In the news...

"Israel hovers between war and peace"

Key Quotes:

Palestinian policy is clear-cut: get an internationally recognized state - with or without Israeli acceptance - by the end of end 2011. They know that the European Union is already on board with that calendar, and believe the US would move closer to accepting that approach, should Netanyahu continue to opt for obduracy.

Rightwing ideologues, the dominant force in the Netanyahu government, on the other hand, say Obama is gradually moving towards acquiescing in an Iranian bomb, and that Israel eventually will be left on its own to confront the threat.

There is that phrase that we keep seeing over and over, "...internationally recognized (palestinian) state - with or without Israeli acceptance"

This is verbiage that we have seen from the EU and from the usual terrorist groups surrounding Israel, and now the U.S. may be in this camp. Amazing. To think that the "nations" can divide Jerusalem, create new Israeli borders and a terrorist based "neighbor" state - all without the consent of Israel. I have to wonder what God thinks of this plan...On second thought, we know exactly how God feels about this - He clearly stated His opinion in Zechariah 12.

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"Berlin (EU) criticizes Israeli settlement policy"

EU foreign ministers universally condemned Israeli policies at a meeting on Monday in Brussels, but remained at odds on how to put more pressure on the country

But Carolin Goerzig, an analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris, told Deutsche Welle that if the EU wants to increase its leverage on Israel in order to stop the building of further settlements, the bloc should engage greater discussion with Hamas.

Unbelievable. Discuss the "peace plan" with the terrorist group who has been launching missiles into Israeli cities - civilian areas - and has formal statements which include calls for the total annihilation of Israel? Can this be serious? Unfortunately, in this world, during this age in which we are living - it is possible.

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"Israel threatens to block peace talks for a year"

Washington’s relations with Israel appeared to have reached a new low last night as the White House imposed a virtual news blackout on a meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that followed an Israeli threat to delay peace talks by a year.

The meeting followed a similarly awkward encounter between Mr Netanyahu and Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, which was moved to the Prime Minister’s hotel suite at the last minute to keep it closed to reporters

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It appears that U.S.-Israeli relationships are continuing to decline.

Also see a related article:

"Netanyahu, Clinton show no sign that Israeli-US gap has narrowed"


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And last but not least:


"Israel, undeterred, to build in East Jerusalem"

In a move sure to anger Palestinians and frustrate Western proponents of a freeze on settlement construction, a city official said approval was given to develop a flashpoint neighborhood from which Palestinians were evicted last year.

...on Monday he insisted before an audience of influential American Jews that "Jerusalem is our capital" and building will continue there as Israel sees fit.

n a comparatively rare public complaint, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday asked major powers involved in Middle East peace-making for "clarifications about Israel's arrogant policy and its insistence on defying international will."

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This situation is like watching two trains headed for a collision. The only question is when will the "collision" occur. As stated before, I believe its highly possible, if not probable that the upcoming summer months will have significant warfare in the region - whether it starts with Hamas (Gaza), Hezbollah (northern border), Syria (Golan Heights and Lebanon), or Iran. Pick one. Based upon the current rhetoric - it is hard to imagine that we can endure the summer months without seeing major conflict.

We shall see - summer is just around the corner.