In a gently rolling meadow of lush green grass and fragrant wild flowers, a magnificent milk white stallion stood proud, tall, and alert like none other.
He had always been meticulously groomed with carefully trimmed hooves, his hair was soft and smooth as pure white silk, and his mane and tail had always been combed to perfection. It was as if he was always prepared for an imminent showing.
With powerful muscles rippling in the light of the day, he seemed to be the perfect picture of a Triple Crown winner, and so much more. Truly, this superb animal was fit to belong to a King.
This horse was not a racing champion, nor was he a show performer, for he had never been ridden by anyone. As a result, he had never understood or experienced his purpose in life. However, unknown to him, he would fulfill a destiny that the whole world would see. He would soon discover his long awaited mission in life...and what a mission that would be!
But somehow, he could sense that today would in some way be different and unlike any other day - that something wonderful and exciting was about to happen. He began to pace and stomp nervously with anticipation while scanning the horizon for any movement. His ears were erect and focused to catch the slightest sound. Off in the distance, he thought he could see someone walking toward him. His sensitive ears also heard the sound of the approaching footsteps. With nostrils flared, he could smell the sweetness of his Master nearby. It was then that he knew his Master was coming to him.
His Master greeted him with a warm smile and kind words of encouragement while tenderly stroking his soft muzzle. The horse loved his Master and responded by gently nuzzling his Master's hands - searching for a treat. He had never been disappointed and today was certainly no exception. It was just the two of them in that place, together, enjoying the close relationship they shared.
Suddenly in the stillness of the moment, a loud pure voice was heard that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. The voice said, "Son, now is the appointed time. This is the day I had set from eternity past. Go now and fulfill Your prophecies promised to mankind. Go quickly!"
Without hesitation the Master turned and easily leaped up onto the back of the beautiful white stallion. With arched neck and extended tail, the horse, proud to serve his Master, pranced with almost overwhelming anxiety. Very quickly they were joined by the armies of heaven, tens of thousands of them, also on white horses, and all wearing clean white linen.
At that point, the Master's demeanor changed. With eyes as fire, dressed for battle, and armed with the all-powerful Word of God, He was ready to make war against evil once and for all. At the Master's command His milk white stallion instantly charged forward leading the way to engage the enemy. It was at that moment in the midst of an enormous flurry of thundering hoof beats that the Master's white horse finally realized his prophetic destiny. He was carrying his beloved Master…the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Who with great power and glory would claim victory over all evil.
Rev. 19:11-16 NKJV
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Don
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Pray for Israel...URGENT, NOW!!
New Intifada Gains Upper Hand on IDF Restraint
Violence
by Arabs from Haifa to Be’er Sheva has grown into a full-blown
Intifada, but so far the IDF is holding fire despite near deaths.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 2/26/2012, 3:32 PM
Masked Arab rock throwers
Reuters
Dozens of daily rock-throwing attacks on highways in Judea and Samaria were recorded the past week, causing massive damage to cars, light injuries and near death. In Haifa, two solders in civilian clothes narrowly escaped with their lives in a brutal attack that police are claiming was not nationalist and was a case of “mistaken identity.”
However, the assailants asked the two men if they were Jews before they began viciously assaulting them with clubs.
In the area of Be’er Sheva, the village of Tel Sheva has become a Hamas enclave where Israeli police rarely dare to enter. The government provides armed escorts for Jewish social and health workers who enter the Bedouin-populated area.
In Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority Arabs have terrorized women drivers by staging fake car accidents and then stealing their cars.
Two more Jewish residents narrowly escaped death Sunday morning when a rock ambush cut off the highway under the eyes of IDF soldiers in a “pillbox” tower on the side of the road.
The soldiers fired bullets in the air at the rate of only one minute and without any effect, Rivka Nir told Arutz Sheva. She was in a car driven by another woman on their way from Beit Haggai, immediately southwest of Hevron, to Efrat, the largest community in the Gush Etzion bloc along Highway 60.
Faced with the alternative of being attacked while standing in a lane of other cars whose drivers did not want to take the chance of failing to succeed to pass harmlessly through the maze of boulders, the two women decided to "run the gauntlet."
Nir said she encouraged the driver to try to escape, and “she pressed the gas pedal and zig-zagged her way to safety, when an IDF jeep finally approached from the other direction.”
Rock-throwing attacks, intended to cause fatal accidents, are the most violent since the Oslo War, also known as the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000, with over a thousand Israelis killed by terror acts. It never really ended, with sporadic violence that has worsened since the Palestinian Authority has failed to force Israel to accept its diplomatic and political demands. These include surrendering large areas of Jerusalem, all of Judea and Samaria, declaring Jerusalem as a divided capital, sovereignty over the Temple Mount and Old City, and the immigration to Israel of five million foreign Arabs.
The IDF’s former policy of keeping a low profile in order to avoid provoking Arabs has left a vacuum that terrorists have exploited, particularly on Highway 60, a main artery which stretches from northern Samaria to Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem, and to Hevron-Kiryat Arba and the southern Hevron Hills. Another hot spot has been the main highway connecting Kfar Saba, on the northern edge of metropolitan Tel Aviv with central Samaria communities.
The writing was on the wall late last year, when rock-throwing terrorists scored a direct hit on the windshield of Kiryat Arba resident Asher Palmer, who lost control of his car and crashed on to the shoulder, causing his own death and that of his baby boy.
The police initially concluded that the deaths were due to a routine traffic accident until Arutz Sheva published photographic evidence proving that the car had come under attack by rock-throwing terrorists.
The IDF apparently has carried out of strategy of minimal interference, allowing virtual anarchy on the roads, which already are dangerous due to wild driving by local villagers. Many of them drive without licenses and with cars that have no permit to be on the roads.
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
COME AND DRINK OF THE LIVING WATER
While traveling through Samaria, Jesus stopped to rest beside a well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, He asked her to give Him a drink. She questioned why a Jew would ask a Samaritan for water.
John 4:10 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
The woman then asked where He would get that living water. Jesus’ response was in the form of a comparison between the earthly well water, and the Living Water that only He can provide.
John 4:13-14 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The final invitation to receive a renewed life and eternal salvation is given in the Scripture as recorded in Revelation 22:17. It is an urgent plea from the Holy Spirit and the bride of Christ to a hurting, lost, and dying world.
Revelation 22:17 KJV
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
In that Scripture, God compassionately declares, “Your spiritual thirst is crying out, ‘I want to be satisfied.’ Believe in Me; come to Me and drink freely of the Living Water. Whosoever will...please come!”
His Water of Life is eternal life...and is available only through faith and trust in Christ alone. It is freely offered to all who would choose to humbly submit to Him with a repentant heart, and declare Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life above all else.
John 7:37b-38 NKJV
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Have you truly done that? Is He the Lord and Master of your life? Has your Spiritual thirst been quenched with His Living Water?
You must be very sure!
Don
John 4:10 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
The woman then asked where He would get that living water. Jesus’ response was in the form of a comparison between the earthly well water, and the Living Water that only He can provide.
John 4:13-14 NKJV
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The final invitation to receive a renewed life and eternal salvation is given in the Scripture as recorded in Revelation 22:17. It is an urgent plea from the Holy Spirit and the bride of Christ to a hurting, lost, and dying world.
Revelation 22:17 KJV
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
In that Scripture, God compassionately declares, “Your spiritual thirst is crying out, ‘I want to be satisfied.’ Believe in Me; come to Me and drink freely of the Living Water. Whosoever will...please come!”
His Water of Life is eternal life...and is available only through faith and trust in Christ alone. It is freely offered to all who would choose to humbly submit to Him with a repentant heart, and declare Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life above all else.
John 7:37b-38 NKJV
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Have you truly done that? Is He the Lord and Master of your life? Has your Spiritual thirst been quenched with His Living Water?
You must be very sure!
Don
Friday, February 17, 2012
So Jesus Lived in Occupied Territory?
By Jan Markell
February 15, 2012
www.olivetreeviews.org
A terrible tragedy will take place March 5-9 in the holy city of Bethlehem. Our Lord's city of birth will host a conference called, "Christ at the Checkpoint." Which Christ? Not the Christ of the Bible. The premise of the event is that the Palestinians live under brutal Israeli "occupation." It is supposedly so bad that Israel is accused of apartheid-like treatment of the Palestinians such as the "separation" experienced in South Africa. The symbol for all of this is the wall of separation between Palestinian territories and Israeli land. Their perception is that this represents a military checkpoint. Israel's perception -- and reality -- is that the wall saves Israeli lives.
Some 30 Christian leaders will be gathering at the Bethlehem Bible College to raise the banner of "Palestinian Liberation Theology" as the only true hope for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East. The target of the speakers will also be Israel's divine right to the land.
"Christian Zionism" will be "brought into the conversation" during the conference--but you can bet not in a friendly manner. No matter how benign Christian Zionism is, the Left side of Christianity's aisle believes we look forward to Armageddon and we blindly root for the Israelis because they're the chief players on the end-time stage and feel Israel has a right to their land. If the truth were known, we're a puny band of evangelical Christians who are even outcasts in most of the major denominations today.
Christian Zionists are roundly scolded by this crowd. You can read that here. Our biggest problem is that we take the Bible literally! When did that almost become a crime? "Checkpoint" folks say we Christian Zionists support the "occupation" but it isn't an occupation! We rejoice that on May 14, 1948, God just kept His word. Tony Campolo scolds us, too. We're blind followers of Schofield and Darby and we need to get over it.
"Christ at the Checkpoint" says Christian Zionism is a political movement that is "ethnocentric," privileging one people at the expense of others. Christianity calls believers in Jesus to focus on building God's kingdom on earth, says Checkpoint publicity, and not futuristic speculations. It is tragic how this bunch sweeps under the rug God's continued covenant with Israel. These folks have no appreciation of the "last days" spoken of so frequently in the Bible. "Christ at the Checkpoint" theologians do not want to consider Jesus as the Messiah of the Jewish people, someday returning to earth to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem to rule as the last Davidic King. Then they would have to acknowledge the continuance of the Abrahamic covenant with the modern state of Israel.
"Palestinian Liberation Theology" is heralded, however. It is all about the Palestinian struggle for "freedom" from their "occupied land." Followers of this sentiment see the Israelis as an "occupier" trying to oppress the Palestinians. Reality shows that Israel has worked them into their society, given them seats in the Israeli parliament, and given them a decent standard of living. Israel gave the Palestinians so much freedom that they let them elect the terror group Hamas to govern them. As a thank you, Hamas shells Israeli towns and settlements regularly. This conference will tell the world -- and the church -- that Israel brings this on due to their repression.
Many of the participants are part of the "religious Left" but some evangelicals show up yearly, including Lynne Hybels, wife of Willow Creek's Pastor Bill Hybels. We believe she should know better.
The most troubling person at such events is Vicar Stephen Sizer who has a war against the Jews as well as Christian Zionists. It seems he cannot -- or perhaps chooses not -- to see the brutality of Israel's enemies. Sizer writes books against Christians who stand with Israel but he has a distinct aversion towards talking about Israelis being brutally slaughtered. To him, the now-infamous wall represents repression rather than safety.
To balance his position, Sizer needed to speak out a year ago when a family was wiped out in Itamar, Israel. The Fogel family has become the symbol of Palestinian aggression, not Israeli aggression. In watching sessions of past Checkpoint conferences, I hear little or no reference to the root of the conflict. I hear a one-sided argument that is decidedly anti-Israel in tone and a case consistently made for Israel as Goliath slaying David every day.
The Checkpoint conference claims to oppose "all forms of violence and racism." Yet a few of the Checkpoint speakers -- including Sizer -- have given me reason to question this. Why? In part because at least Sizer seems to be a defender of the Gaza flotilla sent to Israel in May 2010 by Turkish Islamists. Those on the Turkish boat headed for Gaza were lovers of jihad. Participants on that ship sang songs calling for the murder of Jews.
I maintain you cannot have conservative Christians take an event like "Christ at the Checkpoint" seriously when Stephen Sizer is on the program unless you have a blatant Christian Zionist like me on the ticket as well. Someone needs to challenge this guy and reveal just who is the real racist. Sizer does not like Jews.
Critics of this event are scorned for not considering the issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation. The truth is, we recognize only the millennial kingdom as a time of peace and justice. Reconciliation with the Palestinians is not possible due to their corrupt leadership. The Arab world has wanted the Palestinian people to be political pawns for 60 years so they stuck them in squalid refugee camps decades ago. That is the real reason there can be no peace. Hard line Hamas and Fatah leadership stand in the way, not the Israelis. This conference will not address that.
The tragic roots of Replacement Theology can be cited as the fuel driving events like this. The church did not replace Israel. If God could forsake the Jew, He could also turn His back on the Christian. Replacement Theology allowed the church to go along with Adolph Hitler 75 years ago. God forbid the church participates -- or looks the other way -- in some future Holocaust. Frankly, Replacement Theology replaces reality.
Even some solid evangelicals were perplexed as to how all the promises to Israel could unfold before the 1940s. When it blossomed in 1948, students of the Bible should have collectively stood up and cheered and not jeered as a few denominations did. Today the "miracle of the millennium" is living proof that God is not a liar. "Christ at the Checkpoint" will not talk about this. Instead they will grumble about Israel's brutal "occupation." Jesus lived and ministered in that "occupied territory" but that won't change their perspective.
Words like "occupation" and "checkpoint" are incendiary -- almost war-like. I realize my response could be as well. Ever feel like you can't take it anymore? With apologies, I acknowledge that's where I'm at.
~ ~ ~
An excellent article by Jan Markell!
With that circus about to unfold, I am reminded once again of how near we are to the Lord's return. I would not want to be standing in the shoes of those Christian leaders, and the churches and people that support them, on judgment day when they try to tell God they didn't believe everything He said.
Don
February 15, 2012
www.olivetreeviews.org
A terrible tragedy will take place March 5-9 in the holy city of Bethlehem. Our Lord's city of birth will host a conference called, "Christ at the Checkpoint." Which Christ? Not the Christ of the Bible. The premise of the event is that the Palestinians live under brutal Israeli "occupation." It is supposedly so bad that Israel is accused of apartheid-like treatment of the Palestinians such as the "separation" experienced in South Africa. The symbol for all of this is the wall of separation between Palestinian territories and Israeli land. Their perception is that this represents a military checkpoint. Israel's perception -- and reality -- is that the wall saves Israeli lives.
Some 30 Christian leaders will be gathering at the Bethlehem Bible College to raise the banner of "Palestinian Liberation Theology" as the only true hope for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East. The target of the speakers will also be Israel's divine right to the land.
"Christian Zionism" will be "brought into the conversation" during the conference--but you can bet not in a friendly manner. No matter how benign Christian Zionism is, the Left side of Christianity's aisle believes we look forward to Armageddon and we blindly root for the Israelis because they're the chief players on the end-time stage and feel Israel has a right to their land. If the truth were known, we're a puny band of evangelical Christians who are even outcasts in most of the major denominations today.
Christian Zionists are roundly scolded by this crowd. You can read that here. Our biggest problem is that we take the Bible literally! When did that almost become a crime? "Checkpoint" folks say we Christian Zionists support the "occupation" but it isn't an occupation! We rejoice that on May 14, 1948, God just kept His word. Tony Campolo scolds us, too. We're blind followers of Schofield and Darby and we need to get over it.
"Christ at the Checkpoint" says Christian Zionism is a political movement that is "ethnocentric," privileging one people at the expense of others. Christianity calls believers in Jesus to focus on building God's kingdom on earth, says Checkpoint publicity, and not futuristic speculations. It is tragic how this bunch sweeps under the rug God's continued covenant with Israel. These folks have no appreciation of the "last days" spoken of so frequently in the Bible. "Christ at the Checkpoint" theologians do not want to consider Jesus as the Messiah of the Jewish people, someday returning to earth to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem to rule as the last Davidic King. Then they would have to acknowledge the continuance of the Abrahamic covenant with the modern state of Israel.
"Palestinian Liberation Theology" is heralded, however. It is all about the Palestinian struggle for "freedom" from their "occupied land." Followers of this sentiment see the Israelis as an "occupier" trying to oppress the Palestinians. Reality shows that Israel has worked them into their society, given them seats in the Israeli parliament, and given them a decent standard of living. Israel gave the Palestinians so much freedom that they let them elect the terror group Hamas to govern them. As a thank you, Hamas shells Israeli towns and settlements regularly. This conference will tell the world -- and the church -- that Israel brings this on due to their repression.
Many of the participants are part of the "religious Left" but some evangelicals show up yearly, including Lynne Hybels, wife of Willow Creek's Pastor Bill Hybels. We believe she should know better.
The most troubling person at such events is Vicar Stephen Sizer who has a war against the Jews as well as Christian Zionists. It seems he cannot -- or perhaps chooses not -- to see the brutality of Israel's enemies. Sizer writes books against Christians who stand with Israel but he has a distinct aversion towards talking about Israelis being brutally slaughtered. To him, the now-infamous wall represents repression rather than safety.
To balance his position, Sizer needed to speak out a year ago when a family was wiped out in Itamar, Israel. The Fogel family has become the symbol of Palestinian aggression, not Israeli aggression. In watching sessions of past Checkpoint conferences, I hear little or no reference to the root of the conflict. I hear a one-sided argument that is decidedly anti-Israel in tone and a case consistently made for Israel as Goliath slaying David every day.
The Checkpoint conference claims to oppose "all forms of violence and racism." Yet a few of the Checkpoint speakers -- including Sizer -- have given me reason to question this. Why? In part because at least Sizer seems to be a defender of the Gaza flotilla sent to Israel in May 2010 by Turkish Islamists. Those on the Turkish boat headed for Gaza were lovers of jihad. Participants on that ship sang songs calling for the murder of Jews.
I maintain you cannot have conservative Christians take an event like "Christ at the Checkpoint" seriously when Stephen Sizer is on the program unless you have a blatant Christian Zionist like me on the ticket as well. Someone needs to challenge this guy and reveal just who is the real racist. Sizer does not like Jews.
Critics of this event are scorned for not considering the issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation. The truth is, we recognize only the millennial kingdom as a time of peace and justice. Reconciliation with the Palestinians is not possible due to their corrupt leadership. The Arab world has wanted the Palestinian people to be political pawns for 60 years so they stuck them in squalid refugee camps decades ago. That is the real reason there can be no peace. Hard line Hamas and Fatah leadership stand in the way, not the Israelis. This conference will not address that.
The tragic roots of Replacement Theology can be cited as the fuel driving events like this. The church did not replace Israel. If God could forsake the Jew, He could also turn His back on the Christian. Replacement Theology allowed the church to go along with Adolph Hitler 75 years ago. God forbid the church participates -- or looks the other way -- in some future Holocaust. Frankly, Replacement Theology replaces reality.
Even some solid evangelicals were perplexed as to how all the promises to Israel could unfold before the 1940s. When it blossomed in 1948, students of the Bible should have collectively stood up and cheered and not jeered as a few denominations did. Today the "miracle of the millennium" is living proof that God is not a liar. "Christ at the Checkpoint" will not talk about this. Instead they will grumble about Israel's brutal "occupation." Jesus lived and ministered in that "occupied territory" but that won't change their perspective.
Words like "occupation" and "checkpoint" are incendiary -- almost war-like. I realize my response could be as well. Ever feel like you can't take it anymore? With apologies, I acknowledge that's where I'm at.
~ ~ ~
An excellent article by Jan Markell!
With that circus about to unfold, I am reminded once again of how near we are to the Lord's return. I would not want to be standing in the shoes of those Christian leaders, and the churches and people that support them, on judgment day when they try to tell God they didn't believe everything He said.
Don
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
DUST TO DUST
As it is with many people, their rarely used Bible is likely displayed on a coffee table, or perhaps tucked away on a bookshelf.
Also, a dust cloth is probably kept in a nearby drawer for removing the accumulation of dust from the Bible cover before guests arrive, or before bringing it with them to church...that is, if they actually take their Bible to church.
However, a closer look at that layer of dust would clearly reveal two words written there in plain sight...and they would appear as if God’s finger had been the writing instrument.
The words are ... “READ ME!”
The Bible, God’s holy inspired Word, is our textbook, our instruction manual, our workbook, and our notebook. As our textbook, we must study and memorize it. As our instruction manual, we must live by it. As our workbook and notebook, we must underline key Scriptures and make appropriate notations in the margins.
In other words, it must be read and used as an essential tool to help us grow in our faith.
Do you know your Bible well enough to use it effectively when sharing the saving gospel message with others? All professing Christians need to think about that!
Don
Also, a dust cloth is probably kept in a nearby drawer for removing the accumulation of dust from the Bible cover before guests arrive, or before bringing it with them to church...that is, if they actually take their Bible to church.
However, a closer look at that layer of dust would clearly reveal two words written there in plain sight...and they would appear as if God’s finger had been the writing instrument.
The words are ... “READ ME!”
The Bible, God’s holy inspired Word, is our textbook, our instruction manual, our workbook, and our notebook. As our textbook, we must study and memorize it. As our instruction manual, we must live by it. As our workbook and notebook, we must underline key Scriptures and make appropriate notations in the margins.
In other words, it must be read and used as an essential tool to help us grow in our faith.
Do you know your Bible well enough to use it effectively when sharing the saving gospel message with others? All professing Christians need to think about that!
Don
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Settlements on ISRAELI Land Approved
Barak approves new settler homes in Gevaot
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday authorized construction of homes and
educational facilities in a small, isolated area of Gush Etzion known as
Gevaot.
This marks the first time that permanent housing has been authorized in Gevaot, which is made up of caravan homes.
Hagit Ofran of Peace Now charged that the approvals were tantamount to the creation of a new settlement – an allegation the Defense Ministry rejected.
Officially, on the map, Gevaot is located within the Alon Shvut settlement.
But traveling there, one feels as if he were entering another community. To get there, one has to leave the guarded yellow gate of Alon Shvut, go several kilometers down the road, turn right into a wooded area, and enter Gevaot through another gate.
The authorization to build “is the most important development that has occurred in Gush Etzion in recent years,” acting Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Yair Wolf said. He negotiated the deal for Gevaot with the Defense Ministry.
Wolf explained that all five bureaucratic phases of the project had been approved, and said he had permits to replace 60 caravans on the site with permanent homes.
He can also build educational facilities, including a dormitory, for children with disabilities, specifically Down’s Syndrome.
The Defense Ministry confirmed that the project had been approved, although its did not say how many structures could be built.
Wolf said the permits were a response “to all those who thought that new construction in Gush Etzion was frozen.”
News of the approvals comes less than a week before Tuesday’s election for regional council head. Wolf is one of three contenders for the post. The other two are Chava Shem Tov and Davidi Perel.
The announcement also comes as the PLO considers withdrawing from preliminary talks with Israel, which began last month in Jordan.
There have been no meetings this month.
Palestinians have insisted that they do not want to hold full-fledged direct negotiations with Israel before it halts all settlement activity, and Jewish construction in east Jerusalem.
Permanent construction in Gevaot had long seemed a pipe dream. Still, former council head Shaul Goldstein had worked to advance plans there.
Based on a 1982 cabinet decision, Gevaot was founded in 1984 as a Nahal Brigade settlement, in which soldiers farmed the land.
By 1997, the IDF had closed the base, and a yeshiva moved to the site. It was housed in caravans that had first been used in Haifa to house Ethiopian immigrants more than two decades earlier.
In 1998, the Construction and Housing Ministry put forward a plan to turn Gevaot into a city of 13,000 apartment units. But those plans were never implemented.
In 2003, the yeshiva moved to Efrat. But a few families remained, based on a contract with the World Zionist Organization’s settlement division.
In 2009, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria ended that contract. Last summer, the families who lived in Gevaot lost their legal battle to remain there.
Now that Wolf, who replaced Goldstein last month, has secured construction approval for Gevaot, he is hopeful that he will obtain further permission to build elsewhere in Gush Etzion.
Peace Now executive director Yariv Oppenheimer, however, slammed the approvals.
“This is yet one more proof that the direction this government is going in, is to stop the peace talks,” he said. “They are also doing whatever they can to make it harder for the next government to pull out of the West Bank.”
Mid: Peace Now is the worst offender when it comes to delegitimizing Israel! They are people who need to go live somewhere else and let REAL JEWS settle in their OWN LAND--NOT pull out of it!!
This marks the first time that permanent housing has been authorized in Gevaot, which is made up of caravan homes.
Hagit Ofran of Peace Now charged that the approvals were tantamount to the creation of a new settlement – an allegation the Defense Ministry rejected.
Officially, on the map, Gevaot is located within the Alon Shvut settlement.
But traveling there, one feels as if he were entering another community. To get there, one has to leave the guarded yellow gate of Alon Shvut, go several kilometers down the road, turn right into a wooded area, and enter Gevaot through another gate.
The authorization to build “is the most important development that has occurred in Gush Etzion in recent years,” acting Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Yair Wolf said. He negotiated the deal for Gevaot with the Defense Ministry.
Wolf explained that all five bureaucratic phases of the project had been approved, and said he had permits to replace 60 caravans on the site with permanent homes.
He can also build educational facilities, including a dormitory, for children with disabilities, specifically Down’s Syndrome.
The Defense Ministry confirmed that the project had been approved, although its did not say how many structures could be built.
Wolf said the permits were a response “to all those who thought that new construction in Gush Etzion was frozen.”
News of the approvals comes less than a week before Tuesday’s election for regional council head. Wolf is one of three contenders for the post. The other two are Chava Shem Tov and Davidi Perel.
The announcement also comes as the PLO considers withdrawing from preliminary talks with Israel, which began last month in Jordan.
There have been no meetings this month.
Palestinians have insisted that they do not want to hold full-fledged direct negotiations with Israel before it halts all settlement activity, and Jewish construction in east Jerusalem.
Permanent construction in Gevaot had long seemed a pipe dream. Still, former council head Shaul Goldstein had worked to advance plans there.
Based on a 1982 cabinet decision, Gevaot was founded in 1984 as a Nahal Brigade settlement, in which soldiers farmed the land.
By 1997, the IDF had closed the base, and a yeshiva moved to the site. It was housed in caravans that had first been used in Haifa to house Ethiopian immigrants more than two decades earlier.
In 1998, the Construction and Housing Ministry put forward a plan to turn Gevaot into a city of 13,000 apartment units. But those plans were never implemented.
In 2003, the yeshiva moved to Efrat. But a few families remained, based on a contract with the World Zionist Organization’s settlement division.
In 2009, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria ended that contract. Last summer, the families who lived in Gevaot lost their legal battle to remain there.
Now that Wolf, who replaced Goldstein last month, has secured construction approval for Gevaot, he is hopeful that he will obtain further permission to build elsewhere in Gush Etzion.
Peace Now executive director Yariv Oppenheimer, however, slammed the approvals.
“This is yet one more proof that the direction this government is going in, is to stop the peace talks,” he said. “They are also doing whatever they can to make it harder for the next government to pull out of the West Bank.”
Mid: Peace Now is the worst offender when it comes to delegitimizing Israel! They are people who need to go live somewhere else and let REAL JEWS settle in their OWN LAND--NOT pull out of it!!
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua
Monday, February 6, 2012
HERE AM I, LORD
O Lord, what would You have me do today? You know that I love You, and am ready and willing to serve as You have planned and purposed for my life. I am simply a lump of clay in Your hands waiting to be formed into the vessel You would have me be. Oh, what can I do to bring honor and glory to You that Your Name would be magnified?
Perhaps You will send someone across my path today who is in need of comfort or a kind word. With You as my guide and the source of all comfort, I would do my best to encourage that someone with the true assurance and hope only found in You and Your Word.
There might be one today who, due to overwhelming circumstances in their life, is broken, suffering, and in such despair that they don't know which way to turn. With Your leading, allow me to show them Your Way, Your Truth, and Your Life that can only be realized when they lift their eyes up to You above all else.
Others might be sent my way that belong to You, but due to the busyness of life, they have pushed aside their all-important, spiritual needs. Their daily communion with You has lost its priority. Allow me to pray with them…that they might be convicted to renew a close fellowship with You.
You know, Lord, that there are many who are searching and reaching out for Your Truth, but have never found it. They need the Savior in their life, but do not understand why…or, how they can claim Your promises by choosing Him in their life. Instill in me a passion for sharing the saving gospel with all who will hear while there is still time to do so.
Perhaps, Lord, You would have me do nothing today…other than allowing Your Light to shine brightly from within, that others might see the Christ Who lives in me. Whether that is done through prayers for others, by spoken and written words, or through a life testimony visible to many…I await Your call to serve today.
Here am I, Lord, use me this day as You will…in Jesus’ Name I pray.
Amen.
Don
Perhaps You will send someone across my path today who is in need of comfort or a kind word. With You as my guide and the source of all comfort, I would do my best to encourage that someone with the true assurance and hope only found in You and Your Word.
There might be one today who, due to overwhelming circumstances in their life, is broken, suffering, and in such despair that they don't know which way to turn. With Your leading, allow me to show them Your Way, Your Truth, and Your Life that can only be realized when they lift their eyes up to You above all else.
Others might be sent my way that belong to You, but due to the busyness of life, they have pushed aside their all-important, spiritual needs. Their daily communion with You has lost its priority. Allow me to pray with them…that they might be convicted to renew a close fellowship with You.
You know, Lord, that there are many who are searching and reaching out for Your Truth, but have never found it. They need the Savior in their life, but do not understand why…or, how they can claim Your promises by choosing Him in their life. Instill in me a passion for sharing the saving gospel with all who will hear while there is still time to do so.
Perhaps, Lord, You would have me do nothing today…other than allowing Your Light to shine brightly from within, that others might see the Christ Who lives in me. Whether that is done through prayers for others, by spoken and written words, or through a life testimony visible to many…I await Your call to serve today.
Here am I, Lord, use me this day as You will…in Jesus’ Name I pray.
Amen.
Don
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