Netanyahu seeks support for U.S. plan to halt settlement construction

JERUSALEM — Despite seemingly premature congratulations from President Barack Obama, Israel’s prime minister was scrambling Monday to secure enough Cabinet votes to pass a US proposal to halt West Bank settlement construction for 90 days, aimed at restarting peace talks with the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy pressure to move forward with the plan, which could lead to critical negotiations on Israel’s final borders with a future Palestinian state. Although Israeli officials say the plan includes an unprecedented gift of 20 stealth warplanes to Israel, Netanyahu faces opposition from hardliners inside his coalition government who oppose limits on settlement construction in principle, and fear it will create pressure for further concessions. Palestinians didn’t embrace the plan either, since the proposed building freeze wouldn’t include East Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital, and Israel would be rewarded for what they see as a minimal gesture. It appeared increasingly unlikely, however, that both sides, wary of upsetting Obama, would risk turning down the package. Officials said Netanyahu’s 15-member Security Cabinet – a grouping of senior Cabinet ministers – would soon meet to vote on the proposal, possibly as early as Wednesday …

Iran’s Baghdad feat will force U.S. to engage Hizballah, Hamas

Iyad Allawi – whose al Iraqiya party, won Iraq’s general election last April but last week lost the premiership to the pro-Iranian incumbent Nouri al-Malaki – was forced to admit Friday, November 12 that “the concept of power-sharing in Iraq was dead now. For Iraq” he said, “there will be tensions and violence, probably.” That day, too, DEBKAfile‘s sources report, Hassan Nasrallah told a closed meeting of his Lebanese Hizballah activists that what happened in Baghdad is destined for Beirut. He was underlining the new reality in the Middle East where Iran and its allies are beating the West out in one crisis after another, forcing pro-US and pro-Saudi political forces to come to terms with antagonists sponsored by Tehran and serving its interests rather than those of Washington. No one in the region buys the proposition that the Obama administration can count as a successful feat the Baghdad power-sharing deal. It may terminate the eight-month stalemate during which Iraq had no government, but it also brought into the al Maliki administration the anti-American radical Shiite Sadrists, whose affairs are run from a party headquarters in Iran … [emphasis added]

[Editor's Note: The US continues to attempt to forge a treaty between the Palestinians and Israel in an effort to defuse potential Palestinian participation in the inevitable clash with Iran - and Syria. These conflicts are "inevitable" because the Scriptures predict the destruction of Damascus and Iran (Persia in the Gog-Magog accounts). It's interesting to note that Egypt is a participant in the talks, yet Egypt is conspicuously absent from the assembly of nations documented in Ezekiel's famous prophecy. An outline of these events is found in our CD set Gog And Magog LINK.]

[These stories, and much more, are part of today's news at ChristianMediaDaily.com]

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Israeli officials: Obama to call world summit if Mid East peace talks fail (www.ChristianMediaNetwork)

U.S. President Barack Obama has told several European leaders that if Israeli-Palestinian talks remain stalemated into September or October, he will convene an international summit on achieving Mideast peace, senior Israeli officials told Haaretz on Thursday. The officials said the conference would be run by the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers – the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia – in a bid to forge a united global front for creating a Palestinian state. The summit, they said, would address such core issues as borders, security arrangements, Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem. Obama is determined to exert his influence to establish a Palestinian state, the officials said, and several European leaders have vowed that the EU would support any peace plan proposed by Washington. Therefore, though so-called proximity talks are set to start in the coming weeks, Obama is already readying for the possibility that the indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks might reach a dead end. The U.S. proposal would likely be presented by the end of this year, the officials said. On Saturday night (May 1), Arab League foreign ministers will convene to reiterate their support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to begin the U.S.-mediated talks. The Arab bloc is expected to demand that the negotiations show progress within four months. September and October will thus be critical months in determining whether the talks have borne fruit. The UN General Assembly will reconvene in late September, and that month will also mark one year since Obama hosted a largely unproductive trilateral summit with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, September 26 marks the end of the 10-month period Israel allocated for a freeze on West Bank settlement construction, and Netanyahu will have to decide whether to allow such building to be resumed.  Israeli officials said they believe Obama could postpone the international summit, or the unveiling of his own peace plan, until after the midterm Congressional elections in November, in which his Democratic Party is widely expected to suffer heavy losses.

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Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem  compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh

Seven verses down we find…

Luke 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.