Kerry told Abbas to Play for time and to not yield to Trump’s demands because he won’t be in office for long

Former Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly tried to meddle in Middle East peace talks, allegedly telling a close associate of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to “yield to President Trump’s demands.”

Maariv reported on the apparent meeting between Kerry and Hussein Agha in London, where the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also reportedly floated a possible encore bid in 2020.

But in the conversation, Kerry reportedly told Agha to share a message with Abbas – urging him to “hold on and be strong” during talks with the Trump administration and “play for time … [and] not yield to President Trump’s demands.”

Kerry, who served as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state during his second term, also reportedly told Agha that Trump would not be in office for long, suggesting he could be out in a year.

According to the report, Kerry used derogatory terms when referring to Trump, and offered to help the Palestinian Authority create an alternative peace initiative. He reportedly asked Abbas not to attack the U.S. or the Trump administration, but rather focus attacks on the president himself.

Ambassador Danon reveals: Iran has amassed an army of 82,000 troops in Syria

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon revealed on Thursday previously undisclosed information concerning the Syrian Civil War to the UN Security Council.

Danon told the executive body that he was ready to expose the “classified information” for the first time, saying “Iran is currently controlling 82 thousand fighters in Syria.”

The Israeli envoy claimed that the Islamic republic currently has more than “three thousand of its own Iranian Revolutionary Guard” in Syria.

He also noted that it was sponsoring over 10 thousand Hezbollah terrorists in the country and was training local Syrian forces in the civil war.

The rest, Danon claimed, were made up of extremist Shi’ite terrorists that Iran was sponsoring.

This all comes at a cost of $35 billion.

“Why does Iran keep recruiting these extremists to be killed in the battlefields of Syria? Why is Iran building bases to house these fighters for the long run? The answer is clear. To further destabilize Syria and our region. To further threaten Israel, and to further terrorize the entire free world.”

Danon reiterated that Israel takes no sides in the Syrian Civil War.

A total of 82,000 troops “under Iran’s authority in Syria” include:

● 3,000 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,

● 9,000 terrorists from Hezbollah,

● 10,000 members of Shia militias recruited from across the region,

● 60,000 local fighters

Ambassador Nikki Haley: US will not chase Palestinians lacking will to seek peace

The United States will not “chase after a Palestinian leadership that lacks what is needed to achieve peace,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday.

During a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East, Haley criticized a Jan. 14 speech by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah.

BREAKING: US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley blasted Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas for 'indulging in conspiracy theories', says US 'wont chase after PA' if not ready for peace. Full remarks: https://t.co/EckbfT7Rgq pic.twitter.com/2U0GPZjxnB

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) January 25, 2018

“A speech that indulges in outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories is not the speech of a person with the courage and the will to seek peace,” Haley said.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in the speech, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Abbas also slammed Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid.

Abbas said to Trump: “Yehreb Beitak,” which literally translates as “may your house be destroyed.”

Abbas made it crystal clear that Donald Trump’s administration would have no part in brokering or sponsoring future negotiations with Israel. That role would be handed over to the United Nations or a committee of several countries. As far as the Palestinians are concerned, the ultimate deal died before it was born.

Europeans, Abbas claimed, “wanted to bring the Jews here [to the Land of Israel] from Europe in order to protect European interests in the region. They asked The Netherlands, which then had the largest navy in the world, to relocate the Jews.”

Abbas then quoted an Egyptian writer who claimed that “Israel is a colonial project with no connection whatsoever to the Jews.

On Thursday, Haley said of Abbas’ Ramallah address: “A speech that indulges in outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories is not the speech of a person with the courage and the will to seek peace.”

“[The US won’t] chase after a Palestinian leadership that lacks what is needed to achieve peace.”

Trump: Jerusalem off the table to Palestinians. PA must return to talks to receive aid

US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to withhold aid to the Palestinian Authority if they did not pursue peace with Israel, saying they had snubbed the United States by not meeting Vice President Mike Pence during a recent visit.

Trump, speaking after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland said he aimed for peace in the Middle East.

Palestinian Authority shunned Pence’s visit to the region this month after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and vowed to begin moving the U.S. embassy to the city, whose status is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian Authority conflict.

Trump’s historical declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel drew condemnation from Arab leaders and anti-Semites around the world.  It also broke with decades of U.S. policy that the city’s status must be decided in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We have discussions going with Israel on many things including trade,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “But the big move, and something that is very historic and very important is the fact that we’re moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” added Trump. “It’s way ahead of schedule, by years.”

BREAKING: President Trump says aid to the Palestinian Authority is "on the table" as part of peace talks. "That money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace." pic.twitter.com/OgysOLXh2H

— Behind The News (@Behind__News) January 25, 2018

“We anticipate a small version [of the embassy] working sometime next year,” Trump continued.

“When they disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them, and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support, tremendous numbers, numbers that nobody understands — that money is on the table and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace,” Trump said.

Washington had already said it would withhold about half the initial aid it planned to give a U.N. agency that serves the Palestinian ‘refugees’.

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas has called Trump’s Jerusalem declaration a “slap in the face” and has rejected Washington as an honest broker in any future talks with Israel. Abbas left for an overseas visit before Pence arrived.

Israel’s government regards Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the country. The PA see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future imaginary Palestinian state.

Trump said the PA had to come to the negotiating table.

“Because I can tell you that Israel does want to make peace and they’re going to have to want to make peace too or we’re going to have nothing to do with them any longer,” Trump said.

 

9-15 years in prison for rock-thrower Muslim terrorists involved in Alexander Levlovich’s murder

Three Muslim terrorists were handed prison sentences Thursday morning for their involvement in the manslaughter of Alexander Levlovich, 64, who was killed in 2015 in a car crash caused when rocks were thrown at his traveling vehicle.

Bringing the protracted case to its conclusion, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Muhammad Salah Abu Kaf to 15 years, Walid Firas al-Atrash to 13.5 years and a minor, whose identity was not disclosed, to three years.

Over a year ago, the ringleader of the stone-throwers, Mahmoud Abed Dwayyat, was given 18 years in prison as part of a plea bargain. Another minor involved in the fatal attack was also sentenced at the same time as Dwayyat to nine years in prison.

The case marked the first time that indictments have been served in civil courts for rock-throwing and causing manslaughter.

The sentencings come over three years after Levlovich was fatally wounded in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv (East Talpiot) on the eve of Rosh Hashana—the Jewish new year—in 2015 when he lost control of his car after it was pelted with stones by Palestinians. He was returning home after a festive meal.

In 2015, five of the then-suspects, all from the Sur Baher east Jerusalem neighborhood, were indicted.

According to the indictments, the convicts met on the night of the killing with the intention of throwing rocks at cars containing Jewish passengers on the road leading to Armon Hanatziv.

A few cars were struck by their rocks and after Levlovich’s vehicle was hit, he swerved and crashed into a tree and then a utility pole. He later succumbed to his wounds.

The Muslim terrorists fled the scene after causing Levlovich’s crash and met at a later time to coordinate a false version of events.