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In Israel, Mike Pence responds to critics of Embassy move to Jerusalem: We’re speeding it up to 2019

In Israel, Mike Pence responds to critics of Embassy move to Jerusalem: We’re speeding it up to 2019

Speech at Knesset briefly interrupted by Joint Arab List members, but Pence had a great comeback

I reported this weekend on reports that the U.S. planned to move our Embassy from Tel Aviv, to Israel’s capital Jerusalem, by the end of 2019.

This timetable, which was faster than the 3-4 years previously discussed for building a new Embassy, was based on renovating the existing U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, the main location of which was built in 2010 and is actually larger than the Tel Aviv embassy.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/U.S.+Consular+Section/@31.7468057,35.225795,648m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x45970797f2161c03!8m2!3d31.7476116!4d35.2246196

Those reports were confirmed today when VP Mike Pence addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Pence, the first American VP afforded that honor, was given a rousing welcome by Israeli Prime Minster Bibi Netanyahu:

In his speech shortly before Pence’s address, Netanyahu said the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem would be given a place in Israel’s history alongside the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the establishment of the state, and US President Harry S. Truman’s recognition.

“On the matter of recognition of Jerusalem as our capital, I believe I speak for nearly all of us, coalition and opposition alike, when I express our deep appreciation for President Trump and you for the historic statement that will never be forgotten,” said Netanyahu.

“It’s fitting that you are the first American vice president to speak at the Knesset in Jerusalem. Fitting because no American vice president has had a greater commitment to Israel and its people,” said the prime minister.

Pence was interrupted at the start of his speech by members of the Joint Arab List parliamentary group (which does not represent all Arab members of the Knesset and which has Jewish members). They held up signs in English stating that “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”

Pence must have been warned about the planned disruption, because he had a wonderful comeback. Video via Israellycool:

“It is deeply humbling to me to stand before this vibrant DEMOCRACY.”

But the real headline was that the Embassy move would take place in 2019 (but you knew that already if you read Legal Insurrection). The Times of Israel reports:

In a landmark address to the Knesset on Monday, US Vice President Mike Pence pledged the US would relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the “end of next year,” called on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table for peace talks, and vowed Washington would withdraw from the “disaster” Iran nuclear deal unless it was “fixed.” ….

In his remarks, Pence emphatically stressed that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.

“Just last month, President Donald Trump made history. He righted a 70 year wrong, he kept his promise to the American people,” in announcing the recognition of Israel’s capital, said Pence, who is the first American vice president to address Israel’s parliament.

“The US Embassy will open [in Jerusalem] before the end of next year,” said Pence.

Here is the full speech:

Pence did not meet with the Palestinian Authority because it is BOYCOTTING U.S. DIPLOMACY due to the Embassy move and recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In related news, the Palestinian Authority is NOT BOYCOTTING OUR FOREIGN AID.

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Comments

I’m holding my breath until one of the usual suspects shows up here to post that, even though this is the most on this topic that any US President has ever done for Israel, it still isn’t good enough or fast enough. For some, no matter what is done, it can never be good enough.

    MrSatyre in reply to Tom Servo. | January 22, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    Me, I’m waiting for someone to not try to create a scene when there’s no one making a scene.

    mailman in reply to Tom Servo. | January 23, 2018 at 6:10 am

    I can’t make a decision until Rags or his girlfriend, Mulhouse, tells us what to think.

    JusticeDelivered in reply to Tom Servo. | January 23, 2018 at 10:56 am

    Tom, It sounds like you are talking about Palestinians, They have been burning every bridge for over a century. Quarrelsome, stubborn coupled with a fairly low average IQ of 85, that may well explain explain why they doomed generations of their children to little opportunity by reproducing in excess, and why they mind indoctrinating them into becoming dumb bombs.

    Now they have overstepped so far that backlash is mounting.

    Remember how thrilled they were when Obama did his dirty deed? Have Dems figured out yet that they lost many voters by supporting so much PC crap? Palestinians did their part to elect Trump:)

Still not tired of winning. MAGA!

    4th armored div in reply to 4fun. | January 22, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    MAGA! right back at ya double 😉

    Definitely not tired of winning – Trump is a master showman.

    P T Barnum could have taken lessons from POTUS

The big takaway in all this: the natuon is with TRUMP.

The left and its media handlers have become an impotent minority. The polls, like the FBI, hae become a sham.

The big takaway in all this: the natuon is with TRUMP.

The left and its media handlers have become an impotent minority. The polls, like the FBI, have become a sham.

@Millhouse … good things come to those who wait.

4th armored div | January 22, 2018 at 7:54 pm

Palestinian Authority is NOT BOYCOTTING OUR FOREIGN AID – with need to help them BOYCOTT out Silver and Gold –
oh wait those are Jewish names.
How about Green – nope thst’s a Jewish name too.
guess they won’t boycott our Cash, Johnny!
😉

In case Pence wants more practice, he could listen to this or this.

the Joint Arab List parliamentary group (which does not represent all Arab members of the Knesset and which has Jewish members).

This is not a caucus of Arab Knesset members, like the Congressional Black Caucus; it’s an Arab political party, or rather a coalition of several Arab parties who ran on a joint ticket to maximize their vote. There is no reason one would expect there to be no Arabs in any other party, or for this party not to include a token Jew.

DouglasJBender | January 22, 2018 at 9:30 pm

This might seem odd, but I figure I might as well share it. It’s not as though the possibility of being thought if as odd has ever stopped me before.

Anyway, earlier this evening, I had been feeling not well. I had gone into work at 3:30 p.m. (the start of my 10-hour shift as a Table-Saw Operator [cutting hardwood material]), but almost immediately I began feeling very weak, and faint. I pushed through for a couple of hours, but as I wasn’t really feeling better, I thought it best to call it a day, and head home early. So I left around 5:45p.m..

On the way home, I stopped to get some meat to eat for supper, thinking maybe I needed some protein. Once I got home, put my things away, got out of my work-clothes, and lay back in my leather recliner, preparing to eat supper, it was just a few minutes before 7:00 p.m.. Now, for some odd reason, when I began feeling weak and faint, the thought occurred to me that God wanted me home for some reason. That thought never really left me, right up until I lay back in my recliner. And for another odd reason, I kept thinking it had something to do with Jerusalem.

Well, while I was slightly reclined, and preparing to eat supper, I was hunting for something interesting to read on the Internet. I have several “go to” sites bookmarks, with “Legal Insurrection” being one of them.

Now, it was just a minute or two before 7:00 p.m., and I checked Legal Insurrection. Nothing particularly interesting there that I had not already read, so I checked some other site. As I was checking, I noticed that it was now exactly 7:00 p.m. (I noticed on my smartphone time, and the church bell at the small, old-time church not a block from me began ringing out that it was now 7:00 p.m. [via seven ringing if the bell, it ringing every hour, on the hour]). And for a final odd reason, I got the strong urge/thought that I should check Legal Insurrection again. So I did. Lo and behold, Professor Jacobson had just posted, at exactly 7:00 p.m., this article about Vice President Pence in Israel, speaking in support of, and promising to, have the U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

Just a personal anecdote, but from a personal perspective, it seems clear to me it was not coincidental. God does things like that for me sometimes (and more). God pays close attention to things impacting His people, the Jews; and in particular things involving Jerusalem. I have had a heart for Israel, and Jerusalem, for years. Perhaps Pence’s visit, and U.S. policies supporting Israel and Jerusalem, are more important than many of us might think.

    Tom Servo in reply to DouglasJBender. | January 22, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better, and impressed by your experience. God can use these odd coincidences of timing to direct our attentions, I believe.

    One thing jumped out at me when reading your post – the symptoms you describe remind me much of how I started to feel just before I realized I was coming down with this year’s flu. So be mindful of your health and get plenty of fluids and rest.

    Douglas, thanks for posting that.

    I agree it seems odd. I’m not a superstitious person. And I don’t really consider myself a Christian. But I’ve had two situations similar to yours where several coincidences all lined up in a row to put me in a certain place at a certain time. And for something momentous.

    Even afterwards, as I’m coming to the realization that three times is a pattern, Something Somewhere seems to laugh “only 3 times? Here, try 3 x 3 times, is your skeptism still intact?”

    Clear fields to ya 😉

DouglasJBender | January 22, 2018 at 9:34 pm

Is there some way I can edit my previous post? There are some occurrences of “if” which should rather be “of”. (Plus a few other minor errors.)

Interesting study, Pence is.

Wonder which way he’d swing if he replaced Trump: would he sell us out like a Jeb! Bush, or would be become Trump #2?

DouglasJBender | January 23, 2018 at 4:51 am

I think he’d be a Pence #1 — continuing Trump’s conservative policies, but without as much “alphaness”.

DouglasJBender | January 23, 2018 at 4:55 am

@ Tom Servo — Thanks. I usually try to drink lots of water, and get plenty of rest, in general. What I was experiencing was not the flu, however. I fought that battle over the Christmas holidays, to a draw; eventually, the flu got bored and left.

DouglasJBender | January 23, 2018 at 5:06 am

@ Fen — God is real. And Jesus is alive. Oh, the stories I could tell you of my experiences with God.

And I have what amounts to Mathematical proof (evidence involving Mathematics, not a series of Mathematical propositions ending in a proof) of the Gospel (in essence, that Jesus died and was resurrected).

I’m trying to write a book about my discovery. It’s not easy trying to reach the broadest audience, when (even, as in this case, only simple) Mathematics is involved. Just basic Algebra, knowing how to graph a straight line, is the most Mathematics that would be needed to understand my discovery. It involves three straight lines, the Natural Logarithm, and a shared solution.

I’ve waited all my life for this event. I can hardly wait for the move. Historical facts will have won out regardless of how much other nations deny reality.