The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,
And sing praises to Your name.
Great deliverance He gives to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
Psalm 18: 46-50
This week (1-7/09) God delivered Israel from the ‘violent man’, alias Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Seeking revenge for last week’s Israeli attack on a Iranian military installation in Syria, which was making precision guided systems for missiles. In the attack several Iranian military personnel and two senior Hezbollah operatives were killed. Immediately afterwards the ‘mouse roared’ threatening a massive attack on Israel in retaliation, an attack that would reach the center of the country. As the week passed Nasrallah’s roars faded to a squeak and by Sunday he was saying he intended only to ‘kill 2-3 Israeli soldiers’. Israel evacuated its bases within 5 km of the border, set up fake mannequins in vehicles, and banned travel on some roads. The civilian population was told to continue as normal. It also prepared for a massive attack on Hezbollah bases should there be any Israeli casualties.
On Sunday (1/09) about 4PM Hezbollah fired two anti-tank missiles at a vehicle containing 5 Israeli soldiers. By a miracle the missiles missed the vehicle hitting the road instead. Shrapnel pierced the tire of the vehicle but they were able to drive on to a safe position. For several hours there was a news blackout concerning the fate of the soldiers and the IDF carried out an evacuation of two soldiers to trick Nassrallah into thinking he had succeeded. Much later it was revealed that none of the soldiers had been even scratched.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/reports-hezbollah-nearly-missed-manned-armored-car-driving-in-breach-of-orders/
Hezbollah forces also fired on the Avivim Army Base but it had been evacuated ahead of the confrontation.
In retaliation Israel fired around 100 shells into Lebanon but most landed in open fields, setting crops on fire. No casualties have been reported. After a couple of hours all firing stopped and since then all has been quiet.
A few days later (3/09) Nasrallah announced that the confrontation at the border is over. He is claiming a victory boasting, ” Despite all the preparations and fake targets the enemy scattered along the border, we waited for our target and when it came, we hit it, without any doubt“(1). Apparently this was sufficient for him to ‘save face’. Of course he made his announcements from the safety of his mouse hole (underground bunker) in which he has been hiding for several years for fear of an assassination attempt.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5581480,00.html
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had this to say about Nasrallah, ” The man in the bunker in Beirut knows exactly why he is in a bunker…We will continue to do everything necessary to keep Israel safe — at sea, on the ground and in the air — and we will also continue to work against the threat of the precise missiles” (1).
I may sound mocking but it would be a great mistake to underestimate the mouse in the hole. Nasrallah breathes threats against Israel every day and claims to have around 200,000 rockets and missiles that could hit every part of Israel. The problem is that these rockets and missiles are notoriously difficult to aim accurately. In past confrontations many have either been shot down by Israel’s anti- missile system or have landed harmlessly in open areas or in the sea. It is therefore of great concern to Israel that Iran is supplying high-precision missile guidance systems to Hezbollah. For this reason Israel is carrying out many missions to destroy the installations where Iran is building, storing these systems and training Hezbollah operatives in their use. Even since the confrontation on Sunday (1/09) the Israeli IDF has announced that it has carried out several such attacks in Lebanon, Syria and even Iraq. Israel must do everything it can to prevent Hezbollah obtaining this technology which would enable them to pinpoint with great accuracy key military and civilian targets. For now, Hezbollah is weak having lost a great number of personnel during the Syrian Civil War, and is also facing some financial issues. There are also signs that Hezbollah is facing growing criticism in Lebanon itself – see the cartoon above, for example (2) . The Lebanese people do not want to be drawn into another war with Israel. Should Hezbollah however recover its confidence, I have no doubt it will attempt to destroy Israel as Nasrallah threatens nearly every day.
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
GAZA
The other day I was idly rereading some of my earliest blog posts written during the last Gaza war in 2008. I was amazed how similar they were to my more recent posts. Nothing significant has changed. They shoot at us and we retaliate. A ceasefire is announced and a tense calm exists until the next time they shoot at us. Round and round it goes with no end in sight. It is a great weariness for all.
Once more, the Friday night of 6/09 the sirens sounded in some of Israel’s southern communities, Sderot, Ibim, and Kibbutz Or HaNer as five rockets were fired from Gaza. One landed near the town of Sderot, setting fire to brush. Two women were treated for shock. This followed the weekly border riots in which two Palestinian minors were killed by IDF fire. The protests had been especially violent that week with around 6,000 Palestinians hurling a large number of explosive devices, grenades and firebombs at IDF troops guarding the border. The border fence was also damaged. In addition to the two dead, some 70 protesters were injured, 38 of them by live fire, according to the report of medical officers in Gaza.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5581480,00.html
Later that Friday night the IDF attacked several Hamas targets and the next day a Hamas cell launched an armed drone attacked an IDF vehicle, prompting an Israeli retaliation in which the IDF attacked naval combat equipment belonging to the terrorist group and two military centers for Hamas’s aerial systems in airstrikes in the northern and central Strip (3).
Later Friday night Israeli aircraft and a tank attacked several Hamas targets in Gaza. This morning a drone, piloted by a Hamas cell, dropped explosives over the Israeli border, damaging an IDF vehicle but causing no casualties. Soldiers fired at the cell but there have been no reports of casualties (4).
On Tuesday of this week (10/11) the sirens sounded again, this time as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was giving an election speech in Ashdod. He was ushered off the stage by his security detail. Netanyahu said to the audience ” We have a code red warning, leave quietly” and then realizing this was impossible he turned an asked his guards “Where should they go?” This was all being broadcast live.. Almost immediately his election campaign people realized how damaging this incident would be to his campaign and deleted the video – but too late! You can see the video here:
In this attack two medium range missiles were fired from the Gaza strip towards the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod. One missile was shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and the other landed in the sea. There were no casualties.
The next day, on Wednesday, sirens again sounded in some southern communities, this time while children were still in school. Three launches were detected and one of the rockets landed in the yard of a home causing some damage to the house. Thankfully the family were not at home at the time and no injuries were reported.
This last Friday also marked the 73rd week of the Gaza border riots, the so-called Palestinian “March of Return”. This too is a great weariness, so much so that it barely gets a mention on our local news these days.
With elections looming, in just 3 days time, the inability of the Netanyahu government to resolve the Gaza issue is a primary election issue. On Thursday, Netanyahu announced that ” it looks like there will be no other choice but to embark on a wide-scale campaign in Gaza” (5). On Friday, returning from meetings in Russia with Putin and the Russian Defense Minister, Shoigu, Netanyahu announced that such an attack “could happen at any moment” leading to some speculation it could happen even before Tuesday’s election. I doubt that Netanyahu would risk that but he is desperately trying to garner election points at this stage. We can only pray that God’s will will prevail at this time.
WEST BANK ANNEXATION?
On Tuesday afternoon our TV stations announced that Netanyahu would make “an important announcement at 5PM”. At 5PM this was postponed to 6PM, but at that time he came on air, to announce that if elected again as PM he will immedieately annex the Jordan Valley. You can see the whole speech, with English translation, by clicking on the link below:
As I watched this I was shocked by what appeared to me to be a brazen misuse of his position to score pre-election points. The Election Committee tried to shut this broadcast down and some, but not all networks did stop showing the speech. You can see the whole speech, with English translation, by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMWep1sV940&t=12s
It transpires that prior to Netanyahu’s speech he had intended to actually announce the annexation, as opposed to just announcing his intention to do so, if elected. He was dissuaded from doing so by senior security officials. What is more, the Election Committee has since fined Netanyahu and his Likud Party 30,000 shekels for violating the election law for making election campaign messages during a live broadcast(6).
ELECTIONS
There are, as I already said, only 3 days to go before the elections. After the failed election earlier in the year, the campaigns this time have been exceptionally dirty with much name calling, mudslinging and underhand, devious tricks on all sides. As things stand polls are indicating the likelihood of yet another stalemate. I am glad I do not have the right to vote as I would not have a clue who to vote for. They all have good policies and bad. I thank God I have something much more powerful that a ballot slip. I have prayer. I am simply praying that God’s Will will be done. I would like to hope for righteous and just, and wise government but I admit I don’t believe there are really any options for such a government to be elected. I do know however that ultimately God is in control although for a time Satan, the “Prince of the Power of the Air” (Ephesians 2:2), is wrecking havoc on Earth. Soon, I hope and pray, Satan’s time will come to an end and Messiah, Yeshua, will establish his throne on Mt Zion. Until this is fulfilled we need to be much in prayer for our leaders.
TERROR STRIKES AGAIN
There have been a number of terror attacks recently. The most serious occurred at Ein Bubin Spring, near the settlement of Dolev, east of Modiin. A father and his two teenage children went out for an early morning hike and as they approached the gate to the spring an explosive device detonated in their path, killing Rina Shnerb (17), and seriously injuring her brother Dvir (19). The father was lightly injured too. In a testimony to the resilience of the Israeli spirit and just hours after his release from hospital this week, Dvir received his certificate qualifying him as a medic for the Magen David Adom service, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.
Courtesy of the family
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/1566569364-rabbi-says-murdered-daughter-rina-shnerb-a-martyr-of-the-people-of-israel
BACK TO SCHOOL
On September 1st some 2,300,000 Israeli school children returned to school after the long, two-month, summer vacation. For me this marks the end of summer even though the weather denies it. It is still reaching more than 30 degrees pretty much every day but we have had one or two days lately that didn’t. There is a stirring in the air and a freshness in the breeze which heralds the coming of fall/autumn. Another herald of the coming change is the flowering of the sea squill, a plant recognized in Israel as the first harbinger of fall. They are already flowering. This is a reminder of the faithfulness of our God, who sustains the times and the seasons. Praise His Name!
Paul and Barnabus proclaimed:
Nevertheless He (God) did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
Acts 14: 15-17
Netanya Winter Pond 8 Sept 07
References:
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5580947,00.html
2. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5581480,00.html