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Israel News Digest: August 2011 / Jewish Year 5771 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries [Judea and Samaria] will be ours and we will take possession of them…’ therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with your jealousy and anger…” (Ezekiel 35:10-11).
Iran Says “No Option but to Get Rid of Israel” You may be thinking: “So what else is new?” For several years now, Iran has been talking about wiping Israel off the map. But the leaders are now saying they have “no option but to get rid of Israel”—a more blatant expression of their hostility. It’s also apparent that Iranian leaders are still looking for confirmation that they are on the right path. Their latest “confirmation” (excuse) was the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Darioush Rezaei outside his home in Teheran. (Ironically the man’s first name is the same as that of King Darius, who supported the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem in OT times: Ezra 6:15. But I think it’s safe to assume that this scientist was NOT in the least favorable to or supportive of the Jewish people.) According to the reports, based on Iranian police sources, Darioush Rezaei, 35, was shot dead by two gunmen firing from motorcycles on July 23. Rezaei's wife was injured in the attack and rushed to the hospital. This is the fourth attack on an Iranian nuclear scientist in the past year. In the previous cases, Iranian media and government spokesmen accused the Mossad, the CIA and MI6 of being behind the strikes (apparently they didn’t want to leave anyone out of all the famous intelligence organizations). This time Iran has blamed both the US and Israel, but has put the primary emphasis on Israel as being the “lackey” that actually did the “dirty work.” Iranian military leader Mohammad-Reza Naghdi said, “The main plot for this criminal act was conceived by the American government, and since it is scared of the reaction by the Muslim world due to the uprisings in the region, it had the Zionist regime commit the heinous act.” He concluded by saying, “In order to protect the security of our country, we have no option but to have the Zionist regime wiped off the map” (pajamasmedia.com, July 25). Ironically, they have actually already done this—on map boundaries, since maps used in Palestinian and Arab schools show the whole area of Israel as “Palestine,” with no mention of Israel. Iranian media have sent out conflicting reports about this incident: first, that the scientist was a physicist involved in Iran’s nuclear program; later, that he was just a student studying for a master’s degree in electricity. It doesn’t really matter, and they didn’t need a further excuse to attack Israel, which they decided to do a long time ago, and are only waiting for the right opportunity. As soon as their bomb is operational, as I have stated before, it will be “Checkmate!” It seems that feeble efforts such as the Stuxnet worm, assassinations and so forth, only put off the inevitable [but this is not to say that Israel was responsible for the assassination of the nuclear scientist]. The Iranians will continue their march toward a nuclear weapon until, or unless, Israel and the Western world put a decisive end to it. Israel’s favorite expression—iiye tov, “it will be all right”—is not going to solve the problem this time. If Israel is not making any military plans (maybe they are, but we have no knowledge of such at present), then one can only hope that they are praying! Israel Has Its Own “Spring” Revolt For several days now we have been hearing about the “housing revolt” in Israel. It seems that in some ways Israel has an economic situation similar to that in the United States—namely, that while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the middle class is caught somewhere in the middle. While the unemployment rate in Israel is very low (it was 5.7 percent in May), other conditions are not good: food is high, rents and mortgages are high, and tax is burdensome. The social gap in Israel is said to be the widest in the Western world. Two weeks ago, a group of young people set up a "tent city" in the high-end Tel Aviv Rothschild Boulevard to protest the unavailability of affordable housing in the city and other parts of the country. Since then, according to Debkafile, the movement, although never acquiring the same dimensions or fury, has assumed three attributes of the spring uprisings in Arab lands: (1) It enjoys backstage foreign political support—some from certain circles in Washington; (2) it is exploiting genuine popular grievances for political capital; and (3) it wants regime change, namely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's head on a platter (metaphorically speaking, of course). Self-appointed organizer Dafna Lief (or should I say Madame Defarge?) shouted through a bullhorn that “the revolution has begun.” Housing was not the issue, she said—rather, a comprehensive package of benefits must be forthcoming at once. Another called for the market economy to be abolished along with the present government because only the tycoons benefit. Others declared there is no point in waiting another 60 years; the time for action is now, and "Mubarak is waiting for Bibi" [meaning presumably, that he will join the ranks of ousted leaders.]
In spite of all
of this, Israel's democracy is alive and well with an over-abundance of parties,
an active opposition, an independent judiciary, high percentage of employment
and a thriving entrepreneurial and innovative economy. Still, for the reasons
noted above, the “middle class” is having a hard time. The “haves” are sitting
pretty and some of them say, “If you can’t make it in Tel Aviv, then go
somewhere else.” Needless to say, this is not good advice. Tel Aviv needs the
young, as well as the older population. As of this writing, the protest movement continues, and no one knows for sure where it will go. Though Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been unusually stable in a country where governments frequently come and go, the revolt could eventually lead to Netanyahu’s downfall and the election of a new government. It seems this could all be part of a world-wide leveling movement that is going on today in societies where many are no longer content playing the underdog while the wealthy are at ease. Though the French Revolution comes to mind, our prayer is that it will not prove to be the paradigm for any of these modern movements. Flotilla and “Flytilla”—Both Fizzle In last month’s Digest, we wrote about a new flotilla which was on its way to try to break the blockade of Gaza. One of them was a US ship with American and Canadian protestors on board. The flotilla did not get very far, as Greek authorities prevented most of the boats from setting sail for the Gaza strip. The Greeks even arrested the captain of the US ship, Audacity of Hope, and held him temporarily. Other boats experienced mechanical problems that rendered them unseaworthy. One can read a kind of running commentary on the progress and fate of the flotilla by going to their website, ustogaza.org.
One boat,
however, succeeded in eluding the Greek coast guard and sailed for Gaza. “Given the tremendous obstacles placed in the way of the flotilla, we should not for a moment think this work has been in vain; just the opposite,” Leslie Cagan, coordinator of the US boat to Gaza, wrote on the USTOGAZA website. The next publicity stunt of the pro-Palestinian activists was to fly into Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv in what has been dubbed a “flytilla.” This took place on July 8 as dozens of activists, mostly from Europe, arrived at Ben Gurion. Many of them never actually made it to Ben Gurion, as Israeli authorities sent a list of nearly 350 names to airlines, saying the individuals on it would not be allowed to enter Israel for security reasons. They would be sent back, Israel said, and the airlines would have to pay for it. This seemed to work, as some 200 activists were denied permission to board flights for Tel Aviv. Not taking any chances, Israel deployed hundreds of additional security forces to the airport. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said authorities had the situation under control, but the event was also unprecedented. Those who did arrive created some small incidents. In one incident a half dozen Israeli leftwing activists held up signs in Arabic and English that said, “Welcome to Palestine.” They tried to unfurl a large Palestinian flag, but they were quickly led away by plainclothes officers. One Israeli official told a reporter that the government has no objection to visitors coming to Israel or to Palestinian areas that are popular with tourists, like Bethlehem or Jericho. But foreigners traveling to the Palestinian territories to take part in anti-Israel demonstrations? That is something different, he said (www.theworld.org). Hizbullah “Rides High” in Lebanon It is no secret that Hizbullah now has a strong hand in the new Lebanese government headed by Najib Mikati. Though there are still many Christian ministers in the government, it appears that Hizbullah leader Nasrallah has taken over Lebanon’s security and intelligence agencies. In connection with that he has also taken delivery of advanced ballistic missiles from Syria. The post of General Security Director has never before been held by a Shiite Muslim. It puts the new director in charge of domestic surveillance, espionage, counterintelligence, and all of Lebanon’s clandestine activities. The post was previously held by a Maronite Christian and passed to a Sunni Muslim in 1998. Now that a Shiite has it, Hizbullah is defacto in charge. Middle East sources note that this step opened the door for Hizbullah to take a hand for the first time in making top military appointments. Its oversight of domestic security will now spill over to the armed forces and military control of Lebanon's borders with Israel and Syria. Most observers believe that Israel’s next war with Lebanon is only a matter of time. Israel has studied her mistakes in the summer war of 2006 and hopefully will be better prepared when the next war breaks out. No one wants another war, but most people studying the situation have learned not to be naïve. Security Council Debates Palestinian Statehood The Security Council holds a monthly discussion on the Arab-Israeli dispute that, according to one source, “typically drones on much like the conflict itself,” with each side repeating its own positions and grievances and absolutely no movement. Today, as I write this Digest, a debate is going on about Palestinian statehood, which the PA wants to declare in September. Some 122 nations already recognize a Palestinian state, but many fear that a unilateral declaration on the Palestinians’ part could touch off serious problems, if not outright war. The basic Israeli position, backed by Washington, is that the two sides have to negotiate the main six outstanding issues including borders, the status of Jerusalem, and the return of refugees. “Now is the time for the international community to tell the Palestinian leadership what it refuses to tell its own people: there are no shortcuts to statehood,” said Ron Prosor, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations (New York Times, July 26, 2011). Some sensational media sources (such as Newsmax), in an effort to impress readers, have been making statements such as: “UN Getting Ready to Seize Jerusalem from Israel.” At worst, the UN might demand that Israel give up part of eastern Jerusalem, although my guess is that, even if they do, it will go nowhere. We need to pray for the integrity of the State of Israel and its sovereign territory, but not be taken in by exaggerations of the actual situation. We all need to be aware of the true facts concerning Israel, so we won’t be deterred, or discouraged by sensationalistic journalism. “The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow…to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken” (Psalm 37:14-15). In Messiah,
Lonnie C.
Mings
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