“Ponzi and all of his successors tap into a fundamental part of human nature. One part of our brain tells us this is too good to be true. The other side tells us this is too good to miss. The key to any con is getting a mark to tip to the too-good-to-miss side.” ~Mitchell Zuckoff

The so-called ‘Jordan Option’ might be off the table for Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century,’ but it is very much alive in a court battle happening now in Jerusalem’s Magistrate Court.

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"Soon, I will also announce extensive construction in settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria. Under my vision, all the settlements will be under Israeli sovereignty." ~Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

In the wake of yesterday's final declaration in Paris, the United Nations Security Council is set to meet tomorrow, on Wednesday, 17 January. Its goal, says Council President Olaf Skook, is to "trigger action towards a two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

With some of its harsher statements softened, the final declaration of the Paris Middle East Peace conference, released yesterday, is substantially the same as the leaked pre-conference draft. For the record, this is the full official text of the final declaration from Paris on 15 January 2017

How has Israel replied to eight years of US arguments under the Obama administration? Now we know. Responding to John Kerry's shower of words explaining those arguments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they are "almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution passed at the UN last week." This is the complete transcript and video record of Netanyahu's 13 minute reply to yesterday's 73 minute speech by the US Secretary of State.