US President Obama and UN President Ban Ki Moon, in cooperation with Turkey, Qatar and Hamas, are turning the thumbscrews on Israel, upping the political pressure. They are pushing for an unconditional ceasefire which has been coordinated with jihadi terror group Hamas, a ceasefire which would strengthen its hand in destroying Israel.
So far five separate ceasefires have been honored by Israel and broken by Hamas. American allies in times past (Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) would all be weakened by this ceasefire, while Hamas would be strengthened.
As the war against jihad ends its third week, IDF forces are entering the built-up suburbs of central Gaza, engaging in house-to-house combat with Hamas fighters, discovering and destroying terror tunnels leading into Israel, and eliminating Hamas rockets and launchers. They are being greeted with booby-trapped houses, rocket launchers positioned next to hospitals, kindergartens and mosques, and active terror tunnels. IDF casualties to date are 53.
- What is happening on the ground?
- What perspective can the Scriptures offer?
- Guidelines for prayer
Front line against jihad
Ceasefires are a good thing – unless one is fighting a war to the death with Hitler or Osama bin Laden. At that point ceasefires are a betrayal in the fight against evil. This definition of evil accurately fits Hamas and its bankroller Qatar, all openly committed to Israel’s destruction based on their reading of the Quran and Islamic religious texts.
- http://davidstent.com/hurtling-through-the-fog-of-war-a-messianic-perspective-on-the-new-hamastan/
- www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html
Turkey is Hamas’ man within NATO, and it continues to influence the West as a ‘Trojan horse.’ And it has somewhat succeeded in this, working with Qatar and Hamas in twisting US policy against long-term ally Israel.
Former Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, Sweden and Romania Zvi Mazel states it rather bluntly: “Kerry is ignoring Egypt while he is talking to Qatar and Turkey, (Egypt’s) enemies and determined supporters of the Muslim Brothers. He is in fact favoring radical Islam. This is unacceptable for Egypt – and for Israel…This approach was met by incredulity by Israel and Egypt, which feel betrayed and insulted by America…Cairo fail(s) to understand why the US are being such ardent supporters of the Muslim Brothers while significantly failing to curb Iran’s atomic program” (www.jpost.com/International/US-and-Egypt-find-themselves-at-odds-once-again-369123).
The American-brokered ceasefire calls for Hamas to be granted freedom to import goods into Gaza. This loophole was used by Hamas since 2006 to import cement for terror tunnels, as well as rockets and launchers. The ceasefire proposal also calls for rivers of gold to be given to the Gazan government of Hamas. This has been used since 2006 to build terror tunnels (“Terror tunnels, embargoes and human rights”; www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4549358,00.html). Hamas is insisting on these conditions, as well as the release of terror prisoners in Israeli jails. Though Mashal claims that he is happy to tolerate Jews living in Palestine, his own Islamist Hamas charter anathematizes such tactics (www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Mashaal-Hamas-is-ready-to-coexist-with-Jews-but-not-the-occupation-369140; www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html).
The US State Department for unclear reasons has turned its back on Israeli and Egyptian red lines, and has coordinated a Hamas-positive ceasefire option which it is trying to force down Israel’s throat. President Obama called Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu this Friday to demand that Israel accept this jaundiced ceasefire immediately.
The battle facing the Jewish state, it seems, comes not only from the zombie armies of jihad. It also involves a concerted effort by terrorists and their oil sheikh sugar daddies to turn the hearts of Israel’s allies against the Jewish state.
American support for radical Islam could once again lead to a Muslim Brotherhood triumph in Egypt, a refugee situation like unto that of Syria, the closure of the Suez Canal, a world oil embargo, shock waves for world trade and increased activation of Islamic unrest in Europe and the West.
- Pray for the Western leaders who are pushing for this ceasefire – that YHVH’s finger would write His perspective on the tablets of their hearts
- Pray for Israel’s leaders to have God’s discernment as they respond to international pressure calling for a deceptive ceasefire
The Qatar compromise
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s mediation activities have left Israeli leftists and rightists agreeing that his influence on the situation is more like demolition-derby than diplomacy. Sharp criticism has been leveled at him across the board in Israel:
- www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10994154/John-Kerry-is-an-alien-an-ongoing-embarrassment-what-Israel-thinks-of-US-secretary-of-state.html
- www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/07/28/kerry-v-israel-why-it-gets-personal/
- www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4550714,00.html
Rather than address the substance of the criticism, the US State Department did a diplomatic sidestep, turning the tables by expressing outrage that their Israeli ally should act so rudely to Kerry (www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4551431,00.html). Though rudeness should not be a part of accepted diplomatic discourse, neither should it be acceptable for an ally to actively campaign against the vital interests of its friends.
Something rotten in the State of Denmark
Unfortunately, a sober appraisal of US State Department positions vis-à-vis Israel over the years leads one to understand that Kerry’s stance is not out of place (see John Loftus and Mark Aarons’ The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People, St. Martin’s Press, 1994). It is undoubtedly true that the realpolitik interests of the USA are not always the same as those of Israel. What is a matter of concern for those who love the Scriptures and Israel is when those interests clash, or when the fallout from that clash could cause Israel existential harm.
- Bible believers who grasp the implications of God’s covenant with Israel and His judgment on nations and individuals who cause her harm (Genesis 12:3 et al.) need to redouble their efforts in prayer for the leadership of their country
Here are some examples of recent clashes of interest:
- President Bush Senior’s censure of Israel at the UN for its preemptive attack on Saddam Hussein’s nuclear bomb factory (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_iraq_timeline/html/israeli_bombing.stm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera; www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/487(1981); www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Editors-Notes-No-repeat-of-Osirak)
- President George W. Bush’s insistence on an immediate ceasefire as the IDF was in the middle of cleaning out terror nests in Jenin in Operation Defensive Shield (April 2002; www.foxnews.com/story/2002/04/08/powell-sharon-has-heard-bush-message/)
- President Obama catalyzing the resignation of Egyptian President Mubarak, and supporting the ascendancy of Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt (www.voanews.com/content/obama-tells-mubarak-that-transition-must-begin-now-115068399/134370.html; http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/02/11/egypt.us.reaction/; www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/02/04/obama-administration-urges-mubarak-to-step-down)
- President Obama remaining non-committal toward the anti-Muslim-Brotherhood President of Egypt al Sisi (www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/rare-interview-with-egyptian-gen-abdel-fatah-al-sissi/2013/08/03/a77eb37c-fbc4-11e2-a369-d1954abcb7e3_story.html; http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/07/23/Why-did-Sisi-decline-Obama-s-invitation-to-Washington-.html)
The unspoken belief system that guides American policy was voiced behind closed doors by then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his meeting with Sadun Hammadi, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs. A recently declassified State Department document quotes from that meeting (www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB193/HAK-12-17-75.pdf; Paris, December 17, 1975.
Kissinger communicated a ‘no-nonsense’ US foreign policy regarding Israel in the following selected quotes:
- “Israel does us more harm than good in the Arab world”
- “We can’t negotiate about the existence of Israel but we can reduce its size to historical proportions”.
- “So I think in ten to fifteen years Israel will be like Lebanon – struggling for existence, with no influence in the Arab world”.
- “If the issue is the existence of Israe1, we can’t cooperate. But if the issue is more normal borders, we can cooperate”.
- “I think the Palestinian identity has to be recognized in some form … (It) will be a tremendous fight … (but) no solution is possible without it”.
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh noted that, in 1989 when Secretary of State James Baker was being sworn in, one White House aide joked that every Secretary of State left that office hating Israel. Baker reportedly replied, “What if one started that way? (Loftus & Aarons, ibid.).
- Pray for the political leaders of America, the ‘point man’ among the Western nations – that God would give them His heart and strategies, and frustrate all others
- Pray for Israel’s leaders to have God’s discernment as they deal with Western nations mollycoddling jihadi terror groups
Volunteering freely in the Day of Your power
King David prophesied about the Last Days army in Israel.
“YHVH says to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’ YHVH will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’ Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power. In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew” (Psalm 110:1-3).
The Hebrew phrase ‘volunteer freely’ refers to a troop of soldiers getting into military formation in preparation for battle. It is striking to see the overwhelming support that the Israeli people are giving to their government and their army during these troubling times. The motivation of IDF soldiers to strike a decisive blow against the forces of jihad is high (www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=19021). In a recent survey (www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Poll-865-percent-of-Israelis-oppose-cease-fire-369064) 86.5% of Israelis surveyed were adamantly opposed to a ceasefire with Hamas.
In Bob Dylan’s “Neighborhood Bully,” he comments wryly on Western diplomatic moves vis-à-vis Israel, “Not supposed to fight back, and have a thick skin; Supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in, he’s the neighborhood bully” (Copyright © 1983 by Special Rider Music).
Bob Dylan’s son-in-law Peter Himmelman has just release a sizzling sequel to his father-in-law’s hit, called ‘Maximum Restraint’ (“Bob Dylan’s Son-in-Law Records Hamas War Sequel to Dylan’s Neighborhood Bully” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpxywkSeu0g ;www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/bob-dylans-son-in-law-records-hamas-war-sequel-to-dylans-neighborhood-bully/). This video clip is a ‘must watch’!
- Pray for the IDF Combat Engineers (the ‘Weasels’ and ‘Diamond’) – for divine discernment and success in discovering and neutralizing all the Hamas terror tunnels still functional
- Pray for the IDF airmen and soldiers actively hunting down Islamist terrorists, tunnels, weapons storehouses and command centers – protection and success
- Pray for protection and salvation for innocent Gazans who are caught in the crossfire
Gird up your loins
As the battle heightens in intensity, we remember C.S. Lewis’s wisdom, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
As Israel clashes with the world jihadi armies, we know that Zion will need to lean into God even more. Jews scattered throughout the world will need to do the same, as anti-Semitism rears its toxic head from Paris to Frankfurt, from Los Angeles to Rome, and from Toronto to Toulouse.
The prophetic warnings that Steve Lightle and Tom Hess gave in the 1980’s and following (regarding the need for Western Jews to get ready to depart the countries of the Exile and return to Zion) are even more valid today.
- “We are looking at the beginnings of a Holocaust” (www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/We-are-looking-at-the-beginnings-of-a-Holocaust-369165)
- “Former Shin Bet Chief Warns: ‘If European Countries Fail to Protect Their Jews, the State of Israel Will’” (www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/28/fmr-shin-bet-chief-warns-if-european-countries-fail-to-protect-their-jews-the-state-of-israel-will/)
- “SHOCK: Jewish students shown ‘photos of ovens and told to get in’ by classmates in Chicago” (http://drudgegae.iavian.net/r?hop=http%3A%2F%2Feagnews.org%2Fshock-jewish-students-shown-photos-of-ovens-and-told-to-get-in-by-classmates-in-chicago%2F)
- “Jews of Europe: GET OUT NOW” (http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jews-of-europe-get-out-now/#ixzz38nJNRzu5)
- “Synagogue in Germany attacked” (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/synagogue-germany-attacked-24752714)
- “Iran General: We Will Hunt Down Israelis House To House” (http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/27/iran-general-we-will-hunt-down-israelis-house-to-house/#ixzz38qGD9Bkm)
- “French Prime Minister Denounces Anti-Zionism as Anti-Semitism” (www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180104/french-prime-minister-denounces-anti-zionism-as-anti-semitism#undefined)
- “Why do people hate Israel?” by Dennis Prager (http://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/why_do_people_hate_israel)
As anti-Semitism increases across the face of our planet, read Revelation 12 and pray for the Jewish woman who gave birth to the Messiah (Galatians 4:4-5)
Keep praying!
The following link shows a stunning answer to prayer. A Hamas bullet struck an IDF soldier’s grenade, which was hanging on his shoulder straps. The grenade did not explode, and the bullet simply buried itself into the casing of the grenade (http://mobile.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-37532fa9de76741004.htm).
- Keep praying for the ministry of angels, and for YHVH’s gracious hand to be manifested as He defends His people! (Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 1:30; 3:22; 20:4; Joshua 10:25; 23:3, 10; 1 Samuel 25:28; 2 Chronicles 20:17; Nehemiah 4:14, 20)
Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do!
In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey
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