Israel news from within Israel

[Soldier4Christ]

Americans paying rent for terrorists?
Militants complain they don't have enough money to cover their bills

JERUSALEM – Just days after it was announced the U.S. would transfer $150 million directly to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' government, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Abbas' Fatah party, were told they would receive cash grants, WND has learned.
 
According to Palestinian militant sources familiar with the issue, earlier this month, 20 members of the Brigades leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah complained to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad they did not have enough money to pay their bills, including, for many of them, rent for their apartments.
 
Last week, according to the informed sources, Fayyad told the complaining Brigades leaders he would provide them with a one-time grant of $3,000 each, or $60,000 to the Ramallah-based Brigades leadership.
 
The sources said after Brigades leaders in other West Bank cities, including Hebron and Nablus, heard of the grants, they also demanded pay increases.
 
"Some of the other fighters accused Fayyad of favoring the Brigades leaders in Ramallah since that's where Fayyad lives," said a militant source. "So he gave grants also to other cells."

The sources estimate at least $350,000 in grants to Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders were pledged by Fayyad since last week. Some of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders serve in Fatah security forces while others only work in the Brigades.
 
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, deadly shootings and rocket attacks. It is listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization even though U.S. policy considers the Fatah party to be "moderate."
 
Many members of the Brigades openly serve in Fatah's official security forces.
 
Fayyad's purported grants to the Brigades come after the U.S. announced last week it will transfer $150 million directly to accounts controlled by Fayyad, marking the first time in eight months America has transferred money directly to the PA instead of to nongovernmental agencies.
 
President Bush pushed Congress to remove a hold on a $150 million aid package to be transferred to the PA. Bush said the PA was in economic trouble and needed the money at a time it is "threatened" by extremists and negotiating with Israel.
 
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee earlier halted the aid fearing it would be used to fund terrorism.
 
Fayyad claimed to reporters last week the U.S. money, due to be transferred tomorrow, would go directly to the Palestinian national treasury to be used for running what he termed a cash-strapped government.
 
"We see this [U.S. aid] as significant, especially because it underscores the confidence with which our financial system is viewed internationally," Fayyad said at a signing ceremony last week at the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem.

[nChrist]

Americans paying rent for terrorists?
Militants complain they don't have enough money to cover their bills

JERUSALEM – Just days after it was announced the U.S. would transfer $150 million directly to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' government, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Abbas' Fatah party, were told they would receive cash grants, WND has learned.
 
According to Palestinian militant sources familiar with the issue, earlier this month, 20 members of the Brigades leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah complained to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad they did not have enough money to pay their bills, including, for many of them, rent for their apartments.
 
Last week, according to the informed sources, Fayyad told the complaining Brigades leaders he would provide them with a one-time grant of $3,000 each, or $60,000 to the Ramallah-based Brigades leadership.
 
The sources said after Brigades leaders in other West Bank cities, including Hebron and Nablus, heard of the grants, they also demanded pay increases.
 
"Some of the other fighters accused Fayyad of favoring the Brigades leaders in Ramallah since that's where Fayyad lives," said a militant source. "So he gave grants also to other cells."

The sources estimate at least $350,000 in grants to Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders were pledged by Fayyad since last week. Some of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders serve in Fatah security forces while others only work in the Brigades.
 
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, deadly shootings and rocket attacks. It is listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization even though U.S. policy considers the Fatah party to be "moderate."
 
Many members of the Brigades openly serve in Fatah's official security forces.
 
Fayyad's purported grants to the Brigades come after the U.S. announced last week it will transfer $150 million directly to accounts controlled by Fayyad, marking the first time in eight months America has transferred money directly to the PA instead of to nongovernmental agencies.
 
President Bush pushed Congress to remove a hold on a $150 million aid package to be transferred to the PA. Bush said the PA was in economic trouble and needed the money at a time it is "threatened" by extremists and negotiating with Israel.
 
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee earlier halted the aid fearing it would be used to fund terrorism.
 
Fayyad claimed to reporters last week the U.S. money, due to be transferred tomorrow, would go directly to the Palestinian national treasury to be used for running what he termed a cash-strapped government.
 
"We see this [U.S. aid] as significant, especially because it underscores the confidence with which our financial system is viewed internationally," Fayyad said at a signing ceremony last week at the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem.

This is INSANE!

[Shammu]

 Israel braces for Hizballah attack

Israeli security forces went on heightened alert Monday as the 40-day mourning period for assassinated former Hizballah deputy Imad Mughniyeh came to a close.

Hizballah leaders called for a mass rally in Beirut to mark the end of the mourning period, and said they possess undeniable proof that Israel was behind the February 12 Damascus bombing that killed Mughniyeh.

The Lebanese terror group and its Iranian sponsors have vowed to exact revenge for Mughniyeh's death by attacking Israeli and Jewish targets both in Israel and abroad.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel is taking the threats very seriously.

Mughniyeh, a co-founder of Hizballah who was behind the deaths of many Israelis, Arabs and Americans, was also on the hit lists of US security agencies.

Israel braces for Hizballah attack

[Shammu]

No matter how it looks, God is always in command. Nothing can be done without His consent and His will!! This is why Jesus must come back to destroy her enemies and rule with a rod of iron for 1,000 years. Keep looking up, and praising the Lord!!

[Shammu]

Netanyahu: If we leave Jerusalem, Iran and Hamas will take control

Opposition leader meets with US Vice President Cheney, two discuss need to remove Iranian threat before Islamic republic obtains nuclear bomb. Following meeting, Netanyahu tells Ynet, 'We must prevent Iran from building their main bases in the region, and particularly in Jerusalem'
Roni Sofer

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called on Shas once again to quit the government following his meeting with US Vice President Richard Cheney in Jerusalem on Sunday morning.

"I say to my friends in Shas, don't allow these negotiations on Jerusalem, which were confirmed by Foreign Minister (Tzipi) Livni on Friday. Quit the government now and prevent this danger," Netanyahu told Ynet.

The opposition leader said that he had warned Cheney against the Iranian danger.

"I spoke to him about the need to remove the Iranian threat before (the Islamic republic) arms itself with a nuclear bomb. There are additional Iranian issues which must be prevented, including the need to prevent Iran from building its main bases in the region, from Gaza to Lebanon, and particularly in Jerusalem," he noted.

"I made it clear to him that if we leave Jerusalem, Hamas, Iran and other forces affiliated with them will take control of it. They will threaten Jerusalem's wellbeing, Israel's security and the freedom of worship of millions of pilgrims and members of the different religions arriving in the city today," Netanyahu said, noting that Cheney told him he was fully aware of the situation, as was US President George W. Bush.

The US vice president is scheduled to meet with several other Israeli leaders. After his meeting with Netanyahu, Cheney met with President Shimon Peres, and was later due to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

'Committed to Israel's security'

Cheney is also expected to visit Ramallah, where he is due to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

On Saturday, Cheney told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "the United States backs Israel's right to defend itself against rockets from Hamas-ruled Gaza and will not pressure the Jewish state to take steps that threaten its security."

America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable, as is Israel's right to protect itself always against terrorism, rocket attacks and other attacks from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction," Cheney said, adding that "the United States will never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security."

The vice president reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and assured Palestinian leaders that "they, too, can be certain of America's goodwill" as it tries to help Israel and the Palestinians reach an accord. 

Netanyahu: If we leave Jerusalem, Iran and Hamas will take control

[Shammu]

Netanyahu is 100% right, Iran and Hamas wouldn't waste any time taking Jerusalem!!

[Shammu]

Messianics: Attack on boy one of many
Matthew Wagner
THE JERUSALEM POST
Mar. 25, 2008

Members of the Messianic community in Israel said Monday that while the near-fatal attack last week on 15-year-old Ami Ortiz of Ariel marks a major escalation, it comes after years of anti-missionary violence directed at the community by both Jews and Muslims.

"We get the feeling that nobody in Israel is willing to take a strong stand against violent anti-missionary activity," said Pastor Howard Bass, head of the Nahalat Yeshua [Jesus's Inheritance] Congregation in Beersheba.

"We have experienced numerous attacks on the Messianic communities by haredim over the years," said Bass. "But there is very little sympathy for our plight."

Ortiz was seriously wounded after a parcel bomb in the form of a Purim gift blew up in his face. Ortiz is the son of David Ortiz, a prominent Messianic Christian pastor.

This was the most serious attack against the embattled Messianic community in Israel. Both Muslims and Orthodox Jews, who are vehemently opposed to Christian missionary activity, are suspected of sending the bomb.

The Messianic community in Israel numbers about 15,000, spread out in roughly 120 congregations across the nation. The community members, who believe there is no contradiction between being Jewish and believing Jesus to have been the Savior and the Son of God, has been steadily growing, in large part due to proselytizing activities. About half of the community's membership was born Jewish.

Bass, who was born Jewish, said that he saw the growth of the community of "believers" as another sign of the imminent second resurrection of the Messiah. He admitted that he shared his beliefs with his neighbors in the hope that he would influence them.

"When I was involved with politics I tried to influence people's political views. Now I do the same thing with religion."

Just this week Bass said that two surveillance cameras that monitor his house of prayer were stolen. Last Saturday, during prayers at the 100-strong congregation, a group of haredim stood outside and shouted, temporarily stopping the prayers.

Beersheba has a history of tension between haredim and the Messianic community.

In December 2005, just before Christmas, Bass's congregation was attacked by hundreds of haredi demonstrators who received the backing of the local rabbinic leadership. The demonstrators had heard rumors that busloads of Jewish children were to be baptized by the community.

Calev Myers, founder and chief counsel of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, an advocacy group that represents members of the Messianic community, said that the police did not press charges against the assailants who forced their way into the church and forcibly stopped the baptism of two Israelis. The intruders threw chairs around and pushed Bass into the baptismal pool, according to Myers.

In Arad, another flashpoint for tension between the Messianic community and Orthodox Jews, the Chasdei Yeshua [Jesus's Loving-Kindness] Congregation, a tiny community of about 30, has been harassed repeatedly by the local Ger Hassidic community.

Lura Beckford, a Chasdei Yeshua member whose husband Edwin is presently under house arrest for attacking an anti-missionary activist in Arad last month during a confrontation, said that there had been numerous confrontations over the years.

"They've verbally attacked us on a regular basis and they even tried to burn down our chess club last February," said Beckford.

Meanwhile, Pastor David Ortiz, speaking to The Jerusalem Post from Schneider Medical Center, where his son Ami is hospitalized in serious condition, said that since he came to Israel over 20 years ago he has been the target of violence, mostly by Muslims.

"In the past, I have traveled into the neighboring Arab villages, which are all 100% Muslim, to distribute the whole Bible [Old and New Testament]," said Ortiz.

"Recently, with the deterioration of the security situation I stand outside the villages explaining to people about Jesus. Or I pick up local Arabs who hitchhike and I give them a Bible. I tell them 'This is the history of your people.'"

Ortiz said that he has been beaten up on at least one occasion by Palestinians from a neighboring village while distributing Bibles, and that a Molotov cocktail was once thrown at his car.

In the mid-1990's the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Said Sabri, issued a fatwa [religious order] calling to kill Ortiz.

"The fatwa was even published in the Al Quds newspaper. I got a call from the US Embassy asking me to keep a low profile.

"Luckily, I am still here, still ticking. But I live my life as if every day could be my last."

Last November Isa Bajalia, an Arab-American evangelical pastor who works with Ortiz in proselytizing among Palestinians, told the Post that he was forced to flee his hometown of Ramallah after being threatened by a Palestinian security official.

Bajalia, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, was ministering to a group of 30 to 35 people in Ramallah and carrying out missionary work there.

Ortiz said that he has also been exposed to mild anti-missionary campaigns initiated by Jews. Over the years pamphlets have been distributed in Ariel with his picture on them warning that Ortiz and others that belong to the Messianic community are "masquerading as Jews." But in general, Ortiz, who has brought significant Evangelical Christian financial support to Ariel, enjoys the backing of Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman.

Rabbi Shalom Lipgotcha2z, head of Yad Le'achim, the largest anti-missionary organization in Israel, said that he opposed all violent anti-missionary action. But he added that he saw the Messianic community as an enemy to the Jewish people.

"There is no one who hates Jews more than they do," said Lipgotcha2z. "They are trying to uproot Jewish faith, just like the Spanish did in the Inquisition. The only thing different is that these people cannot use physical force like the Spanish did. But they try to take advantage of the poor. They prey on Jews who do not know anything about Jewish heritage.

"We try to explain the 'truth.' We try to tell people that you cannot be Jewish and believe in Jesus at the same time. It just doesn't go together.

"Our job at Yad Le'achim is to make sure the Jewish people gets bigger, and fight people who are trying to make it smaller."

Messianics: Attack on boy one of many

[Shammu]

Bombing of Christian Pastor's Home Brings Messianic Jews Into Spotlight
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
March 27, 2008

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Police in Israel are considering all possibilities as they look for the person who sent a booby-trapped gift basket to the home of an American Christian pastor in Israel.

The pastor's teenage son was seriously injured when he opened the basket that was delivered to his home a week ago during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Suggestions that the culprits may be Jewish extremists -- not Palestinian terrorists -- have focused a spotlight on the battle over beliefs that sometimes happens inside Jewish Israel.

Sixteen-year-old Ami Ortiz suffered third degree burns over much of his body, a collapsed lung, two broken arms, and eye injuries. Two of his toes had to be amputated. The blast was powerful enough to blow out windows in the apartment.

Ami's father, David Ortiz, is a Christian who has worked extensively in the Palestinian areas, telling Muslims about Jesus. Some Muslims have become Christians because of his efforts, and Ortiz has been threatened because of his proselytizing.

Ortiz, a Christian, also leads a small Messianic Jewish congregation in Ariel. (His wife is Jewish and therefore Ami and his five siblings are considered Jewish, according to Israeli law.)

Messianic Jews are Jews by birth who believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. They believe in both the Old and New Testaments, and some celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays.

But religious Jews often resent Messianic Jews as missionaries. As one Israeli commentator put it, "zealous ultra-Orthodox (Jews) stand out among those who persecute missionaries."

But if the attack on the Ortiz family was intended to damage the Messianic Jewish community or turn Jews away from it, it seems to have had the opposite effect.

David Ortiz told Cybercast News Service that people from Ariel who previously would not talk to him have been coming to the hospital to express their sympathies.

Since the attack, there are have been numerous articles in local newspapers detailing the persecution of Messianic Jews, who number about 15,000 out of Israel's population of 6 million.

Attorney Calev Myers, the founder and chief council of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, said there are "isolated pockets" of persecution against Messianic Jews in Israel but mostly what they face here is "systematic governmental discrimination."

There is ongoing persecution in two southern Israeli cities -- Arad and Beersheba - where Messianics are harassed in various ways with little police intervention. The Baptist House in Jerusalem -- a meeting place for Messianic Jews -- recently was burned in what police are now calling an arson attack, although they have not apprehended the culprits.

Over the last four years, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice has handled almost 200 cases of alleged discrimination, such as government refusal to renew passports and to register the births of children born to Messianic couples, Myers said. In other cases, critics have mounted campaigns to have Messianic Jews fired from their jobs.

If the bombing at the Ortiz family home proves to be the work of Jewish extremists, it would definitely mark "an escalation," said Myers.

Aaron Rubin, the head of anti-missionary activity at Yad L'Achim, wondered why anyone would even ask his organization about the attack.

In the 50 years since the organization was founded, he said there have never been any suggestions that his group is violent. Rubin described Yad L'Achim as an "educational organization" intended to un-brainwash Jews.

According to Israeli law, it is not against the law to "missionize" (except to minors). However, the practice is severely frowned on and even feared here. Nor is it against the law to convert to another religion. But it is against the law to offer financial or other inducements to encourage someone to change his religion.

Not everyone believes that the attack was carried out by Jewish extremists. Hannah, a Messianic Jew who lives in Ariel, said everyone in the "peaceful" town is in shock.

The most tension the Messianic Jews ever experienced in Ariel was in the late 1980s, she said, when the Yad L'Achim would knock on believers' doors, snap their pictures when they answered, and then put up posters in town warning people against them.

The majority of Ariel's population is secular. Religious Jews range from ultra-Orthodox Haredis to Russians who eat pork and celebrate Christmas.

Santa Clauses and Christmas trees are sold in the city's shopping center at Christmas, and one store sells pork, she said. If the Jewish extremists haven't bombed the pork shops, why should they go after an individual, Hannah wondered.

On the other hand, David Ortiz is on Hamas' hit list and the group put out a fatwa - a religious edict - calling for his death several years ago, she noted. The Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the gift basket bomb and Hamas bragged that it had used an Israeli Arab to bring in the bomb, she said.

There have been several Palestinian terror attacks outside the gates of the community over the last few years, including one at the city's hotel, one at the gas station and at least one at the nearby bus stop.

Hannah wondered if it wasn't easier for the residents of Ariel somehow to think that the attack had been carried out by Jewish extremists with a score to settle than to believe that an Arab terrorist had made his way into the heart of their peaceful community.

"God knows exactly who they are," she said. "They won't get away. We want to see them brought to justice [and for it to be] the last time they ever do anything [like this]."

Bombing of Christian Pastor's Home Brings Messianic Jews Into Spotlight

[Shammu]

Some Arabs proudly mark Israel's rebirth
April 09, 2008

The residents of a small Arab village in northern Israel have decided to openly honor the 60th anniversary of Israel's rebirth by painting the dome of their local mosque in the national colors - blue and white.

A-Taibeh Mayor Hisham Zuabi told Israel's Maariv newspaper this week that his town turned the mosque into a banner of national pride because "we are all citizens of the state of Israel."

The move comes at a time of increasing tension between Israel's Jews and Arabs, punctuated last month when an Israeli Arab from Jerusalem massacred eight young Jewish Bible students in the capital.

Arab youth from the Galilee region have also been stoning Jewish motorists with increasing frequency.

But Zuabi said he rejects such hostility, noting that Jews and Arabs are cousins, and insisted that in his town a Jew will always feel as at home as an Arab.

Some Arabs proudly mark Israel's rebirth

[Shammu]

Some Arabs proudly mark Israel's rebirth
April 09, 2008

The residents of a small Arab village in northern Israel have decided to openly honor the 60th anniversary of Israel's rebirth by painting the dome of their local mosque in the national colors - blue and white.

A-Taibeh Mayor Hisham Zuabi told Israel's Maariv newspaper this week that his town turned the mosque into a banner of national pride because "we are all citizens of the state of Israel."

All I can say is WOW!! thats Cool!!

[Shammu]

Please remember Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
~~~~~~~~

Israeli intel projects a one-month war with Syria
April 8, 2008

TEL AVIV — Israel's intelligence community has concluded that the next war would involve missiles and Hizbullah, last at least a month and include Syria.

The intelligence community has drafted a series of scenarios for Israel's emergency services to prepare for future war. The scenarios envisioned the next war as including massive missile and rocket salvos, some of them containing chemical weapons, on Israeli cities.

"The scenarios are based on Arab military capability rather than intentions," an Israeli government source said. "The war in Lebanon was also seen as a taste of what a full-scale war would bring."

 Officials said Israel's military, police and emergency services have been on high alert for an attack by Hizbullah, Syria or Iran, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the current alert would last throughout April and did not rule out a continuation of high combat-readiness for the rest of 2008.

Under the scenarios, hundreds of Israelis would be killed and thousands injured in missile strikes on Tel Aviv. The enemy missiles would target strategic facilities, including Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Syria was also expected to be a participant in the next war against Israel. The intelligence community envisioned Hizbullah, Iran and Syria coordinating strikes on northern and central Israel. The Hamas regime and the Palestinian Authority would also fire rockets from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In one scenario, Iran would also attack the Jewish state. The intelligence community did not expect Iran to fire nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, but said such an attack could stem from Syria.

The Israeli casualty count would reach 230 in a conventional weapons attack. In a chemical strike, the intelligence community envisioned up to 16,000 deaths.

The intelligence community has also envisioned Iran's use of Hizbullah as a proxy in a nonconventional weapons attack. One scenario was that Hizbullah launches Iranian-origin Ababil unmanned aerial vehicles filled with toxic chemicals to strike a school or government building.

Officials said the scenarios reflected the Israeli military's two leading priorities — defending against missile threats as well as stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program. They said the rocket and missile threat was meant to be resolved through the development of defensive systems rather than offensive military campaigns.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said anti-missile systems would enable Israel to avoid a war of attrition and consider withdrawal from the West Bank as well as the Golan Heights. A short-range missile and rocket system, termed Iron Dome, was not expected to be ready until at least 2010.

Israeli intel projects a one-month war with Syria

[Shammu]

Large Israeli military drills raise alerts

By MEL FRYKBERG (Middle East Times)
April 08, 2008

JERUSALEM -- Tensions on Israel's northern border have increased significantly as the Jewish state began a week of the largest ever military exercises and emergency drills in the country's history on Sunday, raising fear and suspicion from its arch enemies Hezbollah, Syria and Iran that a preemptive strike could be in the offing.

In Beirut Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked the Lebanese army to raise its alert level, fearing that Israel may exploit the major military exercise to violate his country's sovereignty, Israel Radio reported on Saturday. He also requested U.N. peacekeepers, which monitor the border, to be vigilant.

Lebanese Army commander General Michel Suleiman also said that he had ordered his troops to raise alert and preparation levels in all army units until the end of the Israeli military drill.

Israel has been in a state of heightened alert following the end of the 40-day mourning period in the wake of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Mughnieh in a car bombing in Damascus in February. Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers accuse Israel's intelligence agency Mossad of being behind the killing and have sworn revenge.

But Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, tried to play down events by saying, "We are not seeking any military confrontations in the north," even as Israel launched the five-day security drill meant to simulate responses to war.

During the course of the week the exercises will "prepare the different services and institutes operating in the civilian environment for various emergency situations," stated an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman.

On Tuesday, sirens sounded throughout the country as children from kindergarten up practiced emergency procedures. State employees also participated in emergency drill procedures at their workplaces.

Immediately afterward local governments also joined in the exercise, following instructions distributed on the spot.

Scenarios for the rest of the week's exercises will include a simulated hazardous material spill in the Haifa Bay, the rescue of survivors from a collapsed building in the Meron and Nazareth areas and the firing of ground-to-ground missiles equipped with chemical warheads.

During the exercise Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are to conduct situation reviews and to make decisions based on the various scenarios as they unfold.

Barak paid a visit to Israel's northern border at the beginning of the week and threatened that Israel would strike anyone who tried to attack Israel. The fact that this appeared to be a statement prepared in advance and the timing of his visit were not lost on either the Syrians or the Lebanese.

A Syrian intelligence officer, linking Barak's statement, his canceling a trip to Germany, the cabinet's decision to redistribute gas masks, and the national emergency maneuver this week, would probably conclude that Israel was interested in escalation.

However, despite Israel's actions on the ground, diplomatic sources in New York claimed last Saturday that Israel requested UNIFIL inform the Lebanese government that the military and simulated evacuation exercises were neither a threat to Lebanon nor to Hezbollah.

Israeli military sources further added that they saw no clear signs of war on the Syrian front, but confirmed that both sides were on relatively high alert for fear of the other side's moves, mainly due to Hezbollah's calls for revenge.

Against the saber rattling in Israel and the contradictory soothing noises made by Olmert and his government in TV appearances and aimed at placating his nervous neighbors, seasoned Israeli analysts have questioned the motives of the Israeli government.

Some suggested that Barak's trip to the north could also be an attempt by the defense minister to play down internal squabbles he has with other Labor party member and to present himself as a mature politician who has risen above the sniping to focus on the country's security needs.

Other commentators stated that the rapid zigzagging of the Israeli government was reminiscent of the contradictory statements of last spring and summer – before the Israeli Air Force's attack on northern Syria on Sept. 6.

Israel and the United States claim that a Syrian nuclear site was bombed, but mystery continues to surround the incident as the Israeli government has remained tight-lipped.

The Iranians, who have been monitoring the latest events closely, are not thrilled and haven't missed the opportunity to wade into the fray, claiming that the drill was a direct result of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's recent visit to the region.

"Unfortunately, after every visit of senior American officials in the region and the occupied territories we witness similar actions by the Zionist regime," said Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Ali Hosseini.

Hosseini further urged the Arab states to monitor events in the region closely and called on the "provocative actions to be brought to the attention of the relevant officials in the international community."

Meanwhile, Hezbollah's southern Lebanon commander on Saturday was quoted as saying the militant group will "follow closely" the drill. While Israel examines Syria's intentions with suspicion, Damascus likewise is watching the Jewish state.

And the relative calm in the south of Israel and the Gaza Strip appears to be ending as Israeli military incursions involving deadly clashes with Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in the territory resume on an almost daily routine once again.

Large Israeli military drills raise alerts

[Shammu]

War between Israel and Syria will take place soon
Thursday, 10 April, 2008 @ 11:27 PM
By Claude Salhani

PNL party president Chamoun said in an interview that a war between Israel and Syria was imminent, Bashar al-Assad had a hand in Hariri's assassination, and that Hezbollah's power in Lebanon has been reduced to inducing traffic jams in Downtown Beirut through their still erect tent city.

Dory Chamoun is the sole surviving son of former Lebanese President Camille Chamoun, who founded the National Liberal Party, one of Lebanon's right-wing Christian groups.

As president during Lebanon's first civil war in 1958 Chamoun asked for U.S. intervention, and U.S. Marines were dispatched to quell the unrest.

The PNL, as Chamoun's party is known by its French acronym, is part of the pro-government and anti-Syrian March 14 coalition.

Following the brutal assassination on Oct. 21, 1990, of Dany Chamoun, (Dory's brother) along with his German-born wife Ingrid, and his two sons, Tarek, 7 and Julian, Dory found himself at the head of the National Liberal Party.

On a visit to Washington, D.C., Chamoun spoke with Middle East Times editor Claude Salhani about the situation in the region and in Lebanon. The following are extracts of the interview.

Claude Salhani: What is your perception of the current situation in the Middle East?

Dory Chamoun: The situation in the Middle East is not going to remain as it is. There is a peace process going on between Syria and Israel, which is on track. How to achieve it remains the question. It is a fact that the Golan Heights is to be divided. Israel wants part of the Golan Heights. This is something the old [former President Hafez] Assad refused.

Now, to achieve that part; they will not be able to achieve it through peace, because Mr. Assad who represents a minority regime cannot say, 'okay, I will give what my father did not give.'

There will be a mock-up war between Syria and Israel. And at the same time Israel will take the advantage to beat up Hezbollah. This time they will fight in the Bekaa Valley. This is a scenario that I see unfolding.

Q: What will be Iran's position in case of war between Syria and Israel, whether it's a mock-up war or not?

A: I don't see Iran going to war for the sake of Syria.

Q: What about Hezbollah?

A: Israel might like to make peace with Syria, but with a promise from Syria to put an end to Hezbollah; if Israel has such a mirage, because it is only a mirage. I don't see Syria upsetting its only ally, Iran. Besides, the opposition [Hezbollah] is getting weaker by the day. All that they have achieved is to congest the [Beirut] city center with their tents.

Q: Do you see Syria ever giving up its ambitions on Lebanon?

A: No doubt this is a dream Syria has always had. All their regimes had an appetite to swallow up Lebanon. We are not going to allow it. The only time they [the Syrians] succeeded was when they made a deal with the United States. They made two deals with them. The first deal was the Kissinger plan in 1976, but it failed when the Christians didn't run away.

In 1976 the Syrians said they would go in to quell Lebanon and establish peace; they didn't succeed, they didn't quell the Palestinians. At the end of the day Israel had to come in.

During the First Gulf War, the first Assad, who was an old fox, found an opportunity to make a deal with the Americans. He told them, 'I will be your ally against Saddam Hussein but in return I want Lebanon. I want to be able to use my air force and my navy in order to beat the [Christian Lebanese] resistance.'

Q: And now, what kind of assurance are you getting from the Bush administration?

A: The Bush administration is serious. The feedback is positive. Lebanon is on their agenda. They are earnest about wanting to help physically, financially, as well as giving some goods to the Lebanese army. Especially after the Nahr el-Bared incident [when the Lebanese army fought members of an Islamist Group called Fatah al-Islam], the Lebanese army proved that it is strong, that it will not splinter.

For once, the United States is not going to trade Lebanon against something else to achieve some sort of peace with Syria.

Q: You are getting guarantees from this administration. What happens next January if the Democrats are in the White House?

A: I'm not worried because the policy on Lebanon is not guided by diplomacy; it is guided by security needs. And if the people in charge of the security of the United States decide that Lebanon must continue to be what it is today, and that Lebanon must be safe and not fall into the hands of the Syrians.

Remember what happened when it was in the hands of the Syrians? All the world-wide terrorist organizations mushroomed in Lebanon. Again, I don't think they [the U.S.] can take the risk after 9/11.

I think the whole strategy of the United States vis-a-vis our part of the world has changed 180 degrees. At one time the security frontiers of the United States used to be the oceans. Today the frontier goes all the way to Pakistan and Afghanistan. That sort of security policy, which the U.S. is following today is going to be the guideline, whether they are Democrats or Republicans.

Q: Overall, how do you see the future of Lebanon?

A: I am optimistic. However, it's a sad fact that Lebanon is a tiny country surrounded by two of the most horrible neighbors. One wants to swallow up Lebanon, while the other would like to see it shattered to pieces because Lebanon is the anti-image of the Jewish State of Israel. Lebanon is a state where there are 18 confessions (religious groups) who knew how to live together. And can live together again.

Q: What about the presidency? Lebanon has been without a president since November.

A: There's a lot of fuss about the presidency, but one should not make a mountain out of a mole hill. You consider the two presidents we had - that were Syrian puppets - to be presidents? I don't.

Q: Who do you think killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri?

A: Definitely the Syrians.

Q: When you say the Syrians, did it come from President Bashar, or from the intelligence?

A: The way the regime functions in Syria, I don't think that anything of that magnitude could take place without Bashar knowing.

War between Israel and Syria will take place soon

[Soldier4Christ]

 An Arab member of the Israeli Knesset has called for the liberation of Jerusalem by the Moslem world

At the Jerusalem First Conference, recently held in Ramallah in the area of Judea and Samaria, the chairman of the United Arab List - Israeli Knesset member Ibrahim Sarsour - called on all Arabs and Moslems to focus their energies on the future of Jerusalem and act in concert to become a torrent on the road to liberating Jerusalem.

Sarsour emphasized the religious importance of Jerusalem for the Moslems and said that Israel's plans for the Temple Mount and around the city must be resisted. The Arab Knesset member recalled how the Moslems liberated Jerusalem during the Crusades and said it could be done today, that the liberation of Jerusalem is not an impossible mission and it must be done.

The call for the Moslem world to liberate Jerusalem by an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset is actually a call for the End Times scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

The status of Jerusalem for a negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has always been pushed to the end of any agenda for peace talks between the two parties. Every Israeli PM from the very beginning of the modern-day state of Israel has said that Jerusalem is the undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people. The Palestinian leadership as well has called for Jerusalem, if not all of it at least a portion of the holy city, to be the capital any future Palestinian state. With the call by an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset for the Moslem world to rise to the occasion and liberate the city of Jerusalem from the Israeli occupation, it has ratcheted up the discussion several notches.

This scenario is exactly what the ancient Jewish prophets wrote down 2,500 years ago would happen at the time of the end. Zechariah said that there would be those who would become arrogantly secure in their control of the city of Jerusalem, that's Zechariah 1:15. Joel, another Jewish prophet, wrote that a mighty Moslem militia would come to Jerusalem to liberate the holy city and take it away from the Jewish people, that's Joel 2:2-3.

The call for Moslems to liberate Jerusalem is indeed a call for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

[Shammu]

An Arab member of the Israeli Knesset has called for the liberation of Jerusalem by the Moslem world

The modern connection of Islam and Israel stretches back through time to our modern day. The confrontation was foreshadowed 4000-years ago in Genesis 21:5-14.  Sarah, Abraham’s wife, finally has the child promised by God, Isaac, his name means, laughter.  After the baby is weaned, which is normally about 9-month to 2-years after birth, there is a celebration.  During this celebration, Sarah sees Hagar the mother Ishmael scoffing at her and Isaac.  Sarah then demands Abraham cast Hagar and Ishmael out, to protect the inheritance of Isaac. Abraham agreed after God promised to look after Hagar and Ishmael, who are then sent away.

God clearly promised to make Ishmael and his descendants a great nation, but God also reserved the covenant with Isaac and later Jacob (Gen. 32:24-32).  The descendants of Ishmael later intermarried with other descendants of Abraham, bonding the nations (Gen. 28;9, 37:27), of Abraham outside of Isaac and Jacob.  So today, many people throughout the Arab and Muslim world claim descent from Abraham through Ishmael.

Why is this claim important?  What does it have to do with the end-times?   First, we know from the prophets, both in the Old and New Testaments, in the last days Israel and Jerusalem would be the focus of nations. (Zechariah 12:1-3).  Many of Abraham’s descendants, outside of Jacob, will try to claim the Biblical birthright of Isaac and Jacob. However, God confirmed his agreement in several ways with Isaac and Jacob. One proof is Abraham’s tomb, in Hebron.  There, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebecca and Leah rest.  Ishmael and Esau are not at Abraham’s grave, only the line of Biblical covenant is there. Ishmael attended the funeral of Abraham, he came to Hebron when Abraham died, but not buried there, only Isaac was.  Now many of these descendants are at odds with Jacob’s descendants.

So in many ways, the current conflict between Israel and the Muslim nations, is a continuation of a conflict, which began 4000-years ago, two families competing for the blessing of Abraham.  Isaac was the “son of promise” and the “son of faith”, while Hagar’s son Ishmael was the “son of unbelief” and the “son of human effort”.  This is an important point, before Ishmael and Hagar, God promised a child to Abraham through Sarah.  Sarah was old, therefore Sarah thought she needed to help God’s promise along, she therefore gave her husband, her bondwoman Hagar to fulfill God’s promise.  She did not believe God could accomplish his promise, demonstrating a lack of faith. Secondly, she felt she needed to accomplish God’s promise for Him, so she tried to fulfill the promise through Hagar, human effort.

This conflict between these two descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael ultimately will be demonstrated in a building central to Judaism and important to Islam.  This building, known the world over as the Dome of the Rock, or in Jewish circles, the Temple Mount will become the center focus in the end-times.

Though Islam is not mentioned specifically in the Bible, Islam involvement with the Temple Mount, and the link of Islamic peoples with Israel, demonstrates Islam plays a major role in the End-times.  For one, we know from the book of Daniel, the Dome of the Rock is removed before the Third Temple is completed.  Secondly, the Third Temple is the focus of a peace agreement, which is broken after 3.5 years.

The role of the Temple Mount and the rebuilding of the Third Temple is central to the end-time events in the Bible.  Both the Old and New Testaments refer to seminal event known as the Abomination of Desolation, as a key milestone in the end of the times.  The Abomination of Desolation requires a Temple on the Temple Mount. In that case, the Dome of the Rock, at some point prior to the Temple, is removed. Muslims have signaled such an event will lead to a World War of Islam against Israel.

What exactly is the Temple Mount?  The Temple Mount is a platform, built around Mt. Moriah, allowing the Temple to be over Mt. Moriah, a small elevated hill.  During the time of Herod, this Temple Mount platform was expanded, to its current status.

Here is a partial time line.

2050 B.C. Abraham called to Moriah, God promises to give the land Abraham and his seed. Through Abraham, all the nations would be blessed. Genesis 12:1-7

Abraham takes Isaac to the top of Moriah in a test of faith, to offer him as a sacrifice. God intervenes providing a ram in the place of Isaac. Genesis 22, Hebrew 11:8-9

1000 B.C. David plans First Temple, he is not permitted to build it. 2 Samuel 7:1-17

David purchases Threshing Floor of Araunah, site of First Temple and erects altar of sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. 2 Samuel 24:1-25 1 Chronicles 21:1-22:5

960 B.C. Solomon constructs Temple to the Lord, which God accepts and sanctifies. God warns the building would come to ruin and the people expelled from the land if they turn away. 2 Chronicles 7:19-20, I Kings 8

605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem, taking hostages and Temple treasures to Babylon. Daniel 1:2

592 B.C. Ezekiel taken to the Temple and shown the secret idol worship and apostasy, God warns He is about to destroy the Temple. Ezekiel 8-9

587 B.C Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon destroys the city of Jerusalem and the Temple 2 Kings 25

April 573 B.C. Ezekiel proclaims the Temple of the Glory of the Lord on Mt. Moriah. Ezekiel 40-43

539 B.C. Cyrus the Great defeats Babylon, allows the Jews to return to land of Israel and begin rebuild the Temple, Second Temple period begins. Ezra 1-3

516 B.C. Second Temple is completed Zechariah 4;9, Haggai 2:9, Malachi 3:1,

331 Alexander the Great spares Jerusalem and the Temple the he sees the High Priest, confirming his dream. Josephus, Zechariah 9:8

December 15, 167 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanies desecrates Temple proclaiming himself god, and sacrificing a pig at the Holy of Holies. Daniel 8:9, Daniel 11:21-35

162 B.C. Godly Jews under Matthias begin revolt culminating in repossession of Jerusalem. Daniel 11:32

63 B.C. Romans conquer Jerusalem, General Pompey enters the Temple, Holy of Holies. Roman period begins.

40 B.C. Herod the Edomite, made King of Judah by the Romans, expands Temple area. Herod later kills the children of Bethlehem

A.D.12-16 Jesus found in the Temple as a child, after being separated from Mary and Joseph

A.D. 33 Jesus proclaims the coming destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.

A.D. 70 Armies of Rome led by Titus, destroy the city of Jerusalem and the Temple as foretold by Jesus and Daniel, after the death of Messiah. Over 1-million Jews are killed by Romans. Daniel 9:26, Matthew 23:38-39, 24:1-2

A.D. 135 Hadrian installs Temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount,  causing Jews to revolt, in the Bar Kochba rebellion. Rabbi Akiva proclaims Bar Kochba the Messiah, Hadrian crushes rebellion, 580,000 Jews die.  Jerusalem leveled and rebuilt a Roman city named Aelia Capitolina, Jew are forbidden to enter.

A.D. 312 Rome becomes Christian under Constantine, Temple Mount used as a garbage dump.

A.D. 362 Julian the Apostate, allows Jews to rebuild the Temple, foundation explodes causing construction to stop. Julian later dies in battle, causing construction to stop.

A.D. 637 Islam conquers Jerusalem and Temple Mount from the Byzantine Kingdom, under the 3rd Caliphate, Omar.  Noble Sanctuary built on Temple Mount.

A.D. 687-690 Dome of the Rock built to proclaim  the faith of Islam, and Mohammad’s ascension into Heaven on his “Night vision”.

1099-1187 Crusaders Conquer Jerusalem and Temple from the Muslim establish Crusader era.  Ending with the re-conquest of Islam over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

1917 British capture Jerusalem from Muslim Turks, during World War I

May 1948 Jerusalem proclaimed capital of Jewish State after Jews defeat Arab armies.

1967 Jews take control of the Temple Mount after 6-day war. The first time in over 2100-years, a Jewish nation has control of the Temple Mount.

Rabbis of Israel, Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim, together with other leading rabbis, asserted that "For generations we have warned against and refrained from entering any part of the Temple Mount." Rabbinical consensus in the Religious Zionist stream of Orthodox Judaism hold that it is forbidden for Jews to enter the Temple Mount.

1982 Union of Third Temple Groups, "To the Mountain of the Lord," "The Faithful of the Temple Mount," and the "Jerusalem Temple Foundation." Planning for the Third Temple.

January 2005 A large group of leading national-religious rabbis signed a declaration confirming that the 1967 decision of Chief Rabbis Unterman and Nissim was still valid, declaring that it is absolutely forbidden for Jews to ascend on the Temple Mount until Moshiach, the Jewish Messiah comes.

May 2007, a group of right-wing Religious Zionist rabbis entered the Temple Mount. This elicited widespread criticism from other religious Jews and from secular Israelis, accusing the rabbis of provoking the Arabs.