David Dolan's press credentials not renewed in Israel

Shalom from Jerusalem,

I am very sorry to announce that this will be my last daily war update, at least for the time being. The reason is explained below. I will try to send out additional updates if the situation dramatically deteriorates, such as if we head into a direct war with Syria, as is increasingly possible with Israeli military operations due to be significantly expanded in southern Lebanon. Thanks again to the many subscribers who have written to express your appreciation for these updates.

With extremist Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addressing the world yet again this evening—issuing his usual anti-Israel and anti-American diatribes as if he was Osama Bin Laden, and naming his hard-line terms for ending the escalating conflict as if he were the elected leader of Lebanon, while threatening any Lebanese groups that dare to question his apparent supremacy—the Israeli Security Cabinet has voted nine to three (the three votes were all abstentions) to dramatically widen the ground offensive against the Syrian and Iranian–backed Hizbullah militia. The ministers took seven hours to arrive at their fateful decision. This came as the extremist jihad force continued to blitz Israeli cities and towns today from southern Lebanon . Army leaders—who are known to have recommended the much larger ground offensive from the start of the conflict four weeks ago today—say that beefed up IDF forces will now fight their way towards the Litani River , some 18 to 20 miles north of the Israeli border in most places. The main goal will be to completely clear the area of Hizbullah fighters and rocket launchers.

Analysts say the expanded IDF operation, which will undoubtedly involve heavy clashes and many casualties on both sides, may take at least one month to accomplish. How the United States , France and other western powers will react to the belated massive military action is not yet known. Left-wing Israeli politicians are already strongly criticizing the cabinet decision. It is certain that Hizbullah, the Lebanese government, Syria and Iran will respond fiercely to the expanded action, along with the rest of the already agitated Muslim world, even if many in the Lebanese government and nation are actually glad that Israel is finally taking the tough action that many expected, and actually wanted, from the start of the conflict. Late reports say the offensive will not begin right away, but sometime before the end of this week. But other reports say some IDF forces have already been air dropped north of the Litani River . All this comes as attempts to arrive at a ceasefire resolution falter at the United Nations in New York, mainly due to Lebanese objections to certain provisions proposed by the US and France earlier this week.

While the Israeli Security Cabinet was debating the army’s desire to significantly expand the ground operation, fierce fighting raged in many areas. Unconfirmed foreign media reports say that at least 11 IDF soldiers have been killed so far in today’s intense clashes, and many more wounded. This comes after five soldiers perished on Tuesday. Meanwhile Hizbullah fired one its powerful longer-range Syrian-supplied Fajr rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv, but it was reportedly intercepted and shot down by Israeli missiles, landing harmlessly in the city of Haifa . Footage of the downed missile is being shown on Israeli TV tonight. Fajr rockets were also fired at the Israeli town of Beit Shean, located in the northern Jordan Valley due south of Tiberius, and also at Palestinian Authority-controlled territory near Jenin in northern Samaria. Miraculously, no one was hurt in the powerful strikes, which created large craters in open spaces.

Over 60 smaller rockets also struck the decimated town of Kiryat Shmona so far today, and dozens others exploded in Ma’alot, Akko , the Golan Heights and several other locations, injuring a number of civilians and setting more homes, cars and forests on fire. In anticipation of a much more ferocious ground battle just ahead, thousands of northern border Israeli residents are currently being evacuated at government expense, many of them to tent camps being set up in the center of the country. Up until now, the estimated 300,000 northern residents who have fled the daily rocket barrages have done so at their own expense, leaving many poorer Israelis behind.

SUSPENDED UPDATES

As stated above, I must suspend these daily war updates, at least for the time being. The reason is a sad one for me personally. After living over half of my life in the land of Israel (I calculated that I officially passed the halfway mark last month), and after having possessed government-issued press credentials and a working visa since 1982, I have been informed by the press office this week—in the midst of a war—that my credentials will not be renewed. The reason is because of an Interior Ministry ruling last year that foreign journalists must fall under the general regulations for all foreign workers, such as the many Thai and Chinese agricultural laborers here in the land, along with thousands of Pilipino maids and caregivers, Romanian construction workers, etc. The law officially limits such people to a five year stay here in the land. Since I have lived and worked in Israel for nearly 26 years, I am obviously a bit over that time limit!

However, I am aware of the fact that several dozen exceptions have been made to this recently imposed journalistic limit. I am hoping and praying that I can be included in that number, but it is already taking extra efforts on my part to help make that happen. The fact is that the press office is only dimly aware, if at all, of the extensive journalistic work that I actually do, and not at all about my international speaking tours which are directly connected to my work here. I am not accustomed to going around taking about such matters. But I now feel compelled to make them aware of the scope of my activities, and so am in the process of asking specific media and other Israeli and overseas contacts for references and information on my overall work. Many have already kindly complied (with one prominent Jerusalem-based American Christian journalist referring to me as the “dean” of local Christian journalists, which I greatly appreciated, even if it made me feel a bit old!). Since this necessary process is already consuming much of my time, it seems prudent to suspend sending out these daily updates for the time being. Unlike the IDF, I simply do not have the time or energy to battle on two fronts at the same time.

Again, I deeply appreciate the many hundreds of notes of appreciation for these updates sent by many of you in recent weeks. I will continue to write and send out my monthly news and analysis report for the time being, along with my periodic World Net Daily commentaries, and the occasional war update as the situation demands it and as time permits. Thanks for your prayers on this matter, and of course also for the overall situation here in the turbulent Middle East.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Dolan is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived in Israel since 1980. He is also a Christian (and a wonderful speaker!) and has been sending out daily war updates from Israel.