Can Israel Mediate an End to the Ukraine War?: Israel is well positioned to again become a go-between between Russia and Ukraine, an effort that could further elevate its international status. (JNS) The war in Ukraine precipitated tensions between Washington and Moscow that impaired their ability to talk to each other directly. Diplomatic sources leaked that in the first telephone call between new Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his counterpart Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State asked Cohen to “relay messages” to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It seems that Washington sees Jerusalem as appropriate for playing a mediator role in ending the continuous war in Ukraine. Israel is a good candidate for the job. Russia has good relations with Israel, which Moscow considers a crucial regional player with considerable influence in the US, while Washington sees Israel as a trusted ally. It is worth noting that Israel hosted an unprecedented trilateral meeting in Jerusalem in May 2019 of the national security advisers of Russia, America and Israel (John Bolton, Nikolai Patrushev and Meir Ben-Shabbat). Israel’s old-new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a warm personal relationship with both US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Furthermore, Russia is pleased that Israel is unwilling to provide Ukraine with all items on its military equipment shopping list. Even if it is not successful, an attempt to end the tragedy of Ukraine appears to everyone as a noble mission. The prospects for a successful mediation by Israel are not good. However, the process of mediation has certain advantages. Therefore, if the US has asked Israel to mediate, Jerusalem should comply. https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/can-israel-mediate-an-end-to-the-ukraine-war/ Get Over It: Israel Tells US That Jewish Settlement Will Continue: New Netanyahu gov’t informs American ambassador it will push forward with “necessary” building in biblical heartland. Israel’s new government has openly rejected the Biden administration’s demand that it refrain from expanding Jewish settlements and extending Israeli sovereignty over the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. In a meeting this week with US Ambassador Tom Nides, the chair of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, did not mince words: “I expressed to the ambassador my clear position regarding the need for construction in the areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria. The families there are developing and it’s impossible to put their lives on hold. Construction should continue.” His remarks echoed those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days earlier when he stressed that the Jewish people have “an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel.” The Palestinian Authority has also signaled that it will not change course in the face of international pressure, and will continue encouraging terrorist violence against Israel and the Jewish people. Hussein Al-Sheikh, the secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, the body that is the power behind the Palestinian Authority, addressed a gathering earlier this month with these inflammatory words: “Even if we have one penny left, it will be spent on the families of the martyrs and prisoners…They are our purest, most permanent, loftiest, and most precious jewel.” The Palestinian Authority’s policy of paying generous monthly stipends to the families of these “martyrs” and “prisoners” is one of the primary obstacles to peace, as it provides a major incentive to engage in anti-Israel violence. https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/get-over-it-israel-tells-us-that-jewish-settlement-will-continue/ Foxes on Mount Zion bring biblical book of Lamentations to life: rare sighting of a fox running across Mount Zion conjured up images described in the Book of Lamentations Tuesday morning. Jewish tradition teaches that the appearance of foxes on the Temple Mount is proof that the Third Temple shall be built. “I only saw one fox but I assume that there are more in the area,” said Joshua Wander, a resident of the Mount of Olives, who spotted the animal running through the cemetery. “It is definitely unusual to see them,” he added. “That’s why I filmed it. It’s something that I rarely see. Maybe it’s a sign.” The image of foxes on the Temple Mount was described in the Book of Lamentations, which some Biblical scholars believe was written by the Prophet Jeremiah. Because of Mount Tzion, which lies desolate; Jackals prowl over it. Lamentations 5:18 The Hebrew word used in this verse (שׁוּעָלִים) is most accurately translated as ‘foxes.’ This verse appears in the fifth and final chapter of Lamentations which culminates in the prophecy that Jerusalem will return to its former days of glory. ‘Arab’ Christians Say Integration With Israel Can’t Be Stopped: The Arabic-speaking (though ethnically Aramean) Christian community in Israel celebrated on Monday the promotion to the rank of Major of one of its own in the Israel Defense Forces. More and more local Christians have been volunteering for the IDF in recent years as groups like the Israel Christian Community (ICCI) encourage military service as the best way to integrate into the Jewish state. In recent years, local Christians have reclaimed their Aramean heritage, and eschewed the Arab identity imposed upon them during the Muslim conquest. Some years back, the State of Israel responded by officially recognizing the Aramean ethnicity and allowing local Christians to have that imprinted on their national ID cards. “The Aramean Christian community has existed in the Land of Israel from time immemorial. Jesus and his Jewish family from the line of King David spoke Aramaic, as did all the residents of the Galilee region at that time. Only later did the Israeli Christian population go through a brutal forced process of Arabization following the 7th-century Muslim conquest. “Jews and Christians, from those early times and until today, share a common holy book. Both trace their spiritual origins to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), and to the book of the prophets. Both pray and sing from the Psalms of King David, and many of our prayers are very similar in content, especially regarding our views of the outside world and other peoples." “More than that, we share a common ancestry. Abraham and his line were Aramean (see Deuteronomy 26:5). It is no coincidence that Christianity, which was birthed from Judaism, was first adopted by our people, and from this region spread to the whole world.” https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/arab-christians-say-integration-with-israel-cant-be-stopped/ The unhinged reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government represents a crisis for the Jewish people both in Israel and in the Diaspora. This crisis is not principally over the divisions that have obviously opened up within the Jewish world. It is over the fact that so many Israelis and Diaspora Jews have now shown that they have only the shallowest understanding of what being the Jewish people actually means. The histrionics of this reaction defy belief. Words and phrases like “criminal,” “authoritarian,” “morally corrupt” and “fascist” are being bandied about to describe the new government, even though it has done nothing criminal, authoritarian, corrupt or fascist. Indeed, it has hardly done anything at all yet, since it only came into existence three weeks ago. One of the most imbecilic poses being struck, by no less than former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, among others, is telling the public to overturn the government to save Israeli democracy. But the only people threatening democracy are those inciting civil war to overturn a government that has been democratically elected by the people. Yet just as with former U.S. President Donald Trump, the government’s members have been written off as irreparably beyond the pale. And shockingly, that’s because they intend to promote the particular interests of the Jewish people rather than the agenda of liberal universalism. Since the objectors are liberal universalists who believe they alone can save the world, they assume that everything they do is moral. Anybody who dissents is not just wrong but evil. Progressive American rabbis and a number of Jewish philanthropists and organizations are now threatening to withdraw funding and support from Israel. Their arrogance is astounding. From their safe distance thousands of miles away, they have no understanding of the realities of life in Israel. What has brought this government to power is the deep desire by Israelis for a more robust defense of Jewish identity and security. https://www.israel365news.com/365739/the-unhinged-reaction-to-the-new-israeli-government-opinion/ Netanyahu Vows ‘Strong, Swift,’ Response to Deadliest Palestinian Terror Attack in Over a Decade: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night vowed a “strong, swift, precise” response to two deadly terror attacks in Jerusalem, and proposed stripping Arab attackers with Israeli citizenship of their social security benefits in addition to arming more Israeli civilians. Seven people were murdered, including children, in a terrorist shooting attack on Friday evening in Jerusalem’s Neve Ya’akov neighborhood while they were leaving a synagogue after Shabbat services. The attack occurred on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The terrorist, identified as Alqam Khayri, a 21-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem, was shot dead by police while attempting to flee. A second attack took place the morning after when a 13-year-old terrorist opened fire on a group of Israelis outside the Old City of Jerusalem, severely wounding two people, a father and son. The younger victim, an off-duty soldier, managed to shoot the terrorist, as did another member of the group, wounding him. “Whoever tries to harm us – we will harm him, and those who help him,” Netanyahu said at the start of an emergency meeting of the security cabinet. “We will seal and demolish terrorists’ houses in an expedited fashion, in order to exact an additional price from those who supported terrorism. This process already started yesterday and is in progress,” Netanyahu said. He said the cabinet would discuss expediting the procedure by which Israelis can receive gun licenses, which in Israel is known for being a laborious process that is hindered by excessive red tape. The cabinet was also slated to discuss removing national insurance benefits from terrorists who hold Israeli citizenship or residency rights. Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai called on Israelis with firearm licenses to carry their guns. Palestinians Celebrate Deadly Terror Attack with Candy, Fireworks, ‘Allahu Akbar’: Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza erupted with rejoicing with cries of “Allahu Akbar,” gunfire and fireworks in celebration of a deadly terror attack in Jerusalem that killed seven people and wounded several others. It was the deadliest Palestinian terror attack on Israelis since 2008. Videos posted to social media showed hundreds of Palestinians in at least 7 different cities marching and chanting in the streets, honking cars, firing rounds into the air from rifles, handing out candy, and igniting fireworks in jubilation over the terrorist attack. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement on Saturday saying it holds Israel “fully responsible for the dangerous escalation” in violence, while failing to mention the two terror attacks. It also referred to the Palestinian terrorists as “martyrs.” The Palestinian Authority announced it would be cutting security cooperation with Israel as a result of the raid. From KS Rajan on Five Doves: Christians at Temple Mount forced to wear humiliating yellow garment: (ISRAEL365 NEWS) -- Some Christian tourists visiting the Temple Mount have been forced by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf to wear garments adorned with bright yellow stripes, some Israeli tour guides have denounced. The choice of color does not appear to be a coincidence, as in the past yellow garments symbolized non-Muslims’ diminished status in the world of Islam. The Waqf is the Jordanian entity that has a custodial status at Jerusalem’s holy sites. The Temple Mount is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands. Non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit the compound where the Holy Temple of Jerusalem used to stand only under severe restrictions. About two months ago, a Norwegian Pastor who prefers to remain anonymous led a group of 35 Christian tourists on a visit to Israel. The pastor arrived a week ahead of the group to prepare for the trip. He ascended to the Temple Mount with three Christian women. When they arrived, representatives of the Waqf approached the group and instructed them to wear special garments they provided. The long brown garment covered their entire body and they were also required by the Waqf to wear a large head covering. The garments had a prominent yellow stripe running down the sides. https://www.wnd.com/2023/01/christians-temple-mount-forced-wear-humiliating-yellow-garment/ Starts @ 2:17 - Fair Use - Amir Tsarfati: Following more rocket firing from Gaza the Israeli Air Force is striking Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in that area! More rockets are launched from Gaza. The IDF spokesman updates: fighter jets attacked a production and storage site for chemical raw materials used by the rocket manufacturing system of the Hamas terrorist organization as well as a site for the production of weapons, both located in the center of the Gaza Strip.
The “martyrs” and “prisoners” he referred to are Palestinian terrorists who have been killed or jailed as a result of attacking Israeli Jews.
So far none hit Israel. All were intercepted by Iron Dome.
