DISAPPOINTED: MEXICO REBUKES ISRAEL OVER TRUMP WALL PRAISE: Mexico on 28 Jan. 2017, chided PM Netanyahu for endorsing USA President Trump’s plan to build a wall along its border with the United States. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a communique that it had expressed its “profound surprise, rejection and disappointment in the prime minister’s message on Twitter. Mexico is Israel’s friend and should be treated as such,” it said. Netanyahu had welcomed praise from Trump for Israel’s security barrier in Judea & Samaria. Referring to the recently built fence along Israel’s border with Egypt, the prime minister said the measure had been a “great success” in keeping out illegal immigration, mainly came from African nations.Backtracking after Mexican officials demanded a clarification, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry stressed that Netanyahu was not commenting on USA-Mexican relations. “Netanyahu referred to our specific security experience which we are willing to share. We do not express a position on USA-Mexico relations,” he said. (Times of Israel)

“OBAMA CAN STILL BE A THORN IN TRUMP’S SIDE’: Caroline Glick, a senior editor at Israeli news portals Maariv and the Jerusalem Post, discussed her expectation that former President Obama will do his utmost to make life difficult for his successor. She said that this is the first time that an outgoing president has declared that he will act in opposition to the next president. "Barack Obama, who represents the American left, says that he is not going anywhere and that he would lead the opposition against Trump. This is something which has never been seen before. Previous outgoing presidents would board Air Force One, wave goodbye, and return to their private lives. Obama and his wife chose to stay in Washington. He declared that he was going to try and put sticks in the wheels of the new administration, and this is a very serious matter. Obama has not accepted the judgment of the voters. There has never been a president who used so much of his strength to bully his enemies. He used the tax authorities in the USA to suppress the opposition, and of course, there is his attitude towards Israel. Under Obama's leadership the Democratic Party has lost a thousand seats in the state legislatures and two-thirds of the governors are Republican. The Republicans also control both houses of Congress. The Democrats have never been this weak," she said. According to Glick, Tump knows how to handle disruptions from Obama. "Trump can deal with Obama. He won't play by the rules of etiquette and can cope better than any other politician with the expected attacks from Obama." (Arutz-7)

JNN ‘WHO’S WHO’: GEORGE SOROS: George Soros, born 12 August 1930, is an international financier who bankrolled the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He ranked No. 23 in the latest Forbes richest men list, and manages the funds of many other of the world's wealthiest people. Soros is a naturalized American citizen, born in Hungary where he worked for the Nazis as a teenager - looting his fellow Jews. In his autobiography, entitled Soros on Soros, he described how he helped to cart off the stolen possessions of Hungarian Jewish men, women and children after they were rounded up and transported to death camps. He claims it never bothered him a bit, and he has no personal regrets about his actions. Soros said in a 1993 interview with The Independent news portal that he saw himself as “some kind of god, the creator of everything.” Two years later, he portrayed himself as someone who shared numerous attributes with “God in the Old Testament.” (JNN) 

TRUMP: I DID NOT FORGET JERUSALEM EMBASSY MOVE PLEDGE: Incoming President Donald Trump was asked by Israeli media sources on 17 Jan. 2017, if he intends to go through with his pledge to move the USA Embassy to Jerusalem. "Of course I remember what I said about Jerusalem. You know that I am not a person who breaks promises," Trump responded in remarks published on Thur. 19 Jan. 2017. Likewise, this week, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Trump's nominee to be the USA ambassador to the UN, was asked during her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if she supported Trump's campaign promise to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem. "Absolutely," Haley said. "And not only is that what Israel wants, but that is what this Congress supports." (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK/Times of Israel) Pray that Donald Trump will keep his repeatedly published promise to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem. Intercede that he and his administration will grow in their love and respect for- and delight in - Israel and the Jewish people. May the lies that have been perpetrated against the Jewish state be exposed, unraveled, shattered.

“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.” Jer 6:14

PARIS DRAFT WON’T RECOGNIZE CHANGES TO PRE-1967 LINES: Dozens of countries are expected this weekend to reiterate their opposition to Israeli settlements and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "the only way" to ensure peace in the region. France is hosting more than 70 countries on Sunday 15 Jan. 2017 at a Mideast peace summit, in what will be a final chance for the Obama administration to push through its positions for the region. According to a draft statement obtained by media sources on Friday 13 Jan. 2017, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution." It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides. Israel has settled some 600,000 of its citizens in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six-Day War after surrounding Arab armies threatened to attack, or did attack, Israel. Israel reunited Jerusalem shortly after the Six-Day War when it annexed the eastern half. Israeli PM Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, and many members of his coalition oppose Palestinian independence and support expanded settlements both on ideological and security grounds.

The summit comes on the heels of a UN Security Council resolution last month that condemned the settlements as illegal. The resolution passed 14-0 after the United States declined to use its traditional veto power and instead abstained. Netanyahu has rejected the UN resolution and accuses the Obama administration of conspiring behind Israel's back. Israel has refused to participate in the French conference, which Netanyahu this week claimed was "rigged" against his country, and would not be conducive to peace. (Ynet) Intercede according to God’s promise as the nations again attempt to gang up on Israel this Sunday, 15 Jan. 2017, to divide her land with terrorist entities. "The scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous." Ps 125:3

'TRUMP TO FORGE AHEAD WITH JERUSALEM EMBASSY MOVE DESPITE OPPOSITION': The incoming Trump administration plans to move ahead with its plans to move the USA embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem regardless of criticism from Arab nations, media sources reported on 9 Jan. 2017. USA President-elect Donald Trump's team has reportedly informed regional allies of the plans. Unnamed Israeli officials have speculated that the move could be announced as early as 24 May 2017, on the Israeli holiday "Jerusalem Day" that marks the reunification of the capital in the 1967 Six Day War. The report emerged after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter to Trump urging him not to relocate his country’s embassy in Israel when he assumes office “as it will have destructive consequences on the peace process, the two state solution and the safety and security of the region.” In addition, USA Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that relocating the embassy would cause “an explosion, an absolute explosion, not just in Israel, but throughout the region.” PM Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of reporters on a state visit to Azerbaijan last month that Trump’s plan to relocate the embassy is “great.” (J.Post) “The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!’” Ps 110:2

MKs: PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY EDUCATION SYSTEM INCITEMENT INFLAMED THE TERRORIST: "We should have full control over the education system in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods," said deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely reacting to the deadly truck ramming attack at the Armon Hanatziv promenade in Jerusalem on Sunday 8 Jan. 2017. Hotovely claimed that the terrorist who carried the attack was exposed to incitement. "It is impossible that students living that close to the center of our capital will say that their dream is to be a shahid [martyr]. The international community needs to demand complete halt of terrorism, and complete shutdown of the terror-education industry," she added, referring to the upcoming peace summit in Paris next Sunday 15 Jan. and recent UN Security Council resolution 2334. Deputy defense minister Eli Ben-Dahan echoed the notion that PA incitement has lead to the attack. "I invite USA Secretary of State John Kerry and the representatives of the states in the UN Security Council to come over to Jerusalem to witness the results of the Palestinian incitement that they endorse, and to see who we are dealing with."

"The roots of the problem are in the incitement in the Palestinian education system, calling to kill Jews," said MK Moti Yogev. "We should revise our approach to education in East Jerusalem; make it under our control in the neighborhoods under our sovereignty, including UNRWA schools." MK Amir Ohana claimed that the solution to this kind of attacks is to allow more citizens to bear arms. "The first responder to the attack was a local tour guide that shot the terrorist and prevented further casualties. He joins a long line of citizens that carried weapons and thwarted terror attacks in recent wave." Culture and sport minister Miri Regev said "We are dealing with the roots of terrorism that starts with incitement in the education system and in the Palestinian media. We are currently in an uncompromising battle to defeat the Islamic terrorism nests." (Jerusalem Post)

USA CONGRESS PLANS TARGETED LEGISLATION AGAINST UN: The House of Representatives plans to vote on a resolution this week that will condemn the UN for its targeting of Israel. Over the course of the next hundred days, Republicans hope to penalize the UN for its passage of a resolution condemning Israel over its settlement enterprise. Members of the House and Senate are considering legislation that would cut funding to the UN after its vote. But it is "too early" to draft such legislation, said one senior congressional aide familiar with the deliberations, because leadership is not yet clear on the direction that incoming President Donald Trump will choose to go on the matter. Several GOP members are optimistic the Trump administration would support additional actions. But legislation sanctioning the UN would likely face Democratic opposition - even in the context of defending Israel from future condemnations. Additionally on 3 Jan. 2017, three Republican Senators introduced legislation that would fulfill America’s commitment to Israel by relocating the USA embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move came just 12 days after the Obama administration’s abstention from the UN Security Council vote to condemn Israeli settlement expansion in Judea & Samaria. (J.Post/Fox)

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR ON NEW UN SECRETARY- GENERAL: ‘JUST BE FAIR’: Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres took over from Ban Ki-moon on Sunday 1 Jan. 2017 as the UN’s new secretary-general, and Israel has one request: Just be fair. “I met with him and was impressed with his wide knowledge of the United Nations and the international arena,” said Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. “I hope we can turn a new page with him.” Danon acknowledged that Guterres has a difficult job when it comes to Israel and the Middle East. “I told him that the UN system creates so much negative energy against Israel, we just want him to be objective and able to withstand the tremendous pressure against Israel that exists inside the United Nations.”

Guterres was not the only change in the UN that took effect on Sunday. The composition of the Security Council changed, with five rotating members finishing their two-year term and five new countries taking their place. Of the five countries that exited were three of the four that sponsored the anti-settlement resolution against Israel last month: Venezuela, Malaysia, and New Zealand. The fourth sponsor, Senegal, will remain on the council for another year. Israel’s position on the Security Council will improve slightly, with Kazakhstan – a country with which Israel has strong ties, and to where PM Benjamin Netanyahu traveled last month – replacing Malaysia, with which Israel has no diplomatic ties. More good news for Israel is that Ethiopia – one of its closest friends in Africa – will replace Angola, and that Spain will be replaced for one year by Italy, and the other year by The Netherlands, two EU countries whose voting record on Israel in international forums is better than Spain’s. (J.Post)