Israel defies Obama over Jerusalem

That headline is found today in TimesOnline (notice how Jerusalem seems to be in almost every Middle East headline lately?):

"Israel defies Obama"

Israel will defy American pressure to halt the construction of controversial Jewish housing in Arab east Jerusalem, when President Obama meets Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, in the White House today.

The status of the holy city is supposed to be negotiated as part of a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, who want the Arab side of the city to become the future capital of their state. Mr Barkat said that Jerusalem would remain the capital of the Jewish state. It is believed that Israel may be prepared to hold off for a matter of weeks to enable talks to resume with the Palestinians, but has ruled out a permanent freeze.

He was strongly backed last night by Mr Netanyahu, who offered an uncompromising defence of Israeli construction plans in east Jerusalem. "The connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem cannot be denied," he told a conference in Washington. "The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago and they are building Jerusalem today."

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In related news:

"Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not a Settlement: It's our Capital"

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu challenged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s strong anti-united Jerusalem stand and told a cheering American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) crowd Monday night, “Jerusalem is not a settlement; it’s our capital.”


He pointed out that Israel has made constant to the concessions to the United States and Palestinian Authority but drew the red line at Jerusalem, reasoning that building houses for Jews in all of united Jerusalem “in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.”

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Also, a very well done commentary regarding the recent events in Israel:

"Lap dogs and lame ducks"

US President Barack Obama seems to have forgotten who America’s friends are. When it comes to tyrants like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who dismantle their nations’ democracies and throw their political opponents in jail, or worse, Obama embraces them. And when it comes to Middle East dictators, like King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who brutally oppress women, the president of the United States will literally bow before them, (he gave the same treatment to the emperor of Japan, even though Douglas MacArthur forced the emperor to renounce his divinity).

But if you’re the democratically elected prime minister of the Middle East’s only fully functioning democracy, and America’s most reliable ally, the president will sic his secretary of state on you if you don’t cave in to his demands. Who does Obama think Netanyahu is? His poodle?

JEWS SHOULD be allowed to live anywhere in Jerusalem, as should Arabs. Yet Israelis announce that Jewish housing will be added in Jerusalem and it provokes the biggest crisis in American-Israeli relations in recent memory. Meanwhile the Palestinians, led by Mahmoud Abbas, dedicate a square to Dalal Mughrabi, the 19-year-old female terrorist who helped carry out the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history, and the Obama administration barely utters a protest. It’s enough to leave you scratching your head.

Mr. President, stop treating Israel with contempt. By putting all the burden on Israel to make peace, and making no demands on the Arabs to democratize, you not only undermine America’s commitment to liberty but scuttle your own efforts at peace. War between the Arabs and Israelis has raged for six decades because the former have always sought to destroy the latter. Israel has made endless concessions only to see its citizens die.

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In other, prophecy related news:

Iceland volcano eruption intensifies


ID Card for Workers at Center of Immigration Plan

Quotes:

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.


The biggest objections to the biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.

That is exactly right...I believe we will see more and more calls for a national, biometric card for all workers in the United States, especially with "immigration reform" next on the list for legislation in this country. Creating a general "acceptance" for such a card, in my opinion represents an ongoing conditioning for the ultimate identification method - known biblically as "The Mark of the Beast".

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Again, all the news that we see daily now confirm that the world is marching directly into the Tribulation. The stage is being set, the road is being paved and almost all current events gives strong indication that the Tribulation cannot be far off. There is a figure waiting in the wings for his moment to appear on the world stage - a stage that is ready and waiting for his arrival.