Reuters reports: “Beset by questions about Jerusalem’s future in talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached for the Bible to stake out the Jewish state’s contested claim on the city.

Netanyahu told a parliamentary session commemorating Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war that ‘Jerusalem’ and its alternative Hebrew name ‘Zion’ appear 850 times in the Old Testament, Judaism’s core canon.

‘As to how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy scriptures of other faiths, I recommend you check,’ he said.

Citing such ancestry, Israel calls all of Jerusalem its ‘eternal and indivisible’ capital — a designation not recognized abroad, where many powers support Arab claims to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The dispute is further inflamed by the fact East Jerusalem houses al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine, on a plaza that Jews revere as the vestige of two biblical Jewish temples.

Heckled by a lawmaker from Israel’s Arab minority, Netanyahu offered a lesson in comparative religion from the lectern.

‘Because you asked: Jerusalem is mentioned 142 times in the New Testament, and none of the 16 various Arabic names for Jerusalem is mentioned in the Koran. But in an expanded interpretation of the Koran from the 12th century, one passage is said to refer to Jerusalem,’ he said.

Responding to Netanyahu’s citations, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said: ‘I find it very distasteful, this use of religion to incite hatred and fear. East Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian town, and East Jerusalem cannot continue to be occupied if there is to be peace.’…” (Prime Minister Netanyahu found that Jerusalem is mentioned 850 times in the Old Testament. It is also found 142 times in the New Testament for a total of 992 times as he includes Zion, the original name for Jerusalem. Sad that President Obama has promised it to the Muslims whose Koran never mentions Jerusalem even once.)

YnetNews.com reports: “After Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened that Syrian President Bashar Assad will lose his power should he provoke Israel, recent reports of advanced missiles being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah have led to more serious threats being made.

‘We will return Syria back to the Stone Age,’ an Israeli minister was quoted as saying in British paper, the Sunday Times. The paper reported that this sentiment was communicated to Damascus via a third party.

According to the report, the minister, speaking off the record, warned last week that Israel will do so by ‘crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us.’

The reason behind increasing tensions in the Israel-Syria arena broke last week in a report in Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Rai, that the Syrian military trained members of Hezbollah in how to fire advanced Scud ballistic missiles. In response, it has been reported that Israel directed pointed warnings to Syria via Turkey and Qatar that it will attack targets in Syria and Lebanon if the missiles reach Hezbollah.

On this backdrop, the Syrian minister in Washington was summoned for a warning.

Washington has voiced contradictory viewpoints on the Scud issue. The State Department reported that they are ‘very concerned’ by reports of the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah. However, over the weekend, senior administration officials expressed doubt as to whether the Scuds really made their way across the border Syria-Lebanon border.

According to the report in the Sunday Times, Israel ‘now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating.’

As such, Israel has decided to hold Syria directly responsible for Hezbollah’s activities following intelligence assessments that Beirut has lost control over the strengthening Shi’ite organization. Until now, Israel has said that Lebanon will be responsible for any attack made by Hezbollah on Israel…” (Israel could do it. They have one of the most powerful air forces and nuclear centers in the Mid East. Also see Isaiah 17:1.)

YnetNews.com reports: “Syria has threatened to ‘send Israel back to the era of prehistoric man’ if the Jewish state attacks it with unconventional weapons.

A source close to decision-makers in Damascus was quoted by Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai as saying that ‘If Israel uses unconventional weapons, we’ll respond in a similar fashion.’

Earlier, an Israeli minister told the Sunday Times that Syria would be ‘sent back to the Stone Age’ if Hezbollah launches ballistic missiles.

The Syrian official said Damascus has upgraded its military capabilities and has prepared for a number of possible scenarios in case a war against Israel breaks out.

‘Despite the fact that Syria has been outside the cycle of war since 1973, it did not sit idly by for even one day and is still working to develop its capabilities via missiles,’ he was quoted by the Kuwait paper as saying.

The official said Syria has drawn lessons from Hezbollah’s ‘success’ during the Second Lebanon War and has since then developed ‘advanced methods of warfare.’…” (This headline I doubt since Yahveh, Israel’s God fights for His chosen people – Ezekiel 39:6. This text pertaining to Damascus [Syria] predicts that the capital shall become a heap of rubble – Isaiah 17:1.)

Haaretz reports: “Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rida Rahimi warned that Iran would ‘cut off Israel’s feet’ if it attacked Syria, French news agency AFP reported.

‘We will stand alongside Syria against any [Israeli] threat,’ Rahimi told reporters during a news conference with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri in Damascus, adding that ‘If those who have violated Palestinian land want to try anything we will cut off their feet.’

According to AFP, the Iranian vice president said that ‘[Syria is a] strong country that is ready to confront any threat,’ adding that Tehran ‘will back Syria with all its means and strength.’…” (Iran’s windbag forgets that Israel’s God promises His people “an everlasting name” – Isaiah 56:5.)

The Jerusalem Post reports: “Jordan’s King Abdullah reiterated his warning to Israel over its policies in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

‘Israel is playing with fire concerning Jerusalem and it must stop all unilateral moves in the occupied territories,’ said the Jordanian monarch.

In a meeting with journalists in Jordan, Abdullah added that the onus was on Israel when it came to making peace with the Arab and Muslim world.

‘Israel has to choose between life behind walls, and living in peace with all Arab and Muslim countries on the basis of the Arab peace initiative,’ he said. ‘This can be achieved by withdrawals from occupied Arab land and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.’…” (The onus [burden of proof] about Jordan’s prediction will undoubtedly fail, instead Israel will be protected by her God Yahveh – Ezekiel 39:6; Zechariah 14:12.)

Haaretz reports: “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Obama administration to impose a solution to the Middle East conflict that would give his people an independent state.

‘Mr. President [Barack Obama] and members of the American administration, since you believe in this [an independent Palestinian state], it is your duty to take steps toward a solution and to impose this solution,’ Abbas said in a speech.

Abbas made the remarks to members of his Fatah party in the West Bank city of Ramallah a day after talks there with Obama’s Middle East envoy. George Mitchell is in the region to try to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

‘We’ve asked them [the Obama administration] more than once: ‘Impose a solution,’‘ Abbas said.

Abbas also rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state within temporary borders, an idea he said was recently proposed for restarting peace talks.

In his speech, Abbas referred to recent proposals – apparently from Israel – for a temporary state but did not elaborate. Frankly, we will not accept the state with temporary borders, because it is being offered these days, he said…” (If Obama is the final leader of the New World Order, he definitely will force Israel and the Palestinians to the bargaining table by withholding America’s funds for Israel’s disobedience – Daniel 8:23; Daniel 7:23.)

Haaretz reports: “U.S. President Barack Obama told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he was committed to seeing the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state within two years, an Egyptian official told the Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat.

Obama promised Abbas that the United States would make great effort to help see that Palestinian goal achieved, the official told the London-based newspaper.

The official also told Al-Hayat that Israel had rejected special U.S. envoy George Mitchell’s proposal to withdraw Israel Defense Forces troops from Palestinian-occupied sections of the West Bank, as it did on the eve of the Second Intifada in 2000.

According to the report, Israel told Mitchell that it could not guarantee such a move before beginning direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

In place of withdrawing troops, the official told Al-Hayat, Israel offered other goodwill gestures, such as removing checkpoints and releasing certain Palestinian prisoners.

Last week, Abbas urged the Obama administration to impose a solution to the Middle East conflict that would give his people an independent state, and rejected the idea of creating a state within temporary borders…” (Who but a dictator could make such promises and fulfill them – Daniel 9:27; Isaiah 28:15; Daniel 8:25; and I Thessalonians 5:3.)

Voice of America News reports: “On the eve of Israel’s 62nd Independence Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the nation must not rely on the help of foreigners. He was quoting from the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl.

Mr. Netanyahu told the Cabinet that according to Herzl, Israel can rely only on itself.

Commentators say it is a clear reference to Israeli ties with the United States, which have plummeted over Jewish construction in disputed in East Jerusalem. The U.S. backs Palestinian demands that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

But Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital, and Mr. Netanyahu, who heads a right-wing government, has rejected U.S. demands to stop building there. As a result, the Palestinians have refused to return to U.S.-sponsored peace talks, and the diplomatic process has been deadlocked for 15 months…” (Don’t be forced into doing what is against your Torah, the Word of God, Mr. Netanyahu, to do so is wrong and dangerous, – Joel 3:2.)

Haaretz reports: “World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has publically questioned U.S. President Barack Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security, in a letter he reportedly drafted with the approval of his close friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘Our great country and the tiny State of Israel have long shared the core values of freedom and democracy,’ wrote Lauder, in a letter published as an advertisement in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

‘It is a bond much treasured by the Jewish people. In that spirit I submit, most respectfully, that it is time to end our public feud with Israel and to confront the real challenges that we face together,’ wrote Lauder.

In his letter, Lauder asks why the Obama administration has taken such a critical stance toward Israel amid efforts to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.

‘Why does the thrust of this administration’s Middle East rhetoric seem to blame Israel for the lack of movement on peace talks? After all, it is the Palestinians, not Israel, who refuse to negotiate,’ wrote Lauder.

‘Can it be true that America is no longer committed to a final status agreement that provides defensible borders for Israel? Is a new course being charted that would leave Israel with the indefensible borders that invited invasion prior to 1967?’…” (Under numerous presidencies since Harry Truman Israel has been secure. Under Obama, the situation is in turmoil, the worse in 35 years – Jeremiah 30:7; II Kings 17:34.)