Thursday, January 19, 2017

Jerusalem Mayor Barkat Gushes Praise for Trump - Israel Today

Jerusalem Mayor Barkat Gushes Praise for Trump

Thursday, January 19, 2017 |  Israel Today Staff
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is urging all Israelis to voice their unequivocal support of US President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration on Friday.
In a video posted to the Internet this week, Barkat said that Israelis must join with Trump to “make the US-Israeli relationship great again.”
He continued:
“This week Donald Trump will enter the White House as president. Let’s together welcome him as a friend and thank him for his intention to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.”
In an interview with the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom earlier this week, Trump said he had not forgotten his pledge to return the US Embassy to Israel’s capital.
“Of course I remember what I said about Jerusalem,” he told the newspaper. “You know that I am not a person who breaks promises.”
Sunday’s “peace” conference in Paris warned Trump against moving the embassy, as did Barack Obama in his final press conference as president. The Palestinian Arabs have vowed an “explosion” should Trump fulfill that particular promise, which would show firm support for Israel’s position that Jerusalem is its eternal, undivided capital.
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Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog A new strategic challenge is emerging: Liberals are turning against Israel.

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New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

A new strategic challenge is emerging: Liberals are turning against Israel. (My column for the Jerusalem Post)

by joelcrosenberg
By Joel C. Rosenberg, The Jerusalem PostJanuary 19, 2017
The inauguration of Donald Trump will mark the first time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ever had a Republican to work with in the White House.
Bill Clinton was President in Bibi’s first term (1996 to 1999) and repeatedly pressured Israel to make dangerous concessions to Yasser Arafat. When Bibi resisted, Clinton deployed his top political advisors -- James Carville, Bob Shrum and Stan Greenberg – to run Ehud Barak’s campaign to oust Netanyahu from office.
When Bibi returned to office in March 2009, Barack Obama had just been inaugurated. The Illinois Democrat proceeded to skip Israel on his first visit to the region. He suggested creating “daylight” between America and Israel would help make peace. He aggressively pressured Israel to divide Jerusalem and to retreat to the indefensible pre-1967 lines. And when Netanyahu balked, Obama made Hillary Clinton his “designated yeller.”
Obama deserves credit for supporting Iron Dome and a $38 billion. ten-year military aid deal with Israel. But this hardly absolves him from cutting a naïve nuclear deal with Iran, abandoning his own red line in Syria, withdrawing all U.S. forces from Iraq, and repeatedly underestimating the ISIS threat, all of which put Israeli security at risk.
In his final days in office, Obama doubled down on this disastrous legacy, refusing to veto back Israel at the U.N. and supporting a pointless “peace conference” in Paris that excluded Israelis and Palestinians.
For Netanyahu, Friday can’t come soon enough.
Dismissing recent moves by Obama and the French as the “final palpitations of yesterday's world,” Netanyahu told reporters, “Tomorrow will look a lot different, and tomorrow is very close.”
The Israeli public overwhelmingly agrees. Fully 83% of Israelis say they expect Trump to be “pro-Israel,” according to a December poll.
This may prove true, but a new strategic challenge is emerging: a growing number of Democrats are turning against the Jewish State.
“There is now a 41-point gap between the shares of Republicans (74%) and Democrats (33%) who say they sympathize more with Israel,” finds a new Pew Research survey. “This is the largest party gap in views on this question in surveys dating to 1978.”
Liberal support for Israel, in particular, is cratering. In 2001, 48% of self-described liberal Democrats said they sympathized with Israel. But the latest Pew poll found that number has plummeted to just 26% today.
Such poll numbers help explain why Hillary’s advisors urged her to avoid openly discussing support for Israel during the primaries.
They help explain why Bernie Sanders refused to speak to the AIPAC Policy Conference and even accused Israel of killing 10,000 innocent civilians” in the last Gaza war. MK Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to Washington, called this a “blood libel.”  The real number of civilian deaths in Gaza was fewer than 1,500. Sanders apologized, but still came close to winning the Democratic nomination.
Plummeting liberal support for Israel also helps explains how Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison is a serious contender to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee despite widespread criticism of his hostility towards Israel. Keith Ellison’s record is one of overwhelming anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities,” argues Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. Haim Saban, a billionaire donor to the Democrats, says Ellison is “clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual.”
A new survey of American voters further highlights Israel’s emerging challenges among liberal voters, as well as among Independents and Millennials.
Last week, I asked John McLaughlin, the respected American pollster, to test competing arguments in the recent dust-up over the U.N. vote. The results were sobering.
We asked 1,000 likely American voters, Which of the following statements is closest to your personal views about U.S. policy towards Israel?
  • A) I believe that President Obama was right to abstain on the recent U.N. Security Council vote that condemned Israel. Israel is morally wrong to build settlements in the West Bank for Israeli citizens. Israel is also wrong to build homes for Jewish citizens in East Jerusalem since that should be the capital of a Palestinian state. I hope that the U.S. and the U.N. will get tougher with Israel over the next four years if the Israeli government won’t agree to a Palestinian state and refuses to retreat to the pre-1967 boundaries.
  • B) I believe President Obama was wrong for throwing Israel under the bus at the U.N. Security Council. Israel is America’s most reliable ally in the Mideast. President Obama betrayed our ally by refusing to veto that anti-Israel resolution. As their eternal capital, the Israelis have the right to build in any section of Jerusalem. If Palestinian leaders want Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank, they should agree to direct talks with Israel, recognize Israel as a Jewish State, and negotiate a final peace treaty once and for all. Israel needs defensible borders, and it is wrong for the U.N. to dictate what those are. I want the Palestinians to have freedom, dignity and security, but I also hope that the U.S. will be more supportive of Israel over the next four years and will defend Israel against unfair political attacks by the U.N. and others.
While a plurality of Americans (37%) say Obama was wrong to betray Israel, a large number of Americans (29%) say Obama was right. Perhaps even more troubling: 25% say they can’t decide between the two arguments, and nearly one-in-ten say they don’t care about the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Of self-described liberals, 53% believe Obama was right to go after Israel. Among those describing themselves as “very liberal,” 56% want Washington to get tougher on Israel.
Moreover, nearly one-in-four Independents (23%) agree with Obama’s attack on Israel. So do 33% of Catholics, and 41% of Millennials (age 18-29). 
True, the Trump-Pence administration is expected to be pro-Israel. But growing numbers of liberals, Independents and young people are breaking against Israel. This is a serious strategic challenge and one Israeli leaders and American friends of the Jewish state urgently must analyze and address.
The author is a former aide to several American and Israeli leaders. He is also the author of a dozen political thrillers about the Middle East. His latest, WITHOUT WARNING – about a wave of ISIS terror attacks inside the American homeland – will be released in March.
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[This column is based on my personal beliefs and opinions. I share them in my personal capacity as a dual US-Israeli citizen and an author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]
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joelcrosenberg | January 19, 2017 at 4:51 am | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-6CF

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

‘Jesus is an Amazing God!’: Russell Wilson’s Reaction After Seahawks’ Playoff Loss is Getting a Ton of Attention - CBN News



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‘Jesus is an Amazing God!’: Russell Wilson’s Reaction After Seahawks’ Playoff Loss is Getting a Ton of Attention
CBN News 01-17-2017
The Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl hopes were dashed on Saturday when they were booted from the playoffs after losing 36-20 to the Atlanta Falcons — but it seems people are paying even more attention to what quarterback Russell Wilson did immediately following his team’s defeat than they are the loss itself.
Rather than take to social media to express absolute despair, Wilson, 28, showed exactly where his priorities are, penning a touching Instagram note to his wife, Ciara, 31, expressing joy over their marriage as well as their recent announcement that she is expecting the couple’s first child together.
“I will forever win (because) I get to come home to you every night. The love of my life. I love you,” Wilson wrote to Ciara. “This past year has been full of so much joy & happiness. From getting married to having our little one on the way, to your constant endless love. I couldn’t be more grateful to have you in my life Mrs. Wilson. You make every day a perfect day.”

In a separate post, Wilson expressed gratitude for his family as well as his excitement for the year to come, citing “love and new beginnings” — but he also appealed to his Christian faith to thank God for his life.
“Jesus is an amazing God!” he wrote, sharing a photo of himself, Ciara and her son, Future. “I thank Him everyday for bringing us together and I will forever cherish our loving family.

As Faithwire previously reported, Wilson and his wife have been open about their faith, with the two previously sharing their decision to remain abstinent before their marriage last year.
“And so anyways I told her right then and there, what would you do if we took all that extra stuff off the table and just did it Jesus’ way?” Wilson said before they wed. “I said to her, and she completely agreed: ‘Could we love each other without that?’ If you can really love somebody without that, then you can really love somebody.”

Are You a Hebrew Master? ✡ "Hashem Spoke Unto Moshe" - ISRAEL365

And Hashem spoke unto Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בַּשָּׁנָה  הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר

במדבר א:א

vai-da-BAYR a-do-NAI el mo-SHEH b’-mid-BAR see-NAI b’-O-hel mo-AYD b’-e-KHAD la-KHO-desh ha-shay-NEE ba-sha-NAH ha-shay-NEET l’-tzay-TAM
may-E-retz mitz-ra-YIM lay-MOR

Today's Israel Inspiration

After a stay of almost a year in the Sinai Desert where the Jewish people received the Torah, constructed the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and studied some of their new laws, the book of Bamidbar opens with the preparations to leave the wilderness and head to the Promised Land. Entry into the Land of Israel, Bible in hand, was the ultimate goal of the exodus from Egypt. The Mishkan, where God reveals himself on a daily basis, will allow the people to carry the experience of revelation at Mount Sinai with them on their journey. In this way, God remains permanently in their midst. With their unique approach bringing the words of the Bible to life, the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies will give you the modern twist on the holy revelations of God as the People of Israel experienced thousands of years ago.

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What's at Your Front Door?

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Today's Israel Photo

The Narcissus flowers that grow in southern Israel's Negev desert are among the most stunning of plants.
The flower's properties give it powerful remedial capabilities Narcissi and even make an appearance in the Bible as the treatment for what is thought to be a form of cancer.

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“I Am Deeply Touched”

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I love everything you are doing and offering in your webpage and store. I am deeply touched with the Israel365 daily stunning photographs alongside the deep deep inspiring Biblical verses and other educational content you offer. It touches my heart with the love of the God of Israel! You are in my prayers and I thank you for your spirituality daily you have sent me for these last couple of years. It is amazing how you are growing and becoming more beautiful and uplifting. Shalom!
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