INTERNATIONAL PULSE Period: December 2011 End-Time Church / Pluralism Global Politics Israel

ISRAEL    Visit 'Peace In Jerusalem' for more comprehensive ongoing reports by Retired Pastor/Teacher James McCutchan - Jmccutchan@aol.com OLMERT: ISRAEL HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE ENTIRE WORLD By Elad Benari - First Publish: 12/23/2011, 3:09 AM - Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert criticizes the current Israeli government: "Why is Israel declaring war on the Western world?" Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert criticized the current Israeli government on Thursday evening. Olmert, who spoke at a gathering of the Israeli Farmers Association in Kfar Maccabiah, criticized the Israeli response to the condemnation of it by European members of the United Nations Security Council. “I’m wondering whether Israel has decided to declare war against the whole world,” he said. “The State of Israel has decided to put aside all the important countries in the world such as England, France and Germany. What is the purpose of declaring war on the Western world which is sympathetic to Israel? Where is the voice of the Prime Minister? Why does he not renounce the things that have been said against our best of friends?” Olmert was referring to the statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, in which it said the European countries “should have concentrated on peacemaking in centers of bloodshed such as Syria” and suggested that the countries would “lose their credibility and make themselves irrelevant” if they continue to choose to condemn Israel. He also addressed the recent attack on the IDF’s Ephraim base and here, too, criticized the government. “The fact that settlers beat soldiers and throw stones at them and they are still free and not arrested is a threat to democracy,” Olmert said. “It’s time to end this patience for violent outlaws.” “We heard a few words of condemnation from government officials which were said perfunctorily, but if the attack on IDF soldiers was carried out by Arab residents, would they be under house arrest or roaming the streets? They would be immediately placed in administrative detention for six months,” he added. “If we talk about democracy and the rule of law, how is it possible that the attackers are not sitting in jail?” Olmert said. “Why are government officials not using their authority? The price tag outlaws operate without being interrupted. There are those who condemn it and then close their eyes and let these things continue to happen.” Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151015 ----- U.S. DOUBLES AID TO ISRAEL'S DEFENSE SYSTEMS By Elad Benari - First Publish: 12/23/2011, 6:11 AM - House and Senate Appropriations Committees approve $237 million in aid in 2012 to Israel's anti-missile systems. The United States will double the special aid it gives Israel for the development and implementation of anti-missile systems, the Globes financial newspaper reported on Thursday. According to the report, the House and Senate’s Committees on Appropriations approved the aid following a request by the U.S. Administration to approve aid totaling $106.1 million for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic long-range air defense system, for the program to improve the basic capabilities of the Arrow systems, and for the David’s Sling mid-range anti-missile system. Both Appropriations Committees went far beyond the request, the report noted, and raised the amount of aid from $129 million to $235.7 million in 2012, Globes noted. The report is based on information first published on the Inside Defense website. The assistance to all three programs is based on an assumption that Israel would allocate identical amounts in its budget to all three programs, Globes noted. The report added that Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, and Aviv Ezra, Counselor for Congressional Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in Washington D.C., played an important role in talks with lawmakers in the months prior to the decision. Steve Rothman, the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 9th congressional district and a member of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said that the Israel’s anti-missile programs advance U.S. interests in the Middle East. “The growing distribution of missiles and rockets around the globe, starting with Iran and Hizbullah and ending with Gaza and Syria is a direct threat to U.S. national security,” Rothman was quoted as having told Inside Defense. “Our enemies know they cannot cope with the combined power of the world's only military superpower and the most powerful military force in the Middle East. This aid is the latest illustration of the unprecedented level of military cooperation and intelligence between the two countries.” Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151018 ----- BIBI TALKS TOUGH AMID ROCKET FIRE By Gavriel Queenann - First Publish: 10/31/2011, 6:56 PM - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the Knesset talking tough and saying Israel's strategic posture required an offensive component. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the opening session of the Knesset on Monday said Israel must restore its deterrence. "Our security strategy cannot only rely on defense, but must have an offensive element maintains Israel's deterrence," Netanyahu said amid a sharp escalation of rocket fire from Gaza. The amplified bombardment of Israel's Gaza-belt communities comes in the wake of his government's controversial deal to release 1,027 security prisoners - some 450 of them terrorists - for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. "Two principles must guide us," Netanyahu said, citing Talmudic dictums. "One, 'If someone comes to kill, you rise up and kill him first.' And, 'He who harms us, his blood is on his own head.'" "For 2,000 years our people could not sustain these two principles in order to defend themselves, but that reality changed with the reemergence of Israel and the founding of the IDF," Netanyahu said. Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149271 ----- UN OFFICIAL SHOW PA SPIRIT, BASH ISRAEL By Gavriel Queenann - First Publish: 11/29/2011, 10:33 PM - United Nations officials continue to raise serious questions about their claim to being a neutral arbiter as they continue to bash Israel. The United Nations on Tuesday continued to demonstrate it is not an honest broker in the Israeli-Arab conflict as senior UN officials marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that a Palestinian state was "long overdue," in an official statement released by his office. "The need to resolve this conflict has taken on greater urgency with the historic transformations taking place across the region," Ban said. Ban said a solution to the current impasse must be found that results in two states based on the 1967-lines with Jerusalem as their shared capital. The statement from Ban's office presupposes the maximalist demands of the Palestinian Authority as the only possible formula for a final status agreement. Ban praised the accomplishments of the Palestinian Authority, claiming that the Ramallah government is "institutionally ready to assume the responsibilities of statehood." He did not address the ongoing corruption probes that plague the government of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad or that the PA is dependent on foreign aid and on the verge of fiscal insolvency. Instead, Ban called on both sides to return to direct negotiations, while at the same time adopting PA rhetoric that Israeli construction in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem constitute a "major obstacle to peace." Ban was not alone in his celebration of one-sided, anti-Israel rhetoric. Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150230 ABBAS: PA ELECTIONS IN MAY 2012 By Gavriel Queenann - First Publish: 11/28/2011, 6:54 PMPA - Chairman Mahmoud Abbas says elections for a Fatah-Hamas unity gov't will be held next May; dismisses concerns over Hamas' Israel stance. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Monday he hopes elections would be held on 4 May 2012, the PA's semi-official Maan news agency reported. "I hope, God willing, that the elections will be on May 4," Abbas told reporters after talks with Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Vienna. Abbas also said in Vienna that the refusal of Hamas to recognize Israel could be addressed in the next round of talks between the two groups. He claimed Hamas was ready to accept a Palestinian state within 1967 borders and that resistance would be "peaceful," but Hamas officials - including politburo chief Khaled Mashaal himself - have said any peace agreement with Israel would only serve as a prelude to war. Abbas' comments come on the heels of reconciliation talks last week in Cairo with Mashaal aimed at cementing a stalled unity deal signed six months ago. For the past two years Abbas has refused to hold elections, despite his term in office having expired. In Cairo, Abbas and Mashaal hailed a new era of cooperation and approved a two-page document reiterating their commitment to the main elements of the original unity deal. "The interim government will be made up of technocrats and independent members. ... This will not be a government of either Fatah or of Hamas, but an independent one," Abbas said. However, regional observers note key points of dispute concerning the future direction of the PA were not resolved during the Cairo meeting and could scuttle Abbas’ unity bid. Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150179 ----- HAMAS TO JOIN PLO By Chana Ya'ar - First Publish: 12/22/2011, 4:14 PM - Hamas has agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to the Associated Press.- The Hamas terrorist organization has agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to the Associated Press. The decision came during two days after a meeting in Cairo between Palestinian Authority Chairman and PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah. The gathering, which constitutes a gathering of the three largest terrorist factions in the Arab world today, began with an agreement on forming a central elections comission for upcoming PA elections. Up to this point, Hamas has existed outside the PLO. Abbas, who heads the PA and the Fatah faction, also serves as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, once led by chief terrorist Yasser Arafat. Fatah is the umbrella faction for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization, the Tanzim terrorist group headed by Marwan Barghouti, the Shuhada al-Aqsa, the Gaza-based Ansar al-Mujahidin (formerly Kataeb al-Mujahidin) headed by Abu Bilal, and others. Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150995 ----- EDELSTEIN: ABBAS SET UP 'NATIONAL TERROR GOVERNMENT' By David Lev - First Publish: 12/22/2011, 3:47 PM - Government Minister Yuli Edelstein said Thursday that the latest deal between Hamas and Fatah should not surprise Israelis. The Hamas terror group on Thursday signed a deal with the Fatah terror group that would unify both “wings” of Palestinian Authority terror under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Hamas top terrorist Khaled Mashaal signed the deal with Fatah's terror leader and PA chief, Mahmoud Abbas. Mashaal on Thursday agreed to join a committee that will coordinate elections to the reconstituted PLO, but elections are unlikely to take place anytime soon. Nevertheless, the move means that Fatah and Hamas will be working much more closely, and can coordinate their terror efforts against Israel. Commenting on the development, Disapora Affairs and Hasbara Minister Yuli Edelstein said Thursday that Israel should have expected nothing different. Quoting the Biblical prophet Amos, Edelstein said that “here again we see that the starling went to the raven, as they are two of a kind. On Wednesday, Abbas, who rejects peace with Israel, met with Amna Mona, a murderer of our children, and on Thursday he signed a deal with the arch-murderer, who last week celebrated the murders of 1,365 innocent Israelis on the 24th anniversary of Hamas' founding. At this moment he is establishing a 'national terror government,' that will increase its terror efforts against Israel and increase the suffering of Palestinians,” Edelstein said. On Wednesday, Abbas met with Mona, who in 2001 lured Ophir Rahum, a 16 year old Jewish youth, to Ramallah after connecting with him in an internet chat room. Rahum was murdered in Ramallah by associates of Mona. Abbas met with Mona in Turkey, where he took a special trip to see her. Government spokesperson Mark Regev said that the meeting indicated that Abbas and the PA were “putting murderers up on a pedestal. It raises serious questions as to their commitment and their desire to end the (Mideast) conflict.” In response, PA top terrorst Jibril Rajoub, who accompanied Abbas to Turkey, said there was no reason for Abbas not to meet her, and that “there are Knesset members and general who are worse than her.” Continued: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150994 BREAKING NEWS: DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 53 AND 100 INJURED IN TWIN SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK IN DAMASCUS FRIDAY December 24, 2011 - State security and intelligence buildings targeted in first such attack since anti-Assad uprising • Arab League team setting up monitoring mission in Damascus views the scene • Hizballah accused the US and its "regional proxies" of the Damascus bombings which "will not weaken resistance in the region" • Another 14 people killed in demonstrations against the Arab League across Syria • African sources report that the Sudanese general Ahmad Al-Dabi heading the Arab League team is guilty of war crimes in Darfur • Baghdad death toll Thursday topped 70 with hundreds injured from 15 bomb explosions • The extremist Hamas may finally gain admittance to the umbrella Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PLO • This was agreed by rivals Fatah and Hamas in Cairo Thursday, clearing the way for a power-sharing deal and Hamas participation in PLO leadership vote • Israeli Elbit falls in New York Friday after government cancelled military surveillance system sale to Turkey • Iran Has New Secret Nuclear Sites - Iran starts building a nuclear weapon: Tightened US-Israeli ties - Israel says military option can await sanctions DEBKAfile Special Report December 17, 2011, 9:57 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Barack Obama Ehud Barak Iran nuclear Nouri Maliki North Korea Bashar Assad Obama receives Iraqi premier in White HouseUS President Barack Obama's half-hour tête-a- tête with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Washington Friday, Dec. 16, was vitally concerned with the coming steps in the Syrian showdown and the latest developments in the controversy over Iran's nuclear weapons program, debkafile's Washington and intelligence sources report. Their conference was urgent because key events in the Middle East this week made early decisions necessary on both these issues. Termination of the US military mission in Iraq has powerful ramifications for Israel, Iran and Syria as well as Iraq itself. From Tehran's standpoint, the US military departure has removed a formidable obstacle from Israel's path to an attack on its nuclear installations: the US Air Force's control of Iraqi skies. Cleared of this shield, Iraqi air space offers Israel an open corridor for its air force to reach Iran without hindrance. Overflights through any other country, such as Saudi Arabia, would have been contingent on their governments' cooperation in the anti-Iran offensive. Tehran delayed releasing word of the capture of the US stealth RQ-170 drone until Dec. 4, timing it for the final month of the US troop drawdown from Iraq, in order to demonstrate to Israel – and not just America – that the sophisticated electronic resources which downed the RQ-170 over the Afghanistan-Iranian border were still available to Tehran for downing Israeli flights entering Iraqi air space. Therefore, Israel's air force could no longer be sure of safely breaching Iraqi air space for its attack. To put another spoke in Israel's plans for striking Iran, Tehran used Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to Washington (Dec. 12-13 ) for sending the US President a conciliatory message: The Islamic rulers were willing to clear the air with the Obama administration and broach areas of discord - notwithstanding the ill will generated by the allegations of an al-Qods Brigades plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington and the captured American stealth drone's intrusion into their airspace. Continued: http://www.debka.com/article/21579/ ----- NETANYAHU TO HOST REGULAR BIBLE STUDY GROUPS AT OFFICIAL ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER'S RESIDENCE Posted on December 12, 2011 at 7:20am by Sharona Schwartz - In what’s almost certain to irritate separation of church and state advocates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to start hosting a regular Bible study group at his official residence, where he plans to invite researchers and government officials. In so doing, Netanyahu follows the lead of former prime ministers David Ben-Gurion, the country’s first prime minister, and Menachem Begin who served in the 1970s and 1980’s who both hosted Bible study groups regularly. The Jerusalem Post quotes Netanyahu as saying his goal is “to perpetuate love of the Bible:” “Ben-Gurion understood that the Book of Books is our mandate for our country […]” Netanyahu said. “He viewed the Bible as the wondrous story of the Jewish people, the unique spiritual, cultural and historic heritage of our people, and also as one of the cornerstones of all of human culture.” Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state. Unlike in the U.S., the government funds many religious institutions including synagogues and seminaries. There is a religious services ministry headed by a cabinet-level minister which provides services related to certifying kosher restaurants, running rabbinical courts mostly dealing with domestic issues, and supervising holy places, most notably in Jerusalem. Continued: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/netanyahu-to-host-regular-bible-study-groups-at-official-israeli-prime-ministers-residence ----- ELECTION 2012: ISRAELI CONFLICT BECOMES MAJOR ISSUE IN GOP DEBATE By Drew Zahn - WND - Posted: December 11, 2011- 3:11 am Eastern - This is a propaganda war in which our side refuses to stand for truth' - DES MOINES, Iowa – Earlier this week, Newt Gingrich told an Isreali TV station the Palestinians are an "invented" people out to destroy Israel, a statement that prompted significant disagreement between the candidates in this weekend's GOP debate on whether it is better to exercise "truth" or "prudence" in the Middle East. When asked about the comment, Gingrich was completely unapologetic for his controversial remarks. "Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth," Gingrich insisted. "[The Palestinian power groups Fatah and Hamas] are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, 'If there are 13 Jews and 9 Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?' We pay for those textbooks through our aid money. It's fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, 'Enough lying about the Middle East.'" Continued: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=376497#ixzz1gV1z9jBw US UNITS EXITING IRAQ DEPLOYED IN JORDAN TO FORESTALL SYRIAN ATTACK DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 13, 2011, 11:18 AM - As the US completes its final withdrawal from Iraq, American special forces troops have been diverted to positions in Jordan opposite a Syrian tank concentration building up across the kingdom's northern border, debkafile's military and intelligence sources report. As of last Thursday, military convoys, air transports and helicopters have been lifting US troops across the border from Iraq. They have been deployed in position to ward off a possible Syrian invasion in the light of President Bashar Assad's warning that he would set the entire Middle East on fire if the pressure on his regime to step down persisted. Syria's other neighbors have taken precautions against this contingency but this is the first time US boots have hit the ground directly opposite Assad's army. The incoming US contingents are disclosed by our sources as having been housed at the King Hussein Air Base of al-Mafraq, 10 kilometers from the Syrian border. US troops were sighted Monday, Dec. 12, building surveillance towers and army posts in the Jordanian villages of Albaej, Zubaydiah and al-Nahdah al-Houshah as well as near the Sarham dam of the Yarmoukh River which runs down the international border between Syria and Jordan. Three months ago, the Syrian ruler cautioned Jordan's King Abdullah II to stop granting asylum to Syrian military deserters and allowing his country to serve as a conduit for pumping arms to the opposition. The king was not deterred by this threat. Seen from Damascus, Jordan would be easier to take on militarily that either Turkey or Israel. Saturday, Dec. 10, Jordanian surveillance units confirmed that Syrian armored units were gathering opposite the Jordanian town of Bura Al Hariri. Iraqi sources report that the American units came from the big Iraqi Ain al-Assad air base in the western province of Al Anbar opposite the Jordanian border. This base is in the process of evacuation as the US military drawdown in Iraq approaches completion. Most of the troops are flown to US bases in the Persian Gulf and Europe. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, when he met US President Barack Obama at the White House Monday, approved the transfer of American contingents from Iraq to Jordan across their common border. Obama was therefore able to state after their talks: "We share the view that when the Syrian people are being killed or are unable to express themselves that's a problem. There's no disagreement there." Continued: http://www.debka.com/article/21564/ ----- ABBAS PRIMES WEST BANK FOR "PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE" (Third Intifada) Without informing US or Israeli security coordinators, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday, Dec. 27 suddenly fired the West Bank's top security officer Maj. Gen. Diab el-Ali and replaced him with military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Nidal Dokhan. reveals this followed a deal with Khaled Meshaal to restore Hamas to the West Bank, retool the PNSF and mount a new anti-Israel "resistance" campaign: mass demonstrations are to smash through West Bank barriers, storm into Israel and break into Jewish settlements. http://page2rss.com/9efc4ad4deafa336da6a0208fcd54667 ----- OBAMA'S GO-IT-ALONE ME STRATEGY DEBKA-Net-Weekly #521 - December 15, 2011 - Dennis Ross - Retired presidential adviser Dennis Ross in his first public appearance reveals that Barack Obama has charted a new Mid East policy which cares fully for Israeli, Saudi security needs but freezes them out of Washington policy-making. The Palestinian issue is put on ice indefinitely. Read more http://www.debka.com/article/21574/   & -------OurNetwork------- Cephas Ministries Subscribe to Free Newsletters Bible Online KJV mp3s downloadable News Index Cephas Library DVDs/Audios Cephas Live Media Taming The Lion Cephas Central My Blogs Subscribe Adelink (all subjects) A2Z Book Depot Upcoming Events LDS Apologetics JW Apologetics Catholic Apologetics Freemasonry Leaven Scripture Studies Save Our Children Cephas Newsletter Link Community Israel Adelink [Add-a-link all subjects] Rock To Salt Ministry Rapture Watch Ezekiel 38 Apostasy Nicholas Scrolls The Book Peace in Jerusalem To Dare The Future Dare The Future Savvy Info Net [about jobs] Our GoodWill Store Come to the Mall Website and Blog Hosting Webhosting 4 Best Results