Tag: Hamas

“GUARDIAN OF THE WALLS”

May 30, 2021 / admin

Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121: 4

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him…

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations…

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33: 8,10-12, 20-22

Rocket fire over Gush Dan (Tel Aviv and surrounding area) in Israel shortly after midnight,16 May 2021). The straight lines on left are rockets being fired from Gaza and the curly ones are the Iron Dome interceptors

I came home from work Monday night (10th May) and plonked myself down in front of the TV, trying to decide if I had the energy to go for a swim or not. A sound began to penetrate my consciousness. The “Red Alert” (incoming missile) siren was sounding, barely audible in my home. I quickly relocated to my ‘safe room’, and immediately heard the booms, the last of which was very loud and rattled my windows. I later learned that the closest rocket landed just 1-2 km away. That was the opening volley of this week’s events.

Seven rockets had been fired towards Jerusalem from Gaza. Though the phrase ‘towards Jerusalem‘ is in the media, of course the Gazan terrorists do not aim at Jerusalem itself for fear of killing ‘good Muslims’ or damaging the Al Aqsa mosque. Instead they aim at the predominantly Jewish towns and villages on the western outskirts.

The map of where the first missiles aimed at “Jerusalem” landed.

Since that evening we have had no further “Red Alerts” in my town and if it were not for the media, I would not know anything was happening. It must be one of the quietest spots in Israel right now. However one cannot live in a bubble and it is with a very heavy heart I have followed events.

A soldier from the Israeli military's Home Front Command walks outside a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon that had been struck by a Hamas rocket on May 20, 2021. (Edi Israel/FLASH90) — A soldier from the Israeli military’s Home Front Command walks outside a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon that had been struck by a Hamas rocket on May 20, 2021. (Edi Israel/FLASH90) https://www.timesofisrael.com/guardian-of-the-walls-wasnt-the-resounding-victory-the-idf-had-hoped-for/

It has been a terrible eleven days for Israel and also for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have fired more than 4300 rockets and missiles into Israel since that first volley on Monday. The towns around the Gaza Strip, Ashkelon and Ashdod have been subjected to an almost continuous barrage of hundreds of rockets. The city of Ashkelon alone was targeted by around 960 rockets. Places further afield, including Beer Sheva , Tel Aviv and the region of Gush Dan (the central coastal plain), including the region around Ben Gurion Airport have also been attacked. Some of the rockets fell in open areas, and 90% of the others were shot down by the “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense system, nevertheless some penetrated our defenses killing 13 people, injuring around 350, and destroying a significant number of homes, cars and other property. Of the thirteen people killed, all except one were civilians, including an elderly woman and her Indian care-giver, two children, two Arabs, two Thai agricultural workers and two who died as a result of injuries sustained while running for cover. The only military casualty was a soldier on duty near the Gaza border.

A heavily damaged house from rocket fire in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP) — The scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-killed-by-rockets-in-ashkelon-amid-massive-barrages-from-gaza/

Red Alerts in Gush Dan just after midnight 16 May2021

Some of the rockets fired towards Israel, around 680 in number, failed to reach Israel, falling in the Gaza Strip and causing casualties there- of which at least some were blamed on Israel.

In response to the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza, Israel initiated what has been called “Operation Guardian of the Walls”. The IAF (Israeli Air Force) and artillery divisions pounded Hamas and Islamic Jihad military targets relentlessly for eleven days and destroyed much of their infrastructure, including 100 km of underground tunnels and bunkers, 10 Hamas government offices, 11 security offices, 5 banks that handled Hamas’ finances and the international media tower used as the center of communications and intelligence by Hamas ( and also housing the media offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera). The IAF carried out 570 airstrikes against rocket and mortar launchers. Some 25 senior Hamas commanders were also targeted and killed.

In spite of these heavy attacks only 232 people were killed in Gaza and 1600 injured, according to official Hamas figures. Most of the casualties, around were Hamas fighters. The relatively low loss of life is thanks to the extreme care that Israel takes to prevent civilian casualties. Not only do they telephone people individually warning them to vacate buildings about to be attacked, but they also send a warning ‘roof knock’ – a small explosive device – before dropping the main explosives. In the case of the international media tower, occupants were given an hour to vacate the building. There were also incidents when Israeli planes aborted attacks because children or other civilians were seen in the area. Since the last round of hostilities Israel, with the help of the USA, has developed much more precise weaponry which can take down one building or installation without harming those around it. There is no army in the world, or in the history of mankind, that takes as much care to avoid harming civilians.

It is for this reason it really hurts when Israel is criticized by the press and others for using ‘ excessive force ‘. This is war and we are fighting for our existence. Did the allies in WWII use ‘excessive force’ when they obliterated Dresden in Germany, or when the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? How many innocent civilians have died in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan in more recent years? ( According to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission’s annual report last year, there were 8,500 civilian casualties in 2020, including 2,958 deaths (1)). How would the UK or USA or any other country respond if their neighbors began firing thousands of rockets into their major cities. Yet many in these Western countries hypocritically dare to criticize Israel when civilians get caught in the crossfire. No matter how careful the army is, accidents happen and civilians get killed.

I do not feel anyone has the moral right to accuse Israel of ‘excessive force’ until they themselves have been targeted by a barrage of rockets or have had to live for 20 years under the threat of incoming fire, as our southern communities have! In the area around Gaza, residents have only about 6-10 seconds to find cover. Here we have about 1.5 minutes. Would you like to live like that- always looking for places to run to whenever you are out and about, wondering if your children are safe every time the sirens blare? Most of the children in those areas have known no other life and many suffer from insomnia, bed-wetting, nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD.

Here is the latest (23 May) breakdown of the damage inflicted on Israel (did your newspapers report this?):

In Ashkelon, 792 buildings and 267 vehicles were damaged.
In Ashdod, 228 buildings and 130 cars were damaged.
In Sderot, 228 buildings and 267 vehicles were damaged.
In Tel Aviv, 77 buildings and 74 cars were damaged.
In Ramat Gan, 254 claims were filed for damages,
In Givataym – 157,
In Petah Tikva – 231.
In Lod and Ramla, 348 buildings and 229 vehicles were damaged.
In Akko, claims were filed for damage to 16 buildings and 4 cars, in Haifa – 19 buildings and 26 cars, in Jerusalem – 4 buildings and 26 cars

And this was with the Iron Dome stopping some 90% of the incoming missiles. Imagine the carnage without that protection.

These figures also do not show the damage to the economy in terms of lost workdays or the expenditure of the army and air force. The IDF WhatsApp update on 16 May 2021, stated that “ It’s estimated that each Iron Dome interceptor cost approximately, 50,000 USD, which means 57 Million USD or 187 Million NIS was spent to defend and protect human life – not to mention all other costs….”. The figures also do not measure the human costs, in terms of anxiety, depression and other psychological effects. Schools were closed in a large part of the country – just after they had reopened following the Covid pandemic. I was shocked by images of high school students sitting their bagrut (matriculation) exams wearing masks and being interrupted by sirens and having to scramble for cover. How could they do well in their exams under such circumstances?

Hamas and Islamic Jihad make no secret of the fact they want to kill as many civilians as possible. They deliberately aim at large, densely populated population centers with the hope of killing as many Israelis as possible, while hiding their rocket launchers and other military installations beside homes, hospitals and schools. They cynically hope that Israel will kill as many of their ‘innocent civilians’, especially children, as possible. It makes for ‘good press’. They don’t care about their own people. If they did, they would not build tunnels under their homes and use them as human shields. If they did, they would not attack Israel in the first place and they would, as Israel has done, invest money in building safe rooms and an “Iron Dome’ system of their own. If they did, they would not spend millions, if not billions of dollars in aid money, building hundreds of miles of tunnels and bunkers under the cities of Gaza and on munitions and armaments intended solely for attacking Israel (Yahya Sinwar, the Head of the Military Wing of Hamas, recently boasted that they have 500 km of tunnels under Gaza that Israel did not demolish, and at least 10,000 more rockets!!!). Imagine how good a life the Gazan’s could have had that money been spent on building homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure. They could all be living in mansions with the best standard of living in the world.

Now that the rockets have stopped falling and a ceasefire seems to be holding the real war is beginning – the war for your minds. As has happened so many times in the past, the media is focusing on the damage inflicted on Gaza by Israel, publishing inflated figures of the dead and wounded, clearly staged photos of the damaged buildings and failing to give the backstory behind these images. Here is a particularly one-sided article published by CNN today entitled ” Gaza Mourns its Dead as the Specter of an Endless Cycle of Conflict Looms” (1). What about Israel mourning its dead? What about the homes destroyed in Israel? Instead it shows heart wrenching images of destruction and injured people, but only those in Gaza. The picture of the stuffed toy in the rubble is clearly staged – if an explosion had indeed torn the head off this toy wouldn’t it show some dirt at least?

A stuffed toy found among the ruins on Al-Wahdah street. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/22/middleeast/gaza-mourn-dead-intl-cmd/index.html

This article does attempt to give a little of the backstory but it comes well into the article and is sketchy to say the least. There is no mention of the fact that it was Hamas that fired the first rockets and started this war. It speaks about the endless cycle of violence, but does not explain that it is Hamas that is driving this cycle of violence, and has done ever since wresting power by force from the Palestinian Authority after it failed to win the last ‘democratic’ elections in Gaza in 2007. If Hamas had not fired first at Israel, there would have been no dead children, headless stuffed toys nor demolished houses in Gaza. It’s Hamas who is responsible for every civilian casualty in Gaza, not Israel!

Here is another example of biased reporting picked up from Reuters today,

Note the caption refers to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Who is occupying Gaza today? Certainly not Israel. Israel evacuated every last citizen and soldier from Gaza in 2005. Reuters – check your facts!! We hoped then that that would bring an end to the rocket attacks, but they have continued and since then we not only have had a steady rain of attacks but also several outbreaks of all-out war initiated in every case by Hamas. The only ones ‘occupying ‘ Gaza these days are Hamas terrorists and a great many reporters.

We now have a ‘ceasefire’ brokered by Egypt which seems to be holding for now. I put ‘ceasefire’ in brackets because what these usually mean is that Israel ceases and Hamas fires! For Hamas the concept of a ‘ceasefire’ is a little different from what it means to us from the West. For them it is hudna, more akin to a withdrawal for the purpose of rearming and regrouping. There is no intention of negotiating a lasting peace. The best we can hope for is a few years, or months, weeks or days of relative calm. For this reason polls indicate that 3/4 of Israelis feel that we entered the ‘ceasefire’ too soon and should have continued to strike Hamas until it was fatally crippled. International pressure, especially from the USA, however meant that Israel could not go on without serious repercussions.

This derives from the failure of the Western mind to understand the mentality of the Arab mind. The USA is already talking about reconstructing Gaza, sending humanitarian aid and boosting its economy. This comes from the mistaken idea that the attacks on Israel are being driven by economic despair. This is not the case. It is being driven by the Islamic concept of Jihad, in which it is every Muslim’s ultimate duty to conquer the world for Allah, and rid the world of the infidels (the Jews, Christians and everyone who is not a Muslim). The western world does not understand that the extreme Islamic nations, such as Iran for example, do not want peace and co-existence. They want war to destroy the “Big Satan”, the USA and the western world. Their first step in doing this is to destroy Israel, which they call the “Little Satan”. Like it or not, this is essentially a holy war, the war against the God of Israel, YHWH, and the god of Islam, Allah. There can be no negotiation in the context of such a world view.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” .

Ephesians 6: 12

The Covenant upon which Hamas is founded states that,

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.” (Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant – a quote from the Muslim Hadith writings).

And,

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” ( from the Preamble of Hamas Covenant) (2).

For on the Hamas Covenant see the summary below.

As I write the Biden regime and many aid organizations are scrambling to amass aid for the ‘humanitarian’ needs of the Gaza people. A couple of days ago, Matthias Schmale, Gaza director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) admitted on i24 TV news that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza during the last round of fighting. When asked about the “humanitarian situation” in the Strip, Schmale said that though at least 1,000 residential units were destroyed, leaving “a couple of thousand people who don’t have a home they can go back to” he considers “the biggest damage [to be] psychological,” because “building and rebuilding buildings is easy, and easy to plan for.” He went on to say, “During the 11 days of war, we did not run out of food, water and supplies, [though] we would have if Kerem Shalom and the border would have stayed closed… So, from my point of view, there is no acute or serious shortage of medical supplies, food or water, as long as this now starts – continues – to come in.” When asked about his opinion on “claims by Israeli officials that the IDF bombardments were very precise.” Shockingly, Schmale replied: “I’m not a military expert, but I would not dispute that. I also have the impression that there is a huge sophistication in the way the Israeli military struck over the last 11 days. So, that’s not my issue. My issue is another one. I’ve had many colleagues describe to me that they feel that, in comparison to the 2014 war, this time the strikes felt much more vicious in terms of their impact. So, yes, they didn’t hit, with some exceptions, civilian targets, but the viciousness, the ferocity, of the strikes was heavily felt.”(3) Schmale was forced by Hamas to apologize for this statement the next day!!!

A few days before the ceasefire went in to effect, both Hamas and Israel called a 5 hour temporary ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid from Jordan to pass through Israel to Gaza. The ‘ceasefire’ came to an abrupt end when Hamas fired on the aid convoy at the border crossing wounding an Israeli soldier, a soldier who was helping to bring them food and medicines. That’s how badly they needed aid!!!

THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA?

Caught in the middle of all this are the people of Gaza who are being cynically used by Hamas as expendable human shields. Furthermore, instead of investing the millions of dollars already sent as aid to the Gaza Strip into building homes, hospitals, schools and much-needed infrastructure, the Hamas government has constructed hundreds of kilometers of tunnels and bunkers under the cities and towns of Gaza and purchased tens of thousands of rockets and other types of armaments. Iran has financed, trained and equipped the Hamas ‘army’. It is important to understand that Israel is not fighting the Palestinians of Gaza, but rather the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad which are both proxies of Iran.

Here is a video of Yahya Sinwar (translated into English) in which he says. “We have our own funds… We don’t need any reconstruction funding. I want to thank Iran which has not stopped assisting Hamas & other factions with money, arms, experience & support.” Here is clear proof that Hamas is a proxy of Iran. It receives, money, arms, training and most likely its orders from Iran.

Now how is this for a bit of hypocrisy? The overall leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who remained safely in Qatar during the latest round of hostilities, has a niece who has been hospitalized in an Israeli hospital for over a month following a bone marrow transplant. Not only that but his grand-daughter was treated in an Israeli hospital in 2013, and his mother-in-law and his daughter were both treated in Israel in 2014 (4). Even during the latest fighting Israel brought several Gazans into Israel for urgent medical treatment. What other country in the world treats its enemies in this way?

IRAN, HEZBOLLAH AND ITS OTHER PROXIES

Another proxy of Iran is Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and Syria, which poses an even greater threat to Israel. You might be wondering why Hezbollah did not attack Israel at this time. My feeling is that Iran is holding them back for the ‘right moment’. This latest round of fighting with Hamas was just a trial run to test the waters for a larger attack on Israel from the north. Iran supplied Hamas with some of its latest technology , such as attack drones and unmanned submarines (which tried to attack Israel’s offshore natural gas platform), possibly as a trial run to see if Israel could counter them. They were probably surprised to find that Israel was a jump ahead with its defensive technology. Israel shot down all the drones and destroyed all the submarines and Gaza’s naval bases. Israel also shot down a barrage of rockets fired towards the industrial complex in Haifa from Hezbollah-held territory in Lebanon and an explosives-laden drone flown from Syria which crossed into the Jezreel Valley.

ANARCHY BREAKS OUT ALL OVER ISRAEL

During the 11-day war with Hamas, a series of much more disturbing events took place, and are still taking place. Riots involving mobs of Arabs are attacking Jewish shops, homes, vehicles and synagogues all over Israel, especially in the mixed towns of Lod, Jaffa, and Haifa. ‘Lynch’ mobs have hauled innocent passersby from their cars and beat them to a pulp. At least two men have been killed, one Jewish and one Arab. I am very sad to say that in response, some Jewish right wing activists have retaliated and joined the mindless violence.

פרעות בערים המעורבות: בתי כנסת הוצתו בלוד, מג"ב בדרך אל העיר > מהומות ברמלה, לוד, רהט pic.twitter.com/WrpMWbdTSx
— ידיעות אחרונות (@YediotAhronot) May 11, 2021

Cars set on fire in Lod, May 12th, 2021

?A synagogue is burning in Lod

pic.twitter.com/Qk0smCbtow
— Gabriel Hébert-Røuillier (@Gab_H_R) May 11, 2021

A Synagogue in Lod is torched by Arab mob

Below is a video of a ‘lynching’ attack when two Jewish men, driving near the Old City, were attacked by a mob of stone throwing Arab youths. Trying to escape the driver drives back and forth and loses control of his car which mounted the pavement hitting one man, who runs off apparently unharmed. Eventually a police man arrives on the scene and fires into the air to disperse the rioters, and rescue the men from the car who were both injured.

CCTV footage shows the moment the Israeli driver was attacked by Palestinians throwing stones, as he rams his vehicle into them. pic.twitter.com/7S2aDSFrjH
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 10, 2021

Below is an excerpt from an article in The Jewish Press written on 13 May,

Anarchy has taken over the streets of integrated Israel, with Arab rioters targeting Jews and young Jewish thugs organizing to attack Arabs as well.

A police officer in Ramle was shot by rioting Arabs at a junction in the city of Ramle. A 19-year-old IDF soldier was also injured after having been attacked by rioting Arabs in Jaffa (Yafo), part of greater Tel Aviv.

Two Jewish men were wounded by gunfire by rioting Arabs in Lod, one in serious condition and the other less so. A third was injured by rocks hurled by Arabs. Three synagogues were burned to the ground.

In Akko, some 20 Jewish-owned bed & breakfasts were torched and burned to ashes.

In Haifa, violence returned Thursday as well. And by Thursday night, the violence had spread to the streets of coastal Ashkelon in the south.

Arab rioters from the nearby Bedouin villages managed to block the road, the only artery connecting Arad residents with Highway 6, Be’er Sheva and the rest of the country.

A woman living in Arad was the victim of a near-lynch earlier this week, with rioters pulling her out of her car at the Shoket Junction on Highway 31 and torching her vehicle.

“The truck traveling behind her was driven by an Arab, and he was the one who saved her,” a friend in Arad told JewishPress.com.

To make sure there were no further victims, police closed Highway 31 between Arad and Shoket Junction. On Thursday night some 30 Jewish activists demonstrated at the entrance to the city, waving Israeli flags. Due to rumors that young Arab hotheads were going to attempt to attack Jews in Arad, police forces were doubled and guarding the main entrance to the city; other entries were locked down” .

In the small northeastern city of Arad, where a significant number of the small businesses are owned by local Bedouin, residents said they have been in virtual “lockdown” for the past three days, unable to leave the city without the concern they might not make it more than a mile or two down the road on Highway 31 (6)

And this was just the run down for that one day.

Road 31, the main road to Arad was closed for several days because the local Bedouin had blocked it using rocks and burning tires and had collapsed all the tall lighting poles along the highway down across the road.

?A synagogue is burning in Lod

pic.twitter.com/Qk0smCbtow
— Gabriel Hébert-Røuillier (@Gab_H_R) May 11, 2021

Similar acts of vandalism and destruction have occurred all over Israel. Two days ago I saw a video of a young woman driving through the Wadi Ara road, one of the main northern routes to the Galilee from the center. She stopped at an intersection in Umm ql-Fahm where the traffic lights had earlier been destroyed by Arab mobs. A group of Arab youths smashed her car windows and pulled her out of the car, and then drove off in it. She was fortunate not to have been beaten up. All this was caught on CCTV but it appears to have been taken down off the web. At the same intersection an Arab woman was killed two days ago by a car accident caused by the lack of traffic lights.

What is happening now is hard to ascertain. The army has put a news blackout on the rioting in an attempt to calm things down.

The greatest tragedy of all this is not the loss of life nor the wanton destruction, as terrible as that is, but the undoing of years of co-existence and building up of trust. Can it ever be restored? Can Jewish Israelis ever live again in peace with the Arabs in our midst? The worst of the rioting has taken place in the mixed cities, long touted as examples proving that Jews and Arabs can live together in peace. Was that all an illusion? Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Arab. We live together, walk the same streets, eat at the same restaurants, use the same buses, are treated at the same hospitals, work together and play together (contrary to those who accuse Israel as being an apartheid state). But now, can I trust the Arab sitting beside me on the bus. Is he, or she, going to draw a knife or a gun and start killing? Can I trust the Arab plumber or gardener that comes to my home, or the doctor who treats me at the hospital? Yahya Sinwar boasted the other day that he has 10,000 ‘martyrs’ in Israel just waiting for the word to attack. This is a much more dangerous threat than the 10,000 or so rockets he claims to have.

THE FUTURE?

I have a sinking feeling that everything is coming to a head. This ‘ceasefire’ cannot last long. Iran is waiting for the right moment to unleash all its proxies and attack Israel. Biden is chasing butterflies, hoping to negotiate the un-negotiable with Iran, or to buy peace in Gaza with those who do not want peace. He is not in touch with reality. Israel cannot and will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear capability. There have been a whole series of mysterious fires and explosions in Iranian nuclear development facilities. They have fallen short of blaming Israel in so many words and Israel is not admitting to anything. Israel may have won this last round of fighting on the ground but Hamas is surely winning the war in cyberspace and the media. The UN is trying to charge Israel with ‘war crimes ‘ in the international court and few countries are voting against it. There is no mention of the war crimes perpetrated by Hamas! Antisemitism of a scale not seen since the Holocaust is raising its ugly head all over the world and Islam has infiltrated every Western country. The stage is set and the fuse is burning. When will it hit the powder keg? I don’t know but it could happen any minute or months or possibly at a stretch years from now, but it seems inevitable.

I do know however it will not happen until God so ordains. It is he who will gather all the nations of the world against Israel and lead them to judgement and their own destruction for what they have done against His people.

For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

“Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head.

Joel 3: 1-4

Yes, the LORD says this,

“If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!”

Psalm 81: 13-14

CORONAVIRUS IN ISRAEL

And now the good news! Israel seems to have beaten the Covid-19 virus. With over 5.5 million of our population of 9 million now fully vaccinated there are only around 383 active cases and less than 20 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. This is down from a peak of around 10,000 active cases on the 18 of January, just before the start of the vaccination program. As a result, from 2 June nearly all coronavirus restrictions are going to be dropped, except for the requirement to wear face masks in indoor public spaces. Movie theatres reopened last week and the first tourists entered for at least a year!! (6). Tourism is still limited to small groups of vaccinated individuals but all going well regulations will slowly be lifted over the coming months. That said, I wouldn’t book your tickets just yet.

If you wish to follow the unfolding of events here in Israel I can recommend the Twitter or WhatsApp group in the links below. The information is gleaned from the Hebrew press and the IDF website, summarized in English, and updated several times a day.

SHARE THE GROUP WITH A FRIEND —

— Read it on Telegram, send this link and have them click it — https://t.me/Israel_Defense_Upd_Eng

— Read it on WhatsApp, this link and click it — https://chat.whatsapp.com/KAM1lHfgtsy0C8vWwvC3vs

…..this is a private non-governmental effort using publicly available information. (Go away spies, we got nothin’ for you.)

THE MAIN POINTS OF THE HAMAS COVENANT

======================================= The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control. Its Covenant is a comprehensive manifesto comprised of 36 separate articles, all of which promote the basic HAMAS goal of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The following are excerpts of the HAMAS Covenant: Goals of the HAMAS: ——————

‘The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.’ (Article 6) On the Destruction of Israel: —————————– ‘Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.’ (Preamble) The Exclusive Moslem Nature of the Area: —————————————- ‘The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it.’ (Article 11) ‘Palestine is an Islamic land… Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be.’ (Article 13) The Call to Jihad: —————— ‘The day the enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In the face of the Jews’ usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.’ (Article 15) ‘Ranks will close, fighters joining other fighters, and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty, loudly proclaiming: ‘Hail to Jihad!’. This cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished and Allah’s victory comes about.’ (Article 33) Rejection of a Negotiated Peace Settlement: ——————————————- ‘[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement… Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam… There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.’ (Article 13) Condemnation of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty: ———————————————- ‘Egypt was, to a great extent, removed from the circle of struggle [against Zionism] through the treacherous Camp David Agreement. The Zionists are trying to draw other Arab countries into similar agreements in order to bring them outside the circle of struggle. …Leaving the circle of struggle against Zionism is high treason, and cursed be he who perpetrates such an act.’ (Article 32) Anti-Semitic Incitement: ———————— ‘The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’ (Article 7) ‘The enemies have been scheming for a long time … and have accumulated huge and influential material wealth. With their money, they took control of the world media… With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the globe… They stood behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution and most of the revolutions we hear about… With their money they formed secret organizations – such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs and the Lions – which are spreading around the world, in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests… They stood behind World War I … and formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains… There is no war going on anywhere without them having their finger in it.’ (Article 22) ‘Zionism scheming has no end, and after Palestine, they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates River. When they have finished digesting the area on which they have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion. Their scheme has been laid out in the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’.’ (Article 32) ‘The HAMAS regards itself the spearhead and the vanguard of the circle of struggle against World Zionism… Islamic groups all over the Arab world should also do the same, since they are best equipped for their future role in the fight against the warmongering Jews.’ (Article 32) . ===================================================================== Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry – Jerusalem Mail all Queries to ask@israel-info.gov.il URL: http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il gopher://israel-info.gov.il

REFERENCES

Delusions and Drones

August 31, 2019 / admin

Today is the last day of August and the last day of the school holidays for more than two million Israeli children. The almost traditional start-of-the-school-year teacher’s strike has been staved off this year at the last minute, and one can almost hear the sigh of relief uttered by parents across the land. I am not so sure about the teachers.

Terry Wise comic — https://www.israel21c.org/back-to-school-israeli-style/

THE ‘GAME’ OF DRONES

This summer has seen the rise of a new style of warfare in the Middle East – the war of the drones. I don’t mean the kiddies toy or the camera drones, but drones equipped for military purposes. Cheap and easy to build, drones can fly low, evade radar and heat sensors, are difficult to spot visually and are almost silent. These weapons are already being used not only by national military forces but also by terrorist organizations including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. Such weapons are capable of causing much damage and loss of life in a conflict situation. The Jerusalem Post put it this way, ” What started as a child’s toy has turned into a strategic weapon in the hands of militaries and non-state hostile actors across the skies of the messy Middle East.
From the crowded cities of Beirut and Gaza to the sandy deserts of Yemen and Iraq, weaponized drones have brought a whole new assortment of security threats to the forefront and have raised the stakes in the tensions between Israel and its enemies (1).

Israel too has drones of its own and for some time now has been using them to fight against the incendiary balloons flown into Israel from Gaza and to drop tear gas canisters on rioters at the border.

IDF soldier with drone that intercepted incendiary balloon from Gaza (Photo: Reuters) — **IDF soldier with drone that intercepted incendiary balloon from Gaza** (Photo: Reuters)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5318598,00.html

Israeli companies have also been working on countermeasures to detect and shoot down drones. One recently unveiled by the company Smart Shooter is the SMASH2000 which attaches to military rifles and enables anyone to be able to track and very precisely shoot down a fast moving target on land or in the air, such as a drone (1). However a spokesman for the company, Dr Abraham Mazor, pointed out that “The threat of drones is a multilayer threat…There is not only one kind of drone that we have to defeat; there are many kinds, in terms of height, weight, velocity; and therefore there is no one solution for the threat posed by them” (1).

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are busy building up their drone arsenal and have already sent attack drones into Israeli territory. In May last year at least three drone attacks were made on Israeli towns in the south. None caused damage or injury but explosions were heard and fragments found. It is thought that this was probably a practice run for a larger planned attack in the future. It is feared the drones could attack Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, military bases or civilian towns. They can carry explosives and gas canisters. A drone dropping a chlorine gas canister could bring about multiple fatalities in a built-up area for example.

On Thursday (22/08) an Iranian UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), or drone attack from Syria was repulsed by Israeli forces. According to the IDF spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Iran’s Qud’s Force, part of the Revolutionary Guards had been preparing the attack for several months and had sent four Iranian drone operators to Syria to control the UAVs during an attack on northern Israel. Each drone was to carry several kilograms of explosives and crash into Israeli targets, serving as unmanned suicide bombers, or “kamikaze drones”. Fortunately for us, Israeli intelligence had discovered the plot and has been keeping track of the operation. Conricus did not explain how Israel had foiled the attack (2).

The following Saturday (24/08) Israeli aircraft attacked an Iranian military targets in the village of Aqraba, southeast of Damascus, where the drone operation was centered, killing at least 5 people including Hezbollah terrorists and at least one Iranian official (2).

The next day two drones crashed in Beirut, Lebanon. One exploded and damaged the Hezbollah Media Center and killed two Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah claim these drones were launched from Israeli gunboats, but the IDF has not commented. Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is nevertheless threatening to carry out a revenge attack, intending to kill at least 2-3 Israelis, within 72 hours, according to the Kuwaiti Al Rai newspaper and reported by the Israeli News Channel Arutz 7 this morning (3,4).

Broken windows are seen on the 11-floor building that houses the media office of Hezbollah in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, August 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/troops-in-north-gird-for-possible-reprisal-attack-after-hezbollah-threat/

The IDF believes that Hezbollah does not want to start a war with Israel at this time and will limit its attack to military targets. As a result Israeli forces in the north have been on high alert all week and all leave for soldiers in the region cancelled. The movement of military vehicles within a 5 km distance from the border has been limited and there are unconfirmed reports that IDF vehicles containing mannequins dressed in army uniform have been placed along the border presumably to confuse Hezbollah operatives (5). Civilians have been instructed to go about their daily activities as normal.

Although neither side wants a war only time will tell if this situation will escalate or not. Netanyahu has threatened dire consequences if even one Israeli soldier is as much as scratched.

DELUSIONS

Against this background of growing tensions between Israel and its enemies, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran, President Trump has announced his intention of unveiling his ‘peace plan’ for Israel and the Palestinians, either before or after (he has said both on different occasions) the Israeli elections on September 17. This announcement came the same week Trump identified himself as both the “King of Israel” and “the Chosen One” (6). Trump is suffering from delusions of grandeur and sees himself as the savior of the world. I am very concerned that many Christian and Messianic believers (and others) here in Israel are enamored of Trump because of his pro-Israel stance, including the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Whilst I am grateful for Trump’s support for Israel, I am concerned about his Messianic delusions and his perception of himself as the savior of the world. I don’t usually comment on political matters but at the risk of becoming very unpopular I feel the need to speak out. I feel we need to exercise great caution in whom we support. Jesus warned us of a period of deception in the end times.

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

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

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.

Matthew 24: 3-5

I don’t think many Israelis or Palestinians believe that peace is possible at this time. Just this week PA Prime Minister, speaking at the Jalazone Refugee Camp, threatened ‘we will enter Jerusalem as fighters by the millions‘ and that all the Israeli settlements and houses ‘will disappear, by the will of Allah’ (see video). This is our ‘partner for peace’?

Interestingly Abbas claims that the Palestinians are the descendants of the Canaanites, and therefore the land belongs to them. He should be aware of God’s judgment on the Canaanites. God called Abram to the land of the Canaanites and told him that He would give him this land. However when Abram arrived the iniquity of the Canaanites was not complete and the Israelites were sent into Egypt for 400 years until the time was ripe for the destruction of the Canaanite peoples (also referred to in the Bible as Amorites).

God said to Abraham, “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God”.

Genesis 17:8

Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it… Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15: 7, 13-16.

God allowed the Canaanites ( sometimes called the Amorites in Scripture) to remain ‘until their iniquity was complete’. By identifying themselves as Canaanites (even though this claim has no historical basis in reality) the Palestinians may be sealing their own fate. How long will God allow the Palestinians to remain in the Land? Is their iniquity yet complete? Not yet, but it is getting close!!

APARTHEID STATE?

Having said that, many Palestinian Arabs are quite happy to live in Israel and cannot be counted as enemies. Living in the Jerusalem area I brush shoulders, quite literally, every day with my Arab neighbors. People who accuse Israel of being an apartheid state have no idea what they are talking about. In Israel Arabs, Jews and others shop in the same shops, swim in the same pools, use the same hospitals and buses and visit the same public toilets – a far cry from the Apartheid of South Africa. Everyday relationships between Arabs and Jews are usually friendly and helpful. Yesterday, for example, I had occasion to go to the after-hours medical clinic where I was received very warmly by the Arab receptionist and treated by an Arab doctor and nurse. Afterwards I traveled to the neighboring Arab town to fill my prescription. I was grateful to have Arab neighbors since Shabbat was about to start and all the Jewish pharmacies were already closed. For the same reasons thousands of secular Jews flock to eat in the excellent restaurants in this same Arab town on Shabbat. When I go shopping in my local supermarket I often see Jewish customers chatting warmly to the Muslim Arab lady who cuts the cheeses in the deli section. Yesterday I visited a Jewish friend in hospital. An Arab nurse directed me to her room. Another Arab nurse brought her her medicine. The other patient in her room was an elderly Arab woman. Her visitors greeted me and introduced themselves in a very friendly manner. It was an Arab family who helped me find my way to the exit afterwards. It just shows that at a grass-roots level peace is possible. It is really only a minority who want terrorism and war, but sadly they are the ones we hear about most. Here is an interesting video made by an Israeli-Arab Muslim woman :

References:

DOG DAYS

August 21, 2019 / admin

Israel is sweltering under the hottest part of our long, dry summer. With temperatures reaching above 30 degrees every day, it is too hot to do much outdoors and I am finding myself going a bit stir-crazy. I remember a rather corny TV weatherman in the 1980s who, around this time of the year, used to start a countdown until he had some weather to report. For 6-8 months a year, it is always hot and sunny in Israel and not a drop of rain will fall. Reporting the weather must be one of the most boring jobs in the Land, so it is no wonder that of late they have resorted to on reporting the height of the waves in the sea and the jellyfish count.

I am not attracted to the beach in summer. Dodging stinging jellyfish floating in a soup of 30 degree water, surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of screaming people, does not tempt me at all. I much prefer a lovely cool swim followed by a laze on a grassy lawn under a shady umbrella at my local pool. I’ve been doing that a lot lately!

Image result for pics tel aviv beach — A Tel Aviv Beach in summer
https://igoogledisrael.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/justbeachy2small.jpg

The weather is not the only thing getting hot around here. Once more we are seeing an escalation of tension both within Israel and on the southern border.

Gaza

After a hiatus of almost a month residents of our southern communities were again having to run to their bomb shelters this last Friday night (17/08) as ‘code red’ sirens blared. A rocket was shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome system and no injuries or damage were reported. Israel responded by attacking two underground military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Last night (18/08) many southern communities went on high alert as more rocket fire was expected, and the cities of Beersheva, Ashdod, Ofakim, Gan Yavne and Yavne opened their municipal bomb shelters. During the night the sirens sounded again as at least three rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israeli towns in the south. Two of the rockets were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome system and some of the shrapnel fell in the yard of a home in Sderot causing damage. One woman was treated in hospital for shock and several others sustained minor injuries as they ran for shelter (1).

Recently there have also been several infiltration attempts across the Gaza border. On the night of Friday the 9th, four heavily armed Gazan Palestinians crossed the border fence into Israel with the intent of killing many Israeli civilians. They were spotted and engaged by the IDF. One of the Gazans threw a grenade at the IDF soldiers who returned fire killing all four infiltrators.

This photo released by the IDF shows a collection on weapons, including rifles, RPG launchers, grenades, bolt cutters, and knives carried by four Gazans who tried to cross the border into Israel, August 10, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)

Last night also another group of Gazan terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel but they were discovered and an attack helicopter and tank fired at them killing all. It is unclear how many they were, reports vary between 3-5. Palestinian media also reported that the men were members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military wing, Saraya al-Quds, but this has not been confirmed (2).

TERROR

In recent days there has also been an upsurge in terror attacks in and around Jerusalem. Shin Bet, one of Israel’s security services, claims that “the (Hamas) operatives in the West Bank were instructed to form cells in order to carry out kidnappings, shootings and stabbings, purchase weaponry, and find and recruit additional operatives for terrorist activities” (3). Earlier this month Shin Bet captured one such cell which had prepared 3kg of explosives for a planned attack in Jerusalem. These explosive devices had been stored in a school next to the bomb maker’s house! The Shin Bet also claims to have thwarted several other similar cells in recent months.

Sadly the Shin Bet, as effective as it is, cannot stop all terror attacks, especially the so-called ‘lone wolf’ attacks. On Friday (16/08) two teenagers standing at a bus stop were intentionally rammed by a passing vehicle, injuring one seriously and the other moderately. The vehicle overturned and as the driver emerged an off-duty police officer on the scene killed him. The officer also managed to capture the attack on his dashboard webcam. You can see the video on https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-seriously-injured-in-suspected-car-ramming-attack-next-to-elazar-settlement/ .

Earlier on the same day two teenage Palestinian boys attacked with knives soldiers guarding the Old City of Jerusalem. In the attack a 40-year-old policeman sustained multiple stab wounds to his upper body and a bystander was lightly injured. One of the attacking boys was shot dead and the other shot and seriously wounded. He was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment. This attack was also captured on video, which you can see in the video on this site: https://www.timesofisrael.com/cop-injured-in-stabbing-attack-in-jerusalems-old-city-2-assailants-shot/ .

The tragedy of this attack is that the terrorists were just boys aged 14 years old. One must ask what kind of society so fills their children with hatred and violence that they would carry out such an act? A society that brainwashes them with lies and hatred for Jews from the cradle, one in which toddlers hero-worship terrorists, and who long to become shahids (martyrs) for the Palestinian cause.

Ex-Muslim, Jasmine Mohammed, founder of Free Hearts Free Minds organization, which provides psychological support for ex-Muslims, and author of “Confessions of an Ex-Muslim“, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post explained:

” that the general experience for Muslims is that of “pervasive hate for Jewish people – and this is learned from a young age. In Muslim communities, the word for Jew is not only used as a pejorative, it is used as a curse word. It is a hate that permeates so much so that it is invisible: It is just accepted.

“Never once, as a Muslim, did I stop to think about why we were to hate Jewish people so much. It’s like asking a child why they hate monsters. It is just a learned behavior that rarely gets questioned, and the hate of Israel is an extension of that. The hope to annihilate all Jewish people is based on the religion that teaches there will only be peace on earth once all Jews are killed by righteous Muslims (4).

On the 8th of August, just days before his 19th birthday, yeshiva student Dvir (Yehuda) Sorek was brutally stabbed to death just meters away from the entrance to Migdal Oz in the Gush Etzion settlement block, where his yeshiva was located. Dvir was enrolled in a program which combines military service with religious studies and was on his way home having gone into Jerusalem to buy a gift for his teachers. He was not wearing uniform and was unarmed.

Ironically Dvir was part of a group of young Palestinians and Jews who for two years have been meeting together in order to build understanding and a better future for both communities. The gift he had bought for his teachers was a book by David Grossman who champions the cause of the two-state solution”. He died clutching this book. Some of Dvir’s Palestinian friends wrote this about his murder, “

“Harsh reality hits us again. A few days ago, our yeshiva friend from Migdal Oz was abducted and killed, When I got the news that morning, I was shocked. I told my Palestinian friends what happened and they didn’t believe me.

Dvir Sorek, 19, who was stabbed to death in the West Bank….Dvir Sorek was one of the participants in this discussion group. In no way we can imagine that someone we met yesterday will be the victim of tomorrow.

We send our condolences to his family and our friends in the yeshiva.

And for us as a group, we condemn this kind of vicious violence that target us all for our residence place, religion, identity, citizenship. It is so sad we reached the point where we are talking about the right to not be killed.

We will stay in this way until we achieve the goal of freedom and the right to life. We are building a bridge between peoples on this land and we will continue to work on it (5).

In spite of all, there are those, albeit a minority, who are trying to make a better future.

The Shin Bet security forces have arrested two suspects for the murder, Nasir Asafra, 24, and Qassem Asafra, 30, cousins from the village of Beit Kahil in the southern West Bank (5).

Sister of Dvir Sorek: âI donât think his killers deserve to liveâ — Dvir Sorek
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/terrorism-news/soldier-found-stabbed-to-death-in-gush-etzion/2019/08/08/

Hamas has denied direct involvement in this spate of ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks claiming they were carried out by ‘rebellious youth’. In statements to the Palestinian news agency Safa, officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad said “The rebellion of the youth is a harbinger of an explosion,…We won’t tolerate the crimes of the occupation against our nation any longer” (10). Hours earlier an unnamed senior Hamas official made similar remarks to the London-based Palestinian newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed, justified the attacks saying, “Palestinians are disappointed by the difficult conditions caused by the Israeli occupation… Dozens of promises to improve conditions have not been kept. This frustration has become the legacy of 2 million Palestinians” (10). Of course Hamas and Islamic Jihad will blame Israel instead of accepting that they have brainwashed a generation of Gazan youth into a brutal culture of mindless hatred and murderous intent while they have diverted billions of aid dollars into acquiring munitions, building tunnels and other military infrastructure rather than using it to give the Gazan people a better quality of life.

Both Israel and Hamas however are concerned that the current wave of terror attacks, and the cross-border infiltrations will catapult us into a full-scale war. Hamas has warned of an ‘impending explosion’, and there is growing discontent in Israel with our lack of decisive action.

North

Hamas in the south has carried out thousands of arson attacks in Israel over the last two years and last Friday Hezbollah in the north began to emulate these attacks. Hezbollah lit fires along the Lebanese border, which fanned by strong winds, quickly spread into Israeli territory threatening the town of Margaliot and an IDF post. Vehicles belonging to the UN ‘Peace Forces’ in Lebanon reportedly passed through the area at the time but did nothing to stop the arsonists or put out the fires (6).

Iran

The greatest threat to Israel remains Iran. Last week Israeli naval forces participated in a joint training exercise with US forces in which they “exercised regaining control of a hijacked ship and extracting forces from enemy territory” (7). Although the IDF claims this was just a routine training exercise it comes “amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran in the Persian Gulf and efforts by the Trump administration to set up a naval security mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”. Six oil tankers have been seized or attacked by Iran in the Persian Gulf in recent weeks. The US is trying to set up a coalition force to protect shipping in the Gulf.

Earlier this month (05/08) Iran threatened European powers that it would further reduce compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal in about a month’s time if they were still failing to protect it from crippling U.S. sanctions, reimposed after Washington exited the deal (8). Iran threatened “to block all energy exports out of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil traffic passes, if it is unable to sell oil as promised by the 2015 deal in exchange for curbing its uranium enrichment programme” (8). It has already violated the deal by enriching uranium and stockpiling heavy water beyond the levels allowed. It denies that it is seeking to build a nuclear bomb but there is no other legitimate use for uranium enriched to these levels.

Iran also appears to be preparing a third attempt to launch its Nahid-1 telecommunications satellite into space (9).

Elections

In the midst of all these threats to our existence, Israelis will go to the polls on September 17 in a second attempt to elect a government. This will perhaps be the most important election the nation of Israel ever held. Given the childish taunts and accusations being bandied about by every candidate, and the corruption and dishonesty that infiltrates the entire political world, it is hard to know how to vote. It is also hard to know how to pray. However I would recommend the prayer of Derek Prince outlined in his book, “Secrets of a Prayer Warrior“,

“Lord give us leaders such that it will be to Your glory to give us victory through them.”

Furthermore, it is written,

“THE EFFECTIVE FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILS MUCH”

James 5:16

References:

PEACE PLAN?

July 9, 2019 / admin

One thing you can never complain about when living in Israel is boredom. There is never a dull moment around here. So much has happened over the last couple of weeks I don’t know where to start. Perhaps a good place to begin is with the Word of God, for it puts things into a proper perspective. This is what I read this morning:

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

Psalm 33 (my emphasis)

So here goes….

IRAN

It never ceases to amaze me how, just when I think matters are so tense they are about to explode into violence, events increase the tension even more. How tense can things get? When will we get to the breaking point?

In my last blog I wrote about the attacks on the oil tankers in the Gulf. Since then, tension between Iran and the USA has ratcheted up another notch or two. On June 19 Iran shot down an unmanned military drone belonging to the USA using a surface-to-air missile system. This RQ-4A Global Hawk is not the sort of drone you might see your neighbor’s kids playing with. It has a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737, is valued at around $US 110 million, and at the time of the attack was patrolling the Straits of Hormuz at an altitude of 22,000 ft. Iran claims this drone had violated Iranian air space but the USA denies this, saying it was shot down over international waters in the Straits of Hormuz (1). We will probably never know the truth, but this was no doubt a very dangerous incident and could have triggered all-out war. Indeed the following day a USA attack on Iranian military positions was only 10 minutes from being carried out, planes were in the air and ships in position, when the US President Trump suddenly called it off (2). Why he did so I am not sure, but news sources say Trump suggested that the shooting down of the drone was carried out by a ‘loose and stupid‘ Iranian officer without authorization from Teheran (3). That seems unlikely to me but rather a face-saving way of avoiding the consequences of attacking Iran. In any case, war was avoided on this occasion, but tensions continue to mount. This Monday, Mojtaba Zolnour, chairman of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, in comments carried by the Mehr news agency, stated that “If the US attacks us, only half an hour will remain of Israel’s lifespan” (4).

On Monday this week Iran announced that it had passed the 300kg limit of low-enriched (3.67%) uranium set by the 2014 Nuclear Pact and the following day, Tuesday, it further stated that it would now enrich uranium to a 7% level, beyond that needed for electricity generation or any other legitimate use, but still below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Yesterday, President Rouhani of Iran said in a cabinet meeting ” On July 7, our enrichment level will no longer be 3.67 percent. We will put aside this commitment. We will increase (the enrichment level) beyond 3.67 percent to as much as we want, as much as is necessary, as much as we need”(5). Trump responded in a tweet saying ” Be careful with the threats, Iran. They can come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten before! “. This ongoing war of words reminds me of a kindergarten argument but these ‘tots’ are armed with rather more than some plastic blocks!

SYRIA

Meanwhile in Syria the situation is also tense. Last Sunday ( 30/06) it was reported that all four of the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile batteries were already operational near the town of Masyaf in northern Syria.

Just hours afterwards, the Syrian London-based Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli jets and naval gunships attacked at least ten Syrian government targets, among them a research facility and Hezbollah bases, near the Syrian- Lebanon border, and that fires broke out as a result of the attack (6). They also claimed that 15 people had been killed including 9 foreign and pro-government militia personnel and 6 civilians including a baby. There were no Israeli casualties. An errant Russian-made missile fired by the Syrian air-defense system hit north of Nicosia in Cyprus (6). There were no casualties as the missile landed in an open area on a mountainside.

Israel, as is its long-standing policy, has not admitted to carrying out the attacks, but it has repeatedly made clear that it will not tolerate the buildup of Iranian-funded and equipped Hezbollah bases in Syria, and it has carried out many similar attacks in the past. The map below shows Iranian bases in Syria as of April 2018 (the yellow dots).

*Iranian military presence in Syria (source: skynewsarabiya.com, April 30, 2018)* https://www.memri.org/reports/reports-arab-media-iranian-bases-syria

BEN GURION AIRPORT

For about a month now aircraft operating in Israeli airspace have been experiencing disruptions in their GPS systems. According to the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), these disruptions do not endanger flights as pilots have alternative navigation systems they can use. Israeli authorities have been trying to find the source of these disruptions and fix them, but without success. At least some IAA officials are blaming Russia, saying it is a result of electronic warfare intended to protect Russian planes operating out of their base at Khmeimim Air Base in northern Syria (7). Russia is denying this, of course.

On Monday (1/07) Ben Gurion Airport had another incident to deal with. I turned on my TV mid-afternoon just in time to watch a Boeing 737, with 152 people on board, make an emergency landing. I didn’t breathe for a few minutes as I prayed fervently for their safety. Thank God the pilots managed to bring the plane down safely and all the people were disembarked without incident. The Bulgarian-owned plane had taken off from Cologne airport in Germany and afterwards rubber debris had been found on the runway. The Israeli Airports Authority was notified and the Air Force scrambled some fighter jets to check out the plane. They saw that the left rear tire had been shredded. This information would have helped the pilots know how to land the plane on the remaining 3 wheels. I am happy to say that the 100 or so ambulances and fire trucks that had been assembled at the runway were able to go back to their bases unused. The plane has since been discovered also to have problems with its radar system and has been grounded until repaired.

A Bulgarian charter plane makes an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport
https://www.timesofisrael.com/plane-that-made-emergency-landing-at-ben-gurion-reportedly-grounded-by-new-issue/

GAZA

The situation with Gaza is still up and down. Last week approximately 100 fires were started in Israeli territory by incendiary devices attached to balloons flown over from the Gaza Strip. On Thursday (27/6) alone some 30 fires were ignited, a record number in one day, since the ‘balloon war’ began over a year ago. The following day Israel and Hamas made yet another ceasefire agreement and this past week saw a drop in the number of incendiary attacks. On Friday (5/07) some 7000 Gazan rioters burned tires, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers and two were caught crossing the border fence with a knife. Some 40 Gazans were reportedly injured in the Israeli response (8)

This seemingly endless tit-for-tat round of rioting, incendiary attacks, punishments and concessions is wearing thin, especially for the residents of towns and kibbutzim near the Gaza perimeter. Knesset Member Alon Shuster had this to say after a fire was ignited within his kibbutz, Kibbutz Meflasim, ” The fire has reached inside Kibbutz Mefalsim,… “Soldiers, security officials, firefighters and kibbutz members are working to put it out. But we get the impression that Netanyahu doesn’t care at all.” He added that “The resilience of the residents of the south will weather any challenge, but the neglect by the Israeli government has reached the point of criminal negligence, and it’s time that someone said so” (9).

I don’t think the current government is negligent or uncaring. However with elections looming in September it is unlikely they are going to take any drastic steps before then. What is more, the alternative is frightening – an all-out war with Hamas probably necessitating a ground incursion which would lead to massive casualties on both sides including civilian losses. No one is keen on such a scenario.

Yesterday (8/07) yet another terror tunnel stretching from Gaza into Israeli territory was uncovered, the 18th tunnel discovered since the end of the 2014 Gaza War, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. Together with the 37 tunnels destroyed during that war, this brings to 55 all the tunnels discovered so far. Imagine how many homes, hospitals and schools that could have been built with all that concrete! This latest tunnel was discovered during the construction of the 65 km underground barrier and sensor system being built around the Gaza Strip designed to prevent such tunnels from being built. This project, begun in 2016 and due to be completed by the end of this year, is costing Israeli taxpayers some 3 billion Israeli shekels ( = 1 billion US dollars) ( 10).

A picture taken in January 2018 of a destroyed Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel, leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim. (Jack Guez/AFP/POOL)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-uncovers-cross-border-attack-tunnel-from-southern-gaza/

TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN

This past week also saw the unveiling of the first phase of Trump’s Peace Plan for the Middle East, the economic workshop held in Bahrain. It would seem that the Plan is based on the idea that economic prosperity for the Palestinians would bring about peace. If so, it is doomed to failure. The root of the unrest in the Middle East is ideological and religious, not economic. This was highlighted by the refusal of the Palestinians to participate in the workshop, which they see as a US-Zionist conspiracy to end the political rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people (11).

The Plan heralded by the US as ‘the opportunity of the century’ was seen by the Palestinian leadership as an attempt to buy them off, and they called for other Arab states to boycott the workshop. Only two brave Palestinian businessmen attended and at least one of those was arrested (and later released) on his return home. Here in Israel, we have a saying ” The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” – referring to the many occasions in which they could have attained a state of their own, and economic prosperity, but refused to compromise on their ideological and political demands. Massive amounts of money have been poured into Gaza and the West Bank. They should be the richest people on earth, but much of this money has been sunk into developing military weapons and infrastructure with which to attack Israel, or was diverted into the deep pockets of their leadership.

Some of you may know of Mosab Yousef, the son of Sheik Hassan Yousef, one of the co-founders of Hamas. Mosab defected from Hamas and became an informer for the Israeli Shin Bet for ten years preventing scores of terror attacks and assassinations, and later became a Christian believer. He is now living in the USA and he wrote the book, “Son of Hamas“, which I would highly recommend. This past week his younger brother, Suheib Yousef, also defected from Hamas and fled to an unknown location in Asia. Suheib had a senior position in Hamas and worked in Turkey gathering information which he said was “sold to Iran in return for financial assistance“. In an interview, broadcast on Israel’s Channel 12 news, Shueib said he had decided to leave Hamas because of its corruption. He also said that the Turkish branch of Hamas actively recruits people, including children, to carry out terror attacks in Israel. He added, “The goal of the attacks in the West Bank is to kill civilians, not for resistance, or Jerusalem, or liberating Palestinian land and not even because they hate Jews. They send these innocent people because they want to export the crisis [from Gaza] to the West Bank.” He called Hamas a racist terrorist organization that is dangerous for the Palestinian people. He also expressed revulsion for the corruption of the Hamas leadership. He said, “Hamas senior officials live in fancy hotels and luxury buildings, their kids are in private schools. They’re paid generously by Hamas, earning between $4,000 to $5,000 a month. They have security guards, swimming pools and country clubs. They eat in high-end restaurants, paying $200 for one course, while a family in Gaza lives on $100 a month.” He went on to criticize their double standards regarding the weekly “March of Return” protests at the Gaza border fence saying, “I want them to send their own children to carry out attacks” and ” Why doesn’t Ismail Haniyeh go to the fence to throw stones?” (12).

ETHIOPIANS PROTEST

On the evening of Wednesday last week at least 50,000 commuters were stuck for 5-7 hours in traffic jams caused by protesters blocking main arterial roads all over the country. These protests were a spontaneous uprising of the Ethiopian Jewish community expressing their anger at the racist targetting of their community by the police and discrimination against them in general. Many non-Ethiopians joined the protests and even many of the stranded travelers. The protests turned violent in places and 111 police, firemen and passersby were treated for injuries and 136 protesters arrested. At least one car was torched and many others damaged.

These protests were triggered by the shooting dead of a 19-year-old Ethiopian man, Solomon Tekah, by an off-duty policeman in the northern town of Kiryat Haim. The policeman saw three teenagers beating up a young boy and he tried to break up the fight. The attackers then turned on the policeman throwing stones at him. Fearing for his, and his wife and children’s safety, he claims he fired a shot at the ground to warn them off and the bullet ricocheted up and killed Tekah.

Since Wednesday there have been some protests and demonstrations but they have on the whole been nonviolent and have not disrupted traffic, largely because the family of the killed man asked protesters to refrain from violence, and respect the 7-day period of mourning for their son. Police also warned protesters they would take stronger measures if demonstrations became violent or disrupted traffic. While most Israelis have sympathy for the Ethiopians who are discriminated against in many ways and have suffered from unacceptable police violence against them, I fear that demonstrations of this kind will turn people against them even more. Furthermore, there is a large number of disaffected youth and anarchists who are only too happy to jump on whatever bandwagon they can find to cause trouble.

That said, this incident is being seen by the Ethiopian community as just the last of a long line of incidents of racism and brutality, carried out especially by the police, against the Ethiopian community in recent years. Some such incidents have been caught on video and widely circulated. Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, condemned the intolerable violence by some of the demonstrators, but also said that the protests were “an explosion of pain and rage by teens and many young people who truly feel that they have no future here, and that they are judged by the color of their skin.” He also said “I listened this week for hours to young people from the community and heads of organizations. Their words broke my heart. Talented young men and women, eloquent and erudite, told me of many expressions of racism and humiliation they’ve faced in every step of their lives: In school, in the army, in the job market and yes, to my great sorrow, in police treatment of them as well” (13).

Racism is rife in Israeli society, something that shocked me deeply when I first arrived, given the history of the Jews. On one hand it is not surprising in a society made up of immigrants from all over the world. We all come bringing our own prejudices and attitudes towards the other. I can remember moving into a Yemenite neighborhood, the first ‘Anglo-Saxon’ (as English speakers are known here) to live there. It was not long before a ‘spy’ was sent in, ostensibly to borrow a green pepper. When I saw her inspecting my kitchen closely I asked her what she was doing, she said: ” We thought your house would be much dirtier“. She then told me they believed that ‘Anglo’ homes were filthy. There may be some truth to this claim in their eyes since Yemenite women typically keep their homes spotless and often wash the floors several times a day. I certainly do not do that! We had a good laugh and ended up friends, but it reinforced to me how we all have our prejudices.

The Ethiopians who immigrated to Israel in the 80’s and 90’s have been the target of much discrimination, not the least because they are easily identifiable by the color of their skin. They came mainly from primitive villages in the countryside and were largely uneducated and illiterate. They also tended to be quiet-spoken, unassuming and somewhat passive, contrary to the outgoing, noisy and often aggressive Israelis. This put them at a severe disadvantage economically and socially. Although many young Ethiopians have succeeded admirably becoming doctors, lawyers, reaching high posts in the army and in politics, others are still struggling to integrate. Unemployment in the Ethiopian community is around 13%, three times the national average and on average Ethiopians earn about 1/3 less than the national average (14). Israel must work harder to eradicate these inequalities, and remove the prejudices if we are not to explode from within. We have had a succession of governments that have failed to deal with the many serious social issues within Israeli society. I hope and pray that the September elections will bring in a government that will take these matters seriously.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

There have been three significant events in the world of archaeology in Israel this past week or so. First, archaeologists broke through the final wall opening up the now-subterranean ‘pilgrimage road’ which Jews in ancient times used to walk from the Pools of Siloam to the Temple Mount (15).

US Ambassador to David Friedman (L) speaks during the opening of an ancient road at the City of David archaeological and tourist site in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem on June 30, 2019. (Tsafrir Abayov/AFP)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoys-hammer-through-ancient-east-jerusalem-path-dug-under-palestinian-homes/

Secondly, the DNA analysis of bones from the ancient Philistine city of Ashkelon confirms the belief that the Philistines were of European origin (16).

Philistine remains in Ashkelon
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265474

Finally, today it was announced that archaeologists have found and identified the ancient Philistine city of Ziklag (17). Ziklag was one of the cities granted to the tribe of Simeon within the territory of Judah (Joshua 15:31, Joshua 19:5). When David fled from King Saul he took refuge with the Philistine King Achish in the city of Gat. King Achish then granted the city of Ziklag to David and David dwelled there one year and four months.

So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

I Samuel 27: 6-7

From Ziklag David raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, and consequently the Amalekites attacked Ziklag and burned it, taking captive all the inhabitants including David’s two wives (I Samuel 30:1) After consulting the LORD, David pursued the Amalekites and succeeded in freeing all the captured people and they returned to Ziklag. David was in Ziklag when he heard the news that King Saul was dead (II Samuel 4: 10). In the book of Nehemiah Ziklag is listed as one of the cities in which dwelt some of the people of Judah who had returned from the Babylonian exile (Nehemiah 11:28).

Pottery assemblage from Khirbet a-Ra’i, which archaeologists have identified as biblical Ziklag. (Excavation expedition to Khirbet a-Ra‘i)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-say-they-found-town-where-future-king-david-took-refuge-from-saul/

SOME SHORT NEWS ITEMS

Traffic Woes.

From 12 July the old Highway 1 entrance to Jerusalem will be blocked for at least 3 years. Traffic will be diverted to other routes into the city. In the long term a new entrance via a tunnel from Motza connecting with Begin Boulevard is hoped to ease the current bottleneck but until construction is complete we are going to experience even more disruption to traffic flow than we are already subject to (18).

Rebuilding Mevo Modiin

A fire on 24 May this year destroyed 40 of the 50 homes in the settlement of Mevo Modiin, also known as the Carlebach Moshav. It was founded by Shlomo Carlebach, popularly known as the ‘singing Rabbi’ and was a haven for Orthodox religious musicians, artists and ‘free spirits’. The fire now believed to have been caused by nationalistic (Palestinian) arson also burned homes in the neighboring Kibbutz Harel, and around 2000 acres of national parkland and public land. The affected people, 60 families, have vowed to rebuild and both the Jewish Agency for Israel and Jewish Federations of North America are offering immediate emergency assistance to the families. In addition the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said it will provide up to $5,000 in assistance per family (19).

A woman surveys what remains of her home in Mevo Modiin.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/digging-through-the-charred-wreckage-of-the-carlebach-moshav/

‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
And no one shall make him afraid.

Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
Those who plunder you shall become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will make a prey.
For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord.

Jeremiah 30: 10, 16-17

References:

HOT SUMMER

June 19, 2019 / admin

Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders have been warning that we are going to have a long, hot summer in these parts. They are not talking about the weather but rather about the rising tensions between Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and Hezbollah and Iran in Syria and Lebanon, not to mention the escalating tension in the Persian Gulf.

This reminded me of the Bible passage about David and Bathsheba. It begins thus “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war …” (2 Samuel 11:1). What is it about the spring that caused kings to go off to war? Is it because that is when the weather is most propitious for battle or is it because the hormones are awakened in spring? I don’t know but in the animal kingdom spring is the season when males fight to prove themselves worthy to mate with the females. Perhaps there is something of that in the human species too? Then again, perhaps it is just the growing heat that makes us all a little crazy.

Gaza

The last major flareup of violence between Gaza and Israel, in early May, which resulted in the deaths of 4 Israelis and 29 Gazans, stopped on May 5th when a ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, was agreed. The ceasefire agreement included an obligation on Hamas to halt violence along the border fence, maintain a buffer zone 300 meters from the border and to stop the launching of incendiary balloons at Israeli communities, to end nighttime clashes between Gazans and Israeli security forces along the border, and to end the flotillas trying to break through the maritime border between Gaza and Israel. In return, Israel was to expand the fishing zone, enable the UN cash-for-work programs, allow medicine and other civil aid to enter the strip and open negotiations relating to electricity, crossings and healthcare (1).

After a few short weeks of relative calm, the past two weeks have seen tensions rising once more as both sides claim the other is not keeping their side of the agreement.

The Gazans have begun to target Israeli crops and nature reserves with incendiary devices once again. The conditions are right for fires now that the daytime temperature is rising over 30 degrees Celsius most days and the vegetation is tinder dry. The winter wheat crop is ripe and ready for harvest. Last Wednesday at least six fires in southern Israel were blamed on incendiary balloons launched from the Strip on Wednesday, and another balloon with a bomb attached to it exploded over an Israeli town (2). This explosive balloon was the first armed attack since the May 5 ceasefire came into effect. The terrorists in Gaza have also upgraded their incendiary balloon technology so that the balloons drip flaming liquid as they fly starting multiple fires from a single launch (3).

A firefighter fights a fire in a wheat field near Gaza
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263242

As a result of this upsurge in balloon attacks, Israel announced on Wednesday a full naval closure on Gaza, preventing Gazan fishermen from fishing. Gazan terrorists retaliated by firing two rockets into Israeli territory on Thursday. One was shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system before it landed in the targeted Israeli town. The second rocket hit a school in the Israeli town of Sderot. Fortunately, most of the students had already gone home for Shabbat and the few occupants of the school were saved by the fact that the rocket failed to explode. Nevertheless, this constituted a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement and on Friday morning the IDF attacked a number of Hamas military targets in Gaza.

On Friday some 7000 Gazans demonstrated at the border and launched dozens of fire balloons into Israel, igniting at least 7 blazes causing significant damage to farm crops. Some of the protestors breached the border fence and the IDF responded with tear gas and live fire, wounding 46 according to the Hamas -run Gazan Health Ministry (1)

Palestinians riot by the border fence with Israel east of Gaza City as smoke billows from arson balloons launched during the protest, on May 15, 2019. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-fresh-gaza-violence-army-said-pushing-for-serious-military-campaign/

As the spectre of another round of violence looms there is much pressure from the civilian population, especially those living in the communities close to the Gaza Strip, and from at least some of the IDF leaders for a much stronger military response. Roni Daniel, a veteran military analyst on Israel’s TV news channel, Channel 12, cited a senior military source saying that Israel was “on the verge of a serious military campaign,” and that the IDF was considering ending its policy of warning occupants of buildings ahead of airstrikes, even if it causes casualties (4). It seems unlikely however that the Israel Security Cabinet would give the go-ahead for a serious military campaign ahead of the elections on September 17, unless we are forced into it by a serious upsurge in violence from Gaza. That said, the situation is volatile and it would not take a lot to light the fuse.

Syria

Last Tuesday night (11/06) the Tel al-Hara observation post in Syria was attacked by Israel according to Syrian sources. Israel, according to its long-standing policy, has not verified whether it was responsible or not. Tel al-Hara is an extinct volcano that towers over the Israeli border. As the highest vantage point in the area it has been used by Syrian, Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah forces to gather intelligence on Israel. Late last year the Syrian army took control of the area once more and an agreement between Israel and Syria, mediated by Russia, was made. According to this agreement, only the Syrian army is allowed to remain in this area and Hezbollah, and the Iranian-backed Shiite militias were to be pushed back at least 80km east of the Damascus – Daara Road, which runs close to the Tel.

Iran

Last week, on Thursday (13th May) two oil tankers were attacked in the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The crews of both tankers managed to escape but the tankers burned. This follows a similar attack on 4 tankers in the Straits of Hormuz earlier in the month, on the 12th May (6). The USA and others have blamed Iran for these attacks. The Pentagon has released grainy video footage it says shows Iranian forces removing a limpet mine from the side of one of the ships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=7Gz08OQUnms . A good summary of the situation there can be seen on the link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/13/a-visual-guide-to-the-gulf-tanker-attacks .

The Straits of Hormuz contain a shipping lane only 2 miles wide each way and it is through this bottleneck that about 1/3 of all the world’s oil must pass each day (6). Most of the crude oil exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq passes through it to key markets in Asia, the Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond (6,7). Iran has repeatedly threatened to disrupt this movement in order to force the USA to lift its embargo. Such a blockade would seriously threaten world oil supply and destabilize world economies.

Tanker on Fire in Persian Gulf, June 13, 2019 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263242

A combined maritime force of Gulf States, the USA and European and Asian allies protect the Strait. The US 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain and maintains a constant presence in the Persian Gulf using patrol vessels, guided-missile destroyers, and mine counter-measures vessels. It also monitors the Strait using satellites and drones (8). Earlier this month an aircraft carrier, the “Abraham Lincoln”, usually stationed in the Mediterranean moved into the Persian Gulf (9) to join the two already stationed there (10). At least two B52H Stratofortress planes and fighters from the Lincoln Strike Group were also moved to the area (11) Last week the USA announced that it was moving an additional 1,000 troops into the area (13).

Iran announced this week that it has quadrupled its production of enriched uranium and by June 27 it will exceed the amount of enriched uranium permitted in its stockpile according to the 2015 nuclear deal made with world powers (12).

With this buildup of military might and the constant exchange of threats and insults between the USA and Iran the tensions are mounting daily. Western and Israeli intelligence officials are concerned that Iran could mount an attack on Israel, by means of activating its proxies in Syria and Lebanon (Hezbollah), in order to further “escalate its feud with the United States and force Washington to the negotiation table” (14).

End Time Battles

With the aligning of the nations and the gathering together of Israel’s enemies many Messianic and Christian believers are asking themselves if this is not leading up to the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the battle(s?) described in Ezekiel 38, Joel 3, and Zechariah 12. There is much controversy about the timing of the battle or battles described in these passages as to whether they precede the coming of Yeshua and his millenial reign or whether they are the same as the battle described in Revelation 20 at the end of the Messianic Millenium. I do not wish to enter into this discussion at this point but it does seem clear to me that world events are reaching a crisis point and that a great battle centered on Israel and Jerusalem is imminent. If you do not yet know Yeshua as your savior and Lord I strongly suggest you seek to do so. Time is running out. If you do already know Him then you need to make sure you are ready in your heart to face whatever is coming. We also have a duty to be much in prayer and standing with Israel, and the God of Israel, YHWH, in these times. I am very concerned that many Christians do not study the Word of God and are unfamiliar with the role of Israel in God’s redemption plan and are therefore being led into deception just as Yeshua (Jesus) himself predicted would happen in the end times (Matthew 24). We need also to be praying for our own nations that they will be found on the right side of this great battle for God will judge the nations as he said,

In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations
    and divided up my land

Joel 3: 1-2

References:

AMALEK

March 25, 2019 / admin

This week Jews everywhere celebrate the Festival of Purim (Lots), which commemorates the rescue of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire from the evil plot of Haman to exterminate them, as recorded in the Biblical book of Esther.

“…the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants”.

Esther 9: 27-28

Many people flock to the synagogues to hear the reading of Megillat Esther (the Biblical Book of Esther), and every time the name of Haman is mentioned they boo and make derisive noise with various rattling instruments. It is also customary for children and adults to wear fancy dress and to celebrate with great joy. Most municipalities hold a Parade, called in Hebrew Adloyada, which means “until you don’t know” derived from the practice of some to drink wine ‘until they don’t know who they are’. The Adloyada today however are not drunken affairs but rather a family-oriented parade of fancy dress and good, clean fun.

It is also a time when gifts are exchanged or given to the poor, usually food baskets containing wine, chocolates and other festive foods. A traditional three-sided cookie, called in Yiddish Hamentaschen (Haman’s Pockets) or in Hebrew, Ozeni Haman (Haman’s Ears), which are stuffed with poppy seeds, chocolate, date spread or jam.

Traditional hamantaschen cookies for the Jewish festival of Purim.
https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/gettyimages-177122920-1.jpg

Of course amidst all this joy and fun the deeper meaning of the Festival is not lost on us. From time immemorial various people have plotted to destroy the People of Israel, God’s chosen people. Haman is described in the Book of Ester as an Agagite (Esther 3: 1), a descendant of Agag, who was the KIng of the Amalekites. The Amalekites were a people, descended from Amalek, the grandson of Esau, the disinherited elder brother of Isaac. The Amalekites occupied the desert and steppe regions of southern Israel and the Negev.

When the people of Israel came out of Egypt they journeyed through the Sinai and Negev and came to the region of Amalek. As the Israelites traveled the Amalekites attacked, in a cowardly and despicable way, the rear ranks, the weary and tired stragglers. Consequently God told Israel that once they had taken possession of the Promised Land they must ‘blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven‘ (Deuteronomy 17:19).

After Israel entered into the Promised Land, the Amalekites persistently attacked and plundered them. After Saul was annointed King over Israel, God spoke to him saying,

I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack^[a] Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

I Samuel 15:1-2.

Saul therefore attacked the Amalekites and conquered them, but contrary to God’s instructions he spared the life of Agag and ‘all that was good’ (I Samuel 15:7-9).

For his disobedience, God rejected Saul as King, and the prophet Samuel was constrained to kill King Agag ( I Samuel 15). If Agag and all his people were destroyed at this time, how could it be that Haman was a descendant of Agag? It nowhere says that every single Amalekite was destroyed at the time of Saul, only those ‘from Havilah to Shur, east of Eygpt’. Is it not probabl there were Amalekites living outside of this area, or who managed to flee beyond this area, before Saul’s army attacked? Or possibly Saul kept some alive, as might be indicated in verse 9 ” But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed“. Whatever the case, Haman, a descendant of Agag, appears approximately 500 years later as the highest vizier in the courts of King Ahasuerus of Persia, and when Mordecai the Jew refused to bow down to him, Haman decided to destroy every Jew in the Persian Empire, which at the time stretched from India to Ethiopia.

In Rabbinical thought the Amalekites have come to represent all that is evil and they are considered the archetypal enemy of the Jews. Although there are no pure- blooded Amalekites living today, the Spirit of Amalek is nevertheless still alive and well. Throughout history many have tried to exterminate the Jews and, thanks to the supernatural protection of God, they all failed. Today, too, there are many who want to annihilate Israel.

I started writing this a few days ago, and then I had no idea how timely it would be. This morning (25/03/19) a missile struck a family home in the town of Mishmeret, about 10 km north of Tel Aviv, injuring the 7 family members inside. The house is totally destroyed but by some miracle, the injured are only moderately or lightly injured. The injured include a baby of 6 months, a child of 3 years, an older sister aged 12, the grandmother aged 60, the grandfather and the mother. The missile, probably a Fajr medium-range rocket supplied by Iran, was fired from the Gaza Strip, some 80 km distant.

The house destroyed by the attack
https://images1-ynet-prod.azureedge.net/PicServer5/2019/03/25/9142704/914268901000100980653no.jpg

Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is currently in the USA at the AIPAC conference and is canceling his speech there and returning home. He made the statement that ” There was a criminal attack on the State of Israel, and we will respond forcefully.” This evening (Israel time) Netanyahu met with Trump to discuss the situation and also to witness the signing of Trump’s Presidential Proclamation to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. As I write the IDF is attacking Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip and Hamas has promised to respond. The communities around Gaza and Tel Aviv have been commanded to open the public shelters by the Rear Command. It is likely going to be a long and tense night. Please pray about the situation as it is serious and potentially could lead to large loss of life on both sides if the escalation continues.

There is a lot more I could write about but in the interests of getting this published tonight, I will restrain myself. Please pray about the situation and pray against the Spirit of Amalek. When the Amalekites came out and fought against Israel in Rephidim, during the Exodus, as long as Moses held his arms up Israel prevailed. When he tired and his hands dropped then Amalek prevailed. Fortunately Moses had Aaron and Hur to help him and they supported his hands until victory was gained . If you intercede for Israel, do not let your hands drop. Keep them raised in prayer at this time, and stand with us in intercession. Help us not to grow weary. In the Spirit hold up our hands. God will give us victory over our enemies, just as he did to Moses and the people of Israel, for He is stronger than the Spirit of Amalek .

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Exodus 17: 8-13

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