Oil Found in Middle of Israel

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(IsraelNN.com) An everlasting hope of finding significant amounts of oil in Israel may have been realized with the announcement Thursday that “significant quantities” of oil were found in a well in the area of Rosh HaAyin, a city located east of Tel Aviv on the western edge of Samaria.
The Givat Olam (Hebrew for “Hill of the World”) Exploration Limited Partnership informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the discovery, but added, “At this stage it is not possible to estimate the significance of these findings." The company’s stock more than doubled on the stock market, according to
The firm said the oil was found late Wednesday night and that “more than 60 percent gas was measured in the drill mud.” The commercial potential of the oil field will not be known until tests and calculations on production and processing can be completed.
The “Meged” well in the Rosh HaAyin area is one of the few that have been drilled outside of the Negev and Dead Sea area. Several studies by independent consultants have confirmed the potential for oil in the area, and previous drillings have encouraged the prospects of discovering enough oil and gas for commercial production.
Earlier this year, a huge gas field was discovered off the Mediterranean Coast. The gas is expected to be on line in three years and is anticipated to help Israel become self-sufficient in gas. It also is providing hundreds of high-paying jobs for developing the field and bringing the gas from the sea, off Hadera and Haifa, to the coastline.
If the Meged well proves commercially viable, it will further Israel’s longtime hope of being energy independent and is likely to strengthen the shekel against world currencies.


Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Between Samoa and Samaria

by Gerald A. Honigman

Follow Israel opinion on and .

While Pres. Obama is trying to forbid Jews from living in Judea & Samaria, his country still controls islands thousands of miles from the USA.

Recently, tragedy struck Samoa  in the South Pacific in the form of a tidal wave.  American Samoa is an unincorporated state southeast of independent Samoa.
As reports came in, I couldn't help but ponder the irony inherent in the use of the expression American Samoa.....
If Judea must be Judenrein, then every Arab in Israel should be sent packing.  Israel must be made Arabrein. Half of the latter are just waiting-- like vultures-- to pounce anyway... given the right moment.
It is truly time for equal treatment here. What's good for Jews must be good for Arabs.
Forget land for peace. It's a  bad joke--part of the Arabs' openly-admitted destruction-in-phases plan since 1967. Look at a map of the region. Is the problem really a lack of Arab land in comparison to Israel?
Peace for peace...Period.
No recognition of a Jewish State of Israel?

Then no recognizing a 22nd state for Arabs--and their second , not first, one in "Palestine".
Unlike Samoa to America, Judea and Samaria are literally a stone's throw away from Israel's heartland, are an integral part of Jewish history, and are positioned to allow a hostile army entering from the east to cut Israel in half.
Finally, and this can't be repeated too often...
Look at what came after Israel's total withdrawal from Gaza years ago  to see what a total Israeli withdrawal from  the "West Bank" will mean for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ben-Gurion Airport, the Knesset,  and so forth once Israel has been forced back to the '49 armistice lines--not borders--imposed on it by the United Nations and which made it a mere 9-16 miles wide at its strategic waist, where most of its population, industry, and so forth are located.
And the next time you hear Washington insisting upon a Jew-free Judea and Samaria, please give a long, hard thought to American Samoa.
(Mr. Honigman's new book at makes its Washington debut at the Professors Fuad Ajami and Bernard Lewis's ASMEA Conference this month)

Read the entire article HERE

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

A Teachable Mid East Moment

09.09.2009 by Michael Freund

For a president who has been in office for just over seven months, Barack Obama can at last point to some meaningful change that he has brought about in the Middle East.

Thanks to his administration's arm-twisting and bullying of Jerusalem over settlements, Obama has unwittingly succeeded in galvanizing the Israeli public like never before. The result is a broad coalition that extends all the way from the moderate left, through the center and over to the reasonable right, giving Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plenty of political breathing space. ( Praise God!!-- Mid)

Consider the following: On Monday, left-wing Defense Minister Ehud Barak signed permits approving the construction of 455 housing units in various Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. This is the same Barak who, as prime minister, sat down with Yasser Arafat at Camp David nine years ago and offered the Palestinians virtually the entire West Bank and Gaza on a silver platter.

Yet here he is, lending a hand to building the Land of Israel, in defiance of the dictates from Washington. This is no small achievement. Thousands of additional Jews will now be able to make their homes over the so-called Green Line, strengthening the Jewish presence in the very areas that Washington so desperately wants to tear away from us.

Ironically, in this respect, Obama has managed to attain what various right-wing MKs and settler lobby groups could only dream of. Through his obstinacy, the American president has inadvertently brought about a resumption of construction in the territories by unfairly pressing Israel to agree to a "freeze."

No matter how one looks at it, Obama misplayed his hand, thinking he could push Israel around. But this approach has clearly backfired. Instead of dividing and conquering the Israeli public, Obama has instead riled them up and united them.

In this regard, Obama can also point to another significant achievement on his watch. Previous American presidents, regardless of their stature at home, have consistently enjoyed high approval ratings among Israelis. Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were all adored by the general Israeli public, which viewed them as true friends. The result was that Israelis trusted them and their judgment, even when they took stands inimical to our interests, thereby making it more difficult for our leaders to openly defy Washington.

Yet here too Obama has managed to alter reality. As a recent Smith Research poll conducted on behalf of The Jerusalem Post revealed (August 28), just 4 percent of Israelis now think Obama's policies are pro-Israel, while 51% consider his administration to be pro-Palestinian.

In effect, Obama has changed the way Israelis view America. It was once considered unthinkable for a prime minister to say no to the United States, yet that is exactly what is happening now, and the bulk of Israelis support it.

Indeed, when Netanyahu's coalition was sworn in on April 1, could anyone have imagined that within just a few months it would successfully stand up to Washington over the issue of settlements? Sure, Obama can and will point to the six-month moratorium on further West Bank construction as a concession that he squeezed out of Jerusalem. But the fact is that the cranes and bulldozers will continue apace in Judea and Samaria for a long time to come, both on the 2,500 units already under construction and the new ones approved this week.

And that is what makes the Netanyahu government's achievement here so noteworthy. For instead of simply acquiescing to Obama's demands on settlements, he has outmaneuvered him, ostensibly giving him what he wants while in effect rendering it moot. And so, the building will carry on, but without the brouhaha that would otherwise have accompanied it.

More importantly, Netanyahu has succeeded in changing the narrative of the Middle East peace process. For the first time in recent memory, Israel has actually said no to America on an issue of major importance.

Supporters of Israel should breathe a sigh of relief at this development. It signifies a much healthier attitude on the part of the country's decision-makers and marks a new maturity in the relationship between Jerusalem and Washington.

If and when a final-status deal is ever negotiated, it is crucial that the Americans and Palestinians go into the talks aware that Israel is self-confident enough to stand firm on issues it views as vital to its existence.

This is what Obama himself would likely refer to as a "teachable moment" on the Middle East - one from which he still has a lot to learn. In a short period, he has hardened the Palestinian position, strengthened the hand of Israel's settlement enterprise and led the Israeli public to reassess its blind faith in Washington.

That's quite a record of achievement.
Read the article HERE
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua