Current Events and Links

Prophetic Significance of Israel

UN nuclear chief : Deal with Iran reached on probe

May 23, 2012 -

Despite some remaining differences, a deal has been reached with Iran that will allow the UN nuclear agency to restart a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran has secretly worked on developing nuclear arms, the UN nuclear chief said Tuesday.

Source: Fox

Israel skeptical of Iranian nuke deal with UN - Fox

Prophetic Significance of Israel

Plans to strike Iran ready, U.S. envoy to Israel says

May 16, 2012 - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that the U.S. is ready to strike Iran's nuclear developments if necessary. He said,

"It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force. ..But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but it's ready."

Source: Haaretz

Iran to Hezbollah: Don't strike Israel - YNet News

U.S. war drill in Jordan – Israel not invited - WND

Israel fears nuclear deal between Iran, world powers as Baghdad talks draw near

May 15, 2012 - Talks will begin on May 23 in Baghdad between top world powers and Iran about ending their pursuit of nuclear weapons. Israelis fear that Iran will agree to a preliminary compromise that will not actually stop its work but would limit Israel's option of a pre-emptive strike. On an army radio interview, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said,

“If the demands are expressed in the minimalistic manner which we suspect, Iran could agree to all of them, and still be able to continue progressing toward a nuclear weapon. In such a case these talks will not help in stopping Iran.”

Source: Haaretz

Iran Hangs 'Mossad Agent' for Scientist Killing

May 15, 2012 - Majid Jamali Fashi, who was an agent for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, was hanged at Tehran's Evin Prison. He was convicted in 2010 for killing an Iranian nuclear scientist, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, by detonating a remote-controlled bomb attached to his motorcycle.

Source: Newsmax

Hamas says it will not go to war for Iran

May 10, 2012 - Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh answered questions about the complex developments in the Middle East now that Israeli leadership has been united. He said that if Israel carries out a pre-emptive strike against Iran Hamas will not let itself be dragged into a war against Israel.

"Hamas is a Palestinian movement that acts within the Palestinian arena and it carries out its political and field actions in a way that suits the interests of the Palestinian people... Iran did not ask anything from us and we think Iran is not in need of us."

Source: YNet

Does Israel's New Unity Government Mean an Attack on Iran is Coming?

May 10, 2012 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a unity government with the rival Kadima Party. This was totally unexpected since Shaul Mofaz, who took over the Kadima Party just two weeks ago, after vowing to never join Netanyahu's government, will become deputy prime minister. This development means that the unity group will have 94 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset, delaying the need for an election for at least another year. Mofaz has been opposed to an attack on Iran, but he is not likely to interfere if Netanyahu decides to take this action.

In short, this move doesn't automatically mean that an attack on Iran in imminent. However... if Netanyahu does decide that an attack is necessary, there will be little to stand in his way.

Source: The Atlantic Wire

Israel’s new coalition echoes the unity government that came together on the eve of the [1967] Six Day War - Tablet Magazine

Jpost poll: Most Israelis support US-led Iran strike

April 30, 2012 - According to a new Jerusalem Post poll, the vast majority of Israelis would support an attack against Iran if it was led by America, leading an international consortium of air forces.

Seventy-two percent would back an international strike, while just 14% would oppose it, and 14% did not express an opinion.

On the other hand only 45% would be in favor of an Israeli attack without the US support.

Source: Jerusalem Post

Israelis: Best Time to Bomb Iran Is During US Election Campaign - NewsMax

Israel's Gathering Storm - Huffington Post

Israel Defense Minister Restates Fears of Nuclear Iran

April 27, 2012 - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak felt the need to respond to the recent statement by Israel's military chief, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz that Iran was unlikely to actually assemble a nuclear weapon because of the likely global backlash. Gantz had said that the Islamic republic was "very rational."

Barak told foreign diplomats on Israel's independence day that Iranian leaders were not "rational in the Western sense of the word."

Believing otherwise "borders on blindness or irresponsibility", said Barak, who branded Iran, with its religiously fueled calls for the Jewish state's demise, as seeking regional hegemony and being "undeterred by the apocalyptic."

Source: NewsMax

Israel's top general says Iran unlikely to make bomb - Reuters

Egypt Terminates Gas Deal with Israel

April 21, 2012 - One of the most important effects of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel was the supply of natural gas to Israel. The arrangement has not been popular in Egypt, especially since the Arab Spring uprising of last year and the unseating of President Mubarak.

The head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company said Sunday it has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel because of violations of contractual obligations, a decision Israel said overshadows the peace agreement between the two countries.

The pipeline supplying the gas to Israel has been blown up by activists 14 times since the uprising.

Israel is currently developing its own natural gas fields off its Mediterranean coast. In a few years the country expects to be self-sufficient.

Source: NewsMax

U.S. ambassador to Israel sounds warning on Iran

April 19, 2012 - At a luncheon in Tel Aviv, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel B. Shapiro, spoke about a variety of international issues that affect Israel. In regard to Iran he said said that while the United States preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program "no options were off the table."

He also challenged Egypt to honor its peace treaty with Israel and to oppose the Palestinian's rocket attacks against Israel.

Shapiro expressed solidarity with the one million Israelis in the country's central and southern region who were within range of last month's 10-day, 300-rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip.

Source: Haaretz

Poll: 'Israeli nuclear bomb would deter new Holocaust' - Jerusalem Post

PM: Israel obligated to prevent nuclear-armed Iran - Jerusalem Post

Netanyahu on Holocaust Remembrance Day - Israel obligated to prevent nuclear-armed Iran - Jerusalem Post

Tourism to Israel Hits All-Time High

April 18, 2012 - In spite of the unsettling developments in the Middle East, Tourism to Israel is better than ever!

During the first three months of the year, 752,000 tourists came to Israel, representing an all-time high for the first quarter. The first-quarter figures were up 1 percent over the previous all-time high for the same period, reached during the first quarter of 2010.

Source: Crosswalk

Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near

April 15, 2012 - An Israeli TV broadcast a detailed report of Israel's plans to carry out a military strike against Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop their nuclear developments. The report was cleared by the military censor.

No order to strike is likely to be given before the P5+1 talks with Iran resume in May, the reporter, Alon Ben-David, said. “But the coming summer will not only be hot but tense.”

Source: Times of Israel

IDF officials: Missile attack on Israel would produce less than 300 casualties

April 4, 2012 -

Israel Defense Forces officials told cabinet ministers on Monday that should Israel undergo a coordinated missile attack, there would be less than 300 Israeli casualties.

If Israel were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities they could expect missile attacks from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Syrian army, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and terror organizations in Gaza. The response could last for three weeks. Thousands of missiles and rockets would strike Israel. There would be severe damage to property and infrastructure, and hundreds of people would be wounded.

The estimate of 300 deaths is lower than earlier projections.

Source: Haaretz

Bolton Charges Obama Purposely Undermining Israel

Mar. 30, 2012 - Former UN Ambassador John Bolton said that the Obama Administration leaked a sensitive story about the fact that Israel had been granted access to airfields in Azerbaijan -- along Iran's northern border. This surprising information would mean that Israel could attack Iran without refueling enroute. The information came from an article in ForeignPolicy magazine.

"I think this leak today is part of the administration's campaign against an Israeli attack," Bolton claimed on Fox News.

Source: Fox

Opinion: Israel's plan to attack Iran put on hold until next year at the earliest

Mar. 29, 2012 - A recent war simulation conducted by the U.S. projected that an Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear facilities would result in the death of 200 Americans. This implies that the death of Americans would be on Israel's hands. In the meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman George Little announced that the Defense Department would be seeking more money to help Israel fund the Iron Dome antimissile defense system. Columnist Amir Oren gives his opinion of what this means:

When [Israeli Defense Minister Ehud] Barak thanked the Obama administration "for helping strengthen Israel's security," he was abandoning the pretension to act against Iran without permission before the U.S. presidential elections in November.

In essence this was an announcement that this war was being postponed until at least the spring of 2013.

Source: Haaretz

'Global March to Jerusalem' to See Thousands March for Palestinian 'Freedom'

Mar. 29, 2012 - Pro-Palestinian communities from around the world will participate in a "Global March to Jerusalem" this Friday by marching for "freedom for Palestine and its capital Jerusalem."

The delegates seek to have one million people march in solidarity along the borders of Israel in surrounding Middle Eastern countries in an attempt to come "to the nearest point possible" to the ancient and historically significant city.

Source: Christian Post

State Department Won’t Say Jerusalem Is in Israel

Mar. 28, 2012 - In an official State Department document has listed Jerusalem as a separate entity from Israel. This action is in keeping with its longstanding policy not to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s official capital—despite a U.S. law stating otherwise.

Obama faced criticism on the issue last year, when it was revealed that the White House had scrubbed all references to Jerusalem being part of the Jewish state from a collection of photos on its website.

Source: Free Beacon

- Jewish World Review

Israel and USA Disagree on Iran Timetable

Mar. 22, 2012 - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says that Israel and the US agree that Iran can not be allowed to have nuclear weapons, but because to the superior military might of the US and their role as a world leader, they do not agree on the timing of an attack.

Israel “cannot afford to wait” in such a situation, Barak told Israel Radio, adding in an interview Thursday, “Israel feels directly threatened by a nuclear Iran.” However, Barak added, “several more months” can be given to allow sanctions and negotiations to run their course.

Source: Gavriel Queenann - Hope for Today

Evidence Grows that Israel is Set for War, But What If Russia Intervenes?
Joel Rosenberg

Best-selling author Joel C. Rosenberg recounts evidence that Israel may attack Iran soon, but brings up the question of what would happen if Russia intervenes. He cited a New York Times story over the weekend that Russia's Vladimir Putin needs to drive oil prices higher (an average of $150/barrel) for the next few years in order to keep his lavish campaign promises. It would help his cause to encourage or foment more tensions in the Middle East. Putin is already moving Russian forces into Syria. He’s also actively preparing to build a new regional political/military/economic alliance he calls the “Eurasian Union.”

Rosenberg asks what would happen if Russia signed a mutual defense treaty with Iran, so that an attack against Iran would also be an attack against Russia? What if Russia went even further and persuaded Iran to dismantle it's nuclear program, then led the U.N. to call for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Israel would be under pressure to dismantle its own nuclear program, possibly leading to the fulfillment of the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39 and the “War of Gog and Magog.”

Source: Joel C. Rosenberg's blog

US War Game of Israel Striking Iran Projects Regional War, Hundreds of American Deaths

Mar. 20, 2012 -

A classified exercise simulating war to assess the potential ramifications of an Israeli attack on Iran determined that such a strike would lead to a regional war that would suck in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead.

Source: NewsMax (from New York Times article)

Obama’s First Priority: Stop Israel

Mar. 11, 2012 - Charles Krauthammer accuses President Obama of pretending to be tough on Iran while giving them yet another round of discussions without a serious timeline for completion. What's worse is that this ineffective olive branch puts Israel in a negative situation. If Israel were to strike Iran's nuclear facilities during this time they will be "universally condemned for having aborted a diplomatic solution."

So what is Obama’s real objective? “We’re trying to make the decision to attack as hard as possible for Israel,” an administration official told the Washington Post in the most revealing White House admission since “leading from behind.”

Source: The National Review

US 'offered Israel new arms to delay Iran attack'

Mar. 8, 2012 - Unnamed Western diplomats said that during the meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the US administration offered to supply Israel with advanced bunker-busting bombs and long-range refuelling planes if Israel would agree not to attack Iran until 2013, after the November elections in the US.

Source: AFP (Google)

Think-tank: Israeli attack on Iran unlikely this year - YNet News

Iran sends in the trucks: satellite images suggest nuclear clean-up - Sydney Morning Herald

Adamant Obama confronts Netanyahu with a lone decision on Iran

Mar. 5, 2012 - President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today. The intelligence experts at DEBKA predict that President Obama will stick with his position that a military strike would be “premature” and that economic and diplomatic pressure against Iran need more time to produce results.

Even before hearing what Israel had to say, Obama was resolved to oppose military action on Iran and not be moved on this. Now he is additionally determined to put his Israeli visitor in his place and draw a line on Jerusalem’s influence in Washington - both as a lesson to Jerusalem and an incentive for Tehran.

Source: DEBKAfile

AP: Israel Won't Warn US Before Iran Strike

Feb. 28, 2011 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak told top-level U.S. visitors to the country, that Israel would not warn the U.S. before striking Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is necessary, they would keep the Americans in the dark to decrease the likelihood that the United States would be held responsible for failing to stop Israel's potential attack.

Source: NewsMax

Covert ops have Israel placing ships in position

Feb. 14, 2012 - According to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin Israel has placed under-cover ships in the Arabian Sea, near the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. In that position they may be used for the vital "C4ISR" functions (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance).

This would give the Israelis the capability of not only intelligence-gathering on Iranian communications of its missile and air defense activities but also to coordinate attacks employing jet fighters, missiles and missile-carrying submarines.

Source: WND

Krauthammer: Israel ‘will strike’ Iran to ‘prevent a second holocaust’ - Yahoo

US Prof. Tells Newsweek Israel Must Attack Iran – Now

Feb. 7, 2012 - Harvard University Professor Niall Ferguson told Newsweek that Israel must attack Iran now.

Prof. Ferguson maintains that whether he likes it or not, President Barack Obama will come to Israel’s defense if it attacks Iran in an attempt to slow down its nuclear development, if not destroy its nuclear facilities altogether.

The U.S. already has two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf (CVN 72 Abraham Lincoln and CVN 70 Carl Vinson) and another one (CVN 77 George H.W. Bush) is on its way.

Source: IsraelNationalNews

Israel and Iran on the Eve of Destruction in a New Six-Day War - Newsweek

U.S. anxiety grows over possible Israeli plans on Iran

Feb. 4, 2012 - Confusing and contradictory reports abound about Israel's possible plans to attack Iranian nuclear installations before it is too late to stop their development of nuclear weapons. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that he believes Israel will most likely strike Iran in a few months. But Ken Pollack, a former White House and CIA official opined that the increasing dire warnings from Israel's leaders were misleading.

"If Israel has a good military option, they just take it, they don't talk about it, they don't give warnings...So the fact that they are talking about it, to me, is one tip-off that they don't have a good military option."

Source: Haaretz

Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US - Jewish World Review

Krauthammer: Leak indicates Israeli attack on Iran ‘certain’ - Daily Caller

84% of Israelis belive in God

Jan. 27, 2012 - A new study by The Guttman Center of the Israel Democracy Institute was based on the answers of 2,803 Israel adults about their religious beliefs and levels of observance.

A full 84 percent of respondent professed a belief in God, 76% of Israeli Jews eat kosher at home; 70% believe that the Jews are the chosen people; and 61% think the state of Israel should ensure that public life is conducted according to Jewish religious tradition.

Source:

Benjamin Netanyahu renews speculation over military action against Iran

Jan. 25, 2012 - The commander of the Israel Defense Forces is planning to retire, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is advancing the candidacy of his military secretary, Maj Gen Yihanan Locker, a pro-war officer, for the position.

Mr Netanyahu, supported by Ehud Barak, his defense minister, is widely known to lead a camp favouring military action against Iran but he has run into persistent opposition from senior military and intelligence commanders who question whether unilateral air strikes would be effective.

Source: Telegraph UK

Will Israel Attack Iran? -NY Times Magazine

Michele Bachmann: Stage set for worldwide nuclear war against Israel

Nov. 13, 2011 - During a presidential candidates' debate. Michelle Bachmann warned that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and is using countries like Syria and groups like Hamas to threaten Israel's existence. She said,

“The table is being set for worldwide nuclear war against Israel.”

Bachmann is a member of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. She criticized President Obama for not taking a stronger stand on the side of Israel.

Source: Washington Post, Times of Oman, Council on Foreign Relations

Bachmann worries Israel to be target of nuclear war - Oman Times

Campaign 2012 Roundup: Bachmann on Foreign Policy, Perry on Iran, Pundits on Romney - James M. Lindsay - Council on Foreign Relations

Israeli scientist Shechtman wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Oct. 5, 2011 - Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman of the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa is the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry for 2011.

Shechtman is the tenth Israeli or Israeli-born scientist to win a Nobel Prize, and the third to win for chemistry.

Source: Jerusalem Post

Beck: We are entering the age of the miracles of God

Aug. 22, 2011 - Glen Beck hosted the first of three days of special events in Israel to declare the love and support of evangelical Christians for the Jewish people. In Caesarea, at his Restoring Courage rally, Beck told the 3000 people in attendance:

“Be not afraid, know who he is, know his face, know that he is a God of covenants and miracles. We are leaving the age of man-made miracles of spacecraft, and we are entering the age of the miracles of God.”

Pastor John Hagee, head of Christians United for Israel, was also a speaker at the event.

Source: Jerusalem Post

A Message of Courage for Israel in the Face of Attacks - CBN

2nd Jewish Temple just 'waiting to be unearthed'

Jun. 6, 2011 - Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University, one of Israel's most prominent archaeologists, says he is convinced that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, "just waiting to be excavated." He accuses the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount of destroying Jewish artifacts while attempting to turn the Temple Mount into a "giant mosque."

Source: WorldNetDaily

Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape

May 31, 2011 - A new section of the underground tunnel near the ancient Western Wall of the Temple Mount will be opened soon. This article gives details and links to pictures of the area that is now open to visitors.

Source: Yahoo

Obama's draft speech to urge '67 borders, negate PA's state bid

May 17, 2011 - When President Barack Obama delivers his next speech on Thursday he is expected to urge Israel to return to the 1967 lines and discourage the Palestinian Authority's plans for a unilateral declaration of statehood in September.

Obama will call on Jerusalem and Ramallah to reignite the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, saying it is the only way to achieve viable peace.

He is planning to demand that the Palestinian Authority abandon terror and recognize Israel as the Jewish state. It is thought that he will also say that Israel must cease any settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Source: YNet News

Netanyahu: Conflict is about 1948, not 1967 - YNet News

Netanyahu: Israel willing to 'cede parts of our homeland' for true peace - Haaretz

Hamas accepts 1967 borders, but will never recognize Israel, top official says

May 12, 2011 - During talks about how to implement a reconciliation agreement signed by Hamas and Fatah last week, Mahmoud Zahar, one of Hamas' top officials, said that Hamas would be willing to accept a Palestinian state within 1967 borders. However, he said that they would never recognize Israel because it would deprive future Palestinian generations of the possibility to 'liberate' their lands.

Palestinian leaders plan to ask the United Nations General Assembly in September to recognize a Palestinian state in all the lands Israel occupied in 1967.

They also threaten to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally if they do not reach a negotiated settlement.

Source: Haaretz