PA GOVERNMENT SHAKEUP PLANNED NEXT WEEL!
by Hana Levi Julian
(Arutz Sheva News)

The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority is allegedly headed for a major shakeup next week; Prime Minister Salam Fayyad may be tasked with forming a new government.

Fatah parliament speaker Azzam Al-Ahmad told the Bethelehem-based Ma’an news agency on Tuesday that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is conducting talks with all of the PA factions in Judea and Samaria to discuss the structure of the new government.

However, although Abbas is setting up the structure of the new government, it is Fayyad, or possibly “another politician” that will be tasked with forming a new coalition, according to Al-Ahmad.

He added that regardless of who becomes Prime Minister or what the composition of the new government will be, it will “remain affiliated to Fatah” and “strictly follow Fatah party policies.”

New PA government elections were originally scheduled for January, but were postponed by Abbas, who rescheduled the polls for early June, and then reportedly deferred them indefinitely. Likewise the current government shakeup, which was first considered in February, according to media reports, and then again proposed by Fayyad in April just before the launch of indirect talks with Israel.

Fayyad: Future Leader or Victim?

Fayyad, who majored in economics during his university years in the United States, also worked for the World Bank and has built a network of contacts that has served him well in the global arena.

He was hand-picked by the Bush administration to build the PA government’s economic and administrative infrastructure in hopes of preparing it to accept the responsibility of national leadership, should a final status agreement be inked with Israel.

However, Fayyad is not a member of Fatah – in fact, he is an independent, and not necessarily subject to the whims of the “old guard” that surrounds Abbas and his cronies, a status that might eventually cost him his life.

According to a senior PA intelligence agent recently quoted by Arab activist and writer Fadi Elsalameen, there are elements in both Fatah and the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization that are quietly plotting to kill the PA Prime Minister.

The agent, identified only as “J,” explained to Elsalameen, “Fatah wants the Ministry of Finance, and Fayyad refuses and threatens to resign every time they bring this up. No one has loyalty to him.”

The writer, who runs the PalestineNote.com web site, observed, “The fact that Fatah and Hamas could disagree on every national agenda item, but agree on the elimination of Fayyad, is sinister and telling. If Palestine is to be established as a legitimate state, dirty backroom dealings to squeeze out an inflexible political element must come to an end.”

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BINYAMIN NETANYAHU AND JORDANIAN KING ABDULLAH CONDUCT RARE AND SECRET MEETING!
(IsraelNationalNews)

The two hour long meeting was not made public until after its conclusion and was described by the Prime Minister as “very positive”.

During the meeting, Netanyahu told Abdullah that Israel believes it is time for direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and expressed his belief that such negotiations are also in the interest of all moderate Arab countries. King Abdullah said during the conversation that peace is the only way in which to achieve security and stability and as such called for all unilateral moves to that delay peace to end.

Speaking of his meeting with the Jordanian king at the site of the National Security College’s graduation ceremony in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said: “We must have peace agreements that include a solution to the threats against us, because we do not want to repeat what happened when we withdrew from Lebanon and got an Iranian military base in the north, and we do not want to have what happened in Gaza, where a southern Iranian enclave was created with increasing armament.”

The two leaders also discussed ways for Israel and Jordan to cooperate in the fields of economy, energy, and transportation. Of particular significance was their discussion of collaboration between the two countries that would see a railroad linking Eilat, Aqaba and Ashdod.

“I told the king of Jordan that we are going to connect the State of Israel with a network of roads and trains, and that we are starting to build a valley train from Haifa to the Jordan Valley,” said Netanyahu. King Abdullah said, “We are also building a train to the same area, let’s connect.”

Tuesday’s meeting was not the first surprise meeting between the two leaders. In May 2009, Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to Jordan. During that meeting, Abdullah demanded that Netanyahu “immediately declare his commitment to a two-state solution, declare acceptance of the Arab peace initiative and to take necessary steps to move forward toward a solution.” He also said that Israel must open all crossings into Gaza.

In the past year, the Jordanian king has voiced some anti-Israel remarks. Last May, he warned that following discussions with US President Barack Obama that war will break out within 18 months if Israel does not accept the Saudi Arabian 2002 Peace Plan. In April of this year, the king warned that the status of Jerusalem could blow up into another war and stated that Jordan was better off economically before it made peace with Israel in 1994. He also said at the time: “I think the long-term future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems. Fifty-seven countries in the world, a third of the United Nations, do not recognize Israel. In a way, I think North Korea has better international relations than Israel.”

Netanyahu summarized Tuesday’s meeting by saying that Jordan has a great significance in promoting peace and that King Abdullah constitutes an essential factor of the process to achieve peace.

BARAK WARMS ISRAEL WILL ATTACK LEBANON IF HIZBULLAH STARTS WAR!
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(Arutz Sheva News)

Israel will consider Lebanese government buildings and bases a target if Hizbullah starts up another war against Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Monday.

The Defense Minister revealed that then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Ehud Olmert, when he was Prime Minister in 2006 and asked him not to touch what Barak called the “precious government” of Beirut.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Post, Defense Minister Barak added, “We didn’t attack it. I think that they’re responsible for what happens, and if it happens that Hizbullah will shoot into Tel Aviv, we will not run after each Hizbullah terrorist or launcher of some rocket in all Lebanon. We’ll see the government of Lebanon responsible for what happens, and for what happens within its government, its body politic, and its arsenal of munitions. And we will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese State, not just to the Hizbullah.”

Barak also warned the United States “that the walls between the Lebanese armed forces and Hizbullah—it’s quite porous. And whatever you give the Lebanese armed forces might end up in the hands of Hizbullah, be it technology or weapons or whatever. “The Obama Administration recently announced it is giving the Beirut government $100 million in military aid.

Barak also admitted—perhaps for the first time publicly—that his order in 2000 for a sudden pullout of Israeli forces from Lebanon enabled Hizbullah to prepare for war against Israel.

“We pulled out and ended up with an area full of rockets and missiles,” he admitted. “We did it next in Gaza and ended up with an area full of rockets covering Tel Aviv as well as other parts of the south and half of Israel. And within the framework of considering an agreement with the Palestinians that will establish a Palestinian State side by side with Israel, we should make clear that the three underlying principles of our security are fully assured, namely the West Bank will not become like Gaza and southern Lebanon, another launching pad for rockets against the coastal plain of Israel.”

The Defense Minister is currently in Washington, and he said that he will be talking with the U.S. Defense Department and military officials about American arms sales to Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.

“There are considerations in Washington about moving forward with major deals with our neighbors and we want to make sure that we are in an understanding with the Obama Administration.

“We understand the American need, under the strategy of the Administration, to kind of strengthen the moderate Arab countries facing the same threat from hegemonic Iran. But, at the same time, we have a tradition of understanding with following administrations to keep Israel’s superiority in weapons’ systems and munitions.”

The Defense Minister also will discuss the prospective purchase of the advanced F-35 fighter jet. Reports last week indicated that the sale was imminent. Barak said, “We will have to make the final decisions in relatively short time,” but he pointed out that Israel needs “to be able to participate in production of some parts in our industry as well as making sure that we can continue keeping our real military edge.”

Turning to Iran, the Defense Minister said that the United States and Israel are closer than ever to sharing the same diagnosis unlike the previous situation whereby the NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] declared three years ago that Iran has suspended its quest for nuclear weapons.

“I think that basically it’s still time for sanctions. Probably at a certain point we should realize that sanctions cannot work,” he said.

OBAMA WARNS ABBAS: “START TALKS OR ELSE!”
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNationalNews)

A secret 36-page memo based on Obama Administration statements indicates that the President warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to start direct talks with Israel or risk losing American support for the recognition of the PA as a country.

The Associated Press reported it has possession of the document, under the letterhead of the Palestinian Negotiations Department and which indicates the warning came from President Barack Obama via U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

It shows that the Obama Administration has resigned itself to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu remaining head of Israel’s coalition government. “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is not in political danger of being replaced,” the document states.

It adds that Abbas is under pressure from both the Arab world and within the PA, whereby his consent to direct talks with Israel would be “political suicide” for him. However, the document warns, “Abbas needs to accept direct talks now if he wants President Obama’s help in facilitating statehood.” The memo says that PA advisors are in favor of rejecting the American ultimatum.

Abbas told PA media on Sunday that he is resisting pressure from “the entire world” to concede his long-stated condition that Netanyahu extend the 10-month building freeze that expires in late September.

Senior Cabinet ministers as well as the Prime Minister have clearly stated they will not extend the freeze. Political support for the coalition is strong, with even the center-left Israeli media generally recognizing that the PA keeps adding on new conditions for direct talks.

Abbas has in effect insisted on acceptance of a proposed PA state without negotiations on any substantial issues, such as the status of Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abbas have been blaming each other for the failure to sit down for direct talks. “We have negotiated with Israeli governments before, more than once. Why would we avoid such talks? We are not,” Abbas told reporters after discussions with King Abdullah in Jordan.

Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated on Monday his oft-stated declaration that he is ready to meet Abbas immediately without pre-conditions. “We have an understanding with the Americans that we need to move now, without any delay, to direct negotiations, but in response, we have a clear Palestinian attempt to avoid this process,” Netanyahu said. “They are trying to stall and to sneak away from direct negotiations and to cause the Arab League to shackle the talks.”

The secret memo from Washington indicates clearly that President Obama has given up on pressing Israel for any more concessions, which Jerusalem has made on a regular basis since the Roadmap Plan was announced by former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002.

The memo puts the Palestinian Authority in the unaccustomed position of having to compromise or “going for broke” by continuing its previously announced strategy of waiting for the United States to declare the PA as a new Arab country within Israel’s borders.

State Department officials would not confirm the exact language of the memo, but said, “This indeed illustrates where we are.”

PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said the memo is not entirely accurate, but confirmed that American officials told Abbas that he has to sit down with Israel “if he wants Obama to help.”

AIR FORCE ITS GAZA WEAPONS PLANT FOLLOWING ATTACKS
by Maayana Miskin (IsraelNationalNews)

The Israel Air Force demolished a weapons plant in northern Gaza early on Monday morning. The operation came in response to recent attacks by Gaza terrorists on Israelis in the western Negev.

Planes also took out two smuggling tunnels along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Pilots reported direct hits, and all planes returned safely back to base.

The IDF released its usual statement for such incidents, saying, “The IDF will not tolerate attacks on Israeli citizens or IDF soldiers, and will respond with determination and strength to any entity using terrorism against the state of Israel.” The statement also noted that “the IDF sees the Hamas terrorist organization as bearing sole responsibility for what happens in Gaza, and for maintaining quiet in the area.”

On Sunday, terrorists fired at least four rockets and mortar shells at communities in the Gaza belt region. One of the weapons used in the attacks was more advanced than the usual rockets; experts who examined the rocket found that it was produced outside Gaza and smuggled in.

On Sunday evening, an IDF reserves force arrested five Palestinian Authority Arabs near the Jewish town of Elon Moreh in Samaria. The five are thought to have been on their way to commit a terrorist attack.
Soldiers arrested an additional terrorist overnight.

TABLET DISCOVERED BY HEBREW UNIVERSITY - MATCHES CODE OF HAMMURABI
by INN Staff courtesy of Hebrew University

For the first time in Israel, a document has been uncovered containing a law code that parallels portions of the famous Code of Hammurabi. The code is written on fragments of a cuneiform tablet, dating from the 18th-17th centuries B.C.E in the Middle Bronze Age, that were found in Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeological excavations this summer at Hazor, south of Kiryat Shmonah, in northern Israel.

The Hazor excavations, known as the Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin, are under the direction of Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman of the Hebrew University Institute of Archeology. Previous excavations were directed at the site by the late Prof. Yigael Yadin in the 1950s and 1960s.

The fragments that have now been discovered, written in Akkadian cuneiform script, refer to issues of personal injury law relating to slaves and masters, bring to mind similar laws in the famous Babylonian Hammurabi Code of the 18th century B.C.E. that were found in what is now Iran over 100 years ago. The laws also reflect, to a certain extent, Biblical laws of the type of “a tooth for tooth,” say the researchers.

The Hazor law code fragments are being prepared for publication by a team headed by Prof. Wayne Horowitz of the Hebrew University Institute of Archeology. Thus far, words that have been deciphered include “master,” “slave,” and a word referring to bodily parts, apparently the word for “tooth.” The style of the text is similar to that of the Hammurabi Code, said Prof. Horowitz.

“At this stage, it is difficult to determine whether this document was actually written at Hazor, where a school for scribes was located, or brought from somewhere else,” said Prof. Horowitz. He said that this latest discovery opens an interesting avenue for possible further investigation of a connection between Biblical law and the Code of Hammurabi.

These two fragments are the 18th and 19th cuneiform finds from the Hazor excavations, which now form the largest corpus of documents of cuneiform texts found in Israel. Previous documents dealt with such subjects as the dispatch of people or goods, a legal dispute involving a local woman, and a text of multiplication tables. “These tablets point to Hazor’s importance as a major center for administration and scholarship in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages,” said Prof. Ben-Tor.

The Hazor excavations, sponsored by the Hebrew University and the Israel Exploration Society, take place within the Hazor National Park. The archaeological team is presently about to begin uncovering a monumental building dating to the Bronze Age, where they expect to recover additional tablets.

GOD’S PROMISES TO ISRAEL!
(Editor’s Note)

It is easy to be discouraged at the changing attitudes of the US Administration toward the State of Israel. We support the Biblical and historical right of Israel to its land, and recognize that the promises of God to Israel will be fullfilled.

The covenant God made to Abraham involves three things:
1. NATION
2. LAND
3. DESCENDANT WHO WILL BLESS THE WORLD (MESSIAH)

The promises of God to Abraham are repeated to his son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob - the recipients of this covenant include the physical descendants of these “fathers” of Israel, and also, through the coming “seed (descendant) of Abraham” - the entire world!

These promises are UNUSUAL in that they do not depend upon the performance of those to whom God made this covenant. They are also IMMUTABLE (unchangeable) because they are based on the immutable character of God Himself and the oath He gave them (read Hebrews 6:13-20).

These promises are also UNENDING - the Bible speaks of the “everlasting covenant” of God! They will never be broken, cancelled, or annulled!

In these days of chaos, confusion, uncertainty, and LIES, it is imperative that we turn again to the Bible. It is the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible - that will set our country free again and its leaders with moral courage to do what God commands! May God bless us all as we seek the Lord with all our hearts!

Subject: Shabbat Shalom - These words are spoken by Jewish people to one another on every Sabbath Day (beginning at sundown on Friday night and continuing to sundown on Saturday night. In Jewish synagogues portions of the Torah (five books of Moses) are always read, and often there is a commentary by the Rabbi concerning the passage that is being read. In Israel, Sondra Baras of the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities writes a column on the Shabat reading for the day. Today, following the honoring of Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning the loss of the Jewish Temples of Solomon and the Second Temple of Herod. She writes about the Ten Commandments and comments on an interesting difference between the listings of those commandments.

The Torah portion for today is from Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

There is a spirit of optimism in the air, regardless of the current war or anything else that is happening. After the weekly Torah portion, we read Chapter 40 of Isaiah, which begins with the words “Comfort my people, comfort them.” And we, indeed, feel comforted.

The Torah portion is uplifting as well. For in this week’s portion, we read the Ten Commandments, as repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy. For this section of the Torah reading the entire congregation stands, as if to relive that incredible experience at Mt. Sinai so many centuries ago.

Much has been said about the differences between the wording in both versions of the Ten Commandments — this one and the one that is recorded in Exodus 20. I would like to focus on one difference and an ancient traditional interpretation that guides so much of what we do to this day.

The commandment regarding the Sabbath, Shabbat, begins in Exodus with the words: “Remember the Sabbath Day.” In Deuteronomy, the verse reads: “Keep the Sabbath Day.” The Midrash states that both of these first words, Keep and Remember, were actually uttered by G-d simultaneously, but the human ear is incapable of hearing this. Therefore, as Moses repeats the commandments he says each word separately, once in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy.

Our sages carried this idea further and explained the inherent difference between these two words. Remember is a positive word and in fact refers to all those acts that we do on the Sabbath day to remind us of the meaning of the day. Foremost among these is the Kiddush ceremony. Friday night and Saturday noon, we say a special blessing on a cup of wine before beginning the festive meal. The actual blessing is preceded by reciting Scripture. In the evening, we recite Genesis 2:1-3. The following day, we recite the verses regarding the Sabbath from the Ten Commandments in Exodus. Through the Kiddush we sanctify the day and remind ourselves of its significance.

The word “keep” implies a negative — preserve the day, watch it, so that it not be desecrated. It is this word that reminds us of the commandments to refrain from work (Deuteronomy 5:14), to refrain from cooking (Exodus 35:3) and so many other commandments.

But the fact that these words were said together, that both messages were communicated by G-d to His people in the Ten Commandments indicates that both are key to observance of the Shabbat. On the one hand, we refrain from doing so many of our normal everyday activities. If this were all that Shabbat was about, it would end up being a day of restrictions, of “don’ts” and “better nots”. But it is a day of remembrance of G-d as the creator, and of the special day He has given to us to celebrate. By the same token, just remembering is not enough either. Without setting ourselves apart from our business concerns, we cannot possibly create the atmosphere necessary for the remembrance.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Jewish people desiring to honor the name of God, do not spell it as English-speaking christians would do - instead, they write “G-d” - they also do this with the word “Lord” and write “L-rd” - they are, in fact, respecting, honoring, and worshipping the nature and abilities of the LORD GOD OF ISRAEL!)

FBI TARGETS ONLINE TERROR AS IT CLOSES 70,000 BLOGS!
by Maayana Miskin

The United States Feberal Bureau of Investigation has targeted online terrorism, and as a result has shut down over 70,000 blogs! The heads of BurstNet technologies, which were behind the shutdown, say they were told by FBI agents that the blogs included links to terrorist material.

Among the terroist materials taken offline were bomb-making instructions and a list of Americans targeted for assassination, BurstNet said. The terrorist material may have been linked to the pro-terror online magazine “INSPIRE” which is connected to Al-Qaeda.

BurstNet shut down the Blogetery web site, which provides the blogging. Company representatives stated that the FBI did not require them to take Blagetery offline altogether, but that they did so due to the site’s previous violations of terms of service. Representatives argued that the number of blogs shut down was far less that the 73,000 claimed by Blogetery.

The US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee met in May to discuss the problem of online terrorism. Many members of the committee expressed deep concern over terrorist recruitment online.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Obama Administration that “home grown and lone-wolf extremists” are as great a potential danger as Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist networks.

Incredible as it sounds, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that because of the influence of US President Barack Hussein Obama, many American Jews are now on his side and supporting his cause. Abbas believes that President Obama is going to “turn up the pressure” on Israel. The information he was trusting was certain lobbyists in Washington DC who told him that some American Jews were standing with him in his analysis of the struggle for peace with Israel. It is another example of the kind of propaganda that comes from the Palestinian Authority - American Jews still support Israel - that’s a fact! The American Jews he was speaking about are those associated with “Americans for Peace Now” and “J Street.” That has always been the case, but they do NOT represent the majority of Jews in America nor do they represent the positions of the US Congress concerning the State of Israel.

Abbas blames Netanyahu for trying to undermine his relationships with certain American Jews. He said that Netanyahu accused him of being a “liar” and that his words about “peace” were not trustworthy. He said that Netanyahu continues to tell American Jews that the Palestinian Authority is still sponsoring and encouraging terrorism - even among its children in Palestinian schools.
The evidence is overwhelming that Netanyahu is absolutely correct about Abbas and his efforts toward peace.