Saturday 23 May 2020
Netanyahu Will be Present at the Opening of his Trial on Sunday…...
May 23, 2020
The Jerusalem district court decided on Wednesday not to approve PM Binyamin Ntanyahu’s request to be excused from attending the opening session of his trial on Sunday.
He will therefore be Israel’s first sitting prime minister to go on trial. He faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of faith.
Russia to Convene Mideast Quartet for Talks on West Bank Annexation Plans….
23 May 2020
Representatives of the so-called Middle East Quartet were set to meet Friday via video conference amid efforts by Moscow to deter Israel from annexing parts of the West Bank and bring the Palestinians back to talks.
“Today, a video conference of the ‘Quartet’ on the Middle Eastern settlement will take place at the level of special representatives,” said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, according to the TASS news agency, adding that Russia will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin.
The Quartet is made up of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
Hostile Cyber-attack on Israeli Internet Sites: “The Countdown has Begun”…...
May 22, 2020
Israel’s national cyber authority warns users to avoid links to the websites disrupted on Thursday, May 21, by hostile hackers.
Their home pages were replaced with images of Tel Aviv under bombardment and two messages: “The countdown has begun for the end of Israel” and “Be ready for a big surprise.”
The attack was timed for Al Qods day, on which Iran marks the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel.
The Checkpoint data security company has pinpointed eight separate hacking sources in Turkey, North Africa, Egypt, Indonesia , Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, though not directly from Iran itself.
The targeted websites are all located on the same cloud. This is the second hostile cyber attack directed against Israel this week.
After Iran attempted to disrupt Israel’s rural water distribution system earlier this month – an attempt that was thwarted before it caused serious damage – Israel reportedly retaliated by throwing into havoc the traffic of a major Iranian port on the Strait of Hormuz by shutting down its computers.
News from the Syrian War-Front…
23 May 2020
According to the Chinese news agency Sohu, a Russian fighter jet shot down an American drone near Khmeimim air base in Syria yesterday.
The drone is owned by the US Air Force, but was given to Syrian rebels.
According to the agency, the drone was supposed to reconnoitre over the region of the Russian military Khmeimim air base and subsequently to be part in a planned air raid on the base.
According to the publication, this drone was given to Nusra’s armed forces at the beginning of the year, when there were dozens of armed clashes in Syria between the Syrian army and the rebels, as well as between pro-Turkish forces and Russian-Syrian units.
In a Stunning Reversal, Turkey Emerges as Libya Kingmaker
With a succession of quick victories, Turkish-supported forces in Libya have rolled back the gains of a would-be strongman whose allies, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, now face tough choices.
CAIRO — A string of victories by Turkish-backed forces in western Libya this week dealt a heavy blow to the ambitions of the aspiring strongman Khalifa Hifter and signalled the arrival of Turkey as a potentially decisive force among the foreign powers battling for supremacy in the Middle East’s biggest proxy war.
Libyan fighters, backed by Turkish fire-power, captured on Monday a major air base west of Tripoli, the capital, used drones to destroy newly arrived Russian air defence batteries, and on Thursday pressed their offensive by ousting Mr. Hifter’s forces from a key town south of Tripoli.
The triumphs marked a stunning reversal of fortunes for the United Nations-backed Tripoli government, which looked weak and badly besieged by Mr. Hifter until President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sent troops and armed drones in January.
It was Turkey’s most forceful intervention in the oil-rich North African nation since the end of the Ottoman Empire over a century ago.
US May Try to Raise the Stakes for Russia in Syria…..
US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft [pictured above] this week criticised Russia and China for obstructing humanitarian assistance to war-torn Syria.
There is a Security Council vote in July to re-authorise the two remaining assistance corridors from Turkey into Syria.
The United States is also seeking to reopen a crossing from Iraq that had been closed in January as a result of Russian and Chinese pressure.
The situation in Syria is dire.
There are already 5 million refugees and 6.2 million internally displaced Syrians; combined, that’s about half of a pre-war population of 22 million.
The economy, because of war, corruption and sanctions, barely exists. And Syria, like the rest of the world, is dealing with COVID-19.
The resumption of fighting in Idlib, where there is presently a pause in the Russian-backed Syrian offensive, could produce an additional tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to buckle to US criticism on humanitarian grounds; he never does.
And while Putin considers Syria a success, he may be growing weary of the enterprise.
There is no foreseeable dividend for Russia in Syria. It is instead a financial drain, a sinkhole, at a time when falling oil prices and COVID-19 have set back the Russian economy.
Putin may therefore be looking to cut costs and share the burden.
The United States is seeking to present Russia a "way forward" in Syria through the UN, but that requires them distancing themselves to some degree from Assad and from the Iranians.
The United States can raise the stakes with Russia by putting Assad and Iran at the top of an already daunting agenda that includes humanitarian assistance; support for the UN cease-fire initiative and political transition talks; post-conflict reconstruction and the refugee crisis; and counter-terrorism co-operation, etc.
Absent a breakthrough in US-Russian coordination, it’s hard to imagine Syria getting any better, especially for the Syrians.
We are in the ninth year of the war.
Turkey is also facing a quagmire in Syria: It is a costly and seemingly endless occupation, with a two-front conflict against Syrian forces in Idlib and the Kurds in the north-east. This in addition to Turkey's hosting 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
Things will only begin to get meaningfully better when the war stops. And for that to happen, the United States and Russia need to find common ground at the Security Council. Otherwise, forget it.
Now we inexorably inch ever closer to the invasion prophesied in Ezekiel 38 & 9.
Inside the White House
By William Koenig
White House Correspondent
23 May 2020
God’s Plan with This Pandemic
America has taken God’s protection and mercy for granted.
The prevalent attitude in our country is that things will get better—they always do during national crises or worries.
We hear that from many non-believers.
But the coronavirus pandemic has shaken the U.S. and the world at its very core.
Leading up to this we were observing rampant immorality and the greatest endorsement of evil in our times.
This commentary is the first part of a multiple series reflecting on the times we are living in and God’s purpose in these times.
In the coming weeks I’ll write how we got to where we are and connect some dots that will affect our future—especially this year and the coming year.
I’ll address the frequent call for getting things back to the way they were but no mention of the abysmal moral condition, repentance or turning from our nation’s evil ways.
Will God stop or lessen this judgement or use this continuous pandemic for His purpose?
Currently, we are watching the quickening alignment of final-day scriptures through the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are watching in real time one-world-order alliances and opposing alliances of Russia, China and Middle East countries.
We are observing one-world financial order and currency aligning further. We are watching with great interest wars and rumours of war that could break out, especially the U.S.-China tension or U.S.-Iran.
We are watching the movement toward implantable ID's through the promise of more personal safety and security, the possibility of forced vaccines for the good of the public, ways a police state could be enforced and much more.
Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently......
The opening paragraph to a March 19, 2020, Politico article, “Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently,” got my attention since the three “life altering” events mentioned corresponded to U.S. efforts to divide the land of Israel, which have greatly impacted nations that supported the “land for peace” process through UN resolutions.
In other words, Israel has been the trigger of final-day disruption and events that are accelerating the world toward Armageddon (the final battle for Jerusalem) and Jesus Christ’s return.
Politico : “For many Americans right now, the scale of the coronavirus crisis calls to mind 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis—events that reshaped society in lasting ways, from how we travel and buy homes, to the level of security and surveillance we’re accustomed to, and even to the language we use”.
We continue to experience an enormous battle between good and evil in our country. It is a turf war and a battle for the soul of America.
On one side we have the people who are pro-LGBT, pro-abortion, pro-vaccine, pro-digital IDs and supporters of legal immigration and sanctuary cities.
We have public figures like Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, [pictured below] Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Bill and Melinda Gates, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and many others who support these agendas.
There are also radical global- warming alarmists like Al Gore, Pope Frances, Prince Charles, European elites, and many others in the United States.
Today’s Democratic Party, their liberal friends in our country and their mainstream media (90% of the US media) are an evil force.
Additionally, the so-called progressive wing of the Democratic Party (very liberal Democrats) have attempted to force their agendas of secular humanism, immorality and socialism on America.
The Democrats’ policies and legislation frequently produce major unintended consequences.
Moreover, they have shown they have zero capability to extrapolate the danger of their positions.
Their attempts at correcting the consequences of their policies usually lead to even greater problems.
The plummeting of social indicators regarding the family, sexual abnormalities, births out of wedlock, abortions, poverty, crime, immigration, housing for those who can’t afford it and many other issues can be attributed to their “godless” agenda.
The Democrats act as if they are God and it is up to them to right their perceived public ills.
Many of their solutions are contrary to the Word of God. Sadly, political blue states and major blue-state cities are havens for this dysfunction.
On the opposite side of the battle are conservatives, many evangelical Christians who stand for righteousness, and strong supporters of the U.S. Constitution, which was established with Judeo-Christian values and has been the foundation of our country.
Moreover, we are a constitutional republic, not a democracy.
We are God-fearing people who stand up for what is right and are in the battlefield. I appreciate our many Christians activist friends who are on the front-line of this battle.
Are things improving?
We are winning some battles, but we are losing this earthly war because we are outnumbered and out-positioned in most battlefields of life.
Christian activists are constantly plugging the holes to keep the dam from bursting.
We can't force or legislate morality—especially in a country where secular humanism controls the media, higher education and many government agencies.
We look at the war President Trump has been under since he declared his interest in becoming the president of the United States and since taking office.
It has been three plus years of unmerciful attack led by the secular media that he has taken to task.
Look at Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Michael Flynn and others who were put through unprecedented personal attacks.
Now they are after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, [pictured above] their next target for personal destruction.
We must pray for him, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. There is also a current attack against Tucker Carlson, Fox’s most effective commentator.
Mahmoud Abbas’s Last Whimper?………
23 May 2020
Abbas is a one-trick pony who keeps himself relevant by pretending that his main mission in life is to obtain Palestinian independence from the "occupation."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas needs new material.
Even the flies on the wall at his compound in Ramallah must have yawned on Tuesday night when he announced – for the umpteenth time – that the PA is no longer bound by previous agreements with Israel.
The only twist to his tired mantra was the inclusion of the United States in the chant.
“We hold the American administration fully responsible for the oppression befalling the Palestinian people, and we consider it a primary partner with the Israeli occupation government in all its aggressive and unfair decisions and measures against our people,” he declared to PLO officials summoned to the emergency meeting to listen to his televised rant.
Though the honchos in attendance must have doubted that Abbas was actually going to make good on his threat to halt economic and security cooperation with the Jewish state, they couldn’t have admitted it aloud.
In fact, those who dared to inquire about a timetable for the action were warned by Abbas’s aides that if they didn’t shut up, they would be banished from the premises.
The last thing that Abbas wants, after all, is to put his money where his mouth is, except when it comes to funding terrorists.
That is one policy he proudly upholds, no matter how often certain countries urge him to stop.
That the administration of US President Donald Trump went as far as to make ending this “pay for slay” practice a condition for statehood – with a democratic government that renounces terrorism, honours human rights and recognises Israel as the homeland of the Jews – made him all the more enamoured of his friends in Western Europe. And they of him.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority said on Friday, May 22, that it had disconnected its “hot line” with Israel and halted military exchanges between brigade commanders and lower ranks.
Ramallah released a clip showing Palestinian security forces preventing Israeli Border Guard troops from entering Hebron.
The troops were quietly tailing a suspicious truck and agreed to withdraw after some palaver.
These steps followed on Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to break off security ties with Israel over PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s plan to extend Israel sovereignty to parts of the West Bank.
Israeli sources responded that the cut-off of bilateral collaboration in preventing terrorism and crime in the territory would expose the Palestinians to extremist threats and place the Abbas regime at risk..
6.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Central Mediterranean Sea…..
22 May 2020
This is the second earthquake to hit the Mediterranean this month.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck in the central Mediterranean Sea region early on Thursday, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
The epicentre of the quake, about 240 km. (149 miles) south-west of Greece's Methoni region, was at a depth of 10 km, EMSC said.
This is the second earthquake to hit the Mediterranean this month, after an earthquake of magnitude 6 struck the Greek island of Crete on May 2, the centre said.
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