I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein. Which Slogan Will Carry Israels Election?Pledges of Affordable Housing or Security Against Terror? DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis December 12, 2014 Electioneering starts for Israels March 17 vote. The average Israeli voter on March 17 may end up with a straight choice between alluring promises of a better life or settling for steady, experienced hands for keeping the country safe. While fed up with the same old faces after six years of governments headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, and frustrated by the soaring cost of living, the average Israeli voter on March 17 may end up with a straight choice between alluring promises of a better life or settling for steady, experienced hands for keeping the country safe The new partnership struck this week between Labour leader Yithzak Herzog and Hatnuah led by former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, tried to catch the two birds in their first public appearance. Addressing the communities abutting the Gaza Strip, they promised to give them the security of which they accused Netanyahu of depriving them. Haim Yellin, Head of the Eshkol District regional council, who has not so far attached himself to any party, retorted dismissively: “It is up to our children to fight terror. The politicians should fight our battles in the diplomatic arena Yellin is remembered from the IDF’s summer campaign in Gaza against Hamas by his cutting criticism of the prime minister for not going far enough to end the Palestinian missile-cum-tunnel-cum-terror blight. may yet be one of the new faces to be picked by one of the lists. The only other fresh face so far taking the stump is Moshe Kahlon,[pictured below] late of Likud, who this week established a new party called Kulanu (All of UsKahlon gained overnight popularity as Netanyahu’s Communications minister by forcing cell phone distributors to compete and lower prices. Even so, he starts out with some drawbacks: He is still shopping for a military or security figure to bolster his list. In general, his support team is not impressive. He travelled to Holland to study how its government was able to house elderly people and help them end their lives with dignity. But this would not solve the pressing problem of the lack of affordable housing for young families working to start their lives. Moshe Kahlon keeps on smiling, whereas the issues he deals with are not terribly funny. Finally, Moshe Kahlon keeps on smiling, whereas the issues he deals with are not terribly funny. By and large, Netanyahu as head of Likud,appears to be achieving his declared goal of forcing the heavily factionalised political parties into major blocs with realistic prospects for gaining office, and doing away with the plethora of hopeless splinters which perennially condemn most governments to foreshortened terms. To achieve this, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu, led legislation to raise the threshold to 3.25 percent. Livni by getting hitched with Herzog saved herself from falling at the threshold. But it is hard to see what Herzog gained, besides having to make room on their joint ticket for a pair of returning Labour old-timers, Amir Peretz and Amram Mitzna, who defected to Livni’s Hatnua when they ran out of steam. Herzog’s strident pledge to form the next government has not gained much substance from this acquisition. Labour-Hatnua is not forecast by private party pollsters to attain more than third or fourth placing in the coming election. The great white hope of the January 2013 ballot, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and his Future party, are proving to be a flash in the pan, plummeting in every opinion poll from 19 Knesset seats (out of 120) to a single digit figure After Livni jilted him to join Herzog – both were sacked by Netanyahu - no other party was willing to sign a surplus vote deal with Lapid. Yair Lapid and his Future party, are proving to be a flash in the pan, plummeting in every opinion poll from 19 Knesset seats to a single digit figure. His own prediction this week that the parties running for election in three months would fall into three major groupings – left-of centre, centre and right – fell short of the true division of strength. Five blocs are in fact getting set for the race: left of centre (Labour + Hatnuah and far-left MeretzKahlon and Lieberman and possibly Lapid); a much fragmented religious bloc; a right-wing grouping (Likud and Habayit Hayehudi) and an Arab front, hammered by the raised threshold into a single Arab entity which could rise from 10-11 seats to 13 or fifteen. The right wing and religious camps are showing cracks under the pressure to form into large groupings. The ultra-religious Shas in particular is in trouble: the former interior minister Ellie Yishay is about to break away over irreconcilable differences with his successor Arye Der’i. Yishay is planning to set up a new religious party, possibly in association with Housing Minister Uri Ariel of the Bayit Yehudi, who is ready for a divorce from the party’s leaderEconomy, Commerce and Religious Affairsminister Naftali Bennett. This new venture has every chance of grabbing half of the support from both their parent parties. This ebb and flow around the main right-wing party Likud is also likely to send refugees seeking haven there and so enhancing Netanyahu’s prospects for another term as prime minister. Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon this week complained that the local media were hostile and had adopted the sloganheard also in Washington: ABB (“Anyone but Bibi But that is not the sum of his difficulties in the three months of electioneering still to go. Bibi faces three more tough hurdles Image fatigue? Bibi faces three more tough hurdles..... 1. Image fatigue. Netanyahu has been around too long and his weaknesses are too familiar to a majority of the electorate, which yearns for a fresh face, although, for lack of suitable optional figures with the right skills and experience, he still leads all the polls as the preferred national leader. 2 He has not yet come up with a campaign strategy, except for defensive responses to his rivals’ aspersions. The prime minister’s aides retorted to the charge that he has fallen short on security by pledging to fight the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Levant – ISIS. That response was both beside the point and absurd. The Netanyahu government is not about to order the IDF to cross borders to strike ISIS bases on foreign soil in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. On the other hand, the strict secrecy that shrouds Israel’s covert military operations in support of anti-Assad rebels in Syria makes little sense and the leaks have started 3. Unforeseen events at home or overseascould upend his campaign at a pivotal point. Members of Barack Obama’s administration have been quoted as determining to go allout to bring Netanyahu down (as we disclosed exclusively on December 6may land some nasty surprises on the candidate’s head in midcampaign The US president has not done too well in hisformer attempts to redesign the political anatomy in Middle East lands. An Israeli failure would not surprise anyone. Acid Attack Near Jerusalem Source; Arutz Sheva 12 December 2014 A terrorist threw acid on a family near southern Jerusalem Friday. Terrorist Throws Acid at Jewish Family Near Jerusalem...... A terrorist threw acid on a family near southern Jerusalem Friday, according to Magen David Adom (MDA). A terrorist approached the Hussan checkpoint in car close to 1:40 pmFriday afternoon and launched acid at civilians standing at a bus stop there. The acid injured a family waiting there - a family from Beitar - including four girls between the ages of 8 and 10 in the lower extremities and the father, about 40, who is suffering from burns to the face. MDA teams treated the injured at the scene; the five have been transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem medical centre in the capital for further treatment. The terrorist was shot by security forces and is wounded; he is now in serious condition Eyewitnesses at the scene told Walla! Newsthat he also was holding a screwdriver in one hand during the attack. Fury as Mention of Israel is Banned from Forthcoming Holocaust Memorial Day in Ireland Algemeiner December 12th The memorial hall at Yad Vashem: mention of Israel has been banned from a forthcoming Holocaust ceremony in Ireland. Photo: Twitter A furore has broken out in Ireland after organizers of the forthcoming Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 2015decided to ban any mention of Israel at the event. “The trustees of Holocaust Educational Trust Ireland (HETI) have instructed the host of the country’s main Shoah memorial event in January ‘not to refer to the Jewish State or the State of Israel during any part of the ceremony’” the London-based Jewish Chronicle newspaper reported. The ban follows a similar bar imposed just days before this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day in Ireland, when long-standing host Yanky Fachler was told to avoid mentioning Israel, the JC said. He reluctantly complied when his objections fell on deaf ears but, afterwards, complained in writing to the organising body, HETI – only to be told the rule will again apply at Januarys event at Dublin Six days later, Fachler received a letter from HETI chair Peter Cassells telling him he was being replaced after 12 years in the job “I felt like I’d been hit very hard in my stomach,” Fachler said. The HETI decision “plays directly into the hands of everyone who doesn’t like Jews or Israel and I find it very sad that apparently the two Jewish members of the board did this,” he said. Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said: “This decision is both reprehensible and unacceptable to the wider Irish Jewish Community and is at complete variance with the stated aims and objectives of the trust. The community is horrified Unity at Any Cost hallindsey 12 December 2014 Many Protestants now identify more closely with Roman Catholic theology than with Martin Luthers Reformation. Prophetic scripture is clear that the coming Antichrist will not rise to power on his own. He will have the help of other figures: Satan, of course, the False Prophet, and The Whore of Babylon We can glean from scripture that The Whore of Babylona name bestowed by God Himself will marshal the co-operation of a major portion of the earths population as it not only acquiesces to the rising man of lawlessness, but actively promotes him Its also quite unmistakable from scripture that that false religious system will be centred in Rome Now, many people will be critical of any implication that this fact presents certain obvious suggestions. I agree. We have to be careful to realize that the scripture is not identifying a particular institution, but rather acorrupted global system that presents itself falsely as true religion Back in 1969, in my book The Late Great Planet Earth, I wrote that in the last days well witness a transformation in the institutional churchesWith increasing frequency the leadership of the denominations will be captured by those who completely reject the historical truths of the Bible and deny doctrines, which according to Christ Himself are crucial to believe in order to be a Christian I also noted, There will be unprecedented mergers of denominations into religious conglomerates.... Most denominations were formed because of deep convictions about certain spiritual truths. As more of these truths are discarded as irrelevant because of unbelief in Biblical authority, there will be no reason to remain divided The reality is that this system must be guided and managed by people -- or a person. It will not operate on its own in a complete vacuum.The recent intensifying of efforts by Pope Francis to reunite the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches is enough to make one sit up and take notice That reunification would put about 15 billion people under the direct control of the Pope If the Protestants -- many of whom now identify more closely with Roman Catholic theology than with Martin Luther -- were to join that coalition, that would mean that more than a third of the worlds population would be
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 08:01:29 +0000
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