Israel Moves Up Election 1 Year Early: War on the Horizon?

A fascinating move by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu.  Moving the elections up, elections that you are supposedly scheduled to win with a 'strong mandate' for action against the threat of Iran.  The speculation is that he might have more flexibility to take action on Iran should he have the support of the Israeli people while the US president is facing a potential re-election loss.  Given the president's political expedient decision making, what would happen if he then came out in complete defense of Israel and pledged a full out war against anyone who would attack Israel? That could play well with potential swing voters.  Another war, more chaos, more opportunity. 

Is Netanyahu Holding Elections Early So He Can Attack Iran?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to announce this Sunday that he will hold elections in Israel a year early, on September 4 of this year. This move has prompted at least one of Israel’s major commentators to speculate that Netanyahu might have more than just a parliamentary majority in his sights.

Ammon Abramovich, one of the best-known Israeli commentators on the popular Channel 2 news station, suggested that Netanyahu may, in fact, be calling the election early so that he can come back to power with a decisive governing majority while President Obama is still hamstrung by elections here in the United States, and thus powerless to stop him from attacking Iran. The Times of Israel explains the reasoning behind this alarming prediction:

 Abramovich said that the dramatic decision to bring the elections forward relates to Iran. After the September elections, which all polls show Netanyahu winning easily, he will head a transition government for several weeks while a new coalition is formed. During that period, Netanyahu “will not be beholden to the voters,” and will be free to take decisions on Iran that many Israelis might not support, Abramovich said.

Furthermore, he will still have his trusted Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, at his side. Barak is seen as unlikely to fare well in the elections, and may not even retain his Knesset seat, but would retain the defense portfolio until a new coalition is formed.

And finally, said Abramovich, the September-October period would see Obama, who has publicly urged more patience in allowing diplomacy and sanctions to have their impact on Iran, in the final stages of the presidential election campaign, with a consequent reduced capacity to try to pressure Israel into holding off military intervention.

Obama, “on the eve of elections, won’t dare criticize Israel,” said Abramovich. From Netanyahu’s point of view, “the conditions would be fantastic.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has given some credence to this theory with this ominous quote regarding Iran: “The moment of truth is approaching.”

That’s not to say that Israel has no concerns about war with Iran – the country is small enough that the fallout from just one nuclear bomb being dropped would do serious, possibly fatal damage, which has led some Israeli officials to label the country a “one bomb state.” Clearly, if Netanyahu is planning to attack Iran, this will factor into his calculations, and a decision to attack would suggest that he expects far more than one bomb to be involved if he doesn’t act. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story.

Israel Calls up IDF Troops & Readies for War

 

Lest we forget, elections recently held and soon to be held in the countries that immediately surround Israel have not gone the way of Israel's best interests.  Egypt in particular has now elected a much more aggressive government in the way of the Muslim Brotherhood influence that is more aligned with Hamas and Hezbollah mentality than Mubarak was.  The change in relations continues to lay the stage for conflict between Israel and Egypt.  As of today, things are taking an even further turn for the worse with emergency orders and the build up of troops along the border

Middle East War?

In terms of Egypt, Israel is worried due to rising Islamic influence in the country following the fall of Mubarak, especially the ascendency of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a popular backlash against the Camp David Accords which have kept the peace between Cairo and Jerusalem since 1979.
Amr Moussa, a popular Presidential candidate in Egypt, has publicly stated that while Egypt still honors its peace with Israel, the accords are “dead.”

From the Inquisitr

Six army battalions called up under emergency orders to meet growing threat on Egypt, Syria borders

The IDF has issued emergency call up orders to six reserve battalions in light of new dangers on the Egyptian and Syrian borders. And the Knesset has given the IDF permission to summon a further 16 reserve battalions if necessary, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

An IDF spokesperson said intelligence assessments called for the deployment of more soldiers.

According to 2008′s Reserve Duty Law, combat soldiers can be called for active reserve duty once every three years, and for short training sessions during the other two. Rising tensions between Israel and Egypt and the ongoing unrest in Syria caused the army to ask the Knesset for special permission to call up more soldiers, more often.

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the request recently, enabling the IDF to summon up to 22 battalions for active duty for the second time in three years. Already, the army has called up six of them.

“This signifies that the IDF regards the Egyptian and Syrian borders as the potential source of a greater threat than in the past,” the former deputy chief of staff, Dan Harel, said on Wednesday night.

“The army needs a better ‘answer’ than in the past to the threat,” he said, citing Egypt’s deteriorating control over the Sinai, marked by an upsurge in Bedouin smuggling of weapons and other goods. He also spoke of the growing threat of terrorism from Sinai, as exemplified by an infiltration last August in which eight Israelis were killed.

The Syrian situation was also highly combustible, Harel said, “and it could explode at any moment… and pose a direct challenge to us.”

Maariv said the army had to decide whether to cancel training sessions for enlisted soldiers or to summon additional reserve units, and it chose the latter; canceling training would mean soldiers would not be prepared in the case of an all-out war.

The IDF spokesperson said all the letters summoning soldiers for reserve duty were sent after the IDF received the approval of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for the larger call-up.

One of the reservists summoned told Maariv he hadn’t expected his call-up letter until next year. Leaving home for more than three weeks is something you have to prepare for, he noted.

Activists from the Reserve Soldiers Forum said they were disappointed time and again by the way the IDF treated its reserve soldiers. The law was supposed to help reservists, but it has been repeatedly bypassed and ignored, they said. “At the end, all that will remain of the law will be its title.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah warns against ‘settlement’ building in Jerusalem

Monarch reacts to plan for 1,100 hotel rooms in Givat Hamatos neighborhood

Jordan’s King Abdullah criticized Israel on Wednesday for plans to build some 1,100 hotel rooms in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Matos, Israel Radio reported.

 

Abdullah warned Israel, according to the report, that its policy of taking unilateral steps in Palestinian-claimed land would increase tensions and destabilize the region.

A day earlier, the Palestinian Authority and left-wing group Peace Now criticized the announcement by Jerusalem’s City Hall of the hotel plans.

The municipality had already approved the construction of 2,610 housing units in Givat Hamatos, which is located between the neighborhoods of Talpiot, Beit Safafa and Gilo, and another plan to build an additional 1,400 housing units is currently awaiting final approval.

On Monday, the city submitted its plans for the hotel rooms to the Planning and Building Committee. The rooms are to be built in an existing delapidated building, Israel Radio said.

Supporting the Palestine Authority and PLO: In America's National Security Interests?

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been a thorn in the side of Israel since its founding, and is one of the better known terrorist organizations in the world that trains and indoctrinates hatred of the Jews to the Palestinian people.  This organization plays a big role within the political structure of Palestinian Authority (PA).  Recently, another terrorist organization, Hamas was elected to serve as the leadership of Palestine.  Hamas is one of the most brutal and barbaric terrorist movements in modern history, being responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israeli, Palestinian, and American civilians and the maiming of thousands more.

Recently, foreign aid was suspended to the PA after the current president, Mahmoud Abbas, sought statehood at the UN.  The suspension of aid play a huge role in this regime's legitimacy.  For starters, citing this 2006 report, look at the level of aid:

U.S. Funding for the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA

The Palestinian Authority is hugely dependent upon foreign assistance, which accounts for about 66 percent of its annual budget. European Union funding for the PA amounted to $600 million in 2005.[2] The United States gives $70 million directly to the PA each year, as well as $225 million for humanitarian projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).[3] Between 1993 and 2004, the Palestinian Authority received $6.93 billion in aid from the international community.[4] --

 

 Dependency on foreign aid has only grown since 2006. 

Recently, another executive decision recently mandated more American $$'s will be flowing to Hamas

Obama lifts freeze on $192 million aid package to Palestinian Authority

Funding serves ‘security interests of the US,’ says president. Congress blocked it after Abbas’s bid for UN recognition of ‘Palestine’

President Barack Obama has lifted a ban on financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. An official with the US Agency for International Development said Saturday that the money had been restored. 

Obama stated that the aid was “important to the security interests of the United States.” The US Congress froze a $192 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority after its president, Mahmoud Abbas, defied US pressure and sought to attain UN endorsement of Palestinian statehood last September. The presidential waiver means that aid can now be delivered.

The unilateral statehood gambit was strongly opposed by Israel, which said Abbas was seeking to avoid negotiating the necessary compromises and modalities of statehood with Israel. The US indicated it would veto a resolution in the Security Council seeking unilateral recognition of “Palestine,” but the issue has not come to a vote, because the Palestinians were unable to obtain sufficient support in the Security Council. They may yet seek a non-binding endorsement of statehood in the UN General Assembly.

Why are we supplying so much aid?

The region has been in constant war and chaos for the large part of the last 50+ years, actually has there ever been a time of peace?  Aid has been given for 'humanitarian' reasons, to keep the 4 million people of Palestine from dying of hunger.

If we spend this much though on humanitarian aid, why STILL are so many living poor and dying?  Take this statistic for starters:

- 50% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza currently rely on donor food aid for at least some of their food. This means that 1.8 million Palestinians are now partially or fully dependent on food aid.

The answer is obvious.  The $$ never got to those who needed it.  The amount of money sent to the PA, especially under previous dictator Yasser Arafat, never reached the poor and needy.  Arafat was known to own a dozen limos and lived a luxurious life, all while those around him starved.  His response was typically of a dictator;  the more you keep people enslaved, the less power they have to overthrow you. 

Why are we funding them STILL?

 Giving to the needy is great, but given without accountability is stupid and naive.  This world needs more freedom, peace, and liberty.  Supplying leaders who do not believe in these principles and advocate for their kids to grow up to become terrorists should never come close to 'humanitarian aid.'  If we want these dollars to go to the poor instead of financing terrorism, accountability has to reign all throughout the process.  But then, perhaps that is the issue?  Can accountability be even possible when the government commits violence and acts of terrorism, like Hamas does on a routine basis? 

The solution is to require accountable non-profits to administer the funds: If you don't play by these rules, you don't get the money.  My guess, Abbas would never bow down to these wishes. 

In addition, in the name of humanitarian aid, people are given little reason to work for this money.  Welfare enslaves people and offers no incentives to work.  It's obvious when you see it.  Recently, an earthquake wiped out Haiti.  America then donated something like $400M of food and supplies.  The result: millions of farmers out of work as they can no longer produce anything and expect to get it to market.  Poverty is still rampant in this country over 1 year after the aid arrived.  Over 70% of the nation I believe is still living in tents!  Don't believe me? Do some research and prove me wrong.

The solution is empowerment of the individual

Check out PoveryCure.org for some great organizations that are leading the fight to end poverty the right way, with boots on the ground, accountability, and empowerment of the individual. 

 Further Research

Check out this link at Conservative DC policy think tank Heritage.org for some more research on the topic.  Also, below.

According to a report in 2007 by the Congressional Research Service the USA had paid over 1.9 Billion in aid to Yasser Arafat and the PLO.  This organization by Yassir Arafat. The PLO was created in 1964 during a meeting known as the Palestinian Congress in an effort to give a voice to the large number of Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon.  

Current U.S. Restrictions on Aid to the Palestinians

Direct Assistance to the PA. Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the U.S. government has committed an estimated $1.9 billion in bilateral economic assistance to the Palestinians. According to annual foreign operations appropriations legislation, congressionally approved funds for the West Bank and Gaza Strip cannot be given directly to the P A unless the President submits a waiver to Congress stating that doing so is in the interest of national security. The United States has provided direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority on six occasions including the following:

-In 1993-1994, the United States provided $36 million through the Holst Fund at the World Bank for direct assistance to the PA, and an additional $5 million in cash and equipment for the Palestinian police.

- On July 8, 2003, the United States announced that it would provide $20 million out of a $50 million FY2003 Supplemental allocation as direct aid to the PA for infrastructure projects.

-On December 8, 2004, President Bush again approved $20 million in direct assistance to the PA to pay off overdue Palestinian utility bills to Israeli companies.

- Following PA President Abbas’ May 2005 visit to the White House, President Bush announced that the United States would transfer an additional $50 million from unobligated FY2005 ESF funds to the Palestinian Authority. However, that transfer was later rescinded after the formation of the Hamas-led government in March 2006 and the PA returned $45 million of the $50 million.

-In 2007, the Bush Administration provided a total of $59 million to Palestinian President Abbas, of which $43 million was used for training and non-lethal assistance to the Palestinian Presidential Guard and $16 million was used for improvements at the Karni crossing, the main terminal for goods moving in and out of Gaza.

- In June 2007, President Bush issued a waiver to send $18 million in direct assistance to the P A to be used for a variety of purposes, including democracy assistance, assistance to combat money laundering, and security upgrades at the Karni crossing cargo terminal.

Israel tells USA They Will Act Alone

This development is the most significant and telling in  regard to Israel's intentions toward Iran.  According to news reports, Netanyahu has informed Obama that he will no longer abide by the long standing agreement between Irsael and the USA that Israel would first seek permission from the USA before launching a strike on Iran.

This 'slap in the face' move by Israel comes on the heels of a 'slap in the face' move by Obama and Sarkosy at the recent G-8 meetings in which they said they have to 'put up with' Netanyahu way to much, essentially dismissing him like a wining 2 year old about Iran's threat. 

The damage between those remarks and the continued disregard of Israel's sovereignty by both Obama and other European leaders, see the recent call by Obama to tell Netanyahu to not build any more houses outside of Jerusalem, is deep.  Israeli leadership has lost faith and trust in America to come to its defense in the case of an attack, thus they are sending the signal that it will act alone without the USA if it needs to.

This move was the final cut of whatever ties that once bound our two nations together in terms of how we would work together to deal with Iran.

The key points from the article below listed in bullet form:

• Two weeks ago Israel tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Iran, its first since 2008.
• Last week, a British official even suggested that an attack could come before Christmas.  
• Tellingly, until last year, Israel's four most powerful military and security chiefs, including Mr Dagan, were all strongly opposed to military action. All four have now been replaced by younger men who may be less able to stand up to Mr Netanyahu, not that Israeli prime ministers are necessarily bound to heed objections from their top military advisers anyway.
• Iran could blockade the Straits of Hormuz, through which 25 per cent of the world's oil exports are shipped, sending energy prices soaring

Iran Refuses to inform USA on the 'Ultimate Decision'

The US leader was rebuffed last month when he demanded private guarantees that no strike would go ahead without White House notification, suggesting Israel no longer plans to "seek Washington's permission", sources said. The disclosure, made by insiders briefed on a top-secret meeting between America's most senior defence chief and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's hawkish prime minister, comes amid concerns that Iran's continuing progress towards nuclear weapons capability means the Jewish state has all but lost hope for a diplomatic solution.

On Tuesday, UN weapons inspectors released their most damning report to date into Iran's nuclear activities, saying for the first time that the Islamic republic appeared to be building a nuclear weapon. It was with that grave possiblity in mind that Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, flew into Israel last month on what was ostensibly a routine trip.

Officially, his brief was restricted to the Middle East peace process, but the most important part of his mission was a private meeting with Mr Netanyahu and the defence minister, Ehud Barak. Once all but a handful of trusted staff had left the room, Mr Panetta conveyed an urgent message from Barack Obama. The president, Mr Panetta said, wanted an unshakable guarantee that Israel would not carry out a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear installations without first seeking Washington's clearance.

The two Israelis were notably evasive in their response, according to sources both in Israel and the United States.

"They did not suggest that military action was being planned or was imminent, but neither did they give any assurances that Israel would first seek Washington's permission, or even inform the White House in advance that a mission was underway," one said.

Alarmed by Mr Netanyahu's noncommittal response, Mr Obama reportedly ordered the US intelligence services to step up monitoring of Israel to glean clues of its intentions.
What those intentions might be remains distinctly murky. Over the past fortnight, Israel's press has given every impression that the country is on a war footing, with numerous claims that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak are lobbying the cabinet to support the military option.

Two weeks ago Israel tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Iran, its first since 2008. Shortly before, the Israeli airforce took part in Nato exercises in Sardinia that involved air-to-air refuelling, a key component of an aerial strike on Iran. A separate exercise in and around Tel Aviv tested civilian readiness in the event of a missile strike against the city. In a sign of the febrility of the public mood, many beach-goers apparently mistook the air raid sirens for a genuine Iranian attack and fled in panic for their cars. There were similar jitters in Iran yesterday, when a huge but apparently accidental explosion at arms dump outside Tehran killed at least 27 soldiers and shook the city.
 
Speculation about an imminent Israeli military action has been a regular occurrence over the years, but rarely as fevered as now. Last week, a British official even suggested that an attack could come before Christmas.

Few in Israel believe that is likely and the difficulty of mounting an operation over winter, when cloud cover hampers aircraft targeting systems, means that if military action is being considered it will not come before the spring or summer of next year.

Many observers also believe that the bellicose rhetoric voiced by a number of senior Israeli figures in recent days is largely bluff, designed to goad the international community into imposing sanctions of such severity that Iran would be forced into economic ruin if it persisted with its nuclear ambitions. Israel says that if Iran's central bank were sanctioned and a ban on Iranian oil exports enforced by an international naval blockade, military action would not be necessary.

Mr Barak has already publicly stated that he does not believe the West can overcome Russian and Chinese opposition to the sanctions Israel wants, leaving military action increasingly as the only alternative.

Mr Netanyahu may have another reason to bluff. In recent months, Meir Dagan, who retired as director of Mossad at the beginning of the year, has made a series of unprecedented speeches countenancing against Israeli military action - describing it as "the stupidest idea I've ever heard".
His comments have infuriated the Israeli establishment - senior officials have said they would like to see him behind bars - because they fear it could convince Iran's Mullahs that Israel's sporadic talk of war is a fiction.

Hints by Mr Netanyahu that he is considering the military option may be designed to resurrect Iran's paranoia of Israel, something seen in the Jewish state as a powerful deterrent, says Yossi Melman, a leading intelligence analyst and journalist.

"Meir Dagan made a laughing stock of military action," Mr Melman said. "Netanyahu believes he damaged the deterrent and he wants to repair it."

Yet the fact that Mr Dagan chose to speak out - extraordinary in itself for a just-retired Mossad chief - suggests that he believes Mr Netanyahu is intent on attacking Iran.
Tellingly, until last year, Israel's four most powerful military and security chiefs, including Mr Dagan, were all strongly opposed to military action. All four have now been replaced by younger men who may be less able to stand up to Mr Netanyahu, not that Israeli prime ministers are necessarily bound to heed objections from their top military advisers anyway. In 1981, Menachem Begin did just that when he bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak.

If Israel is to attack Iran, many in the country believe time is running out. Last week's report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) highlighted Iran's apparent determination to build a nuclear warhead, but did not indicate how long it might take.
Some in Israel, however, believe it is very close.

"It is my personal opinion that, if the Iranian regime decides to do so, it can produce a nuclear explosive device within a year, plus or minus a few months," said Ephraim Asculai, a former IAEA official and leading Israeli expert on Iran's nuclear programme.

Not everyone agrees. Some argue that a covert espionage operation has caused such delays that Iran still needs another three years to build a bomb. Sabotage efforts by Israeli, American and British intelligence have successfully slowed Iranian progress, most notably via the Stuxnet computer virus that caused the centrifuges at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant to explode. Mossad agents on motorbikes are also believed to have planted magnetic explosives on the cars of at least two key Iranian nuclear scientists as they weaved through Tehran's traffic jams. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the scientist and Revolutionary Guards officer who is thought to be the ultimate mastermind of the nuclear programme, is now believed to be under round-the-clock protection as a result. But, whatever the time frame, some in Israel believe there is additional cause for urgency that could prompt military action sooner rather than later.

According to western intelligence assessments, Tehran is preparing to move the bulk of its nuclear production to a plant beneath a mountain near the holy city of Qom that would be far harder to hit from the air.

According to Ronen Bergman, senior military analyst for Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper and the author of a forthcoming book on Mossad, that makes a strike necessary well before Iran actually perfects its programme.

"Today Israeli intelligence talks of what is known as the 'framework of immunity'," he said. "In other words, it is not the point at which Iran acquires a nuclear device, but the point at which the project has reached such an advanced stage that a strike any time after would be ineffective."
An Israeli attack could probably manage at most a dozen targets, using more than 100 F-15 and F-16 aircraft.

Three German-designed Dolphin submarines equipped with conventional cruise missiles could also be ordered into the Persian Gulf to take part, although it is thought that Israel's Jericho-3 ballistic missiles are to inaccurate to play a role.

But how effective the mission would be is another matter. At best, Israel can hope to delay Iran from building a bomb by two to four years, experts assess. Optimists hope that within such a period, Iran's Islamist regime could collapse and give may to a more moderate government. But it could equally redouble its nuclear efforts, this time arguing that it now had every right to produce a weapon.
As Mr Panetta warned during a Pentagon briefing last Thursday, such a strike would also have a "serious impact" on the region. Iran could blockade the Straits of Hormuz, through which 25 per cent of the world's oil exports are shipped, sending energy prices soaring. US military assets in the Gulf could come also come under attack from Iranian Scud missiles.

Iran would almost certainly fire its Shahab ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and press Hizbollah and Hamas, the militant Islamist groups it funds and equips, to unleash their huge rocket arsenals from their bases in Lebanon and Gaza.

Despite this, last week Mr Barak - making a rare venture in such sensitive territory - predicted that fewer than 500 fatalities would arise "if people stayed at home". 
 
Such are both the political and military risks involved that many Israelis say it is inconceivable that Mr Netanyahu would go to war without the United States alongside him.
"I think personally that if such action is taken, there will be come kind of consultation with the United States," said Ilan Mizrahi, Mossad's former deputy director and Israel's national security adviser until 2007.

"If Iran breaks all the rules, then military action will be needed, but definitely not alone by a tiny country like Israel," added Uzi Eilam, a retired general who held senior positions at the Israeli defence ministry.

But not everyone is so sure. Mr Obama's willingness to take on Iran militarily is openly questioned in Israel. And while many Israelis do not believe Iran has any intention of actually firing a nuclear missile at them, the the key question is whether their prime minister is one of them.

In Mr Netanyahu's eyes, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another "Hitler" whose aim is to complete what the Holocaust failed to do by wiping out the Jewish race.
"People outside Israel don't understand how profound memories of the Holocaust are, and how they affect future policy making," said Mr Bergman, the military analyst. "At the end of the day, this policy of 'never again' would dictate Israel's behaviour when intelligence comes through that Iran has come close to a bomb."

Israel faces greater and great isolation in the mid east.  Recent developments have greatly increased the tension they are facing in the region.  As if threatened by a radical Islamic country going nuclear in Iran isn't enough.  

JERUSALEM — With its Cairo embassy ransacked, its ambassador to Turkey expelled and the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition at the United Nations, Israel found itself on Saturday increasingly isolated and grappling with a radically transformed Middle East where it believes its options are limited and poor.

The diplomatic crisis, in which winds unleashed by the Arab Spring are now casting a chill over the region, was crystallized by the scene of Israeli military jets sweeping into Cairo at dawn on Saturday to evacuate diplomats after the Israeli Embassy had been besieged by thousands of protesters. 

From the Times

The rest of the article below:

It was an image that reminded some Israelis of Iran in 1979, when Israel evacuated its embassy in Tehran after the revolution there replaced an ally with an implacable foe.
“Seven months after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Egyptian protesters tore to shreds the Israeli flag, a symbol of peace between Egypt and its eastern neighbor, after 31 years,” Aluf Benn, the editor in chief of the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, wrote Saturday. “It seems that the flag will not return to the flagstaff anytime soon.”

Egypt and Israel both issued statements on Saturday reaffirming their commitments to their peace treaty, but in a televised address on Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned that Egypt “cannot ignore the heavy damage done to the fabric of peace.”
Facing crises in relations with Egypt and Turkey, its two most important regional allies, Israel turned to the United States. Throughout the night on Friday, desperate Israeli officials called their American counterparts seeking help to pressure the Egyptians to protect the embassy.
President Obama “expressed his great concern” in a telephone call with Mr. Netanyahu, the White House said in a statement, and he called on Egypt “to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy.”

Washington — for whom Israel, Turkey and Egypt are all critical allies — has watched tensions along the eastern Mediterranean with growing unease and increasing alarm. And though the diplomatic breaches were not entirely unexpected, they prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington.

The mayhem in Cairo also exacted consequences for Egypt, raising questions about whether its military-led transitional government would be able to maintain law and order and meet its international obligations. The failure to prevent an invasion of a foreign embassy raised security concerns at other embassies as well.

The Egyptian government responded to those questions Saturday night, pledging a new crackdown on disruptive protests and reactivating the emergency law allowing indefinite detentions without trial, one of the most reviled measures enacted under former President Hosni Mubarak.
Since the start of the Arab uprisings, internal critics and foreign friends, including the United States, have urged Israel to take bold conciliatory steps toward the Palestinians, and after confrontations in which Israeli forces killed Egyptian and Turkish citizens, to reach accommodations with both countries.

Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador a week ago over Israel’s refusal to apologize for a deadly raid last year on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza in which nine Turks were killed. The storming of the embassy in Cairo on Saturday was precipitated by the killing of three Egyptian soldiers along the border by Israeli military forces pursuing terrorism suspects.
Israel has expressed regret for the deaths in both cases, but has not apologized for actions that it considers defensive.

The overriding assessment of the government of Mr. Netanyahu is that such steps will only make matters worse because what is shaking the region is not about Israel, even if Israel is increasingly its target, and Israel can do almost nothing to affect it.
“Egypt is not going toward democracy but toward Islamicization,” said Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Cairo who reflected the government’s view. “It is the same in Turkey and in Gaza. It is just like what happened in Iran in 1979.”
A senior official said Israel had few options other than to pursue what he called a “porcupine policy” to defend itself against aggression. Another official, asked about Turkey, said, “There is little that we can do.”

Critics of the government take a very different view.
Mr. Benn, the Haaretz editor, acknowledged that Mr. Netanyahu could not be faulted for the events in Egypt, the rise of an Islamic-inspired party in Turkey or Iran’s nuclear program. But echoing criticism by the Obama administration, he said that Mr. Netanyahu “has not done a thing to mitigate the fallout from the aforementioned developments.”

Turkey and Israel Tensions Mount

Turkey was a diplomatic friend not a decade ago, but recent political and social changes have moved the new Islamic government of Turkey away from friendly relations with Israel.  The flotilla incident didn't help relations at all, which if you recall resulted in the deaths of 8 Turkish individuals about a year ago.  Since then, the standoff between the two nations has escalated and now economic trade is the latest blow to the relationship as trade relations have now officially been frozen.

Could this be a fulfillment of prophecy?  In Ezekiel 38 & 39, Russia and Turkey lead a coalition against Israel, attacking them in the battle of 'Gog and Magog.'  Turkey and Russia are now on friendly terms as well.

From the WSJ:

ISTANBUL—Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Tuesday that his country was suspending defense trade with Israel and that Turkish naval vessels would be seen in the eastern Mediterranean more often, as Ankara ratcheted up pressure in a rising dispute with its former ally.

Speaking to reporters in Ankara after giving a speech at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Erdogan repeated plans announced Friday to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Jewish state and suspend military agreements, specifying that the suspension would include trade in defense goods.  "Trade relations, military relations, defense industry—these we will suspend. These will be completely frozen and that process will be followed also by very different sanctions," Mr. Erdogan said.

Those measures still to come would be a "Plan C" to the "Plan B" already announced, he added.  So far, Turkey has announced no general trade sanctions against Israel. A spokesman for Mr. Erdogan said the prime minister had been referring in his remarks only to trade in defense goods, and not to trade in general. On Monday, Turkey's economy minister had said there would be no broader trade sanctions "for now."
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment Tuesday. Other Israeli officials contacted said privately that they don't wish to engage Mr. Erdogan in a public debate so as not to be seen as further aggravating political ties.

Enlarge Image

Reuters

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey has said it is responding to Israel's continued refusal to apologize for the killing by Israeli commandos of eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American on board the Mavi Marmara aid ship, as it sought to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip in May last year.

Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. who works with the Israeli government, called Mr. Erdogan's comments part of Turkey's "childish'' reaction to the United Nations report released last week that stated the blockade was justified, but that Israel's use of force was "excessive and unreasonable."
Turkey and Israel did nearly $3.5 billion of trade in 2010, according to official Turkish figures, a record reached during a sharp downturn in the political relationship. Moreover, trade rose more than 25% in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, Israeli and Turkish figures show.
Separate data for defense-related trade weren't available. Past major deals, however, included a $600 million-$700 million agreement under which Israel modernized Turkey's aging Phantom F-4 jets, and a $668 million pact to upgrade its M-60 tanks. Last year, Turkey took delivery of 10 Israeli-built Heron unmanned aerial vehicles, a $183 million deal.

Officials and analysts say those contracts are complete and no new large agreements have been signed for several years as political relations soured. Now, the main potential loss is the purchase of spare parts from Israel, should Turkey strictly enforce its own embargo. Turkey's defense exports to Israel tend to be lower-end equipment, such as uniforms, analysts said.

A report released last month by Tepav, an Ankara-based think tank, said past Turkish threats to cut off trade with Israel haven't hit trade as a whole, which has seen a healthy expansion. Most of the business is in the private sector and the two economies complement each other, the report said. Turkey is strong in construction, chemicals and textiles, while Israel offers software and other technology products from industries that are weak elsewhere in the region.

"Business has become an area immune from political upheavals," the report said. "The threats of canceling large infrastructure projects and other joint ventures have not gone beyond words. As a matter of fact, most of the projects involve private companies. Furthermore, boycotting of member nations is against OECD rules."
Both Turkey and Israel are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Responding to a question about reports that Turkey would begin patrolling waters off Israel and whether that risked conflict, Prime Minister Erdogan said Turkey had a right to do so. "The eastern Mediterranean is not a foreign place to us. … Of course, our vessels will be seen from now on very often in these waters," he said.
He also confirmed he would be traveling to Egypt soon, and said he "might" visit Gaza. A spokesman for Mr. Erdogan said the visit to Cairo would take place between Sept. 12 and 14.

Peace? Not until Jesus Returns.

"There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked."

One cannot make peace with an enemy that celebrates death and sends out its young men on murder missions. Evil knows no bounds and will continue to manifest itself in hatred toward Israel until the day, that glorious day, when Christ shall return upon the Mount of Olives.

From Jihad Watch:

The two alleged attackers accused of murdering the Fogel family.

Two Palestinian teens have been charged in the brutal, horrific death of an Israeli family. And one of those teens not only has no remorse, but he said he would do it all again.

The Fogel family was attacked back in March. The two young Fogel boys, aged four and eleven, were stabbed, one in the heart, while the family’s 3-month-old baby had its throat slashed. During the attack, the parents were also stabbed while in bed. The father died of knife wounds while the mother was shot.

17-year-old Hakim Awad and 18-year-old Amjad Awad have now been charged in the murders. But don’t look for remorse from at least one of them.

“I don’t regret what I did, and would do it again,” Amjad Awad told reporters in court, according to the Jerusalem Post. “I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine.”

Hakim and Amjad have been charged with five counts of homicide.

Israel Borders Becoming More Insecure

Israel is in trouble on multiple fronts. The recent overthrown of the former ally in Egypt is already beginning to show signs of trouble. The radical group in the Muslim Brotherhood who like many of the other neighbors of Israel wants a Palestine state without any Jews has been anticipated to come to power in Eqypt when elections are to be held this fall. Already though, the current government rulers have relaxed the borders with the Gaza Strip, allowing weapons to pour across the border--weapons that the USA financed being the #1 financier of Egypt's military I might add--and these weapons I will suspect will eventually be used by the Muslim Brotherhood to target Israel once they do come to power. The terrorists continue to arm up, whether in Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, or in Iran. Eventually this powder keg will become too big not to blow.

Perilous days ahead for Israel. Time to pray.

Egypt Permanently Opens Gaza Border Crossing

Rafah – Egypt lifted a 4-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, greatly easing travel restrictions on the 1.5 million residents of the Palestinian territory in a move that bolstered the Hamas government while dealing a setback to Israel's attempts to isolate the militant group.

The sense of relief was palpable as buses piled high with luggage crossed the Rafah border terminal and hundreds of people traveled abroad for overdue medical appointments, business dealings and family affairs. In Israel, fears were heightened that militants and weapons will soon pour into the territory.

Israeli Military Preparing for Possible Border Clashes

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military is preparing for the possibility of violent protests along its borders in the coming days, aiming to avoid a repeat of deadly unrest that erupted earlier this month, a senior military official told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Facebook-organized activists have called for demonstrations next weekend in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Mideast war, in which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip east Jerusalem and Golan Heights.

Israel's police commissioner said the army also is planning to counter possible unrest in the West Bank in September after an expected U.N. vote to recognize Palestinian independence.

Israeli Prime Minister Addresses Congress

A true leader and a man of principle, Binyamin Netanyahu, made the rounds in the USA, giving a speech before Congress and a speech before the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committees). His speech combined the depth of intellect and passion for freedom that is missing from modern day politicians. His truthful assessment is a refreshing voice of reason in the midst of a world of chaos. His leadership and honest defense of freedom sorely represents a good change of pace shall we say from the deception and lies that have been typically coming from the podium in front of congress.


Israeli Prime Minister Addresses Congress with both videos and excerpts from his speech:

Excerpt from CPAN:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Capitol Hill today meeting with members of Congress and delivered an address to a Joint Meeting of Congress.

During his speech to Congress P.M. Netanyahu stated, "As President Obama said, borders will be different than 1967. Israel will not return to 'indefensible' borders." He added "It's absolutely vital that a Palestinian state be demilitarized."

He suggested that Israel is "willing" to advance the negotiations but must "make painful compromises" for peace.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Netanyahu and Congressional Leaders also held a briefing with reporters following the joint meeting.

To members of AIPAC last night, Netanyahu said, "Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 line," which President Obama said is the foundation for negotiation.

Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Tuesday.

Some Highlights:

"Israel is America's Un-wavering ally"
"You don't need to send troops to Israel, we defend ourselves"
"Israel is not what is WRONG about the middle east, Israel is what is RIGHT about the middle east"
"300 million Arabs in the Middle east--and 1/2 of 1% are living in freedom and democracy and they are all in Israel"




Speech given before the AIPAC on Friday.





Good Summary of his speech from Israeli National News:

Netanyahu in Congress: Jerusalem Must Remain Undivided

Israel is the only country that has guaranteed freedom of all faiths in Jerusalem, which must remain undivided, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Congress Tuesday. In unusually strong language, he told members of Congress that Judea and Samaria are part of the ancient Jewish homeland that our forefathers walked in and that the 650,000 Jews living there "are not ‘occupying’ the region.” He strongly criticized the changed versions of history that are being promoted by others.

Interrupted dozens of times by standing ovations, after minutes-long applause as he entered the chamber, Netanyahu also said that there are 300 million Arabs in the MIddle East, but the only ones who are free are Israeli citizens.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu noted in his opening remarks that the "ground is still shifting” in the Middle East and that the uprisings in the Muslim countries represent people’s demands for liberty.

He thanked the United States for helping Israel reach its defense capabilities despite the “tough” economy. He jokingly said that the United States doesn't have to help build Israel--it is already built. More seriously, he said that the United States doesn't have to send soldiers to defend Israel, because Israel defends itself.

The Prime Minister did not change any of his policies, and put paid to rumors that he was going to announce new concessions. He expressed his policies in down-to-earth and homey language that clearly enthused the legislators. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was on the podium to receive him. U.S. President Barack Obama was on his way back to the United States from a visit to Ireland.

He jokingly noted that Israel is larger than the Delaware, Biden’s home state, and larger than Rhode Island, “but that’s about it.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that the length of the Washington Beltway is larger than the width of the Israel that the Palestinian Authority demands, which would be only 9 miles, hardly "strategic depth"..

He made it clear that he is willing to agree to borders for a Palestinian Authority country that would place some Jews outside of Israel’s borders, but did not mention that this would be only in settlement blocs and gave the impression of giving up less, rather than more.

Netanyahu also stressed that the borders must be negotiated because Israel “will not return to the indefensible borders of 1967.” He relied on his interpretation of U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement that any future borders of Israel will not be identical with the 1949 Armistice Lines that existed until the Six-Day War in 1967. He repeated his insistence that the Jordan River have an Israeli Army presence, remarking that in the MIddle East, peace depends on the ability to defend oneself.

The president has called for “land swaps,” a concept that Prime Minister Netanyahu did not mention and one which has little chance of getting off the ground because Israeli Arabs have little interest in giving up their freedom and economic security as Israeli citizens.

The vast majority of Jews living beyond the 1949-1967 borders live in greater Jerusalem and greater Tel Aviv,” the Prime Minister said in his address. “These areas and other places of historic, strategic and national importance will be incorporated into the final borders of Israel," he asserted.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also buried the issue of “refugees,” meaning the Arabs who either fled Israel in the wars in 1948 and 1967, or their descendants.

"Jews around the world have a right to immigrant to the only Jewish state, and Arabs around the world should have the right to immigrate to a Palestinian state.” he told Congress.

In case anyone doubted his intentions, he added, “This means that the refugee problem will be solved outside the borders of Israel".

Repeating that the obstacle to peace is not the creation of a Palestinian State to which six successive Israeli Prime Ministers agreed, but the Palestinian acceptance of the existence of a Jewish State, Netanyahu called to Abbas to tell Palestinians clearly that Israel has a right to exist. Meanwhile, he said, incitement continues in PA school curricula, squares are named after terrorists and the only reward Israel got for leaving Lebanon and Gaza was 12,000 rockets fired at its children.

"Imagine a siren sounding and giving you 60 seconds to find shelter before a missile strikes. You couldn't live with that. No one can live with that, " he said emphatically, adding, "Israel is not what is wrong in the Middle East. Israel is the only thing that is right in the MIddle East."

President calls for dividing up Israel and return to 1967 Borders

The Map of the borders Pre-1967:

Graphic From Causes of 1967 War

It has never been a wise decision to come out against Israel.

Genesis 12:3-- "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse"

Yet America now ventures down the path of God's judgment as the President has come out against the freedom of Israel to exist in a land of hatred for their very existence. Israel is surrounded by enemies as an Islamic Caliphate is forming all around them. Israel needs our prayer and support, not our dictates that they relinquish their right to defend themselves.

From the most recent news reports:

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — President Barack Obama is endorsing the Palestinians’ demand for their future state to be based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, in a move that will likely infuriate Israel. Israel says the borders of a Palestinian state have to be determined through negotiations.

In a speech outlining U.S. policy in the Middle East and North Africa, Obama on Thursday sided with the Palestinians’ opening position a day ahead of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to referring to the 1967 borders.

“So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel,” Obama’s prepared remarks said. “The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state. ”

Until Thursday, the U.S. position had been that the Palestinian goal of a state based on the 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, should be reconciled with Israel’s desire for a secure Jewish state through negotiations.

In addition, a strong word from Joel (the Book of the Bible and the Author of this piece Joel Rosenberg).

Do not divide the Land of Israel — In my message about the final chapter of the Book of Joel, I explained the warning to the nations that the Lord gives. I focused in particular on Joel 3:2 (which is 4:2 in the Hebrew Bible) in which the Lord says, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” The Bible is very clear: the Lord is going to judge all the nations for dividing up the Land of Israel. Let the United Nations and the United States and the European Union and the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government itself be warned. What appears like wisdom to the world — carving up the State of Israel like a Thanksgiving turkey — is direct disobediance to the Word of God and will trigger the most severe divine judgment. This is a hard truth for many to hear and to hold, particularly for Palestinian Arabs and others in the epicenter. But we do Israel’s Arab friends and enemies no favors by denying, obfuscating or trying to explain away the clear teaching of the Lord found in the Scriptures. We must teach the truth. We must do so gently and lovingly, but we must also be clear and firm.

Netanyahu Speaks Out. Listen Up

Former president Bush in 2002 gave a passionate speech in 2002 on why Iraq laid a serious threat to the world---as it turned out, his speech was a precursor to war. This year, Netanyahu laid down the gauntlet on Iran--will war soon follow?

Iran's Hardened Heart

Reading from Joshua 11:20

For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

People often question the Lord's goodness in the face of evil in our society--where is God in all this pain and suffering? Pastor John Piper gives a fairly succinct answer to this question: "Where is God--I'll tell you where He is, He is storing up almighty wrath in fury to pour out on all those who do such evil." Galatians 6:7 states it another way:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

The Lord instigated the conflict in this section of Joshua by hardening the heart of the evil ruler and causing him to do the unthinkable--make war against God's chosen people. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recently stated again that the holocaust was myth and that Israel should be wiped off the face of the map. The Lord is hardening once again the heart of a ruler from an enemy of Israel. Recent news suggests it will not be much longer before he will receive 'no mercy.'

Jersualem Post: We may have to attack by December
WSJ: Obama pushing Israel toward war

Russian Report: Netanyahu Meets in Russia

Odd report out of Russia:

Russian media on Thursday continued to cover Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mysterious visit to Moscow, that was leaked to the media from his office.

Kommersant newspaper quoted "experts" as saying they believe a visit of this kind could have stemmed from urgent circumstances, "for example, in the event that Israel plans to attack Iran".

Cloud of Mystery

Report: PM held secret talks in Russia / Ynet Yedioth Ahronoth says Netanyahu's Monday 'disappearance' was actually Moscow visit meant to discuss arms deals between Russian, Iran. PMO asserts Netanyahu was 'handling classified matters,' never left the country Full Story

At first, Moscow denied a visit ever took place, but after Netanyahu's office was forced to admit to the PM's Military Secretary Meir Kalifi's lie, a senior Kremlin source also confirmed to Kommersant that the Israeli prime minister did indeed visit the city.

Russian media also directed questions on the visit to the Israeli embassy in Moscow, but embassy sources said that if there was such a visit, "We know nothing about it."

The paper then quoted what it called an "informed" Israeli source, who wished to remain anonymous, as saying, "Such a visit could be related to new information and could threaten the Iranian nuclear program. It should not be ruled out that Israel may be ready to move on to decisive actions with regards to Iran, and Netanyahu has decided to inform the Kremlin of this."

Russian Foreign Minister Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko published an announcement saying, "We have no knowledge of a Netanyahu's 'secret' visit to Moscow. We saw reports in various media. They are inconsistent. Other than that, I cannot tell you anything. I have no detailed information in the matter, or any information in the matter. We have seen the reports."

Wednesday night the Prime Minister's Office published yet another announcement in an attempt to rectify the damage, said, "The prime minister was busy with secret, classified activity. The military secretary took his own initiative to defend this activity."

On Wednesday, Ynet revealed that Netanyahu left Israel on a private jet belonging Israeli millionaire Yossi Maiman. Earlier Wednesday, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that his destination was Russia.

The prime minister's aides who published the false announcements of his whereabouts were a loss for words.

Hard for me to understand why Israel would want Moscow to know in advance if a strike was planned on Iran.

Iran Armageddon: 6 months to go

Iran is getting ready. Israel has already shown it is on the prowl (See Previous Post). The lines have been drawn in the sand, now the only question is who will strike first.

Diplomats: Iran has means to test bomb in 6 months

VIENNA (AP) - Iran is blocking U.N. nuclear agency attempts to upgrade monitoring of its atomic program while advancing those activities to the stage that the country would have the means to test a weapon within six months, diplomats told The Associated Press Friday.

The diplomats emphasized that there were no indications of plans for such a nuclear test, saying it was highly unlikely Iran would risk heightened confrontation with the West—and chances of Israeli attack—by embarking on such a course.

But they said that even as Iran expands uranium enrichment, which can create fissile nuclear material, it is resisting International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to increase surveillance of its enrichment site meant to keep pace with the plant's increased size and complexity.

For Iran to amass enough fissile material to conduct an underground test similar to North Korea's 2006 nuclear explosion, it would likely have to kick out monitors of the IAEA—the U.N. nuclear agency—from its one known uranium enrichment site at Natanz. Technicians then could reconfigure the centrifuges now churning out nuclear-fuel grade enriched uranium to highly enriched, weapons-grade material.

Israel on the Move

This will be the story of 2009.

From FoxNews: Israeli Navy Prepares for Potential Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities

Two Israeli missile class warships have sailed through the Suez Canal, ten days after a submarine capable of launching a nuclear missile strike, in preparation for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The deployment into the Red Sea, confirmed by Israeli officials, was a clear signal that Israel was able to put its strike force within range of Iran at short notice. It came before long-range exercises by the Israeli air force in America later this month and the test of a missile defense shield at a U.S. missile range in the Pacific Ocean.

Israel has strengthened ties with Arab nations who also fear a nuclear-armed Iran. In particular, relations with Egypt have grown increasingly strong this year over the “shared mutual distrust of Iran”, according to one Israeli diplomat. Israeli naval vessels would likely pass through the Suez Canal for an Iranian strike.

“This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats,” an Israeli defense official said.

It is believed that Israel’s missile-equipped submarines, and its fleet of advanced aircraft, could be used to strike at in excess of a dozen nuclear-related targets more than 800 miles from Israel.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, said that his Government explicitly allowed passage of Israeli vessels, and an Israeli admiral said that the drills were “run regularly with the full co-operation of the Egyptians.”

Two Israeli Saar class missile boats and a Dolphin class submarine have passed through Suez. Israel has six Dolphin-class submarines, three of which are widely believed to carry nuclear missiles.

Jewish People Returning

I recently talked to a friend of mine who returned from a trip to Israel. He said he spoke to the scholars there and they were amazed at the rate Jews from all over the world are returning to Israel. He indicated that Jews are coming from all over the globe, especially Russia, and that it is amazing to see what is going on.

God's chosen people: Check out these prophecies from lamblion

Prophecies Currently Being Fulfilled

1. The Jewish people will be regathered in unbelief from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:11-12). Fulfillment: 20th Century and continuing.

2. The state of Israel will be re-established (Isaiah 66:7-8 & Ezekiel 37:21-22). Fulfillment: May 14, 1948.

3. The Jews will once again re-occupy the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:4-8), Fulfillment: June 7, 1967.

4. The land of Israel will be reclaimed from its desolation, becoming once again a land of agricultural abundance (Ezekiel 36:34-35). Fulfillment: 20th Century and continuing.

5. The Hebrew language will be revived from the dead (Zephaniah 3:9). Fulfillment: 19th & 20th Centuries.

6. All the nations of the world will come together against Israel over the issue of the control of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:1-3). Fulfillment: Currently occurring.

Prophecies Yet To Be Fulfilled

1. The Arab nations of the world will attack Israel in a coordinated effort to annihilate the state (Psalm 83).

2. Israel will soundly defeat the Arab alliance (Zechariah 12:6).

3. Israel will dwell in security and prosperity (Ezekiel 38:11).

4. A Russian coalition consisting mainly of Muslim nations will invade Israel (Ezekiel 38:1-17).

5. The Russian coalition will be destroyed supernaturally by God (Ezekiel 38:18-23 & 39:1-8).

6. The Antichrist will intervene and guarantee the security of Israel, enabling the Jews to rebuild their Temple (Daniel 9:27).

7. At the end of three and a half years, the Antichrist will enter the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15-18, & 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

8. The Jews will reject the Antichrist, and he will respond with an attempt to annihilate them, killing two-thirds of them in the process (Revelation 12:13-17 & Zechariah 13:8-9).

9. At the end of the Tribulation, when the Jews have come to the end of themselves, they will turn to God and receive Yeshua as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10, Romans 9:27-28, & Romans 11:25-27).

10. Jesus will return and regather all believing Jews to Israel (Deuteronomy 30:1-9).

11. Israel will be established as the prime nation in the world (Isaiah 2:1-4 & Micah 4:1-7).

12. The Lord will bless the Jewish remnant by fulfilling all the promises He has made to Israel (Isaiah 60:1-62:7).

13. The blessings of God will flow out to all the nations through the Jewish people during the Millennial rule of Jesus (Zechariah 8:22-23).

Israel & Iran: Nuclear War Preperations Quicken.

The Iran-Israel nuclear endgame is now much closer

4 huge new developments have now led the way for an upcoming showdown in the middle east. Time to get ready.

In recent days, four key developments have clicked in to edge Iran and Israel much closer to a military denouement with profound consequences for American oil that the nation is not prepared to meet.

What has happened?

First, Iran has proven it can successfully launch a satellite into outer space as it did on February 2. Teheran claimed, to the incredulity of Western governments, that the satellite was to monitor earthquakes and enhance communications. Few believe that, especially since America's own space program continuously launches unpublished military satellite missions. Teheran plans three more satellites this year, creating an easily weaponized space net that worries American military planners.

Second, the International Atomic Energy Agency last week admitted that it had underestimated Iran's nuclear stockpile by about one-third. The watchdog group now confirms Iran possesses 2,227 lbs. of nuclear material, sufficient to create at least one nuclear bomb. That stockpile includes 1,010 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride, or approximately 700 kilograms containing the vital uranium 235 isotope, the stuff needed to weaponize.

Third, Iran has ramped up its enrichment program with thousands of new homegrown, highly advanced centrifuges. As The Cutting Edge News reported in April 2008, Iran wants 6,000 centrifuges to speed the enrichment of weapons-grade material. The number of working centrifuges now exceeds 5,400, including 164 new ones believed to be the faster and more efficient IR-2 and IR-3 models made in Iran. These new Iranian centrifuges are at least as sophisticated as its recently imported P-2 models.

American policymakers are now convinced that Iran, despite all protests and charades, is in a mad dash to create a deliverable nuclear weapon. The Obama administration has almost openly abandoned the assertions of the CIA's much-questioned 2008 National Intelligence Estimate that concluded Iran was not pursuing nuclear weaponry for the simple reason that its atomic program and military programs were housed in separate buildings.

Fourth, Binyamin Netanyahu has just become prime minister of Israel. He is determined to take action before - not after - Iran achieves its nuclear potential. This creates a volatile, hair-trigger situation that could explode at any moment. Hence, the endgame is now vastly closer than it was in mid-January, when many believed Israel might take action during the lame-duck interregnum.

Israeli countermeasures to date have included a massive international covert program of equipment sabotage, assassination of key nuclear personnel and a vibrant diplomatic offensive. But all these efforts combined amount to nothing more than delaying tactics, as Iran is irrevocably determined to achieve a nuclear weapon as fast as possible. Many believe such a weapon will be used to fulfill its prediction that Israel will soon be wiped off the map.

THE CONSEQUENCES for this confrontation are apocalyptic because Iran's full partner in this enterprise is Russia. The Russian company Atomstroiexport has provided most if not all of the nuclear material for the 1,000 megawatt Bushehr reactor, along with thousands of technicians to service and operate it.

Following its invasion of Georgia, Moscow forged ahead with final delivery plans for the S-300 advanced air defense system which can track scores of IAF airborne intruders simultaneously, whether low-level drones or high-altitude missiles, and shoot them down. But the S-300, the linchpin of Iran's defense against Israel, will not be fully operational for several months, creating a narrow window for Israel to act. Indeed, Russia has just announced a pause in missile deliveries for the system in fear that it will accelerate an Israeli response.

Iran, of course, has repeatedly threatened to counter any such attack by closing the Strait of Hormuz, as well as launching missiles against the Ras Tanura Gulf oil terminal and bombarding the indispensable Saudi oil facility at Abqaiq which is responsible for some 65 percent of Saudi production. Any one of these military options, let alone all three, would immediately shut off 40% of all seaborne oil, 18% of global oil, and some 20% of America's daily consumption.

America's oil vulnerability has been back-burnered due to the economic crisis and the plunge in gasoline prices. However, the price of gasoline will not mitigate an interruption of oil flow. The price of oil does not impact its ability to flow through blocked or destroyed facilities. Indeed, an interruption would not restore prices to those of last summer - which Russian and Saudi oil officials say is needed - but probably zoom the pump cost to $20 per gallon.

American oil vulnerability in recent months has escalated precisely because of oil's precipitous drop to $35 to $40 a barrel. At that price, America's number one supplier, Canada, which supplies some 2 million out of 20 million barrels of oil a day, cannot afford to produce. Canadian oil sand petroleum is not viable below $70 a barrel. Much of Canada's supply has already been cancelled or indefinitely postponed. America's strategic petroleum reserve can only keep that country moving for approximately 57 days.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, like the Bush administration before it, has developed no plan or contingency legislation for an oil interruption, such as a surge in retrofitting America's 250 million gas guzzling cars and trucks - each with a 10-year life - or a stimulus of the alternate fuel production needed to rapidly get off oil. Ironically, Iran has undertaken such a crash program converting some 20% of its gasoline fleet yearly to compressed natural gas (CNG) as a countermeasure to Western nuclear sanctions against the Teheran regime that could completely block the flow of gasoline to Iran. Iran has no refining capability.

The question of when and how this endgame will play out is not known by anyone. Israeli leaders wish to avoid military preemption at all costs if possible. But many feel the military moment must come; and when that moment does come, it will be swift, highly technologic and in the twinkling of an eye. But as one informed official quipped, "Those who know, don't talk. Those who talk, don't know."

The writer is The New York Times best-selling investigative author of IBM and the Holocaust, Internal Combustion and the just released The Plan: How to Save America When the Oil Stops - or the Day Before (Dialog Press).

Iran & WMD

The war between gog & magog seems to be closing even quicker than one thought possible. News reports now show that Iran has the uranium that many feared. Israel will not tolerate this for long.

Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Iran has now built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

They said Iran had now accumulated more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at a facility in Natanz. If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.

“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

The new figures come in a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, released on Thursday.

This revealed that Iran’s production of low enriched uranium had previously been underestimated.

When the agency carried out an annual stocktaking of Natanz in mid-November Iran had produced 839 kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride – more than 200kg more than previously thought.

Tehran then produced an additional 171 kg by the end of January.

“It’s sure as hell certain that if they didn’t have it [enough] when the IAEA took these measurements, they will have it in a matter of weeks,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Iran’s success in reaching such a “breakout capacity” – a stage which would allow it to produce enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months – crosses a “red line” that for years Israel has said it would not accept.

However, UN officials emphasise that in order to produce fissile material Iran would have to reconfigure its Natanz plant to produce high enriched uranium rather than low enriched uranium – a highly visible step that would take months – or to shift its stockpile to another clandestine site.

No such sites have been proved to exist, although for decades Iran hid evidence of its nuclear programme.

A senior UN official added that countries usually waited until they had an enriched uranium stockpile sufficient for several bombs before proceeding to develop fissile material. But he conceded that Iran now had enough enriched uranium for one bomb.

“Do they have enough low enriched uranium to produce a significant quantity [enough high enriched uranium for a bomb]?” he asked. “In theory this is possible, [although] with the present configuration at Natanz it isn’t.”

David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, said: ““If Iran did decide to build nuclear weapons, it’s entering an era in which it could do so quickly.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009