Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Lieberman on Abbas' Threat: Please Quit, We Can't Wait
Dec 28th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Maayana Miskin
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman, until recently the Foreign Minister, reacted with joy Friday as Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to quit if negotiations do not resume. Abbas has refused to negotiate in absence of several Israeli concessions, including a complete freeze on construction east of the 1949 armistice line.

According to Lieberman, Israel "can't wait" for Abbas to follow through on his threat.

"We congratulate Abu Mazen [Abbas] for reaching the correct conclusion, that only his leave from the PA leadership will allow the diplomatic process to resume," Lieberman said.

"We anxiously await the official announcement from the Muqata regarding his retirement," he added. "There are many alternatives among the Palestinians with whom we could hold a diplomatic dialog."

"It's Abbas' remaining [as leader] that will ultimately bring Hamas and other radicals to power in Judea and Samaria," he warned.

Abbas told Haaretz that if negotiations do not resume after the elections, "I will take the phone and call (Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu. I'll tell him...Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the Palestinian Authority."

Abbas has demanded a construction freeze that would include a ban on natural growth in major Israeli towns that it has previously been assumed would remain Israeli under a diplomatic agreement. He also has required that Israel free PA resident terrorists, allow the PA to arm its police force more heavily, and agree in principle to his major territorial demands. At the same time, he has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or to end incitement to terrorism, and continues to support the "right of return" for millions of people descended from Arabs who fled pre-state Israel to move to Israel.

Abbas' term in office expired in early 2009, but he has declined to hold new elections, arguing that PA residents should vote for a new leader only after Hamas-led Gaza reunites with the Fatah-led PA in Judea and Samaria.

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 28th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

U.S. Drought: Third Highest Severe to Extreme Percentage on Record
Extreme and exceptional drought, the worst categories on the U.S. Drought Monitor, are on the rise again. The graphic above from meteorologist Matt Sitkowski at the The Weather Channel shows this with the peak occurring back in August followed by a decline in the fall and now a rising percentage as we close out the year. When just examining the worst category "exceptional drought", the United States will end the year with its highest percentage in this category so far in 2012.

Atty: Hobby Lobby Won't Offer Morning-After Pill
An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts and crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day.

Syria will descend into ‘bloody chaos’ if UN envoy’s plan to establish transitional government fails: Russia
Mr. Brahimi challenged those in the conflict to work together to pave the way for democratic elections and sideline President Bashar al-Assad. His proposal received strong backing from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said negotiations were the only way to end the fighting. “The alternative to a peaceful solution is bloody chaos. The longer it continues, the greater its scale — and the worse things get for all,” he said.

'Brighter than a full moon': The biggest star of 2013... could be Ison - the comet of the century
Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full Moon.

AP Exclusive: Photos show NKorea nuclear readiness
North Korea has repaired flood damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a quick atomic explosion if it chose, though water streaming out of a test tunnel may cause problems, analysis of recent satellite photos indicates. Washington and others are bracing for the possibility that if punished for a successful long-range rocket launch...North Korea's next step might be its third nuclear test.

Teachers learn how to use guns in Utah
Gun-rights advocates on Thursday provided six hours of training in the use of concealed weapons for 200 Utah teachers in the latest effort to arm teachers to confront school assailants. "We are providing a class for educators within the state of Utah, pre-school through secondary schools, to learn about concealed carry and proper gun handling and gun laws," said Clark Aposhian, President of the Utah Shooting Sport Council, the state's leading gun lobby.

Fiscal cliff: Barack Obama to meet congressional leaders for last-minute talks
The meeting comes just four days before the government goes over the so-called fiscal cliff, assuming no deal is reached. It will be the first time Mr Obama has sat down with all the leaders of Congress since Nov. 16 and would represent that last hope for a deal before the year-end deadline.

Mexico urges US court to block part of Arizona law
The Mexican government has urged a U.S. court to stop Arizona from enforcing a minor section of the state's 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants. Lawyers representing Mexico asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Wednesday to uphold a lower-court ruling that blocked police from enforcing the ban.

China approves tighter rules on internet access
China has tightened its rules on internet usage to enforce a previous requirement that users fully identify themselves to service providers. The move is part of a package of measures which state-run Xinhua news agency said would protect personal information. But critics believe the government is trying to limit freedom of speech.

US evacuates Central African Republic embassy
The US says it has evacuated its embassy in the Central African Republic as rebels threaten to advance towards the capital, Bangui. The state department said it had not broken off diplomatic ties with the government but warned US citizens not to travel to CAR during the unrest. Earlier, CAR President Francois Bozize appealed to the US and France to help block the rebel advance.

Flood-hit areas face further rain
Flood-hit areas have been warned they face renewed problems from storms, as further rain is forecast across the UK. There are 77 flood warnings and 177 flood alerts in England and Wales, and six alerts and one warning in Scotland. The main rail line in the South West of England, which was closed between Exeter St Davids and Tiverton due to flooding, is expected to reopen later.

Storm rakes half of nation; Arkansas still dark
As a the muted ends of a powerful winter storm that has killed more than a dozen people plodded through the Northeast, many in Arkansas were seeking warmth and shelter against the cold prospect of life without electricity into the new year.

Winter snow storm hits New England as '16 die' in US
Sixteen people have been reported killed by a severe snow storm moving through the north-eastern US after disrupting Christmas in the Midwest. States in New England are seeing heavy snowfall, with over a foot (30cm) already fallen in parts of Massachusetts, weather officials said. Flights were grounded and road collisions reported as the storm moved across the middle of the US.

Putin signs anti-US adoptions bill
President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, part of a harsh response to a U.S. law targeting Russians deemed to be human rights violators. Although some top Russian officials including the foreign minister openly opposed the bill and Putin himself had been noncommittal about it last week, he signed it less than 24 hours after receiving it from Parliament, where both houses passed it overwhelmingly.

Russia urges Syrian gov't to pursue dialogue with opponents
Russia urged the Syrian government on Friday to act on its stated readiness for dialogue with its opponents, throwing its weight behind a diplomatic push to end a 21-month-old conflict in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had urged Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad to emphasize his government's openness to dialogue with the opposition during talks in Moscow on Thursday.

A Jordanian - Palestinian Confederation Aired By Netanyahu, Abdullah
Dec 28th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Commentary;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Aspects of a possible confederation between a Palestinian West Bank state and the Hashemite Kingdom – not Syria - were the subject of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s recent conversation with Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman, debkafile’s sources reveal. Nothing was decided and the two leaders agreed to hold further discussions in the coming days.

This idea has become a focal talking point in Amman, Washington and Palestinian centers.
Netanyahu brought some pointed questions to the highly confidential one-on-one at the Hashemite palace: He asked the king how much responsibility would Jordan undertake in controlling West Bank security and intelligence activity? What were his plans for extending such control from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip? And how would Jordan’s intentions fit into the security arrangements demanded by Israel in both territories as part of any accord with the Palestinians?

According to US and Jordanian sources au fait with these ideas, the current goal for the next stage of Israel-Palestinian negotiations in the coming months would be a long-term interim accord. It would leave the core disputes on permanent borders, Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees and the future of Israel’s settlements in Judea and Samaria to a later round of negotiations at some unspecified time in the future.

The establishment of a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation would sidestep the difficulties of reciprocal recognition - a Palestinian state by Israel and Israel by the Palestinians as the national state of the Jewish people. Jordan has recognized Israel and the two nations maintain full diplomatic relations. The confederation’s ruling body as such would be able to recognize Israel without requiring a public Palestinian declaration of acceptance. Equally, Israel would be saved from having to formally accept Palestinian statehood and could simply greet the new joint entity and extend an assurance of cooperation that in practice would be implemented through Jordan or any Muslim Arab element taking part in the move.

In early December, the Palestinian Authority’s Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) secretly advised certain Palestinian leaders “to be prepared for a new confederation project with Jordan and other parties in the international community.”
He did not name those parties. debkafile’s sources reveal that he was referring to Egypt, Turkey and Qatar – in other words, the members of the pro-American Sunni-led bloc American diplomats established in Cairo last month in the course of Israel’s Pillar of Defense operation in Gaza and the negotiations that led to an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

American sources said at the time that Washington was not averse to additional Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia adding their weight to the initiative for a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation and was willing, if it took off, to consider granting the endeavor security guarantees and economic assistance.

Asked why the project had not figured in Israeli political discourse, those sources accused the Israeli media of generating an election campaign climate that hostilely depicted Netanyahu and his party as extreme right-wing nationalists who consistently refused to talk peace with the Palestinians. Showing the prime minister as quietly preparing to return to the peace track after forming his next government, assuming he wins the Jan. 22 poll, would spoil their show. Netanyahu himself prefers to stay aloof from his accusers.

According to Arab sources involved in the new initiative, it gained traction from the UN General Assembly’s Nov. 29 upgrade of the Palestinians to non-member observer status. On the strength of this upgrade, the Palestinian Authority is claiming the status of a government representing an independent state and therefore eligible to join Jordan as a confederation partner.

Such a setup may have room for Hamas which too would be saved from having to recognize the state of Israel.

For the first time in their decade-long rocket offensive against their Israeli neighbors, the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers are scrupulously upholding the ceasefire deal they struck with Israel. The Netanyahu government has reciprocated by substantially easing restrictions on the territory. And now, after six years, Israel will this week allow building materials to cross through into the territory, including cement and gravel, withheld until now lest they were used to build smuggling tunnels for supplying terrorist organizations with war materiel. Public transport, including buses and trucks, will also soon be running through the crossings and, for the first time, too, a large group of Gazans was allowed to attend this year’s Christmas ceremonies in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Netanyahu appears to have decided that the chances of another outbreak of hostile operations from the Gaza Strip have receded. Indeed, there is a good chance that Hamas may find the confederation project the West Bank’s Fatah rulers are about to pursue with Jordan attractive, and let itself be led to join by Egypt and Qatar.

There are more straws in the wind attesting to the confederation project being on the move. The US-based Palestinian professor and journalist, Daoud Kuttab, writing in The Atlantic on Dec. 27, reported that King Abdullah’s closest advisers include partisans of the confederation notion – i.e. Jordan’s restoration to its pre-1967 rule of the West Bank.
Kuttab goes back in history to quote the late Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad), the terrorist leader Israel eliminated in Tunis in January, 1991, as saying: “What the Palestinians wanted was five minute of independence and then they would happily agree to a confederation with Jordan. “

Interestingly, this phrase is increasingly cited by Arab and Western media.
Furthermore, US and Arab sources disclose that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has deeply committed himself to the step. They say this commitment was partly manifested by his consent to drop Ankara’s boycott on cooperation with Israel in the framework of NATO and that more evidence of revived US-Turkish-Israeli cooperation is still to come.
Dec. 23, debkafile reported exclusively that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to resume peace negotiations in March, as soon as Netanyahu, who is generally expected to win the January election, has assembled his new government.
The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem made haste Thursday to deny reports that he planned to invite opposition leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni to join the next cabinet in her old job as lead negotiator in talks with the Palestinians. According to our sources, Netanyahu has reserved that role for himself.