Joel C. Rosenberg: Israel abuzz that President Trump will visit Jerusalem in May. If it happens, will Trump announce he’s moving US embassy to Jerusalem?

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Israel abuzz that President Trump will visit Jerusalem in May. If it happens, will Trump announce he’s moving US embassy to Jerusalem? Here’s what we know so far. by joelcrosenberg (Central Israel) -- The Israeli media today is buzzing with speculation that President Trump is coming to Israel in May, and make Jerusalem his first foreign destination since taking office in January. Big question: If the speculation is accurate, is the President is planning to announce that he is moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as he repeatedly promised during the campaign and in the early weeks of his administration? The timing of the President's potential visit is certainly curious, as it could come one day before the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty during the Six Day War of 1967. Here's what we know so far: The President is going to Brussels for a summit of NATO leaders on May 25. The President will then attend a G-7 summit in Italy May 26-27. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin formally invited to President Trump in January to visit Israel at his earliest opportunity. Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Mr. Trump at the White House in February and personally reiterated the invitation. President Trump told Netanyahu he wants to visit Israel very soon in his administration, as he has actually never visited the Jewish State before. The working theory in the Israeli press is that Air Force One will arrive in Israel on May 22, and depart on May 23. During his 24 hours on the ground, it is being speculated that Mr. Trump with meet with the Prime Minister, tour Jerusalem, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and memorial, the Western Wall and other key sites, possibly including Masada and the Allenby Bridge which connects Israel to the Kingdom of Jordan. It is not clear whether he would make a major speech, or address the Knesset. Yesterday, an advance team from Washington arrived in Israel. Trump confirmed the trip is being considered, but did not confirm anything is set. There is also speculation the President might visit Saudi Arabia, and possibly Egypt and Jordan in May or early June. Senior U.S. officials have visited each country in recent days, and President Trump met with leaders from each of these countries in Washington since taking office. "U.S. President Donald Trump is to arrive in Israel for a whirlwind visit on the morning of May 22, and will leave in the early afternoon a day later," the Times of Israel is reporting. "The timing of his visit is significant, as it will be immediately before Israel celebrates Jerusalem Day, which begins on the evening of May 23....No previous US president has visited Israel in the first months of his term." The Jerusalem Post notes that "Trump may use his visit to Israel next month to announce the moving of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," citing Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-Florida). "DeSantis, who is chairman of the House committee with oversight of US embassies around the world, said the timing of Trump’s visit – two days before Jerusalem Day, marking 50 years since the reunification of the capital – is not accidental." “What better time could there be to announce the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem when you are over there celebrating with our Israeli friends this very important 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem?” DeSantis asked. “I think the announcement of that trip is a signal that it is more likely to happen than not, and will send a powerful signal to other countries around the world that America is back and will stand by our allies and will not let folks cow us into not doing the right thing.” The Post added that "Moscow announced earlier this month that it recognizes west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and that it expects east Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. It also made clear that it had no intention of moving its embassy. Yediot Aharonot reported on Thursday that Trump may announce united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but might say that the time is not yet right to move the embassy." That said, a headline in Haaretz this morning states: "Israel Believes Trump Will Not Seek to Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem for Now, Officials Say." —————— Without Warning — my new thriller about ISIS operatives launching catastrophic terrorist attacks inside the U.S. using chemical weapons captured in Syria, and the hunt for the ISIS leader by a secret coalition of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE — is now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, Lifeway, and your favorite general market and Christian bookstores. To order online, please click here. > Pastors and ministry leaders:  to begin planning your own tour of Israel in July 2018 that allows you to bring your people to the Summit, please click here. > Lay people: to learn more about The Joshua Fund’s next tour of Israel — and to register while there is still space — please click here. ——————— Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? This is the non-profit organization that my wife, Lynn, and I founded in 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, to care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks so much! Click here to read the 2016 Joshua Fund Donor Report — and watch the short videos, as well Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. joelcrosenberg | April 28, 2017 at 8:03 am | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-7Cn

Terrorists Strike, Anti-Semitism Spikes in US as Israel Remembers Holocaust - TZIPPE BARROW CBN NEWS

A torch can be seen during a ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, April 24, 2017. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)

Terrorists Strike, Anti-Semitism Spikes in US as Israel Remembers Holocaust

4/26/2017 TZIPPE BARROW/CBN NEWS

At the opening ceremony of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) at Jerusalem's Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum Sunday evening, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin began by telling how Jews in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp celebrated the first night of Hanukkah in 1943.

The rabbi lit a candle, he said, and led the prisoners in the traditional holiday prayer.

"Blessed are you, Lord our God, who has given us life and sustained us and allowed us to reach this season," he prayed, thanking God from inside the death camp.

Rivlin then said, "I stand here on this evening of awe, in the rebuilt Jerusalem, the capital city of the State of Israel, and in the name of our valiant brothers and sisters, victims of the Shoah, and the survivors, who struggled for survival, for their Jewishness, and for their humanity ... am Yisrael chai" [the people of Israel live]!

And that was evident on Monday when the two-minute memorial siren sounded throughout Israel. People on the street bowed their heads, while people driving stopped their cars and stood next to them.

Hours before Sunday evening's ceremony, a Palestinian teen stabbed four people near the Tel Aviv promenade. Police arrested the attacker and took him in for questioning. All four are recovering from their wounds.

Again Monday, a woman from Duma, an Arab village near Nablus, stabbed a female soldier at the Kalandiya checkpoint. Paramedics evacuated the soldier to the hospital in moderate condition. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) named the attacker as Asya Kabaneh, 41, from an Arab village near Nablus.

A mother of nine, the woman told investigators "she has been engaged in a lengthy conflict with her husband, who has threatened to divorce her." Following a quarrel Sunday evening over their children's education, she decided to commit a terror attack so security forces would shoot her, telling investigators she was "fed up" with her life.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says the first quarter of 2017 showed a whopping 86 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents—harassment, bomb threats and vandalism—in the U.S., up from a 34 percent increase in 2016.

The ADL published the data in its annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents.

"There's been a significant, sustained increase in anti-Semitic activity since the start of 2016, and what's most concerning is the fact that the numbers have accelerated over the past five months," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

According to the report, California, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts, areas with a large Jewish population, had the highest number of incidents.

In other words, 72 years after six million Jews perished at the hands of Hitler's regime, anti-Semitism in the United States is rising at unprecedented rates. 

 Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.

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