February 28, 2018 -- Church of the Holy Sepulcher Reopens

USA TODAY: JERUSALEM — The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem reopened early on Wednesday after Israeli officials suspended a plan to impose taxes on church properties in the holy city.

February 28, 2018 -- Cutting the US nuclear deal with Iran would strengthen the link that exists between Iran and China.

Reneging on the Nuclear Deal Will Isolate America, Empower China, and Distance Europe

February 27, 2018 -- Church of the Holy Sepulcher locks its doors.

Things may not be as rosy as you once thought.  I came across a couple articles that report that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has shut its doors in protest to a new proposed Israeli tax bill by the Jerusalem Municipality.  Doors were closed last Sunday.  The bill’s approval would result in back taxation and possible annexation of property belonging to the Church.  According to The Time of Israel, “the [church] leaders announced that they were closing the venerated house of prayer until further notice.”  Another article found in the Christian Review, provides additional information.     

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.  It might be an indication that some Israeli leaders are willing to change the Status Quo which regulates the Temple Mount and Christian Churches in Jerusalem. 

February 26, 2018 -- Three Israeli Arabs were charged on Monday for planning attacks on religious sites--including the Temple Mount.

Three Israeli Arabs were charged on Monday for reportedly planning an attack on the Temple Mount and at other locations such as synagogues and churches.  Two of the Israeli Arabs also are suspected of supporting the Islamic State.  All three are residents from the city Umm al-Fahm, which is about 20 miles south east of Haifa. 

According to HAARETZ, “the would-be shooting spree recalls a shooting attack that actually did come to fruition on the Temple Mount last July in which two Israeli policemen were killed. In response, Israeli security forces placed metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount, a decision that was met with heavy protest by Palestinian residents of the city as well as by Arab countries. After repeated clashes ensued between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces over the move, Israel reconsidered its decision and removed the metal detectors.”

This picture captured my attention because of the domes in the background, the blue sky, and the white foreground which happened to include the woman in white walking on the mount.  

February 24, 2018 - Different Perspective on US Congressmen’s Temple Mount Visit

I came across another article about the US congressmen’s Temple Mount visit.  It is written from a different perspective.   The article appears on an independent website called Mondoweiss, which was founded by journalist Philip Weiss in 2006, and which grew from within the progressive Jewish community.  The site claims to be a “critical resource for the movement for justice for Palestinians.”  One media fact site lists Mondoweiss as “moderately to strongly bias toward liberal causes.” 

The article was written by Weiss and is entitled “Colorado congressman’s wife encourages messianic Jews to seize Muslim holy site in Jerusalem– ‘Say, It’s ours!’.”  I have included a link to the text.

The woman is Jean Tipton, wife of Congressmen Tipton, who accompanied her husband on the tour.  If she did encourage Jews to seize the mount, this is not US policy and is not the Status Quo. 

February 24, 2018 -- Update: US Embassy move to begin May 14, 2018.

The US Consulate General Residency.  The actual US Consulate building is located further south.  

The United States government is planning to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018.  Although the final goal is still by the end of 2019, the initial stage will begin with an “interim embassy” in West Jerusalem at the US consular annex. 

February 23, 2018 - Update on US Congressmen on Temple Mount

As it now appears, one of the congressmen, David McKinley, did pick up an olive branch from the ground while being shown the Temple Mount.  However, he put it down and did not take it with him.  There is a video that shows him picking something up from the ground, but it also appears that he placed it off to the side. 

There are many Olive trees on the Temple Mount.

February 22, 2018 -- Two US congressmen detained on the Temple Mount.

Two United States congressmen, Scott Tipton and David McKinley, were detained by Israeli police after visiting the Temple Mount on Thursday morning.  According to one of their guides  Avi Abelow, Tipton and McKinley were questioned for taking a branch from an olive tree from the compound.  The congressmen and their wives where escorted by Rabbi Chaim Richman, Abelow, and others. 

There is a video online that shows the detaining of the two congressmen, who were detained for about five minutes.  The episode occurs between 10:30-6:02 minutes remaining in the video.

February 20, 2018 -- Palestinian President Abbas calls for an international peace summit.

AFP

BBC NEWS: In what some might consider a surprising move, Palestinian President Abbas spoke to the United Nations, calling for an international peace summit in order to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.   He described the situation as “no longer bearable” for Palestinians.   In response, Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon argued that Abbas is simply avoiding direct talks with Israel.  He said, “rather than driving just 12 minutes between Ramallah to Jerusalem he has chosen to fly 12 hours to New York to avoid the possibility of peace.”

Sometimes I just wonder!  On the one hand, maybe Abbas really wants peace, and is simply afraid to talk with Israel.   On the other, maybe he does not want peace with the Israelis, but simply wants to appeal to the United Nations in order to obtain their sympathy.  Not sure! 

Is it possible for a United State(s) of Israel?    

February 20, 2018 -- Israeli police arrest friends and confidants of Netanyahu.

Vice News

Israeli police revealed Tuesday they had arrested several friends and confidants of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, increasing the pressure on the scandal hit premier, who faces allegations of corruption.

The arrests were part of an investigation known as “Case 4000,” which centers on whether two of Netanyahu’s associates – and potentially the premier himself ­– pushed legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel’s largest telecom, Bezeq, in exchange for favorable coverage of Netanyahu on a subsidiary news site, Walla.

For more, see VN.

December 18, 2018 -- Iran would respond if Israel acted against Iran

NBC NEWS

MUNICH, Germany — Iran's foreign minister told NBC News that the recent shooting down of an Israeli fighter jet had destroyed the "myth of invincibility" that surrounded Israel's military for decades.

After "30 years the Syrians were able to down one of its planes," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC News in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday. "And so the myth of invincibility of Israel, of the Israeli military, has crumbled."

February 18, 2018 -- Benjamin Netanyahu warns Israel could act against Iran’s ’empire.

GLOBALNEWS.CA

Benjamin Netanyahu warns Israel could act against Iran’s ’empire.'

February 16, 2018 -- Oman's minister Yusuf bin Alawi visits Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Alawi and Mahmoud Abbas were expected to discuss US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: Oman’s foreign minister made a rare visit by an Arab official to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Thursday after holding talks with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. Yusuf bin Alawi toured the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem and prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the site….He was slated to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday. Abbas and Alawi are expected to discuss ways to “confront” Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to the report.

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman

http://kevinstravelblog.com/a-visit-to-sultan-qaboos-grand-mosque

Omani Minister for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi center, visiting the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, February 15, 2018. (Ahmad GHARABLI/AFP)

Febuary 15, 2018 -- Nascent Sanhedrin plan to mint replica of silver half-shekel with image of US president on the coin in gratitude for his support of Israel.

BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

In gratitude to US President Donald Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Jerusalem, the nascent Sanhedrin and the Mikdash (Temple) Educational Center are minting a replica of the silver half-shekel Biblically mandated to be donated by every Jewish male to the Temple.

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Hashem, to make atonement for your souls.” Exodus 30:15 

Rabbi Hillel Weiss, Chairman of the Mikdash & Tsion Association that initiates the Temple reenactments and represents all the Temple movements, explained that the initial motivation for the putting the image of the US president on the coin was in gratitude for his support of Israel.

READ MORE

(The image below is a proposed design. The actual coin may be slightly different).

Trump-Cyrus Silver half-shekel (Image courtesy Mordechai Persoff)

Silver half-shekel (Image courtesy Mordechai Persoff)

Feburary 14, 2018 -- Israeli Minister of Culture Miri Regev signs petition to raise Israeli flag over Temple Mount.

BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Israeli Minister of Culture, Miri Regev (Likud) became the latest dignitary to sign a petition to raise the Israeli flag over the Temple Mount, the Jewish people’s holiest site.

The petition, which was put out by World Likud, a global extension of the Likud political party in Israel, and the French Zionist organization, Israël is Forever reads as follows:

“We will raise the flag on the Temple Mount! 50 years after the unification of Jerusalem, this is the reality we live in:

Jews do not have free access to the Temple Mount

Only Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount

There is not safety and security on the Temple Mount

It is prohibited to raise the Israeli flag on the Temple Mount premises

The Temple Mount is not in our hands! We must change this absurdity! We therefore are calling to express our sovereignty on the Temple Mount and allow freedom of religious practice for all religions, which will bring safety and security to all those visiting the Temple Mount.”

February 12, 2018 -- The Trump Administration's View on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank

CNN has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claims that he had discussed a plan to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank with the Trump administration.  However, it is also reported that White House spokesman Josh Raffel claimed that, “reports that the United States discussed with Israel an annexation plan for the West Bank are false.  The United States and Israel have never discussed such a proposal, and the President’s focus remains squarely on his Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.” 

What seems to be more certain is that President Trump has cautioned Israel in the past that Israeli settlements complicate the peace process.    

February 11, 2018 -- Iranian drone downed by Israel. Syria shoots down an Israeli F16--the first since 1982 Lebanon War.

The Israeli government has warned the Iranian government that it will not permit the Iranian military to use Syria as a base of operations to spy on or attack Israel.  On February 10, Israel claimed that an Iranian drone was downed by its military.  The drone was launched from inside Syria at an Iranian military base near Tadmor Syria.   Israeli surveillance monitored the drone as it approached the Israeli border before it was shot down.  In response, Israel attacked several locations in Syria claiming they were strategic sites in the drone operation.  During the exchange an Israeli F16 was lost after being struck by the Syrians.  The Jet crashed inside Israel and the crew was able to eject, though the pilot was seriously wounded.  This was the first Israeli jet lost since the 1982 Lebanon War.  The Iranian drone was recovered by Israeli military. 

Israeli security stands around the wreckage

of an F-16 that crashed in northern Israel.  

Rami Slush/AP

February 8, 2018 -- Uri Ariel -- It is Temple Mount Time.

Terror victim Itamar Ben-Gal (R) and his family.

YNET NEWS

February 5

Following the murder of Itamer Ben-Gal in Ariel after a stabbing attack, Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel argues, “It’s the Temple Mount’s time, it’s time for the people of Israel to recognize the sanctity of the land…We in the government are responsible both for security and for building the Land of Israel….Between the river and the sea there will be one sovereign state, the State of Israel with united Jerusalem as its capital.”

December 7, 2018 -- Israeli Minister Uri Ariel calls for building of the Jewish Temple after killing of Israeli settler in the Westbank on Monday.

World Bulletin / News Desk

An Israeli minister on Wednesday called for building the Jewish temple in place of East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli settler, according to Israeli media.

Uri Ariel

“The time has come for the recognition of the right of Jews in this land and time has come to build the Temple Mount,” Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said in the funeral of the settler, who was killed in a knife attack in the West Bank on Monday. 

For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is considered the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. 

Ariel called on the Israeli government to “impose full sovereignty” in the Palestinian territories.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/198604/israeli-minister-wants-jewish-temple-built-at-al-aqsa

February 5, 2018 -- Returning to the Mountain Organization seeks to restore Jewish soverighty on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

JEWISH PRESS: The “Returning to the Mountain” organization, which seeks to restore Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, has launched a new project, according to a report in HaKol HaYehudi.

The organizers are calling on visitors to the Temple Mount to file complaints with the police against Waqf officials that follow and harass Jewish visitors on the Jewish people’s holiest site.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/police-news/temple-mount-group-calls-on-visitor-to-file-police-complaints-against-waqf/2018/02/05/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isjevHHuOeQ

Jordanian Waqf official harassing Jews on the Temple Mount