “dictation” to Israel to give up territory before discussing its own demands. Ya’alon said that the Palestinians are clinging to their preconditions for coming to talks – “they want to get something for nothing” – and, in any case, they are unwilling to accept Israel’s two main demands – recognition of its right to exist as a Jewish state and a willingness to declare “end of conflict” after an agreement on borders is reached.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) Palestinian official: Kerry should propose plan next week
2) Kerry to return to Israel to double down on peace push
3) Kerry to return to region in late June
4) Kerry hasn’t given up
5) Kerry seeks Netanyahu-Abbas meeting
6) Amid rumors of renewed talks, PM says contacts must be meaningful
7) PM: Peace hinges on PA’s willingness to recognize Jewish state
8) Israel announces settlement freeze in West Bank, Jerusalem
9.) Housing Minister: Yes, There Is a Building Freeze
10) Diplomats: Netanyahu ready to release Palestinian prisoners
11) Fatah warns US against exerting pressure on PA to resume talks unconditionally
12) Erekat: Abbas insistent on Israeli retreat to 1967 borders
13) Bennett: Palestinian State? Get Over It
14) Livni swears on peace, despite Bennett’s comments
15) Israel’s Liberman: ‘No Chance’ For Deal With Palestinians
16) Ya’alon: Kerry peace move has failed so far; Arab League initiative is ‘spin’

US President Barack Obama has ordered the US Central Intelligence Agency to provide small, lethal arms to rebel fighters in Syria. British Prime Minister David Cameron also supports providing money and arms to the Syrian opposition. In an effort to hasten the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Cameron encouraged members of Syria’s army and security forces to launch a coup against their leader promising them they would not be prosecuted for atrocities committed against the Syrian people. Cameron is fed up with the G-8’s inability to come to a consensus on the need for an Assad exit to end the Syrian civil war due to Russia’s support of Assad. Meanwhile, the US and  Turkey have intensified political and military dialogue for strategic planning to smoothly deliver U.S. weapons to the Free Syria Army. One of the most likely potential routes for the transportation of this weaponry into Syria is through Turkey, which has a long southern border with Syria. Syria’s northern parts are under the FSA’s control and Turkey has stood as the best logistical center for the Syrian opposition.

NATO and a number of European governments, most significantly the UK, have started airlifting heavy weapons to the Syrian rebels. The first shipments arrived on June 17 in Turkey and Jordan. They contained anti-air and tank missiles. From there, they were transferred to rebel forces in southern Syria and Aleppo in the northwest.  However, a large fleet named “Mol Comfort” carrying Arms for FSA crashed in the Indian Ocean as it made its way from Singapore to Saudi Arabia. On board were 4,500 containers loaded with arms for the Syrian rebels. Saudi Arabia also expressed a desire for the Syrian rebels to receive military aid. Saudi prince Saud al-Faisal said, “Saudi Arabia calls for issuing an unequivocal international resolution to halt the sale of arms to the Syrian regime government. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said he has cut all diplomatic ties with Syria and called for a no-fly zone over Syria. Addressing a rally called by Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo, Morsi said: “We decided today to entirely break off relations with Syrian government of Bashar Assad.” The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood called for Sunni Muslim religious organizations to declare a jihad against Assad and his Shi’ite Islamic allies.

Russia continues to support the Assad government. Russia is Assad’s major arms supplier. In opposing the West support of the Syrian rebels, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the radical al-Nusra Front – an outfit that has been listed by the United States as a terrorist group – would handle most of the weapons earmarked for the Syrian opposition. Lavrov said any attempt to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria using F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missiles from Jordan would violate international law. The United States has moved Patriot missiles and fighter jets into Jordan, officially as part of an annual exercise in the past week but making clear that the military assets could stay on when the war games are over. Russia has strongly criticized military support for the rebels while defending as legitimate its own arms sales to Assad. Lavrov said that Russia would honor all weapons deals with the Syrian government. “We’re fulfilling all our contracts,” Lavrov said. Asked about the controversial shipment of S-300 air defence systems, he merely said that “those contracts have not been fully realized.” On June 19, Russia announced that two warships carrying 600 Russian marines were heading for Syria “to protect the Russian citizens there” along with air force cover as needed.

In commenting about the Syrian civil war, Henry Kissinger said, “There are three possible outcomes. An Assad victory. A Sunni victory. Or an outcome in which the various nationalities agree to co-exist together but in more or less autonomous regions, so that they can’t oppress each other. That’s the outcome I would prefer to see. But that’s not the popular view. In the American press, the Syrian conflict is described as being a struggle between a desire for democracy and a dictator- and the dictator is killing his own people, and we’ve got to punish him. But that’s not what’s going on. It may have been started by a few democrats. But on the whole it’s an ethnic and sectarian conflict. It is now a civil war between sectarian groups”, Kissinger said. In other words, the Syrian conflict is an Islamic civil war between the Sunnis and Shi’ites.

A war with Syria where Damascus is destroyed (Isaiah 17) is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles is as follows:

1) Obama begins answering Syrian rebels’ call for arms
2) Blair: Syria’s rebels want democracy; help arm them
3) Turkey, US cooperate on aid to Syrian rebels
4) Cameron’s coup against Assad
5) First European & NATO heavy arms for Syrian rebels. Russian reprisal expected
6) Container Ship Carrying Weapons for Syrian Rebels Splits in Half/Sinks
7) Saudis: We ‘cannot be silent’ in face of Iran, Hezbollah involvement in Syria
8.) Syrian Rebels: We’ve Received Heavy Weapons from Saudis
9) Morsi cuts Egypt’s Syria ties, backs no-fly zone
10) Russia says illegal to impose no-fly zone over Syria
11) Russia warns against arming Syrian rebels
12) Lavrov: Russia will honor its S-300 missile contract with Damascus. Two Russian warships head for Syria
13) Putin will address G8 summit as head of winning Syrian war camp
14) Henry Kissinger: Balkanized Syria Best Possible Outcome

Iran elected Hassan Rowhani to be their new President on June 14. He will take office on August 3. Rohani plans to hold direct dialogue with each of the six world powers (the five members of the Security Council and Germany) separately, in order to clarify with them Iran’s stance on its nuclear program. The US European allies plan to press Rohani for the resumption of nuclear negotiations by August. US President Barack Obama’s chief of staff said that the Rohani’s election was a “potentially hopeful sign,” and that if he lived up to his obligation “to come clean on this illicit nuclear program, he will find a partner in us.” Rowhani said that he wants to reduce tensions with the United States over Iran’s nuclear program but ruled out direct talks exclusively with the US in order to do so. When asked if he would be prepared to hold direct talks with the United States, Rohani replied: “First of all, the Americans have to say… that they will never interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. Second, they have to recognize all of the Iranian nation’s due rights including nuclear rights. And third, they have to put aside oppressive… policies towards Iran,” he said. He added there needed to be an end to American “bullying.” He said that “All should know that the next government will not budge from defending Iran’s inalienable rights while saying that Iran is not prepared to suspend uranium enrichment.

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s red line on Iran has not changed with Rohani’s election. Israel red line is Iran obtaining 250 kilos of uranium enriched to 20 percent. Acknowledging that economic sanctions against Iran were clearly taking their toll, Netanyahu said the pressure on Iran needed to be maintained and urged Western allies not to pin their hopes on Rohani. “He doesn’t count. He doesn’t call the shots,” Netanyahu said. Iran’s nuclear policy is determined by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made all the decisions regarding nuclear policy.

Canada’s foreign minister has warned Iran that it has only two-to-three months to prove to the West that it seeks a negotiated resolution to the crisis over its rogue nuclear program. Since Rowhani was a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, “He doesn’t need to have any time to read up on the files.” Asked whether diplomacy had run its course, Baird said, “There’s always a reason to wait another two or three months. If they want to prove the naysayers wrong, they should make meaningful progress with the P5+1. I’m pessimistic on that but I hope to be proven wrong.” The diplomatic process “is nearing the end. If Iran wants to seek out concrete, meaningful solutions to this, they have the opportunity to demonstrate to the world in the coming weeks that they’ll do that. And if at the end of two or three months there isn’t some kind of concrete progress, then “I think fair and reasonable people will have shown that they have taken every reasonable measure, every diplomatic measure, to try to successfully bring this to a conclusion.” At that time, the world community may try other measures to achieve its goals to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

The link to this article is as follows:

1) Iran President-Elect Wants to Ease Strains With U.S., but Sees No Direct Talks
2) Rohani puts ‘moderate’ foot forward, yet shows no sign of halting nuclear program
3) ‘Rohani wants to renew direct talks with world powers’
4) Iran’s Rohani: Sanctions only benefit Israel
5) Canadian FM: Iran has 2-3 months to prove it’s resolving nuclear crisis

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

June 15, 2013: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only)

Thursday, June 13th, 2013

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The current status of the situation with Syria and Iran

US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled his scheduled visit to Israel in an effort to restart direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. According to Israeli sources, Kerry put off the visit “to give (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) more time” to decide whether to drop his insistence on a freeze on Jewish building before returning to negotiations. They also say that Kerry has given up his wide-ranging peace plan and replaced it with “a gradual multi-step peace plan between Israel and the Palestinian Authority”. Kerry has asked the European Union to “step back … from its peace seeking efforts” and follow the American plan that entails gradual work, as he wants the Israeli and Palestinian governments to establish trust between them. Kerry has changed his plan because Israel will not accept Mahmoud Abbas’s preconditions for the return to negotiations and Abbas will not accept Israel’s conditions. “Under Kerry’s plan, Israel and the Palestinians would enter into negotiations on core issues immediately, based on the recognition of two states, the right of the Palestinian people to independence and the preservation of Israel’s security interests and main settlement blocs.” Under this scenario, the Palestinians would receive an economic aid package and the Israelis would freeze settlement construction. Some long-term Palestinian prisoners held by Israel may also be released as a goodwill gesture.

Meanwhile, according to Palestinian officials, Kerry is being hesitant to put for his peace initiative for fear that it will be rejected. Kerry was originally expected to present his plan on June 7.

In any event, the fate of negotiations will most likely be determined in the next two weeks. Right now, the US doesn’t consider Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be the real obstacle to renewing the negotiations. The US believes that it is possible for Netanyahu to make a peace deal because he is not a real ideologue. The US believes that what motives Netanyahu is political survival. The US believes that if Netanyahu can get his coalition to support negotiations with the Palestinians, he will support it. The US believes that the real obstacle in Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. The US dislikes that Ya’alon is drawing closer to the settlers.

A potential agreement to restart negotiations would most likely consist of the following parameters:  Israel will release a list of “pre-Oslo” prisoners. This list of prisoners include those were were charged with serious crimes with some of them even convicted of murder. Though Israel will not announce that it is freezing construction in the settlements, it will do that quietly, with a few isolated exceptions to be approved discreetly among all parties. In return, the Palestinians will receive an attractive economic package and Israel will announce a series of benefits in Areas C and B which will markedly improve the Palestinians’ freedom of activity and movement. In exchange, the negotiations will be resumed without any preconditions. It will not be resumed from where the negotiations between former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abu Mazen left off but from where the negotiations between former Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Alaa and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stopped. The underlying principles will be: “Everything is up for discussion. Nothing is settled until everything is settled.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinians are busy with a construction plan to build six cities, two airports, a high-tech complex, a university and a system of highways to connect all of these things in an effort to create territorial continuity in the West Bank as authorities refuse to wait for the revival of peace talks. The majority of the projects are in the Israel-controlled Area C, and many of them have already begun. Some are awaiting the approval of the Civil Administration, the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank. The Palestinians hope to push the projects that the Civil Administration will reject through negotiations as “confidence-building steps.” In view of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s frequent visits to the region, the plan looks grounded in reality. The petitions submitted to the Civil Administration reveal the Palestinians intend to erect five cities, and a tourist town on the shores of the Dead Sea. The two airports will be built in East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. Plans are also in place to better harness the natural water and energy resources and water purification facilities.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that a two-state solution not within the pre-1967 borders is meaningless. Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath added, “The Palestinian Authority will return to the negotiating table only if Israel agrees to negotiate on the basis of 1967 borders or freeze settlements and free “political prisoners.” “We’re not demanding that settlers be removed at the moment just that settlements not be expanded.

Netanyahu said on that when it comes to peace talks with the Palestinians, “it’s time to stop negotiating about the negotiations. I want peace. To achieve peace, we must negotiate peace,” he said. “We want to see this American effort succeed. Israel is ready for the resumption of direct negotiations for peace without preconditions. I think it is time to stop squabbling over preconditions. I think it’s time to stop negotiating about the negotiations. I think we have to start peace talks immediately.” Netanyahu added, “My goal is to see a historic compromise that ends the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians once and for all. This will entail a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, with iron clad security arrangements for Israel – recognition, security, demilitarization. I believe that these are the elements for peace. I don’t pose them as preconditions for negotiations. I look forward to enter those negotiations without preconditions without delay. I am ready for such a peace. I hope the Palestinians are ready too.”

Israel’s deputy defense minister, Danny Danon said “there is certainly no majority” in the Likud for establishing a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. “A Palestinian state on the 1967 lines is something dangerous for Israel, and therefore I oppose that idea. The Public should not be misled”, as Israel would never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, whether the United States sends envoys or not, whether it presents initiatives or not. When asked if Israel would “annex” the West Bank, Dannon said that Israel will not do so, but will continue its settlements activities “on vacant lands in the West Bank. Jews in the West Bank aren’t settlers anymore, they are citizens of the state of Israel.” He further stated that several Israeli members of Knesset agree with his opinions despite the fact they do not go public about them.

Officials in Netanyahu’s office said that Danon had stated a personal opinion and his comments did not reflect government policy. Netanyahu “is interested in a resumption of negotiations without preconditions,” and that his positions regarding support for a two-state solution continues. “Netanyahu calls on the president of the Palestinian Authority to restart talks without delay at which all issues will be raised to discussion,” the sources said. “The Palestinian Authority will raise its demands, and Israel will raise its demands which include, among others, stringent security arrangements, recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and the declaration of an end to the conflict.” Netanyahu urged his ministers in a cabinet meeting to put their differences aside for the moment. “In order to face the challenges [on diplomatic and security issues] and many other challenges ahead, the government must function as a whole,” Netanyahu said. “The citizens of Israel chose us so we could focus on getting big things done and not on little, narrow political interests, and that is what we will do.”

Israel’s chief negotiator with the Palestinians, Tzipi Livni, said that she is working with the U.S to restart talks, despite those within the government that oppose it. “It is true that within the Likud there are radical elements and within the government there are those that oppose an agreement. However, the prime minister is the one who will have to decide whether he surrenders to radical elements or will promote his policy that he declared,” she said. “It harms the peace process.” A member of Livni’s political party, Hatnua (“The Movement”), MK Amram Mitzna said, “The condition [of Hatnua’s inclusion in the coalition] is the advancement of the peace process. If we reach the conclusion that it’s not part of the process, we won’t be [in the government],” he said.

In light of Danon’s statements regarding the peace process, several Israel Knesset members called for Danon to resign. Labor Party MK Nahman Shai said, “The prime minister must immediately relieve Danny Danon of his duties because of the grave damage his words inflicted on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to revive peace negotiations.”

Danon attacked the politicians who were attacking him and said that “Likud is a democracy that accepts different streams and opinions, and the majority within the party is against [two states].” In response to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni comments about him who said that she left Likud because of views like his, Danon said: “Wonderful. She wants us to be the contractors who carry out her plans and those of the leftists? Her place was not in Likud to begin with.” Regarding Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statements in favor of a two-state solution, Danon said that “there is a difference between statements and actions,” but added that he opposes the statements, too. “If there is actual action [to implement a two state solution] there will be an ideological struggle and a confrontation within Likud, but we are not at that point,” he said. “The Palestinians refuse to even be partners.”

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said there has been a de facto settlement freeze in Jerusalem neighborhoods located beyond the Green Line since the beginning of the year. “One should view this as a temporary hiatus,” Lieberman said. “We have an interest in [Secretary of State] Kerry succeeding. You don’t always have to be right; you can also be smart. If we do enter talks, they will be very tough,” he said, “but the alternative is a binational state, something we do not want.”

Israel rejects Palestinian preconditions for negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said rejecting Palestinian demands for a settlement freeze ahead of negotiations and stressing that nothing on the Israeli side stands in the way of talks progressing. He called preconditions an “impassable obstacle.” He accused Mahmoud Abbas and the PA leadership of creating conditions they know Israel will never accept as an excuse to avoid talks. Every time Israel gives the Palestinians what they want, he said, they add new demands. Netanyahu rejected the idea of an international force guaranteeing Israeli security in the event of a two-state solution. Netanyahu did, however, accept some role for international troops in the region, but added “we cannot rely on them.” Netanyahu also pledged to press ahead with construction in the West Bank. “Building in Judea and Samaria will continue, it is continuing even today, but we have to understand what is happening around us. We have to be smart, not only right. Settlements in the main blocs do not fundamentally change our ability to reach an agreement.” The real issue, the prime minister stressed, is whether the Palestinians can accept the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he receives telephone calls “several times a week” from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Israel officials said that Kerry has submitted a package of demands to the government unacceptable even to the most pro-American ministers in the Cabinet saying that Netanyahu’s government could collapse if the prime minister agrees to U.S. demands for unilateral withdrawal from or a total housing freeze in the West Bank. However, Labor opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich said that her party would support the government and would consider joining the coalition if a peace agreement was made with the Palestinians adding that there wouldn’t be a “better Palestinian partner in the next few years” and that the dramatic shifts around the Middle East are not in Israel’s favor.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) Report: Kerry to Postpone Mideast Visit
2) Kerry replaces peace plan with phased proposals
3) Kerry hesitates to propose Mideast peace plan for fear of failure: Palestinian official
4) US Still Believes ‘Business With Bibi Is Possible’
5) Netanyahu in Poland: Stop Negotiating About Negotiations
6) PM: Recognition of Israel not precondition for peace talks
7) Israel official says no Palestinian state with pre-1967 boundaries as Kerry prepares visit
8) Dannon: “The Palestinian Future is In Jordan”
9.) Under Fire, MK Danon Not Budging
10) Amid uproar, deputy defense minister stands by rejection of two states
11) PMO, distancing itself from deputy minister’s comments, says gov’t wants two-state solution
12) Netanyahu calls for quiet in coalition
13) Lieberman acknowledges East Jerusalem settlement freeze: We want Kerry to succeed
14) Netanyahu says he will never accept preconditions for talks
15) Netanyahu getting ‘several’ calls weekly from Kerry on Palestinian state
16) Labor would ‘reconsider joining the coalition’ to advance peace talks
17) Palestinians lay groundwork for future state
18) Erekat: 2-state solution not within 1967 lines meaningless
19) Shaath: PA willing to resume talks on basis on 1967 borders

Syrian President Bashar Assad said that he made a “serious decision” to open a front with Israel along the Golan Heights. In doing so, Assad called on all Syrian factions to join with Palestinian forces in resisting Israel along the Golan Heights. In response, Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “any who threaten to harm, or harm, Israel will be harmed.”

A war with Syria where Damascus is destroyed (Isaiah 17) is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles is as follows:

1) In wake of border clashes, Assad, Netanyahu swap threats
2) ‘Assad hopes to unite war-torn Syria against Israel’

Israel senior minister, Yuval Steinitz, warned that Iran is getting closer to reaching the “red line” of nuclear capability mentioned by Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a speech to the United Nations last fall saying, “The Iranians are getting very close now to the red line… They have close to 200 kilos — 190 kilos (418 pounds) — of 20 percent enriched uranium. Once they have 250 kilos (551 pounds), this is enough to make the final rush to 90 percent,” which is the level of enrichment required for a nuclear warhead. “It is a matter of weeks or maybe two months to jump from 20 percent to 90 percent with so many centrifuges,” said Steinitz. “What they are doing now — instead of crossing the red line, they are widening and enlarging their capacity by putting in more centrifuges, faster centrifuges.” Iran’s aim, charged Steinitz, was to build a nuclear arsenal, not just a single bomb.”Many people are saying it’s a question of the Iranian bomb – whether they will have it or not. No. We are speaking about an Iranian arsenal,” he said. Iran’s big fear was that a Western military strike could wipe out their nuclear facilities “within a few hours,” he said. “The Iranians feel very vulnerable, especially from American air operations. This is their main concern — that if the West, if NATO, if America decide to attack them, a few hours of accurate air raids might destroy their nuclear facilities,” added Steinitz.

The link to this article is as follows:

1) Steinitz: Iran is Getting Closer to Nuclear ‘Red Line’

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

June 8, 2013: Weekly 5 minute update (Audio Only)

Friday, June 7th, 2013

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The current status of the situation with Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit the Middle East on June 13-15 to discuss peace efforts with Israeli and Palestinian officials. It will be Kerry’s fifth trip to the Israel since becoming America’s top diplomat in February. He will also visit Jordan  in an effort to restart in face-to-face peace talks between Israeli and the Palestinians. Kerry said: “I am confident that both sides are weighing the choices that they have in front of them very, very seriously. They need to have an opportunity to do that and I will make a judgment at some point whether I need to go push a little bit or help that process. And I’m certainly willing to. I am open to that possibility, but as I’ve said, we’re not raising any expectations about an American plan or other things. If we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance,” Kerry said about the peace process, describing it as “hardly a process at all” right now.

Instead of presenting his own master plan for peace, US officials say Kerry is focused on starting several interconnected talks between the two parties, with the hope that progress on different fronts would entice each side into more flexible peace talks than those that have failed repeatedly in the past. The Palestinians said that Kerry had not yet presented any diplomatic initiative and was pushing the Palestinians to return to talks “without conditions.” For the Palestinians, Kerry has tried to curtail Israeli settlement construction in lands the Palestinians hope to include in their future state and recently announced work on a $4 billion plan with international investors to jumpstart the Palestinian economy. For Israel, the talks would encompass new security arrangements that US officials such as Gen. John Allen have been exploring and a suspension of Palestinian efforts to join multilateral organizations such as the International Criminal Court where they could push for action against Israel.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to return to the negotiating table without preconditions. “Since Abbas doesn’t speak Hebrew, and my Arabic isn’t great, I will turn to him in a language we both understand,” Netanyahu said at a special Knesset session dedicated to the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I say: Give peace a chance,” he said. “In my three terms as prime minister I took many difficult decisions: in the areas of the economy and foreign policy, and first and foremost in the realm of security. And now, too, I’m ready to make difficult decisions in order to advance peace, but not if this in any way hurts the security of Israel’s citizens. But we’re not the only ones who have to take tough decisions, the Palestinians too have to do this.” Netanyahu reiterated that a successful outcome to peace talks would be possible if Israel’s security was guaranteed and if the Palestinians recognized Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Regarding the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which calls for Israel to return to the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital in exchange for full diplomatic recognition by all Arab states, Netanyahu said: “We will listen to any peace initiative, including the Arab initiative and we’re ready to discuss initiatives that are proposals and not dictates. We are in favor of conducting negotiations without preconditions — immediately.”

Even as US Secretary of State John Kerry has not yet revealed the details of an American initiative to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel’s International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz made clear that Israel would oppose any attempt to introduce international troops into the area.  into the equation. He said: “Some people are speaking about international forces, maybe [in] the Jordan Valley or the hills and border areas, that will take care of Israel’s future security.  The principles of a peace agreement should be very clear. The Palestinians should be able to control their lives and Israel should be able to control our security in our own hands. For us, security means survivability, and we have had very negative experiences with international forces so far.”

He pointed to two examples in just the last decade of international forces’ failure to provide Israel with security as promised. The first was the massive UNIFIL force that entered southern Lebanon following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and under whose watch tens of thousands of missiles found their way into Hezbollah’s hands. The second example was Gaza, where the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and the EU all had different types of security personnel in place following Israel’s 2005 disengagement, but failed to prevent Hamas’s takeover of the territory and the introduction of thousands of rockets and missiles there.

Considering the instability of the Middle East, Steinitz said, the security arrangements that would be necessary in any future peace agreement must be such that Israel “will be able to trust them, and our capacity to defend ourselves, regardless of new developments that are totally unpredictable.” For example, he said, one vital element will be “a total demilitarization of the Palestinian state, and our capacity to preserve, control and secure this demilitarization, come what may.” Furthermore, he said, “Israel was willing to make ‘very painful’ concessions for peace, ‘make very serious compromises’ and was ready for ‘a two-states-for-two-peoples solution’ but we want genuine peace, real peace, and real security that we can trust.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud political party, said that Netanyahu’s governing coalition are staunchly opposed to a two-state solution and would block the creation of a Palestinian state if such a proposal ever came to a vote. Danon said: “If you will bring it to a vote in the government — nobody will bring it to a vote, it’s not smart to do it — but if you bring it to a vote, you will see the majority of Likud ministers, along with the Jewish Home [party], will be against it.” Danon said Netanyahu calls for peace talks despite his government’s opposition because he knows Israel will never arrive at an agreement with the Palestinians. He said: “Today we’re not fighting it [Netanyahu’s declared goal of a Palestinian state], but if there will be a move to promote a two-state solution, you will see forces blocking it within the party and the government.” Danon added: “There is currently zero debate about the two-state solution within the Likud because there is no ‘viable partner on the Palestinian side and it seems unlikely that peace talks would resume any time soon. If Kerry were to succeed, however, and Netanyahu and the Palestinians agreed on the implementation of a two-state solution, “then you have a conflict” within the government, Danon said. “But today there is no partner, no negotiations, so it’s a discussion. It’s more of an academic discussion.” Asked whether Netanyahu truly is in favor of a two-state solution, Danon replied that the prime minister tied the creation of a Palestinian state to conditions he is certain the Palestinians will not agree to. “He knows that in the near future it’s not possible.”

Finally, Danon said “there is no majority for a two-state solution” among the 31 lawmakers that make up the Likud-Yisrael Beytenu Knesset faction. Several key members of the current government, including Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin, Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Knesset Speaker Moshe Feiglin, coalition chairman Yariv Levin and other senior Likud MKs, are staunchly opposed to a two-state solution, advocating instead the partial or complete annexation of the West Bank to Israel. The entire 12-member Jewish Home faction, including three ministers, likewise rejects the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel Justice Minister Tzipi Livni,  who heads peace talks with the Palestinians acknowledged that some in the government “pray” for her failure but said that she is willing to attempt a peace agreement nonetheless. She said: “I know that I have the support of the prime minister in the attempts to relaunch the negotiations. You’re asking about the Netanyahu government ? It’s a coalition, with different parties. I am going to have the support of some, and other would pray that maybe it would not succeed.” Livni added: “Even Jewish Home chairman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said he is “willing to live with negotiations. So this is a window that I can work [with] — for a while. This is the coalition that was created, and frankly it is not the coalition that I wanted, and it was not, maybe, the coalition that the prime minister wanted. But this is what we have and we need to work with it.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the “ball is in Israel’s court” concerning a resumption of peace talks that the U.S. is pushing for. He said: “I believe the ball is now in Israel’s court. The Palestinian demands are clear, and the Israelis know them as do the Americans, so Israel must now accept them in order to begin negotiations.” Abbas added, “We won’t accept any city other than Jerusalem as our capital. There will be no peace without Jerusalem,” he emphasized. “There will be no Palestinian state without Jerusalem. There will be no security and stability without Jerusalem. They mention Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron. These cities are all dear to our hearts. But our capital is Jerusalem.” In addition, Abbas said, “Peace and settlements won’t meet. If they are thinking of settlements, there won’t be peace. This land belongs to us and they must uproot their settlements in order to achieve peace.” Finally, Abbas said that after becoming a non-member state in the United Nations on November 29 and a full member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), efforts will now be exerted on joining all UN organizations if the resumption of restarting peace talks fail. He said, “These steps will be followed by others until we achieve our legitimate right to become full members in all the international organizations and establish our sovereign Palestinian state on all the occupied territory with Jerusalem as its capital so that we will put an end to the historical injustice against our people.”

On Kerry’s current efforts to revive the peace talks with Israel, the Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat also warned that the Palestinians would embark on a new strategy should Kerry’s efforts fail. Erekat said: “The Palestinians want Kerry to commit Israel to accept the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders, halt settlement construction and release prisoners.” The new Palestinian strategy, he pointed out, would include resumption of efforts to join 63 UN international agencies and conventions. Erekat added: “We have the full right of our instrument of access to all U.N. agencies. And those who worry about international courts should stop committing crimes,” he said. “It took us six months to prepare but I can say now that all our instruments of accession are ready.”

PLO Executive Committee member Hanna Amireh said that Kerry is not suggesting any new proposals. He said: “Kerry is only talking about development in the context of an unrealistic economic plan. He only wants to talk about security and borders.” Another PLO official, Wasel Abu Yusef, said that Kerry has thus far failed to convince Israel to stop settlement construction and accept the two-state solution on the basis of the pre-1967 lines which are Palestinians demands to restart direct peace talks with Israel. Hussein al-Sheikh, the PA minister for civilian affairs, said that Abbas has informed Kerry that the PA’s functional role would end if current efforts to revive the peace process did not succeed and threatened to dismantle the PA should US Secretary of State John Kerry fail to “salvage the peace process.” He added that Abbas also informed Kerry that he agreed to extend the deadline for the secretary of state’s mission until June 20 on condition that Israel releases Palestinian prisoners arrested before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Sheikh said the PA rejects the idea of a gradual release of the prisoners, insisting that they all be freed together.

In other news, thousands of PA Arabs participated in a mass rally in Ramallah earlier this week calling for the establishment of the Muslim Caliphate – the worldwide Islamist government that will “bring the coming of the Mahdi.” the Muslim messiah. The Caliphate is essentially a union of Muslim countries under the spiritual and political leadership of a single individual, the Caliph. It has been an Islamic concept since the days of Muhammad, when it was established by several of his disciples. The office of “official Caliph” has been disputed at times, with rival would-be Caliphs battling each other for the title. The last official Caliph was Abdülmecid II, who lost the office in the aftermath of the defeat of Ottoman Turkey in World War I. The best-known Caliph in the West was Suleiman the Great, an early Ottoman sultan who, in the 16th  century, conquered most of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, even conquering parts of Europe, until he was stopped at “the Gates of Vienna.”

With many Muslim states politically and religiously divided, and dependent on the West for support, radical Islamists have been pushing for the reestablishment of the Caliphate – this time to be led by the all-powerful Mahdi, who will unite all Muslims and establish Islam as the dominant religion in the world, ruling for several years before the “Day of Judgment”. Although the identity of the Mahdi is a secret, many Islamists believe that he is alive now, and several individuals have claimed the title. Many Islamists were said to have believed that Osama Bin-Laden was the Mahdi, or his right-hand man, until he was killed several years ago by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Finally, Special Envoy to the Middle East, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that there is a problem within Islam that goes beyond the existence of religious extremists. He said: “There is a problem within Islam – from the adherents of an ideology that is a strain within Islam. We have to put it on the table and be honest about it. It has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies. At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don’t admit it.”

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) Kerry: Last chance for Israel-PA peace
2) Kerry in Mideast for Talks June 13-15
3) Netanyahu to Abbas, in English: ‘Give peace a chance’
4) ‘Israel opposes int’l forces as part of peace deal’
5) Deputy defense minister: This government will block any two-state deal
6) Abbas: We Want to Talk, But the Ball is in Israel’s Court
7) Abbas: No peace without Palestinian capital in J’lem
8.) Abbas: Palestinians Will Never Give Up on Jerusalem
9) Livni expected to meet Kerry during upcoming trip to US
10) Abbas threatens to dismantle PA if peace talks don’t start
11) Palestinians threaten to ask UN bodies to charge Israel if US attempts to restart talks fail
12) PA Pulls Out ‘War Crime’ Threat if Direct Talks Don’t Resume
13) PA Arabs Fete ‘New Mahdi,” Establishment of Calpihate
14) Blair: There is a Problem Within Islam

According to a British diplomat, Britain plans to arm Syrian rebels by the end of the summer if peace talks fail to make meaningful headway during the Geneva peace conference. “The precise timing has not yet been finalized and no decision has yet been taken. But we are likely to be shipping arms to the rebels by August,” the diplomat said. “What I expect is that over the next two or three months western powers will move low-grade arms supplies in bulk to the rebels. The rebels need ammunition, and a lot of it, just to keep fighting,” he added. A source with the Syrian rebels claimed they are expecting the first batch of British arms and supplies to arrive by summer. According to opposition officials, the promise to transfer arms was made as part of the attempt to sway rebels to partake in the peace talks scheduled to take place in Geneva. An additional British official said that Britain and France expect the US to join the arms shipment and provide the rebels with weapons if and when peace talks fail, despite US President Barack Obama’s reluctance to do so until now.

Russia has deployed a naval unit to the Mediterranean Sea in a move President Vladimir Putin said was to defend Russian security but which comes as Russia is in a dispute with the West over Syria. In what is Russia’s first permanent naval deployment in the Mediterranean since Soviet times, it has stationed 16 warships and three ship-based helicopters in the region. Large-scale naval exercises Russia held in March and ship movements near Syria have been seen in the West as muscle-flexing by Rusia which has sold weapons to Assad’s government and shielded it from any action by the UN Security Council. Russia also has a naval maintenance and supply facility in Syria. The announcement comes days after Moscow said it planned to resume patrols by nuclear-armed submarines in the southern seas as part of a Putin’s broader effort to revive Russia’s military might.

A war with Syria where Damascus is destroyed (Isaiah 17) is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles is as follows:

1) Report: Britain to transfer weapons to Syrian rebels
2) Russia permanently deploys Navy in Mediterranean

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