Canaan (Israel) belongs to the Jews/Hebrews:
* In Genesis, God promised the "land of Canaan" to the Jews - Abraham and Sarah's seed:
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [d] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." [Genesis 15:18-21]
Genesis 17:4-8: 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [Abram means exalted father] ; your name will be Abraham, [Abraham means father of many] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:19-21: 19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [Isaac means he laughs ] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
Genesis 18:10,11: 10 Then the LORD [Hebrew Then he ] said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
* While wandering in the desert of Beersheba [today it's a city in southern Israel], the Angel of the LORD said to Hagar about her son Ishmael in Genesis 16:11-12:The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, [Ishmael means God hears] for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility [public or private enemy; unfriendliness; animosity. attacks of an enemy. animosity; enmity; opposition; violence; aggression; contention; warfare. violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked. a state of deep-seated ill-will. the state of being hostile; antagonism or enmity. acts of war] toward [Or live to the east / of] all his brothers."
22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. [Exodus 23:22,23 ]
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries... [Numbers 34:1,2]
* Israel has a right to exist as a Nation with its own land because God gave the land of Israel to the descendents of Isaac. Israel became a State in 1948.
Israel is the world's only predominantly Jewish state with a population of about 7.4 million people, of which approximately 5.57 million are Jewish. The largest ethnic minority group is the segment denominated as Arab citizens of Israel, while minority religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Druze, Samaritans and others, most of which are found within the Arab segment.
The president of Israel was Shimon Peres from July 15, 2007 to July 24, 2014. On June 10,2014, Reuven Rivlin was elected President of Israel.
The capital is Jerusalem. The official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. The Defense Minister is Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister is Avigdor Lieberman.
The Former Prime Minister was Ehud Olmert (he was preceded by Ariel Sharon), he was succeeded by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Ariel Sharon, a controversial military commander who rose to hold many of his nation’s top positions, suffered a stroke after shaking up Israeli politics at the height of his power. An architect of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, he stunned the world and his own constituents with a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. He abandoned the Likud Party he led as prime minister to form the centrist Kadima Party, and he was believed to be preparing for further territorial concessions to establish a Palestinian state when he became ill. Source: nytimes.com .
Sharon’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 was perhaps his biggest political gamble in a life of brash moves, which included joining the Jewish underground at 14 and building the security fence that separates Israel and the West Bank today. Formerly a zealous supporter of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, Sharon had once urged Israelis to “run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours.” But in 2005, as prime minister, he ordered Israeli soldiers to forcibly evict some 8,000 Jewish settlers from two dozen communities in the Gaza Strip, ending the Israeli civilian and military presence inside the coastal enclave that Israel wrestled from Egypt in the 1967 war. The ramifications of the Israeli withdrawal are still debated and felt. Source: washingtonpost.com.
Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. In 2005, Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip, now run by Hamas Islamists whom are opposed to the peace talks. Source: reuters.com.
He has been in a vegetative state,comatose for nearly eight years, since he suffered a stroke. Source: nytimes.com . Ariel Sharon, the Israeli warrior and former prime minister as famous for his ferocity in battling Arabs as for his turnaround decision to evacuate settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, died 1.11.14. He was 85. Source: bloomberg.com.
Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region that was earlier called Canaan, which spreads between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
Palestine's president is Mahmoud Abbas .
5.17.09 Q&A with PM Netanyahu of Israel. The common goal is peace . Pres. Obama and Netanyahu discuss U.S.-Israeli disagreements.
5.28.09 Speaking to reporters with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting, President Obama said he would "assume the best" about Israel's position on a two-state solution for Middle East peace.
6.5.09 American officials hope that by getting Israel to freeze settlement building on land where the Palestinians expect to build their future state, they can then press Saudi Arabia and other regional powers to offer Israel concessions like low-level trade or tourism. In addition, stopping the construction would remove a major concern of the Palestinians that their land is slowly disappearing under settler housing. In his Cairo speech, the president again called for an end to the settlement building.
3.7.10 U.S. envoy George Mitchell has won Israeli and Palestinian approval for indirect peace talks
3.7.10 VP Joe Biden in Israel to restart peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Israel again angered the Palestinians by announcing the construction of more than 10 new apartments inside the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. Israeli leaders declared a partial, temporary freeze on new construction last year. Officials said their decision Monday was an exception, due to what they described as safety and infrastructure issues.
Israeli commentators are calling Biden's visit significant. He is perceived here as a powerful figure within the Obama administration, one who is well-acquainted with Middle East politics, having known every Israeli prime minister for the past four decades. Biden highlights U.S.-Israel ties and he promises U.S. commitment to Israel's security
The vice president, who will be the most senior American official to visit Israel since Obama came to office in January 2009, faces a tough sell, Israeli officials and analysts say.
Many Israelis are distrustful of Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, a priority he highlighted with high-profile visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and, later this month, to Indonesia.
"If Israel is supposed to make sacrifices for a peace deal, the Israeli public has to be convinced it is receiving sufficient support from the United States," an Israeli official said, calling Biden's visit the beginning of that process.
U.S.-Israeli tensions flared over Obama's early push for a complete Jewish settlement freeze, although his administration has at least temporarily backed off, embracing a more limited, 10-month moratorium on new building announced in November.
Obama began his term with a push for Mideast peace, prodding Israel to freeze its construction of West Bank settlements that swallow up land the Palestinians want for a future state. But that call came just as Netanyahu took over in Israel, and though the Israeli leader scaled back settlement construction, he would not accept a full freeze.
Obama's insistence on a total settlement freeze is seen by many in the region to have backfired by encouraging Palestinians to stake out a position that was politically untenable for Israel's hawkish government.
The Palestinians are still saying they will not talk directly to Israel unless it freezes settlement building completely.
But hours after Biden's arrival Monday, the U.S. announced the sides would begin indirect peace negotiations. The fact that the discussions will be held through a U.S. mediator attests to the estrangement between the Israelis and Palestinians, who have been speaking to each other directly, on and off, since the early 1990s.
Vice President Joe Biden said the United States condemns Israel's decision to build 1,600 housing units in a Jerusalem neighborhood.
3.9.10 PM Benjamin Netanyahu and VP Joe Biden's Joint Press Conference
Also, Biden in the Middle East speaking with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at Ramallah and speaking at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
3.11.10 Biden speaking at the Tel Aviv University in Israel
VP Joe Biden said the U.S. condemns Israel's decision to build 1,600 housing units in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Israel announced East Jerusalem homes as Biden visits. PM Netanyahu apologized for disrupting the visit of VP Biden. But he has vowed to continue building settlements in Jerusalem.
NOTE: The international community considers East Jerusalem occupied territory. Building on occupied land is illegal under international law, but Israel regards East Jerusalem - which it annexed in 1967 - as its territory. Palestinians claim the area as a future capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital.
7 Reasons to Support Israel
3.22.10 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speak at the AIPAC @ the Washington Convention Center.
Video link and Transcript
PM Benjamin Netanyahu's speech
Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu, Obama meet at White House
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has held talks with US President Barack Obama about settlements in East Jerusalem.
3.25.10: Netanyahu ends U.S. visit without resolving settlement dispute. On 4.22.10 the president's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, states Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that "there will be no freeze" on construction opposed by Palestinians and the United States. Israel seized East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967 and considers it part of it's sovereign capital - a claim not recognized by the international community. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the future capital of their state.
Timeline: Israel and Iran statements
4.19.10 Israel Will Not Sign Non-Proliferation Treaty : Netanyahu will not go against "long standing policy" and sign treaty.
6.29.10: The Palestinians want a state in areas Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, with East Jerusalem as their capital. Mr. Netanyahu has accepted the idea of a Palestinian state, but with strict conditions, and without Palestinian control of East Jerusalem.
