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Its definitely an evening for staying home – for those of us who made it home that is. Tonight I am so very grateful for my cosy, warm and, above all, dry home. My only problem is the cat who is bored and desperate to go outside. Every few minutes he demands to go out but when I open the door for him, he takes one look at the freezing rain and heads back inside. Now he is trying to destroy my computer, and I just found my earphones swimming in a glass of water. He is driving me crazy!!!! Does anyone want a cat?
Israel is once more battling a severe winter storm, our second in the last week. Last Saturday heavy rains fell along the coast, and in some places as much as 80mm fell in the space of 2 hours, totally overwhelming the drainage systems. Thousands of vehicles, homes and businesses were flooded in south Tel Aviv. Four people died, two who were swept away by flood waters and two who were trapped in an elevator that flooded in south Tel Aviv.
Yesterday (08/01) the rains came back and dumped around 100 mm in a short time in the region of Nahariyah and Haifa causing serious flooding. Heavy runoff from the interior hills and surrounding areas added to the problem. The floods there claimed one life. Motti ben Shabbat (38), who together with two others had successfully rescued three people from a drifting and overturned car, was swept away himself. Some hours later searchers found and recovered his body from the sea. The normal emergency services were dealing with thousands of cries for help and were just not able to reach everyone, so volunteers with tractors and 4x4s came, many from neighboring Arab communities, to help evacuate children from a school, a kindergarten and the many commuters trapped by the floodwaters. Some heavy diggers ferried people, men, women and children, even babies, across the floodwaters in their scoops. Some of the people had been waiting 4-5 hours for rescue. A woman with 6 small children was rescued from her flooded home by a neighbor with a kayak. Eventually the army arrived with heavy vehicles to help stranded people.
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Today (09/01) the rains have continued to fall, spreading southwards and causing serious flooding in the city of Ashdod and the towns and settlements in that area. In Kibbutz Emunim 100 school children had to be rescued from a school completely surrounded by flood water. It is still raining and it is expected to continue until tomorrow afternoon. It is not so much the quantity of rain that has fallen but the fact that it is falling in heavy downpours over short periods of times and this just overwhelms the drainage systems. Although localized floods are not uncommon here, Israel has never before experienced flooding on this scale.
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Here in the Jerusalem area we have been spared the very heavy rain and flooding, although it has been raining steadily for the last 24 hours, and we could still get some heavy rain overnight. It is very cold and the nighttime temperature has been hovering around the 4 degree mark. If the temperature were to drop just another degree or two the rain could turn to snow, but this is not expected at this time.
The good news is that the rains have filled the rivers and streams in the Golan and Galilee and as a result the Sea of Galilee has risen some 80 cm over the last month, and over a meter since the rainy season began, and there is still a lot more water flowing into it. It rose 23 cm just yesterday. There is also a good meter of snow on the higher reaches of Mt Hermon which when it melts in spring will also flow into the Sea of Galilee. News is just coming in that the country has broken a more than 50-year old record for rainfall in the northern part of the country. In the northern coastal plain and Western and Upper Galilee some 400 mm (16 inches) of rain has fallen in the last two weeks alone, with some areas reaching 450 mm (18 inches), well in excess of annual averages https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-breaks-50-year-record-for-most-rainfall-613693
It is now Shabbat (11/01) and I am glad to say the sun is shining. The rain petered out yesterday and now we are busy drying out. I have just done the rounds of my house spraying all the mold with this amazing Israeli invention which you just spray on and in minutes all the mold disappears. You don’t even need to wipe it up. Once again God has blessed the world through his people Israel (Genesis 12:3 “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”) Sadly there will be much need for this product as those with flooded homes and businesses set about cleaning up.
TO STOP A WAR OR TO START ONE?
The weather has given us a perhaps welcome distraction from the tension in the Middle East. Last weekend (03/01) the USA assassinated Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military general. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi, and Mohammed Reza al-Jaberi, the protocol officer and the head of public relations for the group, were also killed. The PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces) is an Iraqi sponsored umbrella organization comprising some 40 different militias, formed in 2014 to coordinate the protection of Iraq from the Islamic State forces.
After the assassination of Soleimani, the US Department of Defense issued the following statement:
“At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel by killing Qassem Soleimani. General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.”
President Trump then made a statement that “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war“. You can see his whole statement on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmtWkAV49w
Only time will tell whether this act will stop a war or start one!
https://www.dw.com/en/qassem-soleimani-timeline-of-events-following-iranian-generals-assassination/a-51910195
What is certain is that Iran could not just let this assassination pass unavenged. In a culture of saving face, revenge is always required. This last weekend Iran fired 15 missiles at US military bases in Iraq. No American or other personnel were injured or killed. It is hoped that this will satisfy the ‘need’ for revenge but there are many other extremist militias which might also desire revenge.
As the missiles were being fired off a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed as it was taking off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, including 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, as well as nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany. Initially the crash was blamed on a technical malfunction, but this morning (11/01) news is coming in that Iran has admitted the plane was downed by an Iranian missile, the result of ‘human error’.
In view of this embarrassing and tragic incident, and the somewhat tame acts of vengeance for Soleimani’s assassination, Iran may feel the need to assert itself again in order to save face. However, as stated in Ynetnews, ” It would be wrong to consider the Islamic Republic weak or underestimate its military strength – its supreme leader made a calculated choice not to put Trump’s resolve to the test this time” – and he has a reason. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJg64YVeI
Iran has repeatedly threatened to attack Israel should the situation escalate. We have lived so long with the spectre of Iran’s threats hanging over us we are not easily moved by such rhetoric, but we are nevertheless watching the situation closely. Israel has so far not played any part in this unfolding series of events, and is trying to maintain a low profile, but PM Netanyahu did make a statement supporting Trump’s action.
Two weeks before the assassination of Soleimani, Iran, Russia and China carried out joint military exercises over 4 days. This is of great concern. We can no longer see Iran as an isolated nation. It has two very powerful allies and we would do well not to underestimate this coalition. Iranian Rear Admiral Gholamreza Tahani said in a televised speech, “The message of this exercise is peace, friendship and lasting security through cooperation and unity … and its effect will be to show that Iran cannot be isolated. ” ( https://citizentruth.org/russia-and-china-display-solidarity-with-iran-in-recent-joint-military-exercises/ ). One cannot help but wonder what these three powerful nations are planning.
Many people see these events as possibly leading to World War III or the great apocalyptic battle of Gog and Magog prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. If one looks around the world today it is not hard to be shaken by the events taking place, floods, fires, wars and rumors of wars. I think we would all be wise to take Jesus’ words, quoted below, seriously, and not allow ourselves to react hysterically to these things or to be troubled unduly, but to weigh them soberly and with caution.
And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matthew 24: 4-8
NEW WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY
Two days ago Israel unveiled a new technology that can shoot down incoming missiles, rockets, drones or anti-tank missiles. It would work alongside the existing iron dome technology to protect the civilian population, as well as being used in military confrontations. One of the big advantages of a laser technology is that it needs only a supply of electricity to work, and keep working, whereas stockpiles of anti-tank missiles are limited. In addition it would cost only a few dollars to fire the laser beam off. Each firing of an Iron Dome missiles costs around $US15,000 . According to the Ministry of Defense this new technology is a ‘game changer’. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-Defense-Ministry-announces-breakthrough-in-laser-technology-613568
https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/SJ3Ea5meI lazer techno
DEFENSE REVIEW OF 2019
The IDF has released its annual review of defense matters for 2019. According to this report Gazan terrorists fired some 1295 rockets at Israeli civilians in 2019. Of the missiles fired, 729 landed in open areas, and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted another 478, about 85% of those coming towards built up areas. This is the highest number of incoming missiles since the 2014 Gaza War. On the other hand terrorist activity in the Palestinian controlled areas of the West Bank has decreased. In 2019 there were just 51 terrorist attacks recorded in the West Bank and Jerusalem area as opposed to 76 attacks in 2018 and 75 in 2019 and 141 in 2016. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HySwzLygI
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274040
TOURISM BOOM
The year 2019 was a record-breaking year for tourism in Israel, with over 4.5 million tourists, and increase of 10% from the previous year and a 55% increase from three years ago. According to Aliyah and Integration Minister Yariv Levin, “We have received more than NIS 22 billion from tourism, and created more than 13,000 new jobs, resulting in a total of more than 150,000 jobs created due to the influx of tourists”. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Record-45-million-tourists-visited-Israel-in-2019-613161 Most of these tourists visit Jerusalem while here. The population of Jerusalem is only around 1 million so this means that for every Jerusalem resident some 4 tourists visit our beautiful and fascinating city visit! No wonder our roads and services are being stretched to their limits. Much work is being done around the city to increase accommodation options, and solve the problems of transport, and this in the short term is causing much inconvenience and stress to us all.
ISRAEL EXPORTS NATURAL GAS
The discovery of large natural gas reserves off the coast of Israel in the last 20 years has opened the door for the export of gas to neighboring countries. On 2 January Israel signed a contract with Greece and Cyprus to construct a gas pipeline to Europe from Israel. This would ease Europe’s dependence upon Russia for its supply and provide a lucrative market for Israel’s gas. Needless to say Turkey is not happy to have been bypassed by this agreement. Israel has been exporting natural gas to Jordan since 2017 and plans to begin export to Egypt by mid-January https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/BJYroan0H . The Israeli government is also encouraging the use of natural gas domestically and power stations are switching from coal and oil to the far less polluting natural gas.
O JERUSALEM!
Finally I want to finish by reminding us all of God’s love for Israel and Jerusalem in particular. I grew up on a farm and often saw a mother hen calling her chicks under her wings when she perceived danger. For me this is a very powerful image and one dear to my heart.
