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Showing posts with label temple mount. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Is Trump Biblical?

Netanyahu Compares Trump To Cyrus in Compliment of Biblical Proportions

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz March 6, 2018 , 3:43 pm

“Thus said Hashem to Cyrus, His anointed one— Whose right hand He has grasped, Treading down nations before him, Ungirding the loins of kings, Opening doors before him And letting no gate stay shut.” Isaiah 45:1 (The Israel Bible™)

image: https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/bibi-trump-cuddle.jpg

US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to Trump’s departure to Rome at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

In a meeting at the White House on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his host, US President Donald Trump in unmistakably Biblical terms, comparing him to the Persian King Cyrus.

“I want to tell you that the Jewish people have a long memory, so we remember the proclamation of the great King Cyrus the Great — Persian King,” Netanyahu told Trump. “Twenty-five hundred years ago, he proclaimed that the Jewish exiles in Babylon can come back and rebuild our temple in Jerusalem.”

“And we remember how a few weeks ago, President Donald J. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Netanyahu continued. “Mr. President, this will be remembered by our people through the ages.”

Some have noted that this larger-than-life compliment comes with historical lessons that supersede current political agendas that favor the two-state solution. The nascent Sanhedrin for one has been comparing President Trump to King Cyrus since he was inaugurated last year, calling for him to follow in the footsteps of the Biblical figure by helping to facilitate the rebuilding the Third Temple.

“There is no question that the comparison between Cyrus and Trump, two non-Jewish leaders, is apt,” said Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman of the Sanhedrin, to Breaking Israel News. “But it is important to learn the lesson history teaches us from Cyrus and Balfour.”

Trump Cyrus coin (Photo courtesy Mikdash Educational center)

Most recently, the Sanhedrin emphasized the apparent connections between both leaders by issuing a silver medallion with the image of Trump superimposed on an image of Cyrus with an image of the Jewish Temple on the flip side of the coin.

Rabbi Weiss emphasized that King Cyrus and the former British Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour encountered significant pushback after promising to help the Jews return to their homeland.

“Cyrus began to back down from building the Temple after listening to Jewish sects that objected,” Rabbi Weiss said. “The British also began to renege on their promise and gave in to political pressure from the Arab nations.”

Rabbi Weiss believes that Trump’s success will hinge on whether his agenda continues to support not just the Jewish connection to Jerusalem but more specifically the Temple Mount. The Rabbi noted, however, that both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have referred to the Temple Mount by its Islamic name, “Haram al-Sharif.” Moreover, it has been reported that Trump’s peace plan would include the creation of a Palestinian capital in parts of Jerusalem.

“Cyrus and Balfour both earned our gratitude, as has President Trump, but the source of all blessings is the Temple Mount,” Rabbi Weiss said. “If he does not continue and support the Jewish return to the Temple Mount, he will encounter the same difficulties as those who came before him.”

Rabbi Weiss emphasized that Netanyahu also needed to pay heed to this historical precedent as well.

Mark Zell, Chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, said that he had campaigned for President Trump precisely because he believed he would make such historic changes.

“The importance of the change of the State Department’s 70-year position on Jerusalem is unquestionably of enormous historic importance on the same level of the Balfour Declaration and even of Cyrus,” Zell told Breaking Israel News.

“Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is earth-shaking,” he continued. “Netanyahu was accurate when he said that the Jewish People will remember this.”

“This is a sure sign of his courage and demonstrated leadership. Other presidents have been generous with fine words but haven’t come through with actions on the level of President Trump. Netanyahu showed himself a true ally by expressing gratitude.”

Zell believes that Netanyahu’s remarks to Trump, comparing him to King Cyrus, was also intended as a message of gratitude for Israel’s Evangelical supporters in America.

“Netanyahu was not speaking to the American Jews who don’t appreciate this comparison to Cyrus,” Zell claimed. “Netanyahu was speaking directly to the pro-Israel, faith-based Evangelicals in a Biblical language they understand and value.”

“That shows sensitivity and foresight,” he added. “The Evangelicals are essential to both Trump and it is humbling to see how strongly they support Israel.

Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/103756/netanyahu-compares-trump-cyrus-compliment-biblical-proportions/#Hp6xmm1ZmazO2ixj.99

Monday, January 15, 2018

Regardless What They Say, Quran Says Different. Jerusalem Is Israel's!

The Quran Says Jerusalem Belongs to the Jews

by Saied Shoaaib
January 15, 2018 at 4:30 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11680/quran-jerusalem-jews

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Quranic passages clearly illustrate the Jews' imperative to enter the land of Israel.
And [mention, O Muhammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allah [God] upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds. O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back and [thus] become losers." — Quran, Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:20-21.
According to verses in the Quran, God punishes the Jews for their sin of refusing to fight the indigenous people in the land, and God is angry that the Jews refused to convert to Islam. Yet the verses are consistent in their assertion that God gave the Jews the Holy Land.

Following U.S. President Donald Trump's December 6 official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Muslims around the world held angry demonstrations, during which they chanted slogans about Jerusalem "belonging to Muslims." This ought to seem odd to anyone versed in Islamic scripture, since the Quran specifically states that God promised the land of Israel, including Jerusalem, to the Jews.

An aerial view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and much of Jerusalem's Old City. (Image source: Andrew Shiva/Wikipedia)

Although ordinary Muslims who might not actually have read their holy book could be excused for their ignorance about the Jewish roots of and rights to Israel and Jerusalem, the same cannot be said for the leaders of Muslim countries, imams and the heads of illustrious Islamic institutions. Dignitaries and scholars of that caliber should know better. Yet many of them repeat false assertions that contradict the Quran and scholarly interpretations of its verses.
The fact is that the Quran does not mention Jerusalem or Palestine. It does refer to the sanctity of other holy places, such as Mecca -- which is called the "Mother of Cities" -- where the Prophet Muhammad was born and where the house of God was built by Abraham, the "father of the prophets."
The Quran also mentions the city of Yathrib [Medina], where the Prophet Mohammed emigrated after he was persecuted in Mecca, and the location of his grave and the Prophet's Mosque.
Other cities cited in the Quran are Babel and Aram; and a country named is Egypt. Yet, not only are Palestine and Jerusalem absent from the text; there is a consensus of interpretation among the most respected Sunni and Shiite Muslim scholars of past centuries -- such as Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Abi Zayd, Mahmud al-Alusi, Al-Baghawi -- that, according to the Quran, God gave to the Jews the land from the Nile to the Euphrates, territory that includes not only Jerusalem and Palestine, but a large part of Egypt and Iraq, and all of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
The following Quranic passages clearly illustrate the Jews' imperative to enter the land of Israel:

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allah [God] upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds. O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back and [thus] become losers." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:20-21]
They said, "O Moses, indeed within it is a people of tyrannical strength, and indeed, we will never enter it until they leave it; but if they leave it, then we will enter." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:22]
Two men among those who feared [disobeying the people upon whom] Allah had bestowed favor said, "Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, you will be predominant. And upon Allah rely, if you should be believers." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:23]
[The Israelites] said, "O Moses, indeed we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are within it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:23]
[The Israelites] said, "O Moses, indeed we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are within it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:24]
[Moses] said, "My Lord, indeed I do not possess except myself and my brother, so part us from the defiantly disobedient people." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:25]
[God] said, "Then indeed, it is forbidden to them for forty years [in which] they will wander throughout the land. So do not grieve over the defiantly disobedient people." [Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:26]

According to the verses above, God punishes the Jews for their sin of refusing to fight the indigenous people in the land. And God is angry that the Jews refused to convert to Islam. The Quran is even harsher towards the Jews when recounting the stories of Muhammad's battles against them. Yet the verses are consistent in their assertion that God gave the Holy Land to the Jews.
The reason this is relevant today is that it exposes the hypocrisy of those radical Muslims who claim to believe in and adhere to the letter of the Quran, yet use the claim that Palestine and Jerusalem are Islamic for political purposes and propaganda.
This is not to say that because the land of Israel was a divine gift to the Jews, they therefore have all rights to it. On the contrary, no future peace between Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom reside there, will or should be determined by scripture. This proclamation, however, is as good a reason as any to stop misquoting it.

Saied Shoaaib is a Muslim writer and researcher, specializing in Islamic movements. He is so-author of the recently published book, SUBMISSION: The Danger of Political Islam to Canada – With a Warning to America, written with co-authors Tom Quiggin, Tahir Gora, Jonathon Cotler, and Rick Gill with a foreword by Raheel Raza. The book is available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions.

Follow Saied Shoaaib on Twitter

© 2018 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.

Monday, October 16, 2017

US Should Pull Out Of The UN Entirely Not Just UNESCO

President Trump Did the Right Thing by Walking Away from UNESCO — for Now

by Alan M. Dershowitz
October 15, 2017 at 10:00 pm

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11179/president-trump-did-the-right-thing-by-walking

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By withdrawing from UNESCO – again – President Trump is sending a powerful message to the international community: that we will no longer tolerate international organizations that serve as forums for Jew-bashing.
This important message was encapsulated in a powerful statement made by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley: "The purpose of UNESCO is a good one. Unfortunately, its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment... US taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense."
"There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." -- Charles de Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (d.1755)

The State Department announced on Thursday that the United States would be withdrawing from the UN agency UNESCO.
The U.S. agency citied financial reasons, the need for reform and the body's "continuing anti-Israel bias." President Trump's decision to leave UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – as of December 31, 2018, was an appropriate foreign policy decision that will hopefully prompt a much-needed rethink of the United Nations, its purpose and practices. It will also send a strong message to the Palestinians that statehood cannot be achieved on the basis of UN resolutions alone, and that the only way forward is to engage in direct negotiations with Israel, during which mutual sacrifices will be required.
In the aftermath of WWII, the intended goal of the Paris-based UN body was a noble one: to promote basic freedoms and security through international collaboration on education, science and cultural projects. UNESCO-sponsored projects focused on literacy, vocational training, equal access to basic education and preservation of human rights and historical sites are indeed praiseworthy. In practice, however, the 195-member body – with its automatic anti-Israel majority that exists in every institution of the UN – has become a springboard for Jew hatred and the rewriting of history.
To be sure, UNESCO is far from the only UN agency regularly to single out Israel for reproach. Yet, its anti-Israel adoptions have been abhorrent even by the low standards established by the broader multilateral institution. Consider a resolution introduced in May, which denied Israel – and the Jewish people's – legal and historic ties to the city of Jerusalem, including its holiest sites. It called the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron – considered the resting place of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs – and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem, "Palestinian sites." Shamefully, this vote was deliberately held on Israel's Independence Day. Only two months later, the cultural body convened in Krakow, Poland – a city soaked in Jewish blood – and declared the city of Hebron, holy to Jews, an endangered Palestinian heritage site.
Even for some of the harshest critics of Israel, this historical ignorance is sometimes too much to swallow. In October 2016, for example, when UNESCO passed a resolution denying Israel's connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall – referring to them only by their Muslin names – UNESCO chief, Irina Bokov (whose intentions and motivations are themselves often curious) questioned the text of the Arab-sponsored resolution on Jerusalem.
This egregious distortion of history is not particularly surprising when considering the anti-Semitic political culture that has come to underpin UNESCO, particularly since 2011, when it became the first UN agency to admit the Palestinians as a full member. Hillel Neuer of the watchdog organization, UN Watch, noted that between 2009-2014 the cultural body has adopted 46 resolutions against Israel, yet only one on Syria and none on Iran, Sudan, North Korea, or any of the other known violators of human rights around the world. In fact, a representative of the regime of Syrian dictator and mass murderer Bashar al-Assad sits on a UNESCO human rights committee.
Neuer further highlights this double standard: "UNESCO paid tribute to mass murderer Che Guevara, elected Syria to its human rights committee, and created prizes named after the dictators of Bahrain and Equatorial Guinea, whose ruler Obiang says God empowered him to kill whomever he wants. UNESCO has a noble founding mission, but that has been completely hijacked by the world's worst tyrannies and supporters of terror."
This is not the first time that the United States has pulled out of the hypocritical UN cultural body. Under President Reagan in 1984, the United States walked away from UNESCO owing to financial mismanagement and "hostility toward the basic institutions of a free society." It was only in 2002 that President G.W Bush re-joined the body and stated that the United States wanted to "participate fully in its mission to advance human rights, tolerance and learning." But this vision was upturned when President Obama halted funding to the UN body in 2011 (US funding at the time accounted for one-fifth of UNESCO's budget) when Palestine was accepted as a full member. This original level of financial support has not been restored and the cultural body has since missed out on close to $600 million of American funding.
Among the reasons are that by withdrawing from UNESCO – again – President Trump is sending a powerful message to the international community: the United States will no longer tolerate international organizations that serve as forums for Jew-bashing. This important message was encapsulated in a powerful statement made by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley: "The purpose of UNESCO is a good one. Unfortunately, its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment...US taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense."

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called UNESCO's "extreme politicization" a "chronic embarrassment." Photo: Getty Images.

The political thinker Charles de Montesquieu famously said: "There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." It is precisely because UNESCO purports to be a cultural and educational body that its false credibility masks its pervasive bigotry.
On Friday afternoon it was announced that former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay – a Jewish woman – was elected as UNESCO Chief. Azoulay said that "UNESCO is going through a profound crisis" but that she hopes to fix it from within. I hope she succeeds in this mission. I hope she can turn UNESCO from an organization that promotes bigotry in the false name of culture, into one that opposes all forms of bigotry. Given the nature of its voting membership, this will not be easy, but with pressure from the U.S., it may have a chance of succeeding. Perhaps then the U.S. will maintain its membership in and financial support for UNESCO.

Alan M. Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School and author of, "Trumped Up! How Criminalization of Political Differences Endangers Democracy," which is now available.

Follow Alan M. Dershowitz on Twitter and Facebook

© 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.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Israel Shows Weakness Just When Victory Was At Hand

The Jerusalem Holy Temple Mount was Empty – For a moment – Until the Israelis interfered once again in their own destiny.

www.israel-commentary.org

By Moshe Feiglin

12 Av 5777 – August 4, 2017

Although I anticipated that Netanyahu would remove the metal detectors from the Temple Mount, and although I very much hoped that I would be proven wrong, things developed in such an amazing and fascinating manner that I couldn’t help but think that perhaps we were on the threshold of an historic change.

Everything that happened on the Temple Mount is the opposite of what you would have expected. After Israel liberated the Temple Mount in the Six-Day War, then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan returned the keys to the Temple Mount to the Muslim wakf.

The wakf was in shock. Fifty years later, Netanyahu begged the wakf to take the Mount back, but they were simply unwilling to do so, deciding instead to boycott the site. This was inexplicable. Israel had already removed the metal detectors and even took down the security cameras.

Just as Jordan’s King Hussein forced Israel to liberate Jerusalem in 1967, so too the Muslim wakf was forcing Netanyahu to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Temple Mount. This historic change could only happen to the Nation of Israel. It was simply amazing.

The Temple Mount was empty. After 50 years, it was in our hands! The Arabs were not there. Only Jews were on the Temple Mount. This was absolutely astounding! The problem is that Am Yisrael (The Israeli people) did not have the leadership capable of understanding this historic moment and translating it into practical strategy.

The Muslim wakf was completely right about the metal detectors. For years, Israel had been saying that the Temple Mount belongs to the Arabs. So if it is theirs, why were we putting metal detectors at the gates of their home? The Arabs understood very well that the metal detectors are a flag that symbolize sovereignty.

The entire situation on the Temple Mount revolves around sovereignty – not prayer. When Netanyahu folded and agreed to remove the metal detectors, he cut the rope that ties us to this land precisely at that stake to which everything else is tied.

All of rights on this land, all of our connection to it, to Zionism, to Mount Zion – everything from which we draw our identity – revolves around the Temple Mount. From the moment that Netanyahu folded and indicated that the Mount is theirs, not ours, he opened the door, G-d forbid, to ever-increasing pressure on Israel.

We have just missed an extraordinary opportunity. In my estimation, Israel’s weakness on the Temple Mount will bring a very serious conflict upon us with much more difficult starting conditions because, with our capitulation, we have lost our sense of justice. And a nation that has lost its sense of justice cannot win – even if it has the most sophisticated army, the smartest submarines, the F-15, the F-16 and the F-35.

A young Arab girl with a pair of scissors who knows what she is doing here will defeat an Israeli soldier with the most sophisticated weapon. Ultimately, justice is the best weapon of all.

Moshe Zalman Feiglin (Hebrew: משה פייגלין, born 31 July 1962) is an Israeli politician and columnist. A former member of Likud, he headed the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction within the party, and represented Likud in the Knesset between 2013 and 2015.

Monday, August 7, 2017

Temple Mount Riots Only A Precursor Of The Future

Recurring Patterns: The Temple Mount Riots

By Manfred GerstenfeldAugust 6, 2017

Aerial view of Temple Mount, Jerusalem, by Andrew Shiva via Wikipedia

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 553, August 6, 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Major Palestinian riots erupted in response to the placement of metal detectors at the entrance of the Temple Mount, with the Palestinian inciters falsely claiming that the al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger. This form of action might serve as a model for future riots even if Israel signs a peace agreement with the Palestinians. As Israel’s concessions in such an agreement would be irreversible, the threat of easy-to-incite riots makes the prospects for peace even more remote.

On July 14, two Israeli police officers were murdered in Jerusalem. They were members of the Druze community, a religious and ethnic minority. The three Muslim murderers came from the town of Umm al-Fahm in the north of Israel.

They had hidden their weapons on the Temple Mount, where the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is managed by the Waqf, a Muslim religious trust, stands. The three terrorists were killed by Israeli police.

The day before the killings, one of the perpetrators published a selfie in which he stands before al-Aqsa. The photo is accompanied by the text, “Tomorrow’s smile will be more beautiful, God willing.”

Israel reacted to the murders by increasing security measures through the installation of metal detectors. The alternative would have been to wait passively until the next contingent of terrorists arrived, ready to employ the proven formula of bringing in weapons and hiding them at that place of worship.

The installation of metal detectors led Palestinian preachers to call upon the worshipers to pray publicly outside the mosque on the morning of Friday, July 21. Riots followed during which three Palestinians were killed and a number wounded. On the same day, a Palestinian terrorist murdered a Jewish father, seriously injured his wife, and killed their two adult children in the village of Halamish during their Shabbat meal.

It is estimated that this terrorist’s family will receive more than $3000 per month from the Palestinian Authority for many years to come. These payments are co-financed by Western countries.

In the meantime, the metal detectors have been removed. Due to the riots, Israel has opted instead to install more expensive and technologically advanced tools to detect weapons from entering the holy site in the future. Despite the removal of the detectors, Palestinian riots in Jerusalem have continued.

When we examine the reactions of the actors in this saga, it becomes possible to discern recurring patterns.

In the past, the PLO-dominated Palestinian Authority was able to control riots. A typical case in point was the “al-Aqsa Intifada,” which began in late September 2000. Though presented as a spontaneous response to Ariel Sharon’s Temple Mount visit, several PLO/PA officials (including Marwan Barghouthi and Minister of Communications Imad Faloudji) were to admit that the violence had been planned well in advance by Yasser Arafat. All that was required was a handy pretext to start it.

Since then, the stature in the western world of the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas has steadily increased. In 2016, many members of the European Parliament gave Abbas a standing ovation after a speech in which he made the vile anti-Semitic accusation that an Israeli rabbi had urged Israelis to poison the water of the Palestinians. Two days later, Abbas had to admit that his libel was a complete falsehood.

In contrast to his glowing image among Europeans, Abbas is seen by most Palestinians as very weak. His Fatah movement supports the riots, partly because it fears losing even more influence if it does not. He is playing a dangerous game, however. If the riots continue, Abbas may lose control over them. If it is true that he has canceled the PA’s security collaboration with Israel, he might find himself in immediate danger. If he is without the protection of the Israeli security services, it will be much easier for Hamas sympathizers to target him.

Another recurrent pattern is the abuse of holy or protected places. During Israel’s military campaigns against Hamas, the terrorist group often hid weapons in mosques, universities, and schools. This included schools of the UN agency UNRWA. During the December 2008-January 2009 exchange, several Hamas leaders hid in a Gaza hospital because they knew Israel would not target it. Hamas also uses civilians as human shields.

Yet another recurrent pattern is the behavior of foreign governments and leaders. Many excuse and condone Palestinian terror, incitement, and violence. Others feel the need to step in with condemnations or recommendations. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for example, is a staunch supporter of Hamas, using any available opportunity to condemn Israel. This time, he said: “By occupying the al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel has exceeded the boundaries.” France issued an anodyne statement mainly to create the illusion that it is still an important international player while it struggles with critical domestic issues.

Still another recurrent pattern is the behavior of foreign media, which habitually turns aggressors into victims and vice versa. The media watch organization Honest Reporting Canada created a detailed list of many such distortions in the Canadian media alone during the first days of the riots.

In view of these recurrent patterns, a peace agreement is likely to be useless. The Palestinians may one day sign such an agreement, and indeed maintain quiet for a while – but they will ultimately resort once again to riots, violence, and murder, as they invariably have in the past.

The Temple Mount riots created a perfect model for such a pattern. Commit a crime against Israel related to al-Aqsa. If Israel reacts with enhanced security measures, incite rioting by declaring the mosque to be in danger.

Israel cannot undo the concessions it makes for “peace.” Those concessions are likely to include the removal of isolated West Bank settlements and an exchange of land in return for the larger settlement blocs. The Temple Mount riots provide tangible evidence that as matters stand now, a peace agreement is not a credible option.

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Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld is a former chairman of the Steering Committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He specializes in Israeli–Western European relations, anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism.

BESA Center Perspectives Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family