Jerusalem is back in the news. One cannot read these articles without thinking about the warnings from the prophet Zechariah:
"And In that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
(Zechariah 12:3)
As 26 Palestinian inmates were released from Israeli prisonsovernight Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar agreed to expedite four East Jerusalem construction plans, including one which would significantly expand the size of an already contentious neighborhood.
Earlier this week, in part to offset the political fallout from the release and counter criticism from the right, Netanyahu’s office announced that the government would approve tenders for the construction of 1,200 new housing units across the pre-1967 Green Line in Jerusalem.
Among the projects to be pushed through, according to Tuesday night’s decision, is a plan to approve 1,500 new apartment units in Ramat Shlomo, and a measure to allow construction of additional rooms in existing apartments in the neighborhood.
Netanyahu and Sa’ar also gave the green light for advancing a tourism and archaeology center adjacent to the City of David — the site of an ongoing archaeological dig and a political flashpoint on the slopes below the Temple Mount — and a national park on Mount Scopus’s eastern slopes.
An Israeli official last week said the Americans and Palestinians were aware of the Israeli building plans, which were made clear before peace talks resumed in the summer.
“For us, all settlements are illegal and Israel should top putting obstacles in the way of peace and all its acts in this regard are illegal and void,” said Rdeneh.
The Palestinians consider settlements a major obstacle to establishing a state that includes the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has since built widely over the Green Line inside Jerusalem, and at dozens of settlements in the West Bank, that are home to some 550,000 Israelis.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Thursday condemned Israel’s announcement of expansion plans in East Jerusalem neighborhoods, calling on the government to desist even from construction intended to accommodate “natural growth.”
“The EU deplores the recent settlement announcements. Any actions that could hamper or undermine the ongoing negotiations must be avoided,” Catherine Ashton said in a statement. “The EU has repeatedly stated that settlements are illegal under international law. It has also called on Israel to end all settlement activity, including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.”
With her statement, Ashton joined a long list of international leaders who criticized the Israeli plan, which was largely seen as a response to the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons Tuesday night. Controversial in Israel, the prisoner release occurred in the framework of US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, was quoted by the AFP news agency saying the move “destroys the peace process and is a message to the international community that Israel is a country that does not respect international law.”
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We do not consider continued settlement activity or East Jerusalem construction to be steps that create a positive environment for the negotiations.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that he “deplores” Israel’s announcement of settlement construction plans. The Jordanian government issued a statement warning that the new plans pose “a direct threat” to the peace process
There is “no real prospect for peace” between Israelis and Palestinians unless the status of Jerusalem is resolved, the top UN envoy to the peace process said on Wednesday.
Robert Serry’s brief address to a conference in Jerusalem came in the middle of a tense week, which featured a prisoner release, announcement of settlement construction and the trading of fire between the IDF and terrorists in Gaza. Serry is the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
“Without resolving Jerusalem, there will be no solution,” he said. “The [UN] secretary general believes that a way has to be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital for two states.”
Serry said both sides had “committed themselves” to addressing the status of Jerusalem, and he praised the involvement of the United States in jump-starting negotiations.
The US State Department and the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday denounced Israel’s announcement that it would expedite several settlement expansion plans, with Ramallah saying the move “destroys the peace process.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday agreed to expedite four East Jerusalem construction plans, including one which would significantly expand the size of Ramat Shlomo, with the addition of 1,500 homes. The move was seen as a response to the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prison
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, was quoted by AFP saying the move “destroys the peace process and is a message to the international community that Israel is a country that does not respect international law”.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri railed against both Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday, saying the ongoing peace negotiations are responsible for “now providing [Israel] with a cover for these crimes.”
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We do not consider continued settlement activity or East Jerusalem construction to be steps that create a positive environment for the negotiations.”
The Jordanian government issued a statement warning that the new plans pose “a direct threat” to the peace process.
He said the move was “contrary to international law and constitutes an obstacle to peace.”
Philip Gordon, Washington’s National Security Council coordinator for Middle East policy, told the audience at the American Task Force on Palestine’s annual gala that “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement expansion,” in an apparent reference to Israel’s new housing starts.
Also see these articles, which are squarely in the category of "wars and rumors of war", and in the category of the rise of the land of MaGog:
Russian strategic forces carried out a large-scale surprise military drill on Wednesday, launching four nuclear missiles that were closely monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies, U.S. officials said.
The drill began around 9:00 am ET and included the test launch of two land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and two submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
The test firings were unusual because of the number of missiles fired at one time, said officials who discussed some details of the drill on condition of anonymity.
Mark Schneider, an arms control specialist, said Russian reports of the exercises described the test firings as a “a major strategic nuclear exercise involving a nuclear war.” The exercises also involved Russian President Vladimir Putin as a commander.
The missiles test fired were identified by the officials with their NATO code names, including a silo-based SS-18 and a road-mobile SS-25, along with the two submarine-launched missiles, an SS-N-18 and SS-N-23.
The SS-18 is Russia’s largest land-based ICBM with a range of up to 10,000 miles and up to 10 warheads, or multiple, independently-targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).
The SS-25 is a road-mobile missile capable of launching up to four MIRVs and has a range of up to 6,200 miles.
The SS-N-18 Stingray missile can be equipped with up to seven warheads and is carried on Delta III missile submarines. It has a range of up to 5,000 miles.
The SS-N-23 can carry up to 10 MIRVs and has a range of up to 5,000 miles. It is deployed on Delta IV missile submarines.
Forbes magazine named Russian President Vladimir Putin the most powerful man in the world on Wednesday, ranking the autocratic leader ahead of US President Barack Obama.
The nuclear-capable bombers “flew above the neutral waters of the Caribbean Sea, entered the airspace of Nicaragua and performed a planned landing,” the ministry said.
The aircraft covered over 2,500 km during their three-hour flight from the Maiquetia airfield in Venezuela.
The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theatres of operation.
Also see:
