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NEWS FROM ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST


Top defense official: Israel faces isolation ‘no less severe than war’


Haaretz reports: “The chief of Israel’s diplomatic-security bureau warned that Israel faced an isolation ‘no less severe than war’ should the United Nations recognize Palestine as an independent state this September.

In remarks carried by Channel 10, General (res.) Amos Gilad said behind doors that the Palestinian Authority leadership was organizing an ‘international assault against Israel’.

The Palestinians have warned that if peace talks with Israel do not resume by the deadline set for December, they will ask the UN general assembly to recognize their sovereign state.

‘Israel’s isolation in September, the beginning of the isolation, will be no less severe than war,’ Gilad told participants in a private session.

The central issue facing Netanyahu come September was whether Israel should enter ‘a partnership for peace [with the Palestinians] and spare itself international pressure or go head to head with them,’ said Gilad, hinting that the ongoing freeze in the peace process was likely to bring about a third Intifada…” (War will certainly come to Israel. God intervenes and saves His beloved people – Zechariah 14:2, 4, 12, 16; Ezekiel 39:1, 2, 6, 12, and 13. The next three reports are all preparatory for World War III mentioned in my notes above.)


Israel believes Hamas trying to establish ‘balance of terror’


Haaretz reports: “A 16-year-old Israeli was critically injured when an anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip hit a school bus near Kibbutz Sa’ad. The missile attack was followed by additional mortar shelling from Gaza. The launch occurred just four to five kilometers from the target, from a point where it was clear students were on board and it was possible to keep the bus within sight.

A senior defense source told Haaretz that he believes this was an act by the military wing of the organization, and that their aim was to deter Israel and establish a ‘balance of terror.’

According to the same source, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has no control over the situation and the head of the group’s military wing, Ahmed Jabari, does not take his views into account when deciding military operations against Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces quickly retaliated for the attack, launching both land and air strikes on Hamas targets in the Strip, the IDF spokesperson said, killing a 50-year-old man and wounding five others…”


‘Hezbollah prepared to send 100 missiles daily at Tel Aviv’


The Jerusalem Post reports: “Hezbollah would be able to strike Tel Aviv directly from an arsenal of more than 20,000 missiles a recent WikiLeaks cable revealed to the Israeli press by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

During Joint Political Military Group meeting in November 2009, Israeli intelligence officials told their US counterparts that ‘Hezbollah was preparing for a long conflict with Israel in which it hopes to launch a massive number of rockets at Israel per day,’ with plans to send ‘400-600 rockets and missiles…per day, 100 of which will be aimed at Tel Aviv.’

Tel Aviv’s mayor Ron Holdai responded to the claim that Hezbollah could slam the city with sustained rocket fire during the Tel Aviv Marathon, saying ‘we live in Israel, and we have threats made to us all the time. If something were to happen we could cope,’ Israel Radio reported…”


Peres: Israel won’t agree to Iranian presence in Golan


YnetNews.com reports: “President Shimon Peres said Israel was willing to change things in the Golan Heights, but will not agree to Iranian presence there.

The president spoke after the US State Department expressed ‘deep concern’ over the approved plans for construction of 942 new homes in the neighborhood of Gilo, which lies beyond the 1967 borders. The condemnation was issued just hours after Peres’s meeting with US President Barack Obama.

In an interview with CNN during his visit to Washington, Peres said Israel has always desired peace with Damascus and that all former prime ministers have been willing to give up the former Syrian territory in exchange for a deal.

However, the Syrian government must choose between peace with Israel or continuing to ‘service Hezbollah and Iran’, the president said. He added that he is following events in the country, where protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime have proliferated recently…”


DM: Iran to Inaugurate New Production Line of Cruise Missiles Soon


The Fars News Agency reports: “Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced that the country is scheduled to inaugurate a new production line of its home-made cruise missiles in the near future.

‘Iran’s Defense Ministry will unveil important arms, marine, aerospace and electro-optic achievements in the new Iranian calendar year (started on March 21),’ General Vahidi said in the Western Iranian city of Kermanshah.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

In January, Iran successfully test-fired surface-to-air mid-range Hawk missile and the Iranian Defense Ministry delivered new naval cruise missile systems to the Navy.

The systems, designed and manufactured by Iranian experts, are capable of spotting and destroying different targets at sea.

The Navy has successfully test-fired a range of powerful missiles mounted with laser technology, which display high precision and have a range of 45 km (28 miles) to 300 km (186 miles).

Iran has been pushing an arms development program in recent years in a bid to reach self-sufficiency…” (Iran will be allied with Russia during Armageddon – Ezekiel 38:1, 2, and 5. Persia changed its name to Iran in 1935. Egypt will also join Iran as an ally with Russia – Daniel 11:40, 44. For more on Egypt see the next report.)


Egypt’s new FM wants ties with Iran


YnetNews.com reports: “Egypt’s new foreign minister, Nabil al-Arabi, said that his country wants to promote ties with Tehran and that Cairo no longer sees Iran as its enemy.

‘Iran is a state in the region, and we have had long-term historical ties with it over the different periods,’ al-Arabi told a press conference. ‘We will turn over a new leaf with all states, including Iran.’

The foreign minister had no definitive answer to whether Egypt planned to open an embassy in Tehran, however.

No love was lost between the deposed regime of Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, and that of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who saw Mubarak as too closely connected with Western powers and Israel.

Al-Arabi was also asked about Hezbollah, of which he said, ‘Hezbollah is part of Lebanon’s composition, and we see this as an internal matter… If any party wishes to have ties with Egypt there will be nothing preventing us from talking, but we will not become involved in internal matters.’…”