Will King Abdullah II Jordan Become The Next Victim Of "Arab Spring"

Jordan Calls to End 'Judaisation' of Temple Mount and other Jewish Holy Sites

By JNI Media July 30, 2017 , 9:30 am

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“And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it.” Exodus 25:8 (The Israel Bible™)

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View of the Old City of Jerusalem (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

His Majesty King Abdullah II on Saturday spoke before an assembly of local newspaper editors and journalists, saying “he spared no occasion to put the Palestinian cause and defend Jerusalem before the world,” according to the Petra state news agency, adding, “There is no voice that speaks better than Jordan as we carry out our historic political and legal role to stop the Judaisation of holy sites despite the difficulties and challenges.”

Most historians agree that the Temple Mount’s “Jewish” nature predated that of its modern Arab identity by some thousands of years. The Temple Mount housed the two Jewish temples in Biblical times, with much archaeological and historical evidence proving ancient Jewish presence on and around the Mount. In the early Middle Ages, long after the Second Temple was destroyed, the birth of Islam led to the construction of a mosque on the holy site which Muslims believe to be the “al Aqsa Mosque”, or the “farthest mosque”, referred to in the Quran. However, Islamic scholars dispute this.

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The al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount. (MathKnight/Wikicommons)

Nevertheless, the Muslim religious claim on the Temple Mount – largely neglected and overgrown with weeds until the Jews began expressing an interest in it in the twentieth century – is the basis for countless Arab campaigns to deny any and all Jewish connection to the site. Of late, these campaigns have extended to numerous other Jewish holy sites, including the Western Wall, where Israel has full sovereignty, and various burial sites of Biblical figures, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, recently declared a “Palestinian world heritage site” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In addition to  blatant historical inaccuracies, Jordan may find itself in the wrong on matters of state as well. Jordan relies on Israel for much of its economic stability. With an annual $39 billion GDP, compared with Israel’s $320 billion for roughly the same population size, Jordan could go under without Israeli support.

Under the 1994 peace treaty, Israel provides Jordan, a desert country, 13 billion gallons per year of fresh water from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). More than 200,000 Israelis vacation in Jordan, which is starved for foreign currency. Jordan is expected to receive natural gas at a bargain-basement cost from Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan offshore fields. In a country with a soaring unemployment—at least 30 percent, much higher among youths—Israeli businesses have established industry in Jordan, taking advantage of the lower pay across the river.

In addition, the Hashemite Kingdom sits on the tips of Israeli bayonets. Without a firm security cooperation with Israel, which includes real-time Israeli warnings about assassination attempts against the King, Jordan would long since have become a Palestinian state.

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The Jordan Times’ version of the King Abdullah’s announcement Saturday scrubbed out the anti-Semitic tidbit.

There has been a wave of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic announcements from Jordanian officials in recent weeks. A Jordanian legislator invited former deputy head of Mossad Ram Ben Barak to fisticuffs at the Allenby crossing, “if he is a real man,” after the latter mentioned the possibility of cutting the water supply to Jordan if Israel’s poverty-stricken neighbor misbehaves.

56 lawmakers signed a petition calling on the King to bring back his ambassador from Israel and suspend relations.

And the Amman-based daily Al Watan ran a long article about the ancient Jewish custom of mixing gentile blood in the Passover matzah.

With close to 3.5 million Jordanians having “Palestinian” roots, meaning they arrived from across the river between 1948 and 1967, within an overall population of about 6.5 million, plus a volatile Syrian refugee population of about 2 million – Jordan is a boiling cauldron threatening to explode.

Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/92370/jordans-king-vows-stop-judaisation-temple-mount/#3qdCbWFwkIBqOYGH.99

Mainstream Hate And Discrimination--Sarsour Style

Linda Sarsour: NYC’s queen of hate

By Lahav Harkov

April 3, 2017 | 8:33pm

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Linda SarsourGetty Images

Women’s March co-organizer Linda Sarsour said in her speech to a Jewish Voice for Peace conference in Chicago on Sunday that she’s “providing a service . . . that I’m allowing the Jewish community to have the real hard conversation that it always needed to be having” about whether it should support Israel.

Thanks! Let me return the favor and encourage Sarsour to have a hard conversation about how she is preaching hatred while claiming to be fighting for equality, and putting women down while saying she’s trying to lift them up.

The Brooklyn-born Sarsour, daughter of Palestinian immigrants, shared the dais Sunday with another darling of the feminist “resistance,” Rasmea Odeh — convicted in Israel of killing two Hebrew University students in a 1969 terrorist attack and of planning an attack on the British Consulate. After her release, Odeh was able to immigrate to the United States by hiding her crime. She’s now being deported to Jordan.

Odeh has become a leftist hero. Sunday night, she and Sarsour embraced, and Sarsour gushed to the audience about feeling “honored and privileged to be here in this space, and honored to be on this stage with Rasmea.”

It’s a curious embrace of terrorism and anti-Semitism from a recipient of a $500,000 taxpayer grant from Mayor de Blasio, as Sarsour’s group, the Arab American Association of New York, was last year. Sarsour, in fact, has been an important ally of de Blasio’s since his election — a role she’s sure to reprise in the mayor’s bid for a second term.

Sarsour said last month feminism is “about the rights of all women.” Yet in the same interview, when asked whether there’s “room for people who support the state of Israel” in the women’s movement, she said: “There can’t be in feminism.” Apparently, Sarsour doesn’t believe all women deserve equal rights — Israeli and Israel-supporting women are an exception. And, by her logic, since she isn’t for the rights of all women, she isn’t a feminist.

In a flattering interview with Ha’aretz, Sarsour advocated a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the Jewish state would no longer exist. And Sarsour once tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.” Meaning that her struggles, whether they’re for Palestinians or women, are just, but the Jewish liberation movement has no right to exist.

In her speech to Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization of extremist Jewish activists dedicated to delegitimizing Israel, Sarsour said, “There’s always been anti-Semitism,” and people must fight it.

She doesn’t seem to grasp that advocating wiping Israel off the map, as she does, is fighting for the continued oppression of Jews, denying their self-determination and taking away their safe haven — nor did she seem to grasp the chutzpah required to make a statement like that after embracing and praising Odeh.

Sarsour doesn’t only deny the rights of Jewish and pro-Israel women — for example, she said Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prominent critic of radical Islam and victim of female genital mutilation should have her vagina taken away.

Sarsour claimed that Zionists are asking her “to somehow leave out a portion of my identity so you can be welcomed to a space to work on justice . . . We, as Palestinian-Americans . . . will not change who we are to make anyone comfortable.”

Here’s the thing: No one asked Sarsour to stop being a Palestinian-American or wanting there to be a Palestinian state. What pro-Israel feminists — like myself and Emily Shire, who wrote a New York Times column that sparked the question of feminism and Zionism — are saying is, we may not agree on the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but we agree that we want equal rights for women, so let’s join forces on that.

But Sarsour is an adherent of intersectionality, an idea that women cannot separate the different elements of a woman’s identity, such that the oppression of marginalized groups is compounded with women’s oppression. The women’s movement, according to people who believe this idea, can’t just be about equality for women.

Therefore, Sarsour has argued, Palestinian women suffer more than Palestinian men and the women’s movement must be anti-Israel. What she forgets is that, by that logic, Israeli women suffer more than Israeli men, for example, when Hamas shoots rockets from Gaza at Israeli civilians or Palestinian terrorists try to run them over.

Yet she doesn’t think all bigotry must be fought. “Of course there’s anti-Semitism,” she said Sunday, adding that she doesn’t ask for Jews’ political opinions before she opposes discrimination against them. But then, she said anti-Semitism “can’t exactly compare . . . to anti-black racism or Islamophobia.”

Sorry, Jews, your safety doesn’t really matter. Then again, that’s not surprising from someone who thinks Israel shouldn’t exist and praises a murderer of Israelis.

Any movement that seeks to uplift women shouldn’t be led by someone so unapologetically discriminatory, or it cannot claim to stand for the rights of all women. Women deserve better than Linda Sarsour’s doublespeak.

Lahav Harkov is The Jerusalem Post’s senior Knesset correspondent.

What Is Going To Happen When Assad Is Gone?

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America Needs a Post-ISIS Strategy by John R. Bolton June 30, 2017 at 10:00 am https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10601/post-isis-strategy Share113   Comment The headlines out of Syria are eye-catching: There are signs the Assad government may be planning another chemical attack. American pilots have struck forces threatening our allies and shot down a Syrian plane and Iranian-made drones. The probability of direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Russia has risen. Yet the coverage of these incidents and the tactical responses that have been suggested obscure the broader story: The slow-moving campaign against Islamic State is finally nearing its conclusion — yet major, long-range strategic issues remain unresolved. The real issue isn't tactical. It is instead the lack of American strategic thinking about the Middle East after Islamic State. Its defeat will leave a regional political vacuum that must be filled somehow. Instead of reflexively repeating President Obama's errors, the Trump administration should undertake an "agonizing reappraisal," in the style of John Foster Dulles, to avoid squandering the victory on the ground. First, the U.S. ought to abandon or substantially reduce its military support for Iraq's current government. Despite retaining a tripartite veneer of Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs, the capital is dominated by Shiites loyal to Iran. Today Iraq resembles Eastern Europe in the late 1940s, as the Soviet anaconda tightened its hold. Extending Baghdad's political and military control into areas retaken from ISIS simply advances Tehran's power. This cannot be in America's interest. Iraq's Kurds have de facto independence and are on the verge of declaring it de jure. They fight ISIS to facilitate the creation of a greater Kurdistan. Nonetheless, the Kurds, especially in Syria and Turkey, are hardly monolithic. Not all see the U.S. favorably. In Syria, Kurdish forces fighting ISIS are linked to the Marxist PKK in Turkey. They pose a real threat to Turkey's territorial integrity, even if it may seem less troubling now that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans have turned so profoundly contrary to the secular, Western-oriented vision of Kemal Atatürk. Second, the U.S. should press Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf monarchies for more troops and material assistance in fighting ISIS. America has carried too much of the burden for too long in trying to forge Syria's opposition into an effective force. Yet even today the opposition could charitably be called "diverse." It includes undeniably terrorist elements that are often hard to distinguish from the "moderates" the U.S. supports. Getting fresh contributions from Arab allies would rebalance the opposition, which is especially critical if the U.S. turns away, as it should, from reliance on the Iraqi forces dominated by Tehran. Third, the Trump administration must take a clear-eyed view of Russia's intervention. The Syrian mixing bowl is where confrontation between American and Russian forces looms. Why is Russia active in this conflict? Because it is aiding its allies: Syria's President Bashar Assad and Iran's ayatollahs. Undeniably, Russia is on the wrong side. But Mr. Obama, blind to reality, believed Washington and Moscow shared a common interest in easing the Assad regime out of power. The Trump administration's new thinking should be oriented toward a clear objective: pushing back these Iranian and Russian gains. Start with Iran. Tehran is trying to cement an arc of control from its own territory, through Baghdad-controlled Iraq and Mr. Assad's Syria, to Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon. This would set the stage for the region's next potential conflict: Iran's Shiite coalition versus a Saudi-led Sunni alliance. The U.S.-led coalition, enhanced as suggested above, needs to thwart Iran's ambitions as ISIS falls. Securing increased forces and financial backing from the regional Arab governments is essential. Their stakes are as high as ours — despite the contretemps between Qatar and Saudi Arabia (and others) — but their participation has lagged. The U.S. has mistakenly filled the gap with Iraqi government forces and Shiite militias. Washington is kidding itself to think Sunnis will meekly accept rule by Iraq's Shiite-dominated government or Syria's Alawite regime. Simply restoring today's governments in Baghdad and Damascus to their post-World War I boundaries would guarantee renewed support for terrorism and future conflict. I have previously suggested creating a new, secular, demographically Sunni state from territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria. There may well be other solutions, but pining for borders demarcated by Europeans nearly a century ago is not one of them. At the same time, the U.S. must begin rolling back Russia's renewed presence and influence in the Middle East. Russia has a new air base at Latakia, Syria, is involved in combat operations, and issues diktats about where American warplanes in the region may fly. For all the allegations about Donald Trump and Russia, the president truly in thrall to Moscow seems to have been Mr. Obama. Russia has a new air base at Latakia, Syria, is involved in combat operations, and issues diktats about where American warplanes in the region may fly. Pictured: A Russian Air Force Su-24 passes a Syrianair Airbus A320 at Latakia. (Image source: mil.ru/Wikimedia Commons) Russia's interference, particularly its axis with Mr. Assad and Tehran's mullahs, critically threatens the interests of the U.S., Israel and our Arab friends. Mr. Assad almost certainly would have fallen by now without Russia's (and Iran's) assistance. Further, Moscow's support for Tehran shatters any claim of its truly being a partner in fighting radical Islamic terrorism, which got its modern start in Iran's 1979 revolution. Both Iran and the Assad regime remain terror-sponsoring states, only now they are committing their violence under Russia's protective umbrella. There is no reason for the U.S. to pursue a strategy that enhances Russia's influence or that of its surrogates. As incidents in Syria and Iraq increasingly put American forces at risk, Washington should not get lost in deconfliction negotiations or modest changes in rules of engagement. Instead, the Trump administration should recraft the U.S.-led coalition to ensure that America's interests, rather than Russia's or Iran's, predominate once ISIS is defeated. Ambassador John Bolton is Chairman if Gatestone Institute, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad". This article first appeared in the Wall Street Journal and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author. Follow John R. Bolton on Twitter © 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Trump Does Not Forget His Words About Extremism

THE LATEST: TRUMP ASKS MIDEAST TO EXTINGUISH EXTREMISM

AP Photo/Evan Vucci Beehive Thief Busted By Fresno Authorities AP Tulsa Officer Not Guilty in Man's Shooting Death AP First Look Inside Atlanta’s $1.5 Billion Stadium AP Beehive Thief Busted By Fresno Authorities AP Tulsa Officer Not Guilty in Man's Shooting Death AP More videos: Tulsa Officer Not Guilty in Man's Shooting Death First Look Inside Atlanta’s $1.5 Billion Stadium Beehive Thief Busted By Fresno Authorities Tulsa Officer Not Guilty in Man's Shooting Death First Look Inside Atlanta’s $1.5 Billion Stadium Beehive Thief Busted By Fresno Authorities Tulsa Officer Not Guilty in Man's Shooting Death First Look Inside Atlanta’s $1.5 Billion Stadium Beehive Thief Busted By Fresno Authorities RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- The Latest on President Donald Trump's first trip abroad (all times local): 11:15 p.m. President Donald Trump is imploring Middle Eastern countries to extinguish what he calls "Islamic extremism" emanating from the region. Speaking Sunday to Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Trump described the conflict as a "battle between good and evil" rather than a clash between the West and Islam. Trump all but promised he would not publicly admonish Mideast rulers for human rights violations and oppressive reigns. That's a pointed departure from the approach taken by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Instead, Trump said he's offering a partnership based on shared interests and values in pursuit of "a better future for us all." The president's address is the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first overseas trip since his January swearing-in. --- 10:13 p.m. An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved confidence building measures ahead of President Donald Trump's visit including allowing Palestinian construction in part of the West Bank. He says Sunday's package includes Palestinian building permits for a West Bank area under Israeli control known as Area C. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before the government's official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Palestinian Authority has limited say in about 38 percent of the West Bank where most Palestinians live. The remainder of the land, home to over 350,000 Israeli settlers, has largely been off limits to Palestinian development. Israeli media reported the package includes economic concessions and opening the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan 24 hours a day. --- Ian Deitch in Jerusalem. --- 9:10 p.m. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman are inaugurating a new state-of-the-art center in Riyadh to monitor and combat extremism. Trump and a number of regional leaders visited the new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology Sunday, the heart of which is a giant wall, filled with screens displaying real-time online extremist activity. More than two hundreds data analysts also worked on their individual computer screens. Trump and the king each placed their hands on a miniature globe that officially activated the center and launched a splashy welcome video. The White House did not immediately provide information as to any U.S. Involvement in the creation of the center. The project began two years ago, before Trump took office. --- 9:00 p.m. The new U.S. ambassador to Israel has attended a celebration of Israel's capture of east Jerusalem 50 years ago, days after the White House declined to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area. David Friedman joined a host of hardline Israeli leaders at Sunday's celebration. Later, he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a bigger celebration in Jerusalem's Old City. Netanyahu says it was the first time an American ambassador has attended such an event. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The area is home to sensitive religious sites, including the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. Israel considers the entire city to be its capital. The international community says the fate of east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians, must be resolved through negotiations. --- 8:55 p.m. A Syrian rebel commander fighting Syrian and allied troops has praised President Donald Trump's criticism of Iran, calling it a boost for opponents of the government of President Bashar Assad. In Riyadh, Trump said Assad's government has committed "unspeakable crimes" bolstered by Iran, blaming Tehran for supporting terrorists and fueling instability in the region. Jamil al-Saleh, the commander of the western-backed Ezzah Army rebel group, called Trump's position "excellent." Al-Saleh said Trump appears to be charting a new path, expressing hope it means that he will not tolerate and will respond to Iran's involvement in Syria, which he said, is an indirect boost to the opposition. Iran is one of the main backers of Assad, advising and sending fighters to Syria against insurgents. Al-Saleh said Trump's speech was a message to Russia, the other backer of Assad's government. "He is telling Russia that all your partners in the Syrian theater are the very definition of terrorism." --- 8:41 p.m. Palestinian activists are calling for a "Day of Rage" when President Donald Trump visits the West Bank on Tuesday. A group calling itself the Supreme National Leadership Committee is calling for public demonstrations across the West Bank. The committee includes various Palestinian political factions, including President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. The demonstrations are meant to draw attention to a month long hunger strike by hundreds of prisoners being held by Israel and to protest what many Palestinians say is unfair U.S. support for Israel. In a statement, the group said Sunday the Palestinian factions "affirm their rejection of the American position, which is biased in favor of the occupation." ---- 8:20 p.m. The Hamas militant group has lashed out at President Donald Trump for mentioning it with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in his speech in Saudi Arabia. Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says from Gaza City that Trump's remarks Sunday are a "misrepresentation of facts." He dubbed the speech a "confirmation" that Trump is following the policy of previous administrations. Hamas says its battle is against Israel, not the West, and it has tried to rebrand itself by tweaking its charter. But the U.S., along with Israel and others, shun it as a terror group. Hamas targeted civilians in suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising a decade ago. It has fought three wars with Israel since seizing Gaza from forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. The U.S. recognizes Abbas as the representative of the Palestinians. --- 6:35 p.m. President Donald Trump called on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a "crisis of Islamic extremism" emanating from the region, casting the fight against terrorism as a "battle between good and evil," not a clash between the West and Islam. Trump spoke Sunday during a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia. The speech was the centerpiece of Trump's two-day visit to the country as part of his first overseas trip. Trump is putting the onus for combatting terrorism on the region and imploring Muslim leaders to aggressively fight extremists. He'll attend the opening of a Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology later Sunday. ---- 6:25 p.m. He spoke of "the crisis of Islamic extremists," ''the Islamists" and "Islamic terror of all kinds." But President Donald Trump did not use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism" in a major speech Sunday in front of Muslim leaders. As a candidate, Trump routinely railed against former President Barack Obama and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for failing to use the specific phrase, insisting that, "Anyone who cannot name our enemy, is not fit to lead this country." Trump struck a more moderate tone in his first foreign policy speech, calling on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a "crisis of Islamic extremism" emanating from the region. But he cast the fight against terrorism as a "battle between good and evil," not a clash between the West and Islam. ---- 6:11 p.m. President Donald Trump says that Syrian President Bashar Assad has committed "unspeakable crimes" bolstered by Iran. In an address to Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia Sunday, Trump called upon countries around the world to work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Trump denounced Iranian aggression in the region, and said that the "longest-suffering victims" are the Iranian people. He says the Iranian people have "endured hardship and despair under their leaders' reckless pursuit of conflict and terror." ---- 5:57 p.m. President Donald Trump says that every nation must shoulder the burden of rooting our terrorism from their countries. In an address to the leaders of Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh Sunday, Trump said, "Every nation has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no quarter on their soil." Trump said terrorist groups "do nothing to inspire but kill." He said all countries must work together to "honestly" confront "the crisis of Islamic extremists and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds." Trump fell short of referencing "radical Islamic terrorism" - a term he uses frequently at home and has condemned President Barack Obama for failing to say. ---- 5:54 p.m. President Donald Trump is painting the fight against extremists as "a battle between good and evil." Trump is saying in his first major foreign policy address as president that the fight against terrorism "is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between those who seek to obliterate human life and those who seek to protect it." He says that, "terrorist don't worship God. They worship death." Trump is speaking in front of an audience of leaders from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. He says the U.S. is prepared to stand with those leaders in the fight against extremists, but that those countries must take the lead. He urged them to drive extremists "out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your community. Drive them out of your holy land." ---- 5:44 p.m. President Donald Trump says that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorist attacks are the "innocent people of the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations." Speaking at the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh Sunday, Trump said that "95 percent of the victims of terrorist attacks are themselves Muslims." He said that terrorism must not only be measured by the number of dead, but the number of "vanished dreams." It's a departure from his sometimes anti-Muslim rhetoric during his presidential campaign. ---- 5:34 p.m. President Donald Trump says the U.S. seeks a "coalition of nations" in the Middle East with the aim of "stamping out extremism." In his address to the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Trump is vowing to "strengthen America's oldest friendships, and to seek new partners in pursuit of peace." Trump promised "that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit cooperation and trust." ---- 5:32 p.m. King Salman of Saudi Arabia says he is committed to stamping out the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations. Salman is speaking at a gathering of the leaders of more than 50 majority-Muslim countries attending the Arab-Islamic-American Summit in Riyadh. He says that "we all, peoples and countries, reject in every language and in every form damaging the relations of Muslim countries with friendly countries and profiling countries based on a religious or sectarian basis." He's also railing against Iran, calling the country "the spearhead of global terrorism." ---- 5:01 p.m. The leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority countries are gathering to hear President Donald Trump speak in Saudi Arabia. The president is set to deliver a speech Sunday calling for unity across the Muslim world in the fight against terrorism. Excerpts released by the White House show he'll tell Muslim leaders that stamping out terror threats will require "honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires." The speech will be Trump's first substantive remarks since he landed in the Middle East Saturday. He's on a five-stop tour that will include stops in Israel and Italy. ---- 3:07 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed all his Cabinet ministers to attend the official greeting for President Donald Trump, after some of them planned on skipping the event. The move Sunday is the latest in a series of last-minute schedule changes to a presidential visit far different from the meticulously-planned operations of the past. Trump's arrival was initially planned to include speeches and greetings with a long list of dignitaries on the tarmac of Israel's international airport. Later, the White House asked for a brief ceremony to avoid the heat. As a result, most ministers were planning to skip the event. The Haaretz newspaper reports that Netanyahu fumed at his ministers and ordered them all to attend Monday's ceremony. Netanyahu is eager to make a good impression on Trump during the president's first trip abroad. ---- 2:32 p.m. President Donald Trump will tell Muslim leaders that stamping out terror threats will require "honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires." That's according to excerpts released by the White House ahead of Trump's speech Sunday calling for unity across the Muslim world in the fight against terrorism. Trump will tell an audience of leaders of Muslim-majority countries that he is "not here to lecture" and "not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship." He'll say that, "This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations," but "a battle between good and evil." Trump often used anti-Islamic rhetoric during his presidential campaign and repeatedly stressed the need to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism." That phrase was missing from a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press last week. ---- 1:43 p.m. President Donald Trump is thanking Kuwait for its help in the fight against terror - and is pledging to update the public on their efforts soon. Trump says during a meeting with the Emir of Kuwait on Sunday that he'll hold a news conference in two weeks to discuss the battle against the Islamic State group. He's also praising the U.S.'s relationship with Kuwait and, in particular, the wealthy nation's frequent purchases of American military equipment. The Emir of Kuwait also invited the president to visit. Trump has been holding a whirlwind of meetings with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia in the hours before he delivers a speech on how the Islamic world can help fight extremism. ---- 1:16 p.m. A senior Israeli Cabinet minister has voiced concern about the U.S.'s $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Yuval Steinitz, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israeli officials will have to "hear the explanations" of the deal when President Donald Trump arrives in Israel on Monday. Steinitz says it is crucial that Israel maintain its military edge over its Arab neighbors, despite warming ties with Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia. Steinitz says, "This is not a country that we have diplomatic relations with" and that it "is still a hostile country and nobody knows what the future holds." Steinitz says the deal is "definitely something that should trouble us." ---- 12:36 p.m. First lady Melania Trump paid a visit to the American International School in Riyadh on Sunday while her husband held a series of bilateral meetings with Arab leaders. The first lady delivered Dr. Seuss books to a pre-school classroom, spoke to sixth graders on a soccer field and clapped along to a rendition of "Lean on me" in the school's library. She was joined by the Saudi education minister. It's the first lady's first visit to the country and her first experience representing the U.S. on a foreign stage. ---- 12:20 p.m. The White House says it's aware that North Korea has launched a midrange ballistic missile in the North's latest weapons test. White House officials traveling in Saudi Arabia with President Donald Trump say the system, which was last tested in February, has a shorter range than the missiles launched in North Korea's most recent tests. South Korea's military says the missile was fired Sunday from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The U.S. has sought to push back against North Korea's work to speed up the development its nuclear weapons and missile program. ---- 11:45 a.m. President Donald Trump is joining with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council in an effort to counter the financing of terrorism. White House adviser Dina Powell tells reporters that a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and GCC nations represents the "farthest reaching commitment" to not finance terrorist organizations. She says it includes a pledge to prosecute the financing of terrorism, including individuals. Along with the U.S., the participants include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The White House did not immediately release a text of the agreement. Trump and the GCC leaders watched as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson exchanged documents. ---- 10:20 a.m. President Donald Trump is making plans for another foreign trip as he eases into his first. Trump said Sunday he would accept an invitation made by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to visit Egypt. Trump said the visit would happen before long. Trump is also calling el-Sissi his "friend" and praising him for the release of U.S. aid worker Aya Hijazi, who had been held captive for three years. Through a translator, el-Sissi said Trump "had a unique personality" that allowed him "to do the impossible." Trump smiled and said "I agree." Trump was also overheard complimenting el-Sissi's shoes. ---- 9:58 a.m. President Donald Trump says that he and the Emir of Qatar will discuss the purchase of "lots of beautiful military equipment." Trump and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Sunday morning in Riyadh in a bilateral meeting. The president said the two nations had been "friends for a long time." He added that "no one makes" military equipment like the United States and said a deal would create jobs for the U.S. and security for Qatar. The potion of the meeting open to reporters did not include any discussion of human rights in Qatar. The nation has come under scrutiny for the harsh conditions faced by workers building the venues for the 2022 World Cup. ---- 9:23 a.m. President Donald Trump is beginning his day of meetings with Arab leaders with the King of Bahrain. Trump says the two countries "have a wonderful relationship" but "there has been a little strain." He vowed Sunday to improve things further. Trump did not specify what tension he needed to resolve. The two countries have had a long-term military alliance though the U.S. Was critical of Bahrain's response to uprisings during the Arab Spring. The King of Bahrain also praised the two nations' long-term alliance. Trump is set to have a day of meetings before delivering a major speech to the Muslim world urging unity in the fight against terror. ---- 9:05 a.m. President Donald Trump is kicking off the second day of his first foreign trip abroad with a series of bilateral and group meetings with foreign leaders. Trump will meet with leaders from Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, and other countries before delivering a speech on fighting extremism. The president will urge leaders in the region to "drive out the terrorists from your places of worship." That's according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. He'll also attend the opening of the new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. ---- 7:20 A.M. President Donald Trump is using the nation that is home to Islam's holiest site as a backdrop to call for unity across the Muslim world in the fight against terrorism. In Trump's Sunday speech, which is the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, he will address 50 Muslim and Arab leaders and urge them to "drive out the terrorists from your places of worship." That's according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. Trump's presidential campaign was frequently punctuated by bouts of anti-Islamic rhetoric. He is now poised to soften some of his language about the Muslim faith. Though during the campaign Trump repeatedly stressed the need to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism," that phrase is not included in the draft. © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policyand Terms of Use.