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Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Joel C. Rosenberg: NYT Magazine profiles Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State & an Evangelical Christian. Reports he reads my novels.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Trump’s Secretary of State Affirms Strong Support for Israel - VIEWPOINT ISRAEL
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Thursday, January 12, 2017
Trump's Secretary of State Affirms Strong Support for Israel - Israel Today
Trump's Secretary of State Affirms Strong Support for Israel
Thursday, January 12, 2017 | Israel Today Staff
Incoming US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday voiced strong support for Israel in his new role.
That was something of a relief. Tillerson was previously CEO of Exxon Mobil, and had for years done business with some of Israel’s Middle East foes.
But at his Senate confirmation hearing, Tillerson made no qualms about labeling Israel “our most important strategic partner in the region.”
He even took aim at outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry for being so hostile toward the Jewish state.
“The secretary’s speech, which followed that UN resolution (condemning the presence of Jews in areas claimed by the Arabs), I found quite troubling because of the attacks on Israel and in many ways undermining the government of Israel itself in terms of its own legitimacy and the talks,” said Tillerson.
When it comes to US foreign policy under Trump, Tillerson affirmed that “Israel is, has always been and remains our most important ally in the region. I think in the Trump administration, the president-elect already made it clear and, if I’m confirmed, I agree entirely and will support (Israel).”
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Sunday, January 24, 2016
Hillary Clinton Wanted to 'Shame' Israel Into Compliance | Israel Today Staff
Hillary Clinton Wanted to 'Shame' Israel Into Compliance
Sunday, January 24, 2016 | Israel Today Staff
A large number of Israelis remain supporters of Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the next president of the USA, despite earlier revelations of her disdain for their own leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the latest release of emails from Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State suggest it wasn’t just Netanyahu whom she held in low esteem, but the Jewish state at large.
Among the nearly 3,000 pages of emails published last week was an exchange between Clinton and former State Department Director of Policy Planning Anne Marie Slaughter in which the latter proposed a “Pledge for Palestine” campaign.
The idea, according to Slaughter, was that “a campaign among billionaires/multi-millionaires around the world would reflect a strong vote of confidence in the building of a Palestinian state… There would be a certain shaming effect [regarding] Israelis, who would be building settlements in the face of the pledge for peace.”
Slaughter got a thumbs-up from her boss. “I am very interested–pls flesh out. Thx.” read Clinton’s documented response.
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Friday, February 21, 2014
John Kerry - Newfound Jewish roots
Newfound Jewish roots
gave Kerry a ‘deep’ bond
with Israel
Secretary of State, who only learned his grandparents were Jews in 2004, says he understands Israelis’ reluctance to sign a deal
February 20, 2014
US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to an Israeli reporter in an
interview aired Thursday, February 20, 2014 (screen capture: Channel 2)
WRITERS
Raphael Ahren Raphael Ahren is the diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says his feelings toward Israel changed 10 years ago, after he found out that that he had Jewish grandparents.
“It’s a connection that’s deep. I lost a great-uncle in the Holocaust and a great-aunt. I never knew that until then. To learn that, after years of being passionate about ‘never again,’ with respect to the Holocaust, and then to understand that you are biologically and personally connected to that, is very moving,” he said in an interview aired on Thursday by Israel’s Channel 2.
“Israel itself has a special connection to me, not just because of that personal, now-known connection, but more importantly because of the amazing journey of the Jewish people,” he said in the interview, which was conducted last Tuesday at the State Department. “And now I’ve learned that, I have got a better sense of that.”
Kerry first found out about his Jewish ancestry in 2004, when he was running for president against George W. Bush. Both his father’s parents were born Jews and converted to Christianity because of anti-Semitism, and they changed their name from Cohen to Kerry when they immigrated to the United States.
Asked by the interviewer, Ilana Dayan, whether he felt that Israelis were still defined by their tragedies to the extent that those events made them hesitant to take the “leap of faith” necessary to withdraw from the West Bank and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Kerry answered in the affirmative.
“But,” he added, “here is what I want to emphasize: I think my job is to try to help create a situation where the realities of the agreement are such that it’s not such a leap of faith. I don’t want this to be a leap of faith. I want this to be a leap of reason. A leap of rationality and of choice, based on a very understandable and tangible set of guaranties about security and other things.”
If that could be achieved, Kerry continued, “then we take some of the emotion away… even though it will be for some always a huge emotion, because some people have very different views about greater Judea and Samaria — I know all of that. But I also know that over 70 percent of the people of Israel believe in a two-state solution.”
The secretary of state said that he sometimes spends hours on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and understands him. But he was hesitant to say whether he believes Netanyahu would agree to the kind of concessions a peace agreement would require. “If we’ve answered all of the challenges of security for Israel, if he has secured the nation state of Israel as the home of the Jewish people, if he has secured recognition and secured the refugee issue — properly dissolved — I hope he will,” Kerry said.
Netanyahu’s primary concern is the security of Israeli civilians, Kerry stressed. “I have said this to [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas: The primary issue for any Israeli is to know that if they make an agreement, they are safer and stronger because of the agreement than they were before they made it. And that goes contrary to past experience in pulling out of Lebanon and pulling out of Gaza.”
Kerry hinted that settlers might not have to relocate under the terms of a peace deal. Asked about the personal price that a settler might have to pay when required to leave his home as a result of an accord, Kerry replied that he was not sure this would be necessary.
“I have no argument with anyone in Israel who says that no deal is better than a bad deal. I say that myself,” he said. “I’m not in the business of trying to put together a bad deal.”
Kerry dismissed criticism of him from right-wing Israeli politicians, particularly Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said the top US diplomat was “messianic and obsessive.”
“You know, those are judgments that other people may or may not have fun making in this process. I’m doing my job,” he said. Kerry claimed he was not insulted by Ya’alon’s remarks. “I think I am committed, and I’m determined.”
The secretary of state declined to comment on his gut reaction in January to Yedioth Ahronoth’s publication of Ya’alon’s scathing criticism, which targeted the US mediation of the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“That’s not the way I operate. I’m an optimist and I am a believer in possibilities,” he said. “People who know me know that when I sink my teeth into something, if I get the bit between my teeth, I try to get it done.”
Read more: Newfound Jewish roots gave Kerry a 'deep' bond with Israel | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/newfound-jewish-roots-gave-kerry-a-deep-bond-with-israel/#ixzz2tyiTbbC5
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
“Israel itself has a special connection to me, not just because of that personal, now-known connection, but more importantly because of the amazing journey of the Jewish people,” he said in the interview, which was conducted last Tuesday at the State Department. “And now I’ve learned that, I have got a better sense of that.”
Kerry first found out about his Jewish ancestry in 2004, when he was running for president against George W. Bush. Both his father’s parents were born Jews and converted to Christianity because of anti-Semitism, and they changed their name from Cohen to Kerry when they immigrated to the United States.
Asked by the interviewer, Ilana Dayan, whether he felt that Israelis were still defined by their tragedies to the extent that those events made them hesitant to take the “leap of faith” necessary to withdraw from the West Bank and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Kerry answered in the affirmative.
“But,” he added, “here is what I want to emphasize: I think my job is to try to help create a situation where the realities of the agreement are such that it’s not such a leap of faith. I don’t want this to be a leap of faith. I want this to be a leap of reason. A leap of rationality and of choice, based on a very understandable and tangible set of guaranties about security and other things.”
If that could be achieved, Kerry continued, “then we take some of the emotion away… even though it will be for some always a huge emotion, because some people have very different views about greater Judea and Samaria — I know all of that. But I also know that over 70 percent of the people of Israel believe in a two-state solution.”
The secretary of state said that he sometimes spends hours on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and understands him. But he was hesitant to say whether he believes Netanyahu would agree to the kind of concessions a peace agreement would require. “If we’ve answered all of the challenges of security for Israel, if he has secured the nation state of Israel as the home of the Jewish people, if he has secured recognition and secured the refugee issue — properly dissolved — I hope he will,” Kerry said.
Netanyahu’s primary concern is the security of Israeli civilians, Kerry stressed. “I have said this to [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas: The primary issue for any Israeli is to know that if they make an agreement, they are safer and stronger because of the agreement than they were before they made it. And that goes contrary to past experience in pulling out of Lebanon and pulling out of Gaza.”
Kerry hinted that settlers might not have to relocate under the terms of a peace deal. Asked about the personal price that a settler might have to pay when required to leave his home as a result of an accord, Kerry replied that he was not sure this would be necessary.
“I have no argument with anyone in Israel who says that no deal is better than a bad deal. I say that myself,” he said. “I’m not in the business of trying to put together a bad deal.”
Kerry dismissed criticism of him from right-wing Israeli politicians, particularly Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said the top US diplomat was “messianic and obsessive.”
“You know, those are judgments that other people may or may not have fun making in this process. I’m doing my job,” he said. Kerry claimed he was not insulted by Ya’alon’s remarks. “I think I am committed, and I’m determined.”
The secretary of state declined to comment on his gut reaction in January to Yedioth Ahronoth’s publication of Ya’alon’s scathing criticism, which targeted the US mediation of the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“That’s not the way I operate. I’m an optimist and I am a believer in possibilities,” he said. “People who know me know that when I sink my teeth into something, if I get the bit between my teeth, I try to get it done.”
Read more: Newfound Jewish roots gave Kerry a 'deep' bond with Israel | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/newfound-jewish-roots-gave-kerry-a-deep-bond-with-israel/#ixzz2tyiTbbC5
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Pressure Our Enemies, Not Our Friends - Breaking Israel News
Pressure Our Enemies,
Not Our Friends
Posted by: Doug Lamborn February 5, 2014 , Breaking Israel News
Doug Lamborn a member of Congress from Colorado. He is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee and co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Israel Allies Caucus.
Doug Lamborn a member of Congress from Colorado. He is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee and co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Israel Allies Caucus.
Syria is devastated by civil war. Egypt is immersed in violent turmoil by Islamist insurgents. Iran continues to work on advanced centrifuges at an alarming pace. And al-Qaida and affiliated groups continue to threaten traditional Arab regimes and Western interests throughout the area.
With the region aflame, with so many crises demanding attention, the US has made a baffling decision to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and make it the crux of its Middle East policy.
US Secretary of State Kerry has made nearly a dozen visits to the region in the past year in an unceasing effort to broker an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. He is expected to announce a framework for a peace deal in the coming weeks.
While everyone wishes for peace, many of us in Congress are troubled that the Obama administration is unduly pressuring Israel into making far-reaching concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians. These are concessions which will be detrimental to its long-term security, and which are likely to backfire.
It is our firm belief that bilateral negotiations between the two sides are the only viable path to a true peace accord. Past history has repeatedly shown that outside pressure – however well intended – is a recipe for failure.
Peace will be made from the ground up – not in the meeting rooms of five-star hotels.
Moreover, our concern over the administration’s heavy-handed tactics is only heightened by the fact that this pressure is coming under the shadow of a nuclear-armed Iran. Indeed, Iran is continuing to spin its centrifuges – and work on more advanced ones – and top Iranian officials have said they will never dismantle them.
We should be putting pressure on our enemies not on our friends.
Especially at this time, Israel must not be coerced into any moves that could endanger its security. It is my belief that a strong majority in Congress share this view.
Israel has legal, moral, historical and security claims to this land. Giving up any of these claims has not brought peace in the past, but has only strengthened those who want to destroy Israel.
A viable peace can only be worked out in direct bilateral negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
In the meantime, continued economic progress in the West Bank will do more to bring about the kind of solution the US administration wants.
Progress will improve the quality of life of Palestinians, and thereby indirectly weaken Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A true peace will only be decided in bilateral peace talks that both sides freely agree on. It will certainly not come from unilateral concessions that the US forces upon Israel.
Reprinted from The Jerusalem Post
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