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TRILATERAL TALKS SET FOR TUESDAY IN NEW YORK: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will fly Monday to New York for the UN General Assembly and a trilateral meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, arranged by US President Barack Obama. Tuesday's meeting between Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas will simply be a photo opportunity with no significant details or changes, according to sources at the prime minister's bureau. Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sources said the prime minister is expected to seriously address the nuclear threat to the world posed by Iran. (INN/Ha’aretz)
IAEA SAYS ALL IRAN NEEDS IS A NUKE DELIVERY SYSTEM: A "secret annex" to a recent report by the international nuclear energy watchdog says Iran is currently able to build a nuclear weapon. The disclosure claims senior officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) prepared a secret document on Iranian nuclear capabilities confirming Iran already has "sufficient information" to prepare an atom bomb. The report continued that the Islamic Republic is missing a sufficient delivery system - however is expected to overcome that limitation. Israel and the US recently charged the IAEA with not revealing all it knew about Iran's nuclear weapons development. (AP) Pray the nations will be swift to know and to implement God’s plan to remove Iran’s nuclear program - a threat to Israel’s safety and that of the world.
DEFIANT IRAN RISKS FURTHER ISOLATION: Iran's continued defiance on the nuclear issue will lead to more isolation and economic pressure on Teheran, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday. "We have made clear our desire to resolve issues with Iran diplomatically. Iran must now decide whether to join us in this effort," she added. Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country has no need for nuclear weapons, but refrained from explicitly ruling out that Teheran would acquire such arms. (J.Post)
ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: SHOOT DOWN ISRAELI PLANES IF THEY ATTACK IRAN: Zbigniew Brzezinski, who enthusiastically campaigned for US President Barack Obama, has called on the president to shoot down Israeli planes if they attack Iran. “They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?” said the former national security adviser to former US President Jimmy Carter. Brzezinski was a top candidate to become an official adviser to President Obama, but he was dropped after charges that Brzezinski’s anti-Israel attitude would damage Obama at the polls. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister said Monday the Jewish state has not given up the option of a military response to Teheran's nuclear program. (INN)
EU SLAMS AHMADINEJAD SHOAH DENIAL: The European Union on Sunday condemned Iranian President Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust, saying it encourages antisemitism and hatred. Ahmadinejad repeated his denials of the Holocaust during a speech in Teheran Saturday, saying it was a pretext for occupying Arab land. He said the Holocaust was "a false pretext to create Israel." He also called on all Muslims to confront the "Zionist regime as a national and religious duty." The US, Britain, France, Germany and Russia all issued statements denouncing the remarks in the harshest terms. (J.Post/Ha’aretz) “Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.” Ps 144:11
US CALLS UN REPORT ON GAZA WAR UNFAIR TO ISRAEL: The Obama administration on Friday sharply criticized a recent UN report alleging Israel committed multiple war crimes in its Gaza war earlier this year. The State Department said the conclusions of a UN commission headed by South African Justice Richard Goldstone were unfair to Israel and did not fully deal with the role in the conflict of the terrorist group Hamas. It said the US objected to a recommendation that Israeli actions be referred to the International Criminal Court. A US spokesman said while the report makes overly sweeping conclusions with respect to Israel, its conclusions regarding Hamas' deplorable conduct and its failure to comply with international humanitarian law during the conflict are more general and tentative. (Ha’aretz)
ENGRAVED GEMSTONE FOUND WITH PORTRAIT OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT: A one centimeter high gemstone, engraved with a detailed portrait of Alexander the Great, was uncovered during excavations by an archaeological team directed by Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University and Dr. Ilan Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Researchers deemed it surprising a work of art such as this would be found in Israel, on the periphery of the Hellenistic world. Master artists were mainly employed by the leading Hellenistic courts in the capital cities, such Alexandria in Egypt and Seleucia in Syria. This new discovery is evidence local elites in secondary centers, such as Tel Dor, appreciated and could afford superior objects of art, researchers concluded. (Daily Alert)
2000-YEAR-OLD AMPHITHEATER DISCOVERED NEAR TIBERIAS: A 2000-year-old Roman amphitheater has finally been revealed after 19 years of excavation work since its first discovery. The 1990 findings came as a surprise to the archaeologists digging in the Tiberias hills as there are no references to such a place anywhere in scriptures. The archaeologists heading the excavation assessed the remains go all the way back to the beginning of the 1st century C.E. The most interesting thing about the amphitheater, according to Archaeologist, Doctor Valid Atrash, is its Jewish context as Tiberias was a Jewish city under Roman rule. The findings demonstrate the city's pluralistic nature and cultural openness, a fact uncommon in those days. Atrash added the theater seated over 7000 people, and appears to have been a prominent landmark for the entire area. (Ha’aretz)