Watchman Newsletter

Archaeological finds verify life at the time of Jonah

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Link) - Israel Antiquities Authority (February 6, 2012)

At Giv’at Yonah (the Hill of Jonah) in Ashdod, which according to various traditions is identified with the burial place of the prophet Jonah, archaeological finds were exposed that verify the existence of life there during the First Temple period, at the time of Jonah.

In a trial archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority carried out on Giv’at Yonah in Ashdod prior to development work by Hofit - Ashdod Development & Tourism Company, Ltd. remains of massive walls more than 1 m wide were found that are dated to the late 8th century and early 7th century BCE.

In the estimation of the excavation director, Dmitri Egorov, of the Israel Antiquities Authority, these walls constituted the base of a large building from the First Temple period, the time when Jonah the prophet was active, who lived in the eighth century BCE and was famous for having been swallowed by a fish after he refused to “go to Nineveh... and proclaim against it.” (Jonah1:2)

The discovery of this fortress joins other finds from an excavation that took place very close to this site in the 1960s. In an excavation directed by Magen Broshi of the Department of Antiquities, which was carried out before the construction of the Ashdod lighthouse, similar wall remains were found that date to the First Temple period and Persian period. In addition, an Aramaic ostracon was discovered on which is written בעלצד תקלן דשנא (a contemporary translation: Ba’altzad/Ba’altzar - a first name, Taklan - shekels, and Dashna - a present) - apparently meaning that an individual named Ba’altzad contributed a sum of money that was given as a present for a holy place.

24 Signs That We Are Getting Dangerously Close To A Major War In The Middle East

The American Dream (Link) (February 6, 2012)

Is 2012 the year when we will see a major war in the Middle East? For years we have heard about rising tensions in the Middle East, and for years we have heard politicians express concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, but now things really do seem to be reaching a boiling point. In just the past few days, the U.S. government has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran and has totally shut down the U.S. embassy in Syria.

The truth is that we are getting dangerously close to a major war in the Middle East. So will Israel strike Iran at some point in the next few months? Will the U.S. military intervene in the rapidly escalating conflict inside of Syria? If a major war does erupt, it could send the price of oil skyrocketing and there is the potential that the war could broaden very quickly.

Hezbollah has already indicated that it will side with Syria, and there is always the potential that Hamas could as well. Russia and China have both stated that they are completely opposed to military action by the United States against Iran and Syria, and they have even hinted that they would possibly even help defend those countries. As the nations of the world take sides, there is even the potential that we could see World War III develop. Let us hope that it never comes to that, but with the world as unstable as it is right now, you never know what may happen.

What makes war so much more likely now is that nobody has shown any signs of backing down.

Syrian ‘chemical, biological’ weapons concern Israel

YNet News (Link) - AFP (January 17, 2012)

Israel has serious concerns about what will happen to “huge stockpiles” of chemical and biological weapons in Syria when the Assad regime collapses, a senior military official said on Tuesday.

Major-General Amir Eshel, head of the Israeli military’s planning division, said the working assumption was the regime of President Bashar Assad would eventually fall.

“The question is when, not if. And the big question is what’s going to come the day after,” he said.

“The immediate concern is the huge stockpiles of chemicals, biologicals (weapons), strategic capabilities that are still going into Syria, mainly from eastern Europe,” Eshel said.

“That’s a major concern because I don’t know who is going to own those the day after. Up till now, what has been transferred to Hezbollah? What will be transferred to Hezbollah? What will be divided between those factions inside Syria? What is that going to create?

“We are talking about huge stockpiles,” he said.

Libyan weapons flowing to terrorists: Israeli prime minister warns about missile threat

Klein Online (Link) - Aaron Klein (January 16, 2012)

Libyan weapons are being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned yesterday.

Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu warned “Libyan arms continue to flow into Gaza through Sinai.” He indicated that there were “more than 10,000 missiles” in Gaza, some of which had a range “surpassing 40 kilometres (24 miles).”

Just last week, KleinOnline was first to report Libyan rebels are selling large quantities of weaponry to Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli security sources.

The sources noted the weapons were seized after the regime of late Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi was toppled by rebel fighters with help from the U.S-led NATO bombing campaign.

The weapons include French and Saudi munitions and equipment seized by the rebel gangs, the sources said.

The weapons are being sold to the Gazan groups Hamas, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jihadiya Salafia, said the sources.

Hamas: Vote for us, we kill more Jews!

Israel Today (Link) - Ryan Jones (December 15, 2011)

Hamas on Wednesday marked its 24th anniversary by playing up how many Jews it has managed to murder. The highly publicized event (and grisly casualty figures) came just months before Palestinians are scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new parliament and president.

In an official statement Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, boasted of killing 1,365 Israelis and wounding another 6,411 in 1,117 terror attacks over the past two decades. The group also noted that it had fired over 11,000 rockets and missiles from Gaza into southern Israel.

Hours later, tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to celebrate Hamas’ founding and its successes against the hated Jews of Israel. Speakers at the event reiterated Hamas’ dedication to eliminating Israel, and decried ongoing Middle East peace negotiations as a failed experiment.

Many in Israel saw the public event as the start of Hamas’ campaign for the next legislative and presidential election, which Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas recently announced would take place in May 2012.

Hamas leaders expect to score another landslide victory when next the Palestinians go to the polls. The 2006 Palestinian election produced a surprise Hamas takeover of the Palestinian parliament, a result that left clueless Western diplomats baffled.

If recent electoral results in Egypt are any indication, the general sentiment on the street has only drifted closer to the Islamist viewpoint in the intervening years. †

New Gaza Incursion in the Offing?

The Media Line (Link) - Arieh O’Sullivan (December 12, 2011)

After a volatile weekend of rocket fire and air strikes, a senior Israeli military commander warned on Monday that a military incursion against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is inevitable.

“I think that we can’t avoid another confrontation,” said Col. Yonatan Branski, deputy commander of the Gaza Division. “There are a lot of weapons inside the Gaza Strip. There are terror groups and they try to hit civilians. They do it all of the time. Just in the past days we have had 39 rockets and mortar shells fired into Israeli territory trying to hit Israeli civilians. Of course, that’s something we cannot [allow]. I guess there will be a confrontation. When and where exactly I can’t say.”

Speaking at the spot where Palestinians fired a rocket into a yellow school bus in April, killing one student, Branski told foreign reporters that the three years since Israel’s last incursion into the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead were used by Hamas to double its arsenal and bolster its forces.

“Our duty as an army is to be ready all the time for every kind of operation. If there’s an escalation we are ready for it and we know exactly what to do and where to hit the Hamas and the other terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli conflict becomes major issue in GOP debate

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Drew Zahn (December 11, 2011)

Earlier this week, Newt Gingrich told an Isreali TV station the Palestinians are an “invented” people out to destroy Israel, a statement that prompted significant disagreement between the candidates in this weekend’s GOP debate on whether it is better to exercise “truth” or “prudence” in the Middle East.

When asked about the comment, Gingrich was completely unapologetic for his controversial remarks.

“Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth,” Gingrich insisted. “[The Palestinian power groups Fatah and Hamas] are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, ‘If there are 13 Jews and 9 Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’ We pay for those textbooks through our aid money. It’s fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, ‘Enough lying about the Middle East.’”

He went on to say, “Is what I said factually correct? Yes. Is it historically true? Yes. … The fact is, the Palestinian claim to a right of return is based on a historically false story. Somebody ought to have the courage to go all the way back to the 1921 League of Nations mandate for a Jewish homeland, point out the context in which Israel came into existence, and ‘Palestinian’ did not become a common term until after 1977. This is a propaganda war in which our side refuses to engage. … You’re not going to win in the long run if you’re afraid to stand firm and stand for the truth.”

Netanyahu re-establishes PM Bible class

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Herb Keinon (December 10, 2011)

Taking a page out of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin’s playbook, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will begin hosting a regular Bible study group in his official residence for researchers, public officials and invited guests.

Netanyahu announced the establishment of the study circle on Friday at a ceremony marking 30 days since the passing of his father-in-law, Shmuel Ben-Artzi. The study group will be named after Ben-Artzi, a noted poet and Bible teacher.

Both Ben-Gurion and Begin, when they each served as prime minister, hosted regular Bible study groups.

Netanyahu said he was establishing the class to perpetuate love of the Bible.

Last Sunday, at a ceremony in Sde Boker marking the 38th anniversary of Ben-Gurion’s death, Netanyahu recalled the first premier’s Bible study class, saying that his father-in-law used to attend.

“Ben-Gurion understood that the Book of Books is our mandate for our country, as he said in that same unforgettable statement before the Peel Commission in 1936,” Netanyahu said. “He viewed the Bible as the wondrous story of the Jewish people, the unique spiritual, cultural and historic heritage of our people, and also as one of the cornerstones of all of human culture.” †

“Cataloguing Palestinian Duplicity”

Palestinian Media Watch (Link) (December 9, 2011)

“Just this week an important new book [Deception] arrived that details in exhaustive fashion the duplicity of the PA, under President Mahmoud Abbas, in speaking to the West of its recognition of Israel while at the same time spreading hate speech and glorifying terrorists at home.” [The Jewish Week, Dec. 6, 2011]

Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and human rights leader Robert L. Bernstein hosted a press conference Tuesday launching Deception: Betraying the Peace Process.

Authors Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik document numerous breaches in the Palestinian Authority’s commitments to recognize Israel, to cease hate incitement and to reject violence and terror - requirements established by the international community and accepted by the PA.

The authors and human rights leaders warned that the hate speech and incitement against Israel by PA leaders is the fundamental impediment to achieving peace.

Israel and Syria brace for regional war between mid-Dec. 2011 and mid-Jan 2012

DEBKAfile (Link) (December 5, 2011)

The actions and words of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in the last 72 hours indicate they are poised for a regional war, including an attack on Iran, for some time between December 2011 and January 2012.

In their different ways, both have posted road signs to the fast-approaching conflict as DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources disclose:

1. Saturday, Dec. 3, Syria staged a large-scale military exercise in the eastern town of Palmyra, which was interpreted by Western and Israeli pundits as notice to its neighbors, primarily Turkey and Israel, that the uprising against the Assad regime had not fractured its sophisticated missile capabilities.

DEBKAfile’s military sources advise attaching more credibility to the official Damascus statement of Sunday, Dec. 4: “The Syrian army has staged a live-fire drill in the eastern part of the country under war-like circumstances with the aim of testing its missile weaponry in confronting any attack.”

Israel deploys three armored units on northern border

World Tribune (Link) (December 2, 2011)

Israel has sent additional forces to its borders with Lebanon and Syria.

The Saudi-owned Al Hayat daily, quoting Israeli security sources, said the deployment was meant to counter any attack from its northern neighbors amid increasing international pressure on Iran, Syria and Hizbullah.

“Israel has decided to deploy three armored units at its northern border with Syria and Lebanon in fear that Arab economic sanctions on Syria would inflame the region,” Al Hayat said.

In a report on Nov. 28, the London-based daily said Israel has joined six other Middle East countries that have raised their military preparedness in wake of Arab and Western sanctions on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Al Hayat said Israel was retaining the option of sending additional military units to the Syrian border.

“It also has stepped up its work to complete the security fence surrounding the Syrian border and digging trenches,” Al Hayat said.

New Revelations Concerning the Origin of the Temple Mount Wall

Bridges For Peace (Link) - Isranet (November 23, 2011)

In archaeological excavations alongside the ancient drainage channel of Jerusalem, a very old ritual bath (mikveh) was recently discovered that challenges the conventional archaeological perception which regards Herod as being solely responsible for the construction of the Temple Mount wall. Recently, reinforcement and maintenance measures were implemented in the pavement of Jerusalem’s main street dating from 2,000 years ago and used by pilgrims when they went up to the Temple Mount. This was done as part of the project to re-expose the drainage channel that passes beneath the street, running from the Siloam Pool in the City of David to the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden near the Western Wall.

In an excavation beneath the paved street near Robinson’s Arch, sections of the Western Wall’s foundation were revealed that is set on the bedrock—which is also the western foundation of Robinson’s Arch—an enormous arch that bore a staircase that led from Jerusalem’s main street to the entrance of the Temple Mount compound.

According to Professor Reich [assistant to the director of the excavation] “It became apparent during the course of the work that there are rock-hewn remains of different installations on the natural bedrock, including cisterns, ritual baths and cellars. These belonged to the dwellings of a residential neighborhood that existed there before King Herod decided to enlarge the Temple Mount compound.

Clinton presses Netanyahu to release frozen Palestinian tax funds

Haaretz (Link) - Barak Ravid (November 23, 2011)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday night and demanded that he release Palestinian tax revenue that Israel has frozen for more than a month after UNESCO accepted the Palestinians as a member.

A senior U.S. official and an Israeli source familiar with details of the conversation say Clinton called Netanyahu after messages relayed to him in recent weeks on the tax money were not answered positively.

The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Clinton called but said the subject was new sanctions that the United States would impose on Iran.

Israel holds $100 million in Palestinian Authority tax revenue collected in October as part of economic agreements between the two sides. Should the freeze continue through the end of November, the sum will reach $200 million.

According to the Israeli source, Netanyahu rejected Clinton’s request, saying he lacks a majority in the cabinet on the issue.

No Support For Israel In The White House?

YNet News (Link) - Yitzhak Benhorin (November 21, 2011)

The last year has seen the White House become empty of people who have a deep personal knowledge of the Israeli situation and who care about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At first it was the much publicized resignation of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who was involved in every significant detail of the White House’s Israel agenda.

Then David Axelrod, top political advisor to President Barack Obama left for greener pastures and last summer, Dan Shapiro chose to become US ambassador to Israel over taking the position of White House Middle East desk chief.

If that is not enough, next month Dennis Ross, Obama’s senior advisor on the Middle East, will be leaving office. Ross’ White House exit has barely raised a murmur in Israel even though it is one of the biggest losses to the US government as far as relations with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are concerned. It leaves Israel without a reliable contact within the White house.

Rahm Emanuel was replaced by Bill Daley who doesn’t deal with the Israel issue. Axelrod, whose focus was the political significance of relations with Israel, was replaced with David Plouffe who is busy with managing Obama’s election campaign and has no connection to the Israel-Palestinian matter.

Abbas Going for Broke, Gunning for Unity with Hamas

Israel National News (Link) - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (November 20, 2011)

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is to meet with Hamas leaders in Cairo Thursday to sum up a unity deal based on “resistance,” a Palestinian Authority state based on the temporary 1949 Armistice Lines and non-recognition of Israel.

Abbas, head of the rival Fatah faction, formally signed a formal unity agreement with Hamas in May, but it quickly became nothing more than a ceremonial act following disagreements.

The failure of the Palestinian Authority to gain admittance as a full member in the United Nations has been a game-changer. Following the American and Israel decision to cut off funds to the PA after it won membership on the U.N.’s UNESCO agency, Abbas has made it clear he considers the Obama administration an obstacle to his plans for Palestinian Authority statehood.

Spokesmen for Hamas and Abbas have confirmed this week’s meeting will be full of substance as Abbas had apparently decided to bank on Asian and pro-Arab countries in Europe to give him the diplomatic backing he has lost with the United States.

Conference Emphasizes Yearning for the Holy Temple

Israel National News (Link) - Elad Benari & Hezki Ezra (November 19, 2011)

The Holy Temple Conferences by the Movement for Temple Renewal, with the participation of leading temple-oriented organizations, took place in the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The conference included lectures on different matters connected to the Temple Mount and to the rebuilding of the Temple.

“We’re dealing with matters of the press, the government, matters related to the ascent to the Temple Mount by women,” Baruch Ben Yosef, Chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple, told Arutz Sheva.

Following the lectures, a general meeting was held inside the Great Synagogue, where participants heard more lectures and music related to the Temple. They then ate what is called the Seudat Hamikdash – the Temple Repast.

“This is all in order to raise awareness of the Holy Temple, the Temple Mount, and its significance to the Jewish people,” explained Ben Yosef.

‘Ireland most hostile country in Europe’

YNet News (Link) - Itamar Eichner (November 16, 2011)

Hatred of Israel reaches new levels in Ireland: An outrageous anti-Israel display was held over the weekend on Dublin’s main pedestrian street, presenting IDF soldiers as Nazi troops.

As part of the display, sponsored by the Dublin City Council, a group of pro-Palestinian activists set up a model of the separation fence and an IDF roadblock.

The activists dressed up as soldiers and beat, humiliated and pointed their weapons at other activists dressed as Palestinians, in front of thousands of Irish citizens and tourists.

The display joins accusations voiced against Israel at the Irish parliament last week, on the backdrop of claims that Israel “kidnapped,” abused and undressed Irish nationals who took part in a Gaza-bound flotilla stopped by the Israeli army recently.

Israel has strongly denied the accusations.

R.I.P. to the Middle East ‘Peace Process’

Big Peace (Link) - Rob Miller (November 15, 2011)

The so-called Middle East peace process between the Israelis and the “Palestinians” is essentially dead, and it will be quite some time before there’s an attempt to revive it.

Israeli statesman Abba Eban’s famous quote about the “Palestinians” never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity has come true once more, although in fairness they had a large assist this time from President Obama.

Mahmoud Abbas has once again refused to enter direct negotiations with Israel, telling new US envoy David Hale that the Palestinians would not return to the negotiating table with Israel unless the Israeli government met the preconditions of freezing all construction in what the “Palestinians” consider settlements, including East Jerusalem and accepting the pre-1967 cease fire lines as the basis for future borders in any two state solution.

In other words, Abbas is willing to sit down with the Israelis only if there’s nothing much left to negotiate. This is roughly the equivalent of agreeing to go to Las Vegas and place a bet on the roulette wheel only if your winnings are guaranteed in advance.

Israel refuses to tell US its Iran intentions

The Telegraph (Link) - Adrian Blomfield (November 12, 2011)

Israel has refused to reassure President Barack Obama that it would warn him in advance of any pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, raising fears that it may be planning a go-it-alone attack as early as next summer.

The US leader was rebuffed last month when he demanded private guarantees that no strike would go ahead without White House notification, suggesting Israel no longer plans to “seek Washington’s permission”, sources said. The disclosure, made by insiders briefed on a top-secret meeting between America’s most senior defence chief and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s hawkish prime minister, comes amid concerns that Iran’s continuing progress towards nuclear weapons capability means the Jewish state has all but lost hope for a diplomatic solution.

On Tuesday, UN weapons inspectors released their most damning report to date into Iran’s nuclear activities, saying for the first time that the Islamic republic appeared to be building a nuclear weapon. It was with that grave possibility in mind that Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, flew into Israel last month on what was ostensibly a routine trip.

Officially, his brief was restricted to the Middle East peace process, but the most important part of his mission was a private meeting with Mr. Netanyahu and the defence minister, Ehud Barak. Once all but a handful of trusted staff had left the room, Mr. Panetta conveyed an urgent message from Barack Obama. The president, Mr. Panetta said, wanted an unshakable guarantee that Israel would not carry out a unilateral military strike against Iran’s nuclear installations without first seeking Washington’s clearance.

The two Israelis were notably evasive in their response, according to sources both in Israel and the United States.

Report: Hizbullah preparing missile war on Israel as Iran braces for attack

World Tribune (Link) (November 3, 2011)

The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah is planning for war with Israel, a report said.

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs asserted that Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, in coordination with Teheran, has been meeting senior commanders to plan for war with the Jewish state. The center, in a report by Shimon Shapira, said Nasrallah has ordered his commanders to prepare for long-range missile attacks that would target Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities.

“Nasrallah’s recent escalation of public statements stems from heightened fear in Hizbullah that an Israeli and/or American attack on Iran is drawing nearer,” the report said. “As a strategic arm of Iran, Hizbullah sees itself as Iran’s first line of defense against Israel.”

“Hizbullah forces are being trained to fire at least 10,000 missiles, right at the war’s outset, at military and strategic targets such as airfields, military camps, and vital facilities including maritime ones, followed by the firing of rockets from launch sites whose location will come as a surprise to Israel,” the report, titled “Hizbullah Discusses Its Operational Plan for War with Israel,” said.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (September 27, 2011)

1. Iranian Authorities Free Christian after Year in Prison

2. Christians Live in Cloud of Fear in Zanzibar, Tanzania

3. Iranian Christian Pays for Faith with 105 Days in Evin Prison

4. Christian Nurse in Pakistan Boldly Opts to Report Videotaped Rape

5. Christians in Bhutan Seek to Dispel Regime’s Mistrust

6. Somali Convert to Christianity Kidnapped, Beheaded

7. Muslim Extremists in Sudan Threaten to Target Christians

8. Messianic Jews Singled Out in Israeli Town

IDF Home Front Command: Likelihood of all-out Middle East war increasing

Haaretz (Link) (September 5, 2011)

The likelihood of an all-out regional war in the Middle East is increasing, the head of the IDF Home Front Command said on Monday, Channel 10 reported.

Speaking to the Institute for National Security Studies, Major General Eyal Eisenberg said that such a conflict could potentially include the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Eisenberg cautioned that the Arab Spring could turn into the “Radical Islamic Winter.”

Eisenberg also noted that a new weapon was used by Gaza militants in the recent round of escalation in the south, which led the Home Front Command to instruct the public to seek shelter under two roofs, rather than one. †

Turkey-Israel ties fall to new low in response to UN flotilla report

Christian Science Monitor (Link) - Ariel Zirulnick (September 2, 2011)

Turkey-Israel relations dipped to a new low today over a long-awaited United Nations report on the Gaza flotilla debacle, freezing a key regional alliance despite more than a year of attempts to resuscitate ties.

Turkey announced today that it is expelling Israel’s ambassador and suspending all joint military agreements after failing to secure a formal apology from Israel for the deaths of eight Turks and one Turkish-American on May 31, 2010, when Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the flotilla.

The convoy of ships had been seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which Israel said was necessary to prevent the Islamist militant group Hamas from obtaining weapons but which many in the international community had objected to on humanitarian grounds.

The UN report, due to be formally released today but leaked yesterday by The New York Times, surprised many by declaring Israel’s blockade of Gaza as legal. While it criticized Israeli commandos for using “excessive and unreasonable” force in halting the mainly Turkish flotilla, it requested merely that Israel “express regret” for the deaths and pay unspecified reparations to the families, the Times reported.

Report: Israel sends 2 warships to Egyptian border

YNet News (Link) - Dudi Cohen, AP and AFP  (August 30, 2011)

The Israeli Navy (INF) has decided to boost its presence and patrols near Israel’s maritime border with Egypt due to a viable terror threat in the area, as Iran announced it was set to send its 15th fleet to the Red Sea as well to “convey message of peace and friendship to all countries.”

Israeli security sources told the Associated Press on Tuesday that two additional warships have been dispatched to Israel’s Red Sea border with Egypt. Another source said that the operation was routine, telling Reuters that “two naval craft have been sent to the Red Sea. This is not unusual.”

On Monday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz ordered that deployment across the entire southern sector be bolstered, especially in the area near the Israel-Egypt border, following intelligence indicating an imminent threat.

Ahmadinejad: Iran is determined to eradicate Israel

Haaretz (Link) - DPA (August 25, 2011)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was determined to eradicate Israel, ISNA news agency reported Thursday.

“Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating the Zionist regime (Israel) as symbol of suppression and discrimination,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with a Lebanese television network, carried by ISNA.

“Iran follows this issue (the eradication of Israel) with determination and decisiveness and will never ever withdraw from this standpoint and policy,” the Iranian president added in the interview with the Al-Manar network.

The remarks by Ahmadinejad came one day before the annual anti-Israeli rallies named Qods (Jerusalem) Day, which are held nationwide in Iran on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Ahmadinejad on Monday said that Iranians and Muslim nations worldwide should hold Qods rallies and show their willingness to dispose of this “infectious tumor and this regime full of rascality.”

The Iranian president provoked international condemnation in 2005 when he said that Israel should be eliminated from the map of the Middle East and transferred to Europe or North America. †

Israeli-Arab Crisis Approaching

Stratfor Global Intelligence (Link) - George Friedman (August 22, 2011)

In September, the U.N. General Assembly will vote on whether to recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state with full rights in the United Nations. In many ways, this would appear to be a reasonable and logical step. Whatever the Palestinians once were, they are clearly a nation in the simplest and most important sense — namely, they think of themselves as a nation. Nations are created by historical circumstances, and those circumstances have given rise to a Palestinian nation. Under the principle of the United Nations and the theory of the right to national self-determination, which is the moral foundation of the modern theory of nationalism, a nation has a right to a state, and that state has a place in the family of nations. In this sense, the U.N. vote will be unexceptional.

However, when the United Nations votes on Palestinian statehood, it will intersect with other realities and other historical processes. First, it is one thing to declare a Palestinian state; it is quite another thing to create one. The Palestinians are deeply divided between two views of what the Palestinian nation ought to be, a division not easily overcome. Second, this vote will come at a time when two of Israel’s neighbors are coping with their own internal issues. Syria is in chaos, with an extended and significant resistance against the regime having emerged. Meanwhile, Egypt is struggling with internal tension over the fall of President Hosni Mubarak and the future of the military junta that replaced him. Add to this the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and the potential rise of Iranian power, and the potential recognition of a Palestinian state — while perfectly logical in an abstract sense — becomes an event that can force a regional crisis in the midst of ongoing regional crises. It thus is a vote that could have significant consequences.

Signs of the Times: Ezekiel’s Prophecies Set to Unfold?

CBN News (Link) - Chris Mitchell & Julie Stahl (August 22, 2011)

Last year, an international crisis exploded when Israel stopped a flotilla of ships from breaking its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The incident left Israel feeling more isolated, but some Jews saw the pages of scripture coming alive through the crisis.

When Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-owned flagship, Mavi Mamara, leading the flotilla, things quickly turned deadly. Pro-Palestinian activists attacked the soldiers, who then defended themselves. Nine activists died in the melee.

Israel acted to keep weapons out of Hamas-controlled Gaza, but that didn’t stop an international rush to judgment.

The U.N. Security Council condemned Israel and called for an investigation.

Sweden, Ireland and other nations planned boycotts against the Jewish state.

Southern Israel under fire; 11 hurt in rocket attacks

YNet News (Link) - Ilana Curiel (August 20, 2011)

Gaza terrorists launched an incessant rocket and mortar offensive at southern Israel Saturday, wounding at least 11 people across the region.

The barrages followed a declaration by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas’ military wing – saying that its armistice with Israel was over.

Saturday morning, the Color Red alert sounded in the greater Beersheba area. A subsequent explosion was reported in the city around 9 am. The projectile landed in an open area just outside Israel’s largest southern city, injuring one person lightly. Magen David Adom paramedics attended to both.

Seven other people suffered light injuries while running to a nearby shelter. They arrived at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba independently.

Livni calls for ‘action’ in response to terror attacks

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Lahav Harkov (August 18, 2011)

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima) called on the government to retaliate following Thursday’s terrorist attacks near Eilat.

“The terrorist attack requires Israeli action, which Kadima will support,” she said at a meeting of Kadima mayors.

“The attack in the South completely changes the equation,” Livni added. “We need a new way of thinking about closing the border between Israel and Egypt.”

National Union MKs also called for border security to be tightened.

“This government failed at sealing the southern border before tens of thousands of illegal immigrants, signaling to all the terrorist organizations in the area that there is no problem penetrating the Israeli border,” MK Arye Eldad (National Union) said.

He added: “Only a dramatic change in instructions to open fire and targeted killings of the heads of Beduin gangs in the Sinai and the Negev will successfully close our border.”

PA TV: Western Wall area to be turned into Arab housing neighborhood

Palwatch.org (Link) - Itamar Marcus & Nan Jacques Zilberdik (August 17, 2011)

Official Palestinian Authority TV broadcast a documentary which stated that the PA plans to build an Arab residential area in place of the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem, “when they [Israelis] disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city’s history.”

The Western Wall, a remnant of the Temple Mount, is Judaism’s holiest and most important prayer site.

The PA TV documentary further rejected the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, referring to Jewish history as “their false history,” while the Jews’ praying at the Western Wall was called “sin and filth.”