Defying the Obama-inspired “talks” by refusing to release the third batch of murderers gives hope that Israel has had enough and is finally getting up off its knees. Let the gloves to come off now and let Israel declare the Oslo Accords a tragic mistake that recognized a people who never existed in the annals of history and expose to the world - in clear and unambiguous language - the fiction that is the “Palestinian” narrative.

Israel must declare that the current so called “peace talks” are dead and buried, not just stopped, and that the PA’s day in the sun and limelight on the world stage is well and truly over. Serious issues now require urgent attention. It is time for Israel to act like a sovereign power in control of its own destiny. According to Israel’s Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Aviv Kohavi, Israel faces 170,000 rockets aimed at her citizens.

To quote General Kohavi: “Israel is surrounded by 360 degrees of actual enemies. We call this period in time the ‘Era of Fire’, in light of the amount of missiles and rockets we face as a constant threat. There are about 170,000 rockets and missiles that threaten Israel. For the first time the enemy now has the ability to hit Israeli cities hard. IAF pilots can no longer move freely towards their targets and have to dodge missiles that threaten them.”

If ever there was a need for a pre-emptive surprise strike to take out these missile batteries, it is the present. If the “Palestinians” chose to locate these missile batteries in and around their civilian population centres, any collateral damage should be of no concern to Israel. To those who frown upon this scenario, examine the alternative. Can Israel afford to wait until these missiles are airborne and cause pandemonium throughout the length and breadth of the country? A devastated Israel will have profound implications for Diaspora Jewry as well.

The gloves coming off should include bringing an end to all hostility in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. No longer should the IDF be taunted by rock throwing Arabs and be expected to do nothing. In short the IDF’s current restraint and paralysis in this arena should be the failed policy of the past and any future acts of terror be confronted by ruthless and overwhelming force.

He recycled the same conditions, after he already knows Israel won't accept them. Abbas said in his speech Saturday that talks with Israel could only continue if Israel submits to a freeze on construction in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, releases jailed terrorists, and starts agreeing to borders for a Palestinian state.

The PA chairman has "time and again" blocked Israeli and US efforts to extend talks according to the officials, who note at the beginning of the month he violated "existent agreements by unilaterally applying to the UN conventions." The officials noted that Abbas's Fatah faction signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas last Wednesday, "while Israel was making sincere efforts to advance negotiations with the Palestinians."

Abbas continued by declaring that his unity government would not agree to receive a state in the heart of Israel, unless eastern Jerusalem was its capital. In conclusion, Abbas reiterated his threats, made twice last week, to disband the PA and turn over responsibility to govern Judea and Samaria over to Israel. "If they (Israel) don't want to commit there is the other solution - for them to take over everything," Abbas said.

To ensure that this can happen, we wish to submit to your attention the fact that the Bible is based on the attitude of God to the People of Israel, prophesying and promising their return from exile to His country and the Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site. We hope that unlike the classic Catholic position, you will clarify that you approve the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem to establish the Temple as described by the prophets.

Therefore you have to pray that all the people of the world will join together in order to help realize the vision of the Bible. Up to now, unfortunately, the Catholic Church itself has refused to be friendly to Israel and has instead supported the Arab position, denying the Jews the right to live secure and free in their own land.

We therefore ask Your Holiness to please announce that the return of the Jewish people to its land as promised in the Scriptures is a Divine phenomenon, that the Jewish people have the full right to establish His kingdom in Israel, and that the State of Israel is the political expression of the Jewish people. The Papacy must restore to Judaism, in the Christian consciousness, the dignity of a millennial faith of a covenantal people in its biblical land — a concept which for centuries was fought against and denied by the Catholic Church.

You have the opportunity to change the face of history and we hope it will not be missed. You are called by the God of Israel to do what the great Emperor Cyrus of Persia did in his time and you will be blessed for this by the God of Israel. It will be the greatest of merits and recorded as a major historical deed that no other Pope before had the privilege to accomplish.

When it comes to details, though, opinions will diverge. The debates are long and complex, but the popular notion of John as a liberal champion and John Paul as a conservative stalwart gives a rough outline of how they are seen. As such, they symbolize two groups in the Catholic Church that have disagreed for decades, sometimes bitterly, over how to interpret the results of the reforming Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 that John launched and John Paul largely implemented. By canonizing both, Argentine-born Pope Francis will be using the symbolism of unity to urge Catholics to look beyond these divisions to join together in following the Gospel.

"These two popes represent different wings of the Church," said Ashley McGuire of the Catholic Association, a Washington-based lay group that defends Catholic views on public issues. "Unity is a big theme of Pope Francis's papacy. He's saying we're all Catholics, we're on a common journey together."

It followed a five-hour meeting of Benjamin Netanyau's security cabinet called to discuss Wednesday's pact, which Israel depicted as an effective rejection of peace negotiations because of Hamas' denial of its right to exist. "The cabinet has unanimously decided that the Israeli government will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terror organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel," a statement issued by Mr Netanyau's office said.

Mr Netanyahu said that Palestinian moves to form a unity government with Hamas were "a giant leap backwards" for the peace process. "The pact with Hamas kills peace," the Israeli leader said. US mediators had been scrambling to find a formula to extend the negotiations, which had already been plunged into crisis over Israel's refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, as previously agreed, and the PA's application to join a host of international organisations and treaties.

Wednesday's unity agreement - jointly announced in Gaza City by Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation - appeared to signal the end of seven years of conflict between the Islamist group and Fatah, the Western-backed movement headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president. It promised to form a new unity government in five weeks while pledging to hold fresh elections within six months.

The announcement heralded scenes of celebration in the streets of Gaza, which is run by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union (EU). Ironically, Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief welcomed the Palestinian unity agreement on Thursday before news of Israel's suspension of talks emerged. "The European Union believes that the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is an important step toward a two-state solution," Michael Mann, Baroness Ashton's spokesman, told Haaretz. "But the top priority remains the continuation of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians."

"Four times (PA Chairman) Mahmoud Abbas refused to advance the talks in recent weeks," a diplomatic source said. "He refused the American paper (framework deal), he refused to recognize the Jewish state, he refused a meeting with (US President) Barack Obama, and refused to receive the prisoner (release) deal and going to the UN institutions." The source noted that "in every case Abbas was not rebuked, and the result was that he went to Hamas."

"It's clear that assertiveness is needed from the US to prevent the talks from collapsing. There's anger against the Americans, because they needed to make a firm statement telling Abbas not to make a deal with Hamas and instead to make a deal with Israel," the source added. Instead, the source stated that American statements against the PA's move have been "feeble."

For its part, the European Union (EU) openly welcomed the PA-Hamas unity deal, despite Hamas being on the EU's official list of terrorist organizations.

“This is one of the times when people realize what’s really happening and there is no question about it,” Lauder said. “How can Israel negotiate with an organization that wants its destruction?” Lauder, who is well connected with many world leaders, said the overwhelming sentiment among his contacts was support for Israel.

Everybody, he asserted, “believes that the Israeli people want peace and that the Palestinian people want peace, and more and more they realize what the real problem is. I don’t think President Abbas could have made a stronger signal that he didn’t want peace.”

At that time, MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) slammed the rioting incident on the Temple Mount, calling Israel's control over Judaism's holiest site a failure. "Over the last five days, the Temple Mount has not been occupied by the Jordanian army, but by a division of Hamas," Feiglin said. "The failure of the police to control events on the Temple Mount is, in fact, the failure of political leadership in keeping the heart of Jerusalem intact."

On Monday, just hours before Passover began, Hamas Islamists rioted on the Temple Mount, waving Hamas flags and "not allowing Jews and tourists into the Mount," according to activists.

In Jerusalem, Israel’s announcement that it was suspending stalemated peace negotiations with the Palestinians, after a reconciliation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the militant group Hamas, posed yet another obstacle to restarting a troubled peace process in which Secretary of State John Kerry has been greatly invested.

The setbacks, though worlds apart in geography and history, speak to the common challenge Mr Obama has had in translating his ideas and ambitions into enduring policies. He has watched outside forces unravel his best-laid plans, from resetting relations with Russia to managing the epochal political change in the Arab world. On Thursday, as Russia staged military exercises on the border with Ukraine, Mr Kerry denounced broken promises from the Kremlin but took no specific action.

Speaking in Japan, he called the North Korean problem "the most destabilising, dangerous situation in all of the Asia-Pacific region", and described China's role in influencing Pyongyang as "critically important". Earlier this week, South Korea's military said it had detected "a lot of activity" at the North's nuclear test site, suggesting it was either planning a test or would pretend to stage one. North Korea has carried out three such tests in the past, most recently in February 2013 - an incident that triggered months of severe tension on the Korean peninsula.

China is regarded as the nation with the best chance of influencing North Korea's behaviour, because of their trade ties. "We will not allow war and chaos on China's doorstep," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday. "In the meantime, we have consistently and proactively advocated dialogue and negotiation."

Also on Mr Obama's agenda will be Seoul's ties with Japan. The US wants its two main Asian allies to work together to tackle North Korea's nuclear ambitions. But rows over disputed islands and unresolved historical tensions have severely strained the Tokyo-Seoul relationship. In Japan, Mr Obama issued a firm statement of support over Tokyo's dispute over a separate set of islands with China.