The State Of Israel

As long-time readers of this blog know, I try to keep up a bit with things going on in Israel.  The latest news isn't particularly encouraging:

As if dozens of jihadis wearing suicide underwear wasn't enough of a problem for the US and the world, the Israelis remind us today of an even bigger threat about to reach maturation.  The Iranians will have the technical capability to build a nuclear weapon within weeks, and will have one completed by 2011, according to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak:

Iran will possess the technology to build a nuclear bomb by early 2010 and be able to produce one the following year, Israeli media quoted Israel's defense minister as saying Monday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak delivered his assessment before the Israeli parliament's defense and foreign affairs committee. It broadly matches assessments from other nations including the U.S., which estimates that Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015.

Also of note is the fact that -- for the first time EVER -- Israel has recalled all of its ambassadors for discussions of how to handle the various threats it faces 2010, especially Iran.  What's going on?  The consensus seems to be that Israel is seriously contemplating a preemptive strike against Iran before Iran launches a nuclear weapon.  Given the Obama administration's obvious reluctance to take Israel's side on anything other than rhetoric, it isn't much of a stretch to see a preemptive strike as being unacceptable.  Even if Obama doesn't come down hard on Israel for it, all he has to do is remain neutral in the ensuing confrontation, and Israel will be on their own.

As you may or may not know, I look to Joel Rosenberg for an up-close-and-personal expert look at Israeli happenings.  Here are a few of his recent posts on the subject:

Putin stays put in Russia

In chapter seven of my 2006 non-fiction book, Epicenter, I encourage readers to watch for this future headline: "A CZAR RISES IN RUSSIA, RAISING FEARS OF A NEW COLD WAR," and specifically suggest readers watch for Vladimir Putin to attempt to stay in power far beyond 2008.

On page 101, I wrote: "Putin has repeatedly promised he will not attempt to extend his stay in office beyond 2008….But how seriously should Putin's many pledges be taken?…Now in his fifties, Putin is still a young man, at the top of his game, with no professional experience of any kind other than being a KGB-trained suppressor of dissidents and a rising political leader….[Russians] are looking for a strong hand to rule, and Putin is providing just that."

"Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in power for over 10 years, ruled out a departure from politics on Thursday, telling a questioner: 'Don't hold your breath.' The country's most powerful leader made the comment with a smile when asked on his annual televised question and answer session with the Russian people if he would like to leave politics and start a quiet life.

"Putin, 57, also said he 'will think about' taking part in the 2012 presidential election, when many Russians expect him to return to the Kremlin for a six-year term."…

Iran, Syria sign defense pact

"Iran and Syria signed a defense agreement on Friday," reports the Jerusalem Post. "The document, signed by Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and his Syrian counterpart Ali Mohammad Habib Mahmoud, aimed to face 'common enemies and challenges.'….Vahidi praised Syria's great potential in the defense and military fields and said that 'it is natural for a country like Syria — which has an inhumane and menacing predator like Israel in its neighborhood — to be always prepared [against possible foreign aggression].' His visit to Syria comes a week after Saeed Jalili, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also visited Damascus. Iran's treaty with Syria comes just as Western countries are warning Teheran that if it fails to respond to overtures intended to make its nuclear program transparent, it will face sanctions."

Obama hostile to Israel

Israeli overwhelmingly continue to feel President Obama is hostile to the Jewish State. In fact, according to a new poll published in Ha'aretz, only 13% of Israeli say the President is "not hostile" to Israel.

2009 was a 'quiet' year

One year ago today, Israeli Defense Forces were engaged in Operation Cast Lead, a long overdue offensive into Gaza to stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets and mortars at innocent Jewish civilians in southern Israel.

As 2009 comes to an end, the assessment of Israeli security services is that the operation was very successful. The IDF severely damaged Hamas, bringing such attacks almost to an end. The IDF — along with Bibi Netanyahu's election and new policy of retaliating for every single Hamas attack, not just the ones that cause damage, injury or death to Israel — also restored an important measure of deterrance. Terrorists now know once again that Israel will hit back, and hit back hard, something they hadn't believed during the years of the Olmert administration.

• "For the first time this decade, no suicide attacks were carried out this year."
• "The number of those [Israelis] wounded in [other kinds of] attacks also dropped, with 15 killed compared to 36 in 2008."
• "In 2009, just 566 rockets from Gaza were fired into Israel, mostly in January during the IDF operation, compared to 2,048 launched in 2008."

For more on the state of the Epicenter, click here.

A divided Jerusalem

The battle to divide Jerusalem is intensifying this week. Sweden is pushing hard to pass an initiative to persuade 27 foreign ministers of European Union states to endorse a plan to recognize unilaterally East Jerusalem as the capital of a new Palestinian State. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, is doing everything he can to counter the Swedish effort.

Of course, there are Biblical aspects to this effort:

In 2 Chronicles 6:6, the Lord says, "I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel."

The Bible also teaches that the Lord will judge the nations who seek to divide Israel and Jerusalem. In Joel 3:1-2, we read, "When I restore the fortunes of Jerusalem [in the last days] I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and they have divided up My land."

All of this builds layer upon layer in the case that we are heading toward a new world war as prophesied in the Bible.  During a time of relative peace and security in Israel, they will be attacked by a massive coalition of forces, including Russia (led by a powerful dictator), Iran, and several other Arab nations (like Syria).  Israel will have no help from anyone.  Keep in mind that prophecy is inherently tricky and deceptive, and no one truly knows the dates and times of such things.  All we can do is watch for the signs, and the things above are all sign posts.  Following prophecy is like traveling West on I-70 toward California, and passing sign after sign that indicates you're still on the right road going in the right direction, but none of the signs ever show how many miles are left until you get there.  It's all guesswork...but as more and more of the pieces fall into place, one should rightly start paying more and more attention.

All of the posts you see above have much more detail in them about all of this, and how they fall into line with the Biblical prophecy.  If you haven't yet delved into the subject, I would highly encourage you to do so, in these posts or in Rosenberg's book Epicenter.  This is world-changing stuff, both on a global scale and on a personal one.

Think about it, and pay attention.

There's my two cents.