Watchman Newsletter

'We are at war,' Israeli PM Netanyahu says after Gaza militants infiltrate

NPR (Link) - Daniel Estrin (October 7, 2023)

TEL AVIV, Israel — In a deadly surprise attack unprecedented in its scale, Gaza militants infiltrated several Israeli towns and military camps early Saturday and fired more than 2,000 rockets from Gaza toward central and southern Israel, leading to multiple Israeli casualties, the Israeli military said.

Israel’s national rescue service said about 40 Israelis were killed.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 198 Palestinians were killed. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra told NPR the majority of those killed were militants. The Health Ministry also said at least 1,610 Palestinians were wounded.

The Israeli military declared a "state of war alert," is calling up reservist soldiers and has announced strikes on neighboring Gaza.

"We are at war," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video statement in front of Israel’s military headquarters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 2023 United Nations General Assembly

Watch Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly.

'GOOD NEGOTIATIONS': Saudi crown prince says 'every day' is a day closer to peace with Israel

Fox News Bret Baier Podcast (Link) - Bret Baier (September 22, 2023)

This is very interesting information in light of my recent study I began again from scratch on understanding Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, Revelation 12, 13, 17, and 18 in relation to each other and how that shows the history of kingdoms in relation to Israel as well as paints a picture of the political climate before and into the kingdom of the antichrist.

• 3:46 - On Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, when asked to characterize it if they were close, he said “every day we get closer. It seems for the first time it’s a real one, serious, we’re going to see how it goes.”
• 9:32 - On Saudi Arabia’s relationship to Iran
• 12:17 - On Saudi Arabia’s relationship to China and BRICS
• 14:52 - Russia and Ukraine
• 17:11 - On hit on journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey and crackdown on dissent
• 20:34 - on 9/11
• 22:11 - on Saudi US relations
• 26:22 - On Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in the World Cup and sports changing tourism dynamic
• 29:28 - Changes Prince Mohammed bin Salaman and others are bringing, succession, and “custodian of the two holy mosques”

Researchers baffled by unique, mysterious Jerusalem structure from First Temple era

The Times of Israel (Link) - Michael Horovitz (August 30, 2023)

Archaeologists recently unearthed two unique structures used for an unclear purpose during the First Temple period 2,800 years ago in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday.

The installations, dating to around the 9th century BCE and found at the City of David archaeological site, were likely an important part of the economy, due to their proximity to the royal palace and temple, the IAA stated.

Researchers have struggled to pinpoint their precise use since no site of its kind has ever been found in Israel.

“The excavators found the first installation at the northeastern end of the Givati Parking Lot excavation, which includes a series of at least nine channels that were smoothed. On top of the rock cliff that encloses the installation to the south can be found seven drain pipes, which carried liquid from the top of the cliff, which served as an activity area, to the channel installation,” the IAA said in its description of the site.

The second site includes five channels that could carry liquids, according to the statement.

Dr. Yiftah Shalev, a senior researcher at the IAA, said efforts to identify the exact purpose of the site have been fruitless.

Israelis Come to See Red Heifer and Discuss the Temple

Israel Today (Link) - Ryan Jones (July 16, 2023)

Again the biblical red heifer is in the news, sparking renewed discussion about a future Third Temple in Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Israelis reportedly visited the Jewish settlement of Shiloh in central Samaria last week to welcome the first of three pure red heifers to arrive from the United States. Shiloh was the first biblical capital of Israel and the place where the Tabernacle stood for hundreds of years before King David moved it to Jerusalem.

The three red heifers will be housed at the Ancient Shiloh heritage site and a center will open there dedicated to researching the phenomenon. The heifers will be kept in a fenced-off area, and visitors will not be able to touch the animals.

The mysterious red heifer, or Parah Adumah, is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers, when God instructs Moses and Aaron to take “a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid.” The ashes of a red heifer are necessary for purification prior to conducting biblical sacrificial ceremonies. 

Likud MK Amit Halevi Proposes Plan to Divide Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

Jewish Press (Link) - Hana Levi Julian (June 7, 2023)

Likud Knesset member Amit Halevi is promoting a plan to divide the Temple Mount between Jews and Muslims.

Under the plan, Muslims will receive the southern Al Aqsa Mosque and its annexes and the Jews will receive the central and northern area, including the Dome of the Rock, the place on which it is believed that the Holy of Holies stood in the Temple.

In addition, Halevi suggests removing the Kingdom of Jordan’s authority over the Temple Mount by launching a process to remove its decades-long political status achieved through agreements with Israel.

The Temple Mount is not considered to be under Israeli sovereignty due to Jordan’s political status there, Halevi noted, saying it is a “sin to history” to give status to a foreign nation on the sacred site.

“Why not give them status in the Dizengoff Center as well? This is a terrible mistake. This status should be abolished. I know it’s an agreement between countries, but we have to deal with it. It requires change even if the process that will take time.”

Is it time to ‘normalize’ the Temple Mount?

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Nave Dromi (September 13, 2020)

It is no coincidence that the deal to normalize relations between the State of Israel and the United Arab Emirates is called the “Abraham Accords.” The patriarch, common to both Judaism and Islam, is revered by both as the progenitor of both religions and peoples.

Both Jews and Muslims believe that Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, while commentators differ on the identity of the son. Jews of course believe that the binding of Isaac was a scene set on the Temple Mount that earlier was the point of creation and later became the location for the two greatest houses of worship for the Jewish nation.

Isaiah prophesied the Temple Mount in the future “will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Perhaps it would be prudent to finally realize this prophecy by allowing Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount in harmony and accord, without one trampling on the rights and liberties of the other.

Iranian Commander: ‘Erasing Israel Off the Map’ Is ‘Non-Negotiable’

Mohammad Reza Naqdi, head of the Basij militia unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, has surfaced to reassure the world that death for Israel is still very much on the table on the eve of the P+5 nuclear talks, and will never be negotiated away as part of any nuclear deal with President Obama.

Israel National News reports Naqdi saying that “erasing Israel off the map” is “non-negotiable” on Tuesday.

This is the same officer who previously boasted that Iran would keep arming Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank until Israel was annihilated. “The Zionists should know that the next war won’t be confined to the present borders and the Mujahedeen will push them back,” he said in 2014.

Islamist Super-Bloc Begins Forming in the Middle East

The Clarion Project (Link) - Ryan Mauro  (November 6, 2013)

A monumental strategic shift is taking place in the Middle East as an Islamist super-bloc is forming. Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood are making up with Iran and Hezbollah. Egypt and the Gulf states are forming their own alliance. The U.S. outreach to Iran and the Brotherhood has left it missing from the equation.

The Syrian civil war has pitted the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey against Iran, Hezbollah, Iraq and the Syrian regime since 2011. Now, with a bloody stalemate resulting in consequences each side fears, the two sides are looking for ways to make amends.

Turkey has been trying to move its relationship with Iran past the ancient Ottoman-Persian rivalry for years. The Erdogan government gave secret U.S. intelligence to Iran and in early 2012, informed Iran about ten of its nationals meeting with Israeli intelligence inside Turkey.

One of the architects of the Turkish-Iranian relationship is Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, who the Israeli Defense Minister described as a “friend of Iran.” Some Israeli officials privately refer to him as the “station chief in Ankara” for Iranian intelligence.

These statements about Fidan’s role is not hype. The recent U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Iraq, James Jeffrey, put it this way: “Hakan Fidan is the face of the new Middle East.”

Obama Plans To Force Israel To Accept A Palestinian State With Jerusalem As The Capital

The Truth Wins (Link) - Michael Snyder  (November 5, 2013)

If Israel and the Palestinians do not agree on a “two state solution” by the end of this year, the Obama administration plans to propose its own solution and force it on the two sides in early 2014.  For Obama, the goal is to have this agreement in place in time to influence the November 2014 mid-term elections.  Unfortunately for Israel, the Palestinians have absolutely no incentive to move off of their current demands because Obama has been promising them a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital since very early in his presidency.  So the Palestinians have no motivation to negotiate in good faith since they already know that they are going to get what they want in the end anyway.  Ultimately, Obama plans to force Israel to give up the West Bank, East Jerusalem and control over the Temple Mount in exchange for a “promise of peace” that is not even worth the paper that it will be printed on.

When it comes to Israel, the arrogance that Obama is displaying is absolutely appalling.  For example, Obama made the following statement about Israel earlier this year...

“Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.”

Oh, but Obama does?

Not only does Obama believe that he knows what is best for Israel, he also plans to force them to do it.

Palestinian Minister Hints Peace Deal Would be Temporary Arrangment Before Conquering Israel Outright

The Blaze (Link) - Sharona Schwartz (July 24, 2013)

As Secretary of State John Kerry pushes full steam ahead to try to bring the Israelis and Palestinian back to the negotiation table, a new video is casting doubt regarding true Palestinian intentions and tactics. Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash in an on-camera sermon on Friday hinted any peace deal secured would secretly be only a short-term arrangement by comparing it to a truce the Muslim prophet Mohammed negotiated but broke two years later.

This is just the latest example of Palestinian leaders discussing their stepwise plan to liberate Palestine from the “river to the sea,” starting with the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

At the Friday Ramadan services, which were attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and broadcast on Palestinian television, Habbash explained to Muslim worshipers that Palestinian Authority officials “only through the wisdom of the leadership, conscious action, consideration, and walking the right path” are headed toward “achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Mohammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, even though some opposed it.”

Palestinians: U.S. Paving The Way For Third Intifada

Gatestone Institute (Link) - Khaled Abu Toameh (July 24, 2013)

More than three years after he decided to boycott peace talks with Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally agreed last week to return to the negotiating table.

Abbas’s decision came after a series of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who took it upon himself, ever since he assumed office, to revive the stalled peace talks.

Kerry’s dramatic announcement last Friday in the Jordanian capital of Amman about the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks did not come as a surprise to many Palestinians, especially those familiar Abbas’s performance.

By agreeing to resume the peace talks with Israel, Abbas is taking a big gamble.

IDF Intel Chief Warns: Syria Becoming Global Jihad Hub

YNet News (Link) - Yoav Zitun (July 23, 2013)

“Syria is drawing thousands of global jihad activists and radical Muslims from the region and the world who are basing themselves in the country, not only to overthrow (President Bashar) Assad, but also to promote the vision of an Islamic state,” IDF Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Tuesday.

“Right before our eyes a center of global jihad is developing on a scale that may affect not only Syria and the borders of the State of Israel, but also Jordan and Sinai,” he said at an intelligence officers’ graduation ceremony, shortly after returning from a work trip to Washington.

Kochavi relayed similar warning to senior American security officials.

In April, Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, announced that it had merged with al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq to form a new entity called “The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,” and that it was taking orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over Osama bin Laden as the leader of al-Qaeda.

Iran’s Rouhani Affirms Support for Syria, Hizbullah

Israel National News (Link) - Rina Tzvi (July 16, 2013)

Iranian president-elect Hasan Rouhani has sent messages to Syria’s Bashar Assad and Hizbullah reaffirming his support for the two allies, as well as his support of confrontation with Israel.

Iranian-Syrian ties will be able to confront “enemies in the region, especially the Zionist regime,” Rouhani said Tuesday, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency, adding that, Syria will “overcome its current crisis.”

Rouhani also “lauded the Syrian nation for its resistance against western plots” and said Syria will “overcome its current crisis,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran’s foreign ministry said earlier on Tuesday referred to Israel as “a warmonger regime,” saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netnayahu seeks to damage relations between Iran and the international community.

EU Redraws Israel Borders to 1949 Lines

Israel National News (Link) - Gil Ronen (July 16, 2013)

The European Union has issued orders forbidding its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem , and even the Golan Heights, Haaretzwrote Tuesday.

The new instruction, promulgated by the European Commission, which is the operative arm of the EU, sets parameters for cooperation between the EU and its members states, on the one hand, and Israeli governmental and private elements on the other. The instructions are for the years 2014 – 2020 and will go into force on Friday, July 18.

The decision also states that any future agreement signed with Israel must include a section that says the “settlements” are not part of sovereign Israel and therefore not included in the agreement.

A senior source in the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the new EU decision is dramatic, and can be called “a true earthquake.”

Archaeologist: Discovery of Historic Israeli Jar Fragment Confirms Bible’s Reliability

Christian News Network (Link) - Garrett Haley (July 12, 2013)

A renowned Israeli archaeologist has announced the discovery of an earthenware jug from the Davidic era that features the oldest alphabetical text ever unearthed in Jerusalem.

Dr. Eilat Mazar is a professional archaeologist with a track record of remarkable Israeli discoveries, especially in and around Jerusalem. In 2005, she uncovered several remnants believed to be from the palace of King David. In 2007, Mazar discovered possible remnants from the wall built in Nehemiah’s time around Jerusalem, and in 2010 she claimed to have found ancient city walls built in the 10th century during King Solomon’s reign.

Unlike many secular scientists, Mazar has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, in using the Bible as a guide for her research. Following her 2005 discovery of remains from King David’s palace complex, she published a lengthy article in Biblical Archaeology Review, in which she explains how the Bible played an integral role in her historic findings.

One third of Israeli Jews want Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, poll finds

Haaretz (Link) - Nir Hasson (July 12, 2013)

Among religious Jews questioned, 43 percent support construction on Temple Mount, compared with 31 percent among secular Jews. Survey released ahead of Tisha B’Av also finds Western Wall still considered Judaism’s holiest site.

Right-wing organizations devoted to the Temple Mount are buoyed by a new poll they commissioned finding that 30 percent of Israeli Jews support rebuilding the Jewish Temple on the site.

When the poll, commissioned by the Joint Forum of Temple Mount Organizations, asked Israeli Jews,  “Are you for or against erecting a Temple on the Temple Mount?” 30 per cent answered in the affirmative, while 45 percent were against and 25 percent said they were not sure.

Among the numerous Temple Mount organizations that initiated the survey, activists are pleased. he results, they believe, show a strengthening of public perception that the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest and most important site.

The survey was released ahead of next week’s Tisha B’Av Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

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.