By: Malcolm Hedding- The Jerusalem Post

Benjamin Disraeli, the prime minister of the United Kingdom at the turn of the 20th century, had a special way of taking on detractors who heckled him as a Jew when he rose to speak in parliament. “My people were kings in Jerusalem while you were still scratching around in the fields for mushrooms,” he would say.

The point is, Jerusalem was the Royal House of Israel long before London or Paris had regal palaces, and before Berlin or New York even existed. Yet it is these capitals in their arrogance that seek, almost daily, to disinvest the Jewish people from their ancient, biblical claim and connection to Jerusalem.

This is a people that for thousands of years expressed its attachment to and longing for the city by exclaiming every Passover: “Next year in Jerusalem!” The city has been the capital of only one people, and that is the Jewish people. No other nation can or should lay claim to it. As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently declared, “Jerusalem is not a settlement!” It is the City of David, Solomon, the great prophets and sages of the Bible, and the city that Jesus himself prayed for and recognized as Jewish.

Even the Patriarch Abraham, 4,000 years ago, travelled to Moriah and the city of Salem to worship God. It is from this divine encounter that the city, even the modern one, takes its name. It is Jerusalem, the city of peace and of righteousness.

IN CONTRAST, when the Ottoman Turks conquered the region and reigned over it for 400 years, they never treated the city as anything more than a backwater provincial town. It was no one else’s capital and remained neglected and broken down. Even the Islamic legend that Muhammad ascended into heaven from here is doubtful and disputed by Islamic theologians. Yet the great Israelite kings David and Solomon wrote magnificent eulogies to the city 3,000 years ago, and these can all be read in the poetry section of the Bible.

The great Hebrew prophets did the same as they called the city’s Jewish inhabitants to account. The apostle Paul always returned to Zion to worship and had a great longing to be in Jerusalem for the biblical feasts. Jerusalem has always had a Jewish presence, and a Jewish majority once more since the mid-1800s.

How strange it is then that the world believes that the ancient biblical city should not be Jewish. What nonsense is this? The Jews have more claim to Jerusalem than the French have to Paris or the Germans to Berlin or the British to London. It is absurd to think otherwise, and yet this is the nature of the global political consensus today. It is nothing short of shameful.

At our annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration this week, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem will mark 30 years of unequivocally standing with and advocating for a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people, and those who contest this statement have to either rewrite or totally ignore history. Yet sadly, this they happily do.

The Psalmist of Israel, King David, looked over the walls and ramparts of Jerusalem and wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love her.” His great prayer was for peace and joy to rain down upon the city as the Jewish worshipers gathered to celebrate their prescribed festivals and as the nations also came to this “house of prayer for all peoples.” This is our prayer as well. And as the only embassy in Jerusalem, representing millions of like-minded Christians around the globe, we gladly take ownership of it. “Jerusalem united!” is our rallying cry this Succot.

* Temple Mt. access to remain restricted Following another day of Arab violence in Jerusalem, access to the Temple Mount was to remain restricted on Tuesday to Muslim men over the age of 50 and women.

* The demise of the dollar In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil.

* ‘We’ll pay any price to defend Al Aksa’ After Israeli ministers called for his indictment on Tuesday morning, a defiant Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, said that he and his supporters “would pay any price to defend the Aksa [Mosque]” in Jerusalem.

* UN calls for new reserve currency The United Nations called on Tuesday for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy which has allowed the United States the “privilege” of building a huge trade deficit.

* ‘Hall of Ages’ uncovered within Western Wall tunnels As police forces guarded the closed-off Temple Mount Monday, a group of visitors accompanied by a Jewish-Ukrainian philanthropist toured Jerusalem’s Western Wall tunnels.

* Riots in Jerusalem Guided by Global Jihad Amnon Lin, a former Knesset Member and authority on the Middle East, told Israel National News’ Hebrew-language radio that a segment of the Arab-Israeli community is taking its orders from global jihadist organizations.

* Gates blames past lack of troops for Taliban edge Defense Secretary Robert Gates blamed the Taliban’s revival on a past failure to deploy enough troops to Afghanistan.

* Jewish Purchases in Jerusalem Fuel PA Fears Jewish efforts and successes in spurring on the historic process of the national return to Jerusalem have the Palestinian Authority concerned.

* ‘Jewish’ Ahmadinejad is a Fraud According to experts on Iranian history and culture, the recent Daily Telegraph article purporting to show that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Jewish is a fraud.

* Gold hits record high Gold hit a record high at $1,036.40 an ounce as the dollar dropped on a report, later denied, that Gulf Arab states were considering abandoning the U.S. currency for oil trade.

By: – Col. Bob Maginnis

Recent nuclear talks with Iran postponed the brewing crisis and emboldened Tehran’s radical regime. The rogue emerged from those talks the clear winner and as a result a long-term solution will be more difficult to reach.

Both sides postured for the Oct. 1 talks. The week prior to the talks, the Iranians launched missiles, paraded sophisticated air defense weapons, threatened Israel, revealed a secret enrichment facility and vowed it would not be cowed by the West.

The other side, five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China) plus Germany (P-5+1), set the stage for the talks in April when President Obama agreed with the G-8 economic world leaders that Iran had until Sept. 24 and the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh to engage in meaningful talks and stop uranium enrichment or face “crippling sanctions.”

Days before that deadline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accepted the P-5+1’s talks invitation but refused to abandon uranium enrichment. No wonder skepticism about the talks ran high.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy expressed that skepticism at the UN’s nuclear non-proliferation summit on Sept. 24. “Since 2005, Iran has violated five Security Council resolutions,” said Sarkozy. He said past proposals for talks resulted in “Nothing but more enriched uranium and more centrifuges” and warned “At a certain moment hard facts will force us to take decisions.”

The talks took place but the P-5+1 was not ready “to take decisions.” Tehran walked away the clear winner.

First, Iran won yet another delay to come clean before suffering so-called “crippling sanctions.” The parties agreed to talk again on Oct. 18 in Vienna and the U.S. acknowledged that any decision to punish Iran is delayed at least until year’s end.

Second, Iran will continue enriching uranium. This was a key issue for the P-5+1, but at the talks the Persians cleverly arranged a “confidence building” agreement to ship 2,600 pounds of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia for further enrichment. The French agreed to turn the higher enriched uranium into rods and return them to Iran for use in a medical research reactor, which will run out of fuel next year. This deal pleased the P-5+1 because it removed most of Tehran’s known LEU from the country, enough for one bomb.

The problem with this deal is whether Tehran has hidden stocks of LEU. Iran’s long record of deception regarding its atomic activities should make the P-5+1 very suspicious. On Oct. 4, the New York Times gave cause to that suspicion when it reported the U.N. nuclear agency concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb.

Third, the talks appear to have put Israel’s military strike plans on hold. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The diplomatic situation vis-à-vis Iran has improved, but (Iran) is continuing with its nuclear program.” Likely, Israel has established red lines regarding Tehran’s atomic program and if crossed Jerusalem will attack with or without American support.

Finally, the talks put Tehran in a stronger diplomatic position. Iran dictated the terms of the recent talks and appears to be driving future engagement as well. It’s also significant that the U.S. has in principle accepted one-on-one talks with Tehran and as a signal, William Burns, the U.S. representative at the talks, held a 45 minute one-to-one meeting during the talks with Iran’s top negotiator. Also, to bolster Tehran’s credibility, Washington granted Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr Mottoki a visa to visit Washington last week. It’s not clear whether the foreign minister participated in secret talks during his 14 hour overnight in Washington.
The P-5+1 got a few crumbs from Tehran to fuel the charade. The rogue promised to provide international inspectors access “within weeks” to the military-run clandestine enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom. This facility was kept secret until last week when Iran realized it was about to be exposed by the Obama administration. Expect Iran to provide limited access to the facility and withhold important information.

Iran also agreed “in principle” to put about 80 percent of its enriched uranium stocks in other than military hands. This is a positive step if all stocks are indeed accounted for and a mechanism to deny military access to those stocks is verifiable.

So what happens next?

Iran will follow the North Korean model of deception and manipulation by stretching out the negotiations by providing piecemeal cooperation. It will try to divide the P-5+1 by doing just enough to satisfy the weakest partners. Predictably, such behavior will frustrate the Israelis to action and could force Obama to finally make tough decisions.

The options on Obama’s plate are hard. Sanctions without Russian and Chinese cooperation will be difficult. The much talked about gasoline embargo won’t work because Russia is prepared to make-up any Iranian shortfalls via rail resupply from under worked Russian refineries and besides, Venezuela signed a pact in Sept. to ship 20,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran beginning in Oct. and China recently increased its gasoline shipments to Iran by one-third to improve its leverage with the West.

Moscow and Beijing are not likely to abandon their economic and strategic ties with Iran to support sanctions. Their price for cooperation will be too high. Russia could seek the West’s disengagement from Eurasia and China might insist America back away from supporting Taiwan, China’s Achilles heel.

A military strike option depends on the quality of intelligence, not our strong suit. At best, our bombs could set the regime’s atomic program back a few years. Predictably, the regime would respond to a strike with damaging blows on our forces in Iraq and possibly Afghanistan, it might seek to close the Strait of Hormuz which would disrupt the global economy by cutting the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf and it might attack Israel with missiles and Hizbullah terrorists.

Possibly a better option or one done in conjunction with a military strike would be to encourage internal dissent. We saw massive demonstrations after the tainted presidential election in June which needs to be encouraged.

The U.S. should aggressively support Iranian dissent and insurgents. We could work with regional partners to provide sanctuary for dissenters and insurgents, money, broadcast anti-regime messages into Iran and arms. Tehran’s political and religious leaders are already divided and paranoid so ratcheting up dissent and insurgent attacks might push them into chaos.

Finally, the White House and Congress must understand the regime’s motivation. Iran’s leaders are driven by radical theology. Last month at the U.N., Ahmadinejad outlined his Shia Islamic eschatology regarding the coming messiah, who returns to Earth to rule the world under Islam in the battle against the infidels. Ahmadinejad believes he can hasten the messiah’s return through instigating war. In fact, in an NBC News interview with Ann Curry two weeks ago, Ahmadinejad claimed he’s in direct communications with this Islamic messiah.

Tehran will use its success from the recent talks to divide the P-5+1 in order to defeat their actions. This strategy could give Iran many months to continue its secret atomic weapons work. Inevitably, much as we saw with North Korea, Tehran will eventually end the charade, kick the inspectors out, call off talks and test an atomic weapon. Then look for Ahmadinejad’s war that hastens the return of his Islamic messiah.

* Muslims in Jerusalem are ungrateful Jerusalem’s Muslim residents are “ungrateful,” the city’s police chief, Cmdr. Aharon Franco said Monday, in the wake of recent clashes between police and Palestinian rioters in the Old City.

* After Vote, Debate Shifts to New European Leader Ireland’s vote to ratify the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty has finally cleared the way for the creation of a powerful new president, intended to elevate the 27-nation bloc’s standing on the global stage.

* ElBaradei says nuclear Israel number one threat to Mideast Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that “Israel is number one threat to Middle East” with its nuclear arms.

* Jordan slams Jerusalem for Temple Mount disturbances Jordan rebuked Israel for violent clashes the erupted on the Temple Mount and expressed dismay at Jerusalem’s decision to close the compound.

* Thousands of Christian pilgrims arrive to fulfill ancient Succot prophecy The voices of thousands of Christian pilgrims worshiping “Yehoshua Christ” echoed for miles over the hills of the Judean Desert late Friday night – the first night of Succot.

* Hamas children’s TV program again calls for the slaughter of Jews A popular Hamas children’s program that usually gives advice to youngsters, such as instructing them to listen to their parents, aired a call for the “slaughter” of Jews in Israel late last month.

* Pope warns of new colonialism Pope Benedict has warned that a form of colonialism continues to blight Africa.

* Jerusalem united! Benjamin Disraeli, the prime minister of the United Kingdom at the turn of the 20th century, had a special way of taking on detractors who heckled him as a Jew when he rose to speak in parliament.

* UN: Russia should reform immigration practices Russia should ease barriers to immigration in order to reduce the impact of labor shortages, slower economic growth and other pressures brought on by its ongoing demographic crisis.

* Russian FM: Iran enrichment deal just needs finalizing Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a plan for his country to help enrich uranium for an Iranian reactor has yet to be finalized, in the highest-level Russian confirmation of a tentative agreement reached between Teheran and six world powers last week.

* Ireland backs EU’s Lisbon Treaty The Irish PM, Brian Cowen, has praised the “clear and resounding” vote backing the EU’s Lisbon Treaty in the Republic of Ireland’s crucial second referendum.

* ‘US won’t make Israel disclose nukes’ US President Barack Obama will not pressure Israel to publicly disclose its suspected nuclear weapons program, nor will he pressure the Jewish state to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty.

* U.S. Wonders if Iran Is Playing for Time or Is Serious on Deal President Obama got what he said he wanted when United States negotiators met with their Iranian counterparts this week in Geneva: direct engagement, without preconditions, with Iran.

* Sumatra quake ‘levelled villages’ Thousands of people may have died in remote village areas when a powerful earthquake struck Sumatra last week, emergency workers and officials fear.

* Sheikh Salah: Netanyahu may set Mideast on fire Should Muslims have to choose between renouncing the al-Aqsa Mosque and becoming martyrs they will choose the latter.

* Nuclear watchdog chief to visit Iran The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency is traveling to Iran this weekend to discuss the country’s recently revealed uranium enrichment facility.

* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

* Germany marks 19th anniversary of reunification Germany celebrated the anniversary of its reunification Saturday with festivals, concerts and parades across the country.

* Obama meets with Afghanistan commander in Denmark President Barack Obama and his top Afghan war commander met privately aboard Air Force One Friday for a talk the White House described as productive.

* Mashaal: We will kidnap more soldiers Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on Friday night threatened to capture more Israeli soldiers in order to win the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

* Marching to world domination: Why the West should be worried about China The bunting is out, the streets have been cleared, the troops are making their final preparations, and even the massive portrait of Mao on the Tiananmen Gate seems to wear a more self-satisfied expression than usual

* Obama in Iran inspection demand US President Barack Obama says Iran must give UN inspectors “unfettered access” to its second uranium enrichment facility within two weeks.

* US relinquishes control of the internet After complaints about American dominance of the internet and growing disquiet in some parts of the world, Washington has said it will relinquish some control over the way the network is run and allow foreign governments more of a say in the future of the system.

* Clinton Issues Holiday Greetings to Muslims, Not Jews Both Jews and Muslims celebrated holidays in September 2009. However, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem – America’s representative in Israel’s capital – chose to focus entirely on Islam this year.

* Irish hold crunch EU treaty vote Irish voters are heading to the polls in a second referendum on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – a vote that may decide the future of long-delayed EU changes.

* New post-Soviet force begins military exercises Thousands of troops from Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations began military exercises in southern Kazakhstan on Friday.

* Brussels welcomes US move toward global governance of internet The body responsible for managing the development of the internet, Icann, has cut its umbilical cord to the US government, a move the European Union has been demanding for four years.

* The U.S. Backs Afghanistan’s Karzai, for Better or Worse The acceptance by the U.S. and NATO of a second term of office for Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has raised concerns among many Afghans skeptical of the legitimacy of his re-election.

* Indonesia awaits world quake aid International rescue teams are heading to Indonesia in a last-ditch effort to free trapped earthquake survivors.

* Herschel scans hidden Milky Way A remarkable view of our Galaxy has been obtained by Europe’s billion-euro Herschel Space Observatory.

* Indonesia quake deaths pass 1,000 At least 1,100 people have died in the earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, the UN humanitarian chief has said.

* US and Iran meet at nuclear talks Senior US and Iranian officials have met for rare bilateral talks during discussions between world powers and Iran on its nuclear program.

* Communist China marks 60th year China has been staging mass celebrations to mark 60 years since the Communist Party came to power.

* Maliki launches pan-Iraqi bloc Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has formed a new political bloc to contest January’s general election.

* President Blair ‘within weeks’ He will be nominated by EU leaders in Brussels if, as expected, Ireland backs the hated Lisbon Treaty in tomorrow’s referendum.

* Blunt debate on Dublin streets ahead of Lisbon vote David Weafer, a taxi driver for 19 years, is definitely voting No. “Brussels has turned into the Big Brother of Europe.”

* Gaza probe ‘fatal blow’ to peace Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu has urged UN members to “come to their senses” and reject the Goldstone report into Israel’s military conduct in Gaza.

* US commander spells out Afghan difficulties U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal called on Thursday for a dramatic change in tactics in the faltering war against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

* ‘US Jews back military strike on Iran’ A majority of American Jews support military action against Iran to prevent the Teheran regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.

* Israeli Arabs: State’s racism will lead to ‘explosion’ Tens of thousands arrived in Arraba on Thursday to attend the central rally marking the ninth anniversary of the events of October 2000.

* Saudis: We did not agree to help Israel strike in Iran Saudi Arabia denied Wednesday morning a report in the British paper Sunday Express saying that Riyadh had agreed to allow Israeli Air Force jets to use its airspace in the event of an attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities.

* Deadly tsunami strikes in Pacific A tsunami triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific has killed more than 100 people in several islands.

* US sees Iran talks as start of process The United States is looking for Iran to disclose details of its nuclear program, provide access to facilities and personnel and otherwise take concrete steps to show it is serious about complying with international demands.

* Chinese official: China, U.S. rift could deepen over struggle for Mideast influence China and the United States risk deepening rifts over influence and oil in the Middle East.

* Assad skillfully plays East against West In the decades following the Cold War, of which 1973’s Yom Kippur War was a seminal moment, the Arab Middle East has coalesced into two opposing camps: the “radical” and the “pragmatic.”

* Time to get tough on China, says EU parliament delegation chair The European Union must toughen its stance when negotiating with China on investment access.

* Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Heads to Talks with ‘Good Will’ Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator says he is heading into this week’s international talks on his country’s nuclear program with “good will.”

* 4,000 U.S. troops expected to leave Iraq in October The United States will withdraw another 4,000 troops in Iraq by the end of October, the U.S. military commander in Iraq said in prepared testimony for a congressional hearing Wednesday.

* Big quake strikes off Indonesia An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 has struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, destroying homes and bridges and starting fires.

* Christian Zionist ‘Feast’ to Draw Tens of Thousands to Jerusalem An annual Christian event during the week-long Sukkot holiday, which starts Friday night, is being promoted heavily as an international gathering bringing fervent supporters of Israel to Jerusalem.

By: Jonathan Spyer – The Jerusalem Post

Deriving accurate and reliable information from within the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip is not easy. The Strip is largely closed to journalists, and its inhabitants are reluctant to speak in detail of events there.

Nevertheless, reliable sources confirm that one observable trend taking place there is the growing dominance of Islam. This process is being driven forward by the growing strength of Salafi and extreme Sunni elements.

A slow introduction of Islamic norms and practices into society began immediately following the Hamas victory in PLC elections in January 2006. This process was accelerated following Hamas’s seizure of exclusive control of Gaza in 2007.

However, there are clear internal differences in the movement regarding the pace of change. Hamas’s current leadership has tended to favor a slow encouragement of Islamic practices and rules, without straying too far from the desires of the broader public.

More hardline and Salafi elements within the movement want a stricter and more formal introduction of Islamic norms. Events over the last 18 months indicate that the latter camp is now making the running, with Hamas’s leadership under pressure from extreme forces both within the movement and beyond it.

This change is being felt in the very fabric of daily life in Gaza. A transition of the status of Islamic observance from social norm to legal compulsion is under way.

The most obvious sign of this is the creation of the new “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” security force, which operates under the command of the Ministry of the Waqf (Islamic Endowment).

This force is tasked with enforcing Islamic codes of behavior. Its members patrol beaches, parks and public areas, ensuring proper Islamic modesty.

One source describes how a man wearing shorts while sitting on his own balcony in southern Gaza was spotted and advised that this must not happen again. Rules banning men from bathing topless, and women (who may still bathe separately from men and fully covered) from laughing or smiling while bathing, are also in the process of enforcement.

A special all-female unit within the police has also been created, with responsibility for enforcing female modesty and handling female suspects. This force, numbering 100-150 officers, wear niqab and gloves, with only an eye slit visible.

Other forms of social control are also being strengthened. Every mosque now has an Amir al-jamia or “head of the community” who according to sources functions as a kind of political commissar on behalf of the authorities. It is his task to observe the prayer habits of all members of the mosque, and to intervene and offer help where insufficient devotion is diagnosed.

More familiar methods of increasing public dependence on the authorities may also be observed. Preferential access to desperately needed social services for those close to the rulers of the Strip is becoming increasingly apparent. In the spring of 2009, Hamas established the “Islamic National Bank.”

An Islamic insurance company and Islamic investment bank have since also been set up. Increasingly, Hamas’s ample social welfare budgets are channeled through these bodies. Similarly, Islamic charity organizations are increasingly replacing elected local governments as the providers of social services. The result is to establish channels of material dependence between the public and the Hamas organization.

Few women may now be seen in Gaza without the hijab. More and more are now wearing the jilbab (the long, shapeless black dress associated with Islamic piety).

The wearing of the hijab is now said to have become an accepted social norm – perceived as a requirement when outside of the home even by Gaza’s few remaining Christian women. From the summer of 2009, the wearing of the hijab and jilbab became required in Gaza’s secondary schools (according to some sources, certain schools have chosen to ignore this instruction).

It is not only dress in schools, but also the content of study which is becoming increasingly religious in character. Many secular teachers have been fired. Hamas summer camps, which provide cheap alternatives for poor families in the summer months, involve intensive Koran study and competitions which again can provide access to much-needed funds and jobs.

The promotion of Islamic norms in Gaza extends to the widespread banning of books and restricting of access to “immoral” internet sites. In 2007, there was an outcry when a book of Palestinian folk-tales, “Speak bird, speak again” was banned in the Gaza Strip because of its supposedly lewd content.

Today, such bans are the norm, and no longer merit much attention. The increasing use of Islamic Sharia law in judicial proceedings in Gaza is an additional facet of the growing influence of Islam on life there. The formal judicial system remains in existence. But it is being filled with Islamic content.

For example, the local reconciliation committees, which were once a forum where clans resolved issues by mediation, have now largely been transformed into Islamic reconciliation committees concerned with the dispensing of advice and guidance based on Sharia law.

It is important to note that these developments do not represent the playing out of some Hamas master plan for the creation of an Islamic republic. Rather, they are taking place because of grass-roots agitation and insistence on the part of ultra-religious elements both within Hamas and outside it.

The Hamas leadership depends on Islamic legitimacy, and is thus vulnerable to claims that is it is merely a nationalist group waving the flag of Islam. Hamas jealously guards its political power – also from its Salafi rivals. But in matters of Islamic observance, it appears willing to bow to their wishes and pressure.

The result is that without any recognized body deciding upon it, an Islamic mini-state in the full sense is currently emerging in Gaza.

By: Matthew Wagner – The Jerusalem Post

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hassidic movement, was the inspiration for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech in the UN, Netanyahu said last week, following the speech in the General Assembly.

The prime minister told reporters that his defense of the Jewish people was inspired by Schneerson, who urged him during a 1984 discussion at Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters to “light a candle of truth” in his dealings with the UN.

“‘Remember, you are going to the UN,'” Netanyahu said, relating to the reporters what Schneerson told him over two decades ago, when he became Israel’s ambassador to the world body. “‘There is an assembly hall there that has eternal falsehood, utter darkness.”

“‘Remember that in a hall of perfect darkness, totally dark, if you light one small candle, its light will be seen from afar. Its precious light will be seen by everyone. Your mission is to light a candle for truth and the Jewish people.'”

Netanyahu’s comments about Schneerson are part of a two-minute clip posted online by Israel’s Channel 2 and brought to the attention of The Jerusalem Post by Chabad.org, the hassidic movement’s Internet site.

According to Chabad.org, Netanyahu repeated and expanded on his comments about Schneerson during an appearance co-sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Netanyahu recounted a visit to Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn on Simhat Torah during his stint as UN ambassador. Thousands of hassidim eagerly awaited the arrival of the Rebbe and the beginning of festivities.

When the Rebbe entered the room, Netanyahu was prodded by a friend to meet him.

“I said in English, ‘Rebbe, I came to see you,'” the prime minister recalled. “And he said, ‘Just to see? Not to talk?'”

As Netanyahu recalled, some 4,000 people had anxiously stood waiting, looking to the Rebbe for the start of the traditional rounds of dancing known as hakafot, but the Rebbe instead engaged him in a lengthy conversation.

“He switched to Hebrew,” recalled the prime minister. “And after 40 minutes, he stopped. He said what he wanted to say, and he turned to the audience, and with his hands, started to get the hassidim to sing and dance.”

“And then something happened I’ll never forget till the end of my life,” continued Netanyahu. “The Rebbe and his brother-in-law … took the Torah scroll and they went into the center of this hall … and I see [them] dancing in a circle of light with a Torah. I felt the strength of generations, the power of our traditions, our faith, our people.”

During the national election campaign in 1996, when Netanyahu was first elected prime minister, Chabad publicly supported him with the slogan, “Bibi is good for the Jews.” Netanyahu still has strong ties with Chabad.