One of the problems with writing this blog is that, as fast as I write, events overtake me. I could empathize with the newsreader on TV last night who was interrupted with 3 times in one sentence as new news came in!

Yesterday I rose and opened my computer and discovered that we were under attack once again. Since yesterday morning some 250 rockets have been fired at Israeli civilian areas. I thank God that so far no Israelis have been killed. Around 56 have been treated for minor injuries mainly caused by falling when running to shelter or suffering shock. Two sustained light injuries from shrapnel. One 8-year-old girl suffered a heart attack during a ‘red code’ as she was hiding in a bomb shelter. Her condition remains serious but she is currently stable. About 50% of the incoming rockets have landed in open areas and of the remainder about 90% have been shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. There have been some houses hit and a large factory warehouse in Sderot was hit and destroyed by the resulting fire. It contained a large amount of completed furniture from the factory and represents a huge loss to the owners and the 200 or so who work there.

The situation is causing a great deal of disruption to a large part of the country. Schools have been closed in Tel Aviv and all areas to the south, affecting some 1 million school children, and their parents. Gatherings of more than 100 people are not permitted and this means that larger workplaces are closed, and at least one wedding has had to be cancelled. It was thanks to this policy however that no lives were lost when the warehouse in Sderot was hit as no staff were at work. The Tel Aviv train stations were evacuated and all trains to the southern regions stopped, causing massive problems for commuters. Some rockets were intercepted over Ben Gurion Airport but it continues to operate as usual. Banks and many other businesses were closed yesterday.

Although most of the rockets have targeted communities in the “Otef Gaza” (surrounding Gaza) towns and settlements in the south, some rockets have reached as far north as Tel Aviv, Modiin and Beit Shemesh. This means that the whole of the southern and central regions, including Tel Aviv and its satellite cities, the Judean Hill region (where I live) and Jerusalem are on high alert. We are being warned that this state of affairs could continue, or even worsen, over the coming days.

This latest round of fighting is the result of the barrage of rockets fired into Israel on Friday 8th, and intelligence received of planned attacks about to be carried out by the Islamic Jihad. Our Security Council consequently decided to change its policy and gave the OK for the assassination of the Islamic Jihad leader, Bahaa Abu al-Atta , who has masterminded a number of major terror attacks on Israeli civilians in the past and was planning major attacks in the future. Israel targeted his house killing him and his wife. The same night his son, who was also a Islamic Jihad leader, was killed in an air force attack on his home in Beirut. In retaliation, Islamic Jihad immediately unleashed the barrage of rockets and missiles targeting civilian areas in Israel. Concurrently, Israel is carrying out surgical attacks on IJ military bases and installations, and the last I heard some 16 Islamic Jihad operatives had been killed. There are no reports of civilian casualties in Gaza. The IDF has not been attacking Hamas bases. This is also a change in policy as up to now, Israel has held Hamas responsible as the governing power in Gaza, even for attacks carried out by Islamic Jihad. Hamas has not joined in the fighting, so far anyway. Hamas has enough on its hands trying to survive in the face of internal uprisings against its rule and a severe economic crisis. It has no interest in war right now. Egypt has been trying to calm the situation down but Islamic Jihad is refusing to come to the negotiations.

Another new thing is being seen and that is a wave of support for Israel from the EU, UK and the USA. Instead of criticism citing ‘excessive force’ statements are coming out of those countries. A statement from the EU said, “the firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop.“(1) This could all change of course should civilian casualties in Gaza rise. Israel is doing all it can to prevent that happening.

My Bible reading yesterday morning was Psalm 3 and I was struck by its timely pertinence:

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
² Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

³ But You, O Lord, are a shield ^[a]for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

Over the past week or so I have been incrementally trying to complete my blog update, before the most recent events overtook me. Here is what I wrote:

MEDICANE

Last weekend (25-26 October) I learned a new word, ‘medicane’. It has no relation to medicine or tall grasses – it is actually a contraction of the words, ‘Mediterranean’ and ‘hurricane’. How could I have lived nearly 40 years in the Mediterranean and never have heard this word before? After all, I learned, medicanes strike once or twice a year on average, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. My ignorance however can be explained in that medicanes are normally confined to the western basin of the Mediterranean, and form in the eastern basin only about once in 50 – 100 years.

Last weekend (25/10) a medicane was swirling about in the eastern basin and threatening to drop 100 – 200 mm of rain on Israel bringing a threat of flash flooding and much destruction. To put that into perspective our average annual rainfall here in Jerusalem is only 250 mm, so this would have brought us almost a year’s worth of rain in 24 hours. Another storm, earlier in the week had killed at least 11 people in Egypt, raising concerns that this too could be a killer storm. This caused me, and I am sure others too, to pray that the storm would not come ashore.

I am glad to say the LORD answered our prayers and, although the storm hovered just offshore all day, it eventually dissipated bringing only a few drops of rain here and a few showers further south, but causing no damage that I heard of. Thank you God.

All that Saturday we could see the storm clouds out over the sea but here the air was totally still and there was a heavy and ominous feeling. This led me to see that medicane as a metaphor for the situation in Israel today. All around us there is a tremendous stirring and turmoil, especially in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. I feel like we are sitting on the edge of a hurricane. It feels very ominous. The big question remains, will we get caught up in the maelstrom or will it pass us by?

This week our house group was studying Exodus 13 and focused on the concept of the firstborn in Scripture. The firstborn sons of men and their animals were to be consecrated, given over to the LORD. The clean animals were to be sacrificed but the sons of men, and the unclean animals (donkeys), were to be redeemed with 5 shekels of silver, about 100 grams (Exodus 13: 1-2, 11:16, Numbers 18: 15-18). The poor were able to offer a lamb or if they could not afford a lamb, two turtle doves or two young pigeons (Leviticus 5:7;14:30 for example). Yeshua (Jesus) was God’s firstborn begotten son and consequently his parents took him to the Temple and redeemed him a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, as required by the law:

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord  (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),  and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2: 22-24

Yeshua was God’s first begotten son but the LORD also called Israel ‘his firstborn son’.

‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22).

This legally gives Israel firstborn status and a double portion of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21: 15-17). What is more, God, in this same passage, says that it is forbidden to take away the inheritance of the firstborn in favor of the son of a more beloved wife. The church therefore does not replace Israel in terms of firstborn status nor inheritance, even though the true believers in Yeshua will share in His inheritance (Romans 8:17).

Speaking of the time of the restoration of Israel, God promises to Israel double honor and double possessions, not because Israel is righteous or worthy, but because of Israel’s status as the ‘firstborn’ of the LORD. When I look around Israel today I am astounded by the wealth and prosperity this little nation has amassed in just 150 years, in spite of its general lack of natural resources and in spite of all the wars we have fought and the constant attacks by our enemies. It can only be explained by the grace of God, granting us a ‘double portion’. How blessed we are!

And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵ Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
⁶ But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Isaiah 61: 4-7

WEATHER WOES

It is autumn here but you wouldn’t know it. I am still wearing sandals and short sleeved shirts. Daytime temperatures have been hovering around 30 degrees Celsius over the last two weeks. While it is normal to get sharavs, the hot dry east wind, at this time of year they normally last only 2-3 days at a time and then the cooler, moister westerlies return. It is unusual for a sharav to last so long. Many people are affected by these sharavs, which are not only hot and dry, but reverse the normal ionization of the air, causing symptoms ranging from flu-like stomach upsets to hayfever or just plain grumpy moods. These sharavs also herald the worst of the fire season. The risk of wildfires is very high right now. The biggest danger is arson terrorism or cigarette butts, but even just a piece of glass lying in the sun is enough to trigger a fire, especially in the pine and cedar forests around Jerusalem. I took a walk in the forest yesterday and was shocked by how many cigarette butts I saw along the way. It only takes one to start a catastrophic fire in these conditions. Tonight, 10 Nov, the Histadrut (Labor Union) is threatening to call the Fire Service to strike. Please pray this will not happen and pray against forest fires and arson terror attacks and the soon arrival of some winter rains. [PS. This did not happen because of the latest round of fighting – every cloud has a silver lining!]

Pray too for California and the parts of Australia that are experiencing catastrophic wildfires at this time. The smoke is so heavy it is turning the skies in New Zealand orange. NZ is some 2500 km from Australia – that is like smoke drifting from the UK to Greece!

While Australia is burning the UK is drowning.

On a more positive note, the level of the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s largest freshwater reservoir, fell only 60cm (23.4 inches) over summer. This is a 50 year record. In recent years the lake has been falling around 160cm (63 inches) over each summer (1). We had a wetter than average winter last year and a relatively mild summer. Please pray that we will have another good rainy season this coming winter.

Although we have had only a few sprinkles of rain here so far, the early winter flowers are beginning to show. I saw lots of tiny crocus poking through the ground down in the forest yesterday. They, like so many of our native plants, grow from bulbs so are not dependent upon the rain to begin their growth, but to form new bulbs and mature their seeds rain is needed.

SECURITY ISSUES

The security situation here continues to be tense. Last weekend (1 November) 10 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza. Most were shot down by our missile defenses but one struck a house in the town of Sderot. Fortunately the family had taken refuge in their bomb shelter and were not injured (2). Here is security camera footage of the strike, taken from the house opposite:

תיעוד נוסף ממצלמת אבטחה של פגיעת הרקטה בבית בשדרות @bokeralmog

(צילום: אלברט אבוחצירא) pic.twitter.com/X3GVQDtpvI

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) November 1, 2019

RAW FOOTAGE: The moment the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System intercepted 7 rockets fired from #Gaza at #Israel. pic.twitter.com/jxOTpbeHhT

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 1, 2019

No organization has claimed responsibility for the attack but Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attacks coming from its territory. Consequently the IDF attacked a number of Hamas targets in retaliation.

Two days later, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, boasted that he would turn Israeli cities into ghost towns and had enough firepower to fire rockets into Tel Aviv for six months in a row (3). He also warned against a land incursion saying that there are “hundreds of thousands” of traps waiting for Israeli soldiers and “hundreds of kilometers” of attack tunnels hidden underground. (Just in case you are wondering where all the aid money flooding into Gaza goes!!).

Meanwhile Israel is in an impossible situation. While the intermittent rain of rockets and missiles is intolerable, the thought of a ground incursion seems much worse. Not only would there be a large loss of life on both sides, there is the question of what would we do with a conquered Gaza Strip – with a population of around 2 million Muslims who mostly hate Israel, poverty stricken with 50% unemployment. In short, we don’t want the Gaza Strip! In any case nothing significant is likely to be done as long as we do not have a government.

Perhaps the only hope for Gaza is some kind of social uprising against Hamas and this has begun to happen. Earlier this year, in March, street protests against the economic hardships, increased taxes, the high cost of living, and the soaring unemployment, were cruelly suppressed by Hamas. In recent months Hamas has arrested a large number of activists accused of trying to organize new street protests. Last Thursday 28-yr old Gazan, Yahya Karajeh, died of wounds sustained when he set himself on fire to protest the economic hardships. Yahya and his brother, were orphans with no family to help and had been living on the street for months. Yahya’s death has precipitated an outcry on the social media. One Facebook user, Diala Al-Buhaisi wrote;

“We have one president, two governments, the PLO, the Palestine National Council, the Fatah Central Committee, the Palestinian Legislative Council, 18 political parties, 22 ministries, 10 military groups, hundreds of charitable organizations and dozens of clan leaders and businessmen. None of them were able to provide a small room for the poor brothers, Yahya and Aboud, to shelter them from the cold of the winter and heat of the summer” (4).

GROWING THREATS TO THE EAST

On the 26th October we marked the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Peace Treaty with Jordan, but sadly amidst signs of its crumbling. Recently Jordan announced that it would not renew the lease to Israel of two areas of land that was part of the 1994 Treaty. One area, called Naharyim (two rivers) lies at the junction of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers and the second, Tzofar, is south of the Dead Sea area. Both these areas have been cultivated by Israeli farmers since 1994. Yesterday 10/11 these areas reverted to Jordanian control and Israelis can no longer visit them, although the farmers may continue to work the land until May next year(5). This move follows an earlier recall of the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv to protest the months-long administrative detention of two Jordanians in Israel without charge (6). Last Wednesday the two Jordanians were released and returned to Jordan, however relations with Jordan remain tense. According to the newspaper, Al -Jazeera, “There is little support for the peace treaty among most Jordanians, many of whom are of Palestinian origin, and relations between Israel and its eastern neighbour have often been tense since the deal was signed”. (7)

With ever-growing tension and threats on both our northern and southern borders a new front seems to be opening on the east as well. Not only does the fragile peace treaty with Jordan seem to be crumbling but reports are coming in that Iran is supplying the Houthi rebels in Yemen with mid- to-long- range missiles that can reach Israel. On the 26th August the Houthis fired 10 Iranian made Badr-1 missiles at a civilian airport in Saudi Arabia, killing and wounding dozens (8).

Then on September 14th, Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia with 18 drones and seven cruise missiles supplied by Iran. The Tablet magazine pointed out that ” what has become very clear is that the attack on the Saudis was also meant as a warning to Israel. Beyond the oil fields, the cruise missiles and drones were targeting a larger audience for whom they were meant to signal the weakness and vulnerability of Iran’s enemies in the U.S.-Saudi-Israeli axis” (9).

The Houthi flag has written on it the words (in Arabic) ” Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews…” (10).

Between Iran and the Houthis and Jordan lies Saudi Arabia which is also being threatened by Iran and its proxies, especially the Houthis. Strangely this has led to a warming of relationships between the Saudi kingdom and Israel – a result of the ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend‘ effect. This may be a pragmatic advantage for the Saudis at this juncture but we live in a region where pragmatic alliances can change in an instant. Although I welcome the warming of relationships with any Muslim state, it would be a mistake to trust it. On the bottom line, the existence of Israel on what Muslims perceive as Islamic territory is still an anathema, according to the teachings of the Koran. Our only true ally in the Middle Eastern arena is the LORD God of Israel. On Him only must we rely.

LEBANON AND THE NORTH

To our north Lebanon is in crisis with ongoing protests fueled by poverty, joblessness and lack of basic services like electricity, and government corruption. On the 26th of October this led to the resignation of the Prime Minister, Saad al-Hariri.

It is unclear to us here in Israel whether the current unrest in Lebanon will serve to weaken Hezbollah or make it more dangerous.

Meanwhile Russia has strengthened its hold in Syria as a result of the pull-out of US troops from the Turkish border area. Turkey has penetrated 20 miles into Syrian territory displacing hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who are fleeing, mainly towards the Kurdish part of Iraq. A joint Russian and Turkish force are patrolling this ‘buffer zone’ and Turkey is preparing to move some 2 million Syrian refugees into the area. This is a humanitarian disaster in the making, especially as winter is now upon that region. Israeli hospitals are currently treating at least 30 Kurdish refugee children but that is just a tiny drop in the bucket.

SOME SHORT NEWS ITEMS:

1. GROWING IMMIGRATION . In spite of the growing threat to Israel’s existence 20,506 new immigrants arrived in Israel in the first 7 months of this year, a 21% increase over the same period last year. At the same time there has also been a decrease in emigration. By September this year Israel’s population topped the 9 million point. We are popping at the seams!

2. TRANSPORT WOES

One of the consequences of Israel’s growing population and increasing prosperity is the burgeoning of the number of the cars on the roads. Tel Aviv has been named as the 4th most traffic jammed city in the world. The Transport Ministry is trying to sort out the congestion but it just doesn’t seem to be able to keep up. The fast train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has had a whole series of problems and frequent breakdowns so many people are still opting to travel by car. Fast lanes for cars carrying more than two people are only serving to make more traffic jams. Traffic coming into Jerusalem from the main Tel Aviv highway is currently being diverted through the Arazim tunnel as remodelling is taking place at the bottleneck of Jerusalem’s main entry point. To try and relieve this point work began a few days ago on another road into the city from Highway 1, bypassing this point. For the next few years, until these changes are completed getting in and out of Jerusalem during rush hours is very difficult. Within the city work is advancing on an extension of the light rail system taking a line to Gilo and also to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. There are plans to improve access to the Old City by means of an overhead gondola line from the Old Train Station. There is some opposition from the Arab villages it must pass over, so it remains to be seen if it goes ahead or not.

3. NATURAL GAS. The natural gas field off Israel’s coast has recently been found to contain much more gas and light crude oil than previously thought. Times of Israel reported that, “ Energean Oil and Gas plc, a Greek gas producer focused on the Mediterranean, said Monday that its appraisal of the Karish North discovery offshore Israel has revealed 0.9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable natural gas resources plus 34 million barrels of light oil or condensate.

4. DOG CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

Tel Aviv is the dog capital of the world with the highest number of dogs, per person. Here are a couple of videos about Tel Aviv dog culture for your dog lovers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGwuKE8GjI

https://www.israel21c.org/renny-unleashes-the-funny-side-of-tel-avivs-dog-devotion/

There are so many other things I could write about but this blog is already turning into a book. I must stop here and publish. Please keep praying for all of us here – Israeli, Palestinian and everyone else living and working in this troubled region. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem – not the temporary, unstable fragile peace of man but the eternal peace established by the coming Messiah, Yeshua. May He come soon.

References:

1a https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/germany-condemns-gaza- rocket-fire-on-israel-1.8120833

1. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/271123
2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/rocket-warnings-sound-on-gaza-border-residents-report-loud-explosions/
3. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5619086,00.html
4. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Gaza-orphans-self-immolation-sparks-outcry-on-social-media-607408
5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5622320,00.html
6. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/jordan-recalls-ambassador-israel-protest-citizen-detentions-191030070722707.html
7. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/jordan-reclaims-border-lands-israel-ties-strain-191109165310967.html
8. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/houthis-fire-10-ballistic-missiles-saudi-airport-190825200633019.html
9. https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/292246/next-middle-east-war
10. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170929-yemens-houthis-threaten-israels-basis/
11. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-immigration-to-israel-up-21-in-2019-1001300036
12. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-tel-aviv-worlds-fourth-most-jammed-city-1001306087
13. https://www.timesofisrael.com/energean-estimate-adds-0-9-tcf-of-natural-gas-to-israel-resources/