According to a new poll conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, only 43 percent of Israelis Jews and Palestinians are in favor of such a negotiated end to the conflict, a decline of 9 and 8 points since 2016, respectively.

Support for a two-state solution has been steadily eroding among Jews and Palestinians for a decade, the pollsters noted, although among Israeli Arabs support has largely remained “stable and very high” at 82 percent.

A total of 2,150 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and 1,600 Israelis were polled on their views of a hypothetical peace deal consisting of a de-militarized Palestinian state, an Israeli withdrawal to the Green Line with equal territorial exchange, family unification in Israel of 100,000 Palestinian refugees, West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall under Israeli sovereignty and the Muslim and Christian quarters and the al Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount under Palestinian sovereignty, and the end of the conflict and claims.

Only 37 percent of Palestinians and 39 percent of Israeli Jews stated that they supported such an agreement. Nineteen percent of Israeli Jews expressed support for a unitary state with equal rights for both Jews and Palestinians while 15 percent voiced their approval of annexation without rights. Eight percent supported expulsion of the Palestinians.

“A plurality or a majority of Israelis and Palestinians, respectively, believe that settlements have expanded so much that the two-state solution is no longer viable,” the pollsters wrote. “Large majorities on both sides believe the other side is untrustworthy. The perceived lack of feasibility and the lack of trust are closely connected to opposition to the plan. Findings also show a net decline over the last two years in the percentage of Israeli Jews and Palestinians who think the other side wants peace.”

Between Jews and Arabs, nearly half of Israelis believe that a two-state solution is still viable, although 45 percent believe that settlements have spread too much to implement such an agreement. While Israeli Arabs remained highly optimistic, with 64 percent thinking this solution remained viable, only 44 percent of Israeli Jews agreed with this assessment.

Overall, trust between the two sides seems to have broken down nearly completely, with only a quarter of Israeli Jews trusting Palestinians and 11 percent of Palestinians reciprocating that trust. Both sides are extremely skeptical that a Palestinian state will be established in the next five years, with 72 percent of Palestinians and 81 percent of Israeli Jews stating that they do not expect this to happen.

The poll, which had a margin of error of 2.5 percent, was supported by the United Nations, European Union and Japan.

The post Support for two-state solution drops to historic low appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Source: https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/jta/support-for-two-state-solution-drops-to-historic-low/article_8eadf113-118a-5547-a7bd-df84405c5875.html

The post Support for two-state solution drops to historic low first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

View of the site where a large chunk of stone dislodged from the Western Wall in Jerusalem at the mixed-gender prayer section on July 23, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Archaeologist Zachi Dvira, head of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, told The Times of Israel on Monday after inspecting the Western Wall following the fall of a Herodian-era stone that the whole area is a “danger zone.”

On Monday morning, a boulder fell from the Western Wall onto the Robinson’s Arch egalitarian platform, which is located in the Davidson Archaeological Park alongside the Wall. Captured on film, the rock landed very close to a female worshiper there.

The fallen boulder weighed about 220 pounds (100 kilograms), Israel Radio said. It damaged the platform on which Daniella Goldberg, 79, was praying.

The incident came a day after the platform was filled with worshipers marking the Tisha B’Av fast, which commemorates the destruction of the two Jewish temples in Jerusalem.

Tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis also flocked to the main prayer plaza of the Western Wall between Saturday night and Sunday evening to solemnly mark the day.

“I didn’t hear or feel anything until it landed right at my feet, ” said Goldberg.

Daniella Goldberg, who was praying a few meters from where a boulder from the Western Wall fell onto a prayer platform on July 23, 2018 (screenshot: Hadashot)

She said she was praying at the site, as she does regularly, when suddenly the boulder crashed down.

She told Hadashot TV news she “tried not to let the incident distract me from my prayers” and refused to be drawn on whether divine providence had spared her.

“May we all be blessed,” she said.

A boulder from the Western Wall falls onto a prayer platform on July 23, 2018 (Courtesy/The Western Wall Heritage Foundation via the Masorti Movement of Israel)

During archaeologist Dvira’s inspection on Monday afternoon, he said, he noted multiple cracks in other stones and he believes that another stone fall is just a matter of time.

Archaeologist Zachi Dvira (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)

Other stones “could immediately fall on the heads of people,” said Dvira, who is completing a PhD on the recorded archaeology of the Temple Mount.

There are already several noticeable gaps in the Western Wall, where large Herodian stones have crumbled in the past. In a notable case in 2004, large pieces of Western Wall stone fell in the mainstream prayer plaza — slightly injuring a Yom Kippur worshiper — due to erosion caused by foreign metal objects inserted into the wall’s cracks by birds.

The State of Israel, Dvira alleged, “doesn’t do proper preservation because of politics.” In the 2004 case, repairs were made in the main Western Wall Plaza by the Jordanians following many rounds of negotiations, he said. The contentious nature of the egalitarian prayer area has likewise closed the site from preservation, he said.

In 2009, the IAA completed a three-month preservation project in the Western Wall Plaza which concentrated on 16 of the upper stone courses that date from the Ottoman period. Unlike the lowest Herodian courses, these stones are held in place with mortar, which was eroding with water damage over time.

During the 2009 project, the mortar was replaced and many of the caper plants were removed from the wall. According to the IAA report, the team’s work was circumscribed at the guidance of the Western Wall rabbi, but it was satisfied that danger was averted.

A boulder from the Western Wall falls onto a prayer platform on July 23, 2018 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A family celebrates a bar mitzva at the small egalitarian prayer platform at the Robinson’s Arch, July 2018. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/ToI)

While the egalitarian section is currently closed to the public since the stone’s fall, other areas are still accessible. It is Dvira’s opinion that the public should not be allowed to approach any of the walls, including the Western Wall, and should be kept back two or three meters.

“It’s a matter of life or death,” said Dvira.

Following the stone’s fall from one of the original Herodian rows of the Western Wall, a team of IAA experts, including archaeologists, engineers and conservationists, began careful examination of the affected area.

A team of professionals was deployed to the Robinson’s Arch egalitarian prayer platform next to the Western Wall on July 23, 2018 following the fall of a Herodian stone. (Courtesy the Masorti Movement/Rabbi Valerie Stessin)

In a statement, the IAA said there were a number of possibilities that may have led to the stone’s fall, such as vegetation growing in the wall’s cracks, or entrapped moisture that may have led to the stone’s wear. There is also the possibility of a still unknown engineering failure.

Daniella Goldberg (left), with Culture Minister Miri Regev, inspects the damage caused by a large stone that dislodged from the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City on July 23, 2013, at the mixed-gender prayer section. The boulder fell close to where Goldberg was praying. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“With the help of advanced technological methods, IAA experts will begin careful monitoring in the area of ​​the fall, as part of a survey of the entire area and the formulations of recommendations for the elimination of such danger,” said the IAA. “The Israel Antiquities Authority is aware of the sensitivity required in handling this case and will work in cooperation with all the relevant bodies.”

Israel Antiquities Authority professionals assess damage at the Robinson’s Arch section of the Western Wall after a stone fell on July 23, 2018. (Hannah Estrin)

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologist-says-entire-western-wall-a-danger-zone/

The post Archaeologist says entire Western Wall is ‘danger zone,’ public should stay away first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

• >  An historic day at the Western Wall
• >  Vice President Mike Pence ‘inspired’ after praying at Western Wall

For world leaders, visiting the Kotel (Western Wall) is becoming the new normal.

That, at least, is the perception that will be further advanced on Friday when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday for a two-day visit, will be the latest leader to officially put the Western Wall on his itinerary.

When Orban – whom critics have accused of fanning antisemitic flames – puts a note in the crevices of the Kotel on Friday, he will be following US President Donald Trump, US Vice President Mike Pence and Prince William, who did the exact same thing before him. Trump was the first sitting US president to visit the Kotel when he did so in May 2017.

Those three very high-profile visits gave the impression that world leaders – who had in the past avoided the Western Wall – had all of sudden discovered it. But a representative for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said that leaders have visited in the past as well – it’s just that the media started to pay much more attention to these visits once Trump went there.

One Israeli government official said, however, that there are more formal visits to the Western Wall as part of the leaders’ official visits to Israel now, as opposed to what was characterized in the past as “private visits.” He attributed this change to the Trump visit.

“This gave legitimization to these visits,” the official said.

He also added that the Foreign Ministry and the government now encourage more strongly than in the past putting the Western Wall on the itineraries of visiting dignitaries.
“We don’t say that they have to go, or that it is an obligatory stop such as Yad Vashem, but we certainly encourage it more now,” he said.

He added that this reflects an Israeli attempt to push back against decisions such as those taken at UNESCO in recent years denying a Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, saying that these visits are “important” because they demonstrate that those who go to the site “recognize the connection between the Jewish people and the Kotel, and the Old City.”

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has a website that includes an events calendar, where pictures of high-profile visits are posted. A look at the nearly 14 months of visitors highlighted on that website since Trump’s visit in May 2017, compared to the 14 months before his visit, shows some interesting trends.

First of all, there were slightly more high-level visits – meaning, visits by heads of governments, heads of state, foreign ministers, other cabinet ministers and US governors – during the 14 months before Trump’s visit (35), compared with after it (32).

What has changed significantly, however, is where the visitors are coming from.

If, in the 14 months before the Trump visit, only three high-level US officials – the governors of New York, Michigan and Massachusetts – visited the Kotel, since Trump’s visit there have been visits by the US vice president, two cabinet ministers, and the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley. In addition, seven US governors have visited, meaning that over the last 28 months, one-fifth of all of America’s governors have visited the Western Wall.

Regarding leaders from other countries, what is striking about the list is that it is dominated by leaders from Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America and Africa, with a smattering of leaders from Asian countries (China, Singapore and Mongolia).

And this is true both of the periods before and after Trump’s visit.

For instance, Orban will join the prime ministers of Romania, Moldova, Macedonia, Ukraine, Croatia, Russia, Jamaica and Ethiopia as prime ministers who went to the Wall. The presidents of Panama, Guatemala and Mexico have gone there, as have the presidents of Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Bosnia, as well as the presidents and foreign ministers of the Central African Republic, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is greeted on arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport, July 18, 2018 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

What is striking about the list is the nearly complete absence of leaders from European countries that were not behind the Iron Curtain before it fell in 1991. The only exceptions are Austria, whose last two chancellors have visited the site; the Spanish interior minister, who visited last month; and the Portuguese foreign minister, who visited after going to the Temple Mount in December of 2016.

Orban, meanwhile, will not only be visiting the Western Wall, but will also be meeting Chief Rabbi David Lau, something that is rare for visiting prime ministers to do.

One diplomatic official said Orban is doing this to combat accusations that he is soft on antisemitism, and that he has even encouraged it through his campaign against Hungarian- born Jewish financier George Soros.

Though Orban’s visit to Israel might be met by some scattered protests – and even as some opposition MKs have denounced both the visit and Netanyahu’s close relationship with the controversial right-wing, anti-immigrant prime minister – the Foreign Ministry issued a statement Wednesday afternoon welcoming his arrival.

“The visit will advance the good bilateral relations which are manifest, in part, by [Hungarian] support for Israel’s positions in European and international forums, and an emphasis on the importance of the continued struggle against antisemitism.”

Orban – accompanied by his wife, Aniko Levai, and a number of ministers, including Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó – was greeted at the airport by Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis.

On Thursday he is scheduled to meet separately with Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, as well as meeting Lau and visiting Yad Vashem. In the evening, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, will host the Hungarian premier and his wife at their residence for dinner.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Analysis-Putting-the-Western-Wall-on-the-itinerary-for-world-leaders-562901

The post Analysis: Putting the Western Wall on the itinerary for world leaders first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Here are highlights from the trip, which ended Tuesday with a visit to the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial and to the Western Wall.

Faster timeline for embassy move

Addressing the Israeli parliament Monday, Pence announced the U.S. embassy will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2019. That’s a faster timetable than administration officials had projected after Trump announced in December that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. While the announcement was applauded by Christian conservatives in the Unites States — a strong base of support for the Trump administration with close ties to Pence — Christian leaders in the Middle East canceled meetings with Pence that had been on the original schedule before the trip got pushed into January. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also called off a planned meeting with Pence in Bethlehem after the December announcement.

The Trump administration will advance our plan to open the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem – and the Embassy will open before the end of next year. #VPinIsrael

Protests continue

Arab lawmakers interrupted the start of Pence’s speech with protest signs proclaiming that Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine. They were pushed out of the chamber by Knesset security officers as other lawmakers loudly applauded. Continuing his opening remarks, Pence called it “deeply humbling for me to stand before this vibrant democracy.” Pence received a lengthy standing ovation after his speech. But the chief negotiator for the Palestinians tweeted that “The messianic discourse of Pence is a gift to extremists & has proven that the US Administration is part of the problem rather than the solution.”

Jenna Johnson

@wpjenna

As Vice President Pence began to speak at the Israeli parliament, a group of lawmakers stood to protest and were kicked out of the chamber. There are now 13 empty seats. Pence stood quietly and watched, then commended this “vibrant democracy.”

Pence is a “Mensch”

The criticism Pence faced from Palestinians was offset by the love he got from Israelis. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin summed up his effusive praise of Pence, as someone who stands “very firm behind your words,” by saying there is only one word to describe him: a mensch. That’s the “highest of Jewish compliments,”The Jerusalem Postreported. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Pence that “the day I met you, I knew you were a true friend. Netanyahu also said he was touched to learn from Pence that he has a photo of their 2009 meeting in the Vice President’s residence, in Washington.

Pence concluded his trip Tuesday by touring Yad Vashem with Netanyahu and visiting the Western Wall, an outer wall of the Second Temple left behind when Rome destroyed it in 70 A.D., and the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Vice President Mike Pence

@VP

A privilege to pray at the Western Wall. This is our 4th trip to the Holy Land, but Karen & I never fail to leave without a sense our faith has been renewed – our faith in God, but also our faith in the people of Israel & their commitment to freedom, security & peace. #VPinIsrael

No progress on peace talks

While Pence insisted that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel makes a peace agreement more possible, not less, an administration official told reporters there has been no contact with the Palestinian leadership since the announcement. Pence told Reuters the White House is working with partners in the region to develop a framework for a peace agreement. But, Pence said, “it all just depends now on when the Palestinians are going to come back to the table.”

Vice President Mike Pence

@VP

I truly believe that in making the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, PEACE is now MORE POSSIBLE, not less possible. #VPinIsrael

Pence breaks silence on Trump

In an interview with the Associated Press in Jerusalem, Pence offered his first response to reports that Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries,” and that Trump had an affair with an adult film actress in 2005, shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to his youngest son. Although the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s lawyer paid the actress to not talk to reporters before the 2016 election, Pence called the allegations “baseless.” Trump has also denied making the “shithole countries” comments, reportedly made during discussions about whether to include immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and African countries in an immigration bill. Pence told the Associated Press that he “knows the president’s heart” and Trump wants a merit-based system that doesn’t consider an immigrant’s “race or creed.”

Ken Thomas

@KThomasDC

JERUSALEM (AP) _ Pence says adult film star’s account of a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 is a `baseless’ allegation.

Ken Thomas

@KThomasDC

JERUSALEM (AP) _ Pence defends Trump on comments disparaging Africa, says his `heart’ aimed at fair immigration system regardless of race.

Traveling amid government shutdown

While other parts of the federal government prepared for a shutdown, the White House said Pence’s trip would proceed as scheduled because it was “integral to America’s national security & diplomatic objectives.” But Pence took the unusual step of giving reporters Internet access during his departure flight Friday night so reporters traveling with him could send out a statement from Pence blaming Democrats for the showdown that “has dangerous consequences for our national defense.” Pence repeated his criticism of Democrats while visiting a military facility near the Syrian border. Bill Kristol, who was the top aide to Vice President Dan Quayle and is a critic of the Trump administration, tweeted that it was depressing for the vice president to use American troops “as props for a partisan political message.”

View image on Twitter

Bill Kristol

@BillKristol

Depressing. The Vice President, visiting American troops abroad, uses them as props for a partisan political message.

Pence intervenes for journalists

Pence had to intervene after Egyptian officials tried to bar the 12 reporters traveling with the vice president from attending his meeting with Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. While one cameraman was allowed into the start of the meeting, the rest were blocked from getting out of the press van during what a reporter called a “prolonged and tense negotiation by the US delegation to get more press access.” In the end, the group was allowed in the room for about nine minutes after the leaders had been meeting for about 90 minutes.  The meeting itself may also have been tense, as suggested by this LA. Times headline:  Vice President Mike Pence gets an earful in Cairo on his first official Middle East tour. For his part, Pence described the Egyptian leaders’ dissatisfaction with the new U.S. policy on Jerusalem as “a disagreement between friends.”

Brian Bennett

@ByBrianBennett

Vice President Mike Pence gets an earful in Cairo on his first official Middle East tour http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-fg-pence-egypt-20180120-story.html …

Female reports complain about “Pence Fence” in Israel

While male reporters covering Pence’s visit to the Western Wall were given front-row spots, female journalists were relegated to the back where they had to stand on chairs to see. Outraged female journalists started tweeting about the #PenceFence. The Washington Post reported that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Western Wall Heritage Foundation set up two platforms side by side, straddling the barrier that divides the section of the wall where men pray from the section women use. (The foundation said the arrangement was the same as when Trump visited in 2017.) One reporter tweeted that White House staff removed the “white #PenceFence awning that prevented us women from seeing Veep,” but the women were “still stuck behind men.”.

Tal Schneider

@talschneider

Separation at the Western Wall. The women stuck in isolation and can not photograph, work. Women journalists are second-class citizens. The American women photographers are frantically yelling at the representatives of the White House. #PenceFence

Karen Pence promotes art therapy

Second Lady Karen Pence, who often travels with her husband, found the one practicing art therapist in Egypt to promote her signature cause. In addition to her meetings with art therapists in all three countries visited, Pence toured ancient sites in Jordan, participated in diplomatic events and sat for an interview with an Israeli station during which she called Israel one of her favorite places in the world. “For us as Christians, it’s a very special place,” Pence said. “It’s the place where Jesus walked.”

Karen Pence

@SecondLady

Great conversation in Cairo, Egypt with the only art therapist in the country. She’s doing fantastic work with the clients—making a difference! Encouraged to learn how she’s trying to get an art therapy education program in Egypt. #ArtTherapy

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/23/israel-leaders-embrace-pence-mensch-others-show-their-anger/1057712001/

[Disclaimer]

The post Israel leaders embrace Pence as a ‘mensch,’ others show their anger first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to land in Tel Aviv on Sunday night at 6:15 PM. His arrival follows visits in Jordan and Egypt.

On Monday, Pence will speak at the Knesset and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tuesday’s schedule includes a tour of Yad Vashem, a visit to the Western Wall, and a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu’s lovefest for Pence to highlight religious-nationalist domination of U.S.-Israel relations | Analysis

Preparations on the ground include the deployment of thousands of police officers, border police and volunteers throughout Israel, primarily on roads between Ben-Gurion International Airport and the Jerusalem area. Heavy traffic is expected, and some major roads will be closed.

Pence’s trip comes just 48 hours after a U.S. government shutdownbegan on Saturday.

Pence was originally scheduled to visit the region in December, but following U.S. President Donald Trump‘s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the trip was delayed.

The vice president will not meet with Palestinians, who are refusing to meet with him in protest of the U.S. government’s stance on Jerusalem. Pence, a conservative Christian, will not meet with Christian leaders while in Israel. Palestinians declared that Pence is “not welcome” in Bethlehem, an important Christian pilgrimage site.

While in Egypt, Pence told reporters that Trump is “firmly committed” to jump-starting the peace process, and had “heard out” concerns regarding the Jerusalem decision.

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Source: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/pence-lands-in-israel-today-what-you-need-to-know-1.5748455

[Disclaimer]

The post Mike Pence Lands in Israel Today: Here’s What You Need to Know first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.